Playing slots on UK online casinos has its limits. Here we go over the casino spin limits and what you can and can't do while playing slots.
In the UK, there are strict rules on slots and how each spin can play out. The two key things here are time and money, or how fast the spin can be and how much can you bet.
In short, a single spin of a slot machine in the UK can only cost £5 at the most. If you are 24 years or younger, the spin limit is £2 per spin. A spin must take at least 2.5 seconds from start to finish.
Let's take a closer look at these two types of spin limits. First, let's talk money.
As of September 2024, the UK government decreased the spin limits on slots. This means that all licensed online casinos must have a maximum limit that depends on the age of the player. The limit is £2 for players 24 or under and £5 for the rest.
When the white paper was first announced, one of the more prominent points was the wager limits in slots. It was initially estimated that the limits would be somewhere around 5-10 pounds per round.
As it was known that wager limits were on the horizon, some casinos started doing this on their own. They have been adding their own limits to ease players in for what was coming later on. Flutter (Pokerstars), Entain (PartyCasino) and 888 (888 Casino) have had wager limits as low as £5 for some time now.
| Age range | Minimum bet | Maximum bet | Min. round time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18-24 | £0.01 | £2 | 2.5 s |
| 25+ | £0.01 | £5 | 2.5 s |
This affects you if you like to play with larger sums, for example, if you enjoy playing on high-roller casino sites. In that case, you just have to follow the maximum casino spin limit and maybe pick games that are faster to play. Another option is to play table games, which still allow larger wagers.
For those players who like small bets, like playing penny slots, these rules have no effect. Even though pure 0.01-pound rounds are getting rarer by the day, there are still plenty of games that let you play with small bets. And as this doesn't affect the minimum deposit limits, you can still use the same low-deposit online casinos.
The second form of spin limits is how fast a slot can play. In the UK, what is known as a turbo mode is not allowed.
Slots can vary a lot when it comes to game speed. Some classic fruit machines were very fast, while games that focus on the visual elements can take a while. Some players like to take their time and enjoy the game, while others want to get to the results and play fast.
There are three speed modes that can be commonly found on slots: regular, fast and turbo.
Regular mode is just what it sounds, the speed the game was designed to play at. A spin in regular mode can take anything from a few seconds to ten or fifteen. It all depends on the game.
Fast mode is for players who don't like to wait for the reels. This mode skips most of the animation and just stops the reels quickly. It doesn't affect the results or randomness, just the game speed. Fast mode rounds can be as fast as 2.5 seconds per spin.
Turbo mode skips everything and just hits you with the results. Turbo modes are illegal in the UK, as they are often around 0.5 seconds per spin.
There are also limits on which features a game can have, which functions and mechanics are available in the UK, and how the game can behave visually. These are collectively known as feature limits, and most were implemented in 2021.
Here are the major feature limits that you can encounter in the UK:
Removing autoplay was quite understandable. Now players must be actively present while they gamble. Before, you could just activate the autoplay and go do something else. This leads to easily losing track of your games.
Bonus Buy features let you skip the randomness and just jump straight to the bonus feature of the game for a cost. The bet sizes were massive, and the risks involved were also high. You had to easily wager 50 or 100 times your regular bet.
Removal of slot demos for unverified players was done to prevent underage players from accessing the slots. Even though no money was involved, children shouldn't be playing these games.
False wins are when the total outcome of the round is negative, but the game looks and sounds like you had won something. Players would be fooled into thinking that they had won, but the amount was actually less than the money they spent for that spin. These are deceptive mechanics and were deemed illegal.
These spin limits may seem annoying or intrusive, but they serve a real purpose. They are both about improving safe gambling. Responsible online gambling is important and the UK government is doing their best to reduce problem gambling.
Online gambling should be all about entertainment. So, enjoying the game a little longer may be better than blasting through your bankroll in a flash. For the same money, now you get to play longer.
Just remember to put a reality check timer on your account so you don't lose track of time while playing.
Sure, now you just can't wager over a fiver in a slot or play extremely quickly. If you want higher limits, you can still play table games, like blackjack, or check out the live casino games. Those are not affected by these limits.
