Former betting boss says online slot machines need to be slowed down

One of the founders of betting steadfast Paddy Power says caller authorities rules to support punters playing online slots don't spell acold enough.

Stewart Kenny, who helped recovered the Irish institution successful the 80s, believes online slot games rotation excessively fast, which contributes to them being addictive.

He thinks caller authorities rules limiting the stakes are not capable to render them safe, and thinks the games should besides beryllium slowed down.

From April, slots volition beryllium limited to £5 per spin for implicit 25s. In May, 18-24-year-olds volition beryllium constricted to £2 per spin.

This follows a authorities reappraisal of the 2005 Gambling Act, and the work of a achromatic insubstantial which introduces caller measures to fortify gambling harm legislation.

Online slots are web versions of slot machines you spot successful a casino. The punter enters wealth and spins a wheel. If the symbols oregon pictures match, they could triumph money.

The authorities said it was bringing successful involvement limits for them due to the fact that they are "a higher-risk gambling merchandise associated with ample losses, agelong sessions, and binge play".

But successful a caller documentary bid connected Radio 4, Stewart Kenny, who resigned from the committee of the betting institution successful 2016, says the velocity of the games is what makes them addictive.

He says the spread betwixt concern and results being "only seconds" means punters tin "repeat the dose" astatine precocious speed.

In summation to this, helium says the machines supply "plenty of sound and plentifulness of colours", arsenic good arsenic adjacent misses, which are "fundamental to gambling addiction".

The Department for Culture Media and Sport said the Gambling Commission introduced requirements that changed velocity and strength of slots successful 2021: "This included a minimum velocity of 2.5 seconds per spin, a prohibition connected autoplay and features that summation play intensity, specified arsenic turbo, speedy rotation and slam stop, oregon springiness the illusion of 'false wins'."

Gambling companies marque a important proportionality of their profits from online slots. Acording to marketplace information collected by the Gambling Commission up to December 2024, the profits from slots accrued 15% twelvemonth connected twelvemonth to a caller precocious of £709m. The fig of spins accrued 9% successful the erstwhile 4th to a caller highest of £23.9bn.

Paddy Power merged with different betting brand, Betfair, and nether the sanction Flutter Entertainment, is present 1 of the biggest betting companies successful the world.

Stewart Kenny resigned from the committee of Flutter, saying helium felt the institution was not doing capable to support susceptible customers utilizing its websites.

Mr Kenny nary longer has immoderate fiscal involvement with the company, and receives nary outgo for taking portion successful the programmes.

In the documentary bid Changing the Odds, Mr Kenny teams up with writer Lydia Thomas, who has reported connected the betting manufacture for a decade, to illustration 20 years since the 2005 Gambling Act. The enactment paved the mode for the UK betting manufacture to revolutionise gambling and instrumentality it online.

For galore years, the UK has been the biggest online betting marketplace successful the satellite – with the manufacture worthy £15.6bn. Only precocious has the United States overtaken arsenic much states let online gambling.

And it is the determination online that sparked Mr Kenny's worries erstwhile helium was sitting connected the board. He believes the net by its precise quality tin beryllium addictive and that adding online casinos successful the premix has "made the cocktail excessively strong".

Mr Kenny inactive enjoys gambling, and regularly bets connected equine and canine racing, which helium believes is simply a little addictive gambling product. But helium criticises the manufacture for encouraging sports betting punters to determination to online slots.

"I person ever said I person been precise relaxed astir my kids opening up betting accounts. But, I would beryllium horrified if my grandchildren unfastened up a betting account.

"What the bookmakers bash is, erstwhile you unfastened a betting relationship astatine the property of 18 to person a bet, and you're a kid and you privation to person a fiver connected your section team, wrong 48 hours, the bookmakers volition effort and suck you into the highly addictive online casino by sending you escaped spins."

Mr Kenny believes it is up to the authorities and regulators to marque gambling safe.

"There's a equilibrium here. If you privation to bet, you should beryllium allowed to bet. It's a escaped society. So you don't privation to interfere with people's amusement excessively much. It's truthful casual to blasted the betting companies. This is simply a substance for legislators."

Flutter Entertainment said it recognised that the gambling manufacture had not ever got things close successful the past but said its UK concern had "evolved importantly successful the years since Stewart's involvement, which ended implicit 8 years ago".

It said successful that time, it had been "a vocal and constructive supporter" of the Gambling Act Review and the achromatic paper, portion "leading the manufacture connected proactive change" with its instauration of deposit limits for under-25s and the mounting of a £10 involvement bounds connected online slot products.

"We were pleased that immoderate of these measures were publically praised by Stewart arsenic we respect his views."

Gambling manufacture assemblage The Betting and Gaming Council said: "Each month, astir 22.5 cardinal radical successful Britain bask a stake and the overwhelming bulk bash truthful safely and responsibly. The BGC supported plans to betterment involvement limits and present a mandatory levy to money research, prevention and treatment.

"The achromatic insubstantial is simply a once-in-a-generation infinitesimal for alteration and the proposals contained successful it indispensable gully a enactment nether the lengthy and often polarised debates connected gambling."

Changing the Odds starts connected Radio 4 astatine 11am connected Monday 17 March. You tin besides find the bid connected BBC Sounds.