FOI: UKGC Holds No Roulette Table Inspection Data
Regulator's response to a Freedom of Information request reveals no records of fairness or integrity checks on physical roulette wheels over the past five years.
A Freedom of Information response has revealed the UK Gambling Commission holds no records of inspecting physical roulette tables in UK casinos for the past five years. The disclosure raises questions about how the regulator directly verifies the fairness and integrity of non-electronic gaming equipment. While operators must adhere to technical standards, the FOI indicates a lack of recorded direct inspections by the Commission itself.
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A Freedom of Information (FOI) disclosure has revealed that the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) holds no records of conducting its own inspections on physical roulette tables in licensed land-based casinos over the last five years.
The response, published following a request dated 5 August 2025, raises questions about the methods used by the regulator to ensure the mechanical integrity and fairness of one of the most iconic casino games.
The Information Request
A member of the public submitted an FOI request to the Gambling Commission asking for three specific pieces of information covering the five-year period leading up to August 2025:
- The approximate number of physical (non-electronic) roulette tables in operation in the UK.
- The number of these tables inspected by the UKGC for fairness, randomness, fraud prevention, and hardware integrity.
- Any summary data on compliance failures or technical irregularities found during such inspections.
The Commission's Response
The UKGC's response provided a stark insight into its data collection and direct inspection activities.
For the first part of the request, the Commission stated that the number of roulette tables is available in its publicly accessible Industry Statistics publications. It cited Section 21 of the FOIA, which exempts information that is reasonably accessible to the applicant by other means.
However, for the second and third parts of the request—concerning direct inspections and resulting findings—the regulator's answer was definitive. The UKGC stated: "I can confirm that no information falling within the scope of part two or three of your request is held by the Gambling Commission."
What This Means for Players
This disclosure reveals that, for the five-year period in question, the Gambling Commission itself has not recorded any data from direct inspections of physical roulette wheels for fairness or integrity.
While casino operators are bound by the Commission's technical standards and are required to ensure their games are fair, this response indicates a lack of direct, recorded oversight by the regulator in this specific area. The UKGC's regulatory framework often relies on a combination of operator self-certification, third-party testing reports commissioned by operators, and risk-based assessments.
The absence of centrally held inspection records suggests that the Commission does not actively conduct or record its own physical audits of this equipment. For consumers, this means trust in the fairness of a physical roulette wheel rests primarily on the operator's compliance with standards, rather than on a system of regular, independent checks carried out by the regulator itself.
This finding highlights a potential gap between public perception of regulatory activity and the reality of the UKGC's enforcement and data-gathering methods for non-electronic gaming equipment.