One of the founders of the Paris Paddy Power company says that the new rules of the government to protect bettors playing online slots are not far enough.
Stewart Kenny, who helped found the Irish company in the 1980s, believes that online slot machine games are running too quickly, which contributes to their addiction.
He thinks that the new rules of the government limiting the issues are not enough to make them safe, and thinks that games should also be slowed down.
From April, slots will be limited to £ 5 per turn for more than 25s. In May, 18-24 year olds will be limited to £ 2 per turn.
This follows an examination of the government of the 2005 game law and the publication of a white paper which introduces new measures to strengthen the legislation on damage to the game.
Online slot machines are web versions of slot machines you see in a casino. The bettor between money and turns a wheel. If the symbols or images correspond, they could earn money.
The government said it brought them issues because it is “a higher risk game product associated with large losses, long sessions and excessive game”.
But in a new documentary series on Radio 4, Stewart Kenny, who resigned from the Board of Directors of the Paris Society in 2016, says that the speed of the games is what makes them addictive.
He says that the gap between investment and results being “only seconds” means that bettors can “repeat the dose” at high speed.
In addition to that, he says that the machines offer “a lot of noise and a lot of colors”, as well as the Miss, which are “fundamental for the game of dependence”.
The Department for Culture Media and Sport declared that the game commission has introduced requirements that changed the speed and intensity of the slot machines in 2021: “This included a minimum speed of 2.5 seconds by turn, a ban on automatic reading and the functionalities that increase the intensity of play, such as turbo, rapid rotation and the stop of slams, or give the illusion of” false victories “.
Game companies make a significant proportion of their profits from online slots. According to market data collected by the game committee until December 2024, the profits of slots increased by 15% over a year to a new summit of 709 million pounds sterling. The number of laps increased by 9% in the previous quarter to a new peak of 23.9 billion pounds sterling.
Paddy Power has merged with another brand in Paris, Betfair, and under the name of Flutter Entertainment, is now one of the largest Paris companies in the world.
Stewart Kenny has resigned from Flutter’s board of directors, saying that he thought that the company was not doing enough to protect vulnerable customers using its websites.
Mr. Kenny has no more financial interests with the company and receives no payment to participate in the programs.
In the documentary series changing the probabilities, Mr. Kenny teams up with journalist Lydia Thomas, who reported on the betting industry for a decade, to trace 20 years since the 2005 game law. The act opened the way to the British betting industry to revolutionize the game and take it online.
For many years, the United Kingdom has been the largest online Paris market in the world – the industry worth 15.6 billion sterling pounds. It is only recently that the United States has been exceeded because more and more states allow online game.
And it was the online move that triggered Mr. Kenny’s concerns when he was sitting on the board. He thinks that the internet, by its very nature, can be addictive and that the addition of online casinos in the mixture “made the cocktail too strong”.
Mr. Kenny still likes the game and bets regularly on horse and dog races, which, according to him, is a less addictive gaming product. But he criticizes industry for encouraging sports bettors to go to online slots.
“I have always said that I had been very relaxed about my children who open Paris accounts. But, I would be horrified if my grandchildren open a Paris account.
“What bookmakers are doing is that when you open a Paris account at the age of 18 to have a bet, and you are a child and you want to have a Fiver in your local team, within 48 hours, bookmakers will try to suck you in the very addictive online casino by sending you free turns.”
Mr. Kenny believes that the government and regulators belong to the security of the game.
“There is a balance here. If you want to bet, you should be allowed to bet. It is a free society. So you don’t want to interfere with people’s entertainment too much. It is so easy to blame Paris. This is a question for legislators.”
Flutter Entertainment said that she had recognized that the game industry had not always done things in the past, but said that its British activities had “changed considerably in the years that followed Stewart’s participation, which ended more than eight years ago”.
He said that at that time, it was “a vocal and constructive supporter” of the journal of the law on games of chance and the white paper, while “leading the industry to a proactive change” with its introduction of deposit limits for those under 25 and the adjustment of a limit of £ 10 on the products of slot machines online.
“We were happy that some of these measures were publicly praised by Stewart while we respect his opinions.”
Body in the Game Industry The Council of Paris and Games said: “Each month, around 22.5 million people in Great Britain enjoy a bet and the overwhelming majority makes it safely and in a responsible manner. The BGC supported the plans to reform the limits of the parties and introduce a compulsory levy to finance research, prevention and treatment.
“The White Paper is a unique moment for the change and the proposals contained therein must trace a line under long and often polarized debates on the game.”
The modification of the dimensions begins on radio 4 at 11 a.m. on Monday, March 17. You can also find the series on BBC sounds.
