Author: Daniel Williams

Recently, Australia has been reported as the country with the largest gambling losses per person worldwide. Despite this, anti-gambling campaigners have been facing the opposition of a powerful lobby insisting that poker machines in the country should not be limited in number. Lately, South Australian election has kindled the sparkle of a massive gambling-related discussions, with the leader of the SA-BEST party, Nick Xenophon, being strongly criticised for his updated gambling policy. A few weeks ago, in February, Xenophon has surprisingly presented a gambling reform policy which did not correspond…

Reportedly, problem gambling affects about 430,000 people in the UK, with not only gambling addicts’ lives being devastated, but the ones of their families and friends, too, with local communities also being hurt by the constantly rising number of addictions. On the other hand, the social cost of problem gambling, including housing, social welfare, treatment and criminal justice in the UK has been estimated to approximately £1.2 billion on an annual basis. Still, regardless of the spreading problem, there is currently only one clinic targeting gambling addicts, which is funded…

Last week, the UK Government guaranteed that it would grant Gibraltar with a continued access to the country’s market for online gaming and financial services. The disclosure was made at a time when the possible effects of impending BREXIT have been widely discussed, amid increasing concerns that Gibraltar’s economy could be affected by the UK exodus from the European Union (EU). The minister of state at the Department for Exiting the EU, Robin Walker, shared that the two parties agreed that the access of Gibraltar to the UK market is…

Fianna Fáil, the Irish Republican Party, called bookmakers to impose a certain limit to the amount of money that could be lost online by customers. The political party made the commentary on the matter after the former Chief Executive Officer of Paddy Power Betfair, who is also the founder of the bookmaker, urged the authorities to make sure that certain restrictions are implemented. Last week, Mr. Stewart Kenny who is not only one of the company’s founders but was also on the bookmaker’s board until 2016, said in an interview…

The Government of New South Wales intends to consult with the wider public on the issues related to potential regulation associated with online gaming and gaming taxes. The authorities are asking for the residents’ opinion on the debate whether the state of New South Wales should or should not make a change in the gaming taxes to target iGaming. A four-week consultation period, over which gambling operators would be able to share their opinion on the proposed tax, is set to be announced by NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet. For the…

The Florida House and Senate now have only a few hours left to complete the negotiations over a new piece of legislation that would secure the state’s long-term agreement with the local Seminole Tribe. In addition, if given the green light, the proposed bill would open the door for slot machines in some of the state’s counties. Earlier this week, the Florida Senate proposed a state-wide gambling measure that would officially permit slot machines gambling in eight counties in case that their voters have given their approval to pari-mutuel providers…

Gambling and politics seem to become more and more related in Tasmania, especially at a time when the pledge of the Labor Party to suspend pokies from clubs and pubs and restrict them to local casinos only has grown to a key election issue. What is more, gambling operators have been widely criticised for making contributions to Australian political parties. Gambling issues seem to have influenced on the results which political parties generated at the elections at the beginning of March. A few days ago, Tasmanian residents re-elected the Liberal…

Gambling is one of the most popular pastimes in the world. Some countries embrace the gambling industry more readily than others and some jurisdictions show a higher problem gambling prevalence rate than others. There are a number of factors that could increase one’s vulnerability to a gambling addiction, including cultural, economic, political, and legal. Due to the easy access to various gambling options, it is easy to become a compulsive gambler. Australians are making the headlines for quite some time as the country suffers from gambling addiction epidemic. According to…

Japan was considered one of the largest untapped markets for legalized casinos in the world. For years, the political environment in the country was not appropriate for the introduction of bills that would regulate the industry. Soon after Shinzō Abe was elected Prime Minister of Japan in 2012, the topic has started to gain momentum. Each time casino legalization or expansion is considered, similar topics come up on the table for discussion. If there are several concerns related to the legalization of the casino industry, gambling addiction ranks on top.…

The City Councillor of Ilminster has launched a petition aimed at urging the local authorities to suspend adverts for online gambling and bingo websites from being aired on television. Linda Piggott-Vijeh has prepared and released the petition on the 38degrees.org.uk website, calling the competent regulators to put an end to TV commercials which are focused on popularising gambling. According to Councillor Piggot-Vijeh, such adverts are being aired at times when some of the most vulnerable society members are watching television, so they could be affected by aggressive advertising and marketing…