Free to play slots

[Chris Toldo]

Hi guys

Please move my post if this is not the correct place for it.

So following the drama of a few weeks back when a marketer was called out on a forum post for advertising non gamstop casinos, and casino managers were contacted to ask if they would end association with said person / persons. What are opinions on free to play slots? And those that still offer them without any age verification in place?

Whilst advertising non gamstop casinos is morally wrong, offering free play without an age verification in place is actually a breach of current legislation isn’t it? Or have I mis interpreted the current law?

No sites being mentioned but I have played loads of free play slots, and a simple google search will bring up plenty of places to play them. So what’s anybody’s thoughts on this? And those that are clearly profiting from breaking legislation. Will casino managers be asked to end association with these businesses?

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[dunover]

Hi guys

Please move my post if this is not the correct place for it.

So following the drama of a few weeks back when a marketer was called out on a forum post for advertising non gamstop casinos, and casino managers were contacted to ask if they would end association with said person / persons. What are opinions on free to play slots? And those that still offer them without any age verification in place?

Whilst advertising non gamstop casinos is morally wrong, offering free play without an age verification in place is actually a breach of current legislation isn’t it? Or have I mis interpreted the current law?

No sites being mentioned but I have played loads of free play slots, and a simple google search will bring up plenty of places to play them. So what’s anybody’s thoughts on this? And those that are clearly profiting from breaking legislation. Will casino managers be asked to end association with these businesses?

Well it's a measure aimed by the UKGC at the casinos and affiliates. The casinos simply need the UK visitor to open an account and be verified via that action in order to play demo games in order to be compliant. The affiliates should not offer demo games to UK visitors without age verification either and I have seen some ridiculous affiliate sites that simply offer a drop-down menu to enter any old DOB which is not sufficient. At the sites I work we have simply barred UK IP's in order to meet the rules. You won't find many affiliate sites doing proper verification just to offer UK players free games for little revenue as a result.

As a casino affiliate manager I would certainly be concerned if one of my affiliates was indeed offering demo games to UK visitors without the required checks. All it needs is one addict from the UK to state after these rules came in that they played free slots at a casino or one of their affiliated sites and then spunked a fortune due to being tempted in that way. Then further down the line it would likely result in a big fine or license suspension for the casino. The casinos are responsible for the actions of their affiliates.

 

[Chris Toldo]

I thought that was the case Dunover, so why has this not been mentioned anywhere? I did a quick search and believe this came into play on the 7th May?

After the other week it will be very interesting to see what these managers have to say about it.

 

[Chris Toldo]

Is this not an important enough post? I would have thought breaching legislation may have been a serious point for affiliate mangers to address.

 

[Chris Toldo]

Was expecting comments and a positive response but alas nothing. So let’s throw a name in the hat, vegasslots.co.uk the first one that came up, but there are countless others.

I can’t quite remember all of the managers that piped in on the fruity slots debacle but at a quick glance advertised on a non compliant free play slot site that can be accessed and used by CHILDREN we have....... Slotsmillion, Casumo, Dream Vegas, Sky Vegas, Yako Casino, Dunder Casino, Guts Casino, Inter Casino, Leo Vegas Casino. I think you get the picture, there are so many more so surely one of these must see this post.

Perhaps this really isn’t important and having a brand associated with sites that can be played by kids is acceptable in the online industry. The mind really does boggle.

 

[georgietemple]

After reading your post, I did a Google search and I was surprised by the number of free slots sites that don't have age verification. On the first three pages of results for "free slots", there were three sites that didn't have any age verification in place, a few that restrict UK IPs and some that redirect you to casinos. The fifth and tenth results on the first page don't have age verification nor have their restricted UK IPs, which is worrying. I know getting age verification in place is a long process, but it's a law in the UK for a reason.

 

[Nordog]

The problem is that the internet is the whole world, and uk law only apply in UK. Some countries have no laws on it, and its then your isp's task to block pages violating national law.

 

[Chris Toldo]

The issue is that affiliate managers don’t seem interested in commenting here or ending association with these rogue websites. If the sites could no longer profit from their traffic they would soon become compliant with the law.

I’m still a little puzzled as to why everybody jumped on Fruity Slots but don’t see that this is an issue. I seem to remember watching a video from dazza g around July where he commented that free play had to stop and the UKGC had reminded casinos of their responsibilities, as there could have been some confusion over their initial implementing of their new legislation. So nearly 5 additional months that these sites and casinos have been raking in the cash.

Doesn’t anybody at CM have a comment on this? I would think a clear breach of legislation for 5 months and putting children at risk would toss any casinos that are still advertising on these sites straight into the rogue pit?

I bet the guardian would love a picture of a kid sat playing a free play slot with casinos plastered in the background.

 

[slot_zombie]

The reason you're not getting many comments is because most view the free play rule as ridiculous and inconvenient.

 

[Chris Toldo]

The reason you're not getting many comments is because most view the free play rule as ridiculous and inconvenient.

There are a lot of rules that can be considered that way, but at the end of the day they are the rules and they are being broken.