Category Archives: Gambling

Government confirms online slots cap and betting levy to fund NHS services

Posted on by

Gambling minister says measures will be ‘instrumental’ in helping those most at risk of addiction

Bookmakers and casinos will be forced to fund NHS services that tackle problem gambling, after Labour rubber-stamped the previous government’s plans, which also include a cap of as little as £2 on the sums that can be staked on online slot machines.

The Guardian revealed on Monday that the government was poised to approve the new “statutory levy”, using proceeds of around £100m a year to fund research, prevention and treatment of gambling harms.

Continue reading...

Banks and bookmakers tricked by ‘sophisticated’ gambling syndicate may have breached anti-money laundering laws

Posted on by

Exclusive: Documents seen by Guardian Australia show syndicate placed bets with Sportsbet while using another person’s name

Banks and bookmakers that were hoodwinked by a gambling syndicate that created multiple accounts in other people’s names to hide their true identities may have breached their anti-money laundering obligations.

Guardian Australia has confirmed a gambling syndicate paid $1,000 to desperate men for their ID documents, which were used to create multiple bank and betting accounts in their names. Cash was deposited into these bank accounts and gambled with at least nine bookmakers.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Victoria to introduce Australia’s strictest poker machine rules, with $1,000 limit to be slashed by 90%

Posted on by

Andrews-era reforms to be introduced in state parliament on Tuesday will cap load-up to $100, $400 less than in New South Wales


The Victorian government will use the final sitting week of the year to introduce to parliament long-awaited gambling reforms, which will slash the maximum amount punters can put into poker machines at a time from $1,000 to $100.

The gaming minister, Melissa Horne, will on Tuesday introduce the gambling legislation amendment (precommitment and carded play) bill 2024 to parliament, about 16 months after the former premier Daniel Andrews announced the changes.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

‘Clearly an industry win’: concern over leaked classified document on NSW pokies reform

Posted on by

Government urged to dismiss recommendations, including unchanged poker machine operating hours

The New South Wales government has been urged to dismiss recommendations from senior members of an independent panel on gambling reform before they are even finalised. These include what has been described as a “ridiculous” call for poker machine operating hours to remain unchanged.

A leaked confidential report by the panel’s executive committee, titled “draft roadmap for gaming reform”, also details how gamblers would still be able to anonymously use poker machines until 2028.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Widow of gambling addict lambasts watchdog’s failure to investigate suicides

Posted on by

Exclusive: Annie Ashton, whose husband killed himself, says more people will die because of Gambling Commission inaction

The widow of a man who took his own life after becoming addicted to gambling says more people will die because the regulator is refusing to investigate suicides linked to the addiction.

Annie Ashton is planning legal action against the Gambling Commission after it said it would not investigate or penalise Betfair over the death of her husband, Luke – despite concerns raised about the company at his inquest.

Continue reading...

Australia’s gambling giants spent $240,000 on Facebook ads for US election bets

Posted on by

Guessing the colour of Trump’s tie among bets promoted by TAB, Ladbrokes, Sportsbet and Neds in the week leading up to the election

Australia’s big online gambling operators poured at least $240,000 into Facebook ads promoting novelty bets on the US election last week, including whether Donald Trump’s speech would mention fraud or what colour his tie would be, just weeks before the government is expected to announce its long-awaited plans to restrict wagering ads.

Between 31 October and 6 November – the day of the US election in Australia – TAB, Ladbrokes, Sportsbet and Neds were the top four Facebook advertisers in the country on Meta’s ad library tool, spending a combined $229,789 on politics-related ads.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Great Britain ‘lags behind’ Europe on betting ad regulation, says gambling charity

Posted on by

Public health concerns fuel restrictions across comparable markets, yet UK remains ‘lenient’

Great Britain “lags behind” Europe on measures to restrict betting adverts, according to a report released days after official data showed a sharp increase in the number of children with a gambling problem.

Restrictions on ads by bookmakers and casinos are increasingly becoming “the norm” across Europe in response to public health concerns, according to a report commissioned by GambleAware, the UK’s leading gambling charity.

Continue reading...

Proportion of children in Great Britain with gambling problem has doubled, data reveals

Posted on by

Gambling Commission figures show shock rise to 85,000 in number of young people suffering gambling harms

The proportion of young people in Great Britain with a gambling problem has more than doubled, according to “astonishing” official data that prompted calls for urgent government intervention.

New figures from the Gambling Commission, which regulates bookies, online casinos and the national lottery, revealed a shock rise, to 85,000, in the number of children classified as having a gambling problem under widely used diagnostic criteria.

Continue reading...

More than 500 new poker machines installed in NSW despite Chris Minns promising to slash numbers

Posted on by

Total number of machines in state increased from 87,094 in March last year to 87,644 in October

More than 500 new poker machines have been installed since Labor won office in New South Wales last year, despite a campaign pledge to cut their numbers in pubs and clubs.

In January 2023, two months before the state election, the now premier, Chris Minns, declared a Labor government would “reduce the number of poker machines” in NSW.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Rachel Reeves ‘missed opportunity’ to raise £900m from online casinos

Posted on by

Labour’s links to gambling industry questioned again after decision not to raise tax rate for online gaming

Rachel Reeves has been criticised over a “missed opportunity” to raise £900m from online casinos in her first budget as chancellor, amid concerns about the Labour party’s ties to the £11bn-a-year gambling sector.

Both the Liberal Democrats and Derek Webb – one of Labour’s largest donors – questioned the chancellor’s rejection of proposals to double remote gaming duty (RGD), levied on online games of chance, from 21% to 42%.

Continue reading...

How donations to political parties from gambling companies linked to horse racing have surged

Posted on by

A total of $2.7m has been donated to the major parties in the past decade from eight companies

Political donations made to the major parties by gambling lobby groups have surged more than 600% in the past decade, new analysis shows, as the debate over whether to implement a total ban on gambling advertising rages on in Canberra.

The figures, reported to the Australian Electoral Commission and analysed by the Parliamentary Library, show donations from the biggest gambling companies involved in horse betting to the major parties have increased from $66,650 in 2013-14 to $488,000 in 2022-23, representing a 632% growth.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

NSW pokies club promoted rewards scheme on first day of gambling harm awareness week, emails show

Posted on by

Members urged to ‘use your mobile phone to quickly tap and connect to a gaming machine’, potentially at odds with gambling ad ban

On day one of a gambling harm awareness week, one of the biggest pokies clubs in Australia reminded members they could earn rewards by using their machines.

GambleAware week is an annual campaign run by the New South Wales government to raise awareness of gambling harm. It urges people to set limits, to stay sober while gambling, to balance gambling with other interests and not to chase losses.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Major football codes and gambling firms directly lobbied Albanese’s office on ad ban, documents show

Posted on by

NRL, AFL and betting companies intensified efforts to try to influence PM in lead-up to finals

Newly released documents show how in the lead-up to footy finals the NRL, AFL and major wagering companies accelerated and intensified their efforts to directly lobby the prime minister’s office to influence a proposed gambling ad ban.

The gambling industry’s peak body sought to bypass the responsible minister and discuss ad ban issues directly with Anthony Albanese, according to documents tabled in parliament on Friday, which revealed details of letters, emails and meeting agendas and memos.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Shares in UK gambling firms fall £3bn amid talk of higher taxes in budget

Posted on by

Thinktank reports saying sector should be hit with extra £900m to £3bn in levies prompts market selloff

Shares in British gambling companies have dropped sharply, reducing the stock market value of large operators by more than £3bn, after the Guardian reported that Treasury officials could tap the sector for between £900m and £3bn in extra taxes.

The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has come under pressure from two influential thinktanks to raise taxes on the industry, as she pulls every available lever to plug a £22bn “black hole” in the nation’s finances.

Continue reading...

Poacher turned gamekeeper: the gambler who turned tables on bookies and lobbies for UK tax rise

Posted on by

Multimillionaire Derek Webb, a Labour donor, goes all-in with support for levy on online casinos and bookmakers

As a former professional poker player, Derek Webb is used to rising from the table holding more chips than he started with.

Vanquished opponents are left scratching their heads, wondering how they have been bested by a softly spoken, bespectacled septuagenarian with a Derby accent.

Continue reading...

Labour considers up to £3bn tax raid on gambling firms

Posted on by

Treasury weighing proposals as chancellor attempts to plug £22bn hole in public finances

Ministers are considering a tax raid of up to £3bn on the gambling sector as Rachel Reeves casts around for funds to shore up the public finances.

Treasury officials are understood to be weighing up proposals, put forward by two influential thinktanks and backed by one of the party’s top five individual donors, to double some of the taxes levied on online casinos and bookmakers.

Continue reading...

Assange says he is free because he ‘pled guilty to journalism’ – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed

National weather forecasts

Sticking with the weather, here’s a look at the forecasts across Australia’s capital cities today:

Continue reading...

Gambling companies gifted hospitality to 19 Australian politicians for major sports events

Posted on by

Alliance for Gambling Reform labels gifts an ‘undemocratic opportunity for lobbying’ but MPs defend hospitality as within rules and properly disclosed

Gambling reform campaigners have accused wagering companies of “showering” federal politicians with hospitality as the government considers advertising restrictions, with new data showing betting groups have given numerous free tickets to MPs.

New analysis from the Alliance for Gambling Reform, informed by a new database collecting all federal politicians’ updates to their parliamentary register of interests, shows at least 19 have accepted hospitality from wagering companies to attend major events including the Melbourne Cup, Australian Open, AFL matches and cricket games.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Calls for regulation of gambling ads in football as number of promotions soars

Posted on by

Premier League fans exposed to almost 30,000 messages in one weekend despite restrictions, research finds

Ministers have been urged to intervene to stop football clubs from setting their own rules on curbing gambling advertising, after research showed Premier League fans were bombarded with nearly 30,000 gambling messages on a single weekend.

Clubs in the top flight have so far avoided compulsory restrictions on gambling sponsorship, instead addressing public concern through voluntary measures such as a ban on front-of-shirt logos, starting in 2026.

Continue reading...

Gambling lobby pushes Labor to consider age verification to block minors from betting

Posted on by

Meanwhile anti-gambling campaigner Tim Costello fears Albanese government will ‘squib’ on broad reform

Opponents of a gambling ad ban are pushing the federal government to instead consider using age verification to block minors from sports betting content.

Earlier this month the government announced plans to ban young children from accessing social media using age verification technology.

Continue reading...