Gambling in the United Kingdom is regulated by the Gambling Commission on behalf of the government's Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) under the Gambling Act [2005]. This Act of Parliament significantly updated the UK's gambling laws, including the introduction of a new structure of protections for children and vulnerable adults, as well as bringing the burgeoning Internet gambling sector within British regulation for the first time.
Income from gambling currently makes up a small part of the economy of the United Kingdom.
The 2005 Act paved the way for larger resort style casinos to be built, albeit in a controlled manner with one being built every few years until the Act is fully implemented. Many towns and cities have bid to host one of these so-called "super casinos", which will be similar to those found in Las Vegas. The favourite location for the first is Blackpool, indeed, often referred to as the "British Las Vegas".
There is a large market in the UK for gambling on competitive sports at bookmakers. The most popular being horse and greyhound racing, and association football (soccer). The latter also has an associated form of gambling known as the football pools, in which players win by correctly predicting the outcome of each week's matches.
The UK's largest lottery is known as the National Lottery. Several games are run under this brand, including Lotto, Lotto Extra and Thunderball. As with other lotteries players choose a set of numbers, say 6 from 50, with six numbers then being drawn at random. Players win cash prizes depending on how many numbers they match.
The national lottery launched a pan-European "super-lottery", called EuroMillions in 2004. Currently 9 countries contribute.
In the UK the national lottery has so far raised several billions of pounds for Good Causes, a programme which distributes money via grants. 28% of lottery revenue goes towards the fund, along with all unclaimed prizes. Additionally, 12% goes to the state. The prize fund is 45% of revenue, with the remaining 15% going towards running costs and profits for the lottery organisers and ticket sellers.
Scratchcards are a very popular form of gambling in the UK, due to their easy availabilty and cheap price. These are small pieces of card where an area has been covered by a substance that cannot be seen through, but can be scratched off. Under this area are concealed the items/pictures that must be 'found' in order to win.