Category Archives: Gambling

‘Pretty damn good’: Tim Costello backs Perrottet government plan for cashless poker machine card

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Gamblers will be able to set their own loss limits, which will only be able to be changed once a week

New South Wales pubs and clubs will be given five years to introduce cashless gaming systems across all poker machines, with gamblers able to set their own loss limits, under a $344m plan developed by the state government.

The state’s premier, Dominic Perrottet, announced the package on Monday after months of public debate and major pushback from some of his Coalition colleagues.

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Shares in 888 fall as it removes CEO and suspends Middle East VIP accounts

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Online betting firm finds best practices not followed in some areas, including anti-money laundering processes

Online betting group 888 has removed its chief executive and suspended VIP customer accounts in the Middle East amid an internal investigation into a failure to follow anti-money laundering processes.

Shares in the Gibraltar-headquartered group, which last year acquired William Hill’s operations outside the US in a £2.2bn deal, plunged by more than a quarter as investors fuelled 888’s biggest drop in share price since 2006. Its market value has slumped more than 70% over the last year.

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NSW Coalition split on cashless gaming as independent warns against regional exemptions

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Premier Dominic Perrottet rules out different rules for clubs and pubs in the bush, in contrast to deputy premier Paul Toole

The New South Wales Coalition appears split on the future of cashless gaming in the state once again after the Liberal premier, Dominic Perrottet, denied the government was considering a carve-out for regional pubs and clubs as part of the scheme.

The denial was made less than 24 hours after the leader of the Nationals and deputy premier, Paul Toole, said the option was part of “ongoing conversations”.

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TonyBet fined for asking winners for ID leaving other gamblers unchecked

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Regulator fines online betting firm £442,750 for imposing unfair terms and failures in anti-money laundering measures

An online betting firm has been fined £442,750 for demanding ID from winning punters before it would give them the cash, while failing to carry out similar checks on potentially vulnerable people depositing money.

The Gambling Commission punished TonyBet, which is based in Estonia but has a licence to operate in Great Britain, for imposing unfair terms and failures in anti-money laundering and social responsibility measures.

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NSW treasurer refuses to say if $1,000 a day pokies spending cap is too high as he ridicules Labor policy

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Key independent MP calls for a $100 daily limit as Coalition comes under pressure to release details of its cashless gaming card

The New South Wales treasurer, Matt Kean, has refused to say whether he believes a $1,000 a day spending limit on poker machines is too high, as the Coalition government faces increasing pressure to release details of its highly anticipated cashless gaming card.

The powerful crossbench MP Alex Greenwich has urged the Coalition to follow its colleagues in Tasmania by setting a $100 daily limit on pokies, saying a cap was “crucial” for cashless gaming to work at reducing gambling addiction in the state.

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NSW Labor’s moves on poker machine reform renew pressure on Dominic Perrottet, experts say

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Call for detail on proposed cashless gaming scheme as questions raised about opposition’s pledge

Labor’s pledge to ban political donations from pubs and clubs in New South Wales while also introducing a 500-machine trial of cashless pokies has heaped pressure back on the Coalition government to announce details of its plan to overhaul gambling in the state.

Despite anti-gambling advocates and crossbench MPs arguing a new suite of policies announced by Labor on Monday does not go far enough, they have also called for the state’s premier, Dominic Perrottet, to follow suit.

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Victorian mayor calls on councils to follow lead after banning gambling ads at local sports games

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Tina Samardzija faces opposition from clubs and gaming venues but says children should not be ‘exposed to a message that gambling is normal’

A local mayor in Victoria has encouraged councils across Australia to follow her lead and ban all gambling advertisements at local sport matches rather than waiting for state or federal action.

The City of Monash’s anti-gambling policy, believed to be the first of its kind in Australia, is facing coordinated opposition from local sports clubs that warn they could be forced to close, and from gaming venues that feel unfairly targeted.

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NSW minister questions cashless poker machine proposal backed by Dominic Perrottet

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David Elliott says Nationals MPs also ‘sceptical’ and warns against ‘demonising one sort of gambling’

Dominic Perrottet is facing pushback from within his own ministerial ranks over his support for a cashless gambling card on poker machines in New South Wales after his transport minister, David Elliott, questioned whether the policy would work.

While admitting Nationals colleagues were “very sceptical” about the proposal, Elliott said he had cautioned the premier against “demonising one sort of gambling” in poker machines.

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Internal fight over poker machine revenue threatens future of RSL Victoria, president warns

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Exclusive: RSL Victoria is locked in a dispute with sub-branches refusing to sign up to plan designed to rescue state branch’s finances

The president of RSL Victoria has warned an internal fight over poker machine revenue represents an “ominous” threat to the future of the organisation, leaked documents show.

The RSL is locked in a dispute with 10 sub-branches that have refused to sign up to a new funding model designed to rescue the state branch’s finances, which are described as at “a tipping point” with no cash reserves.

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Complaints about gambling ads almost double, Australian media regulator says

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Acma calls for more power to restrict advertisements on Facebook, YouTube and Google

The number of complaints about gambling advertisements almost doubled last financial year, prompting Australia’s media regulator to warn current restrictions are failing to meet community expectations.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority called for more power to restrict unlicensed gambling advertisements on Facebook, YouTube and Google to better protect children and vulnerable Australians.

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‘Dangerous and deluded’: advocates and MPs criticise sporting codes for pushback on gambling reform

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Leading campaigner Tim Costello ‘laughed out loud in disbelief’ at peak body claim existing restrictions ‘had the balance right’

Gambling reform advocates and those harmed by online betting say it is “dangerous and deluded” for Australia’s biggest sporting codes to oppose greater regulation.

Support for tougher restrictions is growing, with Allegra Spender, a federal independent MP, the latest politician to voice concerns about young people being exposed to gambling via advertising.

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NSW moves to raise taxes on casino poker machines amid push for gambling reform

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Government proposal comes after clubs lobby criticised the lower rate imposed on casino operators

Poker machine earnings at New South Wales casinos will be taxed at the same rate as those in clubs and pubs under proposed changes by the state government, amid growing a push for broader gambling reforms.

If in place by next July, the proposed tax-rate changes could inject an extra $364m into the state’s coffers over three years, according to government modelling.

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Revealed: star football pundits promote World Cup gambling despite ban

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Spirit of rules on use of celebrities in advertising is being ignored, claims charity supporting victims of gambling addiction

Football pundits Harry Redknapp, Peter Crouch and Robbie Keane are helping to promote betting on World Cup matches despite stricter rules on celebrity gambling endorsements to protect young people.

Fifa officials estimate the last World Cup generated £120bn in betting turnover. Gambling companies hope for a similar betting spree for this year’s tournament, despite a ban on gambling in Qatar.

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The cost of losing the politics of pokies in the gaming machine capital of Australia

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Despite moves to reform the system by the NSW premier, two MPs doubt that much will change

During his final fortnight in New South Wales parliament, the outgoing minister Rob Stokes did his best to beat the drum for poker machine reform in his state.

In two blistering speeches, Stokes attacked the power of the clubs sector, saying it had become “distorted and disfigured” by its reliance on the $3.8bn in yearly pokies revenue and calling for the introduction of a cashless gambling card.

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Sportsbet calls for ban on using credit cards to gamble online as AMA warns of rising harms

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Top bookmaker says use of credit to fund wagering is ‘high risk’ ahead of government inquiry into industry

Online gambling companies could be barred from accepting credit card payments under a proposal backed by leading bookmaker Sportsbet and the nation’s peak banking lobby group, as the federal government probes further restrictions on betting.

The Australian Medical Association meanwhile warned there was “little evidence” current regulation was addressing problem gambling online, raising fears about its growth during the Covid pandemic.

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NSW eyes voluntary gambling cards as minister blasts pokies venues as ‘bloated concrete bunkers’

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Retiring planning minister Rob Stokes says poker machine gambling has turned clubs into ‘brutal, unwelcoming junk spaces’ and ‘enslaved’ people

A significantly expanded voluntary trial of cashless gambling cards is firming as the most likely response to a scathing New South Wales Crime Commission report, which found only a mandatory scheme would be effective in combating money laundering in the state’s pubs and clubs.

As pressure mounts on the government to tackle gambling reform in the lead-up to the March election, a senior government minister, Rob Stokes, upped the ante with a blistering speech on Wednesday night, saying the state’s clubs have been “distorted and disfigured” by their reliance on poker machine revenue. He called for a ban on “gambling advertising that programs young people to a lifetime of addiction”.

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ClubsNSW suggests use of facial recognition could go beyond identifying problem gamblers

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Exclusive: Lobby group links technology to identification of people barred from venues for disorderly behaviour

People kicked out of New South Wales pubs for being too drunk could be tracked via facial recognition technology if new laws introduced to parliament last week are not changed, with the powerful gambling lobby refusing to rule out expanding the use of the controversial tool.

A week after ClubsNSW announced it would roll out facial recognition technology to pubs and clubs across the state as a harm minimisation tool that could “only be used to enforce self exclusion” by gamblers, it now concedes its use will be more widespread.

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Billions in ‘dirty’ money going into NSW pokies should be addressed by cashless gaming card, crime commission says

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Review finds measure is needed to break ‘link between organised crime and gaming machines’

New South Wales should introduce a cashless gambling card to address the billions of dollars in “dirty” money being gambled in pubs and clubs in the state every year, the state’s crime commission has found.

On Wednesday a joint law enforcement agency inquiry into money laundering in NSW issued a damning final report that found “large sums” of the proceeds of crime are gambled by criminals in pubs and clubs across the state, “rewarding and perpetuating crime in the community”.

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Star ‘unsuitable’ to hold a casino licence in Queensland, state government says

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Independent review found a ‘serious dereliction’ of anti-money laundering responsibilities

Star Entertainment has been declared unfit to hold a casino licence in Queensland and will be issued with a notice to explain why it should continue to operate in the state.

Former judge Robert Gotterson’s report into the ASX-listed casino operator was released on Thursday after a public investigation into Star’s conduct in Queensland.

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Casino regulator launches investigation into Crown Resorts for providing credit to gamble

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Royal commission found bank and blank cheques had been exchanged for chips at Crown in Melbourne in breach of restrictions

Victoria’s casino regulator has taken action against Crown Resorts for the third time this year, launching an investigation into the use of bank and blank cheques by gamblers that could result in a fine of up to $100m.

The Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission (VGCCC) is investigating Crown after findings by a royal commission that it provided credit to gamble at its Melbourne casino, which is against the law in Victoria.

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