Author: Olivia Cole

The Lion Foundation has opposed the decision of the Tauranga City Council not to give its approval for further addition of poker machines to a new pub in Tauriko. A hearing of the appeal of the Foundation, which is now fighting against a Council’s decision not to give its consent for as many as nine poker terminals to be added to the Tauriko Sports Bar which is still expected to start operation, was scheduled for June 24th. According to the written submissions filed by the foundation, the application for the…

The Australian Football League (AFL) and Racing Victoria are currently developing a software platform aimed at strengthening the integrity of sports and racing in the country. Once operational, the system will track suspicious bets in real time by monitoring line-by-line transactions, account data, and participation of players or other essential personnel in betting activities. In 2018, AFL, which is also the governing body for Australian rules football, partnered up with the racing authority in the State of Victoria, Racing Victoria, to establish Sports Wagering Integrity Monitoring Ltd (SWIM). As part…

The 5 largest gambling operators in the UK have offered to increase their voluntary funding for problem gambling treatment six times. If this happens, the move will result in £60 million being raised on an annual basis to help gambling addicts but the proposal was qualified as a “bribe attempt” to avoid authorities’ tougher regulation. The five companies, which have addressed the Government with a proposal for an increase in the voluntary levy they pay from 0.1% to 1% of their yearly UK revenue within five years, are William Hill,…

The poker machine business of the Australian supermarket giant Woolworths is facing massive penalties or even cancellation of gaming licences following investigation reports’ proof that the company has been providing its pokie customers with free alcoholic beverages to keep they playing on the machines longer. The subsidiary through which Woolworths is operating the poker machines, ALH Group, is currently facing disciplinary proceedings as a result of the probe started over some whistleblowers’ allegations against the company. As Casino Guardian has previously reported, Woolworths’ majority-owned ALH Group, which is currently the…

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled against three gambling operators’ adverts following complaints that the ads were not appropriately targeted. The companies affected by the regulatory body’s decision affects LottoGo EuroMillions, Betfair Bingo, William Hill Vegas and Dunder. All of them would have to remove the adverts and never release them in the same form again, after being found guilty of breaching CAP Code rules 16.1 and 16.3.13 related to gambling. As said in the customer complaints filed with the ASA, ads for all four operators were seen in February…

A new survey commissioned by Roy Morgan has revealed that 1.8 million adult Australians have placed bets in an average three-month period. The overall number includes about 1.5 million Australians aged betting on racing events, who represent 7.9% of Australian adult residents, and more than 620,000 people, who represent 3.2% of Australian adults, placing sports bets. The Australian market research company has analysed betting pattern over the last year and revealed that the results show a decline in the number of local residents who place bets on racing events, including…

The trade association which represents the video games industry and serves a network for video game developers, TIGA, has recently reported new information showing that growth registered in the Scottish video games development industry came to a standstill in the year which ended on November 2018. Currently, Scotland is the fourth biggest games cluster on the territory of the UK, ranked after London, the South East and the North West region, marking a decline from third place in November 2017. In comparison, the UK games industry marked an 8.1% growth…

Another online gambling operator will be forced to pay a monetary fine imposed by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) due to failures to identify gambling-related harm and lack of prevention for money laundering. The main gambling regulator of the British gambling sector launched an investigation after it received reports that Platinum Gaming allowed a convicted fraudster to spend a total amount of £629,420. During the enquiries, the Commission learned that the deposits the customer made were so high and losses so big that Platinum Gaming should have considered imposing some…

The UK Government’s crackdown on fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) has resulted in increased losses for the British bookmaker Betfred. The company revealed that its losses have risen to over £40 million due to the stricter rules which the country’s authorities had imposed on local bookmakers. Although the report covers the twelve-month period ending in September 2018 and the official reduction in the machines’ maximum stakes happened in April 2019, the gambling operator claims suffered the loss due to exceptional costs estimated at £119.6 million. According to the announcement made by…

Earlier today, the major regulatory body of the UK gambling industry revealed that a £1.2-million monetary penalty is to be paid by the online gambling operator Gamesys Limited due to its violations of some money-laundering regulations and failures to prevent gambling-related harm. Following police investigation findings that the operator had allowed three individuals to spend stolen money to gamble, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) also launched an investigation into the company’s processes. The watchdog’s probe found that the operator had done nothing to prevent harm despite customers had demonstrated behaviour…