These breaches violated the regulator’s Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP)
Merkur Slots has agreed to pay a fine of almost £100,000 after the Great British Gambling Commission uncovered social responsibility failures at one of its adult gaming centres.
The £95,450 fine follows an investigation by the regulator into the company’s treatment of a customer in Stockport, Greater Manchester, who lost £1,981 in just three days.
The Commission stated that the operator “failed to interact with the customer” when they gambled for nearly five hours—from 1:50pm to 6:43pm—on 1 November 2023. The same failure was identified after the player’s almost 12-hour session between 1:28pm and 12:57am on 3 November 2023.
These breaches violated the regulator’s Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP), which require land-based gambling operators to “interact with customers in a way which minimises the risk of customers experiencing harms associated with gambling.”
The LCCP sets out that operators must identify players at risk of gambling harm.
Andrew Rhodes, Gambling Commission CEO, said:
“This was a clear-cut case of an operator failing to follow rules aimed at keeping consumers safe from harm. In recent years, there have been a number of cases of online gambling businesses failing to meet their social responsibility obligations—but this investigation shows that land-based operators also need to make sure they are minimising the risk to customers experiencing harms associated with gambling.
“All operators should make sure that not only do they have policies and procedures aimed at preventing harm in place, but also that staff are effectively trained to follow and implement them.”
Merkur Slots responded:
“We acknowledge the Gambling Commission’s findings and have fully cooperated with their investigation. The Commission noted that we had policies and procedures in place and that the failure was due to premises staff not implementing our policies and procedures effectively.
“Customer welfare is our priority, and we have conducted a thorough internal review. As a result, we have strengthened training for our 1,840 venue-based staff as well as enhancing reporting procedures to ensure our high standards are upheld.
“We remain committed to providing a safe and responsible gaming experience for all our customers.”
The fine against Merkur Slots marks the second regulatory action taken by the GB Gambling Commission against an operator in as many days.