Gambling sites told to remove ads for games aimed at children

Regulators have ordered gambling websites to take down adverts for casino games that are targeted at children.

In an open letter to the gambling firms, the group of regulators, which includes the Gambling Commission and the Committee of Advertising Practice, said that gambling operators would face “sanctions” if they continued to post adverts that appeal to under 18s.

Games such as “Fluffy Favourites” and “Pirate Princess” were highlighted by regulators as examples that target underage players, reports The Independent. Their adverts feature “brightly-coloured cartoon characters” designed to “lure children into gambling.”

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While some games are free-to-play, meaning users can gamble without paying money, Engadget says there are games where players can place bets “as high as £600.” This could be “particularly damaging” if a child got access.

It’s believed that almost half a million children in England and Wales gamble every week, The Independent reports. Nine thousand of them are classed as “problem gamblers”.

The clampdown comes in the wake of a report by The Times earlier this month that claims to have passed a dossier with examples of more than 30 games to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

Professor Mark Griffiths, international gaming research chief at Nottingham Trent University, told the newspaper that free-to-play games were the primary risk for children classed as problem gamblers.

“Children are getting access via their mobile phone to these games in a much easier way than even five years ago”, he said.