Bookmaker Anthony Kaminskas has warned that the new statutory levy on casino and betting operators is “missing the point” and will push more players towards the black market.

The Founder of AK Bets claimed that bookmakers will be forced to react to the new legislation by passing the cost to the customer.

Following the DCMS’ announcement of changes to the statutory levy, operators will pay a percentage of their gross gaming yield to fund the research, education and treatment of gambling harms.

Speaking on AK Bets’ The Racing Room podcast, he said: “What will happen is bookmakers will react to conditions that are enforced on them and it’s going to mean worse prices in the legal market and we all know what that means.

“My worry would be that the anti-gambling lot will [celebrate] this as a win if less people are gambling but we all know that’s not the case. That turnover has migrated outside of the legal market and the people, the anti-gambling [lobby], tell us that they’re worried about being driven further and further underground.”

Earlier in the episode, Broadcaster and Tipster Tony Calvin relayed some “astonishing figures” regarding the decline in horse racing turnover.

🚨 Gambling Commission figures just out, when adjusted for inflation, show £3.2bn wiped off online horse racing turnover since affordability checks came in.

📉 -28%
📉 -£3.2bn

🏇devastated@racingpost @leemottershead @ThomasKerrRP @RacingTV @nickluck @LydiaHislop @AKBets… pic.twitter.com/uYWGN3WVj9

— Chris Fawcett (@chrisgambler247) November 29, 2024

According to data reported by the UK Gambling Commission, horse racing turnover – when adjusted for inflation – has decreased by £3.2bn since April 2020. In the last financial year alone, turnover has dropped by the equivalent of £1.75bn.

Reacting to the statistics, Kaminskas said: “What I see on a day-to-day basis is less and less interest in horse racing.  

“I’ve said this before as well but I’d rather my customers bet on anything but horse racing [as] it’s the most expensive sport to service. We barely make anything out of horse racing.” 

Safer Gambling Week sentiment

Last month marked Safer Gambling Week across the UK.  A central focus of the messaging around the initiative was the promotion of gambling as a form of entertainment rather than a way to make large sums of money.

Looking back on the week, Harry Stewart-Moore, gambling law specialist and Litigator Partner in the Gardner Leader Dispute Resolution team, speculated that this sentiment suggests larger operators are trying to “turn punting into casino betting” – where people are going to lose small sums of money often rather than worrying about “sharps” wagering larger sums.

“I think that’s what will happen and is what’s happening. People adapt to regulation and tax” agreed Kaminkas. 

“At present, the most efficient outcome for a bookmaker that’s got shareholders is to go after more people losing small amounts of money.”