Author: Olivia Cole

A corruption inquiry has found that a gambling account funded by the Chinese billionaire Huang Xiangmo-funded suffered an AU$100,000 cash withdrawal at Sydney’s Star Casino only six days prior to the NSW Labour Party bank a same-size money donation. According to the documents which the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) has received, the money transaction was flagged as suspicious by The Star Casino on April 3rd, 2015, after a business manager at the property development company headed by Mr Huang, Yuhu Investment Holdings, withdrew a large amount of money. Then,…

The Liberal government of the Australian state of Tasmania released details on a new tax regime aimed at pokie machines located across pubs and clubs. The new regime will be enforced once the current monopoly of the gambling operator Federal Group comes to an end in 2023. The company is privately owned and managed by the Farrell family. It operates various casino gambling, hospitality, and tourism assets in the Australian island state. The Tasmanian authorities intend to end this monopoly immediately after the expiry of the Group’s license. In line…

Land-based betting activities across the United Kingdom are waning with high street betting shops closing down since the summer. Thousands of betting shops are expected to shut down in the following months, as announced by some of the leading betting operators in the country, including William Hill, Ladbrokes Coral, and Betfred. While bookmakers are blaming the stricter regulation and the recent cut of the maximum stake on fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) to £2, the reason for the apparent decline in land-based operations may hide in a very different tendency of…

Over the last few years, gambling addiction rates have been increasing in the UK, while local gambling operators have remained pretty much irresponsible to the gambling-related harm that affects customers. Even though the Government and competent regulatory authorities have been trying to implement stricter measures in order to tighten the control of the companies that have been violating responsible gambling regulations. In an interview with ABC, one of the most popular people in the British sports betting industry, the co-founder of the Irish betting company Paddy Power Betfair, Stewart Kenny,…

Australian politician Andrew Wilkie and Baptist minister Timothy Costello insist on the launch of a royal commission to tackle the local gambling industry, including the sports betting sector. Wilkie is also of the opinion a nationwide regulator should be introduced to properly oversee gambling operations Down Under. This comes after an investigation conducted by the country’s national broadcaster ABC. It revealed one of the biggest online sportsbooks Down Under, bet365, could be using underhanded tactics to drive in more revenue from punters and gain an advantage over rival bookmakers. As…

The sports betting business is not always as fair and transparent as it claims to be, as new allegations regarding bet365 Australia reveal. According to a former employer of the popular online betting platform, the operator’s practices were dishonest and unethical, to say the least, and probably even illegal. The bookmaker, which is originally based in the United Kingdom but is also present in Australia and regulated by Australia’s Northern Territory Government, is said to have blocked access to punters who regularly won from their bets on the website. Bettors…

The Government of the State of South Australia has proposed changes to the current gambling legislation, according to which slot machines or pokies, as they are known in Australia, will accept not only coins but also banknotes. Recent research from the Australia Institute, however, reveals that the vast majority of people reject the Government’s plans, believing that the changes would only increase the issue with problem gambling. The findings come as a result of an online survey of 503 South Australians who were asked whether poker machines should be allowed…

On-course bookmakers across Ireland are faced with a grim situation following last week’s disputes between the Irish National Professional Bookmakers Association (INPBA), Horse Racing Ireland (HRI), and the Association of Irish Racecourses (AIR). Things escalated to such an extent that the INPBA warned its members may skip on attending last week’s fixture in Punchestown and other scheduled races in the future. The parties concerned are expected to meet again tomorrow for further negotiations. On-course bookies are under threat of turning into an endangered species as their off-track brethren are now…

British online gambling industry’s gross gambling yield suffered a decline of 0.3% year-on-year, reaching £14.36 billion in the year that ended on March 31st, 2019. According to new figures provided by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), the revenue of the British remote gambling sector fell by 0.6% to £5.3 billion even though higher stakes were reported. Yesterday, the UK gambling regulatory body posted its annual industry statistics report where the figures were included. According to records, this has been the first-ever annual decline registered for the online gambling sector that…