888 probe a sign of gambling regulator's tough new approach to enforcement, says expert

On Monday, 888 Holdings confirmed that the Gambling Commission had opened a review into the way one of its subsidiaries had been operating to check whether it is in compliance with the Commission's licensing conditions and code of practice (LCCP).

The company said the Commission had opened its review "to assess certain measures that [888] employs to ensure social responsibility to its customers including, amongst other items, effective self-exclusion tools across different operating platforms".

Under the LCCP, many remote gambling operators are required to "have and put into effect procedures for self-exclusion and take all reasonable steps to refuse service or to otherwise prevent an individual who has entered a self-exclusion agreement from participating in gambling".

The LCCP also requires those businesses to curb marketing activities towards "a self-excluded customer", to "close any customer accounts of an individual who has entered a self-exclusion agreement and return any funds held in the customer account", and to put certain procedures in place to ensure self-excluded customers "cannot gain access to gambling".

Self-exclusion must be available to customers through operators' customer services department as well as "by entering an automated process using remote communication", under the LCCP. Operators must also ensure that they "signpost" counselling and support services to self-excluded customers when "administering the self-exclusion".

In a statement, 888 said it is "dedicated to providing players with a responsible as well as enjoyable gaming experience" and that it "will be proactively engaged in a cooperative and collaborative manner with the [Gambling Commission] throughout this review".

Gambling law expert Christopher Rees-Gay of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said: "The launching of these review proceedings against another major operator confirm the change in stance of enforcement being taken by the Gambling Commission.  Details at this stage are limited, but it would seem that the Commission have opted to review the operating licence rather than to look for agreement by settlement, as they had on previous occasions."