Gambling, and more specifically all new casino slot games, like many other industries have seen a monumental shift in the way that business is now conducted thanks to technological advances brought about by the new digital age. In fact, the gambling industry has seen a whole new industry created within it – iGaming. This covers all sorts of different casinos games such as:
- Poker
- Blackjack
- Roulette
- Online slot games.
All of these games, once bound to land-based casinos are now free to play in the comfort of your own home via your computer, and now even your mobile phone. This huge advance in technological innovation for the gambling industry has brought on the need for one thing in particular – regulation. With more of you players out there than ever before, and more developers than ever before creating a variety of new and exciting games, someone, somehow needs to keep everything in check and above board.
Regulation in the digital age
In 2005, the UK government saw a time to change their regulations for gambling along with the recent developments in online capabilities. The UK Gambling Commission was formed, who regulate casino site and casino game developers in two different ways. Firstly, they distribute and monitor a series of licenses that a developer needs to qualify for before they can legally create the online slot games that we know and love. Secondly, The UK Gambling Commission tax the developers for any profits they have made through slot sites instead of taxing the winnings of the player.
Changes in Slot Laws
At the turn of the decade, a new gambling act was expected to surface, with updated regulations for the ever-evolving industry, however delays have seen the act more likely come to fruition in the coming year, or perhaps the early stages of 2022. The act, once passed, will see a variety of changes to meet new standards laid out by the UK Gambling Commission, these include but are not limited to:
– VIP Schemes – These schemes will potentially be scrapped by new regulations, after several studies have indicated that fraud is far more likely to occur through these schemes.
– Loyalty points – It is possible that new regulations will be placed on loyalty points for the same aforementioned reason.
– Responsible Gambling Tools – This is perhaps the most important new addition to gambling regulations. Currently, developers are expected to offer several tools to help people stay safe and gamble responsibly, but these tools are often optional and are presented in a way that is easy to ignore. This will most likely be changed, and instead customers may have limits imposed during their game, which they have to manually opt out of. New tools are also said to have been added, including shared data between various sites so customers know exactly how much they’re spending in total no matter what sites they are using.
