Author: Olivia Cole

Andrew Demetriou, director of Crown Resorts and an ex-AFL boss, has faced accusations of dishonesty in evidence he has given as part of the inquiry into the Australian casino giant’s operations after denying reading from notes, although there was enough video evidence suggesting he was doing so. Mr Demetriou has not denied that he had used written notes at the time when he gave evidence on October 12th. He has also admitted reading from the notes while facing questioning regarding potential money laundering at Crown Resorts. The Australian gambling giant’s…

Australian gamblers will no longer have their credit cards as an option to fund their gambling habits after a local bank revealed that it decided to ban credit card transactions for gambling purposes. Recently, Bank Australia, which combines multiple credit unions in the country, informed its customers that it decided to suspend all money transfers related to gambling and gaming through its credit cards. The ban will come into effect on December 1st, 2020. Previously, gambling was included in Bank Australia’s list of sectors to which it would no longer…

The regulatory body of the Irish National Lottery has found that Premier Lotteries Ireland (PLI) had violated the provisions of law and licence related to three scratch-card games. Yesterday, Ireland’s lottery watchdog slammed the company that currently operates the National Lottery for breaching three provisions of the National Lottery Act 2013, as well as its own lottery licence issued by the country’s Government. As revealed by the regulator, the violations were associated with three scratch-card games in which it found that the initially announced number of the available top prizes…

Earlier today, Australian billionaire James Packer revealed that he may be forced to reduce his stake in Crown Resorts in order for the company to be able to keep its operating licence. Mr Packer further said the would never return to the company’s board after facing the experience of being accused of links with criminals. Packer, who currently owns about one-third in one of the largest Australian casino operators, also confessed that the gambling operator published false statements to conceal any possible link to so-called junket operators that bring affluent…

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASА) has dealt with a number of signals, resulting in upholding one complaint against the gambling brand Foxy Games earlier today. The advertising watchdog, on the other hand, dismissed another complaint against Betfair Casino in the latest series of its rulings. One complainant challenged an ad for ElectraWorks Ltd, trading as Foxy Games, seen on July 11th, 2020 on paid-for Google search results. The advert was seen when the complainant searched the term “make money online” on Google. The person, who filed the complaint with the…

Australian billionaire James Packer has appeared for his first day of questioning in the independent inquiry into Crown Resorts. At the time of the questioning, Mr Packer revealed some issues caused by his deteriorated mental health state that had impacted his behaviour in the past. The hearing that took place earlier today, was put on pause because of a legal argument regarding the release of emails that Mr Packer sent in 2015, as his legal representatives have been arguing this information should not be revealed to the wider public. The…

One of the largest bookmakers in the UK – Paddy Power – was found to have signed an agreement with a woman, who received £86,000 in return for luring a problem gambler from a market rival of the company. According to court documents, which were obtained by the Daily Mail, the Irish bookmaker hired the 53-year-old Ericka Carroll, as a “VIP introducer”. As part of her role, she was required to encourage high-roller customers to choose the services offered by the gambling company. The hairdresser, who runs a salon, was…

Despite being a close friend of James Packer and an important part of the Crown Resorts’ board, John Alexander was not able to reveal during the New South Wales (NSW) casino inquiry in the gambling giant’s operations the reason why Mr Packer left the company’s board. The billionaire investor in Crown Resorts left his role as a chairman of the Australian casino operator in August 2015 and took a director’s position for a brief period before finally left the company by the end of that year. Packer, actually, returned as…

The UK gambling sector has been predicted to almost triple its value over the following three years, reaching £10 billion. The industry, which is currently worth around £4 billion, is also expected to see a three-fold increase in the number of people employed there within five years. For the time being, around 27,000 individuals work in the British gambling sector. The expectations have been revealed in a new report that is officially set to be released later in October by Robert Walters, an international recruitment agency. The report is aimed…

Some have been wondering why Caesars Entertainment is putting the future of one of its major venues – Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip – on stake, while trying to negotiate a major takeover deal with William Hill, especially considering the fact that the UK bookmaker has been facing some difficulties in its home market and is still not being much present in the US. The acquisition offer made by Caesars Entertainment has valued the UK gambling company at approximately £2.9 billion and comes after a rival bid from…