News

British bookmakers say that gambling in the country has suffered a sharp decline as all major sports events have already been postponed or cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic. Three-fourths of the sports betting market in the UK are constituted by football and horse racing. Unfortunately for local bookmakers, both sports are currently suspended. According to reports, sports betting in the country has accounted for £1.4 billion in the year that ended in March 2019. Several large gambling operators have even already projected that this year’s profits would be considerably hurt…

UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has revealed that it has managed to make progress on ensuring safer gambling in collaboration with the industry. The country’s major regulatory body has previously unveiled three challenges to make gambling safer and reduce gambling-related harm for British users and has joined forces with the industry to make progress on the matter. The partnership between the industry and the watchdog will lead to restrictions under which individuals under 25 years of age would be prevented from being recruited by gambling operators to their VIP schemes. Apart…

According to a recent study, the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation (VCGLR) approved almost 90% of the licence applications for poker machine operations that it had received, despite the fact that even players are aware of the fact they could hardly generate any winnings while playing the pokies. For the time being, the gambling regulator has to take into consideration the views of the local council during its decision-making process but despite that, council opposition hardly ever stops a proposal, and such cases are usually quite demanding, expensive…

An Irish TD has called for the National Lottery and other businesses operating in the country’s gambling industry to cease their advertising during the ongoing coronavirus crisis. Anne Rabbitte, Galway East TD, has urged media outlets and social media platforms to stop promoting gambling at the time of the massive lockdown provoked by the Covid-19 outbreak. Ms Rabbitte has explained that gambling addiction has become a huge issue in Ireland, and there are currently more than 40,000 on the territory of the country who can be classified as problem gamblers.…

Amid rising concerns that British customers could predominantly turn to online gambling services during the coronavirus infection lockdown, there have recently been some reports that more than half a million people have decided to ban themselves from betting online. According to media reports, at least 570,000 customers have decided to suspend themselves from using their bank account to fund their gambling behaviour as they have been concerned they could spend too much money during Covid-19 quarantine. Basically, the people who were reported to have suspended themselves from betting online through…

At the end of the previous week, the major gambling watchdog in the country, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has confirmed that people are expected to become more engaged with gambling websites and online gambling in general. The gambling regulatory body has reminded that it had already issued new advice to all licensed gambling operators in the country and outlined the rules they need to stick to in order to keep their customers safe. The closedown measures have been unprecedented for the gambling industry not only in the UK but…

Some Australian experts have warned that despite retail gambling venues have been temporarily closed and all major sports leagues have cancelled or postponed their ongoing seasons as part of the measures aimed at tackling the spreading of Covid-19 pandemic, gambling and sports betting websites still make themselves available to local customers and could be accessed by gambling addicts. According to Professor Samantha Thomas, a gambling expert from Deakin University, more niche sports are being currently promoted, in the light of recent cancellation and postponement of the largest sporting events on…

Councillors from Derry have backed changes to Northern Ireland’s gambling legislation, saying that laws need to be updated in order to provide better protection to the most vulnerable members of society, who suffer from problem gambling and mental health issues associated with it. The most recent meeting of the Health and Community Committee of the Derry City & Strabane District Council saw calls for the committee members to take into consideration a potential response to the Department for Communities (DfC) consultation on Northern Ireland’s gambling legislation. For the time being,…

The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), which is the governing body representing about 90% of the UK gambling and betting sector, has praised the Government for its decision to provide some financial relief thanks to the so-called Covid-10 Package. The standards body welcomed the confirmation that its members will be eligible to qualify for “a business rates holiday” like other businesses operating in the retail, entertainment and leisure sector. About a week ago, the BGC had urged the UK Government to include the gambling industry in the scheme, after the…

British gamblers are getting more oriented from sports betting to much riskier online gambling services, such as online casino and slot machines amid the ongoing restrictions aimed at limiting the further spread of coronavirus infection. This trend has been confirmed yesterday by one of the largest online gambling operators, 888 Holdings, which explained that it had been affected by the current lockdown of the industry and the cancellation and postponement of most major sports events. As Casino Guardian has already explained, 888 Holdings has shared that the measures requiring social…