Author: Daniel Williams

Results of a recently-held consultation show that there are many supporters of the idea of an autonomous gambling regulation for Northern Ireland. The consultation on gambling laws that was held by the Department for Communities in the period between December and February resulted in almost 400 responses. The Minister for Communities in Northern Ireland Deirdre Hargey is expected to make a statement in the upcoming weeks. It is supposed to outline the future steps of the government towards an independent gambling regulation. Unlike the United Kingdom, where gambling is regulated…

Today, the UK Government published a call for evidence on the impact that video games’ loot boxes have on consumers as part of its monitoring on the in-game items and the raising concerns that such features may lead to problem gambling behaviour. As Casino Guardian has previously reported, loot boxes are special items provided in video games that could be purchased with either virtual or real currency and provide video game players with the chance to get virtual items at random. These items could be used by customers to make…

The future amendments to the gambling legislation of the UK have been overtaken by Downing Street. This followed the increasing desire for changes in the industry by prime minister Boris Johnson and his advisers. With numerous bad cases in the gambling industry every day, it comes as no surprise that the gambling legislation needs serious reforming. The anticipated review of the legislation is planned to begin this autumn, with the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) being in charge of the reforms. Despite that, sources close to the…

Residents of the state of New South Wales (NSW) could be required to pay millions of dollars in compensation to the Australian gambling giant Crown Resorts in case the casino company is ordered to roll out stricter controls to guarantee that its Barangaroo casino would not become an arena for any criminal activity. The past two months have seen an inquiry held by the NSW state government into the casino operator’s due diligence and legal compliance procedures associated with its business relationship with so-called junket operators, who have been bringing…

Online gambling addiction continues to grow among the most vulnerable members of society, and still, some experts claim that neither the Government nor the gambling regulators are fully aware of its actual scale. The latest data about gambling addiction rates have shown that over 1.5 million British residents gamble through web-based platforms, with football currently being one of the most popular sports to bet on. This figure represents approximately 3.5% of the population and is considered a rate that has been constantly on the rise since it has been registered.…

The international betting company Lottoland has managed to win a second gambling dispute that has been taken by a customer of its to court. This time, it was cleared over an AU$238-million gambling case after a customer accused it of deceptive conduct involving jackpot competitions that were taken as Powerball draws by mistake. Earlier in 2020, a woman took the company to court in the Northern Territory, where Lottoland currently holds its operating licence in Australia. The woman, known as Ms B, claimed that she had won AU$126 million after…

Brigid Simmons, the boss of the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), has called for the UK Government to do more to protect the retail gambling industry in the country, including high-street bookmakers and brick-and-mortar casino venues. The authorities have already allowed the abovementioned establishments to resume operations as part of the eased social distancing measures associated with the coronavirus pandemic. In England, casinos were officially allowed to reopen on August 15th. The Betting and Gaming Council welcomed the decision as good news. Casino venues in Scotland and Wales, on the…

Justice Minister Helen McEntee shared that the establishment of a special gambling body to regulate the €8-billion gambling industry in Ireland would hardly happen until at least 2021. Early in 2019, the Cabinet gave the green light to a plan aimed at the establishment of a gambling industry watchdog. At the time, the authorities also published the Gaming and Lotteries (Amendment) Bill that was aimed at providing the long-awaited modernisation of the country’s gambling legislation dating back to 1956. At the time when the announcement was made, the Cabinet gave…

The customers of one of the largest banks in the UK – Barclays – who opt to cease their spending on gambling services are set to receive 72 hours before they can decide otherwise. The so-called cooling-off period will be enabled to give them a chance to reconsider their gambling spending before getting back to the habit with little or no time to think about the risks associated with it. Barclays’ banking feature as part of which gambling transactions can be banned is aimed at helping customers take better control…

The ACT Greens are set to unveil a network of clubs that do not offer poker machines in Canberra. The move will come as part of an extensive package aimed at reducing the dependence of the community clubs on pokie-generated revenue. For the time being, poker machine clubs play a significant role in Canberra, as so-called pokies are responsible for generating a considerable part of the clubs’ revenue. Under the newly-unveiled plan of the ACT Greens, a range of support initiatives is set to be offered so that local clubs…