Monthly Archives: December 2020

As sports clubs and betting operators await a decision on the future of betting sponsorships, the implications of such relationships have been questioned by the UK government as it undertakes its review of the 2005 Gambling Act.

Speaking on the Unpicking the Terms of the UK Gambling Act Review webinar, hosted by SBC, a team of industry experts reviewed the governments stance on betting sponsorships and how the Gambling Act review could affect competitions and operators.

Brigid Simmonds, Chair of the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), emphasised that there is a perception issue surrounding sports clubs agreements with gambling brands. Simmonds suggested that together, sports and betting operators can have a positive impact, however, companies that are not are not invested in the UK market should be re-assessed.

She said: If we look at the Premier League, there are eight clubs sponsored by betting companies and only two are members of the BGC. Six of the companies have no interest in the UK market and their licensing seems to come from various other places that are white listed.

As someone who is absolutely passionate about what sport can do for people through life, weve got to make sure money is available for grassroots sport. Weve got 350 million that goes into racing from the industry and 30-40 million that goes into other sports, whether it be rugby league, darts, boxing or obviously football. Its really important that money is used in local communities and its used in education.

When safer gambling is at the heart of all those agreements, its absolutely fine. What Im concerned about is that everybody has to play by the same rules. At the end of the day, Im not convinced that we should have sponsors that arent really interested in the UK market at all. Thats one of the things that both the gambling commission and the government should look at.

But personally, Im very keen for sports sponsorships to continue because its very important and particularly at the moment, sport needs that money.

Moreover, David Clifton, a licensing expert and Director of Clifton Davies, drew the panels attention to the governments response to the House of Lords committee report.

The policy paper indicated there was no causative connection to be found between exposure to operator logos and problem gambling in children or adults, insinuating that sports clubs which display betting marketing material cannot be held solely responsible.

There were some very interesting comments from the perspective of advertising, he explained. The bottom line, which appears to be the starting point for the government, is that they understand the concerns that exist in relation to gambling advertising, but are pointing to there being a lack of evidence between advertising and problem gambling when advertising is conducted in accordance with the existing rule. Theres no link between that specifically and problem gambling.

Read the rest here:

Brigid Simmonds: Gambling sponsors must have a vested interest in the UK - Insider Sport

It's time to stop beating around the bush - gambling in video games is a problem.

In the 2010s, larger game companies started to bundle online passes in with their marquee releases. These passes were essentially DLC vouchers - codes that you plugged into PSN or Xbox Live to gain access to certain features of games.

While this sounds innocuous enough, it was anything but. Features like online multiplayer were often gated off behind online passes, and games like Batman: Arkham City locked single-player content if players didn't have one. If you were "unlucky" enough to get a second-hand copy of a game, you'd have to shell out anywhere from $10-$20 bucks just to play certain parts of a game - not to mention work around the wonky digital storefronts we were using back then.

So, what happened? Easy: enough people got mad about it. After a few years of consumer outrage, as well as iconoclasts like Jim Sterling speaking out against the practice, online passes went the way of the dodo from 2013-2014. Companies realized that it wasn't worth the effort to keep up the unpopular practice, and console manufacturers like Sony outright forbade the practice. It was a rare win in the ongoing battle between publishers and consumers - a moment where the industry actually started to feel less predatory.

Unfortunately, online passes were just an appetizer. The real threat to player wallets was already simmering in the pot, and within years, it would be dished out across the entire industry. That dish?

Gambling.

In 2004, popular MMORPG MapleStory introduced gachapon tickets. For 100 yen, players could get a ticket that let them participate in a lottery, where they could win cool prizes to show off to other players. Then, three years later, Chinese MMO Zhengtu attempted a bold new strategy - letting players get in for free, then recouping development costs through gambling. It was a rousing success - within a year of release, Zhengtu generated had $15 Million USD per month.

But why?

"[Players] weren't able to buy top-end PCs, they weren't able to afford all these $50 or $60 games, and that's why internet cafes were huge back then, and still are, in terms of just being able to sign on and play an online game," analyst Daniel Ahmad told Rolling Stone in 2017. "Piracy was also huge back in the day, and the way around that was just releasing games for free, and then putting in content that people want to buy."

A 2007 piece by Cao Yunwu painted a grimmer picture of Zhengtu during the height of its popularity.

"This is a game well-suited to the rich," the article states. "In this world, the authority to bully others and the legal right to harm them are both for sale."

Zhengtu's success was controversial, and the game made headlines for its transparently predatory practices. But criticism meant nothing in the face of cold, hard cash, and the game continued to reap massive dividends and has stayed online to this day. Its success also proved to be the proverbial spark in the powder keg, as gacha mechanics found their way into more and more games throughout East Asia.

In 2012, the Japanese mobile game Puzzles & Dragons became the first gacha title to make over $1 Billion USD in profits. That rousing success proved that this new model was not only here to stay, but would likely be one copied by more and more publishers in the coming years. However, despite some critics' eagerness to blame our current gacha landscape on Asian countries, the fault arguably doesn't lie there.

Instead, it lies with Facebook.

Related: Genshin Impact's Response To The Zhongli Issue Is Ignoring The Real Problem

A 2013 study showed that 54% of Facebook games contained gambling elements.

These games, almost universally casual in nature, gave players the chance to progress faster or get cool loot via gambling. Want to upgrade your farm? Gamble. Want to boost your mafia gang? Gamble. As long as a game had a catchy hook and a decent enough art style, publishers could run roughshod over their playerbase in exchange for cash. Companies like Zynga, whose profits sagged from 2011-2012, saw a revelation in the concept of hooking players with gambling and keeping them on as perpetual pay pigs.

But they weren't the only ones. Companies like Valve, Activision, and EA began to experiment with this model, often specifically citing Facebook's success as the reason for this new endeavor. Team Fortress 2 went free-to-play in 2010 and introduced gambling. 2012's Mass Effect 3 added in gambling to offset multiplayer development costs. 2014's Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare gated unique weapons and skins behind randomized "supply drops." 2016'sOverwatchsaw massive success in locking practically all of its marquee character skins behind gambling. And, most notoriously, 2017'sStar Wars Battlefront IIwas a controversial dumpster fire of randomized gambling mechanics.

As gaming went into its next generation, so too did the ways companies were willing to nickel and dime their customers into poverty.

The rest is history. Today, gacha games are the law of the land, and a more or less accepted practice among the community. Mobile games like Fate/Grand Order and Granblue Fantasy are fueled almost entirely by randomized character drops, and bigger titles like Genshin Impact have begun to gate progress in open world RPGs off behind gambling.

Not paywalls - gambling.

That's not okay.

It's become common practice for companies like Blizzard and EA to bring aboard neuroscientists and psychologists to help advise them in game development. While this wasn't unheard of in the past (for example, Bungie apparently utilized it to gauge kill output for Halo's multiplayer,) the contemporary use of these experts has largely become in service of one thing: addiction.

Premium currencies, cute anime girls that say nice things to you, loot boxes that glisten and explode when you open them... these are things designed to not make us think about how we're spending money in games. They're systems put in place to ensure that a company has perpetual customers, regardless of how ethically dubious that may be. We convert our hard-earned money into fake currency, which we're goaded into doing by banners that promise us the best bang for our buck. Once we have that currency, we then gamble it away for a chance at getting a fancy JPEG or a cool costume.

By that point, our money's already gone, so what else can we do with it but to gamble?

In 2010, the concept of gambling to progress in a video game would've set the world on fire. There would've been thousands and thousands of forum posts, angry petitions to companies, and mass boycotts. That was how the Chinese public saw Zhengtu, actually - as a threat. Some players described the game as something that made them angrier and more bitter.

"Why should a doctor want to kill a teacher? Why does someone who is a cop in real life want to harm others in a game?" a player told Cao Yunwu in 2007. "Why is there such enmity between strangers?"

Today, we're more forgiving to these games as an industry. The era of being outraged at gaming companies over terrible monetization practices feels quaint at this point. We shrug and go, "eh, at least this one isn't as bad as the others," and continue to treat these mechanics' existence like they're a worthwhile and valuable part of the industry.

Here's the thing, though: they shouldn't be. The very existence of gambling in a video game is an insult to the medium, and cheapens this entire industry into one of tawdry, predatory chicanery designed to get its hooks in customers and bleed them dry. Whether you're playing something for free or something that you spent seventy bucks on, it's a brazen and predatory act to insist that players gamble to get more content. Imagine going to a movie, then gambling for a chance to see an actor on the screen. Ridiculous, yeah? Well, that's what we're all doing, and acting like it's a normal thing all the while.

As a community, we need to stop getting incensed about trivial shit and focus on the things that actually affect our wellbeing. If we don't, things are going to get worse and companies are going to find new and exciting ways to screw us out of our money.

But hey - maybe that's a gamble that you're willing to make.

Next: 1 Out Of 10 Children Go Into Debt Over Loot Boxes, Says Study

Black Desert Mobile Players Want The "Useless" Login Rewards Changed In 2021

Bella Blondeau is a lovable miscreant with a heart of gold... or so she says.She likes long walks in dingy arcades, loves horror good and bad, and has a passion for anime girls of any and all varieties. Her favorite game is Nier: Automata, because she loves both robots and being sad.

Originally posted here:

We Need To Stop Gambling On Video Games | TheGamer - TheGamer

Theres nothing like a suspenseful flick or those intense movie moments that put us over the edge. Were addicted to the thrill of sabotage whether our favorite character is a gambling savage or just a lethal nuisance to society.

Directors put in the work to make scene after scene cinematically hit and keep us gripping our seats. Plus nothing is better than watching your favorite actor/actress on screen absolutely go through it.

Constantly we enter the void of suspense, intense couch gripping, and teeth grinding movie moments. But can we really help it?

Heres our list of gambling flicks with the most intense movie moments, weve ever seen. All available online.

First on our list of gambling movies to watch, is Uncut Gems. If if its one thing weve learned, the Safdie Brothers have mastered the art of the thrill.

Here, for the NYT, they break down the intense movie moment for their flick Uncut Gems where the lead character Howard Ratner (played by Adam Sandler) goes through obstacles of stress in an attempt to get away from the demons that his gambling addiction has summoned.

Watch Uncut Gems now (click here).

Its alright you can exhale. In this remake of the 1974 version directed by Karel Reisz, Mark Wahlbergs character Jim Bennett goes through hell trying to get his life back on track.

His gambling debt and addiction to losing pushes him to borrow money from not only his mother but also a daunting loan shark, whos not playing any games.

For this role Mark actually dropped 61 lbs. Talk about dedication.

Watch The Gambler now (click here).

Based on the story of Molly Bloom, an Olympic-class skier who ran the worlds most exclusive high-stakes poker game and became an FBI target, Mollys Game takes intense movie moments to the next level.

In an interview about the gambling flick with Seth Myers, he was asked Do you realize now the difficulties directors have had directing your scripts? Sorkin spoke on the challenges of directing his first film:

I dont understand why at least three of them havent punched me in the face

Watch Mollys Game now (click here).

If youre not talking Wall Street money then what are we talking about? This Oscar-winning flick zones in on the corruption of the US housing market during 2005 2007.

Taking more than a gamble in this scene Dr. Michael Burry, played by Christian Bale, finds an oddity after analyzing subprime MBSs pushing him to bet against bonds that seemed promising.

Serving as Adam McKays directorial debut The Big Short is jampacked with intense movie moments you surely wont forget.

Watch the The Big Short now (click here)

Another amazing performance by Christian Bale, American Hustle reminds us that life is surely one hell of a gamble. Stacked with star-power this fictional movie is filled with, FBI agents, fraudulent savagery, and frightful mafia gangsters.

Director David O. Russell killed this movie with creative intense must seen moments.

Watch American Hustle now (click here).

Yeah, yeah we know Kevin Spacey is canceled but 21 is still kind of gas. Another based on a true story gambling flick, 21s story is about six MIT students who get coerced into taking their talents to the dark side in counting cards.

And although it is directed by one of the hottest/trash directors of our generation, Robert Luketic, this movie still gets the job done when it comes to intense movie moments.

Watch 21 now (click here)

You gotta have two things to win. You gotta have brains and you gotta have balls. Now, you got too much of one and not enough of the other.

Tom Cruise x3! Throw in some Paul Newman and you have The Color of Money.

Directed by Martin Scorcese this flick is filled with suspenseful movie scenes centered around pool hall hustling. We couldnt leave this one off our intense gambling movie moments list.

Watch The Color of Money now (click here).

Baby Driver focuses on a certain kind of lifestyle. A lifestyle that calls for high-risk stunts, dirty money, and suspenseful hijinks thatll have you running from the law.

Directed by Edgar Wright this movie taps into the life of a young man named Baby, played by Ansel Elgort, who has a hearing impairment but a little secret Debt to a crime boss, who values his role in his well planned bank robberies.

This is a different type of gambling. One that calls for a plethora of mental manuevering and intelligent cunning.

Watch Baby Driver now (click here).

Matt Damon is one hell of an actor and in Rounders we see him under the pressure. A dash of John Malkovich and a sprinkle of Edward Norton and you have a killer movie.

This is big stakes poker, money owed to loan sharks, and a life balancing act all jam-packed into two hours of intense movie moments. In fact, via IMDB:

Matt Damon and Edward Norton played the $10,000 buy-in Texas Hold Em (No Limit) championship event at the 1998 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. During the first of four days, Matt Damon had pocket Kings and was knocked out by former world champion and poker legend Doyle Brunson who held pocket Aces.

Watch Rounders now (click here)

Remember that Always Sunny Wild Card episode Welp, this is not that. Starring the legendary action man himself, Jason Statham, Wild Card, takes us on an epic adventure through the life of a Las Vegas bodyguard who has a gambling addiction.

From the YouTube video cover alone you already know the vibes.

Watch WIld Card now (click here).

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Intense movie moments from 10 gambling flicks that put us on edge - Kulture Hub

Ken Herman|Austin American-Statesman

Hmm, state Rep. Joe Moody pondered. Many Texans enjoy adult beverages. And many Texans like to gamble. What would you get if you combine those two pastimes?

What you get, he figures, is state revenue of the best kind, the kind that people voluntarily fork over. That's so much more popular than those pesky taxes that many Texans seem to dislike.

Which brings us to Moody's House Bill 817, relating to the operation of a quick draw lottery game. Thats quick draw as in gambling, podnuh, not guns.

HB 817 envisions a lottery game in which a drawing occurs 12 to 15 times per hour between the hours of 7 a.m. and 2 a.m.Lets see. Looks like thats as many as 285 drawings in 19 hours. Yep, that's quick draw.

And what can be done to help lubricate the flow of cash from Texans wallets into state coffers? Alcohol!

From HB 817: The (Lottery) commission may license as sales agents to sell quick draw lottery game tickets only holders of one of the following permits or licenses issued by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission for locations that provide on-premises consumption of alcohol.

The list: a winery permit, a wine and malt beverage retailers permit, a mixed beverage permit, a private club registration permit, a retail dealers on-premise license, a brewers license, or a distillers and rectifiers permit (and who knew you need a permit to rectify?).

Whats interesting is that current state law prohibits holders of certain on-premises alcoholic beverage permits from selling lottery tickets. Moodys bill would erase that prohibition for this new game.

Several states have quick draw lottery games. From the New York Lottery: "The Quick Draw game is played every four minutes throughout the day and night, with the exception of a short break between 3:25 am. and 4 a.m."

Looks like what's called "quick draw" in HB 817 bill is what's called Keno (pronounced keen-o and not named for me) in some of the 21 states that have it as part of their lottery repertoire. This interesting tidbit was in a news story back when New York began its game in 1995: "New York State has launched a new Keno-style lottery game that gives bettors results every five minutes and faces a legal challenge from casino magnate Donald Trump."

"He said he was filing the suit not because he feared competition for his casinos, but rather because he felt strongly that the game, which he termed 'video crack,' would damage the state's social and economic fabric by luring people to gamble," The New York Times reported back then.

Trump lost. (Has this guy ever won a lawsuit?) And on the game's opening day, the Times reported that "critics ... say that the game's pace makes it more akin to casino-style gambling and more prone to pocket-draining abuse."

Moody's HB817 will be among several gambling-related measures in the 2021 legislative hopper. Casino gambling will be back for another push and could get a boost in a Legislature that'll be looking for money in the proverbial sofa cushions.

Moody, D-El Paso and an influential lawmaker now serving as House speaker pro tem, sees his proposal as "kind of the next step" for the Texas Lottery. "You're essentially bringing a currently regulated game to a new location that is also a regulated location," he said.

In other states, these kinds of games have pumped up lottery revenue by as much as 30%, Moody said. The Texas Lottery sold $6.7 billion worth of tickets in fiscal 2020. That meant $1.66 billion to the Foundation School Fund and $22.2 million to the state's Fund for Veterans Assistance.

Moody also sees quick draw lottery as economic development for an economic segment sorely in need of development.

"We have a very, very debilitated restaurant and bar industry in Texas," Moody said, "and as we emerge from the pandemic we should try to figure out new and better ways to to enhance what they can offer."

Would this be a gambling step too far and one too close to consumption of alcohol?

"I'd argue that currently you could walk into a convenience store, buy all the alcohol you want and as many scratch tickets as you want," Moody said. "Philosophically, I don't know the difference between one and the other."

"I wouldn't characterize this as an expansion in any significant way," he said. "This is a game we already have and just allowing it to be played in a different way."

Others will see it in a different way.

Its going to be an interesting session for gambling, with lawmakers also working on a version that's been around for awhile. Back in 1986, the Legislature OK'd parimutuel wagering on horse and dog racing. Voters approved it in 1987 amid projections of big bucks for the state.

It's been disappointing. And the 2021 Legislature is going to look at phasing out the Texas Racing Commission and putting the remaining tracks (horse only, the last dog track closed this year in La Marque) under another agency. The Texas Sunset Advisory Commission staff has recommended the Texas Department of Agriculture, but the full commission, which will make a legislative recommendation, postponed action on the agency earlier this month.

Interesting. The last time Texas lawmakers met, they took Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller's name off of the gas pumps. Now they might put parimutuel wagering under his purview. FYI, as ag commissioner, Miller now sits as an ex-officio member of the appointed Texas Racing Commission.

The Sunset Advisory Commission staff report notes that when parimutuel betting was OK'd in Texas "the Legislative Budget Board estimated racing would contribute about $110 million annually to the state coffers ...However, the Texas racing industry has never been the economic driver originally envisioned. As racetrack attendance, race days and wagers have declined, so have the commissions revenue and ability to most effectively regulate racing in Texas.

Lauren Ames, the Sunset Advisory Commission project manager for the Texas Racing Commission, told the Sunset Advisory Commission in September that the Racing Commission "struggles to serve as an effective regulator while also managing the administrative work of a regulatory agency."

Chuck Trout, the Racing Commission's executive director, acknowledged to the Sunset Advisory Commission a "dynamic that has given the industry too much influence over our operations."

COVID-19 has made a bad situation much worse. The Sunset Advisory Commission staff report said, "The lack of revenue during the pandemic almost forced the (racing) commission to close in July 2020, jeopardizing the continued operation and regulation of the Texas racing industry."

Miller told the Sunset Advisory Commission in September that he'd "just sent a letter off to the (Legislative Budget Board) and the governor alerting them that because of lack of racing and that's where their fees are generated the Racing Commission is in perilous times, and you know they might not be able to keep the lights on until the Legislature comes in."

Miller told the Sunset Advisory Commission, "If the will of the Legislature is to send it to the Texas Department of Agriculture we'll do our very best to run it as efficiently as possible."

All in all, an interesting legislative session coming up on the gambling front. You can bet on it.

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Herman: The plan to dip into Texans' pockets by combining gambling and alcohol - Austin American-Statesman

Week 16 is in the books, leaving only one more week left in the regular season before the playoffs begin. Seven of the NFLs 14 playoff spots have been clinched with the Kansas City Chiefs clinching a playoff bye after beating the Falcons 17-14, when Younghoe Koo missed a 39-yard field goal at the end of regulation.

While the Chiefs are riding a 10-game winning streak, they have failed to cover the spread in seven straight games, the longest streak in the NFL. While they sit atop the Super Bowl odds leaderboard at +180, they will need to find more consistency to bring home the Lombardi Trophy.

In the most lopsided game of the weekend, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers erased the Detroit Lions, winning 47-7 after leading 34-0 at halftime. The lead not only left Tom Brady relaxing on the bench the entire second half, the earliest a quarterback has been pulled all year, but it was both the Buccaneers' best first half in franchise history and the Lions worst.

With the victory, the Buccaneers clinched a wild-card spot and with a win in Week 17, they will play the NFC East champion, which might be the closest thing you can get to a bye in the playoffs. This marks Tom Brady's 17th consecutive season making the playoffs, extending his NFL record.

While the NFC playoff picture is nearly set, with the Chicago Bears needing a win or a Arizona Cardinals loss to make the playoffs, the AFC playoff picture was a wild ride in Week 16. The Miami Dolphins had a wild comeback against the Las Vegas Raiders 26-25, not just keeping their playoff hopes alive but giving over backers one of the craziest wins of the year. They are in a win-and-in playoff scenario, as are the Baltimore Ravens after their dominating performance.

The Ravens, who came into the year as the No. 2 Super Bowl favorite, have seen their Super Bowl odds go from 26-1 to 12-1 in the last three weeks, as they round into old form and control their destiny. The same cannot be said of the Indianapolis Colts, who need help to get into the playoffs after losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers in a game they led 21-0. The Colts went from controlling their own destiny to only the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys having longer odds to make the playoffs.

Follow this link:

Gambling: Betting the NFL's final week will be with an eye on playoff berths - Colorado Springs Gazette

In Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality News

December 29, 2020 Verizon Media, a global media and technology company, and Entain plc, an international sports-betting and gaming operator (formerly known as GVC Holdings), have recently announced a global innovation alliance to develop new opportunities across interactive sports and entertainment. Entain brands include Ladbrokes, bwin, partypoker, and BetMGM in the US, which is co-owned with MGM Resorts.

Verizon Media and Entain will collaborate to develop a highly immersive proof of concept virtual reality (VR) experience that will combine live sports viewing with interactive layers of sports data and gaming. Consumers will be able to participate in sports events, check data, socialize with friends, and place bets on Entain platforms.

Additionally, Entain will work closely with Verizon Media to develop concepts for new formats with emerging technologies including 5G, VR, and augmented reality (AR) to bring immersive content and gaming to sports betting and gambling. Along with betting on live streamed sports events via the Entain platform, the goal is to create realistic, immersive experiences for sports fans, such as being in the stadium, participating in play, competing and betting on outcomes, according to the company.

To win in the future we need to understand where consumers will be in five, ten years time and work with other global businesses also investing in that, said Shay Segev, CEO of Entain. We envisage consumers meeting at a game with friends, who could in fact be elsewhere, using virtual reality headsets to watch, interact and share the experience together and, potentially, compete between themselves at half time or feel like theyre on the pitch with the players.

This new alliance takes the collaboration between our two companies to a new level and will allow us both to maximize new opportunities across sports-betting, content and entertainment, said Guru Gowrappan, CEO, Verizon Media. Together, we are building the next-generation of content experiences for sports and gaming fans. Our world-first 5G-enabled production studios in LA and London, creative technology teams and Verizon Medias Immersive platform, that enables extended reality (XR) content to be created and distributed across digital channels at scale, allow partners like Entain to bring next-level immersive and interactive experiences to their customers.

Entain added that the collaboration builds on an existing successful relationship between Yahoo Sports, part of Verizon Media, and BetMGM, a joint venture with MGM Resorts through which Entain operates in the US. BetMGM is integrated throughout Yahoo Sports in the US, and in legal jurisdictions fans can place a bet with BetMGM without leaving the Yahoo Sports app.

Image credit: Entain / Twitter

About the author

Sam Sprigg

Sam is the Founder and Managing Editor of Auganix. With a background in research and report writing, he covers news articles on both the AR and VR industries. He also has an interest in human augmentation technology as a whole, and does not just limit his learning specifically to the visual experience side of things.

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Sports gambling group Entain partners with Verizon Media to develop immersive VR and AR experiences for live sports viewing and betting - Auganix

The DGOJ and UNE signed an accord to create a new technical agency to harmonize Spains federal gambling regulations and standards.

The Direccin General de Ordenacin del Juego (DGOJ), Spains gambling regulator, has signed a new collaborative arrangement to create a new technical agency tasked with harmonizing the countrys federal gambling rules, standards, and market controls.

DGOJ will collaborate with UNE, the standardization body established by the Ministry of Economy, to meet EU competition requirements across the 17 autonomous regions of Spain.

Thealliancewillformanewgovernmentalentitythatwill carry out standardized actions regarding online gambling. These actions will be directed at changing how Spains regulated marketplace operates and how licenses companies are governed.

When set up, the new technical body will represent Spain at EU meetings to discuss how the Member State implements the new laws and guidelines for online gambling. UNE will oversee the regulators framework for the monitoring of unified norms, the collection of feedback from autonomous regions, and the accreditation of technical experts.

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs priorities include the establishment of an online gambling player register a federal self-exclusion system, and unified regulations for land-based gambling facilities in all autonomous communities.

The Ministry reported that the DGOJ needed greater resources to ensure that technical norms necessary for gambling games and interfaces operating within the controlled marketplace in Spain were effectively monitored. Spanish gambling license holders expect the publishing of the governments second stage of federal gambling amendments, undertaken by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, in 2021.

In addition, the Department claimed that the standardization of its regulatory systems would support the countrys public administrations, healthcare, and consumers as stakeholders involved in composing the gambling laws of Spain.

Link:

Spain to Create New Body to Harmonize Gambling Regulations - GamblingNews.com

Asias gambling markets both land-based and online took major hits in 2020; land-based casinos at the hands of COVID-19 and online casinos at the hands of meddling governments.

Due to its proximity to China, Macau was the first market to demonstrate both the horrors the pandemic would inflict on casino markets as well as the enormous lengths casinos would have to go to ensure customers and staff were protected once casinos reopened.

Unlike most North American casinos, which shut down for months, Macau casinos were closed for only 15 days, but their swift reopening brought anything but a return to normal.

Things hit bottom in June with revenue of only MOP716m, down 97% year-on-year, and while things have improved slightly, mainland Chinese gamblers still need some convincing to make the trek to Macau.

Over the first 11 months of 2020, total gaming revenue is barely equal to two months worth of 2019. Its probably fitting that this was the year that the Macau casino sectors founding father Stanley Ho opted to shuffle off this mortal coil.

While all sectors of Macaus gaming market felt the squeeze, junket operators took it on the chin. Worse, unlike previous disruptions to Macaus market, the global nature of the pandemic meant there were few alternative markets to which they could steer VIP gamblers.

Junkets could face further trouble in 2021, even if the COVID vaccines prove effective. Chinas war on cross-border gambling included compiling a (still unpublished) blacklist of countries it felt were guilty of luring mainland residents abroad to gamble, which was followed by plans to introduce a new law criminalizing organizing and soliciting by casinos abroad that appears to strike at the very heart of the junket business model.

JUNKETS ADAPT TO SURVIVEThe pressure caused many smaller junkets to pack it in this year, while others decided to follow Suncity Groups lead by investigating options for actually owning casinos rather than just feeding customers to them. Tak Chun Group boss Chan Weng Lin owned a one-third stake in Macau Legend Development by the end of 2020.

Suncity survived a liquidity crunch when boss Alvin Chau dug into his own pockets to keep the lights on while reassuring investors that theyd be spared the pain of the junket downturn. Suncitys 2019 run-in with Chinese authorities over online gambling caused it to halt its Philippine-based, China-facing tele-betting service while pulling the plug on its popular 138.com online casino.

Suncitys land-based casino operator ambitions made great strides in 2020, including acquiring majority control of Russias Tigre de Cristal, holding a VIP preview of its new Hoiana resort casino in Vietnam and making solid progress on its Manila casino project.

CHINA DECLARES WAR ON ONLINE GAMBLINGChinas war on online gambling ramped up dramatically in 2020, perhaps emboldened by the countrys ability to convince Cambodia to ban its online gambling market in January.

That same month, China issued what initially appeared to be a boilerplate warning of its anti-online intentions but this time they meant it. They even mobilized the general public by announcing a public snitching platform, with financial incentives for citizens not sufficiently motivated by patriotism and/or prudery.

The campaign took special aim at payment processors, resulting in the largest ever fine against a financial institution and a new focus on fourth-party processing. The government also made its first takedowns of crypto-based gambling payment networks.

Perhaps even more interesting, the government made sure that Chinas telecom giants understood they could no longer plead ignorance of their platforms being used for gambling purposes. A senior exec at Baidu was marched off in handcuffs after authorities concluded the search engine giant was getting fat off online gambling links.

Perhaps as a means of avoiding accusations of hypocrisy, China also hobbled its state-run lotteries by eliminating so-called high-frequency products. The lotteries, which were already struggling after their pandemic shutdown which lasted far longer than Macaus now expect another year of negative growth in 2021.

PHILIPPINES LOSES POGO PATIENCEWhile China has long complained about Philippine-licensed online gambling operators serving the Chinese market, it was the Philippine government that proved the biggest threat to its gambling sites in 2020.

Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) had long been criticized for thumbing their noses at immigration rules and tax obligations but these tensions reached a boiling point early in 2020 as the pandemic brought fresh concerns about Chinese POGO staff possibly carrying the virus into the Philippines.

The shutdown of the Philippine gambling industry both online and land-based provided the opportunity for a fresh start, with the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) requiring POGOs to receive a thumbs-up from both immigration and tax authorities before being allowed to resume operations.

While those hurdles seemed a reasonable way to rid the market of bad eggs, the government then imposed a crushing 5% tax on online gambling turnover that punished all operators, regardless of their compliance history.

By December, PAGCOR had authorized only 36 POGOs to resume operations that number shrank to 35 before the month was through and its unclear how many of these had actually resumed operations.

The impact on the governments share of gambling revenue was enormous, prompting PAGCOR to authorize online cockfighting and live-dealer casino games from Manilas struggling integrated resorts. Moreover, unlike POGOs, which were restricted to foreign customers only, these options would be available to local residents.

But not just any locals. PAGCOR later clarified that the livestreamed Live Shot casino games would be accessible only by Philippine VIPs, who would be required to submit to facial recognition technology to play. Analysts scoffed at the slim revenue potential of such a niche market but every little bit counts, we guess.

INDIAIndia appeared to have taken a bold step into the future when the state of Karnataka authorized online betting at the Bangalore Turf Club, only to withdraw permission just weeks after the digital offerings launch when someone had the effrontery to point out that the state had no online gambling regulations.

Delta Corp made waves in December after announcing it had received approval to build Goas first integrated resort casino in the city of Pernem. However, the states gambling laws will limit its offering to electronic gaming only, as live tables are only permitted on the states floating casinos.

Online skill games proved a crutch on which hybrid operators such as Delta could lean while their Goa casinos were shut by COVID-19, but a raft of states pushed back on these online operations as the year went on, with Andhra Pradesh threatening to jail not only operators but also individual gamblers.

Indias online opposition took an international turn when Chinese-run gambling sites got the bums rush after the two countries shed blood over a disputed border area.

ELSEWHERECambodias online ban turned Sihanoukville into a ghost town overnight, as Chinese operators whose land-based casinos consisted of a bachelor apartment, a lap-desk and a webcam decided to get out of Dodge. Many have reportedly decamped to a controversial economic zone in Myanmar that is making headlines for all the wrong reasons.

Cambodia finally approved its decades-in-the-making new gambling laws and, while nobodys actually seen the whole thing yet, the countrys only major casino operator NagaCorp has expressed pleasure at its reportedly reasonable tax rates.

In Japan, the process of picking casino host cities and licensees continued at its predictably glacial pace, although the situation wasnt helped by a scandal involving casino hopefuls and Liberal Democratic Party politicians, the abrupt resignation of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the withdrawal of interest by Las Vegas Sands and, oh yeah, COVID-19.

In Saipan, Imperial Pacific International finished constructing its Imperial Palace resort, paid all its outstanding contractor bills and regulatory fees, and turned a tidy profit as VIP gamblers honored all their credit markers. Just kidding! IPI was its usual horror show, and frankly were sick of wasting time on these clowns.

AUSTRALIAWell finish up with the only casino outfit that made IPI look competent in 2020: Crown Resorts, which may have also been the only major operator in 2020 for whom COVID-19 was a secondary concern.

The year started with Crowns largest shareholder James Packer (pictured above) touting the Christmas launch of its shiny new Crown Sydney, and ended with the Sydney casino opening without any gambling and the companys Victorian gaming license under threat.

Early in the year, Melco Resorts & Entertainment ditched its plan to buy 20% of Crown to avoid submitting itself to Australian regulatory scrutiny. While MRE was forced to sell the 10% of Crown it had already acquired at a significant loss, MRE likely considered it money well spent, as it was able to avoid having its reputation being dragged down alongside Crowns.

The snafu culminated in an astonishing two-month stretch in which a seemingly endless parade of Crown execs and directors expressed a heady mix of confusion, ignorance and disinterest regarding their regulatory compliance obligations.

The criticism worked both ways, as gaming regulators in states where Crown operated tried hard to explain why theyd been looking the other way all this time. Victoria responded by accelerating its five-year review of Crown Melbournes license by two years while the federal AUSTRAC body initiated a formal enforcement investigation into Crown Melbournes anti-money laundering shortcomings.

New South Wales wont reveal Crown Sydneys ultimate fate until February, but even if Crown gets off with a financial penalty and a shorter regulatory leash, the companys decision to swear off junket operators plus Australias increasingly dodgy relationship with China means the casino will have to rely on domestic VIPs to keep the lights on. (That sound you hear is investors fleeing for the exits.)

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Gambling year in review 2020: Asia and Australia - CalvinAyre.com

December 23, 2020@3:10 PM| Updated: December 24, 2020 @ 7:14 AM

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Its the holiday season and one of the most-common stocking stuffers is scratch off lottery tickets. However, this months episode of What Are The Odds looks at the implications of this stocking stuffer, and how it can have an ill-effect on kids. Host Jenna Hotaling talks with Karen Burncroff, Community Educator for United Way of Seneca County and her son Casey, a local 10th grader, about gambling among teens. If youre a parent how can you start a conversation about gambling? And should they happen more often? These questions and more on this edition of What Are The Odds.

What Are The Odds Podcast

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WHAT ARE THE ODDS: Starting a conversation with teens about problem gambling (podcast) - FingerLakes1.com

When you are famous and you have a lot of money, the question of whether or not to spend a thousand dollars on gambling becomes irrelevant. Nowadays, it is very popular among celebrities to play casino games. Moreover, many of them perfectly know blackjack speluitleg, and they are often private visitors in casinos.

Below, you will find out who of the famous media personalities visit gambling establishments more often and how much they have lost or won during their pastime.

Lets start with the tastiest the biggest celebrity wins in the casino. Tobey Maguire will be the first on the list of lucky ones. His bid was $100,000. But the guy apparently still had a spider instinct, and it gave him big wins.

His colleagues, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, also like to sit out loud in the casino. Ben was incredibly generous one day and left a $150,000 tip after winning $800,000, which made the staff very happy. It is also worth mentioning that the famous actor was able to win the prize playing three $20,000 hands of Blackjack. Not the worst bet, isnt it?

The next fan of betting on sports is Ashton Kutcher. The actor bluntly stated that he is, perhaps, almost the main sponsor of all betting businesses. Last time, Ashton spent $750,000 in just four weeks.

The list of the lucky ones to complete in this article is 50 Cent, who won $1 million and, later on, an additional $500,000. The most interesting thing is that the rapper later tweeted that sometimes, he listens to the voices in his head, which tell him the right actions to win.

Now, lets get to the list of the biggest celebrity losses in history. Surprisingly, among those who suffered from the biggest losses, there are just the same sports stars who, apparently, do not know ordinary poker regels.

And first on the losing list is Charles Barkley, the NBA star who lost 20,000,000 US dollars. Due to this amount of losses, Charles even had problems with the casino.

Also, Manchester Uniteds best player, Wayne Rooney, lost a huge amount. The player has a strong gambling addiction; so, this is not surprising. He lost 500,000 pounds in just two hours playing roulette.

In conclusion, you must remember one essential thing: Mother Fortune is a changeable lady. And for the gaming activity not to harm you, you need to remember about the limits.

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Celebrity gamblers and their big wins & losses - Film Daily