Betting Site 10Bet Reaches Settlement with the UK Gambling Commission

A new announcement by the United Kingdom Gambling Commission has revealed that UK betting site 10Bet has agreed to a settlement following an investigation into its operation. As a result of the settlement, the bookmaker, which is ran by the betting company Blue Planet Limited, will agree to pay the sum of £620,000.

The news about 10Bet comes amidst the tightening of rules and regulation across the gambling industry, both in the United Kingdom and globally. The White Paper on UK gambling, which has been eagerly awaited by all involved in online betting and gaming is expected to happen any day now. Some UK betting sites have already expressed their support of modernising the rules of the industry in order to make it safer for bettors and easier for bookmakers to ensure responsible and safe betting. One of those in support of new regulations is Entain Group, the company behind well-known UK betting sites Ladbrokes and Coral. Entain itself was the subject of a record regulatory fine from the Commission, which resulted in tightening of its processes and focusing even more on responsible and safe gambling.

According to the UK Gambling Commission’s investigation, 10Bet failed to meet some of the standards and requirements in relation to its social responsibility and anti-money laundering. Between November 2019 and 2021, the company was not properly implementing anti-money laundering controls, procedures and policies. Furthermore, there were failings in relation to its responsible gambling policies and practices, which featured weaknesses and issues with implementation. Finally, the commission found out that in some instances, the company’s reporting arrangements were not fit for purpose.

The UK Gambling Commission elaborated on the issues with 10Bet’s social responsibilities. According to its investigation, 10Bet did not employ dedicated compliance staff whose responsibilities would have been to keep track of overnights alerts in relation to safer gambling. In some instances, staff who reviewed safer gambling triggers allowed customers to keep betting without any intervention. Another issue was high-velocity risk alerts – the bookmaker did not use these and thus customers were allowed to spend without any interaction with the company’s employees. Throughout the investigation, the Gambling Commission was not presented with any evidence of comprehensive evaluation of its interaction with customers. Finally, the Commission pointed out that, on two occasions while the investigation / assessment was ongoing, 10Bet failed to interact with customers who were showing signs of being at risk of gambling harm.

While the UK Gambling Commission has recently been very active in investigating betting providers and taking regulatory action in order to improve compliance with rules and regulations, it is important to point out that cases like that of 10Bet are an exception to the rule. The vast majority of licenced UK betting sites comply with rules and regulations, and some even go the extra mile to ensure their customers have access to safer and more responsible online gambling, and any potential risk of gambling harm is minimised. An example is Flutter Entertainment, the entity behind popular UK betting sites Sky Betting & Gaming, Paddy Power, and Betfair. Flutter has fully committed to supporting safer gambling and making the UK betting and gaming industry a safe space for all involved.  Flutter is running its campaign Gamble Safely / Play Well, which empowers and enables bettors to make the right decisions and to have fun through responsible gambling. Flutter has invested over £45m in making its operations safe and responsible.

In terms of the investigation into 10Bet, the bookmaker has accepted the findings of the UK Gambling Commission and has confirmed that it will pay the fine of £620,000. Some of the money will go towards charities and campaigns that promote responsible gambling and improve the betting industry. 10Bet will also pay £3,751.25 to cover the cost of the Commission’s investigation.

According to industry experts, gambling industry fines and settlements across the globe amounted to almost £224m in 2022, which was a massive increase compared to the £40m in 2021. For this year, the amount is now sitting at about £10.6m. Bettors have been reassured that, even if betting providers sometimes do not manage to attain the required standard for the jurisdiction they operate in, the relevant regulatory bodies are constantly on the lookout to ensure continual compliance and improvement. The most important thing bettors can do to protect themselves is to ensure they use a licenced and regulated UK betting site, and not one which is part of the gambling black market and does not pay taxes or comply with industry standards. .