Some interesting news out of the UK today that over two-thirds of UK gambling companies have failed to contribute to a fund that supports problem gamblers. "It's the online gamblers on the whole who are not contributing," Mr Foster said. "It's difficult to get money out of these people - some of them are operating from overseas." While the issue that the government cannot get in touch with online gambling companies seems ridiculous (you must be UK licensed to operate in the UK), successive culture secretaries have threatened a compulsory levy if the industry does not contribute more. While I am not necessarily against a levy as long as it is carefully implemented, a recent study by the UK Gambling Commission found there had not been any significant increase in problem gamblers since its previous survey in 1999. Either people will not admit to gambling or we are in fact not seeing a significant increase in problem gamblers in the UK. Nonetheless, a mandatory levy could present another significant hurdle for start-ups looking to enter the UK market with an online/offline gambling product.
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