News

The UK gambling watchdog came under criticism by British politician Julian Knight who accused it of attempting to obstruct his enquiry into the regulator’s role in lottery oversight. MP Julian Knight, who was elected as Chair of the Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport Committee (DCMS Committee) in early 2020, claims the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) is overstepping its power after it said his enquiry endangered the probity of the bidding process for a new National Lottery license. MP Knight received a letter from UKGC’s Chief Executive Mr. Andrew Rhodes where…

British gambling company Rank Group disclosed today it has suffered operating losses of £93 million due to the coronavirus pandemic. The restrictions forced the London-listed company to shut down its brick-and-mortar venues for almost 60% of the year. The firm reports its yearly net gaming revenue has dropped almost in half, from £629.7 million the previous year to £329.6 million. Rank Group, which owns the Grosvenor Casinos, Enracha, and Mecca brands, says its underlying net gambling revenue dropped to £288.2 million compared to the previous year’s results of £575.6 million.…

Ireland’s republican and democratic socialist party Sinn Féin condemned the state of the country’s gambling regulation yesterday, accusing the local government of “doing nothing” to combat problem gambling and gambling-related harm. Mr. Thomas Gould, the party’s spokesperson on Addiction, Recovery, and Wellbeing referred to the lack of regulatory oversight in the local betting industry as “frightening” and “unbelievable”. The party made several proposals to boost the level of regulation in the sector. One of them is to prohibit the broadcasts of gambling advertisements on local radio and television between 6…

GambleAware, the independent charity organisation that combats gambling-related harm, announced today it is to donate £4 million for the establishment of the Research Hub, the UK’s first academic institution to specialise in problem gambling research. The announcement comes as part of GambleAware’s commitment to expanding research capabilities in the sphere of gambling-associated harms in the UK and around the globe. The grant charity will donate the sum over the course of eight months. The organisation will focus on introducing new disciplines to the field of problem gambling research, whilst developing…

The plans for building an arcade and adult gambling centre in Monmouth, Wales, have been met with strong opposition on behalf of the local community. The Monmouthshire County Council has received over 200 objections to building the centre along with a petition with 419 signatures from residents. The property in question was previously occupied by a DS Music shop and has recently gained a gaming license approval from the Monmouthshire County Council. The license application was filed by Mr. Henry Danter who owns the Barry Island Pleasure Park and is…

GambleAware, the independent charity organisation that combats gambling-related harm, has relaunched its Bet Regret responsible gambling campaign in time for the start of the 2021/2022 Premier League season. The organisation confirmed the campaign will return to radio stations, television, and digital advertising with an important message to fans of the popular team sport, namely to gamble in moderation and steer clear of placing impulsive or high-risk wagers. The campaign targets mainly male football fans aged 18 to 34 years old. Males within this age group are considered the most vulnerable…

Tasmania’s gambling regulator has introduced a compulsory pre-commitment programme that will apply to members of slot loyalty programmes at the two landbased casinos in the Australian island state. Starting next month, the Tasmania Liquor and Gaming Commission will require such players to set annual rather than daily limits on their losses. The new measure aims to minimise the harms associated with the highly addictive slot machines, or pokies as the locals call them. Loyalty programme members at the two Tasmanian casinos will have to set limits on the amount of…

Sports betting operators in Australia have left their long-time opposition to restrictions associated with credit card use for online gambling as the Federal Government is considering whether to make further changes in the country’s gambling legislation. The major Australian online gambling companies, including Ladbrokes, Sportsbet and bet365, have promised to support new measures that are set to make some changes in order to bring online gambling legislation in line with laws that govern the rest of the gambling sector in the country, including casinos, gaming lounges, TAB outlets, etc. The…

Crown Resorts is facing a lawsuit filed by a problem gambler, who asked to be suspended from its casino venue in Melbourne. The casino patron is suing the Australian gambling operator for almost AU$4.6 million he lost at the venue after Crown Melbourne’s staff members confirmed their actions were irresponsible as they repeatedly coaxed him to get back to the roulette table. At the beginning of the week, Ahmed Hasna, who claims to have been a regular casino patron of Crown Melbourne from 1993 to 2019 and sometimes spending 26…

Australia is falling behind other countries when it comes to the regulation of video games that have been blamed for encouraging underage individuals to gamble. Over the last few years, more countries around the world, including the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, China and Japan, are imposing stricter measures on video games, and more specifically, to so-called loot boxes, which market analysts and researchers have been blaming for providing children with gambling options. Australia, however, has still not adopted stricter measures for the practice. Loot boxes are a type of in-game items…