The Casinos Gaming Machines and Mandatory Conditions Regulations 2025: impact assessments RPC opinion green-rated
Other London casinos also use this method, with one reporting that in a typical year, 48% of overall money exchanged for chips is accepted via international cheques. For the purposes of this assessment, we assume that 15% to 30% of revenue constrained by slots limits is spent on other online casino games instead. These include extending session length (to stake the same total amount), spending on different products, migrating to products in the land-based sector, ceasing gambling in the licensed sector altogether, or adjusting staking patterns. Checks will be mandatory across all operators (so customers cannot entirely avoid them by using a different operator as they might at present). This differs significantly from the present experience reported by some individual operators where they suggest the majority of their GGY above enhanced check thresholds is lost due to high non-compliance with the data requests.
The 2025 changes in the UK are massive, which to many could make gambling laws as complicated as the rules of cricket. This should lead to better-informed decisions about gambling. This change is intended to reduce the number of bets people place, which should eradicate a good amount of problem gambling.
There are currently 137 active casino licences which originated under the 1968 Act, three casinos with a Small casino licence and four with a Large casino licence under the 2005 Act. As well as bringing commercial benefits for operators and improving the customer experience, these measures are expected to bring player protection benefits; in particular, a greater willingness amongst customers to take appropriate breaks in play without fearing that they would lose their place at the machine. The Gambling Commission will consider what changes will be required to mandatory premises licence conditions (for example, on common standards of supervision and monitoring) and licence fees for operators. We will also address the inconsistency in Small premises size requirements that requires them to have a minimum table gaming area of the same size as the minimum gambling area, and enact the commitment made in the last gambling review to be clear that only live tables with a dealer will count towards the ratio.
However, we want to avoid any regulation that would allow table gaming areas to be placed in obscure or less accessible areas for customers so that a genuinely mixed offering of products remains in the casino. This will ensure that only distinct and sizeable table gaming areas can count towards the total, giving customers a genuine mix of products that are easily accessible in a casino. However, if a casino has 600sqm of gambling space, it would only be required to have at least 250sqm of table gaming space.
Some individual operators have also voluntarily introduced bespoke protections for this group in other areas. In 2021, the Betting and Gaming Council introduced a code of conduct for VIP schemes, which included additional checks before enrolling customers aged 18 to 24 onto schemes, for example requiring review by the holder of a Gambling Commission Personal Management Licence. A recent cross-sectional research study found an association between suicide attempts in 16 to 24-year-olds and problem gambling, even after adjustment for other factors.
1968 Act casinos will be entitled to an enhanced gaming machine entitlement if their gambling area is at least 280sqm. 1968 Act casinos with a gambling area of at least 280sqm will be able to exercise the increased gaming machine entitlements shown in Figure 3. For example, a casino with two premises licences that meets the size and physical separation requirements could site 160 machines – more than a Large 2005 Act casino. Where 1968 Act casinos are smaller than these requirements, we have proposed that they are able to benefit from an increased number of machines on a pro rata basis commensurate with their size and non-gambling area, and subject to the same ratio. The number of gaming products that land-based casinos can provide will always be constrained by physical space in a way that online casinos are not, but this is made worse by the existing caps on numbers.
As such, our position is that they should only impact a minority of engaged customers, and involve unintrusive checks at moderate levels of spend to help identify particularly financially vulnerable consumers, and more comprehensive although still frictionless assessments for those spending more heavily. Given that most gamblers are not spending more than they can afford or otherwise experiencing harm, we are mindful that these checks need to be proportionate. While many operators have already introduced systems, interventions often come too late or not at all, and the measures are inconsistently applied across the sector. As explored in the Commission’s advice to this Review, different checks are likely to be necessary to address the different risks, and requiring the appropriate checks at appropriate thresholds is key to ensuring the system is effective. Figure 6 below shows YouGov data on discretionary income available for different age bands as reported in the Commission’s consultation, and can be considered alongside other data such as from the ONS. Similarly, work by the Social Market Foundation has considered ‘Minimum Income Standards’ and the potential for gambling losses to impact personal and household living standards for some groups.
Online slots stake limits: the 2025 change players notice instantly
All UK licensed online casinos and sportsbooks are mandated to perform anti-money laundering checks, and mental and financial welfare checks on their customers. All forms of online gambling are licensed by the Gambling Commission and therefore can be legally provided in the country under a licence from the commission. Liberal Democrat politicians called for a complete ban on sports betting and online casinos sponsorships in high-level UK sports competitions such as the English Premier League. We ourselves are not casino operators, do not offer any real-money games on our website, and cannot be held liable for the financial risks readers take when participating in real-money gambling activities. The remote casino operating license allows operators “to offer casino games to customers via a website, mobile phone, TV or other online service.
Stake Limits, Autoplay Ban, and Affordability Checks
- The activities with the highest participation over that period were arcade gaming machines such as penny pusher or claw grab machines (22%), placing a bet for money between friends or family (15%) and playing cards with friends or family for money (5%).
- Any fee increase must be linked to the cost to that particular local authority of carrying out its gambling functions.
- £4 million of seed funding will be given over three years to the University of Bristol to build and diversify research capability in the gambling harms field.
- We believe that these proposals will meaningfully reduce harms without disproportionate impacts on the sector’s ability to compete.
- These usually entail a more sensitive calibration of player monitoring systems to detect harm, but some operators take more direct action, for example requiring customers aged 18 to 24 to set their own deposit limit before they are permitted to gamble or unilaterally implementing a mandatory maximum loss limit.
- The call for evidence asked about the evidence on the harms or benefits of permitting cashless payments for gambling.
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.
Those who lead on these fronts will be best placed to grow sustainably — and defend their licence — in a sector under increasing scrutiny. Operators should keep a clear audit trail of all actions taken — as the ability to evidence compliance is just as important as achieving it. This elevates frontline teams into a key role within the broader safer gambling ecosystem, further emphasising the importance of accountability. The Gambling Journal covers the global iGaming industry through daily news, sharp analysis, and editorially independent company profiles.
Checks will happen in the background against information already available online, non gamstop so those who are checked will not notice. Betting companies will be required to conduct seamless player protection checks on the highest spending gamblers to check they’re not incurring harmful losses. A new stake limit for online slots will be introduced with the default maximum stake of between £2 and £15 per spin, subject to consultation. The rate will be subject to further consultation, which will take into account factors such as business size, operating costs and problem gambling rates.
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.
This includes ensuring that appropriate safeguards against gambling-related harm are in place. The policy proposals set out in this government response are intended to modernise the land-based gambling sector and help it to thrive sustainably. In September 2019, the Gross Gambling Yield (GGY) generated by remote gambling overtook that of land-based gambling for the first time (excluding lotteries). The white paper acknowledged that the emergence of new technology and the availability of online gambling since the Gambling Act 2005 came into force has substantially altered the gambling landscape. Measures relating to casinos – one draft affirmative and one made negative statutory instrument. This response provides non-remote gambling operators with clear notice of our intention to introduce the measures set out within this government response.
The body will adjudicate complaints relating to social responsibility or gambling harm where an operator is not able to resolve these. We will work with industry and all stakeholders in the sector to create an ombudsman that is fully operationally independent and is credible with customers. However, these are currently out of scope for ADR, and the Commission cannot require operators to repay individual customers. Approximately 2,000 customer complaints per year to alternative dispute resolution (ADR) providers and the Gambling Commission relate to social responsibility breaches, gambling harm and safer gambling.
New Reporting Rules Take Effect 19 March 2026
This includes lotteries, betting on sports and horse races, bingo, as well as gaming machines at pubs and land-based casinos. We do not see this as being an issue for operators or manufacturers as it is already widely available on Category B gaming machines within all land-based gambling premises. While it is acknowledged that the risk of gambling harm may increase somewhat following a transition to 50/50, the stipulation outlined in Option 2 would ensure that operators offer a balance of higher and lower stake gaming machines.
Further, the terminal must only allow participation in one activity at a time and should not permit simultaneous bingo and machine game play. Retail bingo clubs have highlighted that recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic has been slow and fragile due to the vulnerability of many of their customers and that the proposals set out by the sector could allow clubs to modernise and extend their offer to customers. It said that side bets on a main stage bingo game could allow customers to increase their opportunities for a return (for example, on the colour of the final ball, the number of the final ball to be drawn or which segment of the room the winner of the house will be sat). The sector cited evidence of the social and community benefits of bingo (particularly for older people).
More widely, operators are expected to implement processes designed to identify when customers are exhibiting signs of potential harm and to interact and intervene in a way that is proportionate to the risk identified. Since 1 May 2025, operators have only been allowed to directly market to customers that have consented to marketing on a granular per product (i.e., casino, bingo, betting) and per channel (i.e., SMS, email) basis and, in January 2026, further rules will take effect on the offer of incentives. Other than that, different types of gambling activity conducted by the same media can be combined – for example, a “remote” gambling operating licence might well have betting, gaming and software operation endorsed upon it. This applies to all forms of gambling, both online and land-based, including the National Lottery and scratchcards, which moved from 16 to 18 in 2021.
Under the new rules, financial penalties paid by British gambling operators would be paid directly to the government’s accounts, rather than being directed to charities and research bodies. The betting industry alone is reported to contribute £6 billion as of January 2010, 0.5% of GDP. Publicans must also be vigilant in ensuring that their customers do not pass betting slips between each other but only bet for themselves. Until the Gambling Act 2005, the Betting Gaming and Lotteries Act 1963 prohibited “betting and the passing of betting slips” in licensed premises, that is those licensed to sell alcohol. The commission’s site has details of both licensed operators and applicants.
The same research found that rates of risky gambling were lowest amongst those who only play bingo compared to those who play fruit/slot machines and bingo, who have the highest rates of risky gambling. The PHE gambling-related harm evidence review highlighted Health Survey evidence that non-remote bingo (3.3%) and in-person horse race betting had the lowest problem gambling rates of all non-lottery activities. The proposal to make provisions within the Gambling Commission’s gaming machine Code of Practice for alcohol licensed premises binding (when Parliamentary time allows) will give the regulator and licensing authorities clearer powers to intervene in these instances of failure. We expect this to enable operators to reduce the number of energy-intensive older machines that are less used by customers. We acknowledge that some player safety improvements have been made to modern Category B3 gaming machines which cannot be easily replicated on the older Category B3, C and D machines.
This means we have asked Qualtrics to collect your information via an online survey platform, which we will review as part of the consultation process. You have the option to select ‘Prefer not to say’ in response to any of the questions that ask for your personal data. We will use your data to enable us to carry out our functions as a government department.
Therefore, a general shift in the economic model of remote gambling away from a reliance on a high spending minority is likely desirable to achieve the government’s objectives and create a more sustainable industry. A recent survey of UK gamblers estimated that moderate-risk and problem gamblers (collectively comprising 14.1% of the sample population) accounted for 43.5% of overall gambling spend but more for certain product types. In addition to submissions to the call for evidence, we also received advice from the Gambling Commission, which emphasised the importance of measures to prevent harm throughout the remote customer journey, and committed to build on recent work to improve protections.
The Commission is also dealing with an increase in the number of novel products from both licensed and unlicensed operators, with many blurring the line between gambling and other markets such as financial investment and video games. The Commission’s regulation of commercial gambling is funded from fees charged for licences and permits, which are set in secondary legislation by the DCMS Secretary of State at a level that is intended to recover the full costs of regulating the gambling market. It is responsible for issuing gambling operating licences as well as personal licences for individuals performing specific functions within businesses.
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.
Online casinos, for example, must prevent underage gambling, display the return-to-player (RTP) percentages for all games, and promote fair and responsible gambling. This includes poker, roulette, blackjack, and other casino games, as well as online slot games.” In addition, all online casinos must use software from suppliers that hold a license from the Gambling Commission. Now, all firms that wish to advertise and provide gambling services to customers based in the UK must obtain a license from the UK. All other machines, namely Categories A, B, and C (including Category B3A lottery-style machines), are restricted to those aged 18 and over. Online casino operators are required to carry out age and identity verification procedures (updated in 2019) for all newly registered customers. It also regulates the remote gambling sector, which includes online bookmakers, bingo sites, and casino websites.
1 Licensees must have and put into effect procedures for self-exclusion and take all reasonable steps to refuse service or to otherwise prevent an individual who has entered a self-exclusion agreement from participating in gambling. 6Additionally, some licensees will be subject to specific statutory requirements to retain relevant data, under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 for example. However operators should be aware that the Gambling Commission cannot provide any definitive ruling on the interpretation of the GDPR, and the ICO will address any issues on a case by case basis.
Moreover, 85% of land-based gamblers reported that paying via a cashless payment method (such as debit card or contactless play via mobile phone) made it easier to spend more than originally intended. This would likely affect the future viability of land-based venues, which support jobs and have been adversely affected by the pandemic. In addition to this, research commissioned by Bacta showed that in 2018, seaside arcades alone contributed £451m in UK GVA, and were responsible for employing around 19,000 people. In the Gambling Commission’s industry statistics published in May 2020, it was estimated to employ approximately 80,500 people.
The cross-industry submission from the Cashless Group cited evidence of technological change and developments in consumer behaviour over recent years to support its argument that enabling cashless payments would meet consumer expectations. If a wider range of games were to be permitted, limits would need to be set on the total number of automated machines to minimise the impact of this change. They propose that new games would be subject to the same player protection measures applied to existing play in casinos. Betting is currently only permitted in 2005 Act casinos, which were intended to offer a wider variety of products as part of the destination casino model. Travel restrictions in the UK and overseas have compounded the impact of COVID-related closures for the high-end casinos, which competes with jurisdictions such as Monaco, Singapore and Macau rather than mainstream British venues.