British parliament demands redesign of gambling

Providers do not do enough: The British government wants to protect gambling in online casinos and betting shops with a set of operations of two pounds. After the demand, which followed in the British parliament on a gambling report by the All-Party Parliagenary Group (AppG), share prices crashed in Great Britain. Is there a radical cut in the online gambling game?

Outdated legislation should be renewed

The AppG report criticizes current laws as “analog legislation in the digital age”. Therefore, the MPs are calling for a fundamental revision of gambling law. Accordingly, the games in online casinos should also a maximum application limit of two pounds are subject to the Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (Fobts). To what extent this rule too Bonus free spins would not affect, however. On these slot machines, which are generally found in betting shops in Great Britain The maximum use last year was reduced from £ 100 to two pounds.

The government under Tony Blair relaxed the Gambling Act in 2005 to generate further tax revenue. With the boom in online gambling, this legislation is now no longer functional and outdated, according to the critics. The following points are primarily required in the report to make the gambling safer:

• Maximum use of two pounds for slot machines in online casinos
• Prohibition of credit card payments
• Restrictions for VIP accounts

“There is no justification for the fact that slot machine games are available online with a use of more than two pounds in line with the regulations for land-based venues. It is possible to set thousands of pounds with a mobile phone within a few minutes-without supervision. ”(From the AppG report)

Focus on providers on the online market

Since the reduction of the operational limits at Fobts in April, gambling providers have tried more growth in the online area. For example, the sales of the GVC Group in the British offline business have dropped by 18 percent, while online sales rose by 12 percent. Therefore, the changes now required also have direct Effects on the stock market courses of the great gaming providers. The GVC Group, which, alongside other brands Ladbrokes Coral, Sportingbet, Bwin and PartyPoker, had to accept price declines by more than ten percent on Monday. William Hill’s shares fell by 12.5 percent and 888 Holdings had a minus of 13.9 percent.

Furthermore, the report stated that the income of gambling providers in the online area of £ 1.2 billion in 2007 5.6 billion pounds in 2018 have increased. The greatest increase was generated when playing via smartphone apps. This shows precarious development and the players would have to be protected. Kenny Alexander, Chief Executive from GVC:

“Such over -regulation would be extremely counterproductive and harms far more than it is useful. Such measures could lead to an increase in problematic gambling, since customers move from responsible, regulated operators towards black market. GVC undertakes to work with supervisory authorities and legislators to promote responsible gambling.

Do the demands go in the wrong direction?

Kenny Alexander, who was already a few months ago Because of excessive bonus payments in criticism Stand, has an argument that the provider William Hill also lists in a statement. In addition, it is not necessarily fair to prescribe the application limit of two pounds for online casinos. In land -based casinos in Great Britain If such a operating limit for slot machines does not apply. It is therefore important to bring about improvements in other areas. An overland would also be to identify potential players with critical game behavior at an early stage to protect them. This could be found, for example, with an algorithm. Casino operators in Macau do similar, only with the aim of increasing profits.

The ban on credit card payments should also be used for this. In conjunction with mandatory tests on economy, it is said to be ensured that the customers are due to the gambling not get into financial difficulties. Online casinos and bookmakers in Great Britain often only check a customer’s finances after they have lost thousands of pounds.

Furthermore, the MPs in their report recommended that Restrictions for VIP accounts to take. Due to the incentives about financial bonuses, free spins or sports tickets, problematic players are tempted to make high debts. It remains to be seen whether the changes required will come into force and how they have an impact.

In any case, it is certain that two pages clash together with very different opinions. The AppG report, however, underlines the Need for a new regulation of online gaming – As in so many other countries. For their part, the gambling providers are mostly careful to maximize their profits. However, the concerns of the customers are taken into account, says at least the chairwoman of the Betting and Gaming Council, Brigid Simmonds:

“The gaming companies have undertaken to ensure a safe gaming experience for all customers by using the wide range of tools that the online operators have. Our members continue to invest significantly in new technologies that fully exploit data and algorithms in order to recognize damage risks, to interact with customers at an early stage and to carry out new profitability tests among customers. ”