Changes in online gambling: is this a new trend?

In recent months, the industry of online casino has been crazy to some extent, after a number of the serious preventions published by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority. The preventions have begun after CMA started an investigation “whether online gambling firms are treating their customers fairly.”

The probe was the result of the concerns introduced by the Commission on Gambling about “misleading promotions and unfair conditions used by firms for blocking the payment to players”. Conditions of the license demand that “all licensed operators of gambling have included in the advertising any essential restrictions connected with promotion to avoid deception of consumers.” Nevertheless, quite the opposite has been established and the Chief Executive Officer of the Commission Sara Harrison told: “I continue to worry that many of these [terms and conditions] seem to bamboozle but don’t help the client”.

High Wagers

Unfair conditions are mainly connected with high wagering requirements that accompany free spins and bonuses that casinos offer to attract new players. Usually they comprise 40 times before you will be able to withdraw the money won. It appears that you need to wager £4,000 if you want to withdraw £100 you won. Furthermore, 40x wagering is not a limit, as some of the gambling institutions put 50x or even 60x. Such high requirements make gamblers play more if they want to cash out something, so the rules of responsible gambling are quite forgotten.

Pressure of Regulators

Preventions of CMA were soon followed by a number of the serious fines given by the Commission on Gambling. Bgo Entertainment paid 300 000 pounds for the misleading advertising; 888 Holdings paid 7,8 million pounds for failures in treatment of vulnerable clients; and this week Gala Interactive has paid 2,3 million pounds for violation of the rules which protect consumers.

As a result, Bgo has accepted an alternative approach to becoming compatible. They scrapped their wagering requirements entirely, which means that players can immediately cash out the prizes received with free spins and bonuses without any difficult conditions.

Casinos Without Wagering

Bgo is not the only gambling institution that started operating without any wagering requirements. PlayOJO is proud about their “no wagering, on anything, ever”; mFortune stresses that “all prizes will be placed in the cash credit and can be withdrawnat any time”; Kaboo gives away “wager-free prizes on bonus spins”; and Lucky Niki boasts about “no wagering free spins”. William Hill has recently announced free spins without any wagering requirements within their welcome package.

If these changes are forever or just a temporary phenomenon nobody knows. Only future will show.