Legal Q&A: sweepstake rules and lottery vending machines

Sweepstake rules 

Q. I run a local pub and did not provide a sweepstake for the World Cup as I was not sure whether this would be permitted. I appreciate I may have missed an opportunity here but as there are a number of other sporting events this year I thought I would give it a try. Can you provide some guidance?​

A. The simple answer is yes you can run a sweepstake, but, as always with gambling, there are specific rules on how it must be operated.

Sweepstakes are essentially lotteries and come under the rules of a customer lottery. Teams/tickets must be selected at random and sold to customers aged 16 or older. No individual prize can be more than £50 in value and the lottery must be arranged so you do not make a profit (all stakes returned as prizes). Tickets must show the name and address of the organiser, ie, the pub, the ticket price, and any restrictions as to who may or may not buy a ticket, and state that the tickets are non-transferrable. You can only have one lottery draw per week with no roll overs, although with sweepstakes there will only be one ‘draw’ at the end of the event.

Lottery vending machines

Q. I help manage a non-commercial working men’s club and our committee has asked if we can site a lottery ticket vending machine. I understand this is gambling and would appreciate some pointers.​

A. In principle, clubs and pubs can put vending machines on their premises.

The machine must only dispense a predetermined ticket/scratchcard from a stack inside the machine. There must be no element of game play in respect of interaction with the machine, which must not itself determine/influence the outcome by randomly selecting a ticket.

Tickets can only be sold in specific circumstances:

By or on behalf of a society lottery for charitable purposes. ‘Charities’ will either hold a Gambling Commission operating licence or be registered with the local licensing authority; or

By or on behalf of a private society selling tickets for its own private society lottery. Private societies can include private members clubs like yours where funds are raised to support the society or for another good cause.

It is the responsibility of the society to ensure any tickets sold for their lotteries are done so in accordance with the governing legislation. As an example, vending machines must be appropriately supervised to ensure age restrictions are enforced. There are also specific requirements regarding the information that is contained on lottery tickets, depending on the particular type of lottery being operated.

Where lottery vending machines are operated on behalf of a society lottery, staff must receive appropriate training on matters such as age verification, self-exclusion, problem gambling and social responsibility measures. Procedures should also be in place that have been agreed between the society and publican/club operator for matters such as cash handling.

In respect of commercial profit, society lotteries can deduct reasonable expenses for operating the lottery, such as to cover the cost of siting a machine. However, any kind of profit share is unlikely to be considered a reasonable expense. Where a society lottery pays a fixed, reasonable, fee to a club operator for allowing the ticket machine to be sited and supervised on the premises this is likely to be considered a reasonable expense. However, the intention of the lottery must be about raising funds for charity, not commercial gain.

The situation is slightly different for private society lotteries, for example, if you run your own lottery, tickets must only be sold to members or guests who are on premises mainly used for the conduct of the society’s affairs.