The UK Gambling Commission has been updating its policies over the last few years, and it doesn’t look like they’ll be stopping anytime soon. According to new revision to the License Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP), land-based and internet gambling operators will be implementing additional social responsibilities to better control problem gambling over the next two years.
The LCCP was designed to create a safer live and internet gambling environment. The key target of the rules is social responsibility. As such, the UK Gambling Commission has been working diligently to script policies that help to detect and prevent addictive behavior by patrons of the UK’s gambling facilities, both in land-based and interactive environments.
The first amendment to the LCCP will require operators to implement additional means of scouting out their clientele to identify patterns of problem gambling. The intention is to recognize potential addicts before they become certifiable problem gamblers. By invoking enhanced customer supervision, the UK Gambling Commission hopes to decrease the number of gambling addicts in the region.
Land-based gambling operators have been given until April of 2016 to devise an all-inclusive self-exclusion system. Conceptually speaking, a gambler would be able to register for self-exclusion at one land-based casino, after which they would automatically be excluded from all land-based casinos in the United Kingdom. It would be a situational self-exclusion policy, meaning if the player chose to exclude themselves from sports betting, only the region’s sportsbooks would exclude the person.
In similar fashion, internet gambling operators will be required to invoke the same, region-wide self-exclusion policies, as well as virtual “time-out” area. During time-out, players would be given the opportunity to monitor their gambling activities and expenditures and take a break if they felt the need. However, due to the nature of the policy and interactive networking technologies, the UK Gambling Commission is giving internet gambling operators an extra year to develop and integrate the policy, due by 2017.
The policies also targeted marketing campaigns by live and internet gambling operators. All advertisements must maintain social responsibility. For example, the UK Gambling Commission said that marketing a ‘free bet’ would require the ad to be “open, transparent and not misleading”.
A statement from the UK Gambling Commission relating to the updated LCCP explained the necessity for the changes. “We have reached the point at which it is clear that much more could be achieved if anonymous gambling in cash was not such a prominent feature of land-based gambling. Removing anonymity of course raises its own challenges and it is time for a proper public debate on the costs and benefits of doing so.”
Social Gaming Unaffected
The commission has previously clarified that they’ve found no evidence to support a need for additional regulation of social gaming. There is no opportunity to win money in a social gaming atmosphere, despite the option to spend money in furtherance of gameplay. Multiple studies commissioned by the UK Gambling Commission and the International social Gaming Association (ISGA) have repeatedly concluded that there is no discernible link between social gambling and the propagation of problem gambling.
“While the data suggests that, in general, the vast majority of people who play social games spend very modest amounts of time and money, there is clearly a very small group who spend significant amount.” At that time, the UK Gambling Commission stated that, “it is likely that this group is not sufficiently large to justify any form of additional regulatory intervention.”