Company Reports

Some of the UK’s largest gambling companies announced their decision to redirect the funding they have pledged for tackling gambling addiction. The companies in question include William Hill, Sky Bet, Flutter Entertainment, GVC Holdings, and bet365. Last summer, the five major operators said they were willing to contribute £100 million in response to demands for a higher 1% levy on their revenue. The sum is intended for the funding of problem gambling treatment, research, and education. The gambling operators initially intended to transfer the funds via Lord Chadlington’s charity organisation…

The largest gambling and entertainment operator in Australia, Crown Resorts, revealed it intends to reopen its Crown Perth venue this Saturday. The casino will open its doors to customers after three months of inactivity as the local government imposed a lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The gambling operator has reached an agreement with the authorities of the Western Australia state to resume its operations with temporary restrictions in place. Under the governmental guidelines, the venue would resume operations at a limited capacity. The maximum allowed density of visitors…

Problem gambler Ho Ming Wong confessed to stealing over $6 million from his former employer to fuel his gambling addiction. Wong was previously employed as a team manager at the Australian superannuation saving trust company AMP until he was eventually dismissed in 2019. During his employment there, the gambler grew into the habit of withdrawing hefty sums from AMP clients’ accounts to try and recoup the losses he incurred while gambling. Wong eventually decided to fight his gambling addiction and voluntarily confessed his massive theft to the local police authorities.…

A survey held of the UK Government found that most gambling operators have experienced a revenue decline of no less than 50% year-on-year because of the coronavirus pandemic shutdown. The research, called the Coronavirus Business Survey, was conducted by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). Around 4,000 businesses from various industries in the UK took part in the survey in the period from April 23rd to May 22nd, 2020. The major objective of the survey was to find out what impact has the coronavirus outbreak been having on…

Major confusion in Ireland’s betting shop sector forced local bookmakers to re-shut their retail betting outlets only a day after the venues’ reopening, after the Government addressed the Irish National Bookmakers Association’s request and confirmed bookmakers would not be permitted to resume operations until June 29th. The betting shop sector in Ireland has called for the Government to provide more details about the situation and clarify whether or not bookmakers will have to remain closed until that date. After the confirmation came, more than 800 betting shops in the country…

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled against a website called www.makelifeincome.com that is owned by tipster Paul Coleman and promotes an online casino betting system. Two of the upheld complaints were linked with unsubstantiated and misleading claims, while the third one was for irresponsible advertising of gambling activities. One complainant reported that in April 2020 they saw some headlines, subheadings and text on the above-mentioned websites that suggested that the system promoted by the website could serve as a substitute for normal income and was not related to any…

The online gambling company Bethard is set to leave the UK market in a couple of weeks. The operator became the latest gambling firm that decided to exit the country’s gambling sector amid the constantly tightening restrictions of the UK gambling regulation. The UK customers of Bethard revealed that they received emails from the gambling company on Monday, with the firm informing them that it is to stop accepting registrations from local customers after June 16th, and its UK-facing website was to cease operation as of July 6th. As explained…

An All-Party Parliamentary Group of 50 Members of Parliament has insisted on a ban to be imposed on all gambling advertising. The campaigners have called for the Government to unveil a £2 maximum stake online after a lengthy inquiry into problem gambling in the UK. The Group, which is focused on proposing measures for gambling-related harm, said in a report that gambling regulation in the country needs to be fully overhauled. The MPs further shared that the coronavirus crisis had only highlighted the urgent need for better protection of the…

The reduction of the maximum stakes British gamblers can place on fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs), which the Government had authorised, has led to an almost 40% reduction in police callouts to bookmakers to deal with customers who are becoming violent after losing some money on the machines. According to The Guardian, the 2019 legislation under which the maximum stake of FOBT bets was slashed from £100 to £2, with the step also leading to a 38% decline in the number of police callouts to local betting shops. In comparison to…

Gamblers have returned to poker machines in New South Wales (NSW), with data stating that the turnover in the first week of operation after the clubs and pubs shutdown has been at pre-coronavirus pandemic levels despite the social distancing policies and the lower number of operational machines. According to data provided by the gaming machine monitoring service MAX, the first week of June saw NSW Clubs’ pokie turnover slightly increase in comparison to an average week in June 2019. Moreover, hotels turnover increased by 31% in comparison to 2019. Online…