What Will Happen To UK Online Casinos With A Betting LimitRumors Have Been Circulating About Forcing Online Operators To Restrict Betting Amounts Of Customers |
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UK online casinos already face a number of challenges but a fresh one could be coming soon.
It has been claimed that a £2 betting limit should be introduced at UK online casinos in order to help people to stay in control of their gambling.
This would be a huge change and would likely result in betting companies not being able to make as much money as they have become used to doing in recent times.
In fact, when a cross-party group of MPs in the UK called for new measures to be introduced to curb gambling, it led to shares in betting brands falling by a large amount.
William Hill’s shares dropped in value by 7.5 percent, while the share price of the company that owns brands such as Coral and Ladbrokes fell by even more at 7.7 percent.
When the Gambling Commission then suggested it would be willing to cut online casino game stakes to £2, gambling software company Playtech and industry firms Flutter and 888 all saw their share prices fall by around the seven percent mark, writing off hundreds of millions of pounds in their company values.
What Changes Are Likely To Be Introduced?
The Gambling Related Harm All-Party Parliamentary Group has said there should be restrictions on VIP programs at UK online casinos, as well as blocking credit cards from being used to make a deposit into an account.
The UK Gambling Commission has already limited the bonuses offered by UK online casinos. It is possible to argue that the industry is coming under attack in a big way right now.
Fixed-odds betting terminals – or FOBTs for short – is a good example of this. Maximum stakes on these machines, which allow people to play games like roulette, was cut from £100 to £2.
GVC and William Hill have said they will close down hundreds of betting shops each as a result in the change to the law regarding FOBTs, which have been closely linked to gambling addiction. Many jobs are going to be lost at these companies as a result of closing down the shops.
It is widely accepted that the introduction of the 2005 Gambling Act by the Labour government in the UK led to a rise in betting across the country.
The arrival of online casinos then also had a big impact, making it quicker and easier than ever before to place bets through the internet. But the days of high-stakes slot games and VIP programmes that encourage people to bet more and more appear to be increasingly numbered.
Can Online Casinos Survive These Proposed Changes?
Many online casino brands in the UK are already finding it hard to make ends meet in these new conditions with some having closed down already.
Aston Casino and MaxEnt have pulled out of operating in the UK in recent weeks and months while another, Black Type, announced that it was going to have to go into administration.
Royal Panda, which had been bought out by Swedish betting brand LeoVegas in 2017, also closed down with little warning, telling customers to withdraw any funds out of their accounts.
According to an analyst at Regulus Partners, Paul Leyland, changes to gambling regulations in the UK are already making it less appealing for casinos to operate in this country.
Larger betting brands seem to be finding it harder to thrive as well. William Hill has long been seen as one of the success stories of the industry, but it failed to complete a deal, said to be worth as much as £3 billion, to merge with Rank and the 888 Group a few years ago.
Instead of trying to grow further in the UK, it seems as though betting companies are instead focusing on new markets such as Asia – which is largely unregulated – and South America.
The United States is also set to be a key market for betting companies in the coming months and years as changes to the law seem set to make online casinos more common in America.
What is in store for online casinos in the UK if a £2 betting limit is brought in remains to be seen.
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