Over the last few years, the gambling landscape in the UK has shifted considerably, especially when you factor in the amount of legislation that has been implemented.
One particular area of concern involves the increase in the amount of non-Gamstop betting sites, which operate outside of the jurisdiction of the UKGC (UK Gambling Commission), though which appear to be rife but, seemingly hard to police.
In April 2020, the UK government effectively made mandatory for all licensed UK operators to integrate with Gamstop; the national self-exclusion scheme. This means that sites should have responsible gambling measures in place for players to be able to limit or even restrict (self-exclude) themselves from gambling if they felt they needed a break.
However, there are players who make use of non-Gamstop sites in order to get around their self-imposed bans or to bypass the stringent security checks that a licensed operator has in place.
Protective Measures In Place
Under the 2005 Gambling Act, operating without a license in the UK market is a criminal offence; something that the UKGC firmly emphasises.
To help crack down on this, there are a number of measures that are implemented in order to protect vulnerable gamblers. For example, it is well-known that the UKGC collaborates with ISPs (Internet Service Providers) in addition to financial institutions in a bid to block access to sites which are known to be illegal and disrupt the flow of payments.
Meanwhile, recent government white papers have been drawn up in a bid to propose stricter frictionless financial vulnerability checks designed to identify players who are at-risk prior to them feeling the need to find offshore options.
Furthermore, there have been numerous PR campaigns that the commission has funded, created to raise awareness about the dangers of non-Gamstop sites and frequently works with Gamcare on certain campaigns.
Interestingly, the UKGC also collaborates with other official bodies, including Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), in the Netherlands to align regulatory data and evidence collection and sharing, in order to identify unlicensed gambling sites.
Player And Industry Implications
For players using non-Gamstop sites, there are a number of risks involved such as , losing access to the Independent Betting Ajudication Service (IBAS), which means that if an unregulated site refuses to pay out on winnings, there is no official third party who will investigate the matter.
It is also very unlikely that you will find a non-Gamstop site that has KYC (Know Your Customer), checks in place, meaning players are more susceptible to identity theft, while the risk of harm increases due to no responsible gambling and opt out options.
As more and more players shift towards offshore gambling, it also means the UK government loses out on a proportion of tax that it charges operators and it will be interesting to see how much of an effect this will have over the next few years.
The fact is though that, as the UKGC tightens legislation and imposed new restrictions like banning credit card gambling, this has inadvertently increased the demand for unregulated sites, creating further potential problems.