Proposed UK Gambling Act Review Gets the Thumbs Up from GVC

In the face of the recent lockdowns and concerns over Britain’s and their gambling habits the House of Lords has called upon the government and the Gambling Commission to review the countries existing Gambling Act.

This call for review has found favour with local gambling giant, GVC Holdings, who have publicly stated that they would welcome the opportunity to play an active role in ushering legislative reform that ensures an unbiased, safe, and fair gaming market.

The GVC Holdings CEO, Kenny Alexander, said:

“This report is a thoughtful and measured contribution to the debate on how to ensure the regulated gambling industry can thrive, provide entertainment and enjoyment for the millions of Britons who like a bet.”

Just what such a review would entail is open for debate as the UK is already considered one of the strictest regulatory regions, a position they defend by claiming that having the highest gambling population in Europe calls for the highest safeguards against both crime and problem gambling.

✓Act In One Accord

The proposed review contained a comprehensive 66 point outline, each aimed at addressing gambling harms.

Alexander stated that despite the country’s low percentage of problem gamblers, all players and their families deserved to be protected to the fullest. It was also mentioned that the GVC are already implementing several of the protections outlined in the proposal, these include:

• A reduction in gambling advertising: Already, GVC has removed all on-field gambling advertising in football stadiums across the United Kingdom in a bid to avoid targeting under-aged minors.
• Increased Funding for research into problem gambling: Already, GVC entered a 5-year partnership with Harvard Medical School’s Division on Addiction, gearing multiple millions of pounds towards treatments and research into the resolution of gambling problems.
• Prevention of Under-aged gambling: GVC Holdings is pushing for a recommended minimum age of 18 years old on all forms of betting in the UK.

Alexander went on to add:

“As a socially responsible business, GVC is committed to constantly improving our player protection policies. We have already adopted several of the measures recommended in this report and there are others that we would like to see implemented across the industry.”

Even though the report and reviewed measures have not been implemented as yet, GVC has shown interest in some of the protocols and have already begun implementing them.

✓Don’t Fear The Reaper

A recent study found that the majority of gamblers and more than 30% of non-gamblers are against the government and banks making decisions when it comes to bet limits. Their stance is that players are competent adults who should be allowed to determine for themselves how much they want to gamble.

Alexander is quick to point out that there need to be better communication of intent and why key regulations are required before misinformation and frustration cause UK punters to take the risk of gambling at unregulated casinos where they stand to be abused.

The Gambling Commission is not afraid of illegal gambling becoming a major problem for the region. Should they feel it is becoming problematic they always have the option to work with banks and payment providers to block payments to and from illegal gambling sites.