Author: Daniel Williams

As Casino Guardian reported yesterday, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) revealed the UK gambling industry statistics, publishing the latest details about each one of the sectors it currently regulates. Apart from that, the UK gambling regulatory body also published its strategy for the period 2018/2021. UKGC’s paramount goal has always been making gambling fairer and safer, by keeping crime away from the local gambling market. In its 2018/2021 the Commission once again reiterated its commitment to safeguard both local consumers and the wider public from possible gambling-related harm. According to…

The UK gambling regulatory body – the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) – published the gambling industry statistics today, providing the latest details on every one of the sectors regulated by the watchdog. The statistics are gathered directly from licence holders through the latter regulatory returns. Such data about the British gambling market is published in May and November every year. The latest statistics revealed by the UK Gambling Commission are for the period from April 2016 and March 2017 and include data about the online gambling services offered on the…

For the first time, the land-based casino operators in the UK have reached an agreement to contribute 0.1% of their yearly Gross Gaming Yield (GGY) to GambleAware, the leading British charity aimed at dealing with problem gambling. In other words, the UK retail casino industry would join forces to provide the charity promoting responsible gambling with a portion of its revenues to fund various initiatives related to education, prevention and treatment of gambling addictions. As mentioned above, the trade association of the casino operators – the National Casino Forum (NCF)…

Reportedly, online betting operators had been targeting young people and compulsive gamblers by using unwanted advertising and encouragements. The Deputy Premier and Attorney General of South Australia John Rau has been provoked by the above-mentioned trend of targeting more vulnerable individuals, so he threatened to reveal the names of online gambling companies that do not secure the needed proof of age information before their customers open an account with them. He also called for anyone who is concerned with these practices used by online gambling operators to contact the competent…

The mayor of Council Bluffs, Matt Walsh, revealed that is considering to take to court a recently made permission that could give the green light for a Carter Lake casino venue. At the Council Bluffs City Council meeting, Mr. Walsh explained to the outgoing Mayor of Carter Lake – Gerald Waltrip – that Council Bluffs is to take legal action against the afore-mentioned decision. He further cited the fact that no gaming tax is to be implemented for other casinos to pay to the state of Iowa and shared his…

The Irish Government seems to have taken into consideration a new extra tax on betting in an attempt to raise approximately €50 million. Such a move would result into increasing the levy on gambling operators from 1% to 1.1%, which would raise a total amount of about €50 million, which are planned to be redirected to support gambling addiction services. Reportedly, the cost of any extra levy introduced to the industry could also be passed on to customers. John Halligan, Independent Alliance TD, had urged for the Government to officially…

The City Council of Belfast has given the start of a public consultation about the construction of a large casino complex there. The project has been estimated to approximately £300 million. The consultation is set to officially begin on December 11th and to end on March 5th. The results of the public consultation is expected to be presented to the committee in order for the latter to consider and determine its position regarding the possible construction of a casino and entertainment complex in Belfast. The committee would be also expected…

The Chairman of Woolworths Gordon Cairns has shared his doubt that setting a AU$1 bet limit on pokies would be helpful for players who suffer from problem gambling behaviour. Currently, Woolworths is one of the largest Australian poker machine operators thanks to the fact that it owns over 330 hotels. Over its latest annual general meeting which took place on Thursday, the company’s shareholders and anti-gambling advocates put Mr. Cairns under some criticism and asked him questions about its poker machine operations. Woolworths’ Chairman was asked whether he would take…

Researchers from the Cambridge Health Alliance presented the gambling regulators of the state of Massachusetts with a preliminary analysis of the Play My Way program. According to a new study, players who use the special gambling addiction prevention tool are betting less and lose smaller amount of money in comparison to other gamblers. The Play My Way program is available in Plainville’s Plainridge Park Casino, which is the first casino in Massachusetts. According to the data provided by the researchers, the program has been having an excellent effect on gamblers…

A bookmaker has been arrested after the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) carried out an investigation into local fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs). The Police initiated an investigation aimed to find out if FOBTs are breaching the gambling laws of Northern Ireland. Now, it is the Public Prosecution Service that is to make a decision whether to press charges on the bookmaker, after a file has been sent after the investigation was completed. In case that the Prosecution office makes a decision that the case against the bookmaker is to…