Author: Daniel Williams

New research from GamCare has shown that children whose parents can be categorised as problem gamblers are more likely to have been bought scratchcards. The charity organisation, which operates the National Gambling Helpline, is now warning that risks associated with early exposure of young people to gambling could pave the way for gambling addiction at a later stage of their lives. The YouGov survey commissioned by GamCare found that about 38% of the residents of the UK who were gambling addicts had purchased scratchcards for their children, in comparison to…

Queensland Government rejected the calls to expand a public inquiry into a variety of integrity issues in state casinos, although new allegations of illegal high-roller gambling operations were unveiled. Recently, Tim Costello, a long-time gambling reform and anti-gambling campaigner has called on the Palaszczuk Government to broaden the external review into the casino and include luxury casinos in Cairns and Townsville in the probe, after it was revealed that the venues in question are suspected of luring affluent Asian gamblers through underground agents. Under existing Queensland laws, junket operators (or…

Australian cricket star Mitchell Johnson has severely criticised the ABC broadcasting group after the media forced him to quit his radio position as he accused his former employer of hypocrisy over a violation of a contract clause. As Johnson himself explained, he has breached the “moral compass” of the media hub after being forced to drop his plans to appear as a commentator on cricket this summer due to a clause suspending anyone linked to a gambling operator from working for the national broadcaster. The former cricket player was expected…

The Racing Commission of Australia’s Northern Territory, a sports betting regulatory body that is entitled to the oversight of the licensing platform for both brick-and-mortar and online betting operators in the state, is now making a request for public consultation on the use of cryptocurrencies as a valid payment method in the local gambling industry. The use of cryptocurrency is becoming more widespread in the territory of the country. That is exactly why the gambling watchdog is now undertaking an ambitious plan to better understand the use of digital currencies…

The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has urged the UK Government to act on the crisis associated with local people’s cost of living, as the leisure and hospitality sector sees a significant increase in its operating costs. According to the trade body of the local gambling industry, the next Prime Minister needs to take urgent action in order to protect the hospitality and leisure sector from the detrimental impact of the energy price increase. The boss of the trade body, which currently represents 95% of the regulated gambling and betting…

The Attorney-General of Queensland has urged anyone concerned about Star Entertainment to refer them to an investigation after a number of media reports linked a major shareholder of the Australian gambling giant’s Brisbane casino development with figures from Chinese criminal organisations. As Casino Guardian already revealed, the company has been under intense scrutiny after facing some allegations of links to organised crime and allowing money laundering in a recent New South Wales (NSW) inquiry into its casino in Sydney. On the other hand, the Australian gambling giant is facing a…

ClubsACT made a proposal that could soon provide problem gamblers with the chance to opt-in to having their faces scanned by special facial recognition software that would help the establishments keep them out of Canberra clubs. The proposed measure would see a number of venues trial a system developed by COMS Systems Limited, a company based in New Zealand. The technology used by the system alerts venues’ staff about patrons who have included themselves in a self-exclusion database in case they enter the gambling or poker machine area of a…

Queensland’s gambling sector reported a 16% month-over-month increase in the monthly gross gambling revenue (GGR) in July. The gambling activity in the Australian state eventually resulted in an overall gross gambling revenue of AU$62 million in July, representing a 32% improvement over the result registered in July 2021, apart from the 16% increase from the results in June 2022. The registered improvement comes at a time when all sectors of the country’s economy have been trying to rebound from the Covid-19 pandemic and the closures that were associated with it.…

For the time being, the so-called high-roller rooms in the Crown casino are the only enclosed venues in the state of Victoria where in-door smoking is allowed. However, cancer experts have called for state politicians to make a move and ban the long-standing exemption of the casino from second-hand smoke laws. After the findings of the Royal Commissioner Finkelstein’s investigation into Crown Resorts were officially made public, earlier this month, local lawmakers introduced a piece of legislation aimed at tackling money laundering activities at the venue, as well as gambling-related…

Peter Costello and James Chessell, executives at Nine Entertainment, turned down accusations that were made in an email correspondence of the former executive chairman and major investor of Crown Resorts, James Packer, and leaked after a joint investigation piece of The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and 60 Minutes unveiling money laundering and other failures of the Australian gambling giant’s casinos. As reported by the Australian Financial Review, in the series of emails sent in June and July by Mr Packer to executives for Nine Entertainment and some journalists, the…