Iqbal Johal
It’s hard to argue against the fact the time has come for an immediate review and amendment of the 2005 Gambling Act. I believe most of those in the industry will agree that certain regulations need to be tightened to ensure the UK market adheres to responsible gambling measures in the best way possible. Certain measures and proposals make sense. The decision to raise the National Lottery minimum age to 18 will help protect young people. And as my colleague Tim Poole alluded to, VIP and high-value schemes certainly seem outdated, and many would be happy if these were either abolished completely or heavily regulated, even if it will undoubtedly hit affiliate revenue, which in itself raises a moral dilemma of revenue coming from what in certain cases can be open to exploitation. The review will also look at online stake limits, which could follow in the footsteps of the £2 ($2.73) stake limit for fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBT) that came into effect in April 2019. The biggest debate here is greater control and focus on player loss and deposit limits, making sure people play within their means, rather than restrict stakes for everyone since each customer is different.