Author: Daniel Williams

Documents unveiled by the British regulator, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), indicate many bookmakers operating in the country rely heavily on problem and high-spending VIP customers. According to the data gathered by the watchdog, such bettors bring in £4 out of every £5 wagered with online gambling operators. It is a widespread practice in the industry to incentivise losing customers and big spenders by granting them membership in VIP schemes. VIP members are rewarded with different perks like free wagers, cashbacks on their losses, and free tickets for major sporting…

A Ladbrokes betting shop located in Derry was robbed on New Year’s Day, giving the two female employees present at the office the fright of their lives. Detective Sergeant Marshall from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) stated in front of local media the robbery was conducted by two unidentified males who entered the premises shortly before 5:45 pm yesterday. One of the robbers forced and restrained one of the present female employees to the ground while his accomplice searched the Ladbrokes office. The robbers departed the shop just…

British gambling regulatory body and anti-gambling campaigners remain concerned about the participation of underage individuals in the gambling sector. In October, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) published a report to provide further details about the gambling behaviours of young people in the age group from 11 to 16 on the territory of England, Scotland and Wales. As Casino Guardian has revealed, the report was conducted by Ipsos MORI on behalf of the UKGC and was aimed at getting more details about the gambling habits that local underage individuals have. An…

Victoria-based rugby team the Melbourne Storm announced its plans to return to gambling through the application for a new pokie machine venue. The announcement comes less than a year after the NRL team decided to wean itself off pokie revenue. The establishment, which will be located in Melbourne’s Truganina suburb, is to house a total of eighty slot machines, or pokies as Australians call them. According to a planning application filed to the Wyndham City Council, the venue is to be located within a new hotel and hospitality building nineteen…

The United Kingdom Gambling Commission is now seeking views on proposed changes regarding the sales and prize limits for society lotteries. The Commission opened a consultation, which also looks at the current regulatory requirements and the fairness and transparency to consumers. The consultation, which opened earlier this month, comes after the Government announced in July that it planned to raise the per draw limit on ticket sales from £4 million to £5 million. As a result of the proposed amendment to section 99 (3) of the Gambling Act 2005, the…

Despite the tougher restrictions on gambling, introduced earlier this year by the government and by the United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC), the number of people seeking treatment for gambling addiction has increased in the past year. New statistics from the National Health Service revealed that there were 379 hospital admissions related to gambling problems in 2018-19. These figures suggest that, on average, the number of gambling-related hospital admissions in the past year was more than one a day. The unexpected increase in admissions of people diagnosed with “pathological” gambling addiction…

December turned out to be a dynamic month for the Australian gambling sector. Considering the rapid growth of international gambling operations in recent years, analysts believe that the trend would continue in the near future, and Australia would not be left unaffected. Unfortunately, the gambling participation rates of Australian citizens, who have been reported as the biggest gambling spenders on a global scale, has raised the risks of an increase in problem gambling rates, as well. On the other hand, the lack of diligent regulation enforcement in the country has…

A man was arrested at Crown Casino last week and charged with 88 counts of fraud after investigators found he had scammed a single victim, borrowing more than AU$2.5 million for a non-existent business opportunity. Nearly all of the money was lost in countless gambling sessions at the casino. The 38-year-old man from Dianella, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, allegedly duped a man who he knew from a religious congregation. The accused, who remains anonymous, was arrested after the Financial Crimes Squad started an official investigation into his unexplained…

This week, the advertising regulatory authority in the UK revealed that fewer gambling adverts tend to reach British children on television. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) published its latest report regarding the exposure of children to age-restricted TV adverts that is built on the watchdog’s previous research that covered the nine-year period from 2008 to 2017. According to the findings of the research, British children were exposed to an average of 3.2 gambling ads on the TV on a weekly basis in 2018. The rate is approximately equivalent to the…

The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) has issued a warning that video games’ betting-style features, including so-called loot boxes, should be classified as gambling and, respectively, be available for individuals over 18 years of age only. In a report that the charity organisation has recently published, the RSPH has urged Prime Minister Boris Johnson to stick to the Conservatives’ commitment regarding gambling regulation in the country and review it as soon as possible. The RSPH highlighted video games and sport as major areas of concern and warned that products…