Online Betting Uk
Wait, you can bet on politics?
W e have compared the UK’s betting sites across a number of criteria from sign-up offers to withdrawal to find out which are the best on the market. See our selections for the best UK betting sites. Online Betting Markets. Football is one of the most popular betting markets around, and 21.co.uk’s online sportsbook has everything you need for Football betting If Rugby is more your sport, then we have Rugby League betting and Rugby Union betting. 21.co.uk also offers exclusive markets on Horse Racing. All online gambling in the UK is governed by the 2014 Gambling Bill. Since then all forms of online gambling operating out of the UK must be licenced through the UK Gambling Commission. The Gambling Commission was established under the Gambling Act 2005. Online-Betting.me.uk is a very popular website for online sports betting needs, primarily focused on football betting. Our goal is to support punters and to boost their success in profit returns. Feb 04, 2021 For those who may be new to online betting, you should be aware that if there isn't a UK Gambling Commission seal at the bottom of the sportsbook's page, the site is off-limits.
Yes, you can! In fact, since 2016, political betting has been one of the fastest-growing categories of the online betting industry and political betting odds are popping up all over. For Americans or anyone living in the USA, offshore betting is the only lawful option, as it is illegal for brick and mortar sportsbooks to offer any sort of politics betting. In Europe, however, this form of wagering is a well-established staple of their legalized betting culture.
Regardless, top-notch online political betting sites are available to everyone, no matter where you live. What’s most important is finding one that’s vetted, safe to use, and can be relied upon to provide handicappers with the best odds and markets consistently.
Top Sites for Betting on Politics
- Bovada – One of the most widely recognized names in online wagers, they frequently offer the best political betting odds.
- MyBookie – This site posts a broad range of creative political lines, including a selection of fun Donald Trump prop bets.
- BetOnline – As a long-time industry leader in online bookmaking, it has lots of great political betting markets.
- Betway – This is a UK-based bookmaker that holds licenses throughout Europe and offers a large selection of US and European political betting opportunities.
Our mission is to introduce new players to the world’s top political betting websites; however, the qualities that make an option the “best” for one player may not be the same for another. It’s all relatively subjective once you get past the fundamental attributes like safety, legitimacy, and ease of use. You can find out more about this further down on the page but first, lets jump into to different political betting options on the market.
Political Betting Around the World
Everything from the online sportsbooks available in your region, to the political betting events in which you’re likely interested, will probably depend on your location or country of origin. In the United States, it’s illegal for licensed providers—brick and mortar and web-based bookmakers alike—to take odds on politics. This law was put into place to prevent the American electoral system from corruption.
However, it’s perfectly legal for US citizens to utilize offshore betting sites; they just won’t benefit from any government regulations, which makes finding trustworthy operators particularly crucial for Americans. The best political bookmakers accepting Americans will often cover foreign elections as well, but not as thoroughly as what’s going on in the United States.
In Europe, political betting is commonplace and easily accessible, both at land-based establishments and on the internet. For a player in the UK, using a licensed gaming website is a requirement, which gives the player increased protections and less reason to fret about the legitimacy of a site operator. Fortunately, European oddsmakers do a superb job at covering US political events in addition to their local lines.
Betting US Politics
No matter the country in which you live, United States political betting markets are the most popular on the internet. All of the top political betting sites offer a plenty of lines and odds, dealing with the US presidential elections, party primaries, congressional races, and a wealth of wagers relating specifically to President Donald Trump.
Political betting’s rapid growth is largely attributed to the 2016 election, in which Trump scored a shocking upset win over Hillary Clinton. Before that race, wagering on politics didn’t offer much value, because the polls were relatively accurate, and so the lines and odds shifted in response to the latest polling data.
2016 changed everything because it proved that:
- The pollsters and media were no longer reliable sources
- That major upsets were possible, which means there’s positive value out there for handicappers.
Today, you can bet on each individual state’s primary or caucus on the road to the two parties’ national conventions, the eventual nominees, how many times Donald Trump will tweet in a given day, whether he will be removed from office, and so much more!
Betting UK Politics
As we previously mentioned, betting on politics has been a normal fixture of UK odds boards for years. Similar to Trump’s victory in 2016, handicappers in England were treated to a massive upset of their own with the passing of “Brexit.” The substantial payouts and surprising result had the same impact across the pond, creating newfound interest in betting on politics.
Online sportsbooks in the UK treat residents to all sorts of creative lines, covering everything from the London mayoral election, to the next leaders of each major party, to the next general election. Bookies include options to bet on either the next winning party or next Prime Minister in the generals.
Betting French Politics
Many online political betting sites cover French elections and events as well. France’s presidential election takes place every five years, with the next race taking place in 2022. The current president is Emmanuel Macron, whose main opponent in two years will be Marine Le Pen of the National Rally party. Many European oddsmakers are already taking action on the electoral contest.
It’s also worth noting that France uses a two-round presidential election system, providing multiple opportunities on which to wager on the same race.
The Basics of Political Betting
As you know, the category of “political betting” covers a broad range of unique wager types and events. The most common are futures bets for presidential elections.
Sportsbooks will post political betting odds for the incumbent and a variety of potential nominees for the opposing party and set lines for them all. You pick who you believe will become the next president, and the bet is resolved on election night. But that’s only a small percentage of what the best political betting sites offer – check out the different types of wagers below.
Types of Political Bets
Moneyline
A moneyline bet deals with two possible outcomes; for example, “Which party will win the 2020 presidential election? Republicans or Democrats?” Often, despite having two possible options, the likelihood of either of them happening isn’t an equal 50/50 split.
So, moneyline odds set specific payouts for both sides. The “favorite” or result more likely to happen is expressed as a negative number, like –150. That means you must bet $150 on that side to win $100. The underdog has positive moneyline odds, such as +125. For every $100 you stake, you’ll earn $125.
Donald Trump -125
Bernie Sanders +105
Futures
Most political bets fall into the “futures” category. These are merely wagers that will be decided on a specific date in the future. They’ll often include a field of participants from which the bettor may choose. The 2020 presidential election (example displayed below) is considered a futures bet, for which you can pick Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg, and several others.
Odds to Win the 2020 Presidential Election
| Politician | Betting Odds |
|---|---|
| Joe Biden | -135 |
| Donald Trump | +105 |
| Mike Pence | +10000 |
| Hillary Clinton | +10000 |
| Michelle Obama | +10000 |
| Elizabeth Warren | +15000 |
| Nikki Haley | +25000 |
| Mark Cuban | +50000 |
| Kanye West | +50000 |
Props
The “proposition” label covers a wide variety of bets. Any odds dealing with political outcomes beyond the usual electoral contests are considered a prop. For example, some online sportsbooks allow you to wager on current events like, “Will Donald Trump complete his first term in office as President of the US?” All of the political betting odds and lines dealing with Trump’s tweets and foreign policy decisions fit under the “prop bet” title as well.
Totals (Over-Unders)
Totals bets are when the oddsmakers set a line, dealing with how many times a specific occurrence will take place.
Betting Presidential and General Elections
The most popular way to bet politics is by placing a few dollars on whichever candidate you predict will win an upcoming election. Since 2016, interest in the United States general election has skyrocketed around the globe.
If a long-shot reality TV host like Donald Trump could find his way into the White House, in the future, anything could happen! Expectations are that America’s 2020 presidential election will attract the most action globally of any political betting market in history.
The UK’s general elections to decide their Prime Minister is probably the second-most-significant event for wagering on politics. In 2019, Boris Johnson was the favorite when he defeated the Labour Party’s, Jeremy Corbin. Some of the more prominent European sportsbooks also cover elections in Ireland, France, and throughout the EU.
Party Primaries
While the general election in US politics is the “championship game,” the party primaries are akin to the regular season. Heading into 2020, Donald Trump is the incumbent on the Republican side, without a significant primary challenger. However, the Democrats have a very competitive race for the party’s nomination on their side of the aisle, with four or five viable candidates.
Not only can you wager on the eventual DNC nominee, but the best online political betting sites are also posting lines on each individual state. For example, the Iowa caucuses were the first statewide contest for pledged delegates. Pete Buttigieg ultimately won the most delegates and was thus awarded the victory as a slight underdog to Bernie Sanders.
The primaries offer the most valuable betting odds to handicappers due to the high variance in results and the volume of contests. They present 50 unique political wagering opportunities in the lead-up to the presidential elections. In years without an incumbent, that means 100 chances to bet on politics.
Congressional Elections
In the United States, the president serves a four-year term. Senators serve six-year terms, and members of the House of Representatives are given two-year terms, so there are significant electoral contests on which to wager every two years, minimum. Midterm elections are a crucial opportunity for political bettors, as they offer dozens of additional high-variance betting markets from which to profit.
Beyond the individual Senate and House races, the makeup of the two chambers of Congress will greatly influence other political odds. For example, if you had bet that Trump would be impeached and removed from office during his first term, you were closely following the 2018 midterms.
When enough House seats were flipped to Democrat to give them the majority, it was nearly guaranteed that the sitting president would eventually be impeached. However, they weren’t able to win a majority in the Senate, which is the chamber responsible for holding the impeachment trial and acting as jurors. As a result, Donald Trump was impeached but acquitted.
Betting on Current Events
Thankfully, the growth of betting on politics odds has encouraged online sportsbooks to post new lines in the periods between elections. Oddsmakers have been known to set political odds on almost anything.
Sometimes, you can bet on whether or not a specific piece of legislation will pass. In other cases, you may see lines and odds on the next Supreme Court Justice appointed or how the United States will respond to recent foreign policy situations.
What’s important is that the top political betting sites keep handicappers that like to wager on politics busy during downtime.
Donald Trump Prop Bets
Nobody is more singularly responsible for the explosion of betting on politics than Donald Trump. Hate him or love him, he’s been the focus of everyone’s attention since his historic 2016 campaign that culminated with a monumental upset over Hillary Clinton at roughly 4-1 odds.
Since the current president is continually the most talked about man in America, the top online sportsbooks usually post an entire slate of Donald Trump propositions. This is where you’ll see the over/unders on his Twitter activities, odds on whether he’ll meet with different world leaders like Russia’s Putin or China’s Xi, and betting lines about impeachment.
Criteria for the Best Political Betting Sites
At TheSportsGeek, our team of internet gaming experts is continually reviewing new political betting sites to ensure our lists are always stocked with the best names in the business. We can’t promise that every recommendation will fit your unique preferences, but we can guarantee that any online sportsbook on our pages is safe, offers a variety of politics betting markets, and accepts a range of banking options.
That way, even if you decide a different online sportsbook might be a better fit, it won’t be because you were scammed or treated unfairly. Our reviewers make sure to protect our readers from fraudulent operators, so you can focus on the specific website details or, better yet, winning your election bets. Learn more about how we review and rank these websites by clicking on any of the criteria below.
Unlike sports betting, political events don’t come around as often. Most major elections around the world take place in four- or five-year cycles. That’s why the best political betting sites get creative with odds, covering a wide variety of situations and outcomes beyond the most prominent electoral contests.For example, some websites set weekly proposition political odds dealing explicitly with Donald Trump. Here is an example of a Donald Trump prop bet:
You can wager on his volume of tweets, which renowned international terrorist he’ll capture or kill next, whether he’ll declare war, be impeached, and so much more. The more options they provide to handicappers, the better.
Betting on politics should be a year-round activity, just like handicapping sports. The only way to accomplish this is to find online oddsmakers known to post an extensive selection of political betting odds.
The importance of variety extends beyond the political gambling markets to a website's banking options as well. These days, there are lots of different ways to move money in and out of your online gaming account. Finding the best method for you depends on your location, regional regulations, and personal preferences.
For example, in the United States, banks are required by federal law to block transactions between their account holders’ checking accounts and known gaming operations. While it’s not illegal for you to bet at an offshore site, banking institutions cannot assist you in financing your activities.
Credit card companies, however, often have no issue with you using their services to fund your betting account. The same goes for numerous e-wallets, online payment processors, and cryptocurrencies. Of course, different banking methods each have their own strengths and weaknesses.
A credit card is excellent for fast deposits and provides an additional layer of consumer protections, but it cannot be used to accept withdrawals. Cryptocurrencies are anonymous and perfect for instant transactions but can be complicated to purchase and may fluctuate wildly in value.
Depositing and withdrawing directly from your debit card or checking account is the height of convenience, but only available in select regions, and requires you to share sensitive banking information with the website operators.
That’s why accepting a variety of banking methods is so essential to creating a top-tier political betting site. You need a range of options to find what works best for your specific situation.
Now, obviously, we don’t anticipate you needing to connect with the customer service team at any of our recommended political gambling sites. Still, it’s vital that the best online sportsbooks provide excellent support, just in case something unexpected happens or an error occurs. Even the top websites experience random issues from time to time.What matters most is that any problems you encounter or questions you may have are tended to in a timely and respectful manner. When executing our review process, we research the different ways to contact each political betting site’s customer support team and verify that they’re active and supervised by responsive help desk agents.
Most online sportsbooks have three methods of communication: email, telephone, and a live chat window. Our reviewers test each option and record how quickly they receive a response. We encourage you to do the same before depositing money. That way, you can feel assured that while you bet politics, there’s a responsive and helpful customer service team standing by, should you ever need them.
For most people, the scariest thing about online political betting is transferring their hard-earned money to a website hosted offshore and/or in a foreign jurisdiction. The internet is littered with scammers and their fraudulent gambling websites, so the fear is warranted. That’s why vetting web-based sportsbooks for safety and security make up the foundation of our review process; there’s nothing more important.Any political betting website that qualifies for our lists of recommendations has been intensively researched and tested to ensure they’re legitimate, trustworthy businesses. Our reviewers also pay close attention to site security, so we can be certain that all of your data and financial information is protected with state-of-the-art encryption.
Another element of our website reviews is digging into each political betting site owner’s history and reputation in the online gaming industry. Just because a sportsbook is operating with integrity at the moment, doesn’t mean you can trust them long term. There have been oddsmakers who behaved themselves long enough to gain a regulatory license, only to go rogue after the fact.We prefer providers with a proven track record in the gaming industry. Our team analyzes the business dealings of the owners behind our recommendations and their previous domains to verify there’s no history of unethical behavior. They also study reviews and speak to top handicappers to be sure that any political betting website we share with our readers has an excellent reputation among the experts who know best.
Types of Political Betting Websites
Earlier, we mentioned how subjective it could be to determine which factors make one online sportsbook “better” than another. Once you have the fundamental criteria covered, finding the ideal political betting website is mostly a matter of personal preference. We believe that all of our recommendations are the top providers in the industry; some just have different specialties.
For example, you may be looking to bet politics right from your mobile phone. In that case, you’ll be interested in visiting our page at ranks to best mobile betting options.
Now, just because a betting website isn’t shared on that page doesn’t mean it won’t work on your phone or tablet. It may just not be compatible with as many different mobile devices as the other options that are listed. The online sportsbooks recommended on out real money page are safe and likely available on any mobile device you could have.
The same goes for fast payout betting sites. None of our recommendations offer slow payouts. That’s one of the variables we screen during our review process. The providers listed on the “fast payout” page specialize in completing monetary transactions swiftly.
Why Bet Politics Online
Political betting is still relatively new to the world of handicapping. Sure, it’s existed as a kind of novelty market in UK bookmaking shops for years, but it’s only been since 2016 that elections and politics have grown as legitimate competitions worth handicapping. With the world changing, polls and media personalities no longer exert enough influence to control the outcomes of races, meaning there’s now more value in betting politics than ever before.
For many of us, turning to online sportsbooks for our political betting is the only option, as land-based providers are barred from covering anything other than sports. Fortunately, in today’s interconnected world, that’s barely an inconvenience. As you’ve seen on this page, there are plenty of incredible top-notch political betting sites out there, just waiting for you to put your money where your mouth is!
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The Gambling Act 2005 was the first significant piece of legislation to regulate gambling since the legalisation of betting shops and off-track gambling in 1961. It was established to regulate all forms of gambling (except spread betting) under one roof and part of the 2005 Act was to create the Gambling Commission, an independent regulator part of the UK government department of culture, media and sport.
The main objectives of the legislation in 2005 was to create a landscape that promotes fair and safe gambling by protecting the underage and vulnerable, ensuring responsible advertising and practices and preventing the industry being used for criminal means. Most would agree that the establishment of the UKGC and licensing for operators has driven the industry to be more responsible and across the world the UK is regarded as one of the safest places to bet.
Since 2005 though the industry has changed a lot, particularly with the growth of online and remote gambling. In the past five or so years calls for tighter regulations and restrictions have grown louder resulting in new rules and limits in an attempt to make an even safer industry, such as the £2 stake limit on fixed odds betting terminals and new verification rules online, both brought in in 2019. The UKGC, however, has received a lot of criticism from charities, public forums and MP advisory groups that it is not doing enough to help the most vulnerable in society.
In response to this the commission has dramatically increased the number and size of the fines it issues and has released a steady stream of new rules designed to help problem gamblers in particular. New bodies have also been created, such as the Betting and Gaming Council, an industry group established to promote values within the industry with a single message.
Despite these changes pressure for a new gambling act continued to mount with many suggesting the UK Gambling Commission was no longer fit or funded sufficiently to regulate, what is now, an industry worth close to £15 billion with most of that revenue now generated online. When the UKGC came into being betting was still heavily weighted to the high street and perhaps they did not envisage quite how big and fast remote betting and gaming would grow.
External factors have also contributed to calls for a new gambling act, such as the general election in 2019, which had gambling high on the list after Brexit, forcing the debate about a new act into the political chambers. This resulted in a number of reviews and proposals by MP's and the Lords. The unexpected corona virus pandemic has also heightened the debate around problem gambling, advertising and general practices that has further propelled the need for a new Act.
Gambling Act 2020? 2021?
A new gambling act was expected in the autumn of 2020, however, delays largely caused by the disruption from corona virus means a new act is now more likely in early 2021. Then again given past experiences with such things no one would be surprised if it dragged on to 2022 with Brexit likely to dominate time in parliament at the end of 2020 into 2021.
This does not mean most of the laws around gambling will change overnight, rather it will set out a landscape for future regulation. For example, in the 2005 act created the UKGC but the body did not become active until 2007 as it took two years to for the commission to assume full powers from the Gaming Board for Great Britain.
Once we have more details about the new act we will discuss them here and explain exactly what the act entails, what has changed, what is new and how this will impact operators and customers. Below we look at some of the major points likely to be included in the new act.
What Will Be In The 2021 Gambling Act?
Of course no one can be certain what new rules and changes will be included in the new act but we can assume some things based on what the UKGC has been doing of late as well as proposals from parliamentary and industry groups:
VIP Schemes
VIP programs offered by bookmakers and casinos are likely to be curbed or eradicated completely. Several studies and reports have shown that problem gambling and fraud is far more likely with VIP players (naturally) and changes or restrictions are highly likely.
Loyalty Points
Although loyalty schemes and points have not been cited directly many are linked to VIP schemes and share many of the issues in terms of customer profile that VIP programs do. It is possible loyalty schemes will be curbed or at least they will have to be more transparent about the amount of betting that is required relative to the value of the rewards.
Self Exclusion Rules
Currently self-excluding from one site does not mean you will necessarily be excluded from all. You can sign up to an exclusion database that companies are supposed to check but there are still plenty of instances where problem gamblers have got around this.
Expect any new act to mandate that self-exuded player details be shared automatically with other operators and relevant bodies to treat harm. This is expected to help reduce the amount of addiction.
Responsible Gambling Tools
Operators are currently expected to offer several tools to help people gamble responsibly, such as deposit limits, time limits, activity warnings, loss limits, product exclusions, etc. Most of these are optional for a punter and we can expect that under a new act this will be reversed. Customers may have limits automatically imposed and will then need to opt-out of these (which in itself will flag that customer for closer monitoring).
New tools may also be added to the list, such as shared data between operators to allow customers to see how much they are gambling across all brands not just the one site.
Deposit Protection For Customer Funds
Deposit protection is included as part of the 2005 gambling act, however, it does not currently force companies to protect funds in case they go bust. At present there are three levels, no protection (funds held in separate accounts but part of the business), medium (insurance or similar to cover customer funds) and high (customer money held in an account that is a separate legal entity to the business).
The clear majority of UK licensed betting companies currently fall under the 'no protection' level and this means if they go bust there is no guarantee users will get their money back. This has happened several times in the past few years as operators have gone under.
It is likely that a new act will insist that at least a medium level of protection is held to operate in the UK. This will not come in immediately but will probably be phased in over the course of a few years.
Ownership Rules and Company Structures
Currently the brand owner and license holder do not have to be the same people. This is common for white labels, where the operator holds the license and the brand owner holds the rights.
Ultimately it is the license holder that is responsible for customers safety and deposits, however, it is the brand owner that is often responsible for marketing, acquisition and retention. This creates an obvious mismatch in responsibility and therefore any new act may include restrictions on how companies are structured in this regard.
Deliberately convoluted ownership rules will also probably be looked to ensure customers know who it is ultimately that they are betting with.
Online Stake Limits
Limits are already in place for games on physical fixed odds betting terminals and it is expected that similar rules will now be rolled out online. This also includes a potential £2 limit for online slot and table games (per hand/spin) with overall limits also proposed (£100 in one day, for example).
Of all the potential new rules this is the one the industry will rebuff the hardest given it will have a severe impact on revenue. Many expect a stake limit to be enforced but at the same time it is a fair bet it will be raised above £2.
Online Game Timings
Time between spins/hands on online games is another area that has come under pressure in recent years. Even with stake limits it is possible to spin the reels in some games every few seconds in turbo mode, potentially meaning customers can stake £1000's in an hour even at relatively low stakes for each spin/hand.
An enforced break between spins may be part of a new act, perhaps 30 seconds, for example. This will mitigate the amount of loses someone can make within a given time while also giving additional time for the customer to reflect on their betting.
TV and Sport Advertising and Sponsorship
William Hill Online Betting Uk
It is the cash rich industries that provide the most sponsorship for sport, football in particular. In the past sport had been heavily sponsored by tobacco and alcohol before these were banned or curbed in the late 1990's and 2000's and it is the gambling industry that has filled most of that niche.
Sport and football is watched actively by younger audiences and it is felt the number of adverts and amount of sponsorship is at dangerous levels. This has been compounded by the amount of live sport that is now on TV and the number of adverts this now attracts.
One aspect a new act may look at, in cooperation with the ASA, is reducing the number and type of ads on TV. A total ban is unlikely but we could see rules that restrict when adverts can be shown, perhaps after 9pm. There will also be possible rules around advertising on football shirts specifically.
Gambling Levy
The gambling levy currently is voluntary and only applies to those operators that sign up to it, which at present is mostly the big names only. Any new act is almost certain to introduce a mandatory levy, the money from which will be used for services that prevent harm from gambling.
Gambling Fines
The industry does not want to increase the number of fines as that in itself is a sign that the regulation is not working. What we can expect though is the level of fines will rise to ensure operators follow the rules.
Money from fines will also be looked at, presently this is largely given to a handful of charities as well as paying for the UKCG itself. Fine money is likely to now be handled by an independent body who will allocate it accordingly.
Reverse Withdrawals and Pending Periods
Legal Online Betting Sites
In response to a rise in online gaming during the corona virus outbreak the UKGC initiated a raft of emergency measures to help reduce problem gambling, one of which was to ban reverse withdrawals. It is almost guaranteed this will be part of the act in 2021.
Reverse withdrawals allow plays to cancel a withdrawal they have made while it is in a pending period (the time it takes for the site to process the withdrawal). Pending periods can last days, sometimes up to one week, and of course encourage those with addictive gambling to continue playing.
Within that the pending periods themselves may also be looked at given many brands have an unreasonable amount of time to process a withdrawal, which really should take less than 2 days.
Payment Methods and Credit
The use of credit cards for gambling was banned in April 2020 but many want further restrictions. For example, you can still use 'credit' through pay by phone bill methods or to purchase cash vouchers, therefore, rules around this will probably be tightened further.
eWallets such as Skrill and Neteller, which have historically been abused to for fraud purposes by creating duplicate accounts, may also be looked at as part of a new act. These could be banned or at the least providers will be asked to perform additional verification when these methods are used.
Cash can also be used for some transactions, either by funding directly through a betting shop or through cash voucher systems, such as PaySafeCard. This again may be looked at due to the links between cash and fraud.
Withdrawal Limits
Some sites have very low withdrawal limits (e.g. £10,000 / month) and this can be very unfair for those that win big, such as a jackpot slot win. It can take years to get your money out of some sites, during which time there is always a risk of them going out of business.
It is possible a new act may insist on minimum withdrawal levels to allow users to be able to retrieve large winnings more easily.
Source of Funds Checks
If a customer makes a large deposit or a deposit that is out of character compared to their usual activity then operators are required to check the source of funds to ensure they are legal and the customer can afford it (e.g. not money from a personal loan as this is credit).
One of the most severe failings over the last ten years has been in this area and companies have been repeatedly fined for not checking where large deposits (or a series of small deposits) comes from. This is an area that a new act is certain to cover with more detailed guidelines and lower thresholds.
Active Monitoring
Like it or not every single click you make on a betting website is tracked and recorded. Operators are obliged to monitor your activity and to intervene if they think you are displaying signs of problem gambling although in reality asking the brands to do this themselves always raises a conflict. The more they intervene the less money they will make.
Most of the information that is gathered about your betting activity is not actually used to protect you, rather in many cases it is used for the opposite to profile you so they can send you appropriate offers, etc. Any new act is likely to insist on closer monitoring, possibly through an independent body.
New Customer Thresholds
Part of the emergency measures that were brought in alongside limits on reverse withdrawals during the virus outbreak in 2020 was to limit the amount a new customer could deposit and bet. This was done on the basis that operators have no historical data on new customers and therefore cannot know their affordability.
This is something, again, that is likely to go straight into a new act. New customers may be limited to say £100 initial deposit until further checks have been completed. This will also change the welcome bonuses that are offered, such as the headline grabbing £500 or £1000 deposit bonuses you now see for casinos.
Limiting Accounts
Operators are private companies and their ultimate objective is to make profit and one way they do this is to limit or close accounts for players that win. This practice has been going on since the advent of online gambling, indeed prior to that bookie shops would ban people who won too much.
Some account limiting is genuine, often due to bonus abuse or hedging, but in reality it is used by companies to improve profits. There has been little said on whether this will be addressed in a new act but if the UKGC are listening to punters this will be an area they may look into. This may include a minimum bet guarantee (e.g. any customer must be able to stake up to £100).
Imagery In Games
The use of images that appeal to children has come under intense scrutiny over the last few years. There are already rules in place stating that companies and advertisers should not display 'childish' images where they can be seen by children but in reality these rules are vague and not very well defined.
The nature of slot games is they appeal to peoples passions and fantasies, many of which naturally would appeal to children. You could say in many ways slots are designed to appeal to the inner child in people. Therefore the types of imagery that can be used will be reviewed in detail.
This may actually impact how games are made. The software companies themselves that make games also need to be licensed and this means any new act may stipulate more stringent rules around the game design.
Loot Boxes and Gambling Products In Games
In game spending for games not restricted to adults will also come under the spotlight in any new legislation. In many games users can buy 'loot boxes' without knowing what is inside them, this in effect is gambling according to several parliamentary reviews on the subject.
Games will therefore need to either stop undisclosed purchases or will require age verification to do so along with appropriate gambling warnings. This is also something that will likely be mirrored by the EU as a whole.
Spread Betting
Spread betting is classed as a form of trading and so was never part of the remit of the 2005 gambling act, instead it is regulated by the Financial Conduct Agency. Spread betting is seen as one of the most dangerous forms of gambling because it does not use fixed odds, instead you take a 'positions' on an outcome (e.g. number of cards in a football match) and the more accurate your 'position' the more you can win but the further away that guess is the more you can lose. A result of this is you can lose far more than you staked meaning you can end up owing a company a lot of money.
Nothing has been said as to whether this form of gambling will now be assessed as part of the 2021 act or not but given the potential for harm from this form of betting it is probable that it will be included in some form in the new legislation.
Free Bets and Bonuses
Incentives are one of the main methods used by companies to encourage people to join and to continue betting. These incentives, however, can be dangerous for those addicted to gambling and so we can expect curbs on the size and types of promotions betting companies can run for new and existing companies.
Free bets and bonuses have already been curbed to a degree as the government now taxes these in the same way they do real money bets, which is why you may have noticed the size of welcome offers has decreased in recent years. Still, many believe more can be done and so tighter rules around this may come into force, including on the terminology used, for example, the term 'free bets' itself may no longer be allowed.
Exiting The UK
The UK has seen a lot of brands pull out of the UK recently driven by high competition, Brexit, higher tax and more regulation and this will likely be exasperated as more restrictions are announced in the new act.
Brands will likely be told they have to now provide a minimum amount of notice to leave the UK and part of this will be guaranteeing ante-post bets for a certain period.
Companies That Become Insolvent (Go Bust)
Far too many brand owners have gone bust in the last decade putting customer funds and bets at risk. We've already mentioned that the deposit protection scheme will probably be upgraded but alongside this companies are likely to be told to build in insurance or larger reserves to maintain their license.
The ownership structure of companies will also come under the spotlight to ensure those that own the brand can afford to operate.
Lotteries
One of the major talking points since the 2005 act came is is why lotteries have a minimum age of 16 yet gambling as a whole has a standard minimum age of 18. The age limit of 16 was brought in for the National Lottery partly to drive sales and tax revenue when it was first launched but this is now incompatible with the idea of responsible gambling.
In addition to an age limit rise to 18 the gambling act is also going to look at so called 'low risk' council and charity lotteries that have been cited as a gateway to gambling.
Live Streaming
For the FA-Cup in 2020 many were outraged that one of the only ways people could watch a lot of sport was through bookmaker streaming services. Campaigners believe this encourages gambling and promotes adults to allow minors to watch bookmaker streams.
In response to this the companies in question made the games they stream available to other platforms but that will not make the discussion go away. Streaming is unlikely to be banned but there may be rules that mean that streamed content must be available on other non-gambling platforms and operators may be told they have to offer streams for free (currently to access streams most brands require you to have money in your account, deposit or bet).
Black Market Gambling
You cannot stop illegal betting but a lot of people think more can be done. As things stand now it is illegal for companies to offer gambling services in the UK if they do not hold a UKGC license, however, the UKGC does not actively stop illegal sites from taking UK customers, rather the onus is on the customer to ensure they are betting with a licensed brand.
The government can't close down all illegal sites as many are based in places, such as Curacao, where they have no powers. They could certainly do more though to at least inform customers about the risks as well as trying to take more action to close down the worst offenders.
More regulation as part of a new act will also naturally increase any black market and so it would be foolish if this were not addressed in a new act.
Affiliates and Advertising Partners
Operators are licensed although they can work with affiliates and advertising partners who are not licensed. Currently it is on the operator to enforce UK gambling laws with their partners but this has resulted in several failings, driven in part by the fact the individual brands do not often have the resources to monitor all of their partners.
One suggestion is for affiliates themselves to be licensed, which means they will be answerable under the law for the content they provide and the brands they advertise. The trick any new act will have to balance is appropriately regulating advertisers while preventing corporate domination of the sector. Independent advertisers are critical to maintaining competition.
Betting On Underage People
Sweden has banned betting on sports matches that include under 18's, such as commonly seen in tennis. This in principle seems like a good idea but it will be difficult to see how it could work in practice. Take a football match for example that starts with all 22 players over the age of 18 with a substitute under 18 coming on later in the game. It is hard to see how this could be enforced.
It is unlikely to be included as part of a new act.
Will It Be The End For The UKGC?
There are lot of people that think the UKCG and the 2005 act is toothless and so we could see a new regulatory body formed as part of a new act, in the same way the UKGC was established in 2005.
Any new body will however do pretty much what the UKCG does now but may be given a new name to reset trust in the organisation. What we can guarantee is the remit of the UKGC or new body will be larger with greater powers to fine or suspend companies.
There is also likely to be a lot more funding for the regulator than there is now. Currently the UKGC operates using the few million it generates from license fees and fines, however, this is seen as inadequate for an industry worth £15 billion and growing.
Other Considerations For A New Act
One thing that any new act has to be careful to balance is competition in the industry to prevent a monopoly. Several mergers of the biggest betting brands over the past decade has now lead to colossal betting groups worth billions (such as Entain, owners of Gala, Ladbrokes & Coral and Flutter/Stars, owners of Paddy Power, Sky Betting and Betfair). These companies are already creating a monopoly within the industry driving down competition and value for the customer.
The nature of the regulations discussed on this page requires brands to invest a lot of resources to meet them, unfortunately those brands with bigger budgets will of course be able to meet regulations more easily, which could kill off a lot of smaller companies.
A new act also has to balance freedom of choice for the customer with regulations designed to protect them. If the market becomes too regulated and as a result users notice a considerable drop in value there will be more incentive to gamble illegally.
The EU is also looking into how they handle gambling laws across the block and the UK would be wise to consult with them first to align any new act with EU policy. Most brands are based in the EU these days and so making rules consistent will aid their ability to meet them.