Britain as Gambling Country

The Gambling Commission regulates gambling in Britain on behalf of the department of Culture, Media and Sport. Laws on gambling in Britain are contained in Gambling Act 2005. The act of parliament has updated gambling laws in UK significantly and has even introduced a new structure where vulnerable adults and children are protected from gambling activities. In addition, the parliament has also enacted laws regulating online gaming sector which are contained in the gambling Act. Just like in other countries, gambling in Britain come in different forms. Bingo became popular in Britain during World War II and was mostly played by the armed forces. In 1960, a Betting and Gaming Act was enacted by Britain’s parliament that allowed setting up of commercial bingo halls.

The act required that these halls be established as clubs for members only and would only get takes from charges and membership fees instead of taking a percentage of entry fees. At first, casinos in Britain had to get a license from the Great Britain Gaming Board and just like bingo halls, they were only for members and a casino couldn’t have more than 10 machines. Years later, the gaming law was liberalized in 1968 and true commercial casinos were set up. This also paved way for the larger resort styled casinos which still stand even today. The first super casino was set to be built in Manchester even though this never materialized. Gaming machines in Britain are categorized into different groups which majorly depend upon the payouts and stakes involved.

Gambling in Britain is not only limited in casinos as gambling is also allowed on sports. United Kingdom has allowed sports gambling for many decades now and off course bookmarkers in the country were legalized by the 1960 Gambling Act. Pool betting in Britain on horses has been monopolized by Tote which is owned by the state. The market for gambling on various competitive sports in Britain at licensed websites or bookmarkers is very large especially for association football, greyhound racing and horse. Football pools is a form of gambling where those participating win based on the outcome of predictions they make on the weekly matches.

Lottery is also highly intertwined with the gambling industry in Britain. Small lotteries were legalized by the 1934 Act which paved way for Britain’s National Lottery. In 1993, the government set up the state franchised national lottery and the brand runs several games including Thunderball and Lott. These games provide participants with a chance of winning cash prizes and this majorly depends on the numbers they are able to match. The national lottery aims at raising money for good causes in the country and there are different types of lotteries such as the healthy lottery and postcode lottery. In Britain, gambling is majorly done using scratchcards which have become very popular over the years thanks to their cheap price and easy availability. Recently, remote gambling in Britain has become very popular and the Gambling Commission licenses any kind of online gambling in the country.