Author: Olivia Cole

The CEOs of a couple of the largest gambling operators in the UK have said they do not intend to cut their paychecks despite using local taxpayers’ money to support their businesses and prevent them from suffering significant losses. On one hand, reports say that William Hill is taking advantage of the business rates holiday and the wage subsidy scheme to the extent of more than £30 million on a monthly basis. On the other hand, Flutter Entertainment’s Paddy Power is saving business rates of £400,000 every month. The two…

Aussie gamblers could be grateful to the coronavirus lockdown in a certain way, as it has saved them millions in the weeks of social isolation measures. Even though the situation with the Covid-19 pandemic is serious, anti-gambling campaigners find the nationwide closures of clubs and pubs that offer poker machines as a positive thing because, after the lockdown that was imposed on March 23rd, local gamblers were unable to spend money on the dangerous electronic gaming terminals. For some time now, Australians have been reported as the biggest gamblers on…

Five individuals have been charged with match-fixing criminal offences as part of the first investigation into esports on the territory of Australia. The Victoria Police Sporting Integrity Intelligence Unit’s detectives charged the five men with offences that could see them go to prison for 10 years. Last year, a local media revealed that the Victorian police suspected that some match-betting arrangements had been made in a semi-professional esports league, with associates of the team having been told to place bets on them. The investigation was given a start in March…

Gambling magnate Lawrence Ho has sold his stake in the Australian gambling giant Crown Resorts, putting an end to his group’s lengthy attempts to set foot in the casino industry of the country. A little less than a year after Melco Resorts & Entertainment, owned by Mr Ho, purchased a 9.99% stake into Crown Resorts, his company sold the assets it owned in the Australian gambling giant to Blackstone, an American private equity firm. Reportedly, the stake was sold at a loss of almost $330 million. As it became clear,…

Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) has admitted there will be lay-offs across at Tote Ireland’s board after the seven-year deal with the British Tote. The agreement between the UK Tote Group and Tote Ireland has been announced as an alliance, with HRI set to keep the full ownership of its subsidiary Tote Ireland. For several months, there had been ongoing rumours that the pool betting business, which has been experiencing massive falls in its turnover over the last few years, might be sold, either partially or in full. However, yesterday a…

The largest gambling operators in the UK have agreed to cease their advertising on TV and radio during the coronavirus lockdown, following the calls or a moratorium on gambling advertising to be imposed. The body that represents about 90% of the UK gambling, casino, betting and bingo operators, the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), has revealed that already booked TV and radio ad slots would either feature safe gambling messages from local charity organisations or would be fully removed in case the gambling companies’ contracts with broadcasters permitted it. The…

The owner of the betting exchange Matchbook, which is operated by the Irish technology company Xanadu Consultancy, has faced a fine of €845,000 (£740,000) because of serious failures in the anti-laundering measures it had adopted. The fine was imposed on Guernsey-based Triplebet, which currently holds the UK operating licence of Matchbook after an investigation was held by the country’s major gambling regulatory body, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC). Also, the findings of the UKGC and the measures taken against the company in the UK do not affect its permission to…

The UK online gambling company Gamesys has revealed a decision to reduce its marketing exposure during the coronavirus lockdown. The announcement follows the warning which local advertising authorities have issued to sportsbooks to be careful how they promote their esports betting services. Yesterday, the Gamesys Group issued its trading update for the first fiscal quarter of 2020, revealing a revenue increase by almost one-fifth on an annual basis, reaching £155.3 million. The online gambling company further praised its “strong growth” in Asia, a “healthy double-digit growth” in the US, as…

Credit analysts from Moody’s have shared expectations that the coronavirus crisis would trigger further deals among gambling companies, such as the one between the Stars Group and Flutter Entertainment. The projection was announced after the news that Flutter shareholders backed the Irish gambling group’s planned merger with the Stars Group to create one of the largest online gambling conglomerates on a global scale with a customer database of over 10 million individuals. According to Jeanine Arnold and Florent Egonneau, analysts at Moody’s, the coronavirus pandemic could be a contributing factor…

Australian punters managed to save about AU$1.5 billion by not playing poker machines in the weeks since the closures of local casinos, clubs and pubs have been announced as part of the restrictions unveiled because of the coronavirus pandemic. Still, the amounts that have been spent on online gambling services during the massive shutdown across the country remain unknown. The independent non-profit national advocacy organisation aimed at preventing and minimising gambling-related harm, Alliance for Gambling Reform, has reported that AU$1 billion has been saved in less than a month across…