Gambling White Paper Young Gamblers Could Face £2 Slot Machine Limit

The Gambling White Paper, released Thursday, is a major change in the regulation of gambling over the past nearly two decades.

The government says online slot machines are a particularly risky product, with significant losses.

The White Paper proposes a consultation on capping bets on online slot machines at between £2 and £15 per spin.

However, the government also proposes lower limits and greater protection for 18- to 24-year-olds, who "may be a particularly vulnerable group."

The consultation on limits for young gamblers includes options for a £2 per spin wagering limit, £4 per spin, or an individual risk-based approach.

Several gambling companies, including Paddy Power, SkyBet, and Flutter, which owns Betfair, have limited slot stakes to £10 from September 2 paper noted.

Shadow Culture Secretary, Labour's Lucy Powell said: 'We have long called for outdated gambling laws, introduced when smartphones were not part of our lives, to be updated so they can tackle today's gambling challenges.

While Labor calls for change, ministers are dragging their feet, and confusion within the government means many false starts: since the first White Paper was promised in December 2020, there have been 10 different ministers responsible for gambling policy."This lack of consistency and direction has led to a disjointed approach to addressing the issues surrounding gambling. For more information on this topic, you can be redirected here.

Louise Davies, director of advocacy and policy at the charity CARE (Christian Action Research and Education), questioned the need for consultation.

'After years of disappointment regarding this white paper, I am outraged to learn of further hesitation and delay from the government.

'The scale of the abuse of the gambling industry and the scale of gambling-related harm in the UK is clear. There is no need for further consultation on widely supported measures such as statutory levies and affordability checks. We need legislation."

Culture, Media and Sport Secretary Lucy Fraser will launch a government white paper on gambling on Thursday.

The white paper is the first new regulatory proposal in this area since the invention of the smartphone and a revolution in thegambledoctor.com.

When the Gambling Act was introduced in 2005, most betting still took place in physical locations such as betting stores, casinos, and racetracks. Today, two-thirds of the industry's revenue comes from online gambling. Fraser, who outlined the plan in Parliament on Thursday, says the rise of smartphones means that "every phone now has Las Vegas."

Since then Culture Minister Oliver Dowden first announced a review of gambling laws in 2020, the actual release of the white paper has been delayed at least four times.

Since then, individual cases of problem gamblers have been reported regularly, but government solutions have been crafted by three different culture secretaries and three different prime ministers without ever seeing the light of day.

When gambling becomes an addiction, it destroys lives. Shattered families, lost jobs, foreclosed homes, jail time, suicide.

These are all extreme scenarios. But it is important to recognize that for some families, the worst thing that could happen to a loved one has become a reality.

Adult gambling addiction has always been measured in financial loss, but it cannot be costed in loss of dignity, loss of identity, and in some cases, loss of life.

We need a new approach that recognizes that cheating is one thing, and unstoppable addiction another." So today we are bringing pre-smartphone regulation into the modern age with our Gambling in the Digital Age White Paper."

One of the proposals is a mandatory levy to be imposed on gambling companies, to be used for addiction treatment and research. However, it is not yet clear how the funds would be managed.

The white paper was welcomed by Ladbrokes owner Entine, which said that the company has already implemented a number of actions related to the new proposal. Flutter, owner of Paddy Power, also called this "an important moment for the UK gambling sector."

Conservative MP Iain Duncan Smith, vice chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Gambling-Related Harm, welcomed the white paper but said it did not go far enough to protect children from the ads.

Sir Iain said of the White Paper: "I think this is at least a start, a positive start. As for advertising and children, I would simply say - not enough".

But another Conservative MP, Philip Davies, criticized some of the measures. "The Conservative Party used to believe in individual freedom and personal responsibility, but that seems to have gone out the window with the proposed affordability checks.

"Does the audience themselves have a say in how they can afford to spend their hard-earned money?

The white paper also includes the introduction of affordability checks to protect the estimated 300,000 problem gamblers in the UK.

At present, the levy is voluntary and will not be funded by the NHS.

The NHS has expanded its gambling-specific services in recent years. In the future, the plan is to use some of the funds from the new levy to fund NHS treatment.

A DCMS spokesperson says: "We are determined to protect those most at risk of gambling-related harm, including young people and vulnerable groups.

Young gamblers using online slot machines could be subject to a £2 or £4 limit on their wagers

While regulations are being tightened for online platforms, some rules are being relaxed in actual casinos to level the playing field.

For example, the government plans to allow debit cards to be used on gaming machines and to increase the number of machines allowed in smaller casinos.

The parents of two people who committed suicide because of gambling welcomed some of the government's proposals, but said more needs to be done, especially regarding the elimination of gambling advertising and preventive affordability checks. Liz and Charles Ritchie founded the charity Gambling with Lives after the death of their 24-year-old son Jack in 2017.

Ritchie said: 'After a long battle, we have won concessions in some key areas, but much more needs to be done to reduce the terrible harm caused by the world's most unregulated gambling industry.

We have won the battle against the powerful gambling lobby, but this is only the beginning. Every day, families are devastated by gambling-related suicides.

A man wearing glasses in front of an online casino slot machine.

Image source,getty images

Image caption.

Online slot games are designed to mimic the slot machines in gambling establishments.

Gambling industry officials told the BBC that the proposal would cause them financial pain. They plan to study the proposal in detail to determine its full impact.

Others are watching to see how the market reacts to the proposal and how the companies' stock prices will move over the next few hours. If there is little change or stock prices rise, activists will see that as evidence that the government should have stepped in more.

Gareth (not his real name) lives in Wales. He opened an online betting accountfor his son on his 18th birthday and has watched him fall into a gambling addiction after losing thousands of pounds in the first 24 hours.

'I wanted it to be illegal for gambling companies to be involved in sports, especially soccer. There's a lot of money involved, and that's not going to happen," Gareth told the BBC.

'They shouldn't be allowed to promote gambling on television. You can't promote cocaine or heroin.

'I like going to horse races, I go to six races, I bet five pounds each and lose 30 pounds. That's the majority of people. But for a minority, like my son, it's not the races, it's the online slots, the casinos, the online bingo. It's an addiction. They need protection."021.

Culture Minister Lucy Fraser said the government will do more to "protect children" by "preventing them from gambling, both online and on widely accessible scratch cards."

The new regulations also mean that gamblers who are losing large sums of money could face checks.

These checks will be carried out if a gambler loses 1,000 pounds in 24 hours or 2,000 pounds in 90 days. It is not yet known how they will be carried out.

To the dismay of campaigners, there are no new measures against advertising. The government has stated that the measures already in place are helping to protect the most vulnerable.

Hesitation and Delay

The government also plans to strengthen pub licensing laws to prevent children from playing on slot machines with prizes in pubs and enact legislation to prohibit all lotteries from offering tickets to those under 18.

"We recently raised the National Lottery's age limit to 18, but other lottery and soccer pool products are still legally permitted from age 16," the white

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