The Gambling Commission regulates gambling activities in the UK; it has actually taken over these duties from the Gaming Board for Great Britain. With the formation of the Gambling Commission and the Gambling Act of 20005 came many great changes in the gambling environment of and gambling options in the UK.

The Gambling Act of 2005

Nothing summarizes the gambling options in UK better than the Gambling Act of 2005, which supersedes all other Acts of Parliament on gambling, including the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Act of 1963, The Gaming Act of 1968 as well as the Lotteries and Amusements Act of 1976.

The Gambling Act of 2005 was given royal approval on the 7th of April, year 2005 and became operational on the 1st of September, year 2007. In it is set forth the ways by which gambling in the United Kingdom will be conducted and regulated by the licensing authorities. It also indicates that this regulation of gambling licenses is being done for three main objectives: to ensure fairness and openness in the gambling industry; to protect vulnerable sectors (e.g. children) from the harm and exploitation that gambling may bring; and to prevent crime and disorder that may arise from, that may be associated with or that may be supported by gambling.

UK Gambling Options

What are your gambling options according to the Gambling Act of 2005? Gambling is gaming, betting and participating in lotteries. Gaming refers to participating in games of chance in order to win a corresponding prize. As the term indicates, there must be an element of luck – or chance – in winning the games for participation in them to be called “gaming” under the Act. However, gaming also requires an element of skill and even games where a player’s excellent skills can altogether eliminate the influence of chance on the game’s outcome qualify as games of chance.

Examples of “games of chance” are casino games and equal chance games. Casino games, strictly speaking, are unequal chance games because your chance of winning is determined by the odds provided by the casino and the game; in a sense, you play against the house or the casino when you play casino games. Equal chance games, on the other hand, include those games where you don’t play against the casino and have equal chance of winning with the rest of the game players; a good example is poker and other similarly structured card games. Gaming, however, does not include playing sports.

Betting refers to accepting or placing a bet on the outcome, likelihood or truth of certain events including race, sporting events, competitions, and others. There are four specific types of betting activities: general betting, spread betting, prize competition betting, and pool betting. Spread betting, however, includes betting activities on the outcomes, likelihood or truth of a regulated activity (e.g. market movements on commodities) – in which case it falls under the purview of the Financial Services Authority.

Participating in lottery refers to paying for an entry into an arrangement where winning prizes is determined wholly by chance. There are two types of lotteries: the simple lottery and the complex lottery. The complex lottery differs from the simple lottery only in the fact that the former determines the recipient of prizes through a series of processes instead of a single process; the first of the aforementioned series of processes, however, should still rely wholly on chance. An example is the National Lottery; this is, however, not regulated by the Gambling Commission but by the National Lottery Commission.