UK gambling halls fail basic protection measures for vulnerable customers
A shocking BBC investigation has revealed that the vast majority of adult gambling halls are failing to properly implement schemes designed to help problem gamblers exclude themselves from venues. The findings have prompted serious concerns from regulators about the effectiveness of current protection measures for some of society’s most vulnerable individuals.
When an undercover BBC reporter tested the self-exclusion system in Portsmouth, the results were deeply troubling. After signing up to exclude himself from all adult gambling halls within a 40-kilometre radius, he was successfully turned away from just one venue: Game Nation.
However, this initial success should have triggered warnings to all neighbouring establishments, according to official guidance from the Gambling Commission.
Instead, the reporter found himself able to walk into 13 other venues without challenge, including a Merkur Slots branch located merely 100 metres from where his exclusion attempt had been registered.
Staff at this particular venue even offered to help him operate the machines and bring refreshments, behaviour that directly contradicts the protective measures these schemes are supposed to provide.
When self-exclusion schemes don’t work
The failure of these protection systems becomes even more concerning when you consider what’s at stake. Dr Matt Gaskell, a consultant psychologist and clinical lead at the NHS Northern Gambling Service, told the BBC that slot machines are specifically designed for extended play, making harm “almost certain”.
His expertise, recently recognised with an MBE for services to people experiencing gambling harm, highlights the serious nature of these addictive products.
The self-exclusion schemes currently in operation include SmartEXCLUSION for adult gambling halls and similar programmes managed by various industry bodies. These systems are meant to allow people struggling with gambling to voluntarily bar themselves from multiple venues with a single request. However, the BBC investigation suggests these safeguards are largely ineffective in practice.
A spokesperson for the Gambling Commission said: “We take protecting consumers extremely seriously.” The regulator called the documentary’s findings “very concerning” and confirmed it would be “taking urgent steps to investigate what has happened.” The response suggests that even the watchdog was taken aback by the scale of the failures exposed.
The scale of the problem across Britain’s high streets
The issues with self-exclusion schemes are particularly worrying given the rapid expansion of adult gambling halls across Britain’s high streets.
Recent analysis reported in The Guardian shows that these venues are disproportionately concentrated in the country’s most deprived areas, with a third located in the poorest 10 percent of British neighbourhoods. More than half serve customers in the most deprived 20 percent of areas, suggesting these businesses are specifically targeting communities least able to absorb gambling-related financial losses.
The number of adult gaming centres has increased by 7 percent to 1,451 between 2022 and 2024, reversing a longer-term decline as operators take advantage of favourable planning and licensing laws. Merkur alone has launched 100 new locations since 2020 and now operates over 230 venues across the UK. Each machine in these establishments generates approximately £32,600 annually from players, nearly equivalent to the average British salary.
Merkur, owned by German gaming company Gauselmann, has faced particular scrutiny recently. The company was fined £95,450 earlier this year for social responsibility failings at its Stockport facility, where staff failed to interact with a customer who lost £1,981 during extended gaming sessions.
In their response to the BBC investigation, Merkur stated: “As a business we work within the confines of the industry self-exclusion scheme and always follow best endeavours to support customers who have voluntarily or otherwise decided to enter into the industries [sic] self-exclusion schemes”.
What’s next for regulation and enforcement
The findings have reignited pressure on regulators, with politicians and campaigners calling for tougher action. Sir Iain Duncan Smith, who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Gambling Reform, has long argued that weak enforcement allows adult gambling hall operators to let standards slip. He’s pushing for both local councils and the Gambling Commission to be given stronger powers to crack down on repeat offenders.
Tim Miller, executive director at the Gambling Commission, has acknowledged that effective consumer protection requires proper implementation of self-exclusion schemes at the local level. Speaking about the broader challenges facing the sector, Miller stated: “You should spot that [someone] matches one of those photos, you should step in.” His comments suggest that basic identification procedures are failing at multiple venues.
The government has already shown signs of taking a more cautious approach to the sector, recently pausing plans to relax rules around high-stakes slot machines in adult gambling halls due to “concerns about the strength of protections for vulnerable people”. This decision suggests that policymakers are beginning to recognise the need for stronger safeguards rather than industry-friendly deregulation.
The Gambling Commission has emphasised that local authorities are also responsible for licensing and inspecting gambling businesses in their areas, funded through licence fees. However, the widespread nature of the failures uncovered by the BBC suggests that current oversight arrangements are insufficient to ensure compliance with basic safety requirements.
As this investigation demonstrates, the gap between regulatory intentions and real-world implementation remains dangerously wide, leaving some of Britain’s most vulnerable people exposed to harm in venues specifically designed to extract money from those who can least afford to lose it.
