Author: Olivia Cole

One of the major figures involved with the negotiations of the sale of a considerable stake of Crown Resorts to the Macau-based casino company of Lawrence Ho has confirmed he did not think much on whether the sale potentially violated a special clause designed to prevent the Barangaroo project from being associated with criminal organisations. Yesterday, the New South Wales (NSW) regulatory inquiry into Crown Resorts’ suitability to hold a Sydney casino licence heard that the largest shareholder of the Australian casino giant, James Packer, insisted on the deal with…

The financial adviser of James Packer failed to check whether the Hong Kong gambling mogul Stanley Ho had an interest in Melco Resorts at the time when a considerable shareholding in the Australian casino company was sold to the Macau-based gambling operator. The involvement that Mr Ho had with Melco Resorts had to be checked before the 20% stake sale agreed Melco International that is the owner of a one-third in the casino giant. Furthermore, the Chinese billionaire’s involvement was found critical to the deal, as the restricted gaming licence…

Following its deal of becoming the exclusive online sports betting and online casino provider for the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, William Hill made its official debut in Michigan. The two companies that have joined forces launched their first sportsbook based at Turtle Creek Casino and Hotel in the state of Michigan. The CEO of Grand Traverse Resort and Casino Michael Schrader reported that the company is pleased to be working with the best in the online casino and sportsbook industry. They decided to trust William Hill…

The Australian casino giant Crown Resorts faced criticism after its chief executive officer admitted he had been unaware of the operator’s VIP gambling activity. That made the head of the inquiry addressing the suitability of Crown Resorts to operate its Sydney casino criticize the state of the anti-money laundering systems of the Australian gambling operator and said the investigation into the company’s operations unveiled a lack of transparency. As Casino Guardian has already reported, the inquiry commenced in 2019, after some media reports claimed that some organised criminal groups laundered…

The online gambling giant888 Holdings is close to announcing the appointment of an ex-lobbyist, who used to play an important part in the Former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s ascending to power, at the position of the group’s chairman. As revealed by Sky News on September 23rd, 888 Holdings was to officially name Lord Jonathan Mendelsohn, who has been working for clients in the gambling industry for years, as a non-executive director of the group in a special announcement to the London Stock Exchange. Later, the gambling giant confirmed that Lord…

The competition regulatory body of the UK is investigating the anticipated deal between gambling technology suppliers Evolution Gaming Group AB and NetEnt AB. On September 22nd, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) revealed that the multi-billion acquisition of the aforementioned companies is being probed, as the country’s competition watchdog is willing to determine whether the combination of the two companies may result in a considerable reduction of competition within any market on the territory of the UK for goods or services. Reportedly, both parties in the proposed acquisition deal were…

The major British regulatory body has recently revealed that the online gambling activity in the UK is falling from the high it reached during the coronavirus pandemic. Still, according to the latest data provided by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), this happens partly, as local customers are redirecting their betting to retail betting shops that have been opened lately. A few days ago, the major gambling watchdog in the country revealed that all online gambling verticals are reporting a decline in their gross gambling yield (GGY) from June to July.…

Every year, about 260 women in Ireland seek help with their gambling addiction. According to the CEO of Problem Gambling Ireland Barry Grant, this number is 5 times higher, compared to the cases 5 years ago. As the stress levels increased in the last few months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the organisation has reported a huge increase in females with gambling problems. A study from 2019 shows that there are about 40,000 cases of gambling addicts in Ireland. Around 4.8% of them are males, while the females represent 0.2%…

The billionaire owners of Betfred received dividend amounting to £10.2 million after reporting exceptionally large operating profits, as the Government’s restrictions on the controversial fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) had a much milder effect than the one initially predicted by the sector. In November 2019, the owners of the gambling business, Fred Done and his brother Peter, warned that British bookmakers were trying to survive after the decision of the country’s Government to sharply reduce the maximum bet allowed on the machines from £100 to £2. According to the figures for…

Australian gambling group Star Entertainment has distributed bonuses worth a total of AU$1.4 million to its top executives, despite missing their yearly financial targets while at the same time appropriating AU$9.6 million in JobKeeper money to cover the wages of its employees. The middle of the week saw the casino and entertainment company reveal that its chief executive officer Matt Bekier received an AU$2.3-million bonus for the 2020 fiscal year. The figure represents a reduction from AU$3.3 million a year ago and AU$4.4 million back in 2018. The Star Entertainment…