SkyBet faces Gambling Commission probe over self-exclusion breach

It’s been claimed that SkyBet offered free spins to British customers who had self-excluded.

UK.- The Gambling Commission has confirmed that it is investigating complaints from self-excluded players who say that SkyBet offered them free spins. Several customers had complained on social media that they had received promotions after self-excluding either from SkyBet or from all online gambling, or after opting out of receiving marketing.

The complaints involve material sent out by SkyBet’s online casino platform SkyVegas earlier this week. Some of the recipients claimed that were registered with the self-exclusion tool GAMSTOP, which has reported a rise in self-exclusions via its platform.

The worst possible timing during Safer Gambling Week

SkyBet is owned by Flutter, which is a member of the UK trade group the Betting and Gaming Council. Several people pointed out the unfortunate timing of the apparent breach, coming right at the beginning of the BGC’s Safer Gambling Week 2021.

Colin Bland, a former policeman and a member of lived experience panels on gambling harm, wrote on Twitter: “Way to go @SkyBet. Celebrating Safer Gambling Week by sending self-excluded customers, both specifically excluded via your site AND via #gamstop, not one but TWO enticing offers. You might ‘love the unexpected’ but I don’t. Appalled.”

The Gambling Commission said in a statement: “We’ve been made aware by members of the public that SkyBet have sent promotional emails to self-excluded customers yesterday. We do not expect this of our operators and we will be looking into how this has happened.”