Harris Hagan

12Feb

White Paper Series: Gambling Commission publishes online slots stake limit guidance

12th February 2025 Harris Hagan 120

On 30 January 2025, the Gambling Commission published its Online slots stake limit guidance following the Statutory Instrument (“SI”) (The Gambling Act 2005 (Operating Licence Conditions) (Amendment) Regulations 2024) which was laid on 10 December 2024. The SI follows the Government’s response to its consultation to introduce a maximum stake limit for online slots games in Great Britain. Subject to the final Parliamentary procedures, the SI will have the effect of adding a new condition to all remote casino operating licences.

What does the SI say?

The SI states:

1. The condition specified in this regulation is attached to each remote casino operating licence, including remote casino operating licences issued before this regulation comes into force.

2. The condition is that, for an online slots game, the total amount which an individual may stake in relation to any game cycle may not exceed—

(a) £2, where the individual is less than 25 years old, and

(b) £5, where the individual is 25 years old or over.

3. Where this condition is attached to a remote casino operating licence which was issued before this regulation comes into force, the condition has effect from the date on which this regulation comes into force.

4. This regulation is subject to the transitional provision in regulation 6.

5. In this regulation:

“game cycle” means, for an online slots game, the period beginning with the initiation of the game by the individual and ending at the point at which all money staked during the game has been lost or all money won during the game has been or delivered to or made available for collection by the individual, as the case may be;

“online slots game” means a casino game that is—

(a) a reel-based game, and

(b) is played online.

“reel-based game” means a game in which—

(a) moving or changing images or text are displayed by the use of visual representations of reels or other means, and

(b) an individual may win a prize or some other opportunity or advantage, as represented by the resulting arrangement of those images or text;

“stake” means to pay or risk an amount in connection with an online slots game.

Gambling Commission’s Guidance

As the SI sets out, all games which meet the definition of an online slots game will be subject to a maximum stake per game cycle. A game cycle begins when the customer presses spin and the stake is deducted from their account balance and ends when any winnings are paid to the player’s balance, or when the stake has been lost.

For customers who are aged 25 and older, the maximum they can stake per game cycle for online slots is £5.

For customers who are aged 18 to 24, the maximum they can stake per game cycle for online slots is £2.

Separately, the Gambling Commission confirmed in a consultation response for online games design that for remote slots, it must be a minimum of 2.5 seconds from the time a game is started until the next game cycle can be commenced.

Examples

The Gambling Commission also set out some examples:

Scenario A: A customer aged 27 stakes £5 on an online slot game. No other opportunities to stake can be offered until the game cycle has concluded as £5 is the maximum stake permitted for customers aged 25 and over.

Scenario B: A customer aged 27 stakes £2 on an online slot game. Further staking opportunities could be offered within the same game cycle up to the value of £3 for a total staked per game cycle of £5.

Scenario C: A customer aged 19 stakes £2 on an online slot game. No other opportunities to stake can be offered until the game cycle has concluded as £2 is the maximum stake permitted for 18 to 24 year olds.

Scenario D: A customer aged 27 stakes £5 on an online slot game and wins a prize offer which they can accept (and end the game cycle) or reject (and gamble their stake again for a chance to win a larger prize). Importantly, the customer is not being asked to stake any additional funds. The customer chooses to accept the additional gamble but is unsuccessful and therefore receives £0. The customer’s balance is reduced by £5 when they initiate the spin, and as they receive no prize their balance remains unchanged following the conclusion of the game cycle.

Who does the SI apply to?

As explained in the SI, the condition will apply to operators who hold remote casino operating licences, including those licences that were issued before the regulation comes into force. The SI states that for licences issued before the regulation is in effect, the condition will have effect from the date the regulation comes into force.

Timeline

The SI for this measure was laid in Parliament on 10 December 2024.
This legislation needs to be debated (usually scheduled for 6 to 8 weeks after the legislation is laid, although not guaranteed) and approved by both the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
After the legislation is debated and approved it will be made (signed by the Minister) and come into force.
From the day the legislation is made, operators will have an implementation period of 6 weeks to implement the £5 limit per spin for adults aged 25 and over (which will temporarily apply to all adults), and a further 6 weeks to implement the £2 limit per spin for 18 to 24 year olds.

Please get i n touch with us if you have any questions about the SI or Gambling Commission guidance.

05Feb

White Paper Series: New rules on customer led tools, customer funds and statutory levy

5th February 2025 Harris Hagan 125

On 4 February 2025, the Gambling Commission announced changes aimed at increasing consumer control over deposit limits and greater transparency of customer funds protection by operators. Also, a further change to the Gambling Commission’s Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (“LCCP”) will also pave the way for implementation of the Government’s upcoming statutory levy. These changes are part of the consultation response to the Autumn 2023 Consultation and are consistent with the commitments within the White Paper.

What are the changes?

New customer led tools

The new rules will give consumers more effective ways to manage their gambling by making it easier to set and maintain deposit limits on their online accounts, in ways that work best for them. These rules will take good practice already offered by some operators and expand that so customers can expect the same standards across the industry.

From 31 October 2025, all gambling operators must prompt their customers to set a financial limit before they make their first deposit and make it easy to review and alter this limit at any point after.

Gambling operators will also be required to remind customers every six months to review their account and transaction information. The Gambling Commission believes this will help customers consider if they want to change existing, or set new, deposit limits.

The announcement confirms that the Gambling Commission’s work revealed recent changes by some operators on how deposit limits are offered, which could cause confusion for consumers. As a result, a short supplementary consultation will be launched on proposals to improve consistency and transparency for consumers on how financial limits work.

2. Transparency of protection of customer funds

Operators who hold customer funds must already set out in the terms and conditions whether these are protected in the event of insolvency, the level of such protection and the method by which this is achieved. They must also make this information available at the point at which a customer first deposits money.

The level of protection must be described as either ‘not protected – no segregation’, ‘not protected – segregation of customer funds’, ‘medium protection’ or ‘high protection’.

From 31 October 2025, operators whose customer funds are ‘not protected’ in the event of insolvency must actively remind customers once every six months that their funds are not protected.

Whilst there is no legal duty on gambling operators to protect customers funds in the event of insolvency, many of them do so voluntarily. The Gambling Commission believes the changes will help consumers understand which operators protect their funds and which do not – information which will support them in making choices about who they gamble with.

3. Changes connected with the new statutory levy

The LCCP currently requires operators to make annual financial contributions to a list of research, prevention and treatment organisations.

This requirement will be removed close to the introduction of the Government’s statutory levy (expected to come into force on 6 April 2025) as it will become obsolete. The Gambling Commission will notify licensees of the date of implementation as soon as the Parliamentary process is complete.

Tim Miller, Commission Executive Director for research and policy, said:

“These changes illustrate our commitment to ensuring gambling is fair and open by improving consumer empowerment and choice.

“These changes will help consumers decide on deposit limits, enable them to keep track of their spending and ensure they are fully aware of what happens to their funds should an operator become insolvent.

“We will now continue our work to deliver our remaining White Paper commitments, including our programme of evaluation.”

Next steps

The new statutory levy requirement is expected to come into force on 6 April 2025. Changes on customer led tools and the protection of customer funds will come into force on 31 October 2025.

Please get in touch with us if you have any questions about these upcoming changes.

04Feb

White Paper Series: Gambling Commission launches January 2025 consultation

4th February 2025 Harris Hagan 117

On 29 January 2025, the Gambling Commission launched its January 2025 consultation (the “January 2025 Consultation”). It is the Gambling Commission’s third consultation addressing its commitments within the White Paper, following the Summer 2024 consultation and Autumn 2023 consultation.

What does the January 2025 Consultation propose?

The January 2025 Consultation sets out proposed changes to the Gaming Machine Technical Standards (“GMTS”), the Gaming Machine Testing Strategy (“Testing Strategy”), and the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (“LCCP”), several of which were foreshadowed in the Gambling Commission’s Advice to Government in April 2023.

These include:

introducing five new standards, a licence condition and a social responsibility code provision designed to support and empower consumers to use gaming machines safely at every stage of the customer journey – this includes proposals on time and monetary limit setting functionality and information provision, such as safer gambling messaging and the display of net position and session time;
amending three existing standards having considered industry proposals to improve customer enjoyment and gameplay;
consolidating the existing 12 gaming machine technical standards into a single standard, whilst amending the format to be more consistent with the Remote gambling and software technical standards for greater clarity; and
updating the gaming machine technical standards and the related testing strategy to remove obsolete material.

1. Consolidation of the GMTS

The Gambling Commission proposes to consolidate the 12 existing GMTS into a single standard and amend the format to be more consistent with the Remote gambling and software technical standards. The proposed consolidated version of the GMTS will be structured into 8 main standards and apply to all the main categories of gaming machines, with a further 6 standards for specific technical requirements. Although the text is proposed to be re-structured, these are essentially unchanged from the existing GMTS and cover areas such as legacy gaming machines, wireless network requirements and linked progressive requirements.

Given the now identical maximum charges for use (and maximum payouts) on Category B2 and B3 gaming machines is £2 per game (reduced from £100 per game in 2019), the Gambling Commission propose amending the GMTS for Category B2 gaming machines. Proposals are in relation to the game speed of play, that each game cycle must last at least 2.5 seconds (GMTS 5.7), and use of compensators and/or regulators, now permissible subject to compliance with the requirements and implementation guidance (GMTS 5.8).

2. Amendments to the GMTS

The proposals include amendments to the existing GMTS following the Gambling Commission’s consideration of industry proposals to improve consumer enjoyment and gameplay. These include:

changes to game links (meaning an element, feature or outcome from one game is either held over or made reference to (recreated) in the next game (for example, reel band holds)) by (i) adjusting the value and the number of repeats permissible on Category C gaming machines (GMTS 5.14b) and (ii) removing the need for a 50/50 chance following a losing game on Category B gaming machines (GMTS 5.14a); and
changes to live jackpots by allowing a player to gamble a live jackpot win on all categories of gaming machine (GMTS 5.9) – allowing live jackpots to be gambled, in the same manner that other prizes can be. This would not require consumers to gamble but rather choose to gamble or collect the live jackpot win in full at their own discretion.

It is noted in the January 2025 Consultation that several other proposals were discounted for a variety of reasons. These reasons included, for example, risk to the licensing objectives and the need for primary legislation which sits outside of the Gambling Commission’s remit.

3. New technical standards of the GMTS

The Gambling Commission seeks to support and empower consumers to use gaming machines safely at every stage of the customer journey.

Notably, the January 2025 Consultation proposes to introduce five new technical standards of the GMTS. These new standards focus on:

time and monetary limit setting (GMTS 15.1) including:
- requiring operators to ensure machines offer a default option of no more than a 20-minute session and £150 in deposits;
- requiring customers to set their own limits, but these must not be more than 60 minutes or £450 deposited – setting no limits will not be an option; and
- requiring players to take a mandatory break in play of at least 30 seconds when they hit their assigned limits; in addition, an alert will be sent to staff in the venue to inform them that a gambler has reached their pre-set threshold;
safe gambling messaging during breaks in play when a customer set limit or default limit is reached or modified prior to being reached. The provision of information other than safer gambling messaging – such as a marketing of games or new promotional offers – in this scenario, will be prohibited (GMTS 15.2);
display of net position and elapsed time (GMTS 15.3);
awards less than or equal to the last total stake gambled must not be celebrated (GMTS 15.4); and
prohibiting features that permit a customer to reduce the time until the result is known (GMTS 15.5).

Regular readers will note the similarities between some of the new technical standards and the changes to the remote games design requirements that came into force on 17 January 2025. For further information, please see our blog: Reminder: Changes to remote games design requirements come into force on 17 January 2025.

A copy of the proposed new GMTS is available here.

f. Update to a social responsibility code provision of the LCCP

It is also proposed that a social responsibility code provision (SR C P 3.3.3) of the LCCP should be amended to require licensees to ensure that any gaming machines comply with GMTS 15.1 in relation to time and monetary limit setting, and ensure that staff alerts for limit setting are acted upon appropriately and in a timely manner.

g. Update to the Testing Strategy

The Gambling Commission wants to update the Testing Strategy to remove obsolete material in the strategy. Proposals include removal of the initial transitional arrangements and implementation dates.

In addition, the Gambling Commission proposes to align the testing requirements for Category B2 gaming machines with those applicable to Category B3 gaming machines, due to the identical maximum charges for use (and maximum payouts) on Category B2 and B3 gaming machines.

A copy of the proposed new Testing Strategy is available here.

h. New licence condition of the LCCP

The January 2025 Consultation proposes to introduce a new licence condition of the LCCP, under the powers conferred by section 86(2) of the Gambling Act 2005, which will allow the Gambling Commission to effectively address instances whereby a gaming machine has been illegally manufactured, supplied, installed, adapted, maintained or repaired, or does not comply with the GMTS. Making a specified machine available for use after the Gambling Commission has notified the licensee in writing that the manufacture, supply, installation, adaption, maintenance or repair of the machine will now be a breach of a licence condition if it (a) was not carried out in reliance on a gaming machine technical operating licence, or (b) did not comply with the Commission’s gaming machine technical standards, which could give rise to enforcement action by the Gambling Commission .

Will this be the last White Paper consultation by the Gambling Commission?

While this is the Gambling Commission’s third consultation implementing proposals in the White Paper, it is unlikely to be the last. A further Gambling Commission consultation for the land-based sector may be required in due course if the Government decides to remove the prohibition on the direct use of debit cards on gaming machines. The Gambling Commission is also considering undertaking a further consultation to consider the effects of legislative change following the Gambling Act Review.

Next steps

The January 2025 Consultation will be open for 16 weeks, closing on 20 May 2025. Responses can be submitted online, or by post to the Gambling Commission’s Policy Team.

We strongly encourage all licensees and stakeholders to review and respond to the January 2025 Consultation. Please get in touch with us if you would like to discuss this matter further or require our assistance preparing responses.

20Jan

ICE Barcelona 2025: John Hagan to moderate a panel of sports and industry experts

20th January 2025 Harris Hagan 112

From 20 – 22 January 2025, ICE will be bringing together the entire gaming industry over three days of networking and education in Barcelona.

On Tuesday, Co-founder and Partner, John Hagan will moderate a panel at the World Regulatory Briefing on Betting on the Future: A United Team on Sports Integrity.

Following a historic summer of sporting success at the Olympics, Wimbledon and Euros, and with the 2026 World Cup on the horizon, the focus on match fixing and sport integrity continues to grow, fuelled by media reports of high-profile athletes placing wagers on their sport and criminal involvement in the manipulation of fair play and other forms of corruption, damaging public perception. Featuring representatives from major sports leagues and betting industry experts, this session will address the nature and scale of the issue, the reputational and economic impact, and how stakeholders can work together to prevent match fixing and build a sustainable betting market.

John will be joined by the following panellists:

Angela Celestino, Intelligence Manager – UEFA
Dieter Braekeveld, Intelligence and Investigations Manager – International Olympic Committee
Luke Saunders, Vice President Commercial – OpenBet
Matt Fowler, Head of Global Operations – International Betting Integrity Association

Please see the below details for your calendar:

Date: Tuesday 21 January 2025

Time: 10:05am – 10:50am CET

Location: CC5.1, Fira Barcelona Gran Via

For more details, please click here.

Alongside John, Partners Bahar Alaeddini and David Whyte will be attending ICE Barcelona 2025. Please get in touch with us if you would like to arrange a meeting to discuss the UK market and how Harris Hagan may support you.

23Dec

Chambers Gaming Law 2024 Global Practice Guide

23rd December 2024 Harris Hagan 105

We are pleased to announce that Bahar Alaeddini has resumed her role as Contributing Editor to the Chambers Global Practice Guide for Gaming Law 2024, and Jessica Wilson has again contributed as a co-author. The latest edition of the Gaming Law 2024 guide is now live and provides an overview of the licensing and regulatory regimes in 38 jurisdictions, including many of the major global jurisdictions. The UK chapter is available below.

Gaming Law 2024 is a helpful guide to lawyers, gambling businesses and others in the industry. It provides legal information on a range of topics, including: land-based and online gambling; B2C and B2B licences; application requirements; affiliates; white labels; responsible gambling; AML legislation; restrictions on advertising; acquisitions and changes of control; trends in social gaming, esports, fantasy sports and blockchain; and taxation.

Harris Hagan contributed to the following parts of the publication:

The Trends and Developments section highlights key trends in each jurisdiction, and the practice guide also provides users with the opportunity to perform jurisdiction comparisons using the Compare locations tool.

Chambers_Gaming, Gambling & Licensing 2024_038_uk Download

19Dec

John Hagan to moderate IAGA webinar on the White Paper

19th December 2024 Harris Hagan 97

Our Managing Partner, John Hagan, will host the International Association of Gaming Advisors (IAGA) Best Practices Webinar titled “Setting the UK Gambling Agenda for 2025: a less political year?”, with the following three esteemed speakers, to address the latest updates, challenges, and opportunities in the White Paper:

📅 Wednesday 15 January 2025

🕰️ 8am PST / 11am EST / 4pm GMT

🔖 Sign up here: https://lnkd.in /e4KTbCn9

The webinar is free to attend, including for non-members, but only IAGA members will be able to watch the webinar recording.

18Oct

Gemma Boore to moderate direct marketing roundtable at EGR London Summit during Safer Gambling Week

18th October 2024 Harris Hagan 118

Senior Associate, Gemma Boore will be co-hosting a roundtable discussion at the EGR London Summit 2024, which takes place next week on 23 October 2024 at etc.venues Chancery Lane.

Gemma, alongside co-host David Murphy, Chief Marketing Officer at QiH Group, will moderate the roundtable, Direct marketing practice: striking the right balance for brand awareness and customer choice, during which attendees will share their perspectives on gambling marketing and advertising.

Gemma will share her legal perspective on the unique challenges faced by the gambling industry when marketing their brands. For example, the Gambling Commission’s proposals regarding direct marketing and cross-selling, which Gemma previously discussed in her blog: White Paper Series: Direct marketing and cross-selling in the crossfire. Further information and discussion regarding the Gambling Commission’s implementation of these proposals (which will come into force on 1 May 2025) can be found in our subsequent blog: Gambling Commission publishes Summer 2023 Consultation Response and Betting & Gaming Council announces New Industry Voluntary Code.

The EGR London Summit 2024 is an exclusive industry event and includes a full agenda of discussions throughout the day focussing on safer gambling strategies and broader regulatory updates.

For more information and to apply to attend, visit the EGR London Summit website.

17Oct

Harris Hagan retains top tier rankings in 2025 Chambers and Partners and The Legal 500

17th October 2024 Harris Hagan 115

We are delighted to announce that Harris Hagan has again been ranked in the top tier in both Chambers and Partners and The Legal 500 for 2025.

Chambers and Partners

Harris Hagan has been ranked in Band 1 for Gaming for the 21^st consecutive year.

“The team is first-rate and has extensive experience in the sector. We have full confidence in the ability of the Harris Hagan team to provide us with first-class service.”

Partners John Hagan and Bahar Alaeddini continue to be recognised in Band 1 and Partner David Whyte has been recognised in Band 3. Consultant Hilary Stewart-Jones is ranked as a Senior Statesperson and Senior Associate Gemma Boore together with Associate Francesca Burnett-Hall, continue to be recognised as Associates to Watch.

Together our lawyers constitute 6 of the 25 gaming lawyers recognised in the directory, befitting our status as a leading specialist gambling law firm. We were also invited by Chambers to write the introduction to the practice area.

We received many positive testimonials, including:

“Every lawyer I have dealt with at the firm is excellent; they know exactly what is going on in the market. This means they are able to provide thorough but also commercial and pragmatic advice.”

“John Hagan is first-class. He is one of the most experienced and impressive gaming lawyers.”

“Bahar has deep relationships in the industry and an ability to solve complex gaming issues in a client-friendly way. She is second to none in that regard.”

“David is extremely knowledgeable of the gambling industry. He is able to provide very thorough advice, whilst also being very direct, pragmatic and to the point.”

“Hilary’s experience of the market is invaluable.”

“Gemma has done excellent work and we would welcome any opportunity to continue working with Gemma in the future.”

“Francesca is very capable, always available and very prompt with every task.”

The Legal 500

Harris Hagan continues to be ranked as Tier 1 for Gaming and Betting in the UK.

“Harris Hagan is, by some margin, the leading specialist firm in the U.K. gaming industry. Their team has unrivalled expertise in gaming regulation and licensing.”

Managing Partner John Hagan, alongside Consultant Hilary Stewart-Jones continue to be listed in The Legal 500’s Hall of Fame, Partner Bahar Alaeddini is listed as a Leading Partner, and Partner David Whyte is listed as a Next Generation Partner. Senior Associate Jessica Wilson is also recognised as a Leading Associate.

We received many positive testimonials, including:

“They have seen it all, and are able to bring their deep experience and deep industry knowledge and connection to bear to provide high quality, pragmatic advice.”

“Their ability to understand our industry in-depth makes them stand out from the rest. They are so invested in understanding all aspects that it enhances the knowledge and guidance they provide.”

“John Hagan is the most prominent U.K. gaming lawyer and is a widely known and respected figure in our industry.”

“‘Friendly, approachable, advice and guidance is not always done in legal jargon, they have a great way of describing a situation in layman’s terms. David Whyte covers all these areas with excellence.”

We would like to thank all of our clients to whom we are incredibly grateful for your continuing instructions and for helping us achieve these impressive rankings.

02Oct

Global Gaming Expo 2024: Bahar Alaeddini to moderate a stellar panel of regulators

2nd October 2024 Harris Hagan 118

From 7-10 October 2024, the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) will make its grand return to The Venetian Expo.

In partnership with the International Association of Gaming Advisors (“IAGA”), it will host the panel Where Sports Betting’s Growth Sits on the Regulatory Agenda, which will be moderated by IAGA General Counsel and Harris Hagan Partner, Bahar Alaeddini.

The panel will examine the rapidly expanding US-based betting landscape after the pivotal overturn of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act 1992 by the US Supreme Court, and feature insights from the following stellar panel of regulators:

Andrew Rhodes, Chief Executive, British Gambling Commission
Dennis Mullen, General Counsel, Indiana Gaming Commission
Kirk Hendrick, Chairman, Nevada Gaming Control Board
Marcus Fruchter, Administrator (Executive Director), Illinois Gaming Board

Please see the below details for your calendar:

Date: Monday 7 October 2024

Time: 09:00 – 09:50 PST

Location: Bellini 2101, The Venetian Expo

Over the course of the conference, IAGA will also be hosting a wide range of sessions focused on other key issues facing global gaming.

Bahar will be attending G2E with John Hagan. Please get in touch if you would like to arrange a meeting.

30Sep

Harris Hagan promotes Jessica Wilson to Senior Associate

30th September 2024 Harris Hagan 119

Harris Hagan is delighted to announce that Jessica Wilson will be promoted to Senior Associate with effect from 1 October 2024.

Jessica has been a tremendous asset to the firm since joining as a newly qualified solicitor in 2019, working on the specialist due diligence and licensing aspects of some of the largest M&A transactions in the gambling sector in recent years, as well as advising our clients generally on gambling law and regulatory matters.

We congratulate Jessica on her achievement and we are confident that she will contribute enormously to the continued success of the firm.

Harris Hagan

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