UK online slot max bet limits will come into effect in September 2024 – under 18 to 24 year olds £2 per spin and £5 for players 25 and over! (Image by AllClear55 from Pixabay)
The UK recently shared big changes coming in September about online gambling rules. These changes have been officially confirmed just after I talked about the new slot limits in my recent new report – UK Arcade Slots and Bingo Hall Machines Ratios.
The government plans to limit the maximum bet someone can place on online slot machines. After hearing input over 10 weeks from various groups, they settled on requiring a £2.00 cap for 18-24 year olds playing slots. The limit will be £5 for adults 25 and over. There is no mention of whether high-rollers can apply to have online slot max bet restrictions raised if they can show they can afford to play higher stakes.
Limits Based on Research Says Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Online slots have gotten hugely popular in recent years. They can also get people hooked easily by letting them play endlessly and lose tons of money. That causes serious problems for some players’ daily lives. Slot machines in casinos have betting limits in place already. But online slots currently don’t limit how much folks can wager per spin. So the UK stepped in to add protection, especially for younger online players.
18-24 year olds tend to struggle more with compulsive gambling compared to older groups. Some reasons why: They have less financial padding if they start losing more than they can afford. Their brains are still developing in how they size up risks. And they’re just getting the hang of money management. Some evidence even suggests a stronger tie between gambling issues and suicide risk among youth.
The UK’s gambling minister, Stuart Andrew, said data proves online slots lead to higher addiction rates. Seeing that along with young people’s extra vulnerability, new rules are planned in the government’s proposal. GambleAware, a top nonprofit against gambling harm, voiced support for the changes. Their CEO said the maximum bet requirements will safeguard young adults well. They promised to keep teaming up with government and businesses to add more solutions around this growing problem.
Earlier, a gambling regulator in the UK announced they would test screening players’ spending power before letting them gamble. Surveys show plenty of public support for that idea too. The upcoming limits indicate a shift toward practical policies focused on protecting at-risk groups. As online gambling spreads further, expect more balanced rules balancing personal choice and public welfare.
The full and offcial report officially conforming the new online slot limits for UK players was published in a New £2 maximum stake for under 25s press release on the gov.uk website’s news pages. This is all the confirmation we need to know this is now a reality for the UK online casino market.
UK Gambling Commission and Government Continues a Though Stance on Gambling
The UK’s White Paper has been in a consultation period started last year on 26 June 2023. Yet, this is not the first time the UK has made strict rule changes to online slots in particular, as well as the way people can deposit.
Here is a quick run down on how the UK government has been pushing back at online slots:
- 2021: Banned auto spins on slots.
- 2021: Banned quick spins on slots.
- 2021: Forced slots to spin for at least 2.5 seconds per spin.
- 2020: Ban on the use of credit cards to fund UK online gambling sites.
- 2019: Forces all software providers to take bonus buy features off online slots.
All these rules are reflected on our UK gambling and casinos webpage.
As for the rules themselves, they fall under the Gambling Act’s Remote Gambling and Software Technical Standards (RTS). They specifically state that online slots should not encourage players to chase their losses. The popular belief is that max bets are too high encouraging people to chase losses by betting higher amounts per spin, while auto-spins and quick spins will encourage impatient players to play faster in the hope to regain losses.
Does this affect table games? Do you know what. I looked around, and I can’t see that it does. The ban and main target for these new rules appears to be online slots only. As soon as the offcial UKGC announcement comes out, or when the new rules come into effect in September this year, I guess we’ll find out more.
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