As part of their new action plan, the Betting & Gaming Council (BGC) have revealed new measures designed to combat ‘intensive slots and game designs’ that have raised concerns in the past.
These new rules will apply to all of the BGC’s members which currently account for around 90% of the industry, and will be implemented by October 5th.
VIP schemes and advertising standards were the initial target of the action plan, and changes have already been put in place to tackle issues in these area, but these latest announcements concern the games themselves.
How Are Slot Games Going to Change?
One of the biggest changes has to do with spin times. Under these new rules, all games must be developed with a minimum spin time of 2.5 seconds per spin. The idea behind this is to try and control the pace of play somewhat, and avoid any session becoming to intense.
Another measure designed to curb this sort of thing is the abolition of turbo play. This is when the player can speed up each spin to make it almost instant, and therefore make many more bets in a shorter space of time.
One other major change would see the end multi-gaming – playing more than one game at the same time – although it is unclear as of yet how this might affect bingo players and side games.
“I’m sure that our members will embrace this approach and commit to its objective of improving player safety. And as we prepare for the forthcoming Gambling Review, it is further evidence of our industry’s commitment to improving standards – unlike the completely unregulated black market.”
These were the words of Michael Dugher, Chief Executive of the BGC.
And he made it clear that the BGC would not stop here, but would continue working to improve standards as technology improves and the industry evolves.
Will the New Rules be Effective?
The new measures were put together using research and the first hand experiences from academics, regulators, consumers, and individuals with a history of gambling related harm, so they certainly look solid on paper.
Of course these new rules will not stop a player staking more if that is what they want to do, but they will go some way to stopping them potentially losing their bank roll in just a few minutes.
What it will certainly do is slow things down and give the player more time to think, and make them less likely to get sucked into a button bashing losing cycle.
Equally, while players may no longer be able to multi-game, there is nothing to stop them opening different browser windows at different casinos and playing more than one game at a time, but it certainly makes it much more difficult.