Online slots stakes restrictions inevitable, says Rank CEO

Stakes restrictions imposed on UK retail gaming machines will “logically” be applied to online games in the future, The Rank Group CEO Henry Birch has predicted.

Speaking to EGR Intel, Birch said that while he would be “surprised” if Rank was negatively impacted from the ongoing Triennial Review into stakes and prizes, a potential reduction in FOBT stakes would one day be replicated online.

“I think that logically, as an industry, we can’t assume that long-term there will be a situation where you have restrictions on stakes and prizes on physical slots and not on digital slots – it doesn’t make sense to me,” Birch said.

“That’s not to say it is imminent, but those operating in the digital sector that think that’s an impossibility need to take a look around,” he added.

The Department for Culture Media and Sport is expected to give an update on the Triennial Review, which this year also includes a review of gambling advertising, at some point next month.

Earlier this week a group of MPs delivered a report which called on the government to reduce stakes on FOBT roulette from £100 per spin to £2 in a bid to reduce gambling addiction.

And Birch believed that such a reduction on FOBT stakes could well benefit Rank’s bricks and mortar business, with the attraction of the machines in high-street bookies likely to be diluted as a result.

However, the Triennial Review is just one piece of an ongoing regulatory fine-tooth combing of the gambling industry.

The Competition and Markets Authority is in the process of investigating the ‘fairness’ of gambling terms and conditions while the Gambling Commission is looking at how it brings enforcement action against licence holders that breach the LCCP.

Birch said the scrutiny the industry was under was at its most intense level “for last four or five years”, with the uncertainty having an impact on inward investment and potentially holding up M&A deals for operators with land-based businesses.