UK Gambling Commission: £ 300,000 penalty against Casino 36

Casino 36 is a British Casino in the city of Wolverhampton northeast of Birmingham. The Offline gambling provider has to pay a penalty as they have violated money laundering regulations, the code of Social Responsibility and the player protection guidelines.

The gambling operator Casino 36 has a combined gambling license for the operation of Offline Casinos, Bingo halls and betting. The regulatory authority is complaining that 33 cases of due diligence have not been complied with in respect of the money laundering regulations. It would not have sufficient Checks for the source of the funds used in gambling, and the source of wealth of the customer.

In addition, Casino 36 was unable to ensure that sufficient customer interaction occurred with players showing signs of problematic gaming behavior. Richard Watson, Executive Director of the gaming authority, commented on the misconduct of Casino 36:

As a result of Casino 36’s failure, stolen money could have gone unchecked through the Casino and vulnerable customers would be exposed to the risk of damage. Operators need to understand their customer base. This can only be achieved if you know your customers and ask the right questions, both to fulfil their obligations to combat money laundering, as well as their social responsibility.

The UK Gambling Commission has imposed a fine of £ 300,000 (about € 330,000) on the Casino due to the misconduct.

What was found during the investigations?

Another Problem was that the 33 customers showed signs of problem gambling behaviour. The staff of the casino have not been able to identify the signs and have not started any interaction with the players.

What is the UK Gambling Authority’s penalty package?

First of all, customers ‘ funds must be repaid of £ 147,741 (approximately € 163,000). In addition, a payment of 152,259 pounds (about 168,000 euros) is imposed on the Casino. The cost of the investigation of 18,648 pounds (almost 21,000 euros) must also be borne by the casino.

In addition, regular staff training is required and an annual report on staff training needs can be provided to the Gambling Commission at any time. Simple employees should receive training in the detection of gambling addiction and problem players. Employees with human resources management licenses and key employees are to receive new training courses to combat money laundering. First refreshes must take place within the next 3 months after acceptance of the penalty.

Within six months, the Casino shall carry out the necessary due diligence checks with regard to money laundering among the 250 most important clients. The aim is to examine the 125 most important customers by turnover and the 125 most important customers by loss. The review will then be carried out at least once a year. The results must then be presented and explained to the relevant bodies. Everything should be documented accurately. In addition, the best 100 customers should be reviewed by an external consultant within 6 months.

Once a year, an independent auditor from the Compliance Committee must examine and assess the casino’s internal processes.

The penalty package of £ 318,648 (just under € 350,000) and above all the new measures and changes are designed to ensure that such problems no longer occur in the future.

A few details about Casino 36

Casino 36 in Wolverhampton was opened in November 2016. The casino offers 24 tables, 80 slot machines, progressive Jackpots, as well as Roulette machines. There is also a private VIP area for High Roller. There is also a sports bar and a Restaurant.

Three Card Poker, American Roulette and several Blackjack tables are available. In some cases, there are many side bets in the card games. In the VIP area you can bet on the Novomatic VIP Royal slot machines.

At the time of its creation, the Casino had invested £ 7.6 million (£8.4 million) in the casino. In terms of the sum, the penalty is rather low.

In total, however, it is one of the few Offline Casinos against which a penalty has been imposed. Usually, Online Casinos are critical when it comes to violations of player protection or money laundering regulations.

It shows once again what a strong regulatory authority can do to improve player protection. For Germany such an instance would also be desirable.

It also happens in Germany repeatedly, that in casinos High Roller play several machines at the same time. The staff sometimes sees a lot of play. Even if the player gets excited that he still has four-digit Minus despite a Hand Pay jackpot, the staff does not aim for longer conversations. It also does not try to persuade the player to play only one slot machine.

Recently in the casino Berlin I observed such a Situation. A High Roller had played at 3 Novomatic Slots on 20 Euro per Spin. A total of 5,000 euros went through. A staff member simply paid out the money after receiving a Hand-Pay-jackpot (of almost 700 euros) and the player was able to continue playing 3 slot machines without any problems. Previously, he had been excited about how many thousand euros he had to put in. The staff member has only guessed about the story – German player protection is therefore not perfect, despite trained staff.