Slot machine apps aimed at 12-year-olds

SLOT machine apps are being targeted at 12-year-olds because of a “no cash prize” loophole in the law.

The Sunday Telegraph has found numerous “simulated gambling” games that allow players to spend up to £300 in one purchase and have been rated as suitable for children in the Apple and Google app stores. The slot games, one of which promises players “the Vegas casino thrill anytime, anywhere”, are not considered gambling under the Gambling Act 2005.

However, GambleAware said such apps had “blatant similarities to reallife gambling” and risked “normalising gambling for children”.

Marc Etches, the chief executive of the charity, said: “Many children report to having their first gambling experience at the age of 12, which shows a clear need for more consideration to be shown to these types of games.”

Academic studies in recent years have found that people who play simulated gambling games are more likely to become gamblers.

Apple, which sets the age recommendations in its App Store, rated many slot machine games as 12+ because of their “intense simulated gam- bling”. Google uses the third-party International Age Rating Coalition to rate its apps and many of the slot games had been set at Pegi 12.

The slot apps do not allow players to gamble directly with real money, but instead use in-game coins. However, once the free coins given to new players run out, more can be purchased, with real money, in packages worth from 80p to £300.

Both Apple and Google take a 30 per cent cut of purchases made in their app stores.

The games do not dole out any cash prizes, but instead allow players to unlock new slot games and in-app features with their winnings. As the coins do not have any monetary value outside of the app, the games are not considered to issue “prizes”, which would bring them under the Gambling Act.

Richard James, a research fellow at Nottingham University who studies mobile gambling and addiction, described the games saying: “It’s a slot machine, it just doesn’t pay out”.

The UK government’s watchdog, the Gambling Commission, said although such slot games did not come under its remit, there was “a need for further research” into the area.

Both Apple and Google declined requests for comment.