Gambling slots online to be limited to £5 per spin

The amount of money people can place on a single online slots bet will be restricted for the first time as part of a wider government overhaul to tackle gambling addiction.

A £5 per spin limit will apply to all adults aged 25 and over with a £2 per spin limit for 18 to 24-year-olds.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is also set to introduce a statutory levy on gambling companies to help fund addiction treatment.

It said the measures would allow people to “gamble safely” but the betting industry’s main lobby group said the government was “at risk of losing perspective”.

Addiction to online gambling slots has surged since the Covid pandemic, according to data from charity GamCare.

Of the 6,697 callers who disclosed a form of gambling to advisers on its National Gambling Helpline in 2023-2024, 45% mentioned problems with online slot games, jumping from 34% in 2020-2021.

“These games are highly repetitive, we’ve got lots of examples of people playing them through the night, and being able to repetitively gamble over an extended period of time,” said GamCare’s spokesperson Jon Armstrong.

He told BBC Business Today that the new restrictions “recognises perhaps that young people may need extra protections in place”.

But enforcing the rules could be difficult as some players will lie about their age, said former gambler Dan Chandler, who started betting when he was 15.

Now a gambling therapist for counselling service Breakeven, he told the BBC many of the people he talks with have admitted to underaged betting and “gaming the system” when it comes to age verification.

“For example, a 16-year-old boy could use his dad’s details when registering for an online gambling service, but then put his own card details on the system for credits and withdrawals,” he said.

“Gamblers are very innovative when it comes to destructive gambling.”

Meanwhile, the NHS has said it is treating more people with gambling problems, with its latest figures showing referrals have more than doubled on the same period last year.

Gambling Minister Fiona Twycross said the aim of introducing stake limits for online slots was “to protect those at risk, with a particular focus on young adults”.

Online slots did not previously have a limit.

“Gambling harm can ruin people’s finances, relationships, and ultimately lives,” said Twycross.

She said the government would introduce “the first legally mandated” levy on the betting industry to fund gambling addiction treatment.

The Betting and Gaming Council, the industry lobby group, said it had given £170m to fund gambling harm services over the past four years on a voluntary basis.

However, the government said that, under the current system, not all gambling companies contributed equally, “with some operators paying as little as £1 a year towards research, prevention and treatment”.

Grainne Hurst, chief executive of the Betting and Gaming Council, said the body supported the government’s proposals.

However, she added: “The tone of this announcement suggests government is at risk of losing perspective of these facts, while simply dancing to the tune of anti-gambling prohibitionists, which serves no-one.”

DCMS said its mandatory levy would raise £100m for “the research, prevention and treatment of gambling harms”.

Half of the money raised is to go on directly NHS care, 30% will be spent on public health campaigns and other prevention measures. The remaining 20% will be spent on research, the government said.

DCMS said the levy could apply to anywhere between 0.1% and 1.1% of a firm’s gross gambling yield – a standard measure of earnings in the industry – “depending on the sector”.

The proposals are a response to a consultation run by the previous Conservative government between October 2023 and January 2024.