A Historical Timeline of Gambling Laws in Britain
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The UK will soon require punters to prove they can afford to play for certain stakes. The current gambling laws date back nearly a millennium to the rule of Richard I. New regulations were supposed to be released throughout 2021, but delays have been caused by the 2005 Gambling Act.
Before King Richard I of England, gambling was a free-for-all in the British Isles. King ruled in 1190 that people ranked lower than a knight shouldn't gamble. Knights, clergymen and others in upper echelon of society were allowed to gamble up to 20 shillings per day. Anyone who gambled more was subject to a 100-shilling fine.
Richard II introduced restrictions on gambling during his reign. Richard I had already introduced gambling restrictions. Dices were popular during Richard II's reign, Hugh le Barber was cured of blindness because he could play dice again.
Edward IV banned the importation of playing cards and dice. He also made it illegal to play cards or dice games outside of Christmas. The ban on gambling materials from outside England slowed the spread of the games. The early English cards used Latin suits instead of French suits.
No lord or other person of lower estate shall allow any dicing or playing at cards within his house or wherever else he may prevent it.
The Unlawful Games Act of 1541 banned all gambling on Christmas except archery. Henry VIII ordered this to prevent the decline of archers. The law was never properly enforced and it only limited the collection of gambling debts through the courts. A Historical Timeline of Gambling Laws in Britain is available here.
The Gaming Act of 1845 made it legal to bet on games of skill. Lotteries were legalized, outlawed, then legalized again. The Act also made cheating a crime and made gambling debts unenforceable by law. Bookmakers got around the Act by taking bets on the street and employing young boys to run from the police.
The Betting and Gaming Act of 1960 was introduced to regulate gambling. It was followed by the Gaming Board for Great Britain, which regulated the industry until it was replaced by UK Gambling Commission in 2005.
The Gambling Act of 2005 was passed to regulate online gambling. It was updated in 2014 to account for the growth of online betting and gaming. All online operators serving Brits had to be approved by the UK G gambling commission.
The British government launched a review of the gambling industry in December 2020. Neil McArthur left the industry on March 15, 2021, two weeks before the review was due to end.
Andrew Rhodes will be the permanent CEO of the company in May of 2022. He will oversee the implementation of new gambling laws and regulations.
The government is planning to overhaul British gambling laws.
