Former Betting Boss Wants Online Slots to Be Made Slower
A Paddy Power co-founder has said that online slots should spin more slowly.
Key Facts:
- Paddy Power co-founder says current government rules to protect punters don’t go far enough
- He thinks online slots can be addictive because they spin too fast
- There’s more to be done to protect people from gambling harms, he believes
How fast should online slots spin? That’s something that Stewart Kenny, who helped found Paddy Power in the 80s, has discussed recently. He believes that slots spin too fast and should be slowed down to prevent people from becoming addicted to playing them.
He resigned from Paddy Power’s board in 2016. At that time, Paddy Power had merged with Betfair, another major betting brand, and together they were known as Flutter Entertainment. Kenny left because he felt the company wasn’t doing enough to protect vulnerable people.
As such, he no longer has any sort of connection with Flutter Entertainment and doesn’t receive payments of any kind from the company. Even though he left nearly a decade ago, he still thinks there’s more work to be done.
Changing the Odds
Stewart appears in the documentary Changing the Odds on Radio 4, which looks at the 20 years since the Gambling Act 2005 was introduced. Along with journalist Lydia Thomas, he determines what impact the Gambling Act 2005 has had and whether it’s doing enough to help people.
It’s in this documentary that Stewart said online slots spin too fast. The amount of time between someone placing a bet and potentially winning is incredibly slim, usually just a few seconds. This near-instant gratification can make playing slots addictive.
He also said that other key factors of online slot games can make them compelling. These include their graphics and sound effects, which are meant to draw players in, and the frequent losing spins, which can encourage people to keep playing.
Even though he is a gambler, frequently betting on dog and horse racing, he’s openly criticised the industry for encouraging sports punters to play online slots. Casino games, he thinks, are much more harmful than betting on sporting events.
It’s quite common for someone to join an online sportsbook for the purpose of placing sports bets, only for the site to encourage them to play slots. They do this by sending the punter free spins offers and other promotions to tempt them to spin the reels of slots.
Lower Slot Bet Sizes
From April, people aged 25 and above will be able to bet no more than £5 per spin on online slots. For those aged 18-24, the upper limit of £2 per spin will come into effect in May. This was confirmed in November 2024 and was intended to protect vulnerable people from gambling harms.
The government has decided to introduce limits on stakes for online slots because the games are associated with negative things.
These include binge play, lengthy gaming sessions, and, perhaps most importantly of all, significant financial losses. Limiting bet sizes should hopefully make online slots less harmful.
Stewart thinks lowering the bet sizes in online slots isn’t enough. He believes they can still be addictive because of their fast-paced gameplay. Therefore, he wants their spin speed to be slowed down.
However, the UK Gambling Commission has already dealt with slot speed. In 2021, it introduced requirements that meant slots had to spin for at least 2.5 seconds and banned features that increased the intensity of play, such as quicker spins and autoplay.
Stewart clearly thinks that the UKGC’s measures haven’t gone far enough and that online slots are still too fast-paced and addictive. He thinks it’s on both regulators and the government to ensure gambling is safe for everyone. He’s said the following about the matter:
There’s a balance here. If you want to bet, you should be allowed to bet. It’s a free society. So you don’t want to interfere with people’s entertainment too much. It’s so easy to blame the betting companies. This is a matter for legislators.– Stewart Kenny, Paddy Power Co-Founder, Betting Boss Addresses Gambling Safety, BBC
Supporters of Slot Bet Size Limits
The introduction of lower bet sizes for online slots comes following a government review of the Gambling Act 2005. Some prominent companies in the gambling industry have spoken positively about the new legislation. Flutter Entertainment, for example, said it fully supported the review.
The company said that while it hadn’t always got things right previously, the industry has undergone substantial change in the years since Stewart retired. In other words, it was bound to make a few mistakes and misjudgements here and there. It also said that it respects Stewart’s views.
The Betting and Gaming Council has said that while 22.5 million people in Britain bet every month, most of them do so responsibly.
The organisation fully supported the recent plans to introduce stake limits for online slots and said recent legislation should draw a line under gambling debates.
