Can online gaming be compared to gambling? Here's what BT Poll found

Why we can’t resolve individual complaints

We are not an ombudsman. This means we do not have the powers to resolve gambling complaints or help consumers get their money back.

We can't resolve complaints about gambling transactions such as problems with withdrawals or technical faults in a game. If you have a complaint, you should complain directly to the gambling business in the first instance.

We are responsible for issuing personal gambling licences for individuals and gambling operating licences for businesses. We use our regulatory powers to take enforcement action if we find individuals or businesses failing to follow our rules and regulations.

Read more about how to complain to a gambling business.

Ask gambling companies to stop serving you

You can ask gambling companies to stop serving you - this is called ‘self-excluding’.

You can self-exclude in different ways depending on where you gamble.

You can find out how to self exclude on the GambleAware website.

Source of Wealth

For more information on source of wealth and account verification, please visit this page.

Self-exclusion with GAMSTOP

Self-exclusion is when you ask a gambling business to stop you from gambling with them for a certain length of time. It's used when you think that you have a problem with gambling and want help to stop.

GAMSTOP is an online multi-operator self-exclusion scheme and has been available since April 2018.

All gambling businesses must participate in this scheme. They must also update their lists of self-excluded consumers every 24 hours. We took action against a number of gambling businesses who had failed to use the system and will not hesitate to do so again.

We do want to hear from any customers who have evidence of gambling businesses not following our rules as we use this information to build cases against gambling companies and raise standards.

Read more about self-exclusion.

But Are Bets Better Than Surveys?

Nadja Benes, who has her M.A. in economics from the University of San Francisco and is currently a content strategist dashdash, confidently touted the benefits of betting markets in a 2017 Medium post written for blockchain startup Gnosis. “By forcing market participants to bear the financial consequences of their prediction, individuals who continually lose money by making bad predictions will stop participating in the market,” she explained.

Brandi Travis, a spokesperson for online prediction market PredictIt, said the betting website’s markets were accurate most of the time. She described prediction markets more generally as an important data point for people to consider. “It usually doesn’t get a lot of press when we’re right,” Travis told CNBC.

In that same CNBC story, a University of Michigan professor noted the difference between the two methods of forecasting. “It is the difference between, first of all, mass opinion and elite opinion,” Michael Traugott, former president of the American Association for Public Opinion Research, said.

But what about all of those bad sports bets you hear about? It turns out that we might actually be better at forecasting economic events. “It has been established that both real‐money and play‐money prediction markets are reasonably accurate, wrote E. S. Rosenbloom and William Notz in an article published by peer-reviewed journal Electronic Markets. “An SPRT (sequential probability ratio test)‐like test is used to determine whether there are statistically significant differences in accuracy between the two markets. The results establish that real‐money markets are significantly more accurate for non‐sports events.”

If you think about it, it’s easier to track those leading indicators than Baltimore Ravens’ QB Lamar Jackson and his spin moves.

Believe it or not, such betting markets for politics were pretty prevalent once, but replaced by scientific polls and alternate gambling competition, according to P. W. Rhode and K. S. Strumpf, writing about historical presidential betting markets for the Journal of Economic Perspectives. The authors found that before the prevalence of those polls, bettors did a pretty good job in the mid-1800s through the 1940s. But it’s not campaign factors that enable precise gambles. It’s the state of the economy and other such factors external to the election itself, which enable the best bets, as determined by Justin Wolfers and Eric Zitzewitz, who convinced TradeSports to run “experimental contingent betting markets,” on President George W. Bush’s reelection.

WORLD CLASS PROBLEM

After decades of gambling deregulation, governments are cautious about reversing course, given tax revenue and industry lobbying, even amid public concern about a habit that strips voters of A$25 billion per year - or A$1,000 per person, more than double the United States.

The new centre-left federal government this month said it will hold a parliamentary inquiry into online gambling, though some recommendations of a 2015 inquiry are yet to take effect.

After that previous inquiry, state and federal governments agreed to build a "self-exclusion" register by May 2020, through which gamblers can bar themselves from registered betting apps.

Two years on, the register is "well advanced" but not operational, the Australian Communications and Media Authority which is overseeing the register, said in an email.

Get help if you're struggling with debt

You should start dealing with your debts as soon as you can.

Our debt advice will help you:

• work out which debts to deal with first

• find specialist help, if you need it

Find out how to start dealing with your debts.

If you don’t have enough money to live on, check if you can get help to pay for living costs.

What is self-exclusion?

Self-exclusion is a tool used by those who have recognised that their gambling is harmful to them. It is for those who wish to be supported to stop gambling.

You can take active steps to remove yourself from gambling whether online or in a premises. You enter into a formal agreement not to gamble, and it is up to you to stick to your self-exclusion. If you try to gamble during that time, the gambling business must take reasonable steps to stop you.

You can choose to self-exclude via a multi-operator self-exclusion scheme. These schemes allow you to make a single request to self-exclude from the same type of land-based gambling within your area. GAMSTOP allows you to self-exclude from online operators with one request.

Gambling businesses are required to have their own self-exclusion arrangements in place. You may wish to exclude from one business only.

Self-exclusion

Self-exclusion is where you ask gambling businesses to stop you from gambling with them. You can do this for a minimum of six months and a maximum of five years. If you’d like to be excluded from a physical venue, you can ask the staff there to do this for you, or you can arrange exclusion from multiple gambling venues or sites through the Multi Operator Self Exclusion Scheme.

GAMSTOP can also exclude you from all online gambling companies who are licensed in the UK.

To self-exclude from Licensed Betting Offices (bookmakers) in your local area, or to sign up for the Multi Operator Self Exclusion Scheme, call 0800 294 2060. If you’d like to self-exclude from casinos, you can do this by signing up for the Self-Enrolment National Self-Exclusion Scheme on 0800 8020 133.

You can also find out more about self-exclusion schemes on the GamCare website.

4. Design

Apple customers place a high value on products that are simple, refined, innovative, and easy to use, and that’s what we want to see on the App Store. Coming up with a great design is up to you, but the following are minimum standards for approval to the App Store. And remember that even after your app has been approved, you should update your app to ensure it remains functional and engaging to new and existing customers. Apps that stop working or offer a degraded experience may be removed from the App Store at any time.

• 4.1 Copycats

  Come up with your own ideas. We know you have them, so make yours come to life. Don’t simply copy the latest popular app on the App Store, or make some minor changes to another app’s name or UI and pass it off as your own. In addition to risking an intellectual property infringement claim, it makes the App Store harder to navigate and just isn’t fair to your fellow developers.

• 4.2 Minimum Functionality

  Your app should include features, content, and UI that elevate it beyond a repackaged website. If your app is not particularly useful, unique, or “app-like,” it doesn’t belong on the App Store. If your App doesn’t provide some sort of lasting entertainment value or adequate utility, it may not be accepted. Apps that are simply a song or movie should be submitted to the iTunes Store. Apps that are simply a book or game guide should be submitted to the Apple Books Store.

  • 4.2.1 Apps using ARKit should provide rich and integrated augmented reality experiences; merely dropping a model into an AR view or replaying animation is not enough.
  • 4.2.2 Other than catalogs, apps shouldn’t primarily be marketing materials, advertisements, web clippings, content aggregators, or a collection of links.
  • 4.2.3
    • (i) Your app should work on its own without requiring installation of another app to function.
    • (ii) If your app needs to download additional resources in order to function on initial launch, disclose the size of the download and prompt users before doing so.
  • 4.2.4 Apple Watch apps that appear to be a watch face are confusing, because people will expect them to work with device features such as swipes, notifications, and third-party complications. Creative ways of expressing time as an app interface is great (say, a tide clock for surfers), but if your app comes too close to resembling a watch face, we will reject it.
  • 4.2.5 Apps that are primarily iCloud and iCloud Drive file managers need to include additional app functionality to be approved.
  • 4.2.6 Apps created from a commercialized template or app generation service will be rejected unless they are submitted directly by the provider of the app’s content. These services should not submit apps on behalf of their clients and should offer tools that let their clients create customized, innovative apps that provide unique customer experiences. Another acceptable option for template providers is to create a single binary to host all client content in an aggregated or “picker” model, for example as a restaurant finder app with separate customized entries or pages for each client restaurant, or as an event app with separate entries for each client event.
  • 4.2.7 Remote Desktop Clients: If your remote desktop app acts as a mirror of specific software or services rather than a generic mirror of the host device, it must comply with the following:
    • (a) The app must only connect to a user-owned host device that is a personal computer or dedicated game console owned by the user, and both the host device and client must be connected on a local and LAN-based network.
    • (b) Any software or services appearing in the client are fully executed on the host device, rendered on the screen of the host device, and may not use APIs or platform features beyond what is required to stream the Remote Desktop.
    • (c) All account creation and management must be initiated from the host device.
    • (d) The UI appearing on the client does not resemble an iOS or App Store view, does not provide a store-like interface, or include the ability to browse, select, or purchase software not already owned or licensed by the user. For the sake of clarity, transactions taking place within mirrored software do not need to use in-app purchase, provided the transactions are processed on the host device.
    • (e) Thin clients for cloud-based apps are not appropriate for the App Store.
• 4.3 Spam

  Don’t create multiple Bundle IDs of the same app. If your app has different versions for specific locations, sports teams, universities, etc., consider submitting a single app and provide the variations using in-app purchase. Also avoid piling on to a category that is already saturated; the App Store has enough fart, burp, flashlight, fortune telling, dating, drinking games, and Kama Sutra apps, etc. already. We will reject these apps unless they provide a unique, high-quality experience. Spamming the store may lead to your removal from the Apple Developer Program.

• 4.4 Extensions

  Apps hosting or containing extensions must comply with the App Extension Programming Guide or the Safari App Extensions Guide and should include some functionality, such as help screens and settings interfaces where possible. You should clearly and accurately disclose what extensions are made available in the app’s marketing text, and the extensions may not include marketing, advertising, or in-app purchases.

  • 4.4.1 Keyboard extensions have some additional rules.

    They must:

    • Provide keyboard input functionality (e.g. typed characters);
    • Follow Sticker guidelines if the keyboard includes images or emoji;
    • Provide a method for progressing to the next keyboard;
    • Remain functional without full network access and without requiring full access;
    • Collect user activity only to enhance the functionality of the user’s keyboard extension on the iOS device.

    They must not:

    • Launch other apps besides Settings; or
    • Repurpose keyboard buttons for other behaviors (e.g. holding down the “return” key to launch the camera).
  • 4.4.2 Safari extensions must run on the current version of Safari on macOS. They may not interfere with System or Safari UI elements and must never include malicious or misleading content or code. Violating this rule will lead to removal from the Apple Developer Program. Safari extensions should not claim access to more websites than strictly necessary to function.
  • 4.4.3 Stickers

    Stickers are a great way to make Messages more dynamic and fun, letting people express themselves in clever, funny, meaningful ways. Whether your app contains a sticker extension or you’re creating free-standing sticker packs, its content shouldn’t offend users, create a negative experience, or violate the law.

    • (i) In general, if it wouldn’t be suitable for the App Store, it doesn’t belong in a sticker.
    • (ii) Consider regional sensitivities, and do not make your sticker pack available in a country or region where it could be poorly received or violate local law.
    • (iii) If we don’t understand what your stickers mean, include a clear explanation in your review notes to avoid any delays in the review process.
    • (iv) Ensure your stickers have relevance beyond your friends and family; they should not be specific to personal events, groups, or relationships.
    • (v) You must have all the necessary copyright, trademark, publicity rights, and permissions for the content in your stickers, and shouldn’t submit anything unless you’re authorized to do so. Keep in mind that you must be able to provide verifiable documentation upon request. Apps with sticker content you don’t have rights to use will be removed from the App Store and repeat offenders will be removed from the Apple Developer Program. If you believe your content has been infringed by another provider, submit a claim here.
• 4.5 Apple Sites and Services
  • 4.5.1 Apps may use approved Apple RSS feeds such as the iTunes Store RSS feed, but may not scrape any information from Apple sites (e.g. apple.com, the iTunes Store, App Store, App Store Connect, developer portal, etc.) or create rankings using this information.
  • 4.5.2 Apple Music
    • (i) MusicKit on iOS lets users play Apple Music and their local music library natively from your apps and games. When a user provides permission to their Apple Music account, your app can create playlists, add songs to their library, and play any of the millions of songs in the Apple Music catalog. Users must initiate the playback of an Apple Music stream and be able to navigate using standard media controls such as “play,” “pause,” and “skip.” Moreover, your app may not require payment or indirectly monetize access to the Apple Music service (e.g. in-app purchase, advertising, requesting user info, etc.). Do not download, upload, or enable sharing of music files sourced from the MusicKit APIs, except as explicitly permitted in MusicKit documentation.
    • (ii) Using the MusicKit APIs is not a replacement for securing the licenses you might need for a deeper or more complex music integration. For example, if you want your app to play a specific song at a particular moment, or to create audio or video files that can be shared to social media, you’ll need to contact rights-holders directly to get their permission (e.g. synchronization or adaptation rights) and assets. Cover art and other metadata may only be used in connection with music playback or playlists (including App Store screenshots displaying your app’s functionality), and should not be used in any marketing or advertising without getting specific authorization from rights-holders. Make sure to follow the Apple Music Identity Guidelines when integrating Apple Music services in your app.
    • (iii) Apps that access Apple Music user data, such as playlists and favorites, must clearly disclose this access in the purpose string. Any data collected may not be shared with third parties for any purpose other than supporting or improving the app experience. This data may not be used to identify users or devices, or to target advertising.
  • 4.5.3 Do not use Apple Services to spam, phish, or send unsolicited messages to customers, including Game Center, Push Notifications, etc. Do not attempt to reverse lookup, trace, relate, associate, mine, harvest, or otherwise exploit Player IDs, aliases, or other information obtained through Game Center, or you will be removed from the Apple Developer Program.
  • 4.5.4 Push Notifications must not be required for the app to function, and should not be used to send sensitive personal or confidential information. Push Notifications should not be used for promotions or direct marketing purposes unless customers have explicitly opted in to receive them via consent language displayed in your app’s UI, and you provide a method in your app for a user to opt out from receiving such messages. Abuse of these services may result in revocation of your privileges.
  • 4.5.5 Only use Game Center Player IDs in a manner approved by the Game Center terms and do not display them in the app or to any third party.
  • 4.5.6 Apps may use Unicode characters that render as Apple emoji in their app and app metadata. Apple emoji may not be used on other platforms or embedded directly in your app binary.
• 4.6 Alternate App Icons

  Apps may display customized icons, for example, to reflect a sports team preference, provided that each change is initiated by the user and the app includes settings to revert to the original icon. All icon variants must relate to the content of the app and changes should be consistent across all system assets, so that the icons displayed in Settings, Notifications, etc. match the new springboard icon. This feature may not be used for dynamic, automatic, or serial changes, such as to reflect up-to-date weather information, calendar notifications, etc.

• 4.7 HTML5 Games, Bots, etc.

  Apps may contain or run code that is not embedded in the binary (e.g. HTML5-based games, bots, etc.), as long as code distribution isn’t the main purpose of the app, the code is not offered in a store or store-like interface, and provided that the software adheres to the additional rules that follow in 4.7.1 and 4.7.2. These additional rules are important to preserve the experience that App Store customers expect, and to help ensure user safety.

  • 4.7.1 Software offered under this rule must:
    • be free or purchased using in-app purchase;
    • only use capabilities available in a standard WebKit view (e.g. it must open and run natively in Safari without modifications or additional software); and use WebKit and JavaScript Core to run third-party software and should not attempt to extend or expose native platform APIs to third-party software;
    • be offered by developers that have joined the Apple Developer Program and signed the Apple Developer Program License Agreement;
    • not provide access to real money gaming;
    • adhere to the terms of these App Store Review Guidelines (e.g. do not include objectionable content); and
    • not offer digital goods or services for sale.
  • 4.7.2 Upon request, you must provide an index of software and metadata available in your app. It must include Apple Developer Program Team IDs for the providers of the software along with a URL which App Review can use to confirm that the software complies with the requirements above.
• 4.8 Sign in with Apple

  Apps that use a third-party or social login service (such as Facebook Login, Google Sign-In, Sign in with Twitter, Sign In with LinkedIn, Login with Amazon, or WeChat Login) to set up or authenticate the user’s primary account with the app must also offer Sign in with Apple as an equivalent option. A user’s primary account is the account they establish with your app for the purposes of identifying themselves, signing in, and accessing your features and associated services.

  Sign in with Apple is not required if:

  • Your app exclusively uses your company’s own account setup and sign-in systems.
  • Your app is an education, enterprise, or business app that requires the user to sign in with an existing education or enterprise account.
  • Your app uses a government or industry-backed citizen identification system or electronic ID to authenticate users.
  • Your app is a client for a specific third-party service and users are required to sign in to their mail, social media, or other third-party account directly to access their content.
• 4.9 Streaming games

  Streaming games are permitted so long as they adhere to all guidelines—for example, each game update must be submitted for review, developers must provide appropriate metadata for search, games must use in-app purchase to unlock features or functionality, etc. Of course, there is always the open Internet and web browser apps to reach all users outside of the App Store.

  • 4.9.1 Each streaming game must be submitted to the App Store as an individual app so that it has an App Store product page, appears in charts and search, has user ratings and review, can be managed with ScreenTime and other parental control apps, appears on the user’s device, etc.
  • 4.9.2 Streaming game services may offer a catalog app on the App Store to help users sign up for the service and find the games on the App Store, provided that the app adheres to all guidelines, including offering users the option to pay for a subscription with in-app purchase and use Sign in with Apple. All the games included in the catalog app must link to an individual App Store product page.