A Six-figure Fine Issued on GGPoker by the UK Gambling Commission

A Six-figure Fine Issued on GGPoker by the UK Gambling Commission ( Click to Enlarge )

Another month, another major fine it looks like has come from the United Kingdom Gambling Commission. This time, it’s issued against GGPoker, one of the more popular online poker providers with UKGC licensing. Worth more than half a million pounds, this is a sizable amount for sure.

GGPoker Issued Major Fine From the Gambling Commission

Over the past few years especially, we have seen some absolutely huge fines handed down from the UKGC. They are definitely serious when it comes to holding operators accountable for following their policies and guidelines. However, in the most recent example of these fines being given, something about the situation is a bit different. It’s just not the kind of scenario that what we normally see.

This time, it’s for a top-tier online poker operator. That’s something we can’t remember having seen in a major case in quite a while.

The details of what happened here are a lot more specific than what we normally see as well. However, it all still falls within the same two sets of parameters: social responsibly and anti-money laundering protocols. For whatever reason, it seems like a non-trivial number of operators have problems in these areas.

In what follows, we’ll break down what did it for GGPoker and why we think we don’t see these types of issues in the online poker world nearly as often.

Anti-money Laundering and Social Responsibility Failures

The social responsibility side is clear as day to the point that we can’t really see any debate. Like all UKGC license holders, GGPoker has a self-exclusion list that consists of players who no longer want to play. This includes not wanting to receive marketing information and so on. However, they were found to not be taking the reasonable steps they could be to prevent marketing materials from being sent to some of these players. As a result, around 125 self-excluded individuals were sent marketing emails.

It’s not hard to see how this is an issue. Additionally, it’s a bit more straightforward and systemic than some of the social responsibility violations we see.

On the anti-money laundering side, it really just came down to a lack of proper risk assessments. This includes having procedures in place to investigate the source of funding, particularly for larger depositors. However, some of these checks can overlap with checking on players for their source of income. That means it can be a little nebulous to figure out which side of the social responsibility/anti-money laundering line these violations fall under. In a lot of cases, it’s both.

Due to these violations, GGPoker has been fined £672,829 by the UK Gambling Commission. That’s a hefty sum, but it’s nowhere near the larger amounts we’ve seen them levy against some operators.

Why Do Fewer Violations Happen on the Poker Side?

The main reason fewer violations and major fines are handed out to online poker operations is simple. We have a lot fewer of them than we have online casinos in general. In fact, this is the first time we’ve seen a major online poker operator get a big fine like this in as long as we can remember.

Additionally, the numbers aspect of the situation is combined with the history of scandal in online poker rooms. Some of the biggest scandals and licensing violations in history have happened in the online poker arena. However, these scenarios are a lot of the inspiration behind the policies we have today. In fact, the very beginning of the segregated player pools we have now happened from poker regulation in France.

What Happens to GGPoker Now?

The process forward for GGPoker is made incredibly simple and straightforward. Along with paying their fine, they’re expected to put in policies and procedures to prevent the violations from happening again. Additionally, they’ll be checked out in the future in regular intervals by a type of auditor. If they pass all of their checks, they will likely have no problems with the UKGC in the future. This entire process is set up to help make sure that players can have the best experience possible. As such, the UK Gambling Commission lays out a path to that for the operator whenever possible.

by