Accessibility to different forms of gambling has never been greater. With the touch of a button, people can access a huge range of different types of casino games. While this provides a great level of choice for players, it also has its downsides. Problem gambling is on the rise and the likes of the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) and the government have been trying to combat this issue.
This has seen a number of restrictions coming into place on uk gambling operators in recent years, with the UK government currently conducting an extensive review of gambling legislation with the end goal of bringing these laws into a digital age. This article will explore further the current landscape of gambling in the UK.
What is the UKGC?
The UKGC is the regulator in charge of overseeing the gambling sector in the region. It issues licenses to operators and ensures that all licensees are complying with the relevant gambling rules and regulations.
It is one of the most respected gambling regulators in the world today, providing much more protection to consumers than other popular authorities like the government of Curacao. While the increasing restrictions that have come into place in recent years by the UKGC have slightly limited the freedom of players, it has been done to protect gamblers.
How does GamStop Work?
One of the key aids to the UKGC when trying to promote responsible gambling is GamStop. This organization is a non-profit and allows people to self-exclude themselves from every single UKGC-licensed gambling site.
As a free service, someone can quickly exclude themselves for six months, a year, or five years. Once you are enrolled in this program, you can’t get out of it until the time period eventually elapses. Every UKGC license holder has to be a part of the GamStop program.
The UKGC also has other requirements for gambling sites when it comes to protecting gamblers. This usually includes offering a wide range of responsible gambling tools to its players. These include deposit limits, session limits, loss limits, and session reminders.
Certain types of game features are also not allowed and slot machine spin speeds have to be at a certain minimal level. Stake sizes are curtailed and the UKGC has banned the use of credit cards for gambling purposes. Credit cards were often troublesome as people were spending money that they did not have in order to gamble.
Other Resources to Aid in Problem Gambling
As the awareness of problem gambling continues to grow, more and more resources are available to people who might be having difficulties controlling their gambling. There are numerous gambling-related charities where people can go for support, such as GamCare and BeGambleAware.
There are also other ways you can block your attempts to gamble. These include different forms of software that block you from accessing gambling-related sites, like Gamban. You can also often put a direct block on your bank accounts which means that you will not be able to make transactions for gambling purposes.
Ultimately, you need to do whatever it takes in order to make sure that you are able to gamble responsibly. There is always help out there, so you are never alone when trying to deal with these issues.
GamStop Sites vs Casinos Not on GamStop
UKGC-licensed sites have built up a great reputation over the years for protecting the players in the right ways. Any operator that has not lived up to the UKGC’s lofty standards has been dealt with harshly. This is often in the form of a license suspension, license removal, and huge fines.
People know that they can trust these gambling sites that have a UKGC license. As well as the extensive consumer protection, there are tons of responsible gambling measures in place as previously mentioned.
However, there is a growing trend of people looking at alternative options. Non-UK betting sites like those on non-gamstop-casinos.com are starting to become more popular as people look to have a bit more freedom when it comes to their online gambling. These platforms will often hold a license with a non-UKGC gambling regulator and also provide different responsible gambling tools. However, they will not really restrict bet sizes, game features, and offer all sorts of transaction options including credit cards.
The two main issues associated with these platforms are that they are not a part of GamStop, which means that self-excluded gamblers can avoid their gambling exclusion. They also do not offer as much consumer protection for UK players. It is vital that only people who are fully in control of their gambling end up using non-UK casinos.
A huge wave of change
The UK gambling market is going through a huge amount of transactions and it has been doing so for a number of years. Different forms of gambling have long been entrenched in British culture, whether it is placing bets in bookmaker shops or playing roulette at a local casino, or the fruity machine in the pub.
With gambling moving online, people began to have the ability to access different forms of gambling on a 24/7 basis. Naturally, this led to people spending more time and money gambling. For some, this developed into serious problems. The UKGC has been able to put in place restrictions to help minimize this potential damage and it is continuing to work closely with the UK government to bring in further measures. While gambling is a great form of entertainment for millions of people, it should always be done in a responsible manner. If you are having any issues with contorting your spending, then you have many great resources you can reach out to in order to get help.
