Author: Daniel Williams

The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has pledged to do whatever it takes to keep up the momentum in the efforts to raise standards in the UK regulated gambling and betting sector. The promise has been made by the industry’s trade body after the latest survey held by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) showed a decline in the problem gambling rates in the country from 0.6% in 2019 to 0.3% in 2020. The Betting and Gaming Council believes that although the regulatory body said the decline was not statistically significant,…

UK casinos and high-street betting shops received good news, as the Government finally have given them an opening date. The country’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson issued a detailed plan for the upcoming relaxation of the lockdown measures, saying that betting shops and other non-essential retail outlets would be allowed to reopen on April 12nd. Casino venues across the UK would be able to resume operation on May 17th. As revealed by Mr Johnson, the Government’s plan includes four stages and businesses should make efforts to get the best from the…

The National Party in New South Wales (NSW) has unanimously opposed the proposed introduction of prepaid gambling cards in a move that could set up the potential for a major raft within the Coalition government in the state. Earlier in February, John Barilaro, deputy premier and leader of the NSW National Party, shared he was against the proposal that would see the introduction of discussed prepaid gambling cards introduced for so-called poker machines offered by local clubs and pubs. According to analysts, the recently-announced report of Commissioner Patricia Bergin into…

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has unveiled a new awareness campaign that will seek to raise awareness regarding gambling blocking tools. The country’s gambling regulatory body shared it is still committed to enhancing its efforts to keep local customers well protected against gambling-related harm, now with a new consumer guidance campaign. The campaign is aimed at the general public, the watchdog revealed, as it seeks to raise the public’s awareness for services that allow British residents to fully ban themselves from gambling websites. In the “Money and Rights” guidance campaign,…

Irish Labour Party has unveiled draft legislation seeking to suspend all kinds of gambling advertising in the country. In case it is given the green light, the Gambling (Prohibition of Advertising) Bill 2021 would suspend all forms of gambling advertising. The sole exception would be made for sponsorship agreements. The sponsors of the bill have explained that the proposed piece of legislation seeks to cut the ties of the gambling sector with politics, entertainment and sports. Frankie Feighan, the Minister for Public Health and member of the Fine Gael, has…

After the UK Gambling Commission’s (UKGC) consultation into affordability closed last week, it became clear that around 13,000 individuals have taken part, providing evidence and submissions. The submissions received by the UK gambling regulatory body also include the assertion from one major think tank, which shared that affordability checks should be carried out in a way that would make them barely detectable from customers. Apart from that, the organisation explained that, wherever possible, these checks should be based on data which is already held by gambling operators. Yesterday, the UKGC…

A representative of some of the largest companies in the Australian online gambling sector shared that local punters should not be prevented from going into debt to bet. The remark made by Brent Jackson, CEO of Responsible Wagering Australia (RWA), follows Andrew Wallace MP’s call for stricter measures to be taken when it comes to online gambling transactions with credit cards. Mr Wallace has urged Australian banks to establish a voluntary code of conduct that would guarantee that players would not be able to bet with money they practically do…

The UK-based online bank Monzo has urged the country’s Government to impose stricter measures on all banks, in order to make them implement gambling blocks on all local bank accounts. In an open letter, supported by leading clinicians of the National Health Service (NHS), some academics and organisations battling gambling harm, Monzo called for new rules that would ensure that every bank customer in the UK is given access to a tool to block gambling on their accounts, no matter which bank they are customers of. The proposal comes at…

The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has announced stricter new rules seeking to prevent football clubs from promoting gambling services through their official accounts on social media. The new rules unveiled by the trade body representing the UK gambling industry have been unveiled following concerns that the social media posts could be used to circumvent the ban preventing minors from seeing gambling advertising materials online. Previously, some gambling adverts published by football clubs on their official accounts on Twitter raised some questions on whether this strategy is not used to…

Justin King, the former boss of Sainsbury’s, has shared that the Czech company that is competing to get the licence for the National Lottery could be the best one to run it, as it has great chances to revive the suffering high-street gambling industry in the UK. Sazka Group was established in 2012 and currently operates lotteries in the Czech Republic, Austria, Italy and Greece. Mr King, who left Sainsbury’s seven years ago, has been appointed by Sazka Group as one of the advisors to help it on the way…