{"id":157856,"date":"2020-12-09T09:37:03","date_gmt":"2020-12-09T17:37:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=157856"},"modified":"2020-12-09T10:05:27","modified_gmt":"2020-12-09T18:05:27","slug":"uk-government-to-raise-age-limit-for-national-lottery-products-to-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-government-to-raise-age-limit-for-national-lottery-products-to-18\/","title":{"rendered":"UK Government to Raise Age Limit for National Lottery Products to 18"},"content":{"rendered":"

UK lawmakers have promised to increase the minimum legal age for National Lottery participation from 16 to 18. It is, so far, the only concrete measure to emerge from a long-awaited review<\/a> of the country\u2019s gambling laws that kicked off this week.<\/p>\n

\"National
The 16-17 age group spent \u00a347 million ($60 million) on National Lottery games in 2017-18.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The National Lottery is currently the only gambling product that can be played by anyone under 18 in the UK — a law that is relatively unusual. In most countries around the world, the minimum age to gamble is at least 18.<\/p>\n

There have been recent calls for the government to close this so-called \u201clottery loophole<\/a>,\u201d which allows those who are legally still children to buy scratch-off tickets and play digital instant-win style games.<\/p>\n

The 16-17 age group spent \u00a347 million ($60 million) on National Lottery games in 2017-18, according to UK newspaper The Times.<\/em><\/p>\n

More Innocent Age<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The age limit was drawn up when the UK launched its lottery in 1994. Back then, the product offering was relatively simple and arguably less harmful. Today, lottery operator Camelot is competing with the online gaming sector and has had to adapt its offering to include the \u201cslots-like\u201d instant-win games.<\/p>\n

National Lottery Instant-win games and scratch-off tickets now account for 43 percent of all sales, or some \u00a33.4 billion ($4.3 billion).<\/p>\n

Camelot said it \u201cwould fully support any decision made by the government to raise the minimum age to play.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Prime Minister Boris Johnson\u2019s Conservative Party included the gambling review in its 2019 election manifesto. That\u2019s indicative of the public mood, which has turned against the liberal gambling regime that was ushered in by the UK Gambling Act in 2005.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018Reformer\u2019s Shopping List\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Launching the review, Oliver Dowden, Secretary of State for Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, called the Gambling Act \u201can analog law in a digital age.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom an era of having a flutter in a high-street bookmaker, casino, race course or seaside pier, the industry has evolved at breakneck speed,\u201d he said. \u201cThis comprehensive review will ensure we are tackling problem gambling in all its forms to protect children and vulnerable people. It will also help those who enjoy placing a bet to do so safely.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sources told The Guardian <\/em>last week that the review was looking like a \u201creformer\u2019s shopping list,\u201d suggesting we could be about to see a truly radical shake-up of one of the world\u2019s most mature online gaming markets.<\/p>\n

Among proposals up for consideration are possible restrictions on gambling advertising, including a ban on soccer shirt sponsorship. The review will also examine the possible imposition of stakes limits on certain games, and daily or weekly deposit or loss limits.<\/p>\n

It will also look at the role of the UK Gambling Commission, which a legislative committee recently described as \u201ctorpid\u201d and \u201ctoothless.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UK lawmakers have promised to increase the minimum legal age for National Lottery participation from 16 to 18. It is, so far, the only concrete measure to emerge from a long-awaited review of the country\u2019s gambling laws that kicked off this week. The National Lottery is currently the only gambling product that can be played […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":157857,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13699,61],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUK Government to Raise Age Limit for National Lottery Products to 18<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"National lottery age limit to be increased by UK government from 16 to 18 as part of its long-awaited review of the 2005 gambling act.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-government-to-raise-age-limit-for-national-lottery-products-to-18\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UK Government to Raise Age Limit for National Lottery Products to 18\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"National lottery age limit to be increased by UK government from 16 to 18 as part of its long-awaited review of the 2005 gambling act.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-government-to-raise-age-limit-for-national-lottery-products-to-18\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-12-09T17:37:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-12-09T18:05:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/lottery.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta 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