Author: Daniel Williams

GambleAware, the largest British gambling charity organisation, released its new interactive maps that are especially aimed at helping with the identification of the usage and the reported demand for support and treatment of gambling-related harm in the UK. On May 25th, the charity revealed that its annual nationwide support and treatment survey in the UK provided a representative overview of the actual usage and the reported demand for treatment and support of gambling-related harm. GambleAware also noted that the survey produced some data about the prevalence of the negative effects…

A Lincoln scammer suffering from problem gambling, who deliberately deceived 85 people by selling them non-existent tickets to events, has faced conviction but managed to avoid getting an imprisonment sentence. The gambling addict, Jesse Wilkinson, won the trust of the victims by approaching them on Facebook and chatting with them over the platform. The chats usually started with him sympathising with the people when they missed out on tickets for in-demand events. Prosecutor Jeremy Janes revealed that the scammer needed the money to fund his gambling habit that had deteriorated…

Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, British gambling operators have been looking to establish a better presence online and to expand their online offerings, as the lengthy lockdowns and social distancing measures associated with the coronavirus have had their betting shops shut. The measures that have been imposed by the UK Government as part of the efforts to tackle the infection from spreading further, such as closures of social and commercial venues, while all major sporting events have been cancelled on a global scale. Despite the extensive closures of…

Amid the ongoing review of the 2005 Gambling Act in the UK, the regulating bodies and the gambling industry have decided to work together towards ensuring a safe gambling environment for players. This week, the Betting Gaming Council (BGC) announced the dates for this year’s Safer Gambling Week. The event is scheduled to take place on November 1 to November 7, 2021, bringing together the Betting and Gaming Council, the British Amusement Catering Trade Association (Bacta), and the Bingo Association. These authorities have joined forces to bring awareness and promote…

The Lasseters Casino in Alice Springs has been taken over by a new owner, the Northern Territory has seen the number of poker machines per person rise more than twice in comparison to the one in Victoria. According to reports, the figure is almost as big as the one in the state of South Australia. Under the existing laws, venues in the Northern Territory are required to submit an application along with a community impact analysis in case they are willing to get an operating licence or boost the number…

Crown Resorts’ Chief of Financial Crime and Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO), Nick Stokes, told the Victorian Royal Commission his attempts to bring additional members to the group’s understaffed anti-money laundering department were stifled under the pretence “casinos had always been that way”. Mr Stokes joined the gambling company in the fall of 2019 and was quick to identify the issues associated with its junket operations. A New South Wales inquiry into Crown’s operations in 2020 established certain junkets frequently received support from organised crime syndicates that engage in illicit…

The beginning of the week saw Victorian gambling watchdog provide evidence to the Royal Commission into Crown Resorts that the gambling company management’s lied and intentionally delayed to launch an investigation into the arrests of the 19 China-based employees of the operator in 2016. One of the investigators at the state’s gambling watchdog, Timothy Bryant, explained that the refusal of Crown Resorts to cooperate took it more time to find out the truth about the Australian casino giant’s failings to protect its staff members. As Casino Guardian reported at the…

A think tank led by former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith has stated that the authorities should place banks under a legal duty of care in order to help gambling addicts stop spending money they cannot actually afford to lose. According to a study held by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), the Government should establish a new ombudsman figure empowered to order the gambling operators to slow the gameplay pace for problem gamblers, to reduce their betting stakes, or to stop accepting more bets from a problem gambler for…

This week, Perth Casino Royal Commission heard that state regulators were unwilling to check the venue about some potential criminal risks that might have occurred. This has been considered one of the most scandalous revelations made before the Royal Commission, even amid allegations of criminal infiltration and money laundering the Crown Resorts’ gambling facility in Perth. When asked how they used to monitor money laundering, Barry Sargeant, the former chair of the Gaming and Wagering Commission in Western Australia, explained that he thought such monitoring and control was carried out…

New research has suggested that underage individuals as young as 14 years old in Ireland are being exposed to gambling in a variety of ways. Some Government officials and local lawmakers have criticised gambling operators earmarking them as irresponsible and calling for them to impose stricter measures on gambling advertising. It turns out that gambling is being encountered by children in Ireland on a daily basis, with the matter raising some public safety concerns. Every year, a study to examine gambling participation trends among young people in England and Scotland…