The gambling market, perhaps more than any other, has always been subjected to some pretty clear cut and defined regulations, especially in the modern day. Rewind back to even the Ancient Roman times and you would be able to see examples of where gambling had been regulated by the state, often to ensure they are the ones making the most money from the enterprise.
Nowadays there are various reasons why the market is so heavily regulated, and a lot of it is down to the dangerously addictive nature of some of the offerings out there. In particular online slots; now, these games are often so good that it can be very hard to actually stop playing them. Before the UK regulations set in online casino sites like wizardslots.com were not liable to disclose specific information about their slots, however now things are a lot more transparent. Let’s take a look at some online slot regulations and how they affect us as consumers.
UK Gambling Regulations: A Quick Overview
Unlike many places in the world, gambling was actually only legalised in the UK in 1960, with the first proper casino being opened a year after by George Alfred. The regulations surrounding gambling were still very tight, however, and it wasn’t until 1968 that more casinos began to pop up as a result of the rules being loosened somewhat.
Zip forward to 2005 and things would get blown wide open with the passing of the new Gambling Act by the government. This relaxed regulations significantly, and actually paved the way for the unrivalled success of the online slot industry. There is a multitude of reasons as to why this occurred, read on to find out.
Gambling Act Of 2005
It would be no exaggeration to say that, prior to the implementation of the Gambling Act Of 2005, the UK gambling industry was on the rocks. And here’s the thing: there was so much potential within the computer tech firms sprouting up across the country to deliver cutting edge examples of online slots, but it just did not pay to do so.
This all changed in 2005, when the Gambling Act was enforced in order to prevent gambling from being a source of crime, ensuring it was done in a fair way, and reducing the harm it could potentially cause to children and vulnerable adults. In many cases when more regulations are passed in relation to a particular industry profits can suffer, but here it proved to have the opposite affect.
Online slots were made a much safer proposition due to the new-found transparency of the market. For instance, all online casino sites must now disclose vital information such as a title’s RTP – Return To Player – in order to host the slots. They must also take much more care to combat problem gambling via information centres on their websites and even instant messaging services. In exchange they have been granted things like advertisement rights, something that was dramatically increased revenue over the years.