Gambling in the United Kingdom
Encyclopedia
Gambling in the United Kingdom is regulated by the Gambling Commission
on behalf of the government's Department for Culture, Media and Sport
(DCMS) under the Gambling Act 2005
. This Act of Parliament
significantly updated the UK's
gambling
laws, including the introduction of a new structure of protections for children and vulnerable adults, as well as bringing the burgeoning Internet
gaming sector within British regulation for the first time.
Casinos had a similar history, with requirement for licensing from the Gaming Board of Great Britain and for casinos to be members-only. The number of gaming machines in casinos was limited at 10.
In part due to the difficulty of enforcing this, the Gaming Act 1968 liberalised the law, by allowing true commercial casinos. The first very popular game was Chemmy, popularized by the Clermont Club
, in London
.
The Gambling Act of 2005
paved the way for larger resort style casino
s to be built, albeit in a controlled manner with one being built every few years until the Act is fully implemented. Many towns and cities bid to host one of these so-called "super casinos", which will be similar to those found in Las Vegas
. On 30 January 2007 Manchester
was announced as the winning bid to be the location of the first 'super-casino'. The House of Lords
urged on 29 March 2007 the Government to review plans for the massive 'super-casino' in Manchester. Instead it supported plans for 16 smaller casinos, including ones in Solihull
and Wolverhampton
. In 2008, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said that the Government would not be proceeding with the 'super-casino' in Manchester.
Gaming machines are divided into a number of categories, mainly depending upon the stakes and payouts involved.
has a long history in the United Kingdom, having been controlled for many decades, and more recently relaxed. The 1960 Act legalised off-course bookmakers. Pool betting on horses is a monopoly of the state-owned Tote
.
There is a large market in the UK for gambling on competitive sports at bookmakers or licensed website , particularly for horse
, greyhound racing
and association football (soccer). The last of these also has an associated form of gambling known as the football pools
, in which players win by correctly predicting the outcome of each week's matches.
is known as the National Lottery
, which was set up under government licence in 1993.
A statute of 1698 provided that in England lotteries were by default illegal unless specifically authorised by statute. An 1934 Act legalised small lotteries, which was further liberalised in 1956 and 1976. There could be no big national lottery until the Government established one, however.
Several games are run under this brand, including Lotto and Thunderball. As with other lotteries players choose a set of numbers, say 6 from 50, with six numbers then being drawn at random. Players win cash prizes depending on how many numbers they match.
The national lottery launched a pan-European
"super-lottery", called EuroMillions
, in 2004. Currently 9 countries contribute.
In the UK the national lottery has so far raised several billions of pounds for Good Causes
, a programme which distributes money via grants. 28% of lottery revenue goes towards the fund, along with all unclaimed prizes. Additionally, 12% goes to the state. The prize fund is 45% of revenue, with the remaining 15% going towards running costs and profits for the lottery organisers and ticket sellers.
In February 2011 the media tycoon Richard Desmond announced the launch of a new Health Lottery , the aim is for the Health Lottery to raise a minimum of £50 million each year for health related charities. Tickets will cost £1 each and 20.34p of every £1 will go to the charities involved.
The odds of specific combinations occurring in the UK national lottery are as follows:
s are a very popular form of gambling in the UK, due to their easy availability and cheap price. These are small pieces of card where an area has been covered by a substance that cannot be seen through, but can be scratched off. Under this area are concealed the items/pictures that must be 'found' in order to win.
In 2009/2010 the FECs made up 81% of the arcade sector in gross gambling yield.
All forms of online gambling are licensed by the Gambling Commission and therefore can be legally provided in the country. At the Commission's site anyone can find the details of both licensed operators and applicants for a license.
.
The betting industry alone is reported to contribute £6 billion as of January 2010, 0.5% of GDP. Furthermore it employs over 100,000 people and generates £700 Million in taxes.
Gambling Commission
The Gambling Commission is Great Britain's regulatory body for most, but not all, gambling.-History:It was established under the Gambling Act 2005 and assumed full powers in 2007, taking over responsibility from the Gaming Board for Great Britain, in regulating arcades, betting, bingo, casinos,...
on behalf of the government's Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is a department of the United Kingdom government, with responsibility for culture and sport in England, and some aspects of the media throughout the whole UK, such as broadcasting and internet....
(DCMS) under the Gambling Act 2005
Gambling Act 2005
The Gambling Act 2005 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It mainly applies to England and Wales, and to Scotland, and is designed to control all forms of gambling...
. This Act of Parliament
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
significantly updated the UK's
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
gambling
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
laws, including the introduction of a new structure of protections for children and vulnerable adults, as well as bringing the burgeoning Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
gaming sector within British regulation for the first time.
Bingo and casinos
The game of Bingo was popularised in the armed forces in the Second World War and brought back to Britain after the end. The Betting and Gaming Act 1960 allowed commercial bingo halls to be set up, provided they were established as members-only clubs and had to get their take from membership fees and charges rather than as a percentage of the entry fees.Casinos had a similar history, with requirement for licensing from the Gaming Board of Great Britain and for casinos to be members-only. The number of gaming machines in casinos was limited at 10.
In part due to the difficulty of enforcing this, the Gaming Act 1968 liberalised the law, by allowing true commercial casinos. The first very popular game was Chemmy, popularized by the Clermont Club
Clermont Set
The Clermont Set was an exclusive group of rich British gamblers who met at the Clermont Club at 44 Berkeley Square, in London's fashionable Mayfair district now located at 27-28 Curzon Street and called Aspinall's. It was the first London casino opened by John Aspinall after he won the gaming...
, in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
The Gambling Act of 2005
Gambling Act 2005
The Gambling Act 2005 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It mainly applies to England and Wales, and to Scotland, and is designed to control all forms of gambling...
paved the way for larger resort style casino
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
s to be built, albeit in a controlled manner with one being built every few years until the Act is fully implemented. Many towns and cities bid to host one of these so-called "super casinos", which will be similar to those found in Las Vegas
Las Vegas Strip
The Las Vegas Strip is an approximately stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada; adjacent to, but outside the city limits of Las Vegas proper. The Strip lies within the unincorporated townships of Paradise and Winchester...
. On 30 January 2007 Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
was announced as the winning bid to be the location of the first 'super-casino'. The House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
urged on 29 March 2007 the Government to review plans for the massive 'super-casino' in Manchester. Instead it supported plans for 16 smaller casinos, including ones in Solihull
Solihull
Solihull is a town in the West Midlands of England with a population of 94,753. It is a part of the West Midlands conurbation and is located 9 miles southeast of Birmingham city centre...
and Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
. In 2008, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said that the Government would not be proceeding with the 'super-casino' in Manchester.
Gaming machines are divided into a number of categories, mainly depending upon the stakes and payouts involved.
Gambling on sports
Sports gamblingSports betting
Sports betting is the activity of predicting sports results and placing a wager on the outcome.-United States of America:Aside from simple wagers such as betting a friend that one's favorite baseball team will win its division or buying a football "square" for the Super Bowl, sports betting is...
has a long history in the United Kingdom, having been controlled for many decades, and more recently relaxed. The 1960 Act legalised off-course bookmakers. Pool betting on horses is a monopoly of the state-owned Tote
The Tote
The Tote, formerly the Horserace Totalisator Board, is a British bookmaker with head offices in Wigan. It was owned from its formation in 1928 by the UK Government but was sold to Betfred in July 2011. Under the brand totesport the Tote has 514 high street betting shops, outlets on Britain's 60...
.
There is a large market in the UK for gambling on competitive sports at bookmakers or licensed website , particularly for horse
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
, greyhound racing
Greyhound racing
Greyhound racing is the sport of racing greyhounds. The dogs chase a lure on a track until they arrive at the finish line. The one that arrives first is the winner....
and association football (soccer). The last of these also has an associated form of gambling known as the football pools
Football pools
A football pool, often collectively referred to as "the pools", is a betting pool based on predicting the outcome of top-level association football matches set to take place in the coming week. The pools are typically cheap to enter, with the potential to win huge money. Entries were traditionally...
, in which players win by correctly predicting the outcome of each week's matches.
Lottery
The UK's state-franchised lotteryLottery
A lottery is a form of gambling which involves the drawing of lots for a prize.Lottery is outlawed by some governments, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of regulation of lottery by governments...
is known as the National Lottery
National Lottery (United Kingdom)
The National Lottery is the state-franchised national lottery in the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man.It is operated by Camelot Group, to whom the licence was granted in 1994, 2001 and again in 2007. The lottery is regulated by the National Lottery Commission, and was established by the then...
, which was set up under government licence in 1993.
A statute of 1698 provided that in England lotteries were by default illegal unless specifically authorised by statute. An 1934 Act legalised small lotteries, which was further liberalised in 1956 and 1976. There could be no big national lottery until the Government established one, however.
Several games are run under this brand, including Lotto and Thunderball. As with other lotteries players choose a set of numbers, say 6 from 50, with six numbers then being drawn at random. Players win cash prizes depending on how many numbers they match.
The national lottery launched a pan-European
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
"super-lottery", called EuroMillions
EuroMillions
EuroMillions is a transnational lottery, launched on 7 February 2004 by France's Française des Jeux, Spain's Loterías y Apuestas del Estado, and the United Kingdom's Camelot. The first draw was held on Friday 13 February 2004 in Paris...
, in 2004. Currently 9 countries contribute.
In the UK the national lottery has so far raised several billions of pounds for Good Causes
Big Lottery Fund
The Big Lottery Fund is a grant-making non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom created by the Government to administer the funding of "good causes" following the creation of the National Lottery. It has an annual expenditure of £630 million...
, a programme which distributes money via grants. 28% of lottery revenue goes towards the fund, along with all unclaimed prizes. Additionally, 12% goes to the state. The prize fund is 45% of revenue, with the remaining 15% going towards running costs and profits for the lottery organisers and ticket sellers.
In February 2011 the media tycoon Richard Desmond announced the launch of a new Health Lottery , the aim is for the Health Lottery to raise a minimum of £50 million each year for health related charities. Tickets will cost £1 each and 20.34p of every £1 will go to the charities involved.
The odds of specific combinations occurring in the UK national lottery are as follows:
| Combinations | Odds | Allocation of winnings |
|---|---|---|
| 6 numbers | 1 : 13,983,816 |
52% of remaining prize fund |
| 5 numbers and the bonus ball | 1 : 2,330,636 |
16% of remaining prize fund |
| 5 numbers | 1 : 54,201 |
10% of remaining prize fund |
| 4 numbers | 1 : 1,032 |
22% of remaining prize fund |
| 3 numbers | 1 : 57 |
£10 |
| 2 numbers | 1 : 8 |
No win |
| 1 number | 1 : 2 | No win |
Scratchcards
ScratchcardScratchcard
A scratchcard is a small card, often made of thin paper-based card for competitions and plastic to conceal PINs, where one or more areas contain concealed information which can...
s are a very popular form of gambling in the UK, due to their easy availability and cheap price. These are small pieces of card where an area has been covered by a substance that cannot be seen through, but can be scratched off. Under this area are concealed the items/pictures that must be 'found' in order to win.
Arcades
The Gambling Commission identifies 3 types of amusement arcades- adult gaming centres (AGCs)
- licensed family entertainment centres (FECs)
- unlicensed FECs.
In 2009/2010 the FECs made up 81% of the arcade sector in gross gambling yield.
Remote gambling
Remote form of gambling is growing in popularity in the UK. According to the survey conducted by the Gambling Commission, as of March 2010, 10,7% of the 8,000 adults surveyed said they had participated in at least one form of remote gambling in the previous 4 weeks. In 2009 the figure was 10,5%, in 2008 – 7,2%, in 2007 – 8,8%, in 2006 – 7,2%. The major part of these gamblers was represented by those playing the National Lottery online. Upon their exclusion, the figures are 5,7%, 5,7%, 5,6% and 5,2% respectively.All forms of online gambling are licensed by the Gambling Commission and therefore can be legally provided in the country. At the Commission's site anyone can find the details of both licensed operators and applicants for a license.
Economic aspects
Income from gambling currently makes up a small part of the Economy of the United KingdomEconomy of the United Kingdom
The economy of the United Kingdom is the sixth-largest national economy in the world measured by nominal GDP and seventh-largest measured by purchasing power parity , and the third-largest in Europe measured by nominal GDP and second-largest measured by PPP...
.
The betting industry alone is reported to contribute £6 billion as of January 2010, 0.5% of GDP. Furthermore it employs over 100,000 people and generates £700 Million in taxes.