News

GambleAware, the independent charity organisation that combats gambling-related harm, has relaunched its Bet Regret responsible gambling campaign in time for the start of the 2021/2022 Premier League season. The organisation confirmed the campaign will return to radio stations, television, and digital advertising with an important message to fans of the popular team sport, namely to gamble in moderation and steer clear of placing impulsive or high-risk wagers. The campaign targets mainly male football fans aged 18 to 34 years old. Males within this age group are considered the most vulnerable…

Tasmania’s gambling regulator has introduced a compulsory pre-commitment programme that will apply to members of slot loyalty programmes at the two landbased casinos in the Australian island state. Starting next month, the Tasmania Liquor and Gaming Commission will require such players to set annual rather than daily limits on their losses. The new measure aims to minimise the harms associated with the highly addictive slot machines, or pokies as the locals call them. Loyalty programme members at the two Tasmanian casinos will have to set limits on the amount of…

Sports betting operators in Australia have left their long-time opposition to restrictions associated with credit card use for online gambling as the Federal Government is considering whether to make further changes in the country’s gambling legislation. The major Australian online gambling companies, including Ladbrokes, Sportsbet and bet365, have promised to support new measures that are set to make some changes in order to bring online gambling legislation in line with laws that govern the rest of the gambling sector in the country, including casinos, gaming lounges, TAB outlets, etc. The…

Crown Resorts is facing a lawsuit filed by a problem gambler, who asked to be suspended from its casino venue in Melbourne. The casino patron is suing the Australian gambling operator for almost AU$4.6 million he lost at the venue after Crown Melbourne’s staff members confirmed their actions were irresponsible as they repeatedly coaxed him to get back to the roulette table. At the beginning of the week, Ahmed Hasna, who claims to have been a regular casino patron of Crown Melbourne from 1993 to 2019 and sometimes spending 26…

Australia is falling behind other countries when it comes to the regulation of video games that have been blamed for encouraging underage individuals to gamble. Over the last few years, more countries around the world, including the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, China and Japan, are imposing stricter measures on video games, and more specifically, to so-called loot boxes, which market analysts and researchers have been blaming for providing children with gambling options. Australia, however, has still not adopted stricter measures for the practice. Loot boxes are a type of in-game items…

Members of Parliament are expected to suspend the so-called “VIP schemes” offered by bookmakers to British gamblers after describing them as “immoral”. According to reports, gambling operators have been using a strategy of assigning an individual to privately manage so-called VIP customers and providing them with a one-to-one service. This tactic has been blamed for fuelling compulsive gambling behaviour. The discussions on the matter are part of the ongoing review of the UK gambling legislation that is carried out by the British Government. The review is set to be brought…

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has published new research that is focused on exploring the gambling behaviour and experience of young people and adults between 16 and 30 years of age. The global insights agency 2CV delivered the research after using both quantitative and qualitative methods in order to provide the gambling regulator with the chance to further explore the views of this exact age group through their own eyes. The research is complementary to a wider research programme carried out by the UK Gambling Commission that is trying to…

Isle of Man-based gambling company Entain, which was formerly known as GVC Holdings, saw a record increase in its share price on August 4th after it rejected an acquisition offer from MGM Resorts earlier in 2021 and a $4.4-billion asset sale by the US casino operator resulted in hopes for a renewed takeover offer for the British company. The shares of Entain increased by 8%, marking an all-time peak for the company that was also ranked as the top gainer on the FTSE 100 index. As reported by Casino Guardian,…

The competition for the fourth National Lottery licence has been delayed for a second time. The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has announced an extension of the second phase of the competition for the Fourth National Lottery – a move that will cause the current contract of Camelot Group to be extended by 6 months. This means that the fourth licence of the UK National Lottery will begin in February 2024. The gambling regulatory body of the UK said that it had added a further 10 weeks to the process that…

Today, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) announced that it has taken another step in its efforts to deal with illegal online gambling operations by blocking platforms that promote and drive traffic toward some online casino services that cannot be offered in the country. As revealed by the ACMA, the regulatory body has asked local Internet service providers (ISPs) to block the aforementioned affiliate websites that usually present themselves as media hubs that provide independent reviews of gambling services but actually promote some gambling operators’ services. The communications and…