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The UK’s gambling regulator says egregious VIP schemes are a thing of the past and is backing bookies' habit of blocking winning customers, but Westminster politicians eager for reform are striking an altogether different tone.
The UK Gambling Commission says that schemes which saw big bettors wined and dined by operators in the hopes of extracting more wagers are largely a thing of the past.
What the regulator calls “high-value customer schemes” have decreased by 90 percent since 2020, according to new data, which mirrors similar findings in 2021.
VIPs represent around 3 percent of a gambling operator’s gross gambling revenue (GGR) on average, the Commission said.
Revelations during the past decade that operators were taking customers at risk of gambling harm on all-expenses-paid trips to sporting events or hand-delivering gambling devices have underpinned several of the most high-profile enforcement actions in the UK.
And as the reliance on VIP schemes has decreased, so has the overall reputation of the UK’s big operators, with the Commission’s chief executive, Andrew Rhodes, repeating on several occasions in recent months that compliance levels have improved considerably at the market’s largest firms.
However, there are fears that many of the players who would formerly have occupied the attention of a high-value customer scheme have instead been tempted into the black market, where VIP schemes operate with little to no oversight.
A study by Deal Me Out found that 70 out of 100 people with a diagnosed gambling addiction who were surveyed for the report received daily offers of VIP treatment from black market companies.
“We are seeing a significant rise in crypto casinos, fake games and VIP schemes promoted by influencers who bypass UK regulations,” said Deal Me Out CEO Jordan Lea.
Backing The Ban
In a second update, days later, the Commission also gave a positive review of the sometimes controversial practice of banning winning players.
To the ire of consumer groups, gambling operators are permitted to restrict or outright ban customers who routinely beat the bookies.
Unlike in countries like Spain, there is no right to bet in the UK and any change to that policy would require amendments to the Gambling Act 2005.
The Commission said it had been gathering data on the practice to help support its regulatory decisions, but was not calling for a change in the law.
“Businesses may take commercial decisions providing they do not discriminate on the basis of protected characteristics. Being a successful bettor is not a protected characteristic in discrimination law,” said Rhodes.
The research found that 4.3 percent of all betting accounts were restricted in some way, with around half of that number being banned outright.
Meanwhile In Westminster
While the nation’s gambling regulator takes a gentle approach, a large and growing group of politicians is plotting a more radical shakeup.
The Gambling Reform All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) has opened an inquiry into the state of gambling regulation in the UK, with several of its members having previously expressed a desire to rip up the existing Gambling Act 2005 and start again.
The review comes while several of the projects promised in the UK’s white paper are yet to be delivered, including a gambling ombudsman and financial risk assessments.
Politicians say they are set to review some of these proposals before they even come into effect, promising that the inquiry will “explore the potential of the 2023 gambling white paper proposals for delivering an effective regulatory environment and considering where proposals fail to deliver on harm reduction aims”.
The group is accepting submissions until September 12 and has requested the views of operators, along with campaigners, public health professionals and other gambling stakeholders.
Although the APPG inquiry holds back on laying out an official position on UK gambling regulation, the group has told Vixio in recent months that its plans push the government to place new limits on gambling ads.
A spokesperson for the group told Vixio that it will campaign to “impose significant restrictions on gambling advertising across all media platforms to protect children”.
The group did not respond to questions for this story on whether it would treat submissions from the gambling industry with equal weight and whether it would push for a new UK gambling act.
The APPG’s membership has swelled in the past year, following the 2024 general election and now includes several MPs from the ruling Labour Party.
It also boasts a prodigious success rate in delivering on its lobbying objectives, including calls for slots stake limits and the planned creation of an ombudsman.
