The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) is considering a ban on VIP gambling schemes, it has been revealed.
A secret report conducted by the commission revealed that in the case of some companies, upwards of 80% of its income came from these. The country’s nine most influential online gambling companies were looked at.
VIP gambling can bring significant problems
According to the UKGC, its report provides evidence that VIP gambling has a direct link to problem gambling. In fact, The Guardian newspaper cited that one brand only had 2% of its players on this kind of scheme. However, 83% of its revenue was driven through this.
Another company was revealed to have 5% of its total player base on VIP schemes, with almost 60% of its income coming from problem gamblers.
The companies agreed to allow the UKGC to conduct this research, after being assured that their names wouldn’t be released – according to reports.
Penalties point to problem gambling too
The Commission also mentioned that seven in 10 penalties issued to operators, for breaching gambling guidelines, were VIP-related. This has raised concerns that major gambling problems are being caused, due to operators focusing so much time to such a minority of its customers.
Changes likely to come
It’s probable that the UKGC will recommend either reducing or ceasing VIP schemes this year. We can also expect a new review of gambling in Britain to happen.
The need for better player protection has been revealed elsewhere, too. For example, Google was recently urged to update its gambling blacklist. This was after it was revealed that some operators were using AdWords to get around GamStop filters.
This concerned GamStop Chief Executive Fiona Palmer. She said that searchers “should only see results to GamStop and organisations providing support for problem gambling”.
