UK Law and Practice Contributed by: Bahar Alaeddini, David Whyte and Jessica Wilson, Harris Hagan
• Gaming machine – this means a machine that is designed or adapted for use by individuals to gam- ble (whether or not it can also be used for other purposes). • Gambling software – this is defined as computer software used in connection with online gambling, which does not include software used solely in connection with a gaming machine. Given the complexity of this term, the Gambling Commission issued an advice note in June 2014 on what consti- tutes gambling software. • Lotteries (raffles), excluding commercial lotteries – please refer to 3.2 Definition of Gambling for a definition of lotteries. • Poker – in spite of the skill element, the chance ele- ment that the deal of a card introduces means that poker falls within the definition of gaming. Please refer to 3.2 Definition of Gambling for a definition of gaming. 3. Legislative Framework 3.1 Key Legislation The key legislation applicable to the gambling sector is as follows: • the Gambling Act 2005; • the Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Act 2014; • the National Lottery Act of 1993 (as amended by the National Lottery Act of 2006); • the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regu- lations 2017; • the Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive; • POCA (Part 7); and • the Terrorism Act 2000 (“TACT”). The Gambling Act 2005 is set out as follows: • Part 1 interprets key concepts and contains defini- tions of important terms; • Part 2 establishes the Gambling Commission’s powers and duties; • Part 3 deals with offences; • Part 4 addresses the protection of children and young persons; and
• Parts 5, 6, 7 and 8 deal with various types of licences. The LCCP is issued under Section 24 of the Gambling Act 2005 and is, in the authors’ opinion, the key refer- ence document with which all licence holders should familiarise themselves. 3.2 Definition of Gambling Gambling, per the Gambling Act 2005, means gaming, betting or participating in a lottery. Gaming means “playing a game of chance for a prize”, including games where the chance element can be eliminated by superlative skill. “Prize” consti- tutes money or money’s worth and “playing” means a chance of winning, irrespective of whether there is a risk of any loss. Betting means the making of, or acceptance of, bets on: • the outcome of an event; • the likelihood of anything occurring or not; or • whether anything is true or not. Subcategories of betting include: • real-event betting (ie, fixed-odds betting); • virtual-event betting (based on a random number generator); • betting intermediary (peer-to-peer); and • pool betting. Lotteries are classed as “simple” or “complex” and they cannot be run for private or commercial gain. Lotteries are “simple” if: • payment is required to participate; • one or more prizes are allocated to one or more members of a class; and • the allocation of prizes relies wholly on chance. Complex lotteries differ on the point of prize alloca- tion, whereby prizes are allocated by a series of pro- cesses – the first of which relies wholly on chance. Subcategories of lotteries include:
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