Due to popular demand, we investigate and review the new rule changes pushed out by the UK government to land-based casinos. (Photo by Ben Frost on Unsplash)
Although we specialise in online gambling, there are still a large number of British players who play both online and in land-based venues.
This has sparked a wave of questions from our readers about the new land-based casino rules announced by the UK’s Department of Culture, Media and Sport in May 2024. There are several new regulations land-based venues must abide by, but luckily, none of them are as strict as previous changes.
We decided to visit some of our favourite land-based casino venues in London to see what all the fuss is about. On top of this, we’ve scoured the UKGC website to find out exactly what the new rules are.
As a result of our research, we will cover any upcoming changes and which changes are already being implemented to comply with the latest UK White Paper rules.
To give you a heads-up, there is not much to worry about.
We understand how ‘new rules’ can send casino players into a frenzy as past adjustments have drastically impacted player entertainment. For example, if you visit our UK casino page, under the section ‘New UK Gambling Rules’, you will find the complete list of how the UK government has gone to war on slot machines by limiting certain features.
The good news is that recent changes are nowhere near as drastic as removing features or setting spin bet limits.
Which games do the new rules affect?
One of the key areas affected by these new rules is modern gaming machines that now accept cashless payments. This includes casino gaming machine cabinets that feature video slots, a popular choice among many players. The changes in these machines are a direct result of the new regulations.
If you are a regular land-based casino player, you will also know that many of these casino gaming machine cabinets also host virtual roulette, video poker, blackjack, and other popular games.
Testing Cashless Casino Gaming Cabinet Limited to £100
Last month, British newspapers announced that the government is allowing debit cards to play video slots in land-based venues as a form of payment. One report by Paul Seddon of the BBC titled Slot Machines to Go Cashless explained the move to allow debit card payments on physical video slot machines is to even up the playing field between land-based and online casinos.
After visiting a couple of West End casinos and high street bookies, I can confirm that cashless payments are available on several gaming machines. In particular, online slots in casinos like the Hippodrome in London’s West End and in William betting shops.
We knew that cashless payments on gaming machines in William Hill high street betting stores have been available via the William Plus members card. However, now you can also use debit cards, and on some machines simply scan using your Apple Pay or Google Pay systems.
In the Hippodrome Casino, the cabinets allow you to credit the machine using your debit card, but much like online casinos, you cannot use a credit card. I gave this a test with my credit card, and somewhere in the banking system my card connects to is a mechanism that tells my bank I am using a credit card, so the machine rejected my payment.
I then went ahead and topped with £50 without problems using my contactless card. I tried to add an extra £60, and the machine would not let me, so these machines are already set to use the £100.
Withdrawing your winnings from cashless gaming machines
That didn’t stop me from adding £50 to make it £50 and then slipping in an extra £20 note into the notes slot, so I ended up with a balance of £120. There is a downside to this as I could not cash out to my card, and instead, the machine gave me a winning slip.
On the plus side, I could take that ticket to the cashier’s desk, and the polite young lady gave me the option to credit my winnings on the slip back to my card or in cash.
Expect More Gaming Machines in Land-based Venues
Surprisingly, there is some positive news for land-based video slot players. The new rules issued by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport allow gambling venues to increase the number of casino game machines.
For players, that means less queuing, which is unavoidable on a busy and atmospheric night in London’s Hippodrome Casino. It also means more variety as the casino may be able to increase the number of gaming machines, and I would assume the casino would add a variety of cabinets from different brands.
The new rules mean casinos can exceed the limit of 80, and smaller venues can now increase the number of machines to over 20.
There has also been a change to rules for slot arcades, which apply to the ratio of category B, C and D machines. For every one category C and D machines, the venue can now have two category B machines.
For more information about how the UK divides gambling machines into categories, the UKGC has a dedicated page explaining how it classes gaming terminals into categories here on its Gaming machine categories page.
Final Thoughts
If you are a land-based casino player, there’s not much to worry about because no new changes are coming up that will negatively affect your gaming experience. The £100 limit on cashless payments is not a surprise, but you can still top up using cash, while your gaming experience should improve with a wider variety of gaming machines now an option for land-based casinos and high street gambling venues.
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