New gambling laws come in tomorrow

The trade is preparing for the new gambling legislation which will come into effect tomorrow.

There are fears some licensees will be caught out because of a lack of publicity over the implementation of The Gambling Act 2005.

The Act also gives a new role to local authorities, empowering more than 1500 licensing officers (alongside 50 specialist Gambling Commission compliance officers) to inspect gambling premises to enforce the new laws.

Philip Kolvin chairman of the Licensing Institute, which has worked with Government and local authorities in the run up to the changes, said: "We welcome the opportunity to make the new law work as sensibly and efficiently as possible for both residents who live near to gambling premises, and for the industry."​

However, licensees who run any 'gambling' activity in their pubs are being warned to ensure they comply with the new laws.

Specialist licensing lawyer Jon Payne told the MA the new rules are likely to catch out a lot of people who are running things like poker leagues, fantasy football evenings, lotteries and raffles as well as many other forms of gambling.

Payne said: "The debate about the supercasino has largely obscured the fact that the new rules and regulations under the Gambling Act 2005 will have wide ranging implications for many premises including pubs, takeaways, amusement arcades and betting shops.​

"The newly established Gambling Commission will have the power to void bets in certain circumstances and a new offence of cheating at gambling will be created.

"The legislation will undoubtedly catch some people unaware because there simply has not been enough publicity about it," he added.