Financial Conduct Authority

The Evolution of Casino Regulations in the UK: A Historical Perspective

In our view, it would be premature to pursue legislative options without first pursuing enhanced industry-led protections, given the potential downsides. As set out in the response, we do not intend to adjust the legal definitions of gambling at this time in order to capture loot boxes. The government’s response to that call for evidence was published in July last year, setting out our plan to improve protections for children, young people and adults, and to support better longer term research into the impacts of video games. In September 2020, the government launched a call for evidence on loot boxes in video games to understand their impact and whether changes are needed to ensure consumers are effectively protected. We will consult on the potential for regulating large scale prize draws with a view to identifying options and developing an evidence base against which their impact and the extent to which different regulatory measures would be proportionate can be properly assessed. The Commission’s current approach adequately deals with that risk at present, but it will continue to monitor the development of new technologies and payment vehicles closely.

While some offshore-licensed casinos operate legitimately, playing at a site without a UKGC licence exposes you to significant risks. Some online casinos operate under offshore licences from jurisdictions such as Curaçao, Malta (for non-UK markets), Costa Rica, or Anjouan. From June 2026, all UKGC-licensed online gambling operators must require new customers to set a deposit limit before they can make their first deposit. That licensing isn’t just a badge it’s the foundation for player protections around fairness, complaints handling, identity checks, safer gambling tools, and how operators must treat customers. Online casinos often offer live dealer games and online sportsbooks that are UK friendly almost always provide in-play betting options, all of which is entirely legal in England. Gambling forms include but are not limited to the following venues online casinos with slots, table games, etc., online poker, online sports betting, lottery-style games, and online Bingo.

Financial Conduct Authority

They also highlighted the importance of card account verification given the potential for stolen debit cards to be used to make direct payments to gambling machines. They also stated that individual gambling businesses should be allowed to decide if they would like to update their systems to provide direct debit card payments as it would be a significant cost to businesses to update all machines to have this functionality. We expect that operators will ensure that Category C and D machines made available to meet the ratio are available for use and have genuine customer appeal. We received some responses which suggested that Option 1 would be preferable to Option 2(a) for ensuring that a genuine offer of Category C and D machines are made available to customers. In respect of ensuring that customers receive a genuine offer of Category C and D machines, Option 2 is the only option which we believe would achieve this objective better than Option 2(a). These responses were strongly opposed to Option 2(a) and Option 2(b) on the grounds that the ratios proposed place too much emphasis on achieving commercial flexibility for businesses at the expense of mitigating against risks of gambling-related harm.

We think that this 30 second transaction time, coupled with the other player protection measures that we are proposing, should ensure that the use of direct debit cards on a machine has a similar level of friction to playing with cash. Following 30 seconds, the player would be able to start depositing money onto the machine. We would suggest that the 30 second period should start from when the machine has read the card and approved the payment. Some respondents stated that any transaction time should at least ensure a break from the machine that is equivalent to the time it takes to access additional funds from an ATM. Responses varied on the length that the transaction time should be, with industry broadly agreeing on 30 seconds and non-industry respondents proposing either 90, 120 or 180 seconds. Our aim throughout the development of this policy has been to replicate the experience of playing on a machine with cash and the deposit and committed payment limits play an important role in the current customer journey.

This would be in contrast to the review and potential implementation of improved verification protocols within online gambling. While app-based digital payments have been encouraging in facilitating customer verification and providing customers with increased choice in payment types, their uptake and level of transactions have been low thus far. However, completely removing the prohibition on the direct use of debit cards within the Gaming Machine (Circumstances of Use) Regulations 2007 would be ineffective in addressing the increased risk of harm from cashless payment methods. The need to future-proof the land-based gambling sector provides the rationale for change. This is because allowing people to gamble with money that they may not have exposes players to a higher risk of harm. The societal shift towards cashless payments threatens the future of gaming machine GGY.

‘Cash-out’ slot-style machines have a maximum stake of 1 pence and a maximum prize of £5, while ‘ticket-out’ slot-style machines have a maximum stake of 30 pence and an equivalent of a prize worth up to £8. There are 2 types of Category D slot-style machines, one that pays out a small amount of cash, and one that pays out tickets which can be exchanged for a small prize, toy or sweet. Currently, Category D machines have no age restrictions and include a range of low stake machines, such as coin push, crane grabs and slot-style fruit machines. The consultation proposed to make it an offence for a person to invite, cause or permit a child or young person to use ‘cash-out’ Category D slot-style machines. We do not view this as a necessary player protection for these lower stakes machines and we are conscious that it could impose a barrier to implementing direct debit card payments, particularly on machines such as crane grabs. We propose that Category D machines are not required to show net position or session time.

In the UK, the general legal gambling age is 18. The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) is the official regulatory body overseeing gambling in Great Britain. Bingo and lotteries are legal under UK law, with specific licences depending on scale and type. The UK has some of the strictest gambling laws in the world. If you want to complain about a gambling business or need further help please contact us.

When the 2005 Act was passed, licensees under the 1968 Act could apply to convert those permissions into premises licences under the 2005 Act. The sections below set out some of the main features of land-based gambling settings alongside an explanation of the rules and particular characteristics of that type of gambling activity. In principle, subject to privacy requirements, they could also provide a central architecture which would allow operators to track play and bring in safer gambling measures. Apps are also available which allow customers to pay for machine games indirectly via a debit card or bank transfer, while keeping track of their spend. There is less scope for monitoring via account-based play, which can help to protect consumers, than in online settings as considered in Chapter 1 above.

However, we want to avoid any regulation that would allow table gaming areas to be placed in obscure or less accessible areas for customers so that a genuinely mixed offering of products remains in the casino. This will ensure that only distinct and sizeable table gaming areas can count towards the total, giving customers a genuine mix of products that are easily accessible in a casino. However, if a casino has 600sqm of gambling space, it would only be required to have at least 250sqm of table gaming space.

Due to the age of these machines, operators have also reported that it has become increasingly challenging to procure spare parts and that in reality, they have to oversupply lower stakes machines beyond the numbers required by the 80/20 rule to ensure compliance in the event of a machine breakdown. While this research is now nearly 7 years old, the point that the headline product in retail bingo clubs is live bingo and customers tend to play machines in the breaks remains relevant. It also commits to further investigate the capacity for game labelling on multi-game machines and the visibility and prominence of safer gambling tools and help. Over recent years, operators have also brought in other increased safety measures including regular staff training and safer gambling advertising. AGC operators highlighted that modern B3 machines can incorporate automatic safety measures such as session time and spend limits.

On balance, we do not believe that it is proportionate to mandate that ‘cash-out’ Category D slot-style machines be moved to age-restricted areas. Industry responses highlighted that it is disproportionate to require that these machines be moved to an age-restricted area for 2 key reasons. The majority of these responses came from industry operators. Twenty-two per cent of respondents stated that these machines should not be placed in age-restricted areas. The rationale most commonly expressed for the movement of these machines into age-restricted areas was to increase the effectiveness of staff monitoring. Sixty-seven per cent of respondents to this chapter of the consultation stated that ‘cash-out’ Category D slot-style machines should be required to move to an age-restricted area.

Changes to the legislative landscape for land-based casinos

The 2025 changes in the UK are massive, which to many could make gambling laws as complicated as the rules of cricket. This should lead to better-informed decisions about gambling. This change is intended to reduce the number of bets people place, which should eradicate a good amount of problem gambling.

This includes all online casinos, both UK-based and offshore, that wish to offer their services to patrons in England, Wales, or Scotland. When it comes to gaming machines, however, the law sets no minimum age for Category D machines. Regional casinos are permitted to have up to 1,250 machines from Categories A, B, C, or D. Small casinos may offer up to 80 machines from Categories B, C, or D, whereas large casinos can host a maximum of 150 machines from those categories.

Affiliates are also coming under increased scrutiny (at least politically) and the links between gambling advertising and sport are likewise coming under increased political scrutiny. Where an operator is deemed to be seriously deficient, there is the possibility of a licence suspension and a small number of licensees have suffered licence suspensions. Operating licences are generally indefinite, subject to paying annual fees.

No other opportunities to stake can be offered until the game cycle has concluded as £5 is the maximum stake permitted for customers aged 25 and over.Scenario BA customer aged 27 stakes £2 on an online slot game. For customers who are aged 18 to 24, the maximum they can stake per game cycle for online slots is £2. For customers who are aged 25 and older, not on gamstop the maximum they can stake per game cycle for online slots is £5. Separately, the Gambling Commission confirmed in our online games design response in 2021 and our remote gambling and software technical standards (RTS) that for remote slots it must be a minimum of 2.5 seconds from the time a game is started until the next game cycle can be commenced (RTS 14D).

Beyond the 10x wagering cap, the new rules require casinos to display all bonus terms clearly and in plain language before a player opts in. All UKGC-licensed casinos must offer deposit limits, loss limits, session limits, and wager limits. Responsible gambling sits at the heart of the UK casino regulations 2026. To understand exactly what to look for, read our guide on how to choose a UK online casino.

Respondents were in favour of venues having to comply with all of the sliding scale requirements in order to increase their gaming machine allowances. • Any non-gambling area may consist of one or more areas within the premises. This will ensure that gaming products, such as single-player games in which the player presses a switch or button, or pulls a plunger or lever, to release a ball or set of balls cannot count towards the machine to table ratio. Therefore both wholly automated gaming tables and table games of equal chance do not attract any gaming machine allowance for the purposes of meeting the machine to table ratio.

As such, our position is that they should only impact a minority of engaged customers, and involve unintrusive checks at moderate levels of spend to help identify particularly financially vulnerable consumers, and more comprehensive although still frictionless assessments for those spending more heavily. Given that most gamblers are not spending more than they can afford or otherwise experiencing harm, we are mindful that these checks need to be proportionate. While many operators have already introduced systems, interventions often come too late or not at all, and the measures are inconsistently applied across the sector. As explored in the Commission’s advice to this Review, different checks are likely to be necessary to address the different risks, and requiring the appropriate checks at appropriate thresholds is key to ensuring the system is effective. Figure 6 below shows YouGov data on discretionary income available for different age bands as reported in the Commission’s consultation, and can be considered alongside other data such as from the ONS. Similarly, work by the Social Market Foundation has considered ‘Minimum Income Standards’ and the potential for gambling losses to impact personal and household living standards for some groups.

The evidence illustrated that while there have been recent instances of bad practice in casework, the risks posed to consumers are not fundamental to white label arrangements themselves. Importantly, while third parties typically undertake a range of peripheral tasks related to the gambling offer (e.g. marketing, data storage, age verification, due diligence checks, customer interaction), only the licensee may provide “facilities for gambling”. Respondents were also divided on the presence of ‘white label’ gambling brands in sports sponsorship as a means to target overseas customers. If the licensee falls short of the Commission’s expectation to conduct due diligence before entering into a white label arrangement, they may proceed unaware of regulatory risks which would have been identified by the Commission had the third-party partner applied for a licence itself. Some concerns have been raised that ‘white labels’ amount to ‘hiring out’ of a gambling licence to companies (potentially in other jurisdictions) that would unlikely be suitable to hold a British licence in their own right. This arrangement can enable an established licensee to partner with a third-party brand to attract new customers to their gambling offer.

Some stakeholders proposed an expanded pre-release product testing regime where each new game would be tested to appraise its potential to cause harm. Most respondents to the call for evidence discussed product controls in the context of limits on structural characteristics, for example limits on stake and speed of play. These reported indicators cannot be used to directly infer reductions in harm, but they do suggest a moderation in play brought about by the changes.

It is possible that there will be wider costs if the increase in fees means that existing premises are unable to afford their total fees and close down as a result, or if new premises decide not to open due to the higher fees. We also require a better understanding of how licensing authorities will amend their fees in response to an increase in the maximum fee cap. We assume that licensing authorities will increase their current charged fees in proportion with the increase in the maximum fee cap. This would potentially generate an additional £2,340,000 in total annual funding for local authorities and increase average annual costs per premises by £251.

• Stake limits for online slot games will be introduced for the first time in September, including lower limits for young adults, as the Government continues to roll out measures to protect people from gambling harms.
• The outcome of that consultation is not yet known.An “economic crime levy” is payable by entities that are regulated for anti-money laundering purposes (currently only casinos in the UK) and which generate more than £10.2 million in UK revenue.
• We can also assess a licensee’s ongoing suitability to hold a relevant license, particularly if there is evidence of misconduct abroad and that does include in Northern Ireland.

The increased complexity of operators’ business structures has made it increasingly difficult for the Commission to manage requests for changes of corporate controls and identify and assess the ultimate beneficiaries of applicants for licences. While the Commission is able to respond with its existing powers to many issues that arise, it has advised that certain issues have emerged due to operators becoming larger, more organisationally complex and internationally-based. The Commission has a wide range of powers that allow it to regulate the industry effectively and respond to any emerging risks, particularly through the LCCP which all licensees must adhere to. This should involve more timely data to enable quicker assessment of the risks to consumers and to enable regulatory action to be taken more swiftly where necessary. The government and the Commission are clear that an enhanced approach to compliance enforcement is required to effectively monitor the industry and ensure that operators are abiding by the rules. We welcome these additional steps which businesses have taken to ensure their operations are safe and sustainable, and welcome the continual drive to raise standards which can then be underpinned by licence conditions to ensure compliance across the industry.

Behavioural barriers and friction should only be used to keep customers safe rather than impede them from taking decisions. This is consistent with the Commission’s rules for clear and accessible terms and conditions and the regulator will monitor operators’ compliance in this area. It is important that customers are made aware of the circumstances in which such restrictions may be applied and provided with explanations where it does occur. Tools like deposit limits can help people gamble within their means, but may be underused and not widely optimised for harm prevention. We will also consult on measures to give greater protections for 18 to 24-year-olds who the evidence suggests may be a particularly vulnerable cohort.

Independent reviews, expert guides, and trusted ratings of the best UK online casinos. Online casinos, sportsbooks, poker rooms, lottery-betting and bingo sites. Online casino operators now pay 40% tax on gross gaming revenue, rising from 21%. Oliver is a UK-based online casino analyst with over 12 years of experience in reviewing and comparing Gambling Commission–licensed platforms.