The UK Gambling Commission’s (UKGC) affordability checks offer a “grim future” for British horse racing according to the Racing Post’s Chris Cook.
Appearing on The Front Page show, he said: “It feels like the sport is becoming less and less attractive to bookmakers and in the long run that is a real issue. This subject of affordability has been dragging on for so long and we still don’t have clarity about what the future will hold or exactly what they should be doing.
“I’m afraid there’s every risk that they’re just going to tighten up on the poor punter and we’ll have even more problems than ever getting a bet on at all and obtaining the right to bet, so it’s a pretty grim future.
‘“I worry that nobody’s riding to our rescue here. We’ve got a government that seems prepared to risk wild unpopularity with a potential ban on smoking outdoors. If that’s the way they’re thinking, are they going to be persuaded to reign in the gambling commission to protect horse racing? As a committed fan of horse racing, you’ve just got to let them get on with it and see what disaster unfolds.”
Last Friday (August 30), the UKGC launched a pilot programme on affordability checks with a focus on developing a system that will successfully identify high-risk customers while keeping the betting experience frictionless for the majority of players.
Some of the markers for high-risk players during the affordability checks include County Court Judgements (CCJs) and bank notices.
According to the host of the show, Tom Kerr, over four million people in the UK have a CCJ, which can be issued for any level of debt such as an unpaid parking ticket or bill.
CCJs stay on the records of recipients for six years and Kerr suggested that bookmakers may take a cautious approach to the checks, meaning some customers may be blocked despite their only financial indiscretion being an unpaid parking ticket.
Panellist James Stevens said: “Bookmakers in a sense have a gamble here. Do they try and keep customers open and keep these accounts going and add some sort of restrictions or do they just close the account and eliminate any risks? No bookmaker will want to be the first [to be fined] under these new regulations which could come in.
“I think they’re going to treat it with ridiculous amounts of caution. It could be that ordinary punters who have had a not serious judgement may be waking up and realising they are falling under this category. A lot more people may not be aware that they are going to be getting a light touch check.”
The Horseracing Betting Forum has suggested that the checks could drive more players to the black market which Stevens concluded would not only further harm horse racing’s funding but also impact the regulation’s ability to “help and promote safer gambling”.
