Author: Daniel Williams

A special commission in the state of Massachusetts that has been investigating online gambling and daily fantasy sports (DFS) across the state, voted on the classification of DFS contests. After its Monday vote, the commission recommended that betting on daily fantasy sports should be regarded as a gambling activity. The recommendation of the Massachusetts commission could turn out to be a serious hurdle for DraftKings Inc., which may be forced to fight against a classification that could hurt its business. As reported by Casino Guardian yesterday, the members of a…

The Senate of Connecticut has given the green light to the amended agreements that are expected to result in establishing the first casino located on non-tribal land on the territory of the state. The vote was held yesterday, with the state Senate approving the changes with a 27 to 8 vote. This happens only one week after the local House of Representatives greenlighted the changes in the state’s compacts with the two federally-recognised Indian tribes that have been operating casinos on the territory of Connecticut. The House of Representatives also…

An Bord Pleanála, an independent statutory body which is entitled to make decisions on appeals from planning decisions made by Irish local authorities, has been urged to give its permission for certain betting shops planning on the territory of the country. The bookmaker’s premises are located in a building that has once used to be a retail shop in Tralee town centre. However, a number of appellants have claimed that there already are enough betting outlets in the county town of Kerry. The formal complaint could result in the Irish…

Daily fantasy sports (DFS) operators are currently considered to have kept their positions mainly thanks to the players who choose to place their bets on real-life sports events as games of skill, rather than games of luck. Today, the members of a state commission are expected to vote on a major report concerning the relatively new industry. Previously, they said that a classification might not matter as long as they bring money to the state. Such a classification is actually quite important to the Boston-based DFS industry leader DraftKings Inc.,…

The popular sports gambler William Walters got a 5-year prison sentence yesterday, after in April 2016, he got convicted in what turned out to be one of the most-commented US insider trading trials over a large period of time. One of the reasons why the trial has drawn so much public attention was because Walters has been long associated with the billionaire investor Carl Icahn and Phil Mickelson, a champion golfer, neither of whom were charged with any violations related to the case. The 71-year-old “Billy” Walters was convicted by…

The situation with the gambling market in Ireland is getting more interesting by the hour. A certain filing with recommendations has been officially submitted from the Irish Bookmakers Association (IBA) to the Government’s review of local betting taxes. The Government has been reviewing the country’s current tax system, and now the Irish Bookmakers Association has urged the local authorities to create a betting duty regime that is fair enough to the local retail sector but at the same time remains competitive on a global scale. The examination of the tax…

Residents of the Australian state Victoria believe more radical gambling reforms should be enforced to help battle an escalating addition to slot machines or as the locals refer to them, “pokies”. The Deakin University in Victoria conducted a survey and its results revealed that the majority of Victorians insist that the authorities should concentrate their efforts on introducing more drastic reforms to battle the growing gambling addiction across Australia’s most densely populated state. This is further supported by various government statistics which indicate that many residents of the state are…

UK-based sports betting and gambling company Ladbrokes Coral released its financial results for H1 of 2017 and reported it is on course to achieve its target for the year. The positive results were released just days after the company announced Kristof Fahy has decided to step down from his position as Chief Customer Officer. The results the company posted indicate that Ladbrokes Coral Group was 1% ahead in net revenue for the period between January 1 and June 30, 2017. The Group has determined that its operating profits should range…

Two major online gaming operators, Coral Interactive and LeoVegas, were reprimanded by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for what the regulatory organisation considered misleading advertisement content. The rebuke the two operators faced was caused by several complainants, who interpreted the content of their advertisements and promotional incentives as harmful and irresponsible. Coral Interactive’s ad was seen on UK television on April 16, 2017 and involved clips of several professional players engaging in a game of football. The ad’s voice-over suggested that football fans can either choose to merely watch their…

Boston-based daily fantasy sports (DFS) provider DraftKings has taken issue with Massachusetts gambling regulator for classifying DFS under the umbrella of online gaming. The Massachusetts Special Commission on Online Gaming, Fantasy Sports and Daily Fantasy Sports was charged with the task of drawing up a report with recommendations on how to proceed with the expansion of the regulated online gambling market in the state. Yesterday, the Special Commission submitted its draft report to the state’s lawmakers, with the suggestion to authorise and tax DFS as a subset of online gambling.…