Gambling – ‘EuroMillions Condition’

Today the Gambling Act 2005 (Operating Licence Conditions) (Amendment) Regulations 2018 comes into force and will affect all betting operating licences, whether or not they were issued before today’s date.

The regulations will add the following condition:

“nothing may be done in reliance on a betting operating licence in relation to a bet:

(a) on a EuroMillions draw, or

(b) on the outcome of a EuroMillions lottery, regardless of the name given to that lottery or how that lottery is described in any jurisdiction.”

 The condition brings such draws in line with existing regulations on betting on UK National Lottery draws and follows the DCMS’s consultation on the issue last year.  In that consultation the DCMS stated:

“In order to preserve the clear boundary between The National Lottery and gambling that s.95 of the Gambling Act seeks to achieve, and prevent a potential negative impact on National Lottery good cause returns, we propose introducing a licence condition to prohibit operators from offering bets on EuroMillions draws outside the UK.”