Betting

Preventing underage gambling

Off-course betting
Under-18s are not allowed into any part of the gambling facilities on these premises. To make sure that they do not gain access, operators must:

  • check your age if they believe that you might be under 18,
  • take action if there are attempts by under-18s to enter their premises, and
  • take action to remove you if you cannot provide a suitable form of identification when asked to do so.

Suitable identification is identification that is valid and contains both your photo and date of birth, for example driving licence, passport, or Connexions card.

Operators must not serve adults who have a child or underage person with them. If you as an adult knowingly take children on to premises, you face *exclusion or prosecution.

Operators must not target under-18s by advertising their products in a way that makes them attractive to this age group.

On-course betting
Under-18s are allowed on these premises, but must not enter adult-only areas. To make sure that underage people do not gain access to adult-only areas, operators must:

  • check your age if you look as though you may be under 18,
  • refuse you entry to adult-only areas if you cannot provide a suitable form of identification when asked to do so, and
  • take action if there are unlawful attempts to enter adult only areas.

“Suitable identification” is identification that is valid and contains both your photo and date of birth, for example driving licence, passport, or Connexions card.

Some premises do not allow access to under-18s. Where this is the case, age checks must be carried out at the main entrances.

Providing information to customers

Operators must make sure that you can easily obtain information on how to gamble responsibly.

They must also provide information about the help that you can get if you have a gambling problem.

Helping problem gamblers

Staff must be trained to recognise the signs that may show that a person has a gambling problem, and must know what to do when they have concerns about a customer.

If staff have genuine concerns that you may have a gambling problem, they will decide whether to discuss this with you. How they actually do this is up to each operator to decide. Options might include providing you with leaflets, or explaining self-exclusion to you and offering you the choice of self-excluding.

In certain circumstances, staff may refuse to serve you, or may decide that it is in your best interests to bar you from their premises.

Self-exclusion

Operators must have procedures in place allowing you to self-exclude for a length of time – usually between six months and five years. While you are excluded, the operator must take all reasonable steps to prevent you from gambling with them. At the end of the period chosen, the self-exclusion should continue unless you take positive action to end it. In the meantime, if you are found trying to gamble with the operator, you will be removed.

Credit

Not all gambling operators allow you to use your credit card. In cases where you can use your credit card, the operator will check with the card company that the money can be transferred. This money must then be placed in a customer account.

If you are offered credit, the operator will have procedures for checking and scoring your credit application and should explain these procedures to you.

Making sure gambling is ‘fair and open’

Betting operators must ensure that the terms by which gambling is offered are not unfair and are required by the Gambling Commission to display the following information:

  • the circumstances under which they will void a bet,
  • how they will treat errors, late bets and related contingencies,
  • the availability of odds for any ante-post, early show or starting price betting, and treatment of place, forecast bets etc,
  • the treatment of withdrawals, non-runners and reformed markets,
  • the maximum payout limiting liability for a specific betting product or more generally,
  • any charges made to customers for the use of betting services or products, and how these are calculated (including deductions from winnings for commission, or in respect of withdrawn horses etc),
  • the means or medium by which the outcome of an event will be determined,
  • how the rules for the event itself is to be specified (for example horserace bets only to be accepted where the racing is subject to Horseracing Regulatory Authority rules),
  • where bets are accepted on ‘pari-mutuel’ terms; (that is, where winnings are pooled and split between the winners) any special arrangements for settling bets on coupled horses.

When special rules have been agreed in relation to a particular bet, these may not then be overridden later by other rules or rule changes.

You must receive betting slips or an electronic acknowledgment for each transaction.

Rules for non-remote general betting

The rules concerning voiding, late bets and maximum payouts must be displayed in their premises according to their terms on which bets may be placed.

When providing on-course betting facilities, operators must display on their ‘joints’ (in a way that you can understand):

  • any rules that differ from Tattersalls’ ‘Rules on Betting’ or the British Greyhound Racing Board’s ‘Regulations for the conduct of on-course bookmaking’ as applicable,
  • any types of unorthodox bets accepted (such as forecast betting, betting without the favourite, distance betting etc),
  • whether win-only or each way bets are accepted,
  • any concessions or bonuses offered,
  • all of the runners and the odds available to the public,
  • the operator’s trading name and contact address,
  • the minimum bet accepted, and
  • the maximum guaranteed liability.

When operating within the ring at horserace tracks, operators must issue you with a betting slip or ticket for each transaction. These slips or tickets must include:

  • the operator’s name and contact details,
  • race day, name or code, date and race number,
  • name and/or number of the selection,
  • the stake and potential return,
  • the odds, or whether the bet will be settled according to the Starting Price, and
  • the type of bet.

Any special rules which have been agreed in relation to a particular bet must not be overridden later by other rules, or rule changes.

Marketing and advertising

Gambling advertising is monitored by the Advertising Standards Authority and must be socially responsible. This means that adverts must not be targeted or be attractive to children. Adverts cannot present gambling as a solution to financial problems or misrepresent the rules of the game.

Operators may offer you incentives or rewards for gambling with them, but these must be proportionate to the type of gambling involved and the terms and conditions must be made clear.

Complaints and disputes

All operators must have a procedure to deal with customer complaints and disputes. If you make a complaint, you should be advised of the details of the person you should contact and provided with a copy of the complaints procedure.

If you are unhappy with how your complaint has been handled or the outcome, the operator must provide you with details of an independent third-party to review your dispute.