Money and rights
This mainly extended to random number-generated casino games, but a few submissions argued that betting should also be included. However, a case has been made that the unlimited stakes on online slots play are particularly problematic due to the nature of slots play and its increasing popularity as seen in the monthly operator data collected by the Gambling Commission since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the structural characteristics discussed above, stake size can be a key determinant of losses and gambling-related harm. However, the new rules will strive to make games intrinsically safer across the sector, while leaving space for operators to continue innovating and developing games which customers want to play. Longer-term, Gambling Commission changes to the prevalence and participation methodology will provide a more detailed assessment of problem gambling trends across the online slot player cohort to support evaluation.
A quick player checklist for 2026
Gone are the days when online casino players could spend hundreds of quid in a matter of minutes. The whole idea is to strictly limit how much cash can be lost on slot machines and to ensure people are not blowing through their bankroll very quickly. In this article, we’ll look at some of the new online gambling regulations for 2025.
The maximum annual fee for an adult gaming centre (arcade) is £1,000 in England and Wales, and £700 in Scotland. For example, the maximum annual fee for a large casino is £10,000 in England and Wales, and £7,500 in Scotland. Licensing fees vary by premises type. Therefore, the proposals set out in this chapter will only apply to licensing authorities in England and Wales.
Permitting outdoor bingo events to be held in a car park adjacent to bingo premises would be problematic, as it is likely that the boundary or perimeter of the licensed area would only be delineated by temporary structures, or structures insufficient to fully supervise access to the area, for example by children. We therefore do not think there is a justification for licensed bingo premises to offer bingo via social media. Extending licence conditions to allow remote and outdoor bingo in venues, extending default playing hours for bingo These risks include playing a game faster than intended or spending more money than originally intended. As set out in section 1.3, the Gambling Commission will be looking at online product design rules, which may include consideration of the rules around concurrent play of multiple products.
All stakeholders recognise the potential for a so-called single customer view (SCV) to tackle this risk. Customers’ ability to swap to another account risks undermining the effectiveness of an individual operator’s safeguarding interventions. Likely impacts are explored in more detail in Annex A of this white paper, and the Commission will give further consideration to impacts, including the potential for any unintended consequences, through its detailed consultation. The Data Protection and Digital Information (No .2) Bill, currently before Parliament, includes some important clarifications to the rules around lawful processing and the circumstances in which personal data collected for one purpose can be used for other purposes, which should make the law clearer in this area. We will also make sure consumers’ financial lives are not impacted through these checks, with credit scores being unaffected and potentially adverse consequences of reciprocal data sharing avoided. We recognise these proposals have significant implications for collection and handling of sensitive consumer data, raising important questions around privacy, data protection, proportionality, data accuracy, and reciprocal data sharing.
For example, high and medium risk accounts placed 37.4% of stakes over £10, which given only 2.4% of players were flagged as medium or high risk highlights their overrepresentation among high stakers. Nonetheless, accounts flagged as high and medium risk account for a greater proportion of stakes in higher value staking bands. However, some operators pointed out that while the spins at higher levels are relatively uncommon, individual players often vary their stakes. Among respondents outside of industry, there was a broad consensus that stake limits on slots are needed.
While the risks vary by product and other factors, gambling participation is generally not in itself harmful and may even be positive. A YouGov survey commissioned by GambleAware estimated that 6% of the population are negatively affected by someone else’s gambling (for example through relationship strain or financial hardship) and that women are overrepresented in this category. However, a small proportion do suffer significant harm as a result of gambling, and the PHE evidence review included a detailed quantitative analysis on this issue. It is clear that gambling-related harms can ruin lives, wreck families, and damage communities, with issues including mental health and relationship problems, debts that cannot be repaid, crime, or even suicide in extreme cases. However, Public Health England (PHE) compiled, assessed and reviewed evidence on gambling participation and harm as part of the Gambling-related harms evidence review which was initially published in September 2021, then revised in January 2023 by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities.
In particular, licensing authorities were concerned that the ‘aim to permit’ results in the granting of premises licences even when specific harms or risks have been identified. A report submitted to our call for evidence found that the 2005 Act casinos had generated some benefits to the local economy including regeneration, jobs and money paid to local authorities as part of the arrangement for the licence being awarded. Typically gaming machines are cabinets housing computer terminals, with either buttons or touch screens allowing customers to select different machine game types (e.g. B2 or B3 games).
For most recreational players these checks run automatically in the background using open banking data and credit reference agency information. This is a minor inconvenience for most recreational players but an important harm-reduction measure. High-stakes slot players are most affected; those betting £1–£2 per spin will notice no practical difference.
The Casino Club Port Talbot in Wales – believed to be Britain’s first legal casino – was established in 1961 by gambling mogul George Alfred James. In July 2026, UK ministers began a crackdown on unlicensed casinos sponsoring sports teams. By introducing a new regulatory framework, the Gambling Act replaced outdated provisions from the Gaming Act of 1968, adapting to the evolving landscape of the gambling industry. The regulation of gambling in the UK underwent significant changes with the passage of the Gambling Act 2005, marking a pivotal moment in the evolution of casino regulations.
Figure 16: Minimum age for participation in different gambling activities.*
8.9% of respondents felt that their gambling had ‘at least some of the time’ caused financial problems for them or their household. This has led the regulator and many others to conclude that more prescriptive requirements are needed to strengthen protections for customers and set clear expectations for companies. Nonetheless, this is a potentially concerning pattern in a sector with a known addiction risk, and where a key manifestation of that addiction is high spending. The range of estimates submitted to our call for evidence suggest that (ignoring accounts which net win), around a quarter of Gross Gambling Yield is derived from 1% of accounts, approximately 60% comes from the highest spending 5%, and around 75% from the top 10%, although this varies by product. This distribution means that operator revenue is predominantly derived from a relatively small cohort of high spending customers.
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Based on our experience of investigations to date, licensees should ensure that data which relates in any way to regulatory compliance should be available for a minimum period of five years after the end of a relationship with a customer. Licensees should ensure that their retention policies ensure that such data will be available to the Commission if requested6. Where data which is relevant to a licensee’s compliance with the regulatory regime has been obtained, licensees should have regard to the fact that we may wish to investigate whether a licensee has complied with their obligations.
What measures, if any, do you think venues should adopt to ensure that no under-18s play on ‘cash-out’ Category D slot-style machines if the age limit is introduced? Should ‘cash-out’ Category D slot-style machines be required to move to age-restricted areas in venues? Should the government introduce an age limit on ‘cash-out’ Category D slot-style machines to 18 and over? This does not distinguish between ‘cash-out’ and ‘ticket-out’ machines. The survey found that in the last 12 months, 3% of respondents had spent their own money on fruit or slot machines and a total of 6% had experience of playing on fruit or slot machines.
Respondents from the land-based gambling industry were generally supportive of proposals which would remove restrictions on supply, pointing to the unrestricted availability of the same products online. The casino measures section of the consultation received 41 responses from a variety of stakeholders, including gambling operators and trade bodies, local government organisations, campaign groups and academics. We will introduce an age limit of 18 and over for the use of ‘cash-out’ Category D slot-style gaming machines. We will allow direct debit card payments to be made on gaming machines, subject to the player protection measures outlined within this government response. In practice, this means that 2 Category B gaming machines on a cabinet device type can be made available to a minimum of one Category C or D gaming machine on a cabinet device type. This measure will apply on a device type basis, meaning that the ratio applies across the 3 different types of device on which gaming machines content is currently offered in arcades and bingo halls, namely cabinets, in-fills and tablets.
Officials say two unlicensed premises in Doncaster were targeted a multi-agency operation. The bookmakers says it had ‘no choice’ after rises in gambling tax, national insurance and wages. A big test may come later this year, with indications that there may be a ban on gambling companies sponsoring the shirts of football and darts players. The Commission has already cracked down on one of the bookmakers’ cash cows, the fixed-odds betting terminal. The British public spent £2.2bn on online slot games in 2019, according to the Gambling Commission, and some estimates say the UK now accounts for 15% of these types of games. A Gambling Commission review from June 2025 found that satisfaction scores climbed 6 per cent among users who got richer risk alerts and detailed gameplay reports.
- As above, 1968 Act casinos will retain the option of continuing to operate under the existing regime should they not wish to increase their machine allocations.
- The white paper is structured around the six main themes in the call for evidence, followed by annexes on the estimated overall impact of our proposals and a summary of the submissions received to the call for evidence.
- Following evaluation later this year, the intention is to expand the system to consider customers who are showing other indicators of harm with one operator which might necessitate coordinated action with other operators.
- Once we are satisfied, the Commission will consult on any outstanding details and on requiring all remote operators to integrate with the system.
The regulator has indicated that it may be less inclined to “settle” regulatory enforcement actions, particularly where operators have been made the subject of prior regulatory enforcement action, leaning towards the imposition of sanctions and penalties or, in more serious cases, suspensions and revocations of licences. An “economic crime levy” is payable by entities that are regulated for anti-money laundering purposes (currently only casinos in the UK) and which generate more than £10.2 million in UK revenue. 15% of the commission charges charged by betting exchanges to users who are UK citizens Eligibility for a British gambling licence depends upon the Gambling Commission’s assessment of a variety of factors, primarily the integrity and probity of the applicant and the applicant’s ability to conduct gambling in a solvent and responsible manner in compliance with law and regulation.
We intend to take a similar approach by giving the Gambling Commission the power to apply to court for such an order and use these powers to disrupt illegal gambling operators. In the most serious instances of non-compliance or risks of harm, Ofcom will also have the power to apply to the courts for “business disruption measures”. The Gambling Commission, as well as evidence from the Review, has shown that unlicensed sites pose an increased risk to the most vulnerable consumers. The black market is relatively easy for people to access who are actively trying to find and gamble with illegal operators online. From the limited evidence that is available, we would assume that the size of the black market does not currently account for more than 2.5% of remote gambling that takes place in Great Britain. The Danish Gambling Authority’s 2022 Report on illegal gambling estimates that the online gambling channelisation rate (the percentage of all gambling that takes place legally) is 98% in Great Britain and therefore the black market accounts for 2% of online gambling.
Apps have been developed which enable payments to be made indirectly, from a bank account to the app and then to the machine. The Gambling Commission’s advice emphasises that account-based play could have an important role in protecting consumers of land-based products. Gambling Commission research showed that 79% of land-based gamblers feel that paying with cash helps them to feel in control of their spending, 73% saying that it makes it easier to keep track of spending, and 70% reporting that it makes it easier to set limits on spending. A survey carried out by GamFam and submitted to the call for evidence included suggestions that cashless payments using debit cards with customer ID cards could effectively increase monitoring in venues.
We therefore hope this measure will shore up these critical controls, and give assurance to operators that they are not accepting funds from bank accounts with an active gambling block. The vast majority of gambling deposits are made via debit cards, so this may only marginally strengthen transaction blocks, but any workarounds to tools which support those recovering from gambling harm could be particularly problematic. That is why the Commission has mandated operator participation in a national self-exclusion scheme, GAMSTOP, and why we worked with other sectors to introduce a range of further friction-based measures which can support those who want to stop gambling. No self-exclusion or gambling cessation tool in isolation can be completely effective in preventing someone who is determined to gamble online from doing so.
Given the small number of responses, we assume that the favoured option amongst licensing authorities remains Option 2. Under Option 2(a), the Bingo Association has advised that 2 substantial multi-site bingo club operators and several single site operators would be disadvantaged by comparison to the current regime. non gamstop sites Option 2(a) had more varied views across bingo operators.
Non-compliance by affiliates can lead to fines, reputational damage, or licence reviews for the operator. The UKGC holds operators accountable for any breaches committed by their affiliates. Gambling advertising in the UK is subject to strict regulation to protect vulnerable audiences, including minors, and to keep marketing honest.
In our view, it would be premature to pursue legislative options without first pursuing enhanced industry-led protections, given the potential downsides. As set out in the response, we do not intend to adjust the legal definitions of gambling at this time in order to capture loot boxes. The government’s response to that call for evidence was published in July last year, setting out our plan to improve protections for children, young people and adults, and to support better longer term research into the impacts of video games. In September 2020, the government launched a call for evidence on loot boxes in video games to understand their impact and whether changes are needed to ensure consumers are effectively protected. We will consult on the potential for regulating large scale prize draws with a view to identifying options and developing an evidence base against which their impact and the extent to which different regulatory measures would be proportionate can be properly assessed. The Commission’s current approach adequately deals with that risk at present, but it will continue to monitor the development of new technologies and payment vehicles closely.
This has been considered alongside other evidence available to us and advice from the Gambling Commission. The maximum annual fee for an adult gaming centre is £1,000 in England and Wales, and £700 in Scotland. The fees that licensing authorities collect for applications and annual renewals are used to cover the cost of administration and enforcement. The purpose of the document is for licensing authorities to develop and publish their vision for the local area and a statement of intent to guide decision-making.