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The many questions surrounding the UK’s white paper

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The UK’s gambling white paper is yet to be released and could potentially lead to over £1.3 billion in annual losses.


Over Easter, the United Kingdom had plenty of reason for excitement and celebration. Aside from regular festivities, one of the many reasons was the excitement surrounding the possible launch of the UK’s long-awaited gambling white paper.

Although the excitement surrounding the possible launch Easter weekend has come and gone with no release of the gambling white paper.

Where is the gambling white paper?

According to sources, the possible release of the UK gambling white paper was to be discussed before Easter and possibly released during the festive time. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

It has been a long time since the government first mentioned a white paper mapping out gambling reforms in December 2020. Since than, there have been countless delays due to grievances of anti-gambling campaigners and addiction clinicians. The primary concern is that the current gambling regulations are failing gambling addicts.

The newly appointed Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport Secretary of State, Lucy Frazer, promised the Gambling With Lives campaign group that there would be a complete overhaul of the 2005 Gambling Act, which will take effect soon.

Among the reforms set to kick in is a restriction on the maximum stakes for slot machines, expected to range between £2 and £5 at UK online casinos. It is also likely that the reforms will have a big impact on football sponsorship, although there hasn’t been much information on the effect.

Other additions include financial health checks such as open-source credit information. Another big factor could be a cut down on promotions like free bets and bonuses to entice retired gamblers. Not to mention the ban on VIP loyalty schemes and the possible cap on monthly and annual losses before activation checks.

It is also believed that there will be mandatory credit checks with funds going towards supporting health and charitable organisations within the UK.

UK white paper a potential revenue risk for industry

While the UK has missed yet another deadline to present the new gambling white paper, the government is working full steam on finalising the product and releasing it to market. With the release fast approaching, rumours are spreading that the new online gambling white paper could lead to over £1.3 billion in annual losses for the industry.

There is a good chance that the white paper will be ready and released by the end of the month. And once it is released, it could include modifications to regular casino gambling activities, which cuts the gross gambling yield by 3-8%.

According to a letter from Lucy Frazer, the gambling reforms are expected to lead to GGY losses of up to £1.3 billion. This only holds up when you factor in all gambling spending, including lottery, considering that lottery products have the highest GGY.

However, Frazer states that the societal benefits of the cuts, which target gambling harm, far outweigh the loss in revenue. She also added that a lot of the decline in gaming revenue would be due to people who can’t afford it.

There is much uncertainty regarding the changes that the final version of the white paper will include. Many remain hopeful that there may be a silver lining for UK casinos. Until then, the countdown continues as we wait for the publication of the gambling review white paper.

It remains to be seen how all of this will impact the industry, but with all measures by the UKGC, changes are inevitable. CasinoWow, of course, will continue to follow the topic. 

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