News

The digital ID and age verification company 1account revealed that the gambling sector in the UK has “universally welcomed” so-called digital identification aimed at ensuring better protection of gambling addicts and gamblers who are considered at risk. After taking part in a consultation that was especially held by the company, which currently also provides anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) services, all of its stakeholders believed that creating a link between the different betting accounts of British gamblers would have a positive impact on their gambling habits. The age verification…

The beginning of the week saw Iain Duncan-Smith, the former leader of the Conservative Party and Work and Pensions Secretary, urge the UK Government to introduce a new Gambling Act that is suitable to meet the challenges of the new digital age. In an interview for GB News, Mr Duncan Smith criticised the local gambling sector for having what he called “abusive behaviour” in pursuit of larger profits, claiming that they had literally used the most vulnerable members of society, including problem gamblers. When criticising the country’s gambling sector, the…

The current operator of the UK National Lottery – Camelot Group – is set to launch a High Court challenge following the decision of the UK gambling regulatory body to choose Allwyn Entertainment Ltd as its preferred candidate for the 4th operating licence of the country’s National Lottery. The current holder of the National Lottery operating permit claims that the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) broke the law when making the decision to award Allwyn and its owner – Czech billionaire Karel Komarek – with the licence. The Telegraph has revealed…

Irish 14- and 15-year-old students have called for their schools to teach them more about the risks associated with gaming and gambling. Now, the topics associated with gambling-related harm are set to be introduced to a redeveloped course in Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) available for students from the junior cycle. Apart from gaming and gambling, and the risks associated with it, young Irish teens are also willing to learn more about vaping, discrimination and racism through the aforementioned SPHE programme that is currently being completed. Sexual consent and…

The National Rugby League (NRL) will allow a controversial proposal under which the players of Melbourne Storm are permitted to invest in an online gambling company owned by the club’s Chairman Matt Tripp and News Corp. The move, which can result in the revelation that Melbourne Storm has started discussions with the NRL salary limit auditor regarding its staff members and players buying shares in the online bookmaker, has triggered the wrath of rival rugby clubs. Matt Tripp has been considered the pioneer of online gambling in Australia, as he…

A landmark study has noted that gambling addiction rates in the UK may be 9 times higher than the ones being claimed by the gambling industry. The survey was carried out by the leading gambling charity organisation GambleAware as part of its efforts to encourage more British people to seek professional help and treatment of their compulsive gambling habits and its results have been published only weeks ahead of the Government’s white paper on gambling review. In 2021, more than 18,000 adult Brits took part in the research. The study…

At the beginning of the week, the Chief Executive Officer of the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), Michael Dugher, made a formal promise that the trade body’s members will support the economic recovery plan of the Government with financial investment, new jobs and tax revenues. Mr Dugher also asked UK Ministers to take this engagement into account and not put it at risk in the ongoing gambling review by the implementation of changes which he described as “well-meaning but naive”, saying they could result in reducing the regulated gambling sector…

Managers of private equity and venture capital firms are getting more and more interested in expanding in the global gambling sector by making record investments into the sector. As Casino Guardian already reported, the US private equity firm Blackstone Inc. is going to finalise the biggest-ever deal in the gambling sector by taking over the Australian casino giant Crown Resorts for a total of AU$8.9 billion. However, Australia is not the only country where private equity and venture capital companies are trying to expand their presence. Private Equity Companies Willing…

Kiwis squandered over NZ$2.6 billion on the four most widespread types of gambling during the 2020-2021 financial year, the New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs revealed. The overall gambling spend of the country’s residents grew by 17% compared to the previous financial year. Class 4 slot machines located in TABs, bars, and clubs accounted for NZ$987 million of the overall gambling spend, which corresponds to a 23% increase. This is the highest amount spent on slots in five years despite the coronavirus pandemic and the lockdowns it brought. As a…

Campaigners from The Christian Institute have noted that neither the gambling industry nor the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) takes seriously the large number of gambling-related suicides. According to Public Health England (PHE), more than 400 individuals take their own lives for reasons associated with gambling on an annual basis. However, only 8 of these deaths have been investigated by the country’s gambling regulatory body since 2018. At the time of an investigation into the tragic death of the young gambling addict Jack Ritchie, Senior Coroner David Urpeth linked the man’s…