The UK Gambling Commission has been reviewing the country’s gambling industry over the past few months, and figures reveal some intriguing information. According to insiders, over a third of the money that players in Britain gamble with is utilised online. In the time between 2016 and 2017, a total of about ￡4.7 billion was wagered via online gaming sites. That marks a rise of 10% altogether, and it’s also more than what citizens spent on the country’s National Lottery.

However, while these figures do represent a growing trend in player interest in online gambling, the regulatory body also warned of a potential increase in risk. The more players gaming online, the stronger chance of more problem gamblers there is too. It’s because of this that the Commission warned online casino operators that they need to promote responsible gambling on a higher level. Furthermore, the body also predicts that over half of all UK gambling is set to be done online in future years.

The figures that the Commission released show that online spending increased by over ￡428 million in the past year, when compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, the amount spent on the National Lottery reduced by a huge ￡438 million. As far as the online gambling world goes, the total spending on this saw an increase of ￡249 million. These increases, as well as several other areas of the casino industry, is what prompted the Gambling Commission to begin the process of introducing new regulations.

A Future of Online Gamblers Awaits

Even though many people appear to find entertainment in online gaming, the UK Gambling Commission has found a big problem already. According to the company, the technology that is used at these online locations is frequently tipped in favour of the platform operator. As far as fair gaming goes, this works out to be somewhat of a problem.

The executive director of the Gambling Commission, Tim Miller stated that the figures obviously show a continuing growth in the online gambling sector. He went on to claim,

“However, with such growth comes a great responsibility for operators to prevent gambling-related harm to all consumers and the public.”

As it stands, next year will see the introduction of a new regulation. When spring of 2018 comes around, online players will be able to self-exclude themselves from a single gaming site. Every single operator will have to offer this scheme to its players, which goes by the name of GAMSTOP. The integration of this is so that people are able to receive help in stopping gambling with multiple platforms. Once they opt-out of one, they may be encouraged to do so at the rest. The protection of online gambling consumers is the first step for the UK Gambling Commission to undertake in the forthcoming year.