Online gambling has become a disgrace for UK players

[snorky510238]

I am not sure what the feeling is in other countries because for 1, I obviously don’t play there and 2, we don’t see a lot posted but as UK player, I am beyond disgusted at what is happening.

I happily played for 6 years. Admittedly having the odd whinge when I hit a bad patch but other than that, I took the rough with the smooth and NEVER once felt the need to go to “chat” to complain about the way a game played.

In the past two and a half years, that’s a completely different story and particularly the past 6 months. In all honesty, it gets worse by the day. I can’t imagine for a second that this industry is being regulated properly. If it was providers (and let’s not forget, they are the main culprits but Casinos are hosting them), wouldn’t not be getting away with the blatant, filthy cheating that is happening right now.

In the early days of gambling online, if I hadn’t hit a bonus after depositing £60, (40-60p spins) I would think that was the session from hell. That was consistent for years, it genuinely felt that you were getting a fair crack of the whip.

Fast forward 8 years and the experience feels nowhere near the same. People will say volatility has changed etc. Yes it has but I still had some amazing wins and regularly playing these games.

Not now though, no sir, you can easily deposit £300-£500 without even seeing a bonus. That is quite simply disgraceful. Yes, okay, once in a while that might happen but for it to become the norm, no way, not a chance, unless you are playing against a slot that is programmed so the odds are ridiculously against you.

I could write pages but there’s little point, as whatever goes against the grain on this forum is quickly brushed under the carpet. If you’re a UK player and you’ve been thinking hang on a minute, am I being screwed over here? The answer is yes you are. It’s FOBT GATE all over again.

Accredited UK Casinos:

• Kwiff Casino
• PlayOJO
• Lottomart
• Casumo
• Rizk Casino

 

[The Viking]

That damn Bonanza
nahh but its change for sure most new games thos days are made for bonus buys and high rollers
i mostly play the older games for some reason i just find them more entertaining but must say i mostly play High volatile games.

 

[slotmaster]

100% agree, while I do hit the odd free spin on $300 deposit it has gotten tougher for sure, though the last 2 days I have been hitting free spins a lot more which was a pleasant surprise. Kinda what I was asking and say to @Jono777 and in some posts about how no playing time anymore not that I can during the week really.

I barely get above starting balance, like today, I was $45 above the starting balance and then boom everything dies and go back down. I never put all deposit in, I withdraw at a certain amount to limit losses even though I guess you can get a good hit and get back up but that was years ago too,lol.

 

[dealer wins]

Coupled with the almost fascist SOW and verification cr@p, I agree UK online casinos are not worth the bother or frustration.

I also would not be confident of receiving a "once in a lifetime" big win without major hassle or outright refusal.

I hardly play anymore, and do 99% of gambling via an agent sportsbook with casino attached. Instant payout, no SOW bullshit. Im of the old school though, You deposit the funds, you can afford it.

Lose more than you wanted to, tough shit learn a lesson from it.

 

[Jono777]

Always back you up mate, not due to the fact of the various bullshit we're told by providers, casinos etc and also the naysayers who just won't have it no matter what we say but due to experiencing and witnessing exactly what you describe.

I recall back in the day a Friday evening after work, my one beloved 32 Red offered 100% deposit match on Viper client where after a tiring week at work, I could relax with a nice £40 start balance rather than my usual £20.

Very (and I mean very) rarely would it swipe it with no action, many a session would last 2-3 hours and leave balance to be carried over in to the following day once I went to bed that night.

This being said, it was also often the case I'd get a good session (in regards to play time not winning loads) with just £20 regardless of any bonus on top.

This wasn't just 32 Red wither, it was Caddell, Leo Vegas, Casumo, Guts, Betspin, loads of places, with or without bonuses or free spins 7/10 you'd get VALUE FOR YOUR DEPOSIT.

I mentioned GREED in a post long ago and reused it numerous times since because that's what it it, no more give me your money slowly, we want it and we want it NOW!

1/10 session snow may last if we're lucky.

I'm not convinced but defiantly leaning towards the fact UK players have to suffer the most due to an ever increasing list of reasons, mainly UKGC and taxes but also other stuff which I won't go into cos I simply cannot be arsed to argue with the stubborn or the blinkered.

Either way no personal offence to anyone and if you don't agree with a word I've typed then that is your prerogative and no hard feelings.

 

[slotmaster]

The memories hey Jono, $100 deposit on RTG Friday night and would last you till Sunday most times. Hitting free spins like crazy or base game hits to keep ya going, sigh.

 

[sufferinsilence]

It's not only in the UK. Belgian casinos have gone down the shitter as well, where most would run max RTP versions of every game a year or so ago they slowly started to change and added 94% versions. As far as I know only 1 casino is still keeping its own at full RTP for every game. I can't see that lasting a long time with even more taxes coming their way this year.

Sure, all of a sudden they're all running more "promo's" but most of them will only apply to the high rollers anyway. When you're a 20-40c player they'll give you the odd voucher or bonus (boost as they call them know to get around the law).

Anyway.. I've tightened the screws on my gambling budget for now. Haven't deposited a cent since early-mid December but it being the Christmas period all of the casinos were in a giving mood so I did have some free playtime at least!

 

[winner2021]

Yeah I'm done playing them now (at least regularly), my average slots session lasts 7 minutes...I'm not even joking. Rarely do I hit 20 mins. I probably do stake too high for my balance like £1 spins if I deposit £50 and £2 spins if I deposit £200 but even so, you would expect some decent wins. I think the most I ever won in one go on slots was around £2k. Yet I've won bingo jackpots three times-one for 10k, one 5k and one 4k and I spend nowhere near the amount I do on slots. I've put limits in place on everything now because I would still play them even though I know they're a complete waste of time. Feel much happier now I know I can't. If I get bored I just play the demos instead because 7 minutes of play and £100 down isn't great entertainment or value for money!

 

[Casinomeister]

....
I could write pages but there’s little point, as whatever goes against the grain on this forum is quickly brushed under the carpet. If you’re a UK player and you’ve been thinking hang on a minute, am I being screwed over here? The answer is yes you are. It’s FOBT GATE all over again.

Sorry, lads. I'm going to have to sweep this one under the carpets. Please stop complaining. LOL

@snorky510238 I think you're going with the grain on this one. We have been pointing out for years the train wreck you have been describing above.

 

[snorky510238]

Sorry, lads. I'm going to have to sweep this one under the carpets. Please stop complaining. LOL :lolup

@snorky510238 I think you're going with the grain on this one. We have been pointing out for years the train wreck you have been describing above.

How is it being allowed to happen is the worrying thing. It just proves that any so called regulatory organisation isn’t fit for purpose. If it was, they’d have been all over these shenanigans years ago.

 

[slot_zombie]

If it were not for Curacao I would have quit online gambling by now.

Still get emails from a few UK sites, the latest one from Quinnbet (entire casino running on lowered RTP) deposit £10 and play it through nerfed Cops and Robbers and we will give you a £1 virtual sports bet.

Steady on chaps, I'm nearly dying of excitement here...

 

[Webzcas]

How is it being allowed to happen is the worrying thing. It just proves that any so called regulatory organisation isn’t fit for purpose. If it was, they’d have been all over these shenanigans years ago.

The UK is a nanny state and becoming more so as each day passes. Gambling is the new tobacco and to a certain degree I get why regulation has to be strong. However, the invasive SoW checks are such that it is just not worth the hassle IMO.

 

[snorky510238]

The problem being, they’re overdoing the verification side of things and not paying the slightest bit of attention to providers that are basically running games that are, that gimped, you couldn’t throw your money down the drain any faster. It’s blatant, in your face filth, that is being ignored.

It’s the same with all these adverts on TV for Casinos and the “gamble safely” theme. For a bit of balance, where’s the shot of Jim, who had a great career and future ahead of him, until online gambling destroyed his life and now he’s homeless?

Oh no, you won’t see that. Doesn’t fit the agenda. A hypocritical government, who have to be seen to be doing something but nothing too strong “as we still need those taxes chaps”.

 

[Deeplay]

If it were not for Curacao I would have quit online gambling by now.

Still get emails from a few UK sites, the latest one from Quinnbet (entire casino running on lowered RTP) deposit £10 and play it through nerfed Cops and Robbers and we will give you a £1 virtual sports bet.

Steady on chaps, I'm nearly dying of excitement here...

Same here have not touched a UK facing casino in probably 2 years or more. No point - low Rtps - no autoplay - endless document requests - the list goes on ... not saying offshore is perfect as it aint - and always a risk you get fisted at any point in time. But so far never had an issue. Support for the most part at the crypto i play at is dire - but then I aint really had to use it. Bonuses are quite frequent rake back / money drops etc all automated and cash outs have always been instant back to ye olde crypto wallet. I would love to play back in the UK - especially with the very decent reps here @Mark_Lottomart and @L&L-Jan 2 name but two outstanding reps ... but alas its no go for me given state of UK gaming.

I remember a few years back with Risk getting hit with a SOW which was almost impossible as im self employed and have numerous transactions going through different accounts - no way could I give that information as much of it was client info names / emails etc. So that was my exit point. Never been asked for a document offshore and if I was I would tell em do one and walk.

 

[kennygamerboy]

I am not sure what the feeling is in other countries because for 1, I obviously don’t play there and 2, we don’t see a lot posted but as UK player, I am beyond disgusted at what is happening.

I happily played for 6 years. Admittedly having the odd whinge when I hit a bad patch but other than that, I took the rough with the smooth and NEVER once felt the need to go to “chat” to complain about the way a game played.

In the past two and a half years, that’s a completely different story and particularly the past 6 months. In all honesty, it gets worse by the day. I can’t imagine for a second that this industry is being regulated properly. If it was providers (and let’s not forget, they are the main culprits but Casinos are hosting them), wouldn’t not be getting away with the blatant, filthy cheating that is happening right now.

In the early days of gambling online, if I hadn’t hit a bonus after depositing £60, (40-60p spins) I would think that was the session from hell. That was consistent for years, it genuinely felt that you were getting a fair crack of the whip.

Fast forward 8 years and the experience feels nowhere near the same. People will say volatility has changed etc. Yes it has but I still had some amazing wins and regularly playing these games.

Not now though, no sir, you can easily deposit £300-£500 without even seeing a bonus. That is quite simply disgraceful. Yes, okay, once in a while that might happen but for it to become the norm, no way, not a chance, unless you are playing against a slot that is programmed so the odds are ridiculously against you.

I could write pages but there’s little point, as whatever goes against the grain on this forum is quickly brushed under the carpet. If you’re a UK player and you’ve been thinking hang on a minute, am I being screwed over here? The answer is yes you are. It’s FOBT GATE all over again.

The time period I noticed it went to shit was during the covid lockdowns ain't been the same since!

 

[kennygamerboy]

If it were not for Curacao I would have quit online gambling by now.

Still get emails from a few UK sites, the latest one from Quinnbet (entire casino running on lowered RTP) deposit £10 and play it through nerfed Cops and Robbers and we will give you a £1 virtual sports bet.

Steady on chaps, I'm nearly dying of excitement here...

Well bentvictor play £10 get x5 10p spins on eye of whoreus pisss take!!!

 

[itsme123]

I have been gambling online for about 12 years and to be honest the only real difference I’ve noticed is the thirst for high volatility win once in 50 spin slots.
When I started I’d play the old classics like Thunderstruck/CFTBL/Immortal Romance etc and whilst I had many more losing sessions than winning sessions, the deposit seemed to last longer.
Now with megaways if you play at the wrong time you get truly screwed, you can’t possibly play a NLC game unless you have a massive bankroll and most makers now seem drawn to that type of slot.
I think the shaving of RTP has all coincided with the want to hit the streamer wins and that’s why the deposit never seems to go as far these days.

 

[KasinoKing]

I am not sure what the feeling is in other countries because for 1, I obviously don’t play there and 2, we don’t see a lot posted but as UK player, I am beyond disgusted at what is happening.

I happily played for 6 years. Admittedly having the odd whinge when I hit a bad patch but other than that, I took the rough with the smooth and NEVER once felt the need to go to “chat” to complain about the way a game played.

In the past two and a half years, that’s a completely different story and particularly the past 6 months. In all honesty, it gets worse by the day. I can’t imagine for a second that this industry is being regulated properly. If it was providers (and let’s not forget, they are the main culprits but Casinos are hosting them), wouldn’t not be getting away with the blatant, filthy cheating that is happening right now.

In the early days of gambling online, if I hadn’t hit a bonus after depositing £60, (40-60p spins) I would think that was the session from hell. That was consistent for years, it genuinely felt that you were getting a fair crack of the whip.

Fast forward 8 years and the experience feels nowhere near the same. People will say volatility has changed etc. Yes it has but I still had some amazing wins and regularly playing these games.

Not now though, no sir, you can easily deposit £300-£500 without even seeing a bonus. That is quite simply disgraceful. Yes, okay, once in a while that might happen but for it to become the norm, no way, not a chance, unless you are playing against a slot that is programmed so the odds are ridiculously against you.

I could write pages but there’s little point, as whatever goes against the grain on this forum is quickly brushed under the carpet. If you’re a UK player and you’ve been thinking hang on a minute, am I being screwed over here? The answer is yes you are. It’s FOBT GATE all over again.

You are 100% right there.

Something has definitely changed - and it's not just that they have lowered the RTPs.
You would think that to lower the RTP of a game, all they would have to do is give you 16 dead spins out of every 20, instead of 15, but leave everything else the same. But it ain't like that.
Take a game I've played a LOT - Moon Princess: Since the RTP cut it's like a completely different game. Sure I still get the "Princess bonuses" just as often as before - but now 95% of them pay nothing, compared to 90% before. And when I finally manage to get the free-spins, it's even worse! Just diabolical nearly every time - not even a half-decent win

If the UKGC really cared about players, they would insist that no games are below 96% TRPT. Lower RTPs just mean players lose more quickly and so re-deposit more often. Of course, we all know the casinos win in the end, even if their RTPs were 99% - but at 94% you rarely get a good run for your money these days.

KK

 

[snorky510238]

There are a lot of things that just don’t stack up. I played Bonanza virtually every single day for about 4 hours for 5 years. Had some bad patches for sure but I also had my fair share of decent wins and ultimately I was losing in the long run but only about the amount you would expect.

At every Casino (and there were a lot), when I checked my rtp, it was always within 94-98%, if I had done a decent amount of spins. I did find it hard to believe at Sky but they said it was 96% and I couldn’t prove otherwise.

Fast forward between April ‘21 and now and (I don’t have many Casinos left) not a single one is running above 94% and most are between 84% and 88%. That’s not coincidence or bad luck, it’s being continuously ripped off.

And remember, this is on a game that is supposedly unchanged regarding rtp. The problem with Providers is they think all players are muppets or will just accept what they are told and never question anything. Well, we’re not and it’s time to call out these people and educate players as to what is going on.

 

[Guntis]

With me it's straightforward; before 2018-19 i was winning and losing, but after that mostly was losing only, while playing the same few games.

Some of the games i played got removed for good, Microgaming and Netent slots became a joke, for Book of Dead they dropped RTPs, and then i noticed frequent bonus wins like 10x in Novomatic Lucky Lady which was extremely rare before. This made me think that Novomatic also decided to 'repair' their slots to stay in line with modern trends...

Then they introduced more KYC/SOW checks and i remember once when i sent in even my annual tax report but they still needed something more. That was the end. Now i play in London's real casinos around twice a month, and once on crypto.

 

[greylady]

I do think that since bonus buys have been implemented, which is banned in the UK means we have to grind a slot out with very little return, couple that with the increasing high volatility slots and reduced RTP's we are being hammered from all directions.

When the fun stops STOP seems more apt now then ever!

 

[goatwack]

It's just a culmination of things really - back when everyone was becoming sick of 243-ways games flooding the scene, and the likes of DOA and its kind were getting players wanting Hollywood Hits to be attainable in other slots, it was becoming obvious that high-variance was the way things were headed.

So with BTG filling that void, albeit fraudulently, with years of unrealized potential, designers took note, and followed suit with every modern slot having to have more fantastical win potential than what preceded it.

With streamers' taking to this new format, we soon found encaptivated audiences wanting to emulate their on-screen heroes, with blistering wins attainable for anyone wishing to 'invest' enough into these high-varianced games.

There's no great secret to it, when all's said and done. Megaways both saved and ruined slotting to make it 'something else', and spending £50 to play a prolonged scratchcard is not 'it'. And as players pour more into these modern slots to even get a semblance of having played at all, the rewards tend to yield nothing at the end of it. What fun!!

I binned slots off near the tail-end of 2020, when the rot had already set in, and have seen nothing improve in all that time. With the ludicrous SoW clown acts being introduced, to go with Affordability ass-hattery, it was clear the powers-that-be have lost their minds, and so I happily stay in hiatus until slotting doesn't feel like undertaking a criminal enterprise (could be a while).

And whilst 'default' higher-RTP versions of games still abound, the very notion that lesser-RTP games are even greenlit and put out for consumers smacks of greed, not to mention disdain for the hapless punters forced to wallow in that slop. That was the turning point, that was what irrevocably damaged the pastime, with no one intent on stopping these practices.

Despite all that, it is worth bearing in mind that things weren't always as rose-tinted as we like to remember. It wasn't unheard of to lose £20 on any number of Netent, MG or Playtech slots in record time, so the notion that deposits would eke out multiple sessions are somewhat subjective - but the thing that definitely saved many sessions was the now-defunct 100% reloads, without which we'd have been lamenting the same things we are now I believe....

Fact is, slotting in the UK's become unviable and a hassle that's just not worth enduring. If it takes punters to seek offshore gambling in their droves before change is implemented, then by all means. And when enough revenue is haemorrhaged, perhaps the UKCG will be forced to re-evaluate their 10-year plan to ruin slotting.

Still, what it won't do is make modern slots any less boring, will it?

 

[PMKFRUITPRO]

I try to emulate my hero Dazza.

Cost me about 80 bag trying to do so.

Just can’t get close.

 

[dunover]

I try to emulate my hero Dazza.

Cost me about 80 bag trying to do so.

Just can’t get close.

Now you see my point - I play a game I like and I know cannot be less than 96.00%

I cannot imagine going back to Twit Spin and my old favourites at 94% or less. The Rapist at 95% was painful enough bar a few big hits on it. Same as Book of Ra Deluxe, 95% and it gave me hiding after hiding. Wild Rockets was another I loved and that on 94% or less would be unimaginable sodomy; was bad enough at 96%. The day I cannot get 96% or more on my game(s) will be the day I pack it in altogether. I know by my RTP spin calculator the buggerings people in this thread will be getting if they haven't got access to 96% so won't argue with the sentiment in the topic, it's mathematically correct.

We are all singing from the same maths sheet here.

P.S. 94% versions make taking any kind of bonus so EV- that the very concept of a standard WR bonus is nigh on pointless.

 

[Jono777]

I try to emulate my hero Dazza.

Cost me about 80 bag trying to do so.

Just can’t get close.

Too small a spin sample lol

Try streaming or at least posting videos of your play, luck will soon change, trust me.