Author: Daniel Williams

Racing businesses across the UK have been expecting to get more details regarding the assistance they are set to receive from the country’s Government as a measure aimed at helping them to reduce the negative financial effect of constantly rising energy bills. According to reports, racecourse owners have been preparing themselves for a rough period, especially in the winter, because of the increase in energy prices. In August, the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) – the trade body representing the British gambling industry – shared that the sector needed urgent…

A long-awaited change in the oversight and control of the Irish gambling sector has finally happened this week. A senior civil servant has been appointed to the role of the first-ever gambling regulator in the country. Anne Marie Caulfield was chosen as a chief executive officer representing the Gambling Regulatory Authority in Ireland as a result of an open competition for the position. In the period from 2008 to 2016, Ms Caulfield headed the Residential Tenancies Board and was responsible for the execution of several briefs while being part of…

Political life in the UK has been shaken hard by the turbulence associated with the resignation of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson and a number of crucial figures in his Cabinet in July. A month and a half later, Liz Truss has taken over as Prime Minister but, sadly, the beginning of a new era in the country’s political life does not mean a new era for the local gambling sector is to start anytime soon. In fact, market experts believe that a gambling reform in the UK could be…

A reputable gambling researcher has called for the Queensland Government to make it mandatory for local gamblers to impose some spending limits on so-called pokies, praising the measure as a powerful tool to reduce gambling-related harm. The head of the gambling and social determinants unit of the school of public health and preventive medicine at Monash University, Charles Livingstone, explained that a requirement for poker machine players to preset such limits should be implemented across the clubs’ and pubs’ pokies in Queensland. Currently, there are more than 40,000 poker machines…

Australian people’s losses to the local poker machines have totalled AU$11.4 billion in a single year, a recent report has shown. According to the research data compiled from the Gambling and Social Determinants Unit at Monash University, more than 3.3 million people used the machines, which are also popular under the name “pokies”, in the states of Victoria, New South Wales (NSW), South Australia, Queensland, and Tasmania in 2021 and 2022. Each of them generated an average loss of AU$3,429 over the past year. Charles Livingstone, an associate professor at…

The chief executive officer of the Betting and Gaming Council (CEO) urged the new UK Prime Minister to get gambling reform right. Mr Michel Dugher reminded that the nation is set to have a new Prime Minister and a new Government in a few days but people should not make haste and celebrate because no matter who wins the keys to 10 Downing Street a tsunami of trouble will be on the way. A constantly increasing cost of living, energy bills, and inflation are expected to soar to an enormous…

After The Star casino in Sydney was under a scrutinous review for several months, the NSW gaming agency was handed a report into the practices of the company. The review in question was governed by Adam Bell, SC, with the company’s eligibility to keep its licence being the main topic of discussion. On Thursday, the state’s regulatory body made a statement about the long-awaited review finally being handed to the NSW Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority. Meanwhile, it still has not been clarified when the review will be available to…

Apparently, Australian residents agree that gambling, tobacco, alcohol and junk food TV advertising should be officially suspended in the country, according to a recent poll carried out by The Australia Institute. The local think tank surveyed 1,003 Aussies about whether TV adverts for certain controversial products should be allowed or not. The Australia Institute recently announced the results from the polling research that was conducted on August 29th, called “Give Junk Food and Gambling Ads the Punt”. As mentioned above, the survey was focused on the local residents’ opinions on…

New research from GamCare has shown that children whose parents can be categorised as problem gamblers are more likely to have been bought scratchcards. The charity organisation, which operates the National Gambling Helpline, is now warning that risks associated with early exposure of young people to gambling could pave the way for gambling addiction at a later stage of their lives. The YouGov survey commissioned by GamCare found that about 38% of the residents of the UK who were gambling addicts had purchased scratchcards for their children, in comparison to…

Queensland Government rejected the calls to expand a public inquiry into a variety of integrity issues in state casinos, although new allegations of illegal high-roller gambling operations were unveiled. Recently, Tim Costello, a long-time gambling reform and anti-gambling campaigner has called on the Palaszczuk Government to broaden the external review into the casino and include luxury casinos in Cairns and Townsville in the probe, after it was revealed that the venues in question are suspected of luring affluent Asian gamblers through underground agents. Under existing Queensland laws, junket operators (or…