In order to increase protection over customers, the UK Gambling Commission and Spelinspektionen, the Swedish authority, have opened the invitation to participate in a public consultation where online slots games are targeted for a complete redesign to reduce harm.

This, along with other previous measures, is part of a series of actions the Commission has implemented to freeze the rampant cases of problem gambling.

COVID-19 has imposed forced isolation over UK and Swedish citizens and with various casino sites without Swedish license utterly failing to protect them from increasing their gambling patterns, it was time to step in.

Spin me down

For many years slots had been condemned as the crack cocaine of gambling.

The game was initially conceived as a mechanic reel set where players needed to match a series of figures to obtain a prize. It quickly became popular among gamblers of all classes and budgets. Nowadays, the accessibility of mobile gaming and perfection of slots to draw away the user’s attention from losses raises concern.

The fact that dopamine rushes make neuroreceptors create resistance over time, forces compulsive gamblers to increase wagers and seek higher risk actions to keep the same levels of excitement. The more a gambler loses, the more the casino profits.

What the UKGC says

The latest report of the British Commission indicates that remote casinos take a larger chunk of gambling revenue with slots being the top gaming choice. The slot had been such a profitable option that dedicated sites (regulated or not) spawn the internet every day.

While banning gambling will only lead to leaving unprotected customers in the hands-on shady sites, the Commission has decided to follow the steps of the Swedish Gambling Authority – Spelinspektionen – and reduce harm over players by increasing the delay time of spins to a minimum of 2.5 seconds.

The measure will be part of a series of adjustments along with the elimination of stop buttons, reverse withdrawals, with stake and prize sizes too.

Spin delays times were prioritized after feedback provided by former gambling addicts that worked along a design group led by Scientific Gaming Corporation and PAs (the latest Playtech) to find ways to reduce harm for this gaming modality.

Will the implementation backfire? Opinion is divided, so the Suffolk Gazette weighs up the pros and cons:

Benefits
● With reduced gaming opportunities losses might reduce. An active problem gambler can lose up to 200 per hour. Delaying the next turn will reduce the amount players spend in a slot session.
● In combination with other adjustments (like sound and effects), spin delays will create less appeal for the game leaving customers to readjust their perception over their actions or leave frustrated.
● Spin delay is a feature that dealers can easily readjust to make it enter in effect almost instantly.
Drawbacks
● Players might seek illegal or unlicensed providers that will appeal to their needs, exposing themselves to unsolicited risks.
● Those with a mild to severe gambling compulsion will act more aggressively as the delay will create frustration as they aren’t having their timely fix.
● Gamblers will opt to make every spin count by the trading frequency with wager size unless this is readjusted like FOBT with a max stake of £2.

Final words

Putting the slots into slow-motion mode won’t be enough to curb down the UK’s problem gambler cases. But cutting harshly the access to online slots will only make users and providers create a gap for other addictive options to fill in.

Making changes in the industry that meets the Commission’s expectations will take a significant amount of time, as readjusting the whole sector is a process that demands the complete collaboration not only from operators but also from iGaming developers that now must measure the ethical impact of their products.

Gambling is a British past time, there is no doubt about it. In every venue, you can find people on their phones making a bet on the current race or sports match, playing poker or trying their luck on slots, casinos and bingo.

But lately, something new has been spreading – Slingo.

Slingo is the spoiled child of slots and non Gamstop bingo games preferred by self-excluded customers. It is popular thanks to the combination of 75-ball bingo mechanics and prizes, with the speed and bonuses only slots can provide. Its easiness to follow, variations, and the possibility to have control over the results make it a Brit top pick.

Slingo’s beginning

The Slingo story started in 1994, in the basement of Sal Falciglia, a semi-retired businessman/high roller from New Jersey with a love for Bingo and Slots.

For days Mr Falciglia was dabbling with the idea of combining his two passions until one morning at 2am, it finally sparked. For reasons he still can’t explain (like all eureka moments), he ran to his office in the middle of the night to outline his creation.

The next morning after making the necessary arrangements, a 5-reel vintage slot machine was delivered to his house. It was in his basement where the first Slingo prototype was designed and after a million tries, Slingo was ready to take his spot in history.

How it works

Like all bingo games, you have a 5×5 card to fill. Players have up to 20 turns to spin the five reels under its card. If a number matches one in the card, it gets marked. As lines are completed milestones in the paytable are cleared being higher as more lines you fill.  If you manage to make a full house before you run out of spins you win the jackpot.

Depending on the Slingo version you may have from 7 to 11 initial free spins to use. Once finished, you may continue playing with a premium cost. Cost of spins will vary according to how close you are to complete a full house and is up to you paying to hit the spin button or walking away with smaller rewards and lesser regrets.

Bonuses

During a spin some items will improve or cut your chances of winning, spicing up the excitement.

• Joker: These are the wildcards. Jokers let you pick any unmarked number in the row where they appear. If the row is completed they lose their effect.
• Super Joker: It acts the same as jokers only that you can use them in any number in your card. If a Super Joker appears along with a simple joker you must use the Super Joker first. 
• Free spin: they won’t complete any row but allow you another chance to spin the odds at no cost.
• Devil: it comes to block a number. In the original game, it also cuts by half the accumulated points during that game.
• Cherub is not very common to see it but appears to cancel the devil’s effect by shooting him with an arrow.

The paytable

The size of the stake will define the cost of your spins and prizes. Depending on the title “As spins complete rows”, cumulative bonus and prizes can be claimed and augment the size of your reward. 

One favourite is the Joker bonus: If a spin gives you 3, 4 or even 5 jokers you will earn some extra cash.

“One of the reasons Slingo was so successful is because the player was always so close to getting a full card. That’s really what got people enjoying the game. I think that was the hook: You’re always so close to something happening.” Sal Falciglia – Slingo Creator.

And he is right.

Doing the math and always getting close to the jackpot is what makes people keep playing again and again. the first session will seem like a slot game, just using the spin button. But once you find out the mechanics of the game, it is impossible to just play it one time. 

A matter of strategy

Each Slingo version has its own variations on mechanics and bonuses but the same principle remains:

Find the point where your stake is still affordable enough to keep spinning to complete a full house.

Some titles have unlimited spins to keep playing, allowing you to increase your chances to win but also the cumulative stake cost of each spin, therefore reducing and even surpassing your rewards profit. 

This makes it mandatory to have strong self-control in the gambling culture to walkway if you don’t want to fall in the trap of betting more than you can support, so strict bankroll management skills are required to keep on top of the game, or at least enjoying it even-steven style.

It’s funny how things go full circle. What were once popular pastime pursuits and ways of life went out of fashion as technology advanced. Computers and mobile phones, the internet, long-distance travel and a higher standard of living all changed how we spent our leisure time.

Now, after seemingly being lost in a haze of happy memories and cigarette smoke, many activities are very much back in fashion.

Much of that has to do with staycations, with Brits enjoying holidaying at home once more. Caravan and holiday homes are more high spec and trips to the seaside common.

No visit to the Suffolk coast is complete without some fish and chips. In Aldeburgh, the fish and chips are the stuff of legend, with queues stretching along the road.

When not at the beach, visitors and residents enjoy leisure activities and seaside competitions that had seemingly disappeared. Just as vinyl records went out of fashion, sales are rising again. And book sales are up despite Kindles seemingly making them redundant. Even bingo is enjoying something of a comeback.

Today’s bingo halls are a little different from what you might remember. Before, you imagine they were full of mature ladies enjoying their one night a week away from the family home. Now, they are attractive to all generations, male and female, and part of a big night out.

You can eat, drink and be merry in bingo halls rather than just sit marking off your numbers. The resurgence is not missed on online gaming companies, with online bingo also popular, bringing with it new types of bingo games.

There are many places you can now play bingo in Suffolk, including Felixstowe, Ipswich and Lowestoft. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know your two fat ladies from your two little ducks, you’ll soon pick it all up and have fun in the process.

Another popular pursuit that continues to defy modern attractions is boating. In Suffolk, we are blessed with options. For the most tranquil of all, there is Thorpeness Meare (pictured), where punts, canoes and rowing boats are available. Just over the Essex border is boating at Dedham on River Stour.

While sailing is ever-popular, so too are trips to the broads. The Norfolk Broads are famous, of course, but the broads do touch Suffolk, out of Lowestoft and the River Waveney.

Boating on the broads has been popular for generations. But modern-day craft make river trips far more comfortable than they used to be. Commercial enterprises now thrive alongside the waterways, including gorgeous pubs and plenty of places to eat.

While kids were seemingly lost in a world of computer games and mobile phones since the turn of the century, it’s good to see old-fashioned seaside arcades are back in popularity.

In Felixstowe, you can enjoy these arcades on the pier and seafront. While you will find all the latest slot machines, with video action, cinematic sound and other features, you will also find some of the games you used to enjoy.

Remember the coin pusher games, where you used to add a coin and hope it would then push a pile of cash over the edge for you to win? They are still there and just as much fun as when you were a kid.

And the “grabber” games where you operate a grabber and try to win a prize like a cuddly toy are as popular now as they ever were, with parents spending small fortunes to win a new toy for a pestering child.

Whether it is hankering after the “good old days” or the fact that old leisure pursuits like bingo or boating are great fun, there is much to enjoy in Suffolk rather than wasting hours on end surfing the internet.

You just have to get out there and enjoy it! Even large industrial sites like Sizewell B Power Station are a modern attraction on the Suffolk coast.