Betting watchdog’s grooming betrayal
Bookies allowed to keep ‘dangerous’ VIP schemes
THE gambling watchdog has refused to ban the ‘grooming’ tactics used by bookmakers to encourage gamblers to bet more.
‘VIP’ schemes have faced a furious backlash due to their role in a series of high-profile fines, frauds and suicides.
They have been blamed for encouraging vulnerable gamblers to bet more than they can afford by enticing them with massive cash bonuses, exclusive tickets to sports matches and ‘matey’ messages from personal account managers.
The Daily Mail has been calling for greater protection for addicts with its Stop the Gambling Predators campaign.
But next month, after a yearlong consultation, the Gambling Commission watchdog will tell bookmakers they can keep using the ‘highly dangerous’ products. Campaigners have labelled the decision a whitewash, saying it will allow gambling companies to ‘prey on the vulnerable’.
Sir Iain Duncan Smith, of the all-party parliamentary group on gambling, said: ‘By failing to ban
VIP schemes the regulator is literally licensing abuse. The term “VIP” is simply the means by which betting companies trap problem gamblers, potentially destroying them and their families. These schemes must be outlawed.’ Charles Ritchie, founder of the charity Gambling with Lives, who was involved in the consultation, said: ‘We know so many people on ordinary incomes who have been destroyed by these schemes.
‘They are dangerous and have no place in gambling.
‘We do not want VIP schemes to be run more carefully, we want to see them stopped altogether.’
Campaigner Tony Parente, who was also involved in the consultation, said: ‘It’s a whitewash.
‘These schemes prey on the vulnerable and incentivise individuals’ losses. They must be banned.’
The Gambling Commission is expected to announce new measures including enhanced affordability checks and greater oversight of VIPs from senior managers.
Bookmakers are unwilling to ditch the schemes because they are enormously lucrative. Ladbrokes’ owner GVC admitted it takes 38 per cent of deposits from just over one per cent of its customers, while Paddy Power Betfair last year took a fifth of its revenues from just 0.6 per cent of customers.
In January, MPs criticised the Commission for appointing GVC to lead a review of online betting for VIP customers, with one saying ‘it’s like putting the mafia in charge of looking into organised crime’.
Gamblers who are offered the incentives are about 11 times more likely to be addicted to gambling, according to figures released by the Commission.
VIP schemes were cited in the case of Ben Jones, who stole £370,000 from his employer to feed his addiction. Betway, the firm he bet with, was fined £11.6million.
In 2019, the Commission cited VIP rules when it fined Ladbrokes Coral £5.9million for anti-money laundering and social responsibility failings. And in April, it fined casino operator Caesars Entertainment a record £13million for ‘systemic failings’ in its VIP programmes.
The Commission said the new rules would ‘make gambling safer for players’ and ‘are designed to stamp out malpractice in the management of VIP customers.’
It added: ‘Operators will be left in no doubt about our expectations and, if significant improvements are not made, we will have no choice but to take further action and ban such schemes.’