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UK Gamblers Feel the Pinch: New Betting Limits to Cost Operators $ 210M A Year

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Xenia Luch

27 February 2024

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The UK government has calculated the losses that local gambling operators may face due to the new limits on online casino bets. The operators could lose £166.2 million (about $210 million) in annual revenue.

The government announced the new limits last week. They will kick in from September: for players 18 to 24, the maximum bet will be £2 ($2.5), while for older players, it will be £5 ($6.3).

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) said that the limits are meant to curb gambling addiction without driving gamblers to illegal operators.

One of the reasons for the £5 limit is that only 0.6% of all bets in online casinos in the UK go over this amount.

The DCMS also noted that since 2019, a £2 limit per spin has been in place for fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBT) in land-based betting shops. These are basically the same as slot machines, but in bookmaker stores.

The new limits were debated for a long time, and surveys were done, including with the gambling industry. The DCMS said that almost all industry representatives wanted the limit to be £10, not £2 or £5. The operators said that a lower limit could push players to the black market.