Gambling White Paper outlines slot limits, affordability checks, new industry levy, UKGC empowerment

This entire day has been filled with anticipation. The Gambling White Paper has finally arrived and with it, much of what has already been reported in the build-up to the event has proven to be true. Thursday started with Lucy Frazer, MP for South East Cambridgeshire and Secretary of State at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) issuing a brief statement on Twitter that she would be updating gambling laws in the country to be a better fit for the smartphone age and help protect people from gambling-related harm.

The Times, a long-time critic of the gambling industry, published an article that testily stated that the game was up for firms exploiting the weak, citing Frazer. Understandably, the reception of both statements has echoed across social media and in public spaces, with those holding the issue to heart taking a hard look at the White Paper and whether it has delivered on its original promises or missed the mark by a wide margin.

The Gambling White Paper at a quick glance

• Tighter affordability checks to prevent huge losses
• Touching on the mandatory levy for treating and advancing research
• Review of bonus policies and tighter advertisement standards
• Implementing measures that slow down online games
• More resources allocated to the gambling industry
• Online slots betting limits are being reduced to between £2 and £15
• The position of a Gambling Ombudsman

Affordability checks in focus

One of the biggest tickets on the White Paper is the arrival of affordability checks. Those would come in two levels. The more "invasive" checks would apply to anyone amassing losses in 24 hours to the tune of £1,000 who will then have to go through closer scrutiny conducted by the operator they are registered with. The same checks would apply for players who lose £2,000 over 90 days.

The White Paper however suggests that unobtrusive checks should start at £125 net loss in a single month and £500 in a year. This has been a particularly painful point for opponents, arguing that the measure would lead to black market channelization, but those claims have not been proven. The White Paper goes further and suggests that the triggers for enhanced checks should be lower for those aged between 18 and 24.

Another proposal is to see remote operators begin to share information about high-risk customers. This would be implemented once the nature and scope of the affordability checks has been established. The UK Gambling Commission will play a central role as well, as the White Paper acknowledges that there are sometimes difficulties in matching payment data with the account holder details. The regulator will work with others to devise ways and reduce such risks in future.

Making games safer through maximum slot stakes

An important matter of addressing the industry is the imposition of new maximum stake limits for online slot games. There are several reasons for this. On the one hand, slots are seen as the most pernicious form of gambling that leads to the greatest risks for consumers. Fixed-Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs) were already restricted to a maximum stake size of £2 in previous regulatory action.

Now something similar may be underway for online slots argues the White Paper, as the proposed stake limits sit at between £2 and £15. These are of course subject to consultation. Slots are tied to an elevated risk of rapid losses and harms. The White Paper outlines a scenario where further consultation may protect those aged 18 to 24 with an additional limit per stake, from £2 to £4 per bet. An approach where the restrictions are imposed based on individual risk is also considered.

There will be other matters to deliberate, including the reduction of speed of play, which could possibly lead to harm minimization – once again subject to consultation and further review and input.

Advertising rules will be tightening

The White Paper has welcomed some of the changes industry stakeholders have undertaken on a voluntary basis. However, the paper considers those to be insufficient and outlined several possible ways to address what would guarantee better consumer protection through and through.

In broad terms, the White Paper wants to see bonuses and direct marketing reduced. The UKGC has already made strides in that direction, prohibiting direct market advertisement to people who have been showing strong signs of gambling harm. The White Paper proposes that the UKGC remains vigilant of the way VIP schemesare conducted to ensure that high-risk gamblers are not being exploited.

There is more than companies can do with the White Paper calling on stakeholders to make sure they start pushing today and do more to protect vulnerable people. The AdvertisingStandards Authority (ASA) and the UKGC are in the meantime working together to ensure that advertisement is not done in a way that may inadvertently appeal to children.

The White Paper similarly has welcomed the industry’s show of initiative in vowing to ensure that 20% of its advertising across online and broadcast channels constitutes safer gambling messaging. On thematter of sports partnerships, the document reads:

"We expect all sports to take a responsible approach to gambling sponsorship and support the sector’s efforts to implement minimum standards for social responsibility through a cross-sport Code of Conduct. For individual sports we believe sports governing bodies are best placed to decide what approach and measures are appropriate to protect their fans."

The UKGC similarly wants to further strengthen advertising standards by allowing consumers to "opt-out." This is not so much stated in the White Paper as a next step, but the DCMS has confirmed that such efforts by several online platforms are most welcome. "Opting out" of gambling advertisements is in fact another way to empower consumers and protect them. Essentially, the document wants to make sure that any oversights in the current regulation, which allow self-excluded gamblers to be targeted by gambling advertisements, are no longer possible moving forward.

Apropos, the UKGC has reaffirmed gambling operators' responsibilities in ensuring that their affiliates do not breach any codes and rules, and in cases when they do, the operators would be held accountable. The UKGC has argued that it would not seek to personally regulate affiliates as their marketing activities are already overseen by ASA. However, the UKGC said that it's not "persuaded" by arguments to have affiliates licensed by the watchdog. The UKGC also did something else that was more or less missed by most outlets.

The regulator is aware of the practice where affiliate websites are targeting keywords that intentionally seek out vulnerable customers, such as "Not on GAMSTOP." The UKGC has been in touch with Google, trying to ensure that such searches would be harder to target vulnerable consumers. Paid ads pushing such queries have been already suspended, and the company has also removed the "Not on GAMSTOP" wording from the "People also ask" box. This is really clever and it was sorely missed as there have been many affiliates preying on self-excluded gamblers.

The UK Gambling Commission to receive a boost

The regulator will not be scrapped as was once suggested by some MPs. The opinion was never popular, but if anything, the White Paper reaffirms the government’s confidence in the regulator and its ability to carry out its remit and obligations according to expected results.

New powers and resources will be granted to the watchdog in a bid to ensure that it can carry out its statutory remit and address the changing landscape. A review of the fees paid to the Gambling Commission will come in 2024 as well.

The UKGC would have to step up as well and ensure that it can identify instances of no compliance on a tighter timeline and act accordingly. The White Paper directly urges the regulator to become more "proactive" in carrying out its obligations.

These new powers would be implemented to help the regulator to carry out enforcement, and also allow the regulator to seek court orders and work with payment providers and internet providers to block access to black market websites.

Land-based restrictions possibly ease up

There are some interesting changes affecting the land-based market as well. The DCMS has confirmed that it will be working with the UKGC to create consultations around the idea of introducing contactless payments (cashless payments). Such systems have been used to a relative degree of success in many jurisdictions, including Australia and the United States, although they still remain a hot-button topic.

If anything, though, the consultation proposed in the White Paper should give clarity on the matter and lead to an evidence-based approach. Another change is that casinos will now be able to offer sports betting on their premises and limits on the number of slot machines at larger properties will be eased and now be available at a rate of five-to-one slots-to-table games. Smaller casinos will also benefit from a "pro-rata" basis which will be determined by the size of the property and the floorspace dedicated to non-gambling.

Funding research, education, and treatment and Gambling Ombudsman

The White Paper also touches on the ways funding for research, education, and treatment would be done. Essentially, the White Paper wants to understand how the industry can foot the bill for something they help create – to an extent. Therefore, the White Paper proposes a call for evidence response which would determine whether a mandatory levy would actually be of help.

The White Paper already confirms the government will introduce a statutory levy paid by operators and collected and distributed by the UKGC.

"Submissions from Parliamentary groups, health stakeholders and academics argued that the voluntary nature of the funding gives too much influence on the industry," the document notes. Some operators have previously said that they are against the idea of a mandatory levy but firmly behind more transparency in how gambling companies contribute to treatment, research, and education funding.

To help further protect and empower customers, the White Paper proposes to also create an independent Gambling Ombudsman who would be fully credible with customers and established within the next year.

The White Paper is still a massive and seminal work. Several companies from the sector have already hailed the publication with Flutter Entertainment and Entain welcoming its arrival but cautioning that they would need more time to examine it in full.

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