The United Kingdom is generally considered to be a nation which approaches the pursuit of gambling and all of its related legislation with a great degree of liberalism. As one of the first nations have embraced the pass time in its modern form, many of the world’s premier gaming and wagering brands and bookmakers first made their name in, and are still based out of the UK.

As is the case with a great deal of the law, the legislation in place which acts to govern the processes involving players and hosts is nothing short of extremely complex – depending on how far you wish to read into it, of course.

At present, the 2005 Gambling Act covers the lion’s share of commercial gambling in the nation; and outlines its objectives thusly:

“(a) preventing gambling from being a source of crime or disorder, being associated with crime or disorder or being used to support crime, (b) ensuring that gambling is conducted in a fair and open way, and (c) protecting children and other vulnerable persons from being harmed or exploited by gambling.”

• 2005 Gambling Act

For the years following the announcement of the act, it seemed to be pretty smooth sailing. This was until, in 2012, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport published a report which criticised the act on the chief grounds that it revokes any efforts made to tackle problem gambling on the streets of the UK’s towns and cities and the fact that online providers were allowed free roam over UK citizens despite not currently being subject to regulation or indeed taxation.

In the years since, the legislation has been subject to a number of positive changes which sets about amending these issues. For example, a point of consumption tax is now in place for all online providers serving the UK.

More information on the UK’s gambling laws is abundantly available online and elsewhere.