The UK Gambling Commission: Uncovered

Historically, all gambling establishments have come under the jurisdiction of the country in which they were based. However, with the inception of the internet, new rules were needed to ensure that companies – especially gambling firms – behaved responsibly and didn’t look to scam or take advantage of players.

For this reason, the British government introduced the UK Gambling Commission, in order to set out ground rules and regulations for any companies looking to gain access to British players – whether they are online or offline.

What is the UK Gambling Commission?

The purpose of the UK Gambling Commission is to protect British players from being scammed or targeted by greedy gambling companies, and the player’s best interests are the focal point of the organisation. The UKGC is a not-for-profit organisation and operates in the best interests of British people who want to gamble.

Indeed, the UK Gambling Commission is responsible for providing gambling licences only to companies that behave in a responsible manner. These licences are a legal requirement for any company that wishes to take money with the possibility of the entrant winning a prize. This means that the likes of the National Lottery also fall under its jurisdiction. The UKGC focuses on three areas: the public, gambling businesses and licensing authorities.

How the Organisation Works

Essentially, no company or organisation can legally provide any form of gambling service to British players without the approval of the commission. If a company wishes to offer gambling services in Britain, they must apply to get a gambling licence from the UKGC. However, getting a gambling licence from the UK Gambling Commission is no easy feat. It is an arduous process that looks deeply into a company’s background before approving any licence.

Indeed, the commission takes this responsibility very seriously, and will only approve a company for a gambling licence if they can show a clear ownership structure, demonstrate sufficient financials and the ability to pay out prizes, have integrity, are sufficiently competent to provide the services they offer, and do not have a criminal record. What’s more, if companies go against the regulations set out by the UKGC, they will see their gambling licence revoked – preventing them being able to legally provide gambling services in Great Britain.

The Advantages of Playing at a UKGC Regulated Casino

It is also of paramount importance that players only choose to play at UKGC regulated casinos in order to protect their best interests and personal safety. There are multiple reasons to follow commission guidelines, including player protection, fair gaming, funds protection and operator accountability.

Player Protection

One of the most important reasons to play only at UKGC approved casinos and gambling establishments is to protect your personal and financial data. The UKGC has strict standards – in accordance with the data protection act – for gambling companies, to ensure that players’ personal data is securely stored and is not misused.

Indeed, the UKGC is not just concerned about online casinos stealing your data. They also ensure that the company in question are sufficiently competent to guard against cyber attacks that can risk the exposure of player data. If a company doesn’t have good enough safeguards against such attacks, they will not be granted a gambling licence.

Fair Gaming

Another key area that the UKGC regulates is that online casinos offer players a fair gaming experience – i.e. they give players a realistic chance of winning and are transparent to the player in terms of their chances of doing so. There are multiple ways the commission goes about guaranteeing a fair gaming experience. The main one being that online casinos use RNGs (random number generators) in order to produce the result of any virtual game.

The purpose of RNGs is to ensure that the outcome of the game is indeed truly random and is not being controlled by the online casino or software provider. Games such as roulette, blackjack and online slots must all use RNGs to create the result of a game. This ensures, for example, you are only playing on safe blackjack casinos.

Online casinos must also specify to the player the RTP (return to player) rate of all virtual games. The RTP is a percentage that represents how much of the funds that players put into games that are statically returned to players in the form of winnings. For example, a slot with an RTP of 95% would mean that for every £100 that is spent on that game, £95 would return to players (although obviously not necessarily the same players) in the form of winnings. The percentage difference represents the house edge on a game (in this case 5% or £5) and this is how the casino can make money. Online roulette gambling, for example, should be fun but also fair.

Player Funds Separated

When the UKGC looks at an online casinos company structure and finances, one of the most important considerations they look into is whether or not the company holds player funds in a separate account form operating cash.

This is hugely important, as should a casino go into administration or go bankrupt, this would ensure players funds are still safe and won’t be lost even if the company goes out of business. The UKGC checking player funds are kept separate from operating costs can provide players with peace of mind when using the casino that their money won’t be lost without them knowing.

Operator Accountability

Regulation provided by the likes of the UK Gambling Commission is vital to ensure that casinos behave in a fair and responsible manner to their players. Such regulation also means that casinos are inevitably accountable to the UKGC, which provides a great deal of protection to the customer using their services. Indeed, if a player is unhappy with the actions of an online casino operator, they can file a complaint with the commission, who will then investigate the complaint.

However, if a player was to play with an unregulated casino, this would not be possible, and they would face an almost impossible task in trying to take the casino in question to court to try and find a resolution. This level of player power shows why the UKGC and other such regulatory bodies are so important to create a fair gambling industry.

You can read one case study of industry accountability in the case of Pink Casino, which was fined for non-compliance, but has since taken the appropriate action and is now considered a safe casino. Read more about this case in our Pink Casino review.

How to Find out if a Casino is Regulated by the UK Gambling Commission

If you’re looking to see if a casino is licensed and regulated by the UK Gambling Commission, there are two things you can do: you can check the online casino reviews at Scams.info e.g. see our review of UK operator Duelz, or secondly, you can check directly on the UKGC website.

To check a company’s gambling licence, you need to head to the public register of licence holders on the UKGC website. When on the correct page, you need to select “Search for gambling businesses”. Here you can then search for the business in question either by typing in the business name or reference number for their UKGC licence (which the casino should declare in the footer of their website). Once you’ve searched for this, check that the reference number and business name correspond with the casino’s record. If they correlate, the commission’s website will show you what type of licence they have and should you go a clear indication of whether the company is safe to use.

Issues You Can Raise

There can be a multitude of reasons you may need to issue a complaint to the UKGC. Common problems found with online gambling companies can be to do with disputes regarding whether a player has won or not, the amount of winnings paid out, the way in which your payments were handled, a company’s terms and conditions, bonus offers, problems with ID verification, accounts being closed, IT issues, customer service issues or decisions such as voiding your bet.

The UKGC offers plenty of advice regarding such problems on their website, but if you still feel you have been unfairly treated, you can raise a complaint with the business in question or indeed with the UK Gambling Commission itself.

How to Complain

The UKGC has lots of information about how to complain to a gambling business. If you have tried to communicate with the company in question but aren’t making any progress having followed the commission’s advice, you can file your complaint directly with the UK Gambling Commission website, using their dedicated Resolver.co.uk website.

The History of the UK Gambling Commission

The UK Gambling Commission was set up as part of the Gambling Act 2005, which aimed to regulate commercial gambling across Britain in partnership with licensing authorities. The UKGC assumed its full powers in 2007, and is responsible for regulating arcades, betting, bingo, casinos, slot machines and lotteries played in the UK. One of the key things that they are responsible for – and one of the main reasons the commission was created – was to regulate remote gambling, i.e. online gambling. The primary goals of the UKGC were to keep crime out of gambling, protect vulnerable people and also to ensure that all gambling activities are conducted in a fair and transparent manner.

Conclusion

As we’ve discussed in this page, the UK Gambling Commission was created in 2005 in order to regulate all forms of gambling in the UK, ensuring players can enjoy a safe, fair and responsible gambling experience, regardless of where they play their games: whether that be in a land-based casino, in a betting shop or online.

Any company offering gambling services – including online casinos – to British-based players are required by law to hold a gambling licence from the UKGC. For example, as you can find out from our Casino Cruise review, any reputable UK casino aims to obtain a licence from it.

Scams.info have compiled a list of UKGC-approved casinos, to help you find a safe and fun casino in which you can play with fear. You can also check out our guides to the Malta Gaming Authority and Gibraltar Gambling Commission licenses.