{"id":119501,"date":"2019-11-11T16:26:47","date_gmt":"2019-11-12T00:26:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=119501"},"modified":"2019-11-11T17:21:02","modified_gmt":"2019-11-12T01:21:02","slug":"gvc-boss-kenny-alexander-pans-plan-for-2-online-slots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/gvc-boss-kenny-alexander-pans-plan-for-2-online-slots\/","title":{"rendered":"GVC Boss Kenny Alexander Pans Plan for \u00a32 Online Slots, Hits Back at Pols Over \u2018Coward\u2019 Claim"},"content":{"rendered":"

GVC CEO Kenny Alexander has slammed a report<\/a> by influential British lawmakers that calls for the maximum stakes for online slots to be slashed to \u00a32 ($2.58).as \u201cridiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"GVC\"
Kenny Alexander told a conference in London that comparing FOBTs to online slots was like comparing \u201capples and oranges.\u201d (Image: GVC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The recommendations came last week from an all-party parliamentary group (APPG) that has spent the past six months studying problem gambling.<\/p>\n

The group, which in September called Alexander \u201ccowardly\u201d for swerving one of its hearings<\/a>, would apply the same radical cuts that were visited on fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBT) at the beginning of this year.<\/p>\n

FOBTs are present in retail betting outlets up and down the country. But they were branded a \u201csocial scourge\u201d by the government, which slashed the maximum stakes from \u00a3100 ($129) to \u00a32, despite warnings from the betting industry of mass layoffs, which are now beginning to take effect.<\/p>\n

But Alexander believes the reforms now being proposed could actually increase problem gambling.<\/p>\n

False Comparison<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Addressing a conference in London on the current perception of the gambling industry, titled \u201cReputation Matters: The Gambling Sector in the Spotlight,\u201d Alexander said it was right that the stake limit on FOBTs was reduced, but the comparison with online slots was \u201cfalse.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because there is no black market on FOBTs, and reducing the maximum stakes at online casinos would simply drive gamblers to unscrupulous offshore operators, he claimed.<\/p>\n

\n

As well as being one of the biggest regulated online gaming operators in the world, GVC is now also a retail operator through its recent acquisition of Ladbrokes Coral, Britain\u2019s biggest land-based bookmaker. It is also currently the 20th biggest corporate taxpayer in the UK.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

“If they put a \u00a32 limit on online casinos, the day after that, virtually the same amount of people who used to stake more than \u00a32 will go to the black market,\u201d Alexander said, as reported by iGaming Business.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ll play at sites in Costa Rica, they\u2019ll play at sites in Curacao, they\u2019ll play at sites that may not be licensed anywhere. These sites will not be paying taxes \u2026 they will have no interest in responsible gaming, no interest in protecting the player,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Where Does It Stop?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The comparison is also false because online operators can monitor their players\u2019 habits in the way that retail bookmakers cannot, he said. A player can visit a retail outlet to play an FOBT, lose hundreds, and then go to another outlet and play another one.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd where does it stop?\u201d he asked. \u201cIf you\u2019re going to say that you have the \u00a32 limit on FOBTs, so now you have to have the limit on an online casino, what are we going to do next?<\/p>\n

Are we going to put a \u00a32 limit on the land-based casinos? Are we going to say you can\u2019t spend more than \u00a32 at the Palm Beach or the Hippodrome [casinos]? Then what? Do we say you can only have \u00a35 on the football, \u00a33 on the greyhounds?\u201d he continued.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Alexander said he was no \u201ccoward,\u201d but had a meeting on the Isle of Man that had been in his diary for over a year on the day he was asked to attend the missed parliamentary hearing.<\/p>\n

Anticipating a grilling from lawmakers, he was reluctant to send anyone else from the company \u201cto be criticized on my behalf.\u201d<\/p>\n

He signed off his speech by saying he hoped common sense would prevail.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

GVC CEO Kenny Alexander has slammed a report by influential British lawmakers that calls for the maximum stakes for online slots to be slashed to \u00a32 ($2.58).as \u201cridiculous.\u201d The recommendations came last week from an all-party parliamentary group (APPG) that has spent the past six months studying problem gambling. The group, which in September called […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":119504,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,13592],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGVC Boss Kenny Alexander Pans Plan for \u00a32 Online Slots<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"UK online slots could go the same way as FOBT\u2019s if an influential all-party group gets its way. 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