The growth of the gambling industry in the United Kingdom is an incontestable success story and it has been a significant portion of the economies there. Since this sovereign state has applied more persuasive gambling laws and regulations, this entertaining activity has become the most seductive there.
Historically, gambling has been the Britons main leisure activity since the 1500s and in the beginning, horse racing was their preference. The poker was introduced around the mid-19th century and since that time; this game has become a phenomenon. With the rise of online gaming, online poker is completely legal in the UK and there are regulations associated with this game. What are the laws applied to land-based and online poker games in the United Kingdom?
The Gaming Act of 1960 legalized first the UK gambling and only the games of skill and betting sectors are permitted to operate there. After the gambling legalization, nearly 10,000 betting premises were created across the territory. With the Gaming Act of 1968, the betting shops became legalized and different types of betting products were available including poker games. Moreover, when the Gaming Act 1968 was replaced by the 2005 Act, online gambling was regulated and sports betting seduced the British gamblers.
However, a huge selection of gambling options began to invade the internet gambling including live poker. This new and strict act enabled the customers to have a large selection of gambling options and allowed them to bet safely and responsibly. The Act of 2014 is the recent enhancement of the gambling legislation in the sovereign state. In this new bill, the remote betting operators that are offering services within the UK citizens must be licensed and regulated by the UK Gambling Commission.
Playing online poker is perfectly legal in the UK since 2005 but online poker rooms that operate there must be licensed and regulated by the UK Gambling Commission. This poker legislation is similar to Gibraltar in which the poker operators who hold licenses from the UKCG have to pay taxes and respect the laws.
Besides, this updated gambling tax law is applied to all the licensed gambling premises. In this statute, both onshore and offshore betting firms are required to pay a 15% tax fee. According to the rules, there is no limit on the stakes and prizes when playing poker at home and this game can be played in and outside the casino.
In addition, players are protected by Gamstop self-exclusion system. But despite this fact, CasinoGap says that there are still some non Gamstop poker sites in the United Kingdom that allow gambling even while being self-excluded. Nevertheless, the pokers rules depend on the place you play. Therefore, there are various places to play poker such as in a casino, at home, in a pub, at work, in a club, poker for charity, online poker sites, during the tournaments, and many others.
At first, the poker players had a concern that they would no longer be allowed to access the international platform. They worried to not play against players in other nations as well. Nonetheless, this law required the providers to get a license from the UKGC so that they can run their businesses within the UK area. There are also some alternatives to UKGC licence that bring to players good services.
In addition, these poker casino platforms have also to improve their security measures by including the well-reputed security systems like the SSL encryption and others. Hence, the UK based players would be able to play poker against players in other countries as well as take advantage of the various perks offered by the poker sites.
The gambling laws are also applied to the offshore poker platforms in which they are required to pay the 15% tax fee on all deposits. This regulation, obviously, permits the poker players to join any licensed sites they want and enables them to play safely and securely.
The United Kingdom is one of the countries that have really developed gambling regulations and laws over the centuries. Since gambling is a subject of crimes, the UK has to apply strict laws to protect the players against these possible illegal activities. As the poker has become a part of British entertaining activities, appropriate regulation has been implemented by the UK Gambling Commission.
In this game, remote gambling sites can be operated in this sovereign state as long as they respect the laws related to this game. All in all, the future of land-based and online poker in the UK will be bright provided that every poker premise promotes responsible gambling.
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