Author: Daniel Williams

The Irish Republican Party Fianna Fáil could push plans for new pieces of legislation aimed at creating a national gambling control office that would be working on various issues associated with gambling and gambling-related harm. The national gambling control office is planned to work for reduction of problem gambling, restriction of gambling advertising and deal with alleged money-laundering in the sector. Reportedly, the new pieces of legislation could be officially introduced before Christmas. The party also intends to use its weekly meeting of TD (Teachta Dála) members and senators to…

One of the leading charitable organisations aimed at prevention and treatment of problem gambling in the UK, GamCare, revealed that it managed to ink an agreement with GambleAware that would guarantee it new three-year funding for problem gambling treatment. Thanks to the funding it will get from GambleAware, GamCare would be able to provide free treatment services in the UK as well as the National Gambling HelpLine until March 2021. Apart from that, the charity has also announced the appointment of a new Chief Executive Officer who is to take…

Right before the beginning of the Melbourne Cup, problem gambling in Australia is being addressed by a series of fake adverts released by The Peloton, a local comedy group. The company released two video ads this weekend, making a parody of the ads format often used by gambling operators such as William Hill, TAB, Sportsbet, etc. The videos were called “new ads from BrokeLadsSports365” and were aimed at highlighting the devastating impact that gambling has on Australians. Reportedly, local players are expected to spend a total of AU$500 million on…

The National Casino Forum (NCF) that currently represents the land-based casinos in the UK, unveiled a detailed response for the Call for Evidence made by the Government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sports (DCMS) in December 2016. At the end of last year, the DCMS rolled out a Call for Evidence, to which the NCF made some proposals for future modernisation of the local casino industry. Unfortunately, none of these proposals have been included in the consultation paper. As a response, the National Casino Forum issued a statement as a…

GAMSTOP, the new national online self-exclusion scheme, would take some more time to be implemented. As reported by The Racing Post, local gambling operators are to be given more time to prepare in order to be in line with the scheme’s requirements, so the official roll-out of GAMSTOP is to be delayed. Currently, all iGaming companies that want to offer their services in the country need an operating license issued by the UK Gambling Commission under the provisions of the Gambling Act of 2014. In order to protect local customers…

The mayor of Constanta Decebal Fagadau revealed that a third offer for renovation and consolidation of the Constanta Casino building was challenged by one of the bidders. Previously, two other offers organised for the same purpose with the seaside casino, were challenged, too. The Constanta Casino, which is situated at the Romanian seaside, has been in very poor state for years now. The casino, which was built in 1909, is categorised as a historical monument and is one of the emblematic sites for the city of Constanta. The casino has…

The leading UK charity which is aimed at dealing with problem gambling, GambleAware, has said that local gambling operators do not keep their promise to donate part of their income to fund problem gambling treatment. The charity also insisted that gambling companies should be forced to do so by law. As reported by The Guardian, GambleAware, which is currently the largest gambling-related charity across the country, had lost its patience after the companies failed to provide funding of its gambling-related initiatives aimed at helping players who suffer from problem gambling…

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Gambling Minister Tracey Crouch published the results of the Government’s gambling industry review. The review, which has been primarily focused on controversial fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs), is to be followed by 12-week consultation period, which is to play an important part in the final decision of the DCMS if the maximum stake allowed at the machines must be reduced. Apart from that, the UK Government further announced that it intends to make some steps towards providing better protection of…

The Department for Culture, Media and Sports (DCMS) is expected to publish its UK gambling industry report any time soon. The results of the review could change the entire gambling industry landscape in the country, since the report is to provide more clarity on matters related to the highly-controversial fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs). If the UK Government takes into account the arguments of all opponents of the FOBTs, local bookmakers could face a crackdown on betting machines, which have been described as one of the most dangerous forms of gambling…

Yesterday, the state of Pennsylvania has cleared the last obstacle before the biggest gambling expansion it has ever seen since it first made casinos legal more than a decade ago. The gambling expansion bill, which have been shelved a few times after the House and the Senate found it hard to get to an agreement, would now be sent to Governor Tom Wolf for approval. The current legislative session saw the bill emerge on Wednesday, winning a quick approval in the local legislature, despite the opponents of the gambling expansion…