Here’s a pro tip for any gambling operators doing business, or looking to do business in the UK: The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) is very serious about enforcing compliance with existing regulations regarding marketing services to players on the self-exclusion list. If you doubt that statement, you should have a chat with the folks at Sky Bet, who were recently fined £1 million ($1.2 million USD) for that very infraction.
According to a report from the UK Guardian, the UK gaming regulators laid down the fine after Sky Bet sent promotional materials to around 50,000 self-excluded players. Of that 50,000, 736 were allowed to open new accounts. Making matters worse, an additional 36,748 players were unable to recover the balance of their accounts after they self-excluded.
The good news for Sky Bet is that because they self-reported the infractions, their fine was considerably lower than it could it could have been. Recall that 888 Holdings was recently fined $7.8 million for a similar oversight.
In a statement to the Guardian, Sky Betting & Gaming chief executive, Richard Flint summed up his company’s position on the matter saying:
When we spotted the issue we pro-actively notified the Gambling Commission and have worked to improve our processes to avoid this happening again. We could and should have made it harder for self-excluded customers to open duplicate accounts with us and for that we are sorry. We fully agree with the Gambling Commission’s findings and will donate the agreed sum to charities for socially responsible purposes.
Sky Bet’s fine will be distributed among a variety of charities that support “socially responsible” causes.