It is widely anticipated that the UK government will soon confirm the imposition of spin limits for online slots, potentially aligning them with restrictions on land-based betting machines. According to a report from The Guardian, the announcement of this measure is expected to be made on Friday (23.02).
This move has been under consideration for some time and was the subject of a consultation following the release of the UK gambling white paper last April. While a £2 per spin limit was enforced on fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) in 2019, no such limit has been applied to online slots thus far, although some major operators have voluntarily imposed restrictions.
It is anticipated that there will be two distinct limits: £2 for individuals under 25 and £5 for those older.
An “industry source” quoted by The Guardian stated:
We’re expecting it to be £2 and £5. We’d be very surprised if it wasn’t.
This restriction could potentially result in significant revenue loss for the UK gambling industry, particularly at a time when online gambling is experiencing rapid growth. According to statistics from the Gambling Commission, online casinos in the UK generated £4 billion in the 12 months ending March 2023, with slots accounting for £3.2 billion of that total.
In September, the government extended the deadline for its consultation on stake limits for online slots due to an error in the data provided in the original documentation. The government initially reported that the problem gambling rate for 16 to 24-year-olds in the UK was 1.5 per cent.
However, according to data from Public Health England, this figure only represents the rate among men, while the overall percentage of problem gambling in this age group stands at 0.8 per cent. Consequently, the government extended the deadline for submissions to the consultation by two weeks, until October 4.
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