Category Archives: Gambling

The good news? Figures released this week show that last year's scorching summer helped make it the best season for butterflies in Britain for 22 years. Enjoy them while you're banged up in your garden with them.

How times change. Only a few weeks ago we thought Phillip Schofield telling the world he was gay was a really big issue.

You might kill a few idle hours today by making a list of subjects that concerned you a few weeks ago that you no longer even think about.

My list of things I no longer give a flying fig about includes: Militant vegans. Militant veggies. Militant Irish politics, Brexit. The Middle East. Internet influencers. The future of the TV licence. The future of the BBC. Glastonbury. Eurovision. The difference between free- range and barn-raised. Liz Jones (Sunday Times columnist) being relegated to the second row at a fashion show. Any of Boris Johnson's relatives. Extinction Rebellion. A third runway at Heathrow. Earthquakes anywhere south of Dover.

I do, however, worry about online gambling. It should be banned. With millions of Brits stuck at home 24/7, the old adage the Devil finds work for idle hands springs to mind. At the best of times, online gambling is a wicked temptation. Combine it with a captive housebound audience and it's a second pandemic.

A phrase you'll hear a lot is the new normal. And how quickly it happens. Two weeks ago we would never have dreamed things would have come to this. But we change, we adapt, we accept the deeply abnormal as normal. As a people we have passed this way before. In 1939, as the Second World War kicked off, Britain changed from being a perfectly rational nation into believing that George Formby was amusing.

In law, we all have a duty of care for each other. Long after Whitehall urged the pubs to close, some bars stayed open and one publican declared he would stay open until he was forced to stop. There will be a reckoning. When this pandemic is over, the lawyers will have a field day.

In the daily Bible of the Left, columnist Will Hutton applauds Rishi Sunak's economic measures, hailing him as highly intelligent, economically literate, agile and with acutely sensitive political antennae. So the Guardian is singing the praises of a Tory chancellor. That's how serious things are.

Blame-shifting department. I am buying prudently; you are a panic-buyer. I am storing a sensible amount of food; you are a hoarder. I keep my social-media friends well informed; you are a panic-monger. I am selling Paracetamol at a very reasonable mark-up; you are a vile profiteer. I chat to friends in the park; you break the social-distancing rules. I visit people unannounced as a nice surprise; you are Typhoid Mary.

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Peter Rhodes on changing times, changing priorities and time to change the rules on online gambling - expressandstar.com

N

ew Finance Minister Gernot Blmel told Austrian television last weekend that the country could soon have an independent gambling regulator.

Currently, the majority of Austrian gambling regulation is overseen by the Ministry of Finance (BMF), Affiliate Insider reports. This includes casinos and slots, both on and offline.

But when it comes to sports betting, things are a bit more complicated. Each jurisdiction has its own laws. InVienna, for example, wagering on this is only permitted between 6 a.m. and midnight. Moreover, there are more minute restrictions when it comes to what can be bet on.

In Lower Austria, which surrounds Vienna, there no restrictions on sports betting. This is the same for Burgenland, which is in the east of the country.

Blmels desires to form an independent regulatory body were announced as he was talking about Casinos Austria. This is the countrys gambling monopoly, which in recent months has been hit by scandal recently.

It was claimed that the appointment of Chief Financial Officer, Peter Sildo, was related to the awarding of licenses in Vienna. Sildo is a Freedom Party of Austria (FP) District Councillor in the Austrian capital. Moreover, he has shares in Novomatic which holds a 17.19% stake in Casinos Austria and had hoped to secure a Viennese license.

Both he and Novomatic, however, have since argued that no wrong was done.

Following these allegations, theAustrian Association for Betting and Gambling (VWG)expressed its wishes for the monopoly to end. It said that an urgent rethink of the existing monopoly framework was needed.

When talking about Casinos Austria,Blmel had the following to say.

Casinos Austria is a traditional company that provides over 3,000 jobs.It is important to me that [things settle down] and that jobs, its location and tax revenue remain secure.

BAG [referring to sterreichische Beteiligungs, the Austrian states public investment body]will therefore examine how best to ensure such an Austria package.

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Austria could have independent gambling regulator soon - Yogonet International

The Swedish Gaming Authority (Spelinspektionen) has revealed that licensed operators in the country generated revenue of SEK24.8bn (2.03bn/2.34bn/$2.62bn) in 2019.

Online casino games and gambling on ships was the main source of income for licensees during the 12 months to 31 December 2019, with revenue totalling SEK14.0bn for the year, according to figures jointly published by the regulator and the Swedish Tax Agency.

Revenue from state lottery and gambling machines amounted to SEK5.91bn in 2019, while national lottery games generated a total of SEK3.4m in revenue.

Elsewhere, revenue from Casino Cosmopol, the only licenced land-based casino operator in Sweden, came in at SEK975m, while bingo hall revenue amounted to SEK234m and restaurant casinos SEK229m.

In terms of quarterly performance, the final quarter of 2019 was the busiest for operators, with overall regulated revenue amounting to SEK6.65bn in the three-month period.

Spelinspektionen also noted the impact of unlicensed operators in the country. It said that while there was no official information as to how much Swedish players spend on unregulated websites, industry analysts H2 Gambling Capital estimated offshore revenue to be between SEK1.8bn and SEK2.2bn for the year.

H2 Gambling Capital also said that unregulated revenue in the final quarter of the year was likely to have been between SEK580m and SEK690m.

At present, some 96 operators hold a licence to offer gambling in Sweden, not including licences for non-profit purposes. Of these operators, 70 are licensed for online betting and casino games.

By the end of 2019, Spelinspektionen said that more than 8,000 people in the country had opted into Spelpaus.se, its self-exclusion scheme that launched when new regulations came into effect in January 2019. The regulator said this figure had increased to over 49,000 people by the start of March 2020.

The opening of the Swedish regulated market in January of last year makes year-on-year comparisons difficult. Regulated market revenue in 2018 amounted to SEK16.7bn, but when including operators that were at the time not licensed, total market revenue was SEK23.4bn.

However, since the launch of the regulated market in Sweden, some operators that had been offering gambling without a licence, and were therefore last year classed as unregulated, have since secured a permit to operate in the country and in 2019 contributed to regulated revenue hence a 48.5% year-on-year rise in regulated revenue.

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Swedish regulated gambling revenue reaches SEK24.8bn in 2019 - iGaming Business

Society has a gambling problem.Football has a gambling problem.FIFA has a gambling problem.

The UK, where FIFA and football are overwhelmingly popular, is a particular hotbed for problem gambling:14.4 billionwas spent on gambling last year alone, and11% of 11-16-year-olds admitted to gamblingin the seven days before being asked. (Gambling is illegal for anyone under the age of 18 in the UK.) Problem gamblers, of which there areover 400,000in the UK, are overeight times more likelyto take their own life.

Gamblings ties to sport are deep, cultural, generational, and not easily unwound. Awhistle-to-whistle banwas introduced on gambling TV adverts at the start of this football season (August 2019), outlawing such ads in the 15 minutes before the start and after the end of any televised sporting occasion (except horse racing, as the entire industry, somewhat alarmingly, recognised the sport was untenable without gambling money).

Watch a regular league match on telly and youll still be confronted with any number of gambling references, ads, and backdoor messages. You can watch Dafabets Fulham vs 32Reds Derby County, for example, and see Wayne Rooney wearing the number 32 thats just a coincidence, of course. Perhaps you want to watch a match involving Stoke City, who play at the Bet365 Stadium? Of course, such ties take place in the Sky Bet Championship and are broadcast by the gambling firms sister company, Sky Sports. Clubs are therefore obliged to promote the betting firm through their respective channels as well as on the pitch.

Of the 20 Premier League clubs, ten are sponsored by gambling firms. In the Championship, its 17 of 24. The FA, the guardians of football,sold FA Cup streaming rights to Bet365. Almost every single football podcast is sponsored by betting companies, which also set up stalls at matches and pay footballers toeat piesorwearparticularpantsfor publicity. Football is intertwined with gambling,and EA Sports is committed to faithfully recreating real-life football in FIFA. See the problem?

Gambling's ties to sport are deep, cultural, generational, and not easily unwound

Ultimate Teams loot boxes are a problem, too, of course: the constant flow of new reward mechanics like SBCs, season objectives, promo cards, and limited-time deals make it hard to pull yourself away. Combine that with the multiple currencies obfuscating the real amount youve gambled, packs extremely low success chances, and the ease with which anyone can hand over their money or that of their parents and FUT becomes a dangerously addictive gateway to gambling for young people. Lets not forgetFIFA 20is rated 3+ (in the UK; E for Everyone in the US).

But the mode is only one piece of the puzzle. Even if youve never touched Ultimate Team, youre still confronted with gambling reminders left, right, and centre through the various real-life sponsorship deals FIFA merely recreates. If your team doesnt have a betting firm as a primary sponsor, its likely your career mode or kick off opponent of the week will. PES 2020 is not immune to this either, of course, but this is one area where FIFAs greater abilityto replicate real-world football, and its gambling-backed licences, becomes a drawback when compared to Konamis challenger.

The ubiquity of gambling messages throughoutEAs game facilitates a normalisation of gambling for anyone playing FIFA. Combine it with the rise in betting apps and the ease with which we can now bet, and you have a potent recipe. Waiting for your next match to load? Why not have a flutter the logo is right there in front of you, so youll never forget which apps to download.

EA does take some steps to shield FIFA players from footballs deal with the devil. The aforementioned Bet365 Stadium, for example, is named the Stoke City Stadium in-game and the Sky Bet EFL is referred to simply as the EFL. However, while clubs with gambling sponsors are not permitted to produce real-life childrens kits with those sponsors involved, FIFA, a game played by children around the world, does not follow suit. So while real-life clubs either forego printing a sponsor logo on kids shirts or substitute in that of their charity arm, for example, EA makes those gambling logos ubiquitous within FIFA. This, again, may be a licensing obligation: any betting firm thats forked out hundreds of millions of pounds to sponsor a Premier League club likely wants the exposure a big game like FIFA will bring making the game part of the wider problem. EA did not respond to a request for comment.

The Gambling Commission, meanwhile, told PCGamesN: We understand concerns that gambling advertising and marketing, including advertising and sponsorship of football, could lead to gambling harms for children and other vulnerable people but the evidence is not yet clear. We are working with the Advisory Board for Safer Gambling and Gamble Aware to gather new evidence to explore these issues further.

A spokesperson continued: We are also pushing the industry to work together to make better use of advertising technology to minimise the risk of exposure of gambling advertising content to children, young people and vulnerable adults online.

The UK government is aware of the problem: itsreportedlylooking to legislate against gambling companies sponsoring football teams shirts. But any such process will be drawn-out and will likely face considerable opposition from the companies who benefit from their increased brand awareness and revenue boost every time theres a big match involving one of their partners. In the meantime, football and videogame fans will continue to be exposed to bet now messaging everywhere they look, normalising a habit which can be hugely damaging.

EA should instead take a proactive approach and extend its scrubbing out of stadium and competition sponsorships to shirts as well as listening to the valid concerns around Ultimate Team. The small loss of realism will be worth it for those struggling with gambling addiction around the world and for the young people whose hobbies are bound so tightly to such a potentially harmful industry.

Between FUTs pack economy and the ubiquity of gambling references across the entire game, FIFA is complicit in making football a perfect training ground for young gamblers. Its time EA, its videogame, and the beautiful game of football itself woke up.

If youre concerned that you or someone youre close to may be addicted to gambling, help is available in the UK from Gamblers Anonymous or GamCare, among others; in the US, you can get help from the National Council on Problem Gambling.

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FIFA is part of footballs gambling problem but it runs deeper than just FUT - PCGamesN

ANNAPOLIS, Md. A Maryland bill that would allow lessons on the risks associated with gambling including addiction prevention to be added to the high school health curriculum passed in the state Senate on Feb. 21.

Sen. Bryan Simonaire, R-Anne Arundel, is leading the charge as the bills sponsor. He said laws passed from recent legislative sessions that have opened up gambling in the state have raised concerns about increased gambling addiction and abuse problems.

The Maryland General Assembly has had a direct role in creating this problem of gambling addiction, Simonaire told Capital News Service.

After a 2008 referendum allowed five slots-only casinos, Maryland continued to pass laws expanding gambling. A 2012 ballot question allowed for the addition of table games and the MGM National Harbor casino, Marylands largest, which opened in Prince Georges County in 2016.

Legislation in 2012 mandated the casinos to send annual fees to the Maryland Center of Excellence on Problem Gambling.

Annual assessments of $425 per slot machine and $500 per table game go to the Problem Gambling Fund, managed by the Department of Health a total of $5.3 million in the fiscal year 2019, according to a legislative analysis.

Still, Simonaire said, while he acknowledges money is already being sent to help people with gambling issues, he wants more preventive measures for the states youth.

This session, Sen. Craig Zucker, D-Montgomery, introduced Senate Bill 4, which would legalize sports betting, further widening the opportunities for gambling in Maryland should it pass.

Now, Senate bill 322 would be a step in combating the dangers that go along with gambling. After passage through the Senate Feb. 21, the bill is scheduled to be heard March 18 in the Houses Ways and Means Committee.

Under the bill, the program would be implemented in the 2021-2022 school year.

The education community has also had a direct role in this, Simonaire said at a Feb. 4 hearing. They supported the gambling, they received the money. So they should also have a direct role in supporting the students who are adversely affected by this.

The state teachers union and local school boards often oppose state mandates on their curriculum, according to Maryland State Education Association communications director Adam Mendelson. The association submitted written testimony against the legislation before the bills first hearing.

Simonaire said he met with the Maryland State Department of Education, the states superintendents, and the teachers union before the Feb. 4 hearing, and scaled back the bill.

The amendments require the Maryland State Department of Education to create lesson plans for the local education agencies to voluntarily choose among, with the stipulation that the state department report back in two years on which jurisdictions implemented them.

The curriculum consists of three hour-long lessons that would teach refusal skills in a health class during the four years of high school, with no added costs, Simonaire said.

Simonaire said the bill is modeled after the Maryland Center of Excellence on Problem Gamblings 2014 Smart Choices program.

Still, the Maryland Association of Boards of Education remained in full opposition despite the amendments, saying health educators already have too much to teach as it is.

Several university studies have indicated that younger gamblers are at more at risk than the general population.

We have to recognize a small percentage of people are going to have problems (with gambling abuse), said Maryland Center of Excellence on Problem Gambling Director Rob White.

The legal gambling age in casinos and poker rooms in Maryland is 21, while anyone 18 and older can gamble through the lottery, bingo and horse racing.

The intent is to get them the knowledge so they can deal with this, Simonaire said at the hearing. Otherwise, theres a lot of lives lost through this gambling.

Simonaire told the Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee that while the state has set aside financial resources for adult problem gamblers, estimated at about 150,000 in Maryland, educating youths about the dangers of gambling would attack the issue from the front end.

The Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners said in written testimony it opposes the bill because there are too many other high priority health topics to teach, while also suggesting a community school coordinator could address potential gambling problems.

Five laws have been passed in the General Assembly mandating added health instruction since 2012, including lessons on consent, sexual assault, oral health, opioids and CPR. Through written testimony, the Maryland State Department of Education said, the required half-credit of high school health would not allow time for gambling education lessons.

Two lawmakers Sen. Paul Pinsky, D-Prince Georges, and Sen. Cheryl Kagan, D-Montgomery voted against the bills passage through the Senate on Feb. 21 due to shared concerns about local school mandates, and in this case, workarounds to add curriculum, they told Capital News Service.

Still, Simonaire said, he is prepared to fight for legislation on a matter he is passionate about.

If the local school boards come back around and say only one (of them) used (the gambling education curriculum), we may have to come back and mandate it and say, Hey, this is important enough that youve got to use it, said Simonaire.

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Maryland Lawmaker Introduces Bill To Educate Youth On Potential Risks Of Gambling - CBS Baltimore

PORT CHARLOTTE The Rays confirmed threats were made against four players via social media last year, and talked Thursday about the scary and crazy environment they now play in.

Chaz Roe confirmed that he was one of the players who received messages allegedly from a New York-based gambler named Benjamin Tucker Patz who, among other things, threatened to break into the athletes homes and behead them and their families, according to a criminal complaint of federal charges.

Roe declined to comment because the case is ongoing. Adam Kolarek and Emilio Pagan were identified in the complaint by their initials. Neither is with the team any longer.

The fourth was listed as T.P., but Tommy Pham, the only player with those initials on the team last year, told the Tampa Bay Times via text Wednesday night he didnt recall any specific threats and wasnt involved in an ongoing investigation.

I dont know who this guy is ... I dont remember anyone threatening me, said Pham, now with the Padres. Not me. Crazy.

The threats, made from anonymous accounts, came after a pair of back-to-back losses to the White Sox.

Several Rays players said they are used to getting comments via social media denigrating their performance, but that when it involves threats, and even more so their family, that it becomes a much greater concern.

"That's scary and crazy,'' infielder Joey Wendle said of the reported threats. "Most of the time it's probably just people who lost money because of your performance or something like that.

"Theres absolutely no weight behind any of the threats 99.9 percent of the time, but its just a shame. Nobody is out there trying to perform poorly. Or it could be because they performed well and (the bettor) was on the other side of things. That has to be so far removed from our minds that we cant be worrying about others peoples money and their gambling. ... Its just so crazy that it comes back to the players.''

Pitcher Andrew Kittredge said he gets some threats and comments "randomly, here and there,'' not at the level of violence in the reported threats. "Its usually like, You suck,' followed by a bunch of exclamation points.

Manager Kevin Cash said the threats can be common.

"With the internet and social media, todays players, theyve got so much on their plate, in many ways more than 20 years ago. In some ways its really good, in some ways it can be detrimental and scary at times for players and families and stuff. Youd like to avoid that but thats where we live.''

In a statement Wednesday night, the team said:

The safety of our players and staff is paramount and all threats are taken seriously. During the 2019 season, a Rays player notified club officials of threats he received on social media. The Rays brought the issue to the Clearwater resident office of the FBI, and their agents initiated an investigation that subsequently identified three additional Rays players who had been threatened. The Rays and the players involved are cooperating with the FBI as the legal process continues.

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Rays say gamblers threats were real, scary part of game - Tampa Bay Times

TAMPA A New York City man who made more than $1 million last year betting on sports is accused of sending hundreds of threatening messages to professional and college athletes, including members of the Tampa Bay Rays.

In some of the messages, Benjamin Tucker Patz used racial slurs and threatened to break into the athletes homes and behead them and their families, according to a criminal complaint.

Patz, 23, who goes by the name Parlay Patz, now faces federal charges of transmitting threats in interstate and foreign commerce.

The FBI investigated the threats, which were sent throughout 2019 in direct messages over Facebook and Instagram. The complaint says he used anonymous accounts.

Four Tampa Bay Rays players received Instagram messages on July 20, the day the team lost a home game to the Chicago White Sox. The four are identified in the complaint only by the initials E.P., A.K., T.P. and C.R.

I will sever your neck open you pathetic (expletive)," read one message directed to E.P.

Unfortunately 0-5 against the Chicago White Sox isnt going to cut it, read a message to T.P. Because of your sins, I will have to behead you and your family.

Chaz Roe confirmed Thursday that he was one of the players, but declined to comment because the case is ongoing. Adam Kolarek and Emilio Pagan, who are no longer with the team, were two of the others. Tommy Pham, as the only player with the initials TP on the team last year, told the Tampa Bay Times via text Wednesday night that he didnt recall any specific threats and wasnt involved in an ongoing investigation.

"I dont know who this guy is ... I dont remember anyone threatening me,'' Pham said. "Not me. Crazy.''

A White Sox player, identified in the complaint as A.C., also received a message, which threatened beheading and referred to him with an ethnic slur.

FBI agents traced the Instagram account that sent the messages to an internet protocol address in Sacramento, Calif. They further linked the address to an email account belonging to Patz, who previously lived in Napa, Calif., according to the complaint.

The days that followed saw similar threats directed to players on the Atlanta Braves, Washington Nationals and Kansas City Royals. Other threats targeted players for the Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles, San Diego Padres, Oakland Athletics, Toronto Blue Jays, New England Patriots and numerous other professional and college athletes.

A review of Patz email and Instagram accounts showed more than 300 other accounts had been targeted with threatening and explicit messages, according to the complaint. Nearly all of those messages went to professional athletes or their family members.

The threats often corresponded with Patz gambling activity, according to the complaint. The complaint includes references to various news articles which describe Patz as a gambler who made more than $1 million betting on sports. Some of the articles state that he attended Columbia University Business School and American University in Paris.

The Tampa Bay Rays issued this statement in regards to the threats made against its players:

The safety of our players and staff is paramount and all threats are taken seriously. During the 2019 season, a Rays player notified club officials of threats he received on social media. The Rays brought the issue to the Clearwater resident office of the FBI, and their agents initiated an investigation that subsequently identified three additional Rays players who had been threatened. The Rays and the players involved are cooperating with the FBI as the legal process continues.

Times staff writer Marc Topkin contributed to this report.

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I will sever your neck. Gambler who made $1 million threatened Rays, feds say - Tampa Bay Times

The Gambling Commission is outpaced and outgunned by betting companies, according to a government report warning that the watchdog is struggling to protect people from gambling-related harm.

The National Audit Office, which monitors the effectiveness of public bodies, said the regulator had not adjusted to technological change such as the rise of online and mobile gaming. It said funding constraints had hampered the commission, which has an annual budget of 19m but regulates an industry that took 11.3bn from punters last year.

The commission is constrained by factors outside its control, including inflexible funding and a lack of evidence on how developments in the industry affect consumers, the NAO said.

It concluded that the regulator was unlikely to be fully effective in addressing risks and harms to consumers within the current arrangements.

Its verdict comes after the government promised to review the 2005 Gambling Act, following successive scandals that have cast doubt on the industrys commitment to rein in disordered gambling.

High-profile cases include revelations about the industrys use of so-called VIP schemes, as well as concern about the impact on young and vulnerable people of gambling advertising and its links to football.

While the commission has ramped up the level of fines it issues, from 1.4m in 2014-15 to nearly 20m last year, it has struggled to keep pace with changing trends, the NAO said. These include a 56% rise in advertising spending between 2014 and 2017, most of it via online and social media channels rather than television.

The NAO also pointed to the increase in the proportion of online gambling that happens via mobile phone, up from 23% in 2015 to 44% in 2018.

Gareth Davies, head of the NAO, said: The risks to gamblers are changing as technologies develop. Yet the Gambling Commission is a small regulator in a huge and fast-evolving industry. While the commission has made improvements, gambling regulation lags behind the industry.

The NAO called on the commission and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to do more to encourage companies to surpass minimum standards on problem gambling protection, including financial and reputational incentives.

It also called for a review of the commissions funding model, via fees paid by operators for licences.

Labour MP Carolyn Harris said: The Gambling Commission is not fit for purpose and Neil McArthur [its chief executive] should resign in the light of this report. The commission is simply not up to the job of regulating the gambling industry, particularly the online sector, parts of which seem to operate like the wild west.

There are an estimated 395,000 problem gamblers, 55,000 of them children, with a further 1.8 million deemed at risk. Six further people are affected by each addict, according to a study cited in the report.

The report lamented a lack of long-term research to measure the impact of the problem gambling. Research has suggested that the economic cost could be as much as 1.2bn a year, nearly half the industrys 3bn annual tax contribution.

The Gambling Commission said the NAOs report underlines the constraints that our current funding arrangements presents, and we are developing proposals to discuss this with DCMS.

The regulator pointed to measures it had taken such as imposing stricter age verification and banning gambling on credit cards, but admitted that more needs to be done. We must see a reduction in the number of people experiencing harm and we are currently pushing the industry to focus on poor VIP practices, advertising technology and game design, the DCMS said.

We have already announced we will review the Gambling Act to ensure it is fit for the digital age.

We have also worked closely with the Gambling Commission over the last year to introduce a wave of tough measures cutting the maximum stake on fixed-odds betting terminals, introducing tighter age and identity checks for online gambling and banning gambling using credit cards from this April.

The threat of increased regulation has proved a drag on the share prices of UK gambling companies, prompting an industry-wide effort to display improved attitudes to problem gambling.

Sign up to the daily Business Today email here or follow Guardian Business on Twitter at @BusinessDesk

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Gambling Commission 'is being outgunned' by betting companies - The Guardian

Despite being home to Las Vegas the global hub of gambling the United States of America has a complicated relationship with gambling. Laws surrounding the practice differon a state-by-state basis and here in Long Island, the laws have been subject to change throughout the last decade.

Traditionally gambling in New York State was strictly limited to casino venues which could only be opened in Indian reservations. Horse racing, some forms of lotteries and a few other negligible gambling games were allowed.

But, in 2013 voters approved an amendment to the New York gambling laws which would allow Vegas style casinos to be built in the state. Despite that amendment, online casinos, sports betting sites and online poker still remain illegal.

In this article we will look at the gambling options for Long Island residents and speculate as to whether the state could benefit from following the lead of a European country.

Where to gamble in New York State?

A look behind the curtain at New Yorks largest gambling venue, Resorts World Casino.

RWC is by far the largest and most impressive casino within a short commute of Long Island. The casino is operated by the Genting group, one of the biggest names in the global casino business with dozens of resorts around the globe.

RWC is home to three distinct casinos, Times Square Casino, Fifth Avenue Casino and Central Park Casino. Across the three there are over 6,000 slot machines and hundreds upon hundreds of table games. If youre in to high stakes games ask a member of staff about the venues several high-limit rooms which often play host to private, high stakes games.

If youre opening a casino in New York City it is the law that you have to name it after one of the Big Apples most famous landmarksokay maybe not, but it seems to be the route that a lot of casino developers have gone down, including the Rooney family who owned this 97-acre property from 1972 to 2019.

Last year the casino was bought by MGM the casino owning super group with interests in Las Vegas and Macao. The 150,000 square foot venue is home to over 5,000 slot machines and boasts a large selection of gaming tables on top of that.

For refreshments, guests can enjoy Dan Rooneys on-site sports pub as well as three extremely tasty restaurants including Nonnos Trattoria. With funding from MGM filtering through on almost a monthly basis, keep your eyes peeled for more improvements at Empire City Casino.

Belmont park

Highlights from 2019s epic Belmont Stakes race.

As mentioned in the introduction of the article, horse racing is legal in New York State and it is an activity enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of punters. The Belmont Triple Crown Championship is an annual race that attracts fans from all over the globe and is an event that deserves a place in your calendar.

Away from that championship, races are held throughout the spring and summer months. These events are made even more enjoyable by the availability of in-depth stats on horses, riders and trainers available to visitors.

Whether youre an experienced horse better or a complete novice, Belmont Park is the ideal place to visit.

Using your phone

All forms of online gambling are illegal in NYC, other than Fantasy Football.

Want to whip your phone out of your pocket in Long Island and win some cash at an online poker table? No can do buddy. Fancy spinning the roulette wheel? Think again. How about backing the Yankees? Absolutely not, although if you do fancy wagering some money on fantasy football, fill your boots.

Welcome to the crazy world of online gambling legislation in New York State. All forms of online gambling apart from fantasy sports are strictly prohibited, in a state with more than a few super casinos.

New York States prohibition on online gambling doesnt make much sense, but fortunately it might be about to change its stance in the near future.

Legalising online gambling

There is a tide of change in the USA at the moment where online gambling is concerned. In recent times the legislation surrounding online sports betting has been decentralized, leaving individual states to decide for themselves whether or not to legalize the act.

Movements to legalise online sports betting in some states have led to further legalisation for online casinos. Although it is unclear what New York State will decide to do with both sports betting and online casinos.

Should online gambling be legalised?

The argument for legalising online gambling lies in Northern Europe, just north of France and slightly east of Ireland.

The United Kingdom is perhaps the most successful online gambling nation on the planet, with annual revenues of over 5 billion from the remote sector. It is for that, and a number of other reasons that the country is often held up as an example for other countries to follow. There are many hugely popular and reputable gambling sites, featuring a range of engaging casino games with lucrative prizes to be won. A good example to get a feel for the the industry and try your luck at is the one-of-a-kind Las Vegas inspired retro style site 777 online casino.

One of the reasons the gambling industry is doing so well in the UK is because the government is very involved in the day-to-day running of online gambling companies, thanks to heavy regulation. Every gambling company in the country is not only obliged to pay a percentage of their profits to gambling charities, but they are also required to take the necessary precautions to detect and help problem gamblers.

Scientific studies have labelled British gamblers as mature, meaning they are less likely to encounter problems with gambling. The governments action on regulating the online industry has been seen as key to this.

Conclusion

If the New York State is to go down the route of legalising online gambling, sports betting and poker, administrators could do far worse than copying the approach of the British gambling industry.

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Long Island gambling rules - Blog - The Island Now

Gambling is an extremely lucrative industry in the UK, with an estimated Gross Gambling Yield (GGY) worth 14.4bn according to the latest figures supplied by its regulator, the Gambling Commission (GC). Most peoples first encounter with gambling is via their local high street, a prime location for the big players in the industry, such as Ladbrokes Coral, William Hill and Betfred. With 10,761 gambling premises used by licensed operators across the country, you are roughly ten times more likely to stumble across a bookies then a McDonalds! Yet it is the online sector that has rapidly grown to become the industrys largest with a market share of 37.1%.

Much of the success of online gambling can be attributed to the industrys use of television and social media platforms that offer a never-ending stream of incentives to potential customers in the form of free bets and bonuses. There is no doubt that this tactic works and a 2019 GC report titled Gambling participation in 2018: behaviour, awareness and attitudes revealed that 45% of online gamblers were prompted to spend money on a gambling activity due to the adverts that they saw. This was compared to 49% of online gamblers (with a social media account) who saw similar adverts on a social media platform.

The gambling industry is highly competitive, so it is no wonder that the companys operating within it invest heavily in marketing and advertising in an attempt to differentiate themselves from each other. The tactic seems to be working as the GC recently reported that 24 million people gambled in the UK between 2018/2019, an increase of 2% since December 2017.

The greed of the gambling industry to snare their prey via free bets and other promotions has seen the rise of an extremely savvy community of so-called matched bettors who wish to take advantage of these offers to make a small profit for themselves legitimately and with minimal effort. By covering one side of a wage with a free bet, a matched bettor will then make an opposite bet at a betting exchange. Effectively with both sides of a bet covered, they cannot lose. The result is small amount of profit, with minimal risk, which would not be possible without the use of the free bet offered by a gambling company in the first instance.

Matched betting was relatively unknown until the development of the first peer to peer betting exchangecalled flutter.com which was launched in 2000.As the online gambling industry arose, matched betting came into its own. Matched betting companies arose and quickly became intertwined with active matched betting communities. In exchange of a small fee, the latter utilise the cutting-edge software and technology these companies offer in order to quickly take advantage of the huge number of free bets being offered by the gambling industry

Officially the betting companies claim that matched betting industry does not affect their businesses or is a minor irritant. In response to a Daily Telegraph enquiry last August, a spokesman for William Hill said it tried to discourage customers exploiting offers designed to benefit regular customers, as it limits the firms commercial ability to reward genuine customers and enhance their experience with us. While James Midmer, Head of Communications at Paddy Power, said the profits were not high enough to compensate for the time and research needed to win.

In reality, the gambling industry likes it when the odds are in its favour and cannot abide being taken advantage off. That is why matched bettors are finding that the gambling industry is increasing employing a whole host of nefarious tactics to prevent them from making a legitimate profit. For example, in December last year a Sportsmail investigation revealed what many matched bettors had long thought. That online gambling firms were ranking customers using sophisticated software, allowing them to limit amounts bet by successful gamblers or even close their accounts if they are being too successful. The most despicable were and even using stalling tactics to stop customers withdrawing money, demanding financial details such as employment history and National Insurance numbers, with the result that the winnings can be lost during the delay.

It is no wonder then that the number of complaints to the Gambling Commission about bookies behaviour has rose to a record 8,266 complaints in 2018, compared with just 169 in 2013. Despite the behaviour of many companies with the gambling industry, its success seems to show no signs of slowing, and there appears to be no shortage of punters who fail to understand that the house always wins. What is certain though, is that canny Matched Bettors will continue to rebalance the odds in their favour, and legitimately enjoy their fair share of the gambling industries wealth. Our industry cannot be stopped. Its simply a question of staying two steps ahead of the competition!

Sam Stoffel is the Founder and CEO of the UKs most popular Matched Betting platform, Profit Accumulator. Authoritative and Influential within the Matched Betting sector, Profit Accumulator is now a multi-million-pound turnover empire, built on sophisticated technology and driven by Stoffels clear trajectory for growth.

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Why the gambling industry has a problem with matched betting | London Business News - London Loves Business