Author: Daniel Williams

Australian gambling reform proponents insist on the introduction of tougher measures, following the reopening of gambling venues across the New South Wales province on June 1. The global COVID-19 pandemic caused gambling venues around Australia to close their doors to customers on March 23. It is estimated that the temporary closure of gaming rooms in the country has prevented gamblers from Down Under from losing almost $2.5 billion at slot machines, or “pokies” as Australians commonly call them. Gambling reform proponents were hoping locals who struggle with slot addition would…

The planning committee of the Birmingham City Council has given thumbs up to the plans for a new betting arcade in Erdington despite some claims that the establishment of such a venue could lead to more criminal activity. Gambling company Cashino has filed an application to Birmingham City Council to give it permission to turn a pawnbrokers site on the high street of Erdington into an adult gaming centre. City councillors have now given the green light to the project with five votes “for”, three votes “against” and one abstain…

Although the Federal Government has followed a stricter policy in its attempt to block unlicensed online gambling sites, there was an increase in web searches and traffic to illegal offshore casinos during the coronavirus lockdown in Australia. According to exclusive online traffic data unveiled by SEMrush, the number of “online pokies” web searches on the territory of Australia rose from 12,000 in February 2020 to 40,500 in April 2020, amid the shutdown and social isolation measures that forced local clubs, pubs and retail casinos shut operations. As revealed by the…

The Centracare’s gambling helpline has registered an increase in customer calls during the closures of Queensland TAB areas and poker machines were not operational because of the coronavirus pandemic lockdown. The surprising part was the fact that the calls were not made by people seeking help. As Casino Guardian has already reported, the nationwide closures of gaming rooms due to the Covid-19 restrictions have made local gamblers turn to other forms of gambling. Emma Every, head of gambling at Centacare North Queensland, revealed that the sharp increase in the number…

British anti-gambling campaigners have predicted that the return of sport could affect problem gamblers in the country. The English Premier League (EPL) is finally set to make a return on June 17th following a three-month stop. Many sports fans have been celebrating that, but campaigners claim that individuals suffering from problem gambling could be affected in a negative way. Now, campaigners have called for the authorities to impose a cap of £50 on a weekly basis for football fans to spend. The proposal has been made as part of their…

The Government of New Zealand has unveiled several proposed changes to the country’s new Racing Industry Bill and the piece of legislation is now expected to be turned into law with a 1-month delay from the initially planned deadline. The bill was filed in December 2019 as the second part of a two-stage implementation process of the Racing Reform Act and was scheduled to come into force on July 1st, 2020. However, the coronavirus outbreak resulted in a delay of the procedures, as New Zealand’s lawmakers focused on responding to…

According to a new data analysis of National Australia Bank (NAB), Australian residents have spent а significant part of their time and money on gambling during the coronavirus pandemic lockdown. The economics team of NAB has analysed internal bank data covering customer spending and payments carried out to merchants during the Covid-19 lockdown shows that Australians’ expenditure on gambling is 50.7% higher since the one registered at the beginning of 2020. No other sub-groups spending tracked by the NAB has shown such a massive rise in consumer spending like the…

On June 10th, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) issued guidance on its recent credit card ban for gambling payments carried out through any money service business (MSB). The major gambling regulatory body in the UK has implemented a new licence condition for gambling companies. Under licence condition 6.1.2, gambling operators are prevented from accepting credit card payments either directly or through any money service business, such as electronic money institutions, e-wallets or other financial technology that allows credit card deposits. As the UKGC itself explained, one of its key objectives…

Anti-gambling advocate and independent MP Andrew Wilkie called for the Government to ban social casinos in Australia, saying they are a dangerous form of gambling. In an interview with Tom Elliott, Mr Wilkie, who has been fighting against gambling-related harm for quite some time now, has highlighted that online gambling websites were getting a bigger problem literally every day, especially considering they have managed to escape legislation. At a time when the coronavirus outbreak has forced the retail gambling sector to cease operation, with no sports events available to bet…

British Ministers have called for evidence on video games that encourage customers to pay with real money for rewards – a move that could lead to loot boxes being reclassified as a form of gambling following concerns they were targetting children. The last few years have seen loot boxes become a controversial issue associated with video games. This week, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is set to roll out a call for evidence on the feature that has increasingly become more and more common in video games…