Industry Recoils As Online Casino Betting Limits Loom

Image source: BeatingBetting.co.uk-Flickr

It was, perhaps, bound to happen, and bookmakers like Bet365, one of the biggest online betting sites in the UK and beyond, have been bracing themselves for it to occur. The cross-party report from MPs that suggests online casino betting limits amongst a plethora of other recommendations has popped up in the run up to a general election and could yet be a political football to distract from Brexit, but does that mean we’ll see all its findings put into action? I wouldn’t bet on it.

Once the cap was set on FOBT (Fixed Odds Betting Terminals) it was only going to be a matter of time before the same was applied to other forms of gambling, the internet is the obvious place to start. With numerous large bookies moving their operations overseas to avoid the new tax regime there is not the greatest quantity of sympathy for them at present in government circles, and quite a few will see online casino betting limits as a good step towards combating problem gambling. 

UK General Election odds at bet365

• Labour+SNP – 20/1
• Con+Lib Dems – 20/1
• Lab+Lib Dems – 16/1
• Con+Brexit Party – 14/1
• Labour Majority – 12/1
• Lab+Lib Dems+SNP – 11/1
• Conservative Minority – 5/1
• Labour Minority – 9/2
• Conservative Majority – 11/10
• Hung Parliament – Evens

Whether online casino betting limits work or not, and the evidence is pretty good they might, promising to impose them will at least make it appear as if they are trying to do something about the issue, and in the run up to the snap election on the 12th of December rash promises to win support may be made. Anyone in the UK gambling laws aren’t so easily changed should look at what Parliament did to the Fixed Parliaments Act when it simply didn’t suit them anymore. 

MPs Want Wholesale Revamp Of Current Gambling Laws

As the Brexmas Election nears all the major parties will seek subjects the media enjoys covering that have nothing to do with Brexit, since Brexit is boring everyone in the UK to tears. Problem gambling makes for good TV news fodder and so don’t be surprised if you don’t see politicians picking up this ball to run with it. This is particularly true of embattled Boris Johnson who, we are told, is sympathetic to imposing online casino betting limits and so may well use this topic.

Naturally for those who most frequently bet on sports in the UK as an occasional flutter on the big events online casino betting limits might not be an overly large problem, the fun wasn’t in the amount, but with MPs suggesting an end to betting using ones credit card there are suddenly more barriers to us doing so. However, the report damns current legislation and states that the entire manner in which the industry is overseen and regulated needs to be radically overhauled.

Set Your Own Sensible Online Casino Betting Limits At Bet365

Obviously the industry has reacted with disappointment to the report and have claimed that it has made great strides towards tackling problem gambling, however with Labour backing a more stringent set of laws, and the Conservatives led by someone also in favour, there’s every chance that this could well happen early in the next parliament. A unifying bill they can all get behind, imposing online casino betting limits and a greater degree of transparency to the whole industry.

MPs Report Recommends

• Total Legislation Overhaul
• Online Casino Betting Limits of £2
• A Ban On Credit Card Gambling
• Debt Liability Limitation Measures
• VIP Account Restrictions
• NDA Investigation

It has become apparent, according to the MPs report that Non-Disclosure Agreements, NDAs, have been used to stifle some victims of problem gambling and prevent them communicating with regulators, even denying compensation to those refusing to sign. These will, bookies like Bet365, one of the few scrupulous online sportsbook sites in the UK these days, will be very unsurprised to hear, soon be a thing of the past, and then they’ll not have anywhere to hide.