Legislation

UK –Commission warns FOBTs over misleading info

The British Gambling Commission is reminding licensed operators that gaming machines offering games presented as recognised games of chance, such as roulette or blackjack, must be transparent in informing players where those games differ from their real equivalents.

This follows a recent case in which a category B3 game which was presented and described as a random roulette game when that was not the case. The game was found to be operating under game rules that were different to the equivalent real game of roulette. This was not made clear to players.

The Commission considered this to be a potential breach of the gaming machine technical standards and contrary to ensuring gambling is conducted in a fair and open way. Following intervention by the Commission, the licensed operator concerned quickly made amendments to the game.

The Commission’s National Compliance Manager for Gaming Machines, Stuart McPhee said: “If a game plays differently on a machine when compared to the recognised real game it is designed to look like, then any game rules must make that clear. Manufacturers, suppliers and retailers should assure themselves that the rules of any casino variant style games are transparent, to ensure customers understand them. Failure to do so could lead to formal regulatory action for breaching the Gambling Commission’s technical standards.”