Key Takeaways
- The Public Bill Committee of the UK Parliament has published a summary of evidence submitted to the Parliamentary Committee scrutinizing proposed new gambling laws.
- There is only a passing mention of online poker, and no sense that any member of the industry is prepared to advocate the distinctive characteristics of poker which make one size fits all gambling regulation and taxes inappropriate.
The Public Bill Committee of the UK Parliament has published a summary of evidence submitted to the Parliamentary Committee scrutinizing proposed new gambling laws. Industry concerns are evident; what is absent is any pleading on behalf of poker.
Philip Brear, Gibraltar’s Gambling Commissioner, and a former deputy to the Chief Executive of the UK Gambling Commission, produced a damning synopsis of the bill: “The Bill knowingly destabilises the industry, incentivises and permits it to relocate around the world, exposes UK businesses to much lower cost competition, whilst HMT is charged with imposing a new duty.”
