Sky Bet recently announced adjustments to its best odds guaranteed (BOG) promotion, restricting access to active Sky Bet Club loyalty scheme members. Effective 15 January, customers must stake £30 within the previous week’s qualifying period to avail themselves of this offering. The operator was confident it would remain competitive despite these changes, highlighting the benefits of Sky Bet Club.

This decision marks the latest move among leading bookmakers to either limit or remove the popular promotion. October saw Flutter-owned operator Betfair axe this option for horse and greyhound racing. Industry giant William Hill followed suit in December, limiting the offering and setting this ongoing trend. The promotion likely failed to entice customers to pay more, making it unsustainable in the long run.

Sky Bet’s changing policy also eliminates the 10% bonuses on winning forecasts and the 15% bonuses on successful tricasts. The operator had already ceased best odds guaranteed in races offering additional each-way places, heralding the upcoming broader change. Sky Bet head of sports PR Michael Shinners addressed the modifications, highlighting ongoing industry trends.

Best Odds Guaranteed is an offer that many bookmakers have modified or even pulled altogether over the past 18 months.

Michael Shinners, Sky Bet head of sports PR

Shinners discussed the situation for Racing Post, emphasizing BOG’s integration into Sky Bet Club, highlighting it as the leading loyalty scheme in the industry. He added that the most recent decision would ensure that most horseracing customers could continue enjoying the promotion alongside more of Sky Bet’s premiere offerings.

Sky Bet Aims to Consolidate Its Bonus Offerings

When asked about potential implications where punters might increase their spending to access the promotion, Shinners reaffirmed that the Sky Bet Club has consistently required a minimum £30 stake per week for eligibility and that the recent changes would hopefully increase participation in the program. He also underscored Sky Bet’s ongoing support for racing, drawing attention to the upcoming 2024 Sky Bet Sunday Series.

Despite limiting one of its most popular promotions, SkyBet starts the year with significant momentum after a successful 2023. Last year saw the operator conclude several high-profile partnerships with leading leagues and suppliers, bolstering its competitiveness and allowing it to retain its leadership position in the UK.

Sky Bet’s BOG policy changes echo similar shifts made by other bookmakers recently, aligning with industry trends amid rising media rights costs. The operator likely aims to provide more personalized customer service, bolstering customer engagement and hopefully exposing more users to its loyalty scheme. While this move will likely prove unpopular with some bettors, Sky Bet likely hopes it will improve long-term profitability.

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In a significant move last week, the Washington State Gambling Commission voted 3-2 to increase the maximum bet size in cardrooms from $300 to $400. This marks the first increase in betting limits in more than a decade, allowing players to wager larger amounts while playing card games in these establishments.

Back in 1997, Washington made the decision to legalize house-banked cardrooms, creating social environments where players could enjoy card games while also indulging in food and drinks. Over time, the wagering limits in these cardrooms have undergone several adjustments, with the most recent increase raising the limit to $400.

The decision to raise the betting limits was not without controversy. Commissioners Julia Patterson, Bud Sizemore, and Alicia Levy supported the increase, citing the original intent of the Legislature to allow these neighborhood casinos to thrive. Bud Sizemore, a Washington Gambling Regulator Commissioner, expressed confidence in the rationale and legislative authority behind the decision.

On the other hand, Commissioners Sarah Lawson and Anders Ibsen opposed the proposal, arguing that the increase did not align with the primary purpose of cardrooms, which was to primarily focus on selling food and drink while offering social card games as a means to boost sales.

The tribal operators were among the strongest opponents of the increase. They pointed to a provision in the cardroom regulations that emphasized the importance of social card games serving as a “commercial stimulant” to increase food and beverage sales. The federally recognized tribes, whose casinos currently have wager limits of $500 and higher, argued that the new regulation violated this provision.

Maverick Gaming, an operator of gaming facilities and owner of 23 out of the 38 house-banked cardrooms licensed in Washington, had initially petitioned for a higher increase to $500. They sought the hike to cope with rising operating costs and to level the playing field with tribal casinos, which had higher betting limits. Despite their request being reduced to $400, Maverick Gaming welcomed the decision, seeing it as a victory for their efforts to engage with regulators.

The higher betting limits are expected to provide a major boost to cardroom operators, including Maverick Gaming and others. These establishments are likely to benefit from increased revenues as players now have the opportunity to place larger bets while enjoying card games in a social environment.

The new rule will take effect 31 days after being filed with the code reviser. As cardroom operators gear up for the changes, it remains to be seen how this increase in betting limits will impact the dynamics of the gambling landscape in Washington State.

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The Victoria casino gaming regulator, the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission (VGCCC) has issued a new formal director to Crown Melbourne, which will now have to comply with several important measures.

VGCCC Introduces New Rules for Crown Melbourne

Among those are obligatory implementations of mandatory carded play, mandatory time and spend pre-commitments for players on all electronic gaming machines (EGMs). These changes must become part of the industry by December.

The recommendations and formal direction are issued as a result of an extensive Royal Commission probe into the company, which has failed to uphold key anti-money laundering standards. Moving forward, though, Crown Melbourne will have to comply with the measure for all of its EGMs.

This measure may seem somewhat overreaching, but it is not necessary so, as it might give the property an edge in the rapidly changing regulatory landscape for gambling companies in Victoria and Australia in general. Moving forward, the use of cards to let players play at EGMs may become pretty much the norm.

Crown Melbourne will have time to adapt, as well as time to implement the technology and see how it impacts its revenue – if at all. Some lobbyists, independently from Crown Melbourne, have grumbled at the prospect of asking players to have pre-set time and spending limits, but this is precisely what is happening at the casino.

To do so, patrons would have to use the YourPlay system, a state-backed technological infrastructure. YourPlay system is only introduced as a voluntary system at other venues, though, meaning that only Crown Melbourne patrons would have to comply with the measure.

Going Beyond VGCCC Recommendations to Safeguard Consumers

Crown Melbourne has not wasted time and has sent a clear message that the company intent to help bolster player protection measures on its own, going well beyond what the VGCCC has recommended.

For one, the property has confirmed that it will be introducing more measures designed to help consumers stay on the right track. The company will remove any machines that feature an “unrestricted” bet limit, spin rate, or any other feature that could lead to pathological gambling behavior.

“We have again demonstrated our strong commitment to minimizing gambling harm and reducing the risk of money laundering by going above and beyond Royal Commission recommendations in our direction to Crown,” said VGCCC chairperson Fran Thorn commenting on the latest direction issued to Crown Melbourne, assuring that its careful implementation would be carefully monitored.

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The UK government will introduce stake limits of between £2 ($2.49) and £15 ($18.68) for online slot games according to leaked information about the upcoming White Paper.

Protection with Minimal Disruption

Players under the age of 25 will not be able to stake more than £2 ($2.49) while playing online slots and operators will be subjected to a new legal tax to fund treatment for problem gamblers, claimed the report in The Sun based on leaked cabinet documents.

Laying out the proposals to her colleagues, recently appointed Secretary of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Lucy Frazer outlined that the changes aim “to protect people who are at risk of addiction, catastrophic loss and harm, with minimal disruption to the majority.”

There are 300,000 problem gamblers and 1.8 million gamblers at risk of experiencing gambling harm in the UK and the measure is aimed at protecting them but the stake limits are likely to ire gambling industry stakeholders who will be concerned that their profits will decrease.

Frazer also told the ministers that there would be a new tax on operator profits to help fund problem gambling treatment and new operator obligations such as doing credit checks on players deemed at risk of spiraling into debt and monitoring for signs that gambling losses are becoming unaffordable for a player.

“I am confident that the societal benefits in harm reduction outweigh the projected costs to industry, and that much of the drop in online revenue will be the foregone income from people gambling unaffordably,” she reportedly told the cabinet.

New Controls for Free Bet Bonus Offers

As part of the efforts to make online gambling safer and combat gambling addiction, games will have their riskier features limited and operators will face new controls on their free bet bonus offers to ensure people are not being “targeted in harmful ways.”

Data of people representing “high risk” will be shared among the industry to facilitate operators to stop them from accumulating huge losses and a new legal body will be created to mediate complaints against operators. Frazer also vowed to address “remaining gaps” allowing people under 18 to gamble via cash fruit machines and scratch cards.

Other important changes will be the removal of all gambling firm logos from the front of players’ shirts across English Premier League (EPL) clubs, higher taxes for horserace betting to ensure proper funding for the sport and access to sports betting for land-based casinos, as well as the ability to open credit lines for high-rollers, and new powers for the Gambling Commission to crack down on the black market.

Frazer said the White Paper would be published after the Easter break and the plan involves most of the changes to be implemented without the need to create a new law.

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In a report by Asgam, the Royal Commission has deemed it appropriate to put forward for discussion a ream of proposals that would make Crown Perth more secure and less likely to commit offenses in the future.

Royal Commission Takes Good Look at EGMs

Among those recommendations is a suggestion to put a mandatory AU$10 ($7) betting limit on electronic gaming machines (EGMs), as well as pre-set weekly loss and time limit, along with carded play for all machines. These are just some of the proposals pitched by the Royal Commission which is looking to make the property safer.

The case of Crown Resorts, which has been linked to junket operators, has served as a catalyst for much bigger changes in the industry. Crown Perth is currently undergoing an impendent review which will carry through September 2024 to find out if the property is suitable to hold a license.

Meanwhile, the government has said that the new proposals made about EGMs will in fact help strengthen the overall regulation of the gambling sector in the industry. EGMs are not readily available across Western Australia, nor is there any intention to make them available beyond Burswood.

Racing and Gaming Minister Reece Whitby reminded that Crown Perth was already found not fit to hold a license but remarked that it was now undergoing a remediation process which would decide if things can return back to normal. Either way, the state’s determined to hold very tight control over the industry and ensure that Crown Perth, which is the only casino in the state, is held to rigorous standards.

Gambling Industry Regulation Gets Tighter

“Significant reforms have already been implemented and more are underway. This is the next step in addressing the Royal Commission’s findings and recommendations and it’s crucial we get this right,” the government said. Other states in Australia have also undertaken a similar move to investigate the operations of Crown Resorts and Star Group, finding the properties in each respective jurisdiction to be unsuitable for a license.

Lack of suitability does not mean the companies are going to lose control of operations as in all cases a special remediation period has been enacted. Compliance with government-led reforms though is mandatory for the remediation period to be deemed a success.

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