UK imposes online slots stake limits
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It’s no secret that online slots are hugely popular worldwide, but did you know they are especially favored in the UK where revenues from digital slot machine games have more than doubled in the seven years since 2016? These revenues have reached a record £3.2bn, accounting for nearly 30 percent of all income not related to the European country’s National Lottery. When played responsibly, online slot games are fun and you just might get lucky!
However, for some, the combination of easy access and no statuary stake limits can lead to large losses and binge play. As such, as part of the UK Government’s plan to strengthen regulation of the country’s £11bn-a-year gambling industry, for the first time, it will introduce stake limits for online slots, such as those as per Casino Gambler website.
White Paper
The measure is part of a package of proposed gambling reforms outlined in a 268-page white paper published by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in April 2023. The move has been hailed as a landmark moment for the regulation of online gambling in the UK.
From September 2024, the amount of money permitted to be staked on a single spin of a digital slot machine will reportedly be capped at £5 for adults who are 25 years old and over, while the maximum stake for 18 to 24-year -olds will be set at £2. These new stake limits will align more closely with slot machines in land-based casinos and bookmakers. Unlike brick-and-mortar gaming machines, currently, in Great Britain, online slots have no statutory stake limits.
The decision to impose the limits follows a consultation period that lasted 10 weeks. Most of the respondents, including views from within the industry, treatment providers, academics and individuals, aligned with those in the government’s white paper proposal to bring statuary limits to online slot games to aid in mitigating the risk of gambling harm.
Most people, however, gamble without issue, a fact that was echoed by Gambling Minister Stuart Andrew in a statement via the recent press release: “Although millions of people gamble safely every single day, the evidence shows that there is a significantly higher problem gambling rate for online slot games.”
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Slots Play on the Rise
According to the most recent report from the Gambling Commission, the body responsible for regulating most types of gambling in Great Britain, gross gaming yield (GGY) for slots climbed 11 percent, reaching £614m in Q1 2024, an 11 percent improvement on 2023’s numbers. In Q4, the busiest month was March, with a total yield of £220.4m.
More than 21.9 billion total spins were counted in Q4, an increase of 12 percent, and for the same period, the average monthly active accounts rose 7 percent to 4.2 million per month. Additionally, a two percent increase was seen in the number of online slots sessions that lasted longer than one hour, with year-on-year (YoY) to 9.5 million.
According to the report published on April 30, 2024, the average session length in Q4 2022-2023 decreased by one minute, from 18 to 17 minutes for the current quarter, with some 6 percent of all sessions lasting for over an hour.
