“They cannot collect legal taxes from illegal money.” – Al Capone
You may be aware of the Gambling Commission’s consultation on remote customer interaction, which is considering new financial checks to address problem gambling.
Around two-thirds of betting on racing is carried out online, whilst the sport itself has low levels of problem gambling.
Worst case scenario is that punters would need to submit things like bank statements and even references to bet as little as £100 via an online bookmaker.
£100??? Can you see the issue? Even relatively small punters would stand at risk of triggering that threshold in a matter of weeks, or even days.
Oh, do not get me wrong, yes there are problem gamblers out there, people who are risking and losing everything. While a small proportion of these are punting on horse racing a far higher number are losing heavily on slots, roulette and other games of chance that require no skill to play and offer no hope of long-term profit.
Lumping sports bettors with the gamers is a crime in itself.
It is those games of chance that need the higher regulation, problem gamers have been victimised by unscrupulous profit-driven operators’ intent on wringing out every last penny.
Getting tarred with the same brush is deeply concerning to the entire horseracing industry.
Horseracing relies on the levy that is paid out of the profit’s bookmakers make on horseracing betting, without this money the knock-on effect would be catastrophic. Race prize money would decrease attracting less owners to the game, requiring less horses, less stable staff, less jockeys etc. etc.
This legislation would be an act of folly, it would be akin to amputating a limb from the entire sport of horse racing.
My final word is that this draconian plan would send betting underground, think illegal gambling dens as immortalised in the TV series Peaky Blinders, but on a much bigger scale. It would be all online on the dark web and controlled by international criminal, with absolutely no protection for punters.
Footnote: Racing’s leaders do recognise the need to engage with government in 2021 on a wide range of issues, including COVID-19, the Gambling Act review, Levy Reform and Brexit. They emphasised how the £4 billion racing industry can play its part in wider economic recovery, especially in rural areas of England, Scotland and Wales. Racing is also working with government to promote Britain to the world for international trade and investment.
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