Are UK Gambling Regulations For Slots Changing in 2021? 

Gambling habits of the UK public are constantly changing and this is mostly down to new technology making gambling far more accessible than it used to be.  Before 1996, gambling was easier to control because access was limited to traditional gambling outlets such as betting shops and land-based casinos.

All this changed in 1996 when two innovations created a huge gambling boom in the country. The digital revolution gave us the internet and the internet brought the first online casino and the first video BonanzaSlots to the masses. Traditional gambling became a thing of the past as most gamblers preferred to gamble in a secure environment of their choosing.

This mostly meant that punters started to gamble from home instead of in betting shops and land-based casinos. Things were further complicated by the introduction of mobile casinos. Again, this increased accessibility as people could gamble on the go courtesy of smartphones and other mobile devices. 

A Need For Regulation 

With so many people gambling and the gambling landscape totally transformed, the industry laws became outdated and needed updating. The fact that online casinos were constantly increasing and operating in an unlicensed virtual world also caused deep concern. Despite the liberal attitudes of the Blair government towards gambling, the UK reacted by creating the UK Gambling Commission and this body was specially introduced to regulate all forms of gambling. 

New Laws 

The UK Gambling Commission quickly began to set laws that unregulated online casinos had to abide by if they wanted to operate legally in the UK.  This helped to remove dishonest online casinos practices and now it is rare to find an unlicensed and unregulated casino operating in the UK.  All casinos now have to prove that they are worthy of obtaining a license by showing that they can obey certain strict criteria set out by the UK Gambling Commission. Despite these changes, the UK Gambling Commission has been presented by a new growing problem and this is the increasing numbers of people becoming addicted to gambling. This has caused concern amongst politicians and pressure groups forcing new laws upon the gambling industry. 

Recent Law Changes and Future Ones 

Recent changes in gambling laws came into affect in October 2019 when the maximum bet on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals found in betting shops across the UK was reduced from £200 to £2. This came into affect after the law change was announced back in May 2018. Addiction organizations are still alarmed at the amount of people who are becoming addicted to gambling and in April 2021, it became illegal to gamble with a credit card. Beyond 2021 it is expected that max bets on online slots will also come down drastically. At the moment it is still legal to make huge single spin bets on slots, but further alarming headlines about gambling mean that this will come down sooner rather than later. Some casinos are now asking punters for source of wealth information and if you do not provided details of your bank account savings, your casino account is frozen.