Author: Daniel Williams

The states of Pennsylvania and West Virginia are experiencing a reduction of the amount of free slot play in the local casinos. Despite the fact that free play has become quite popular over the past years, the latest fiscal year saw a decline in the amount of free play awarded across the states. According to the figures presented by the Gaming Control Board, the amount of free play awards reached an amount of $681.2 million across the state of Pennsylvania over the 2012/2013 fiscal year. This amount shrunk to $622.4…

The Berlin Affiliate Conference (BAC) and Financial Partners Expo (FPE) are heading to Berlin, to return for their 2017 event there. The BAC and FPE event is set to kick off on November 1st and is to be held until November 4th. The major affiliate event is to be hosted at the Messe Berlin. Once again, 2017 is to see the Financial Partners Expo co-located with the Berlin Affiliate Conference. The event is known as the biggest and most important expo aimed especially at affiliates and introducing brokers operating in…

The Chief Executive Officer of one of the largest Australian gaming and entertainment companies, the Star Entertainment Group – Matt Bekier – projected that the company’s Broadbeach site is to have enormous success in case that the Gold Coast does not allow another casino to be built there. Unfortunately, Mr. Bekier’s dream of establishing a monopoly in the region may be destroyed, as the Mayor of the Gold Coast Tom Tate has publicly revealed a controversial proposal for a second casino site in central Southport. The local Government has announced…

The London-based event organising company Clarion Events revealed that the Young Gamblers Edication Trust (YGAM) has been appointed as its official charity partner for the upcoming Responsible Gambling Innovation. The event, which is to be held as a one-day symposium, is to take place on September 12th at London’s OXO2. The Responsible Gambling Innovation symposium, also known under the abbreviation WrB London, is aimed at gathering everyone in Europe who is interested in technology, commercial strategy and responsible gambling politics. The organisers of the event have revealed that in 2017…

The Department of Business and Consumer Services has warned South Australian punters to be careful when placing their bets. According to a recent report, local punters are wagering on an increasing number of unregulated online betting operators. This has seriously hurt the performance of poker machines in South Australia, which have reported their worst year so far. According to the figures provided by the Department of Business and Consumer Services, an amount totalling $680 million are wagered by local players on fruit machines over the 2016/2017 fiscal year. That is…

The fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) have spread everywhere in the UK, engaging more and more players. According to figures revealed in a recent ECHO investigation, which was carried out earlier in 2017, Merseyside’s bookmakers currently own over 1,000 fixed-odds betting machines. These figures look frightening, especially considering the uncertainty related to the UK Government’s review of the controversial FOBTs. Previously, the country’s Government has promised a crackdown on the machines, but things have been looking a bit shaky lately, with the pressure on local authorities constantly mounting. According to campaign…

The UK Government has confirmed that it plans to respond to the consultation on fixed-odds betting machines (FOBTs) at a time, when the matter has been widely commented. Lately, there have been controversial rumours that ministers could simply scrap the FOBTs review, and if this happens, the attempt to limit the maximum stake of fixed-odds betting machines could be simply gone. As Casino Guardian has already reported on numerous occasions, FOBTs have caused massive concern among members of the Parliament, charity organisations and market experts who claim that the amount…

A couple of days ago, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) shared an opinion on the increasing popularity of the so-called house raffles. The latter provide home owners who would like to dispose of their properties in an innovative way, by offering them as prizes in special lottery draws. The UK gambling regulatory body, however, warned that while such actions may look like a good idea, home owners must make sure they are not breaking any gambling laws. The UK Gambling Commission also emphasized on the fact that individuals who are…

As we have previously reported, fixed-odds betting terminals have been widely criticised about their high stakes and addictiveness, which turned them into one of the hottest topics in the local industry. Yesterday, the British daily newspaper The Guardian published an opinion piece related to the FOBTs, calling them “as addictive as computer games”. According to The Guardian, the UK Treasury has strong doubts about the fixed-odds betting terminals’ review carried out by the Department for Culture, Media and Sports (DCMS). Due to the strong criticism aimed at the machines and…

A woman who misappropriated approximately £360,000 from the British Red Cross has been sentenced to more than two years in prison. Mary Booth, who is a payroll manager for the charity, abused her official position in the charity where she had worked for over 30 years. Ms. Booth pretended she was making payments to employees and international delegates, while in fact she was transmitting the money from the Red Cross charity assets to her own bank accounts. As the 56-year-old woman herself revealed to the Paisley Sheriff Court, she had…