Betting Stocks Tank in UK, as MPs Tighten Stand Against Online Gambling

British gambling companies suffered a bloody Monday that witnessed collective drop of share prices on the London Stock Exchange. The collapse happened after MPs urged for stronger laws against online casinos.

The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Gambling Related Harm recommended restricting maximum stakes in online betting, to mirror the rules that now apply to high-speed, fixed odds betting terminal (FOBT) slot machines, where bets are now restricted to a maximum stake of £2.

They also called for banning the use of credit cards to gamble online.

Shares in GVC closed the day with a fall of 11%, William Hill fell just over 12%, while 888 Holdings ended trading down nearly 13%.

British betting companies are still reeling from the government’s April 1 clampdown on high-speed slot machines when it slashed FOBT stakes from £100.

Critics have likened such machines to the “crack cocaine” of gambling.

Iain Duncan-Smith MP, the group’s vice chair and author of its latest report told Sky News that alongside the success of the gambling industry, there had been “huge levels of growth” in addition to gambling.

He said: “The recommendations today are very simple, which is to get some regulation back into this industry, and give the Gambling Commission more teeth to intervene.”