The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (“DCMS”) has published its response to the conclusions and recommendations of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee’s (“the Committee’s”) report on Society Lotteries.

The Government clearly intends to take steps to overhaul the way society lotteries operate and to also address the concerns raised by the Gambling Commission around the interplay between lotteries and other gambling products and the way they are collectively marketed and operated.

Further consultations are promised and the issues identified are now back with the Commission to take forward with clear support from the Government.

The Government’s statement can be read here.

Following the Government’s consulation on lotteries earlier in the year, the Gambling Commission has published guidance seeking to address the confusion that, research would suggest, arises in the minds of the general public when faced with a “lottery-style” game or a betting product where punters wager on the outcome of actual lotteries.

The guidance largely deals with the way such games are presented and marketed, but there is also a clear threat from the Commission that, if they dont see a noticeable improvement, then they will address the issue of confusion through the imposition of licensing conditions.

See the Commission’s guidance here.

The Gambling Commission has published its annual report for 2014-15. Read the rest of this entry »

The Gambling Commission has published industry statistics for the period 1 April 2010 to 30 September 2014.

The report can be read here.

The Gambling Commission has “written to a number of website operators offering prizes of money or money’s worth to gamblers in Britain that are not licensed by” the Commission to alert/remind them that any operator offering gambling services to British citizens using bitcoin as the basis of depositing and paying out requires an operating licence or they are acting illegally.

It is unlikely to surprise the recipients of such correspondence that they may be committing an offence. When bitcoin first emerged, online casinos that used bitcoin as the only payment method also emerged and claimed they were outside the scope of gambling regulation. Anyone with even a basic understanding of gambling law saw through such claims. It should be well-understood by now that even though bitcoin is not fiat currency, it nevertheless has “value” and wagering with it will be considered as gambling.

The Gambling Commission has announced that Sarah Harrison will join the Gambling Commission on 7 September and will become a Commissioner when she takes over from Jenny Williams as Chief Executive on 1 October 2015.

She is currently a Senior Partner at Ofgem where she leads the Sustainable Development Division.

The Gambling Commission has published analysis of trends in gambling behaviour for 2008-2014.

The report’s main findings are:

• a “significant increase in remote gambling participation, in gambling participation amongst those from the AB (1) social grade and female participation in activities other than the National Lottery.
• a decrease in participation in National Lottery draws, virtual gaming machines in bookmakers (FOBTs) and fruit/slot machines.
• that frequency of gambling and average number of activities participated in has remained relatively stable since 2008.

The report can be read here.

The Gambling Commission has issued a warning to consumers, designed to minimise the risk deriving from a current regulatory hiatus affecting binary options. Read the rest of this entry »