Tag: Gambling

GLMS Partners with ESIC to Safeguard the Integrity of Sports

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Esports is particularly vulnerable to match-fixing and we have seen a number of such cases especially due to the global rise of Esports. The world is still on a course headed for a technological singularity which makes many things very easy – since it is so simple to place a bet, rigging can, in turn, be just as easy.

Keeping this in mind, the Global Lottery Monitoring System (GLMS) and the Esports Integrity Coalition (ESIC) have signed a partnership deal that will see them working together towards ensuring integrity by identifying and reporting any irregularities or suspicious betting patterns.

“Betting on Esports has been growing consistently in the last few years and the global appeal among millennial’s on digital entertainment is the driving force behind it. Esports and in-play Mobile Betting are a perfect combination of social entertainment and interaction. GLMS has been monitoring the phenomenon over the last 3 years now and we consider Esports an area to dedicate specific efforts and commitment given the impact on young citizens and society as a whole. We are very excited to support ESIC in its mission to tackle the integrity challenges within the Esports arena. Thanks to our growing network which guarantees local expertise and global reach, I am convinced that we can make a difference in the domain of Esports as well,” said Ludovico Calvi, the president of GLMS.

The GLMS was spawned from the minds of like-minded people who were keen on ensuring that integrity as a core value of sporting systems was maintained. The organization has since grown immensely and boasts of a number of hubs in Hong Kong and Denmark as well as 27 partners in several different parts of the globe.

“ESIC being the main integrity player in the field of esports is pleased to welcome GLMS into its network of partners. GLMS, thanks to its experience on monitoring betting patterns, as well as its global operations with hubs in Copenhagen and Hong Kong will for sure be a great asset in the pursuit of our mission. The expertise of GLMS in managing intelligence and integrity matters as well as its local presence in almost 30 countries across the world will also help us enhance our education and prevention activities,” said Ian Smith, the ESIC Commissioner.

The partnership is, however, not the first time that both organizations have worked together – they have already been part of a fruitful unofficial cooperation and information exchange that spans three or more years. Their new partnership will go beyond the monitoring of betting patterns as both organizations have also agreed to work towards educational programs tailored to raise awareness about the risks that come with betting on Esports competitions.

Hawthorn President Warns of Sports Betting ‘Indoctrination’

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Sports betting is still on the verge of becoming a reality in the United States and while there are people who have always supported it and others who have acknowledged its inevitability and began preparing, there are some who still find the idea of it to be distasteful. This extends to other countries as well, not just the U.S. One such person is Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett who during this week’s promotion of this year’s beyondblue Cup has made public some of his long-term concerns about the impacts of sports betting advertisement on the society.

Like many other Australian Football League clubs, Hawthorn contentiously relies on revenue from poker machines but Mr. Kennett believes that there is a significant distinction between the poker and sports betting. According to him, poker machines are strictly for adults and children are not allowed to play.

“The worry I have with sports betting is that it is indoctrinating a whole generation of young people that their future, their happiness, is associated with gambling,” Kennett said of sports betting. “When we have sports betting up there being thrust down the throats of young people on a daily basis – whether it be on television, on radio etcetera – you are indoctrinating them into a lifestyle aspiration, which I think is very dangerous.”

Last year, the Australian federal government introduced a legislation that set limits to when sports betting advertisements can be shown. Kennett, on the other hand, believes that this is not enough and the government should implement a blanket ban or at least subject them to the same restrictions that casinos are subject to as far as advertising is concerned.

“If I was in control, I would apply the same rules to promotion and advertising of sports betting that applies to casinos and gaming machines, and that is that you can’t advertise it publicly,” he added.

Kennett also believes that the effects will not be seen for the next 10 to 15 years but it will too late by then and there is a high likelihood that other problems will have spawned from it as well.

Online Poker Finally Making a Comeback to the United States

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Seven years ago, on April 15, 2011, the United States Department of Justice effectively shut down the country’s online poker industry citing various illegal gambling and money laundering concerns. Since then, the quest to reinstate online poker in the U.S. has been quite daunting but the situation has taken a turn for the better. On May 1, the online poker industry finally began the journey towards the eradication of state-segregated online poker markets. Now, online poker players in the states of New Jersey, Delaware and Nevada are able to play legally against each other on World Series of Poker (WSOP.com) and 888Poker networks.

While only the three states mentioned above are able to participate in the shared liquidity online poker, for now, the combination of the player pools is certainly a huge step forward for the market. In fact, it is just what the U.S. poker industry needs to gain some traction – more states, Pennsylvania included, are expected to join in soon and a number of other operators, such as PartyPoker, have shown interest in jumping into the online poker liquidity bandwagon.

“It’s a monumental day for online poker in the United States,” said Bill Rini, WSOP.com’s Head of Online Poker. “This is truly a game-changer for players and we hope is the model blueprint for additional states to join the fray.”

What to Expect

The immediate culmination of the multistate share liquidity will be larger player pools which will, in turn, culminate into larger prize pools. Eventually, the larger prize pools will draw in more players and this creates a growth cycle that in essence, could contribute to exponential growth in the United States online poker market since it will undoubtedly impact the directions of similar legislation in other states.

Pennsylvania is in the process of launching its online poker industry and as mentioned earlier, all signs point to the possibility that it will eventually join the Multi-State Internet Gaming Association when it goes live.

In addition to this, liquidity sharing implies that the poker market will be more appealing to poker players as the operators strive to offer them wider selections of games and tournaments, wider time zone coverage and bigger prize pools. It is basically a win-win situation for nearly all stakeholders including the states themselves – a sustainable and viable online poker market means that the state will be raking in more revenue in tax dollars from the online poker industry. Online poker operators that do not get join the pool or find viable countermeasures are likely to get downtrodden, but they still have a bit of time to adjust appropriately.

LeoVegas Online Casino Fined for Accepting Bets from Addicts

Reading Time: 2 minutes

LeoVegas, an online casino operator that is licensed and regulated by the UK Gambling Commission, has been fined £600,000 for failing to refund the deposits of over 11,000 problem gamblers who had requested to be barred from participating in the games the operator offers. The fine was imposed by the UK Gambling Commission which about a month ago also imposed a £1 million fine on Sky Bet for similar transgressions.

The rollout of a planned industry-wide self-exclusion scheme that has been delayed for a while now constitute a majority of LeoVegas online casino’s failings – the scheme would allow gamblers who were developing addictions to voluntarily bar themselves from placing bets with any gambling operator under the gambling commission’s jurisdiction.

The regulator conducted an investigation whose findings revealed that 1,894 LeoVegas online casino customers were deliberately targeted by marketing material that was sent directly to them even though they had already signed up to the platform’s self-exclusion scheme. Also, the online casino allowed over 400 of its customers to bet £200,000 over two months without any intervention by the company – the company did not even advise them to apply for its 24-hour “cooling-off” period.

Moreover, the commission also found that the online casino failed to return funds that were deposited by 11,205 customers who had chosen to self-exclude and close their accounts. However, as part of the settlement, the casino will be returning more than £14,000 to the affected customers. The fine that was imposed on LeoVegas also happens to encompass 41 misleading advertisements that it had issued between April 2017 and January 2018 including adverts that failed to mention the restrictions that were part of certain promotions offered by the platform.

“The outcome of this case should leave no one in any doubt that we will be tough with licenses holders who mislead consumers or fail to meet the standards we set in our license conditions and codes of practice,” said Neil McArthur, the UK Gambling Commission’s chief executive. “We want operators to learn the lessons from our investigations and use those lessons to raise standards.”

Despite having been fined by the Gambling Commission, the company has continued to post positive numbers and reports for year on year growth. In the first quarter of this year, for instance, the operator’s revenue went up 76 percent to a whopping £ 68.2 million. Everything is about to get better for the company regardless of the fine since its management has expressed “high ambitions for compliance with laws and regulations” so as to continuously improve its processes and procedures.

“We have had discussions with the UK Gambling Commission, UKGC, on suspected cases of breaches of the British gaming rules. A clear majority of cases are attributable to affiliate marketing. It’s good that UKGC puts increased demands on us in the gaming industry. It is an advantage for serious actors who both have the will and ambition to work in a regulated market,” LeoVegas online casino’s officials commented.

ZeroEdge.Bet to Launch Its Second Pre-ICO Offering on June 1

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Renowned blockchain based online casino platform ZeroEdge.bet will be launching the second part of its Initial Coin Offering (ICO) on June 1 with a whopping 58 percent discount bonus. Even though there is still some doubt pertaining to the true nature of the platform, it has always been set to revolutionize the online gaming industry with its unique approach.

The platform made its mark by offering its games at zero percent house edge (hence its name) at a time when all other online casino sites were offering casino games that came with house edges ranging between 1 percent and 10 percent. Therefore, unlike its online game provider counterparts, ZeroEdge.Bet’s games give players fair chances of winning, for free!

“We can see why other blockchain-based gambling projects haven’t penetrated the market, so we want to come in well-prepared to be among the first to do this. We believe the experienced team and accomplished advisors are the keys here,” said Adrian Casey, the ZeroEdge.Bet CEO. “Zero Edge offers a unique gambling model which potentially could revolutionize the $70 Billion gambling industry. Players won’t be losing money but instead earning from the increasing Zerocoin value. Our ultimate goal is to become a leading gambling platform in the online gambling industry where thousands of different games are played each day using Zerocoin and where players have the best chance of winning.”

The platform operates on a closed loop economy that is driven by the high demand for zero percent games which in turn results in the increase in demand for Zerocoin, the company’s in-house digital currency. With this revolutionary gambling model in place, gamblers who choose the platform will not lose money but instead gain the value of Zerocoin increases.

The Zerocoin Token will be availed to interested investors during the planned Initial Coin offering (ICO) at the beginning of next month if everything goes as planned.

Belgium Gambling Laws Declare Video Game Loot Boxes Illegal

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Loot boxes have had a pretty rough time in the past couple of months and the troubles are not likely to go away anytime soon. Just recently, the Netherlands declared that loot boxes constituted gambling and were therefore illegal and now Belgium has made a similar move.

Following an investigation that the Belgian Gaming Commission had been conducting on some popular video game titles including FIFA 18, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS: GO) and Star Wars Battlefront 2, the Belgian minister of justice, Koen Geens, on April 25 announced the results. Of the four video games, only Stars Wars Battlefront 2 was not in violation of the Belgian gambling legislation but this is only because EA, the company that develops Star Wars, removed loot boxes from the game after some debacles when it was launched.

OverWatch, CS:GO and FIFA 28, on the other hand, still had loot boxes which under Belgian gambling law are considered to be games of chance. As such, so long as they contained the loot boxes the games were illegal and they are forced to remove the loot boxes or “risk a prison sentence of up to five years and a fine of up to 800,000 euros.” The penalties could be doubled in cases where minors are involved.

“Mixing games and gambling, especially at a young age, is dangerous for mental health,” Geens said. “We must ensure that children and adults are not presented with games of chance when they are looking for fun in a video game.”

Loot boxes are by no means a new concept in mobile gaming applications but the recent upsurge in their inclusion in console-based video games have become a huge concern for parents as well as many other responsible parties. Furthermore, the gaming community has been very welcoming to initiatives that seek to have the insidious inventions removed from their games.

While regions like the US and the UK have Okayed the use of loot boxes, the declaration that they are illegal in the Netherlands and Belgium has presented what can be referred to as a dramatic turn for the video game loot box issue. If anything is to go by, game developers in the whole of Europe may be forced to make significant changes to the way the games they develop work, especially because more countries in the continent could launch similar initiatives.

Unlike the case in the Netherlands, Belgium has not imposed a deadline for the implementation of the necessary changes. Geens hopes to approach this is in a different way and this will involve dialogue between the country’s gaming commission and the affected video game developers.

Japanese Government Approves Bill Paving Way for Casinos

Reading Time: 2 minutes

On Friday, the Japanese government put aside gambling addiction and antisocial behavior concerns and went ahead to approve a bill that will provide a broad regulatory framework that will foster the establishment of a casino industry in the country. All that remains is for the document, which is referred to as the Integrated Resorts (IR) Implementation Bill, to be passed the Diet voting – the Diet is Japan’s parliament.

According to Kyodo News, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his government are aiming to have the bill pass the Diet during the ongoing session that will end on June 20. The Prime Minister hopes that the new casino industry will serve as an attraction for more overseas visitors which will, in turn, assist in providing the much-needed boost to the country’s regional economies outside Tokyo.

However, regardless of how promising the bill is, there is a high likelihood that deliberations will not have ended by the time the Diet sessions ends in June. This is due to the existence of a number of political scandals involving Prime Minister Abe, his minister as well as some ministry officials that have had a disruptive effect on Japan’s parliamentary proceedings.

“We will promote tourism with visitors from all over the world spending days while taking complete measures to address various concerns including gambling addiction,” the Prime Minister said in a government meeting that was attended by related officials.

If the Japanese parliament passes the bill, casinos will begin operating in the country in the mid-2020s. This might happen much earlier in some places – Osaka’s governor Ichiro Matsui, for instance, believes that a casino resort could open in the region by 2023 if Diet approves the necessary legislation quickly enough.

What the Bill Entails

Under the bill, there will be a fixed 30 percent tax rate on any casino gross revenue generated by all the gaming resorts that will be established in the country. Also, there will be a 6,000 yen or $55 entrance fee for Japanese locals – this will only be for a 24-hour access period. Furthermore, Japanese locals will be limited to three casino visits per week and 10 casino visits per month in aggregate, a measure that is probably put in place to assist with gambling addiction. Foreigners are the luckiest bunch in this case since casino entry is free and there will be less stringent limitations if any.

The Japanese government will be introducing a government-managed license system for the casinos in an effort to alleviate some of the concerns that have been raised pertaining to the launch of a casino industry in the country. The system will require operators that wish to obtain gaming licenses to submit business plans and establish measures for preventing problem gambling. In addition to this, background checks will be carried out to ensure that the applicants do not have ties to any organized crime groups.

New Jersey, Nevada, and Delaware to Share Poker Liquidity

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Great news for regulated online poker in the United States! Players from the states of New Jersey, Delaware and Nevada will soon be able to compete against each other as from May 1 according to Associated Press. Recent rumors pertaining to liquidity sharing between the three states was confirmed with the first implementations involving renowned poker operators 888Poker and WSOP NJ.

“This has been a huge collaborative effort from all involved and it is important to thank the elected leadership and regulatory authorities in Delaware, Nevada, and New Jersey for their dedication and diligence to help move online poker forward,” said WSOP’s head of online poker Bill Rini. “Everyone has had the end user in mind throughout this process, and as a result, we believe the United States, for the first time in a regulated environment, will have a large-scale multi-state offering that will propel the industry forward as soon as next month.”

A deal between New Jersey and Nevada was announced last year and hence it is long overdue but the timing could not be better since it still is, by all means, a historic arrangement for the two most popular regulated casino gambling markets in the United States. Furthermore, it presents a big boost for the Nevada and Delaware casino markets – the two states’ population are rather small, that is, Delaware has under one million while Nevada has three million. The inclusion of the New Jersey will certainly improve the statistics of all three state’s online poker industries.

The report further mentioned that online poker players in Nevada and Delaware will, however, be required to download new software and set up new accounts if they want to play against players from New Jersey. This means that existing Nevada and Delaware online poker software will become obsolete once the liquidity sharing process begins.

More States Could Join

Pennsylvania is the fourth state to legalize regulated online poker and it is now awaiting online poker applications which means that online poker in the Keystone State could be a reality by the end of 2018. Hopefully, Pennsylvania could join the other three states in the concerted effort to grow and nurture multi-state online poker which will create a market of nearly 26 million people. On the same note, a number of other states including New York and Connecticut are considering legalizing regulated online poker this year and they too could join in and expand the player pool further.

Big Fish Casino Offers Illegal Online Gambling, Rules Court

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Last Wednesday, Judge Milan D. Smith of the Ninth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals overturned a 2015 district court ruling filed against then Big Fish Games’ parent company Churchill Downs Inc. by Cheryl Kater.

Kater’s lawsuit claimed that she bought and lost Big Fish Casino’s virtual chips worth over $1000. While the chips do not have any monetary value, players require them in order to play the online casino’s suite of games that includes roulette, slots and blackjack. Players who run out of these chips will either need to wait until the game offers or free chips or hasten things up by purchasing more. Cheryl Kater hoped to recover the lost chips arguing that the said chips represented “something of value” under the Washington Gambling Law. Her lawsuit was junked by a Seattle U.S. District Court judge.

Judge Smith, however, overturned the earlier ruling on March 25 on grounds that “the virtual chips extended the privilege of playing Big Fish Casino,” which implies that it fell under the Washington state law’s definition of “something of value.”

“Without virtual chips, a user is unable to play Big Fish Casino’s various games,” Judge Smith wrote in his opinion. “Thus, if a user runs out of virtual chips and wants to continue playing Big Fish Casino, she must buy more chips to have ‘the privilege of playing the game.’ Likewise, if a user wins chips, the user wins the privilege of playing Big Fish Casino without charge. In sum, these virtual chips extend the privilege of playing Big Fish Casino.”

Based on this opinion and the definition of gambling according to Washington state law, the appeals court pointed out that Big Fish Casino constituted illegal online gambling.

A Wake-Up Call for Social Casinos

Online gambling is still deemed as an illegal activity in most U.S. states but operators such as the now Aristocrat-owned Big Fish Casino have been providing online gamblers in the country with legal alternatives. In the wake of this Court of Appeals ruling, it is possible that the spotlight might shift to other online gambling operators through similar lawsuits from displeased players – federal law gives anyone who loses “a thing of value” to an illegal gambling operations legal grounds to reclaim whatever they have lost.

Meanwhile, Cheryl Kater’s lawsuit will be returned to the Seattle district court where Big Fish Casino’s former owner, Churchill Downs, will be given another opportunity to argue the case.

UK Gambling Commission Unveils Plans for Intensified Checks

Reading Time: 2 minutes

UK’s Gambling Commission has unveiled plans to make online gambling “safer than ever before”. This follows on from details that the commission revealed last week as part of the advice that it submitted to the UK government’s review of gambling.

So far, the Remote Gambling Association (RGA) has confirmed that it would work constructively with the Gambling Commission once its finals become known. The online gambling review that the commission released last week included details of its consultative efforts on proposals for age verification checks for players. This regulation will apply even to dem0 games.

Even though the fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) that are operating in the UK will probably be the most affected by the forthcoming government crackdown on gambling, online gambling operators are not completely clear of the line of fire.

Other than banning the operators from offering free-to-play demo games until customer age has been verified, the commission also proposed that the speed and effectiveness of age verification processes should be improved. On the same note, operators will be forced to set limits on consumer spending until affordability checks are carried out. The commission further made it clear that it would deal with unacceptable marketing while at the same time tightening the requirements for operator interaction with customers that are more susceptible to harm.

“Britain has the largest regulated online gambling market in the world and we are continually looking for ways to make it even fairer and safer for consumers,” commented Neil McArthur, the Gambling Commission’s chief executive. “The proposals we have announced today are intended to protect children better, reduce the risks to vulnerable consumers and build on the measures we already impose on operators to know their customers and intervene at an earlier stage before consumers experience harm.”

Ensuring Safety and Sustainability in the Gambling Industry

The UK government, through sport and civil society minister Tracy Crouch, says that it is committed to providing a safe and sustainable gambling industry. Crouch also mentioned that the proposals for additional regulations would go a long way in strengthening the controls that are already in place while at the same time ensuring that children and vulnerable people are protected from the risks of online gambling.

The Remote Gambling Commission (RGA) has already laid the groundwork for the desired UK gambling industry through such efforts as advertising restrictions, the introduction of a national online self-exclusion system as well as advocating for the introduction of a new and independent statutory social responsibility levy.