Category Archives: Gambling

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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Stake.com told not to use Everton branding in $5,000 betting offer

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Club’s shirt sponsor criticised for offering $10 free bet to anyone who wagers large amount in a week

Everton FC has told its sponsor Stake.com to stop using its imagery in an international promotion offering a $10 free bet to anyone who wagers $5,000 in the space of a week.

Football fans and campaign groups had criticised the marketing scheme and questioned Everton’s apparent involvement.

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Man with alleged mafia links allowed to gamble in Queensland after he was barred from other casinos, inquiry hears

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Man became a top 10 player at the Star Gold Coast after being banned from Melbourne and Sydney casinos

Star Entertainment allowed a patron barred from casinos in two states and allegedly linked to the Italian mafia to continue gambling in its Queensland venues for years, an inquiry has heard.

The man became one of the top 10 players at the Star Gold Coast after he was banned from the Crown Melbourne in 2014, and New South Wales police barred him from attending The Star, Sydney, seven months later.

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Sydney’s Star casino ordered to pay $285,000 jackpot to disabled man after withholding 2019 win

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Judge says Star must also pay $35,000 interest, ruling casino’s failure to initially pay out win was ‘misconceived and breached the contract’ of wager

A $285,000 jackpot won by a disabled man with the assistance of a previously banned gambler at Star casino in Sydney must be paid out in full, a court has ruled.

David Joe on Friday was awarded almost $320,000 including interest in the district court, which found the casino illegally refused to hand over a jackpot won in October 2019.

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Nine publisher says he was not contacted by Peter Costello over Nine’s Crown coverage

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James Chessell sends email to staff after both he and the Nine chairman were the subject of an email attack by James Packer

The Sydney Morning Herald and the Age’s publisher,James Chessell, has told staff at the Nine newspapers that he was not contacted by the Nine chairman, Peter Costello, in relation to the group’s award-winning coverage of money laundering at Crown casino.

“I never heard a word from Peter Costello about Crown Unmasked before, during or after publication/broadcast,” Chessell said in an email to staff on Monday morning, after both he and the Nine chairman were the subject of an email attack by billionaire James Packer.

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NSW clubs’ lobby alleges whistleblower Troy Stolz waged media campaign to ‘tarnish’ its reputation

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ClubsNSW alleges in a federal court document that sending information to journalists was intended to breach confidentiality

The New South Wales’ club lobby is using emails between whistleblower Troy Stolz and journalists at five major media outlets to argue he waged a campaign to “tarnish” its reputation with confidential information about its alleged failures to comply with laws designed to prevent money laundering and terror financing, according to court documents.

ClubsNSW is suing Stolz, a former employee, over his handling of internal documents, including a series of documents he sent to journalists.

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‘Zombie government’: more than half of departments delay key decisions

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As an economic crisis looms in the UK, legislation shelved and deadlines missed on energy, online safety and gambling laws

Mining along the west coast of Cumbria goes back to at least the 1600s, and this summer the local community awaited a crucial government decision on whether a new deep coalmine operation would be given the go-ahead.

While proponents of the £165m deep coalmine near Whitehaven say it would create jobs and help power the UK’s steel industry, environmental campaigners say it would undermine the government’s commitment to meeting climate targets.

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ClubsNSW warned Friendlyjordies that whistleblower interview was in contempt of court

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Club lobby said refusal to delete YouTube video would make ‘matters worse’ for former employee Troy Stolz

New South Wales’ powerful club lobby sent a legal letter telling YouTuber Friendlyjordies to immediately remove an interview with whistleblower and cancer sufferer Troy Stolz, warning of the potential for “imprisonment and fines” and saying any refusal to delete the video would only make “matters worse for Mr Stolz”.

Earlier this month, Friendlyjordies published a video featuring an interview between the channel’s producer Kristo Langker and Stolz, who blew the whistle in 2020 on what he alleged was the widespread failure of the clubs sector to comply with laws designed to stop money laundering through the state’s pokies.

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Dismay as UK gambling reform white paper shelved for fourth time

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Delay follows advice to PM that proposals cannot be published until new Conservative leader in place

Proposals to reform gambling laws have been postponed for a fourth time, after advisers to Boris Johnson concluded it could not be published until a new leader of the Conservative party is elected to replace him as prime minister.

Amid a tussle between different Tory party factions over the content of the plans, multiple Whitehall sources told the Guardian that a white paper had been added this week to the government’s “grid” of announcements and was scheduled to be published on Tuesday.

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NSW poker machine laws may increase risk of money laundering, says crime commission

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NSW Crime Commission issues paper also asks whether poker machine credit limits should be lowered

The New South Wales Crime Commission has suggested some of the state’s gambling laws have increased the risk of money laundering through poker machines, while raising the prospect of “significantly” reducing their credit limits in clubs.

This comes as anti-gambling advocates dismissed an “utterly cynical” proposal from lobby group Clubs NSW for a new “code of practice” that would allow family members of gambling addicts to request they be banned from venues.

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Macau shuts all casinos in bid to contain worsening Covid outbreak

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More than 30 closed for a week – with extension thought likely – and dozens of city zones locked down in gambling hub

Macau has shut all its casinos for the first time in more than two years as authorities struggle to contain the worst coronavirus outbreak yet in the world’s biggest gambling hub.

The city’s 30-plus casinos, along with other non-essential businesses, will shut for one week from Monday and people have been ordered to stay at home. Police would monitor flows of people outside, the government said, and stringent punishments would be imposed for those who disobeyed.

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Queensland casino inquiry could impact on $3.6bn project, gambling expert says

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Probe ordered into Star’s suitability to hold licence amid construction of Queen’s Wharf development

One of Australia’s leading gambling researchers says the business case for Brisbane’s $3.6bn Queen’s Wharf development could possibly collapse if Star Entertainment were to be stripped of its casino licence.

The state’s attorney general, Shannon Fentiman, has ordered a probe into the casino operator’s suitability to hold a licence in Queensland after a New South Wales inquiry heard allegations Star had potentially acted criminally.

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Japanese man blows town’s Covid relief fund after it appeared in his account

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Money should have gone to 463 low-income households but man received it all and commenced online casino spree

A Japanese man who was mistakenly sent ¥46.3m (£287,000/US$358,000) in Covid-19 relief funds has admitted he gambled away the entire amount in the space of a fortnight.

The 24-year-old, who has not been named, was sent the sum in April as part of a local government programme to help residents who were struggling financially as a result of the pandemic.

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US sues casino mogul Steve Wynn to compel him to register as an agent of China

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Justice department says Wynn lobbied the Trump administration for China to protect his business interests in Macau

The US Department of Justice on Tuesday sued Steve Wynn, the billionaire former casino mogul and senior Republican fund raiser, to compel him to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act as an agent of China.

The department said Wynn, 80, had contacted then-US president Donald Trump and members of his Republican administration in 2017 to convey China’s request to cancel the visa of or otherwise remove a Chinese businessperson who had sought political asylum in the United States.

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Revealed: betting giants lobbied UK government over proposed crackdown

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Documents show gambling firms warned Treasury officials against tightening up industry laws

Some of Britain’s betting giants are revealed to have quietly lobbied Treasury officials against a proposed industry crackdown, claiming it will cost millions of pounds in lost tax receipts.

Executives representing Bet365, Paddy Power and Ladbrokes met officials from the Treasury and Revenue and Customs, warning a radical overhaul of the industry could drive gamblers to the black market. The meeting was with tax officials rather than ministers and was therefore not required to be automatically disclosed.

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