Bingo in pubs and clubs - Gambling Commission Advice

The Gambling Commission are reporting an increase in the number of queries about bingo events being held in pubs and clubs, often regarding operators who organise events across GB. As a reminder of the regulatory requirements the Commission have summarised the relevant provisions of the Act per below:  

• Operators generally rely on the alcohol licence issued to other businesses to hold their bingo events at those venues.
• However, should an operator cross the £2,000 per week threshold as outlined in section 281 of the Act, the operator would be required to obtain an operating licence from the Commission
• A Gambling Commission operating licence creates the entitlement for it to generate stakes or prizes greater than £2,000 per week while continuing to trade from alcohol-licensed premises (ie its operating licence entitles it to conduct high turnover bingo as per section 281 of the Act)
• However, they can continue to offer bingo within the rules for exempt gaming in alcohol licensed premises.  (For example, they cannot charge a participation fee for playing bingo)

The provisions of section 279 of the Act are therefore relevant. In short, the limitations of exempt gaming mean that:

• An operator cannot charge a participation fee to customers. They are still allowed to collect money that goes on to form the participant’s gaming stake, but the operator cannot charge a fee as profit, nor otherwise deduct any sums from the stake or prize amounts.
• Section 344 of the Act states that a charge for admission to premises where gambling takes place is to be treated as participation fee. Any operator may set up their facilities so that the fee they charge for entry is for admission to the entertainment only rather than an admission fee for bingo gaming. As such, customers must have the opportunity to enter and play bingo without being compelled to pay the entertainment fee.

For example: the entertainment fee + bingo stakes + the booking fee for third party. The website on which tickets are bought should be transparent about how the price is subdivided. 

• Consistent with the point above that no sum can be deducted from stakes, the sum of all stakes accrued must therefore be returned to players as prizes.
• There are maximum stakes of £5 per person per game. There is no maximum prize for bingo under exempt gaming rules.