Secondary legislation to change the land-based casino regulatory framework in the UK has been drafted by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to be put before Parliament.
The drafted regulations propose establishing limits on the number of gaming machines converted casino premises can have per square metre of minimum gambling area, allowing casinos to accept sports betting wagers, as well as the licensing framework for showing table gaming areas on casino premises plans.
Published by the DCMS, these draft casino regulations – The Casinos (Gaming Machines and Mandatory Conditions) Regulations 2025 – will be part of an interlinked statutory instrument that will adjust land-based casino regulation.
In addition, the department has published two linked statutory instruments to allow for scrutiny of the changes.
These changes and recommendations will be separate from the Gambling Review’s White Paper, which was published back in 2023.
Gaming machines per gambling floor area
The first statutory instrument – Annex B – is set to extend the entitlements for converted casino premises in England and Wales, allowing them to operate up to 80 Category B, C, or D machines, so long as they meet certain criteria.
Conditions that must be met include having a gambling floor area no less than 280m², in addition to making sure the number of gaming machines “is not more than five times the number of gaming tables used in the casino” and “not more than 80”.
As such, the drafted legislation outlines a table highlighting the maximum number of gaming machines an establishment can have per minimum gambling area.
The maximum number of gaming machines drops by five per 20m² decline in minimum gambling area – 80 gaming machines for 500m², 75 gaming machines for 480m², all the way down to 25 gaming machines for 280m².
Within the document, it also says that if multiple converted casino premises with licences are connected, then “no more than 80 gaming machines may be made available for use in total across all of those premises (taken together)”.
Once a casino has undertaken these amendments, the establishment relinquishes its earlier provisions rights, as the drafted legislation states: “as soon as gaming machines are made available in a casino under a converted casino premises licence in accordance with new sub-paragraph (6)(za) of paragraph 65, that licence ceases to entitle the holder to make gaming machines available for use on the premises”.
The statutory instrument also allows a converted casino premises with a licence in England and Wales to provide sports betting inside their establishments.
The amendment will be reviewed by the Secretary of State, publishing a report to outline its conclusions, with the first report to be published within five years following the amendments being implemented, with follow-up reports once every five years afterwards.
Table gaming designation
The second statutory instrument – Annex C – states that converted casino premises must indicate on their premises plan that area is designated for table gaming, which “is defined in regulation 2 of the 2007 Regulations as ‘(a) casino games played on ordinary, or partially or wholly automated gaming tables, and (b) real games of equal chance, other than bingo, played on a table’.”
The amendment will enable “the holder of a converted casino premises licence who wants to utilise the new entitlements to apply to the relevant licensing authority to vary that licence so the casino plan can show the location and extent of any part of the premises which will be a table gaming area”.
This is because the Gambling Act 2005 (Premises Licences and Provisional Statements) Regulations 2007 (S.I. 2007/459) don’t require converted casino premises to do this currently.
The instrument adds that “a full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sector is foreseen”.
Although currently in the draft stage and therefore subject to change, the scheduled date to bring these changes into force is 22 July 2025.
