SlotsHawk Editor in Chief Jean Prince on the Business of Gambling, the UK Gambling Market and Regulatory Changes

The UK gambing market has been regulated since 2005 when Tony Blair’s Labour government introduced the 2005 Gambling Act. Since then, both gambling businesses and the government treasury have collected plenty of revenue with online casinos dominating the sector, generating £1.9bn gross gambling yield (GGY) in the first half of 2020 alone.

However, regulatory challenges continue to creep in and the state of play as of October 2022 is that the last several Conservative governments have declared that they would look to ‘Bring the 2005 Gambing Act into the digital age’, but after numerous delays - five in total - we are still none the wiser as to whether the new Liz Truss government will publish the new Gambling White Paperor completely scrap it, as has been reported by some media outlets.

In an effort to get to the bottom of what some of the players within the UK gambling industry make of the chaos surrounding the White Paper, EconoTimes spoke to Jean Prince, the Editor in Chief of top UK gambling affiliate website SlotsHawk.com.

Interviewer: It is great to speak with you Jean, thanks for joining us. Firstly, why is there such a debacle regarding the potential new gambling laws and why do you think it is taking so long to solve?

Jean Prince: Discussions surrounding gambling in the United Kingdom, especially online gambling, are extremely volatile and divisive as most commentators do not find a middle-ground. In the social media world, you are either strongly against gambling and in favour of extremely strict regulations or you are not in favour of increasing regulations and unfortunately, this seems to make you something of a pariah and you will often be heavily critiqued for having such a viewpoint.

Additionally, both media commentators and politicians have very binary opinions of gambling and unfortunately, such opinions do not help to move the conversation forward.

Interviewer: So, will the laws be updated imminently, do you know?

Jean Prince: I do not know any more than anyone else. We have been expecting the White Paper for well over a year now. This paper will tell us what new regulations would be, but it has been delayed, I think, five times now. The latest rumour is that PrimeMinister Truss' team will shelve the White Paper.

Interviewer: Do you think regulatory changes are necessary?

Jean Prince: Speaking as someone who has been in and around the gambling industry for almost a decade, I can honestly and confidently declare that the UK gambling market is one of the strictest and most tightly regulated in the whole world. The United Kingdom gambling Commission, which is the regulatory body, has immensely tight conditions as to which bodies receive licences to be able to offer gambling services to UK customers. But with that being said, there are, without a doubt, failures within the industry which are harmful to gamblers, and I think the blame lies at the feet of some of the big boys of the gambling world. The likes of Entain and LeoVegas have both been hit with big fines due to failures to protect problem gamblers. I do not think it would be difficult for these guys to monitor their players accordingly and to do more for the players who are depositing and losing thousands of pounds per hour.

So, certainly, if the online operators cannot get their own houses in order, then somebody needs to do it for them. Perhaps we could see a system where operators are required to employ one safer gambling styled employee per 200 players whose job it is to ensure that the gambler remains safe online. But with that being said, there are lots of ways in which layers can limit themselves, for example, daily, weekly, monthly and yearly deposit limits.

The 2005 Gambling Act was introduced prior to the online casino boom which we see today. However, from my experience, 99% of UK gamblers are responsible and only gamble within their means, but that’s not to say the other 1% don’t need greater protection, they do. But lawmakers need to be careful, the pathway to hell is paved with good intentions, after all.

Interviewer: What do you mean by that?

Jean Prince: Well, the point I am trying to make is that too much regulation will have the opposite effect and will actually be more likely to endanger British gamblers. Let me give you an example: many of the anti-gambling crowd would like to see mandatory bank statements introduced - meaning that all gamblers will be required to prove that they can afford to gamble in the form of bank statements. First of all, I know for a fact that the majority of actual gamblers would oppose this and simply would not want to reveal such personal details to gambling operators. One of the unfortunate consequences of this is that many gamblers may then simply go and play and unregulated/unlicensed operators. Many of these operators are shady and players may be at danger at these sites. At SlotsHawk we are proud that we only promote online casinos and licensed new slots sites, but if such operators are required by law to ask for bank statements, then I cannot see a world where customers then reject these in favour of unregulated operators. If that’s not enough, the UK treasury will not be able to take any tax from these unlicensed operators either.

So, many commentators like to take the moral high-ground by stating how bad gambling can be and whilst there are of course negative aspects, such commentators need to be careful that their pressure does not lead to having the opposite effect in which they intend. Better the Devil you know, and all that.

Interviewer:

If Liz Truss does make the recommended changes to the Gambling Act, how do you think those companies and websites within iGaming, such as yourselves, will react?

Jean Prince: Certainly, the revenues will decrease. But it has to be said that many operators have already left the UK market due to the already stringent regulations. Competition is fierce in the UK and there are literally hundreds of competitors trying to get a piece of the pie. Like I mentioned earlier, stricter regulations will just ensure that the best operators will leave the market.

As for ourselves, if we cannot make any revenue then we will enter the markets of other countries, the Republic of Ireland for example, South Africa and Germany are also other options.

Interviewer: Thanks a lot for discussing this subject with us, Jean and all the best for the future.

This interview does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes.