UK Gambling Regulation Casino Laws in UK
If you are leaving the British gambling market, the Gambling Commission has expectations of licensees in these situations. If you no longer need your licence, you can surrender it, partially or in full. This is a condition of your licence under LCCP Condition 8 – Display of licensed status. When you are issued a licence, we will display the details of your licence on the register. We provide details of all businesses and individuals we licence on our Public Register service.
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In the years following the enactment of the Gaming Act, the UK witnessed a gradual rise in the number of licensed casinos across the country. As a result of the Gaming Act of 1968, the landscape of gambling in the UK underwent significant transformation, marking a shift towards a more regulated and controlled industry. Among the stringent measures implemented were protocols to curb criminal activities and maintain the integrity of games, such as thorough background checks on both casino operators and staff.
Chapter 1: Casino measures
Operators told us that change was needed in order to future-proof the land-based gambling industry, arguing that consumer preference for cashless payments has been accelerated further by COVID-19, which is supported by research by the Bank of England. The Cashless Group argues that the land-based sector has been negatively impacted and competitively disadvantaged compared to the online industry. The call for evidence asked about the evidence on the harms or benefits of permitting cashless payments for gambling. It is concerned that the risk of harm could increase if high volatility games were available to players who were not as closely supervised as those at a table and without the safeguards that typically apply to electronic gaming.
The UKGC can issue fines, suspend licences, or revoke them entirely. Players betting £1–£2 per spin will not notice any practical change; the limit primarily affects high-stakes slot players. Players have the right to access this data before placing a single bet. Return to Player (RTP) requirements were updated under the UK casino regulations 2026. Bonus terms have been completely overhauled under the UK casino regulations 2026.
This was higher than the Health Survey for England (HSE) 2018 estimate but could be due to a number of factors, including the pilot having somewhat higher rates of past year gamblers than the HSE. This new way of collecting data was successful in attracting participants and generated a good response rate across the whole of Great Britain. In June 2020, following a consultation, the Commission started piloting a new set of survey questions designed to better understand the incidence, nature and severity of harm experienced by gamblers and non-gamblers. Collecting and disseminating information relating to the extent and impact of gambling in Britain forms an important basis for this advice. Under section 26 of the Gambling Act 2005, the Commission is responsible for advising the Secretary of State on the manner in which gambling is carried on as well as the incidence, effects and regulation of gambling in Great Britain. The work it is doing to improve collection of participation statistics and its future work to make more data available to researchers will also be important contributions and are outlined further below.
Evidence we received from one researcher suggests that just 6.6% of academic papers published containing empirical research on gambling behaviours and policies between 2019 and March 2021 were from British-based researchers. Gambling may cause or contribute to poor mental health and wellbeing for some people, but for others, poor mental health may cause or contribute to harmful gambling. The relationship between gambling and some harms, such as mental health issues, is not always straightforward and can be bi-directional.
This requirement is also subject to guidance issued by the Commission, the policy statement produced by the licensing authority and the three licensing objectives. The Council expects that applicants and existing operators will need to meet the specific GVZ policy and expect enhanced scrutiny from the Council to ensure that the operation is in line with that policy and the principles of the legislation. Westminster City Council recently introduced a new gambling policy statement which includes the designation of several Gambling Vulnerability Zones (GVZs). This enables a local planning authority (licensing authority) to take into account a variety of different factors, such as the balance of uses of an area or high street. Some submissions from licensing authorities suggested the ‘aim to permit’ provision should be removed altogether from the Act.
Land-based gambling
Many of non gamestop casino the legacy Category C and D machines that still remain in venues do not have these capabilities. To further improve player safety on machine games, the arcades and bingo industries have committed to ensuring B3 machines in all venues allow players to set their own time and spend limits, or default to a £150/20 minute limit. A wider rollout could include potential restrictions, for example on the number of machines or where they can be located. We do not wish to risk increasing harm by introducing untested, new concepts other than on a time-limited basis and with appropriate safeguards in place.
It can also be run as a prize game (meaning there is no need for a licence). No one under the age of 18 is allowed to place a bet with a licenced operator. These entities are not liable for bets placed, but do often take commission. A winning payout is determined by dividing the total pool by the number of winning tickets (there may also be a commission fee from the host).
For example, wagering requirements, sometimes called ‘re-wagering’ requirements, are a common feature of bonus offers in the gambling sector, whereby customers have to stake bonus funds a number of times (potentially adding some of their own money) before being permitted to withdraw any winnings. However, we encourage land-based operators to consider any use they make of targeted monetary or free bet bonuses and their purpose and we will continue to monitor whether there is a case for any further restrictions. Loyalty schemes in land-based venues are also a way of encouraging account-based play, meaning that a ban on them could have the unintended consequence of reducing the amount of available data on player behaviour. They emphasise that land-based play allows for close oversight of customers to ensure that bonuses are issued responsibly. In the majority of casinos, targeted offers are often through loyalty programmes that are open to everyone, with higher tier memberships offering higher value rewards. The schemes are intrinsic to high-end casinos’ business models, and the benefits tend to emphasise building a luxury experience rather than monetary rewards and free bets designed to be staked.
In addition, the current GGY derived from betting in casinos where it is permitted, is very small. However, at this stage we do not know precisely what these costs will be, as we do not have any evidence on how casinos will respond to this. All casinos to be permitted to offer sports betting. We would not permit betting in Scottish 1968 Act casinos until Scottish Ministers have had the opportunity to consider what (if any) restrictions or protections they would like to put in place by way of amendments to the Mandatory and Default Conditions Regulations. While permitting betting in 1968 Act casinos is not a reserved matter, as outlined above, we intend to impose a limit on the number of SSBTs that can be made available in a casino.
Neither partially automated nor wholly automated gaming tables, including products such as pinball roulette, will count as ‘gaming tables’ for these purposes. If you are an operator with more than one premises licence at the same location, do you intend to take up these new entitlements for each licence? Shown if Yes is selected Do you intend to site the maximum number of machines available to you? If you selected ‘No’, please provide an alternative proposal for gaming machine entitlements if you have one. As at present, a 1968 Act casino with a gambling area of at least 200sqm would also need to provide a non-gambling area equivalent to at least 10% of its total gambling area.
We will work together with the Department of Health and Social Care and the Gambling Commission, drawing on public health and social marketing expertise to develop a new, evidence-based model for independently developed safer gambling messages. We recognise the risk that online bonus offers can present, particularly for those who are experiencing harm. As part of exploring the potential for regulating these types of draws we will seek further data and evidence to enable us to assess the proportionality and impact, including on the society lottery sector of different regulatory approaches. This means that they are not subject to gambling regulatory oversight, can lack protections for players, and are not obliged to follow the rules on identifying and mitigating gambling-related harms which apply to licensed operators. A particular version of this arrangement we received evidence on is when overseas gambling brands reach an agreement with an existing Commission licensee which they use to advertise and grow their brand in the UK without acquiring a licence themselves. The third-party might benefit in various ways including a profit sharing arrangement, a brand licensing fee which is paid by the gambling operator, or through greater exposure for their business.
Online gaming products too have changed as the sector has matured, with rapid, stimulating and intense random number generator powered games like online slots becoming increasingly popular and making up a larger portion of operator profits over time. This has largely been driven by a channel shift from land-based gambling, where participation has fallen from 24.7% to 19.5% of adults in the same period (excluding the National Lottery). Online gambling overtook land-based gambling by GGY – the total value of funds staked minus any winnings or prizes paid out – in September 2019 and continues to grow. The Gambling Commission will consolidate and reinforce expectations for operators on contracting with third parties, including white labels. ‘White label’ describes a commercial arrangement whereby a licensee offers remote gambling under a brand provided by a third party which does not itself hold a remote gambling licence.
- While we do not expect this overall volume of complaints in gambling, especially as complaints to the FOS around businesses’ customer services accounted for over 35,000 cases alone, a significant increase is likely.
- Operator licence fees are different for 1968 Act and 2005 Act casinos.
- Outdated and overly restrictive rules on gaming machines will be reformed so casinos and arcades can have more machines.
- Only 4 of the 8 Small casino licences have been developed, one has since closed, and none offer the maximum allowance of 80 gaming machines as it would be impractical to site the necessary tables.
Casinos that do not site more than 20 machines
The Commission also highlighted that in spite of the increases since 2017, it has continued to find operators breaching their licence conditions, particularly the social responsibility codes. Since April 2016, the Commission has also revoked 14 operator licences and 66 personal licences, often due to operators failing to adhere to social responsibility and anti-money laundering rules. The Commission’s approach to enforcement changed significantly in 2017 when it unveiled a new strategy to tackle operators which breach their licence conditions and relevant codes of practice. Our call for evidence posed a series of questions relating to the Gambling Commission’s powers and resources and received responses from industry, campaign groups and members of the public. The Commission has taken action following the independent review of Football Index to implement those recommendations, including enhancing its licensing approach to novel products and agreeing a memorandum of understanding with the Financial Conduct Authority.
Where the Commission agrees a payment in lieu of a fine (a regulatory settlement), this is typically used for socially responsible purposes connected with gambling, in line with the Commission’s Statement of Principles for Determining Financial Penalties and most usually to address gambling-related harm. For gambling specifically, the Commission must approve all providers and has set specific supplementary standards for ADR in its guidance, including a further definition of what counts as a dispute and heightened expectations regarding independence, transparency, customer service and reporting requirements. Non-payment of winnings, account closures and misleading promotions and adverts were the main areas of complaint shown across ADR, Resolver, the online dispute resolution platform, and the Commission’s Contact Centre data. Data from the Gambling Commission’s quarterly online survey (June 2021) showed that 8% of respondents said they had ever complained directly to a gambling operator. Subject to industry delivering a credible scheme, where the government and the Gambling Commission are satisfied with its scope and independence, we will explore how best to require that all licensees ensure their customers have effective access to the ombudsman for social responsibility complaints.
The impact of COVID-19 saw a further decrease of 4% to 609 licensed bingo premises between March 2020 and March 2022, and GGY declined by 33% in the same period. The overall number of licensed bingo premises has declined by 11% from a high of 710 in March 2014 to 635 in March 2020, GGY over the same period declined by 15%. The number of active licensed premises increased from 148 (2015) to 156 (2020), but the impact of COVID-19 resulted in a number of permanent closures (active licensed premises were 144 in 2022). The 2005 Act licences (8 Large and 8 Small) were allocated by a Casino Advisory Panel following bids from local authorities. The Gambling Commission’s advice to this review has emphasised the benefits of the land-based sector moving towards account-based play. This means that the length of time on a machine, stakes and the win/loss can be assigned to a customer’s profile.
Seven operators replied to this section of the consultation, some of which account for multiple venues and a significant proportion of the land-based casino sector. A sliding scale was proposed in the consultation which detailed potential requirements across (i) gambling space; (ii) table gaming space; (iii) non-gambling area; and (iv) machine to table ratio. The consultation proposed a number of measures with a view to modernising the regulation that applies to land-based casinos. All casinos will be allowed to offer betting, which was previously restricted to 2005 Act casinos.
Based on the above approach, our estimated GGY drop from a fixed £8.50 slot stake limit is £135 million to £185 million (4% to 6% of online slots GGY). We modelled GGY impact on the basis of a typical online slots Return to Player of 95% (the percentage of money wagered on a game that should theoretically be paid back to players over time). For the purposes of this annex, we have assumed a fixed stake limit of all customers of £8.50, which is the midpoint of the range of limits we will consult on for adults aged 25 and over in summer 2023. This covers 3.95 billion spins on online slot games, and reports how these were distributed across different monetary thresholds (see Figure 28 below). We cannot predict the extent to which the impact of our proposals will change in subsequent years as this will depend on implementation details to be determined through the Gambling Commission’s consultation, such as whether/when customers who have already ‘passed’ a check need to be reassessed. This estimate was derived by modelling the application of our proposal on a single year of data on player spend.
Although it is withdrawing from commissioning research except where it directly relates to prevention and treatment, GambleAware is providing funding for a new, first of its kind Gambling Harms Research Centre to broaden the range of academic disciplines engaged with gambling harms research in Great Britain. Following a review of its fees in 2024, the Commission will also take an enhanced role in directly commissioning research to inform regulation based on its ongoing assessment of regulatory priorities to prevent harm. The government, including both DCMS and DHSC, will work with UKRI to build interest, capacity and investment in the gambling harms research field in Great Britain and identify research priorities. We welcome the significant contributions industry has made to RET since the introduction of the Gambling Act, and the substantial increase in funding the largest gambling operators have made available for treatment in recent years.
