The Social Market Foundation, a respected independent political think-tank in Britain, has called on parliament to force iGaming companies to conduct “affordability checks” after a gambler loses \u00a3100 ($139) in a single month.<\/p>\n
This is a vital area to continue to address, because while some operators have continued to improve their customer interaction processes, our evidence shows that many online operators are not setting thresholds for action at appropriate levels,” a recent statement regarding internet limits from the UKGC explained. “They are not taking the appropriate action or acting quickly enough when they do identify risks of potential harm.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The UK gaming industry opposes such a measure on grounds that operators already have appropriate safeguards in place to combat potential problem gambling.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nBrick-and-Mortars at Disadvantage<\/b><\/h2>\n
It’s been a devastating 24 months for high street betting shops, a longtime staple of Britain’s cities and small towns. On April 1, 2019, the maximum bet on a fixed-odds betting terminal (FOBT) — devices that operate similarly to slot machines — was slashed from \u00a3100 to just \u00a32 ($139 to $2.80).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n
The regulatory adjustment resulted in more than 1,000 high street betting shops closing, and many thousands of workers put out of work. COVID-19 and Johnson’s resulting closures of nonessential businesses, including bookmakers, saw many more high street betting businesses shutting their doors.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Meanwhile, online slots are not subject to the \u00a32 per bet maximum, nor were they forced to close during the pandemic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UK online gambling continued to flourish in March, as the vast majority of Brits were continued to be locked down on stay-at-home orders. The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) this week reported record online slot machine revenue for a single month. Interactive gaming platforms said their slots generated GGR of \u00a3202.9 million ($282 million). That’s a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":172930,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,13592],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
UK Online Gaming Revenue Totals $759M in March<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n