British Betting Sites agree to fair bonus initiative

Following the recent upheaval around the fairness of betting welcome offers, a few select British bookies have decided to make matters more transparent to their new players. As a result William Hill, PT Entertainment and Ladbrokes have vowed to remove the wagering requirements from their sign up offers along with any fine printing. The UKGC couldn’t help but welcome this initiative and went ahead to notably encourage other betting & casino operators to follow on their footsteps.

According to Sarah Gardner, UK Gambling Commission executive director: “Gambling firms must treat their customers fairly and not attach unreasonable terms and conditions to their promotions and offers.”

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has set the deadline at the end of the running year for any changes to be implemented and has declared that operators will receive more guidance on this matter within 2018.  The CMA announced that players should not be forced to play more than intended in order to claim their winnings, stressing out that operators who don’t align with the new rules, will face regulatory action from the Gambling Commission.

Following the above clarifications, Willian Hill stated:  “As one of the largest online betting and gaming brands in the UK, William Hill has worked with the CMA to ensure that its concerns have been fully met. We welcome the standards and principles that the CMA has outlined and we look forward to their adoption across the industry. There are clearly lessons to be learned for some companies and we will work with the Gambling Commission and others to raise standards wherever necessary. We have already held productive discussions with the CMA and the Commission to consider how best to achieve that,” announced Brian Wright, director of business for the Remote Gambling Association.

According to the Landbrokes Coral official statement, the company is ready to commit to the new rules, although “It is never comfortable being in the spotlight on these sorts of issues”.