It is legal to gamble in the UK and casinos are legal too, but for them to continue in this way, gambling laws UK have been applied and must be followed to ensure the safety of the players and the casinos, both of the traditional format and the online casinos variation. When the Betting and Gambling Regulations Act originally came in to play in 1960, the gambling laws within this documentation were incredibly rigid and hugely restrictive for both the player and the casino. But when the Act was modernised in 2005, the rigidity was loosened making the gambling regulations much more easily attainable for the casino and the player.
Age Gambling Laws UK
It is a legal requirement in the UK to be of the age of 18 years old to be able to gamble and play slot machines on online casinos, as well as brick and mortar casino, as legally obliged to verify the age of their users. The inability of the user to show their age or if the casino does not believe the Identification to be legally linked to the person in front of them does allow the casino or online casino to refuse access to their establishment. Whilst this is a little different in online casino to traditional casinos, the online gambling laws still state that an age verification process still must apply to enable players to use a gaming or gambling site. But this is usually in a different format, such as asking for a date of birth to be entered on a reel screen, which is the most common method. Be aware that even if you are old enough to legally follow the gambling laws age limit in the UK, this may not apply in other countries, such as America, Greece, and some German States, as their betting age is 21 years of age.
Why Are Gambling Regulations Different For the Lottery?
The National Lottery in the UK is played by millions of people every week and has been since it was first introduced in 1993. But there is a big difference between the lottery and the playing online slot games when it comes to one of the specific gambling laws and that is the age restriction. Where players need to be 18 to gamble by the gambling laws UK, they only need to be 16 to play the National Lottery. This is because they are not entering a betting establishment and are not seen to be at risk to the same degree, but it is also because this is a State-run and funded charity which not only follows the gambling regulations and gambling laws UK but also has its own strict rules to follow. Due to these tight restrictions, players even at the age of 16 years old, are able to purchase tickets for the EuroMillions Lottery which sees nine different countries pool money for an even bigger jackpot prize.
Traditional and Online Gambling Laws for Players
British players love placing bets on, well, basically anything you can place a bet on. From sport to every casino game you can think of, there is nothing us Brits like more than testing our luck! This has been made much more accessible with the legalisation of casino and with gambling regulations and gambling laws being firstly introduced at all, but later becoming less structured. With the Gambling Act 2005, an increase of players appeared and the online casinos have increased this hugely too. But online casino players should always know where they stand.
A player does not need any sort of license to be able to play in a traditional casino or in an online casino either. If you win, there is no tax deduction to be paid unless you are classed as a professional gambler, but we are going to assume you are not, otherwise you would probably not be reading this Blog about gambling laws. The only time you could or would ever be stopped from playing in or at a casino would be if you were underage, had got a ban (either outlined by the casino or self-imposed to protect yourself from becoming addicted), or if you were thought to be money laundering.
Gambling Regulation Purpose
Remembering that the aim of gambling laws UK is to prevent any harm from coming to players and pay by phone casinos is the key point. Crime is also to prevent and the act of gambling is intended to be kept to being a fair game when legally abiding the gambling laws. No exploitation or harm is to come to anyone who is gaming or gambling and it is designed to be a fun, exciting way to pass your time. Play today if you feel you know enough for your games of your choice!