UK Gambling Commission Updates Gaming Machine Standards: No More Speeding Up Results, New Session Tools
New land-based gaming machines in Great Britain will no longer be allowed to let players cut the time until a result is shown, and the main high-stakes categories will have to show net position and time played on screen. The Gambling Commission published its decisions on 30 September 2026. Most of the new standards apply from 30 June 2027. [1] [2]
The changes concern physical machines in venues from social clubs and seaside arcades to betting shops and casinos. Gaming machines generate more than a fifth of Britain's gross gambling yield, excluding lotteries. [1] They do not change the rules for online slots, which already have their own speed-of-play standards. Almost all of the new requirements apply to newly supplied machines only. [2]
What has the Gambling Commission changed?
The decisions follow a consultation launched in January 2025, part of the commitments in the government's 2023 Gambling Act Review white paper. The Commission received more than 1,000 responses. [1] [2] The main points:
| Change | Machines | From |
|---|---|---|
| Common definition of a gaming machine “session” | all | 30 March 2027 |
| Limit-setting tools for players | new category A, B1, B2, B3, B3A, B4 | 30 June 2027 |
| Net position and elapsed time shown during play | new category A, B1, B2, B3, B3A, B4 | 30 June 2027 |
| No celebrating returns equal to or below the stake | new category A, B1–B4 and C | 30 June 2027 |
| No features that reduce the time until a result | new machines | 30 June 2027 |
| Staff alerts when default limits are reached | category B | 3 October 2028 |
The Commission has also merged twelve separate technical standards documents into a single Gaming Machine Technical Standards document and updated its testing strategy. [2]
What happens to turbo and quick-spin features?
The wording is precise: new machines must not allow customers to reduce the time until the result of a game is revealed. [2] In practice that covers buttons and modes that skip or shorten the reel animation, often sold as turbo, quick spin or slam stop.
The Commission already took the same step for online games, where it prohibited features “that speed up play or give the illusion of control such as turbo mode, quick spin and slam stop”. Skipping animations after the result has been shown remains allowed online. [3] This is not a ban on any particular machine. Machines already on venue floors can keep their current features.
Net position, time played and limits
For the higher-stakes categories, new machines must show the player's net position and the time elapsed while they are playing. Net position replaces the older “loss/win” wording. [1] [2] Game compendiums that get new games also need the display at machine level. [2]
The same new machines must let players set limits. When a limit is reached or changed, the machine has to show safer gambling information during the break. Venues running category B machines must handle staff alerts promptly, but alerts will only be triggered at the third default limit, to avoid staff being flooded with alerts. That requirement comes later, on 3 October 2028. [1] [2]
Underpinning all of this is the new session definition from 30 March 2027, based on how manufacturers have historically collected session data. [2]
Existing versus new machines
The Commission exempted machines already in use from the limit-setting, display, celebration and speed-of-play requirements. Its reasons are the complex technical changes that retrofitting would require and the cost to businesses. [2] The effect will therefore build up gradually as venues replace machines, not overnight.
What about online slots?
Online slots are covered by the Remote Technical Standards, a separate rulebook. Under those, an online gambling system must already not let a customer reduce the time until a result is presented. [3] The new machine standards bring land-based machines closer to that position, but they add nothing new online.
For more on how UK rules are tightening, see our report on the Lords' proposal to ban gambling advertising and the latest changes to deposit limits for online gambling. If gambling stops feeling like entertainment, our responsible gambling page lists free support.
Sources
- Gambling Commission blog: Gaming machine consultation update (30 September 2026)
- Gambling Commission: January 2025 gaming machine consultation, part 2 response – executive summary (30 September 2026)
- Gambling Commission: Online games design and reverse withdrawals – prohibiting player-led “spin stop” features
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Hannah Whitmore
Hannah Whitmore writes about online casinos from a player's practical point of view: who operates a site, what a bonus really requires, which payment methods appear in the cashier, and what happens between requesting a withdrawal and receiving the money. Her reviews draw on PlayFrankCasino's own account research — registrations, terms checks, deposits and withdrawals — and she keeps an operator's advertised payout target separate from a measured result. She enjoys testing slot features and bonus-buy slots in demo mode, and is currently learning blackjack basic-strategy charts and how betting systems such as Martingale and Paroli work. She also covers UK casino news and writes PlayFrankCasino's guides to wagering, withdrawals, verification, cashback and safer gambling.