New Gambling Promotions Rule Simplifies Bonuses

15 October 2026

The UK Gambling Commission is tightening rules on casino and gambling promotions from 1 January 2026, to make bonuses simpler and safer. The regulator announced on 26 March 2025 that mixed-product promotions will be banned, and all wagering requirements will be capped at ten times. The changes aim to reduce harm and improve transparency.

The new rules will stop businesses from offering promotions that require customers to engage in two or more gambling activities, such as betting and slots, within a single offer.

The final wording, published on the Commission's website, reads: "Licensees must not include more than one type of gambling product (betting, casino, bingo and lottery) within an incentive."

The updates also cap bonus wagering requirements at ten times the amount of the payout amount. In a nutshell: customers will need to stake just 1x their initial deposit to redeem a free bet worth 20% of their stake, or bet 10x their bonus amount to withdraw casino bonus winnings.

This is not the first tightening of promotions in recent years. In December 2022, the Commission banned the use and promotion of wagering requirements in online slots, and told operators to ensure advertising emphasised bonus simplicity. Industry stakeholders speculated at the time that wagering and advertising rules could be strengthened in coming years.

Stricter LCCP wording, and the banning of mixed product promotions, make good on some of those expectations. Crucially, the Commission has tied reductions in stakes to a reduction in harm, and has made the link between promotions and problem gambling a non-negotiable – and measurable – goal.

The ban, says the Commission, is intended to make promotions simpler and safer, in order to better reduce problem gambling. The Commission's response page said all changes would come into force on 1 January 2026. Previously, promotions could combine multiple products, including high-stakes options like poker or casino. This would be interpreted as part of the regulator's ongoing "safer gambling" agenda, seen previously in rules on affordability, checks, safer marketing, and more.

The industry, for its part, has raised a number of operational challenges to the new approach. A leading executive, on condition of anonymity, said that operators considering changes would need to redesign all promotions and wagering targets to comply with the new rules, while also notifying customer service, IT and internal teams. Meanwhile, a second operator, citing affordability and ID rules, raised concerns over customer experience, particularly around the management of existing promotions.

As ever, the devil is in the detail, and it is not yet clear which existing promotions do not comply with the new rules, how quickly they will need to be updated, or what sanctions the industry can expect if updates are not made.