Gambling industry scores another own goal as CMA strikers threaten penalty area

Gambling companies have long used promotions as a lure. Open an account and have a free spin/bet/hand on us!

The problem with these free bets is that they often turn out to be one-way bets in favour of the house. According to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the relatively small number of people who win money off them have been struggling to cash out.

As a result the watchdog has ordered a crackdown, including the launch of “enforcement actions” against a number of operators, while dealing a fresh blow to the battered reputation of a £4.5bn industry in the process.

The CMA has identified a number of wheezes. Sometimes gambling outfits require the mug punter to play hundreds of spins before getting their money, which basically means they’ll lose it.

Others impose minimum withdrawal amounts far bigger than the punter’s original deposit, again all but ensuring that the company will keep any freebies they’ve offered.

Many hurdles are put up, all with the aim of making it harder to withdraw than it used to be to book a Ryanair flight via credit card without getting stung with an extra charge.

“But we told them this. It’s all covered in the terms and conditions!”

Yes, those T&Cs. Pages and pages of dense legalese in small print that is designed to confuse the handful of people that don’t simply tick the box.

The best of it is, the house always wins in the end. Given the money gambling outfits make from those they draw in through promotions, the loss of a few quid to those few who say thanks very much, see you later when their spins come up trumps, ought to be easy enough to bear.

Attempting to skewer the terms and conditions is both stupid, and greedy, and only strengthens the hand of those who argue for far stronger measures than those already taken to curb the industry’s enthusiasm.

They might have a point.

Liberalisation, a modernised system of taxation, and the rise of the internet as a gambling medium served the industry up a golden egg.

The way it has handled that might just have killed the golden goose. Its critics have had a field day, leaving regulators little choice but to intervene.

What has been highlighted by the CMA is just one of many examples of malpractice.

That the industry is increasingly suffering from the blowback this has caused can be seen in the English Football Association’s decision to end its commercial relationship with the industry, notably Ladbrokes, although it will still cooperate with it when it comes to matters of integrity.

Meanwhile, the voices raised in opposition to increasing the burden of taxation that gambling companies face, never great in terms of numbers, have been silenced while investors have taken flight.

There was another sell-off on the stock market in response to the CMA’s announcement, although the big name high-street bookies weren’t as badly affected as some.

You wouldn’t expect them to indulge in the sort of behaviour that has so exercised it. They have reputations, to protect after all.

But if they were wise, they would still reflect on what has happened as they seek to conduct their businesses in an increasingly chilly climate. Those reputations have been tarnished, but it could yet get a lot worse for them.