Category Archives: Gambling

NAPLES, Fla. New LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan knows shes inherited a good situation, but she also feels theres a huge opportunity to do more.

It's a very unique organization that is primed for growth and continued impact on the world, she said Friday morning during a sit-down with a few media members at The Ritz-Carlton Naples.

While much of the hour-long conversation centered on next years record-breaking schedule, which was just released, and the importance of the tours brand and partnerships, Marcoux Samaan also revealed a couple more interesting tidbits.

One involved gambling. With the PGA Tour going all-in on sports betting this year, it seems only natural for the LPGA, which continues to grow in popularity, to follow suit. Marcoux Samaan was mum on details, but she appeared to be in favor.

I think it's a really interesting opportunity for people to, once again, get to know our players, follow our players, be engaged with our players, she said. They're always more interested in the content when you have something on the line, so we are, I think, going to be able to announce some really unique things we're going to be doing in the coming weeks.

Full-field scores from the CME Group Tour Championship

The other deals with something that golf fans have been clamoring for: a mixed competition between the LPGA and PGA Tour. Marcoux Samaan said she was 100% behind it.

I think everyone would love to see the men and women play together, she said. As you all know for years, people have played with different ideas. There's some hurdles and challenges. We are all for it, and I think there's conversations brewing with a number of entities to see how we can get that done. I think both from the men's side and the women's side, everybody thinks it would be great to put the best athletes in the world together at one time and there's certainly some good things brewing on that.

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LPGA commish: 'Good things brewing' with mixed event, gambling - Golf Channel

Augmented and virtual reality in gambling; what to expect, how could it work? This article will preview the Virtual Reality technology and its impact on the iGambling and iGaming industries in the USA and UK. Already now you can play VR poker and interact with live dealers at casinos using Augmented and Virtual reality technology.

The purpose of what follows will be to clarify what is really behind each of reality acronyms.

Augmented is a form of computer-generated imagery that adds digital information to the users environment in real time. AR has been around for years but with recent advances in mobile processing power, AR is becoming more popular than ever before. AR has been around for much longer, with its roots going back to 1968 when Ivan Sutherland demonstrated it as part of his PhD thesis on human interaction with computers. AR was also central to the development of computer-aided design (CAD) systems in the 1970s. The maybe most famous example is the Pokmon GO game from Nintendo, which blended monsters with our everyday public spaces.

While AR allows virtual info to be overlaid on a real environment, users cannot interact with it like they would be able to in real life. This capability is reserved for a mixed reality (MR) environments.

Mixed Reality is to merge real and virtual worlds to produce new environments and visualizations where physical and digital objects co-exist and interact in real time. This means that the new image is placed in the real space, so that the new image can interact with the real things in the physical world as we know it to a certain extent. The key feature of the MR environment is that synthetic content and real-world content can react to each other in real time.

Virtual Reality is similar to AR but instead of adding digital information into your current environment, you are immersed inside an entirely new one that includes 3D graphics, sounds, smells etcetera. VR is a more recent phenomenon, but one that has already had a major impact on gaming and how we experience entertainment media like movies and TV shows.

An emerging umbrella term for all the realities just mentioned is Extended Reality (XR). In other words XR refers to all real and virtual combined environments and human-machine interactions generated by computer power and wearables.

AR/VR gambling will allow players to place bets and play against other AR or VR users in their own AR casino. Your own AR environment could include avatars of your friends, allowing you to chat with them before placing a bet on the next big game!

Virtual Reality is also being developed for online casinos so that they can offer customers an unmatched experience. These AR casinos will allow online casino players to play their favorite games while feeling like they are in the real environment of a traditional brick-and-mortar casino.

While AR hasnt quite taken off in the world of online gambling yet, its going places fast. AR is likely to become the standard within online casinos in just a few years. AR has already shown huge potential for changing how people gamble, including helping players see into whats underneath their cards and experience casino games like never before.

There is no doubt that VR will provide additional benefits to online gamblers in the future, allowing them to literally transport themselves to beautiful and exciting virtual casinos filled with hundreds of other online VR players using cutting-edge technology. Consider this: when you play slots in a virtual casino, you dont just sit there with a screen in front of you; you have a fully three-dimensional slot machine to interact with. Youll be able to look around at the other players, share some good conversation. Imagine playing poker at a VR casino and not having to push buttons to interact with the cards in front of you, but rather use your hands like you normally would?

You can also try VR casino games like roulette and blackjack online via several websites and even mobile apps using Virtual Reality technology. Try, for example, BetMGM live dealers or play VR Poker at PokerStars US.

SlotsMillion are one of the first online casinos to offer a 3D slots. Find out more on their official slotmillions.com.

BetMGM offers augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) games

PokerStars VR is not yet available for real money play and the company has no plans to launch real money cash games or poker tournaments. You can either play with oculus and experience VR or on desktop with 3D effects.

XR Casino is one of the first online casinos to launch an online gambling environment which implements a mixed reality gaming experience in which AR, VR and MR users can play together. No casino operators has yet implemented this kind of tech in their online casinos. XR Casinos technology implement features such as:

For more information see here.

While we wait for igamling providers to implement AR/VR/MR in their online casinos, you can already now try out AR and VR environments. Here are listing of dedicated devices as VR headset as well as AR smart glasses and smart phones occupying this space.

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How VR, AR and MR could Revolutionize Online Gambling - DailyStoke.com

While gambling revenue in Pennsylvania continues to soar, online poker is hanging steady in the gambling slipstream.

According to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Boards report for October, gambling revenues hit a record-high of $425,916,762, beating the watermark set in July by $3 million.

Out of that, the four online poker rooms pulled in $2.8 million, a blip down from $2.92 million they generated in September.

BetMGM and Borgata, which operate using PartyPokers software, saw slight increases while WSOP and PokerStars revenue slightly declined from September.

The WSOPs October revenue was affected by unmet guarantees in more than a dozen tournaments spread in its Fall Online Championship Series. The shortfalls forced the operator to add more than $285K to prize pools throughout the month. The same series also ran on WSOP.com in New Jersey and Nevada, which share player pools with one another, and whose tournaments met all but one of their guarantees.

Its the third full month with all four poker rooms operating. PokerStars had a monopoly from November 2019 until Borgata and BetMGM went live in the Spring this year, followed by WSOP in July.

After gambling revenue surpassed the $400 million mark in July, Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board Executive Director Kevin OToole said he expects the trend to continue thanks to online table games and slots, which passed $70 million in revenue itself.

The online gaming revenue total for October, which includes online poker but not online sportsbooks, hit $103 million across 10 casinos a 72% increase compared to October 2020. Four brick-and-mortar casinos are partners with the states online poker sites, including Hollywood Casino at Penn National, which partners with BetMGM, Rivers Casino, which partners with Borgata, Mt. Airy whos partnered with PokerStars, and Harrahs, which is partners with WSOP.com.

The states gaming report outlines how online gambling has been a goldmine for these casinos, particularly Hollywood Casino, which pulled in $20 million in October; only $303K of that revenue came from online poker, however. Rivers online revenue is second in the state at $26 million, but only $108K of those monies came from online poker.

Mt. Airy generated $5.3 million in online gambling revenue, of which $1.8 million came from PokerStars. Harrahs generated $2.6 million in online revenue in October, of which, $587K came from poker.

Like its neighbor to the West, New Jersey saw a slight dip in poker revenue in October, taking in $2.4 million throughout the month, which is $100K less than the state booked in September. Even so, the states revenue remains steady for the year, according to the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcements iGaming report for October.

After cracking the $1 million revenue mark in September, BetMGM/Borgata took the biggest step back, falling $88K short of its September number. Only WSOP, possibly thanks to the online bracelet events that ran on Sundays throughout the month, made slight gains.

Including online poker, online gambling revenue for October was $127 million, up $5 million from September. The statestotal gross fromgambling was $448.7 million.The casinos doing a booming business with their online table games and slots, while online poker remains a niche offering.

Resorts Digital Gaming, which partners with PokerStars, pulled in $29 million in online gambling revenue for October, with just $623K of that coming from poker. For Caesars/WSOP.com, total online revenue was $8 million, with just about 10% coming from poker. Meanwhile, Borgatas online gambling revenue tally hit nearly $39 million, with only $933K coming from poker.

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Bob Pajich

Bob Pajich is a poker news reporter, creative writer, and poker player who never met suited connectors he didn't like.

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October Online Poker Revenue Remains Steady in PA and NJ, Online Gambling Revenues Soar - CardsChat.com

Officers of the Lagos rapid response squad (RRS) who frequently patronise stalls along Kadiri road, Ikeja to drink locally-distilled liquor, popularly known as paraga and wander along the same road and other axis to gamble now appeared to have stitch a tear in their unprofessional playbook.

This development follows TheCables report where a couple of officers from the elite police squad were caught in the act.

The report had shown, with videos and pictures, how officers of the RRS have consistently transgressed part 12, section 100 (1) of the Nigerian Police Act, 2021.

While on duty, a police officer shall not take any intoxicating liquor, psychotropic substances, or stimulants, where he does, he shall be punished in accordance with the police disciplinary procedures, the section reads.

One of the alcohol sellers, whose stall is not far from the RRS parade ground, had told TheCable that the officers gather there to change their clothes, relax and shine their eyes with paraga every Monday and Friday.

It depends, sometimes when they come, their friends want to come along. Most of them come here to change their clothes, shine their eyes and to relax, she had said.

If dem no take alcohol, dem go take predator, anything that will make them relax. Dem dey always plenty. Sometimes they are less than 10. While some are going, some are coming.

Some will stay at the place of that other woman that sell over there. One thing about them is that the ones wey wan resume work go take some before dem go for parade; after parade you fit see them say make I take one or two before dem go.

To corroborate the report, TheCable had cited a case of a police officer, who was seen on November 2020, misbehaving under the influence of alcohol at CBN junction in Abuja.

Also in November 2018, Kadima Useni, a police inspector, was reportedly dismissed by the police after he got drunk while on duty in Akowonjo, Dopemu area of Lagos.

TheCable had returned to the area, on various occasions to check if the officers were still indulging in the act, but the area has been rid of stalls belonging to liquor sellers. While gambling spots and agents still remain, no officer was seen near the shops.

When TheCable spoke with one of the gin sellers, it was discovered that the woman and others in the area had been ordered to vacate their stalls but it is believed she still secretly hawks around the area.

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Lagos RRS officers avoid 'paraga' stalls, gambling centres -- after TheCable's report - TheCable

After much anticipation and speculation, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) emergency temporary standard (ETS) vaccine mandate is finally here. Or is it? On Nov. 5, 2021, OSHA issued the ETS requiring employers with at least 100 employees to develop a vaccination policy by Dec. 5 that requires employees to either be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or submit to weekly testing for the virus. That same day, lawsuits challenging the ETS were filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth, Eighth and Eleventh circuits. Acting quickly, the Fifth Circuit (which covers Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi) issued an order the next day granting a temporary stay of the ETS. The order, however, left one significant issue unclear: Does the stay apply only in the Fifth Circuit, or does it apply nationwide? Since then, additional lawsuits challenging the ETS have been filed in every federal circuit court. So, what happens next?

The lottery. When multiple lawsuits involving a common question of fact are filed in separate courts, the lawsuits are consolidated and heard by one court. Each federal circuit court in which a lawsuit has been filed will get one entry in a lottery, regardless of the number of individual lawsuits that were filed in that particular court. The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation will then randomly draw one entry from that lottery. The lottery will occur on or after Nov. 16. All the lawsuits will then be consolidated and heard before that court. The selected court could then decide to keep the stay that was issued by the Fifth Circuit, modify the stay or throw it out. The court could also limit the scope of the stay to only the federal circuits that were in the lottery or could apply the stay nationwide. One thing thats for sure is that if the Fifth Circuit is selected via the lottery, the odds are against the ETS. However, if the lawsuit does stay in the Fifth Circuit or is assigned to another court that is perceived to be conservative, the Department of Labor and OSHA could decide to take the stay to the Supreme Court of the United States.

All bets aside, in the meantime, employers should continue developing their vaccine/testing policies. If mandate proponents hit the lottery jackpot, employers dont want to be in the red come the Dec. 5 mandate compliance deadline.

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Gambling on the Fate of the OSHA ETS Vaccine Mandate - JD Supra

The most expensive political fight of next years midterm elections is erupting in California, where a growing field of competing interests are at war over Americas largest untapped gambling marketplace.

Traditional card rooms, Native American tribes and some of the largest gaming companies in the world have all launched competing ballot measures that would dramatically change the rules that govern how Golden State residents can bet on games of chance and on sporting events.

The four proposals one of which has qualified for next years ballot, the other three of which have begun or will soon begin collecting signatures to make the ballot vary tremendously in which types of gaming would be allowed, how and where residents could access those games and how gambling revenue would be allocated.

Most crucially, each initiative determines just which entities would be allowed to administer the games, and therefore control a market that would almost immediately generate billions of dollars a year in revenue.

Assuming both retail and online sportsbooks are authorized, the California sports betting market would quickly become not only the largest in the U.S., but among the largest in the world, Chris Grove, a partner at Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, a California-based research and consulting firm, told The Hill in an email. A competitive retail plus online sports betting market would easily be worth in excess of $3 billion a year in total revenue.

The varied proposals illustrate the uneasy coexistence of several types of gaming entities in California and the sudden explosion of online action that has happened across the country after a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision struck down a federal law that blocked all but four states from allowing sports betting. In the years since that decision, two-thirds of states have taken steps to allow sports betting, and 21 states and the District of Columbia already operate online gaming systems.

But no market is bigger or more lucrative than California, home to 1 in 9 Americans and 18 professional baseball, basketball, hockey, football and soccer teams.

The measure that has qualified for the ballot is backed by 18 Native American tribes throughout the state specifically, those that already operate Las Vegas-style casinos. It would permit sports wagering, albeit only on tribal land and at horse-racing tracks, along with roulette and dice games like craps.

This is an important step toward giving Californians the opportunity to participate in sports wagering while also establishing safeguards and protections against underage gambling, Mark Macarro, chairman of the Pechanga Band of Luiseo Indians, said in a statement announcing the measure earlier this year.

The California Gaming Association, a trade group that represents the industry in Sacramento, objects to the tribal ballot measure, which they say consolidates power in the hands of the tribes at the expense of the rest of the industry and leaves billions in potential revenue on the table by omitting an online component to sports wagering.

Ninety percent of sports wagering is done over a mobile device nationwide, said Kyle Kirkland, the president of the California Gaming Association and owner of a card room in Fresno. To legalize sports wagering without that is nonsensical.

The tribal governments that back the proposal have already contributed more than $12 million to the campaign, a huge sum so early in the process but an amount that pales in comparison to backers of another measure, sponsored by some of the nations largest gambling companies.

Those companies, including BetMGM, DraftKings, Ballys Interactive and FanDuel, have dropped $100 million into an initiative campaign that would allow online gaming to be controlled by both the major corporations and tribal entities.

The backers of the initiative, calling themselves Californians for Solutions to Homelessness and Mental Health Support, have attracted an all-star team of heavy-hitting strategists, including campaign manager Dana Williamson, who served as California Gov. Gavin NewsomGavin NewsomJudge ends Britney Spears conservatorship after 13 years Manson family member Leslie Van Houten again recommended for parole Newsom says he canceled climate summit plans because kids wanted him home for Halloween MOREs (D) top aide, and Nathan Click, Newsoms former communications director.

The corporations wrote the initiative to dedicate 85 percent of tax revenue generated by online gaming to homelessness and mental health initiatives, two crisis-level problems facing a state with a growing housing shortage. The remaining 15 percent would be dedicated to Native tribes that do not offer online sports betting.

The initiative will create hundreds of millions of dollars each year that cities like Oakland can use to help those experiencing homelessness off our streets and into housing and supportive services, one backer, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf (D), said in a statement.

A third measure is backed by a coalition of smaller cities, those with card rooms that already generate revenue for their local communities. That measure would open the online sports betting market to a wider array of licensed operators and levy taxes on those operators including Native tribes, which would not be required to pay taxes under the other measures.

The initiative backed by cities takes a similar approach to the one backed by the large corporations: It would dedicate 100 percent of the tax revenue it generates to public education, homelessness, affordable housing, mental health, problem gambling programs and gaming administration.

Sports wagering was happening already, but it was being done illegally. If this were made legal and were able to tax it now, that would be a new revenue source for California, said Tasha Cerda, the mayor of Gardena, a small town south of Los Angeles that is home to several card rooms. We have a vested interest in this as well. Its a revenue source for our community. It pays for a lot of things that are important.

Earlier this month, a fourth group indicated they would weigh in with a proposed initiative, too: In a letter to fellow Native American tribes, tribal leaders from the Rincon Band of Luiseo Indians and the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria and Wilton Rancheria said they would file their own initiative to allow tribal governments to offer online gaming, something the tribe-backed measure that has already qualified for the ballot does not include.

If the DraftKings Measure or the Cardrooms Measure passes in November 2022, tribes would lose their exclusivity to class III gaming in California and such passage would accelerate the legalization of online gaming by non-tribal interests, threatening the existence of Indian gaming as we know it, the tribal leaders wrote to their colleagues.

Native American tribes gained the right to operate casinos in constitutional amendments approved by voters in 1998 and 2000. In the decades since, those tribes that have opened casinos have come to rely on the revenue they generate to improve lives of their members and to build political clout in the state.

Its become extremely important for some tribes, those that are fortunate enough to have geographic locations to build casinos and have people come have done well in gaming, said Frederick Boehmke, a political scientist at the University of Iowa and an expert in Native American politics and gaming. Tribes now make the list of top lobbying groups of powerful interests in the state of California, and theyve been important in the evolving political process.

The three measures that have not yet qualified for the ballot must collect nearly a million signatures within 180 days of winning clearance to circulate in order to qualify for the ballot. Groups that support California ballot initiatives frequently pay for signature gatherers, meaning the initiatives will cost millions of dollars just to earn the right to compete for voter approval.

There is a risk, some California political experts said, in running multiple measures on the same subject: Voters faced with confusing choices are more likely to vote against everything, rather than choosing one among four different proposals. And if multiple measures pass, ironing out the differences would be left to the legislature, which would set off its own million-dollar lobbying battle between competing interests.

Not only do you have an industry thats only grown, but it has more players who are all fighting to dominate it. That is simply a recipe for more political spending, said Thad Kousser, who chairs the political science department at the University of California-San Diego. Thats nothing new in California.

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Billions at stake in fight over future of California gambling | TheHill - The Hill

The Blair governments 2005 liberalisation of gambling laws was intended to be a two-sided deal. Regulation of gambling firms would be overhauled and liberalised, and in return they would operate as businesses within the UK, pay tax and be subject to domestic regulation. The gambling firms had other ideas, and moved offshore anyway where they set up in tax havens like Gibraltar and the Isle of Man.

The Gambling Act might have been intended to turn Britain into the gambling hub of Europe, but it succeeded only in making us a leader in the amount of money we lose. We continue to export billions to gambling operators offshore, and with it jobs and corporation tax revenue. We then effectively import the cost of gambling harm, which Public Health England estimates to be 1.27bn a year. This exploitative mess has no upside for the country.

After Geoffrey Cox landed in hot water following revelations he worked for a tax haven and against the interests of the British government, details emerged of 19 Conservative MPs and nine Labour MPs who received gifts and hospitality totalling 225,000 in the past year. Much of this came from tax-avoiding online gambling corporations. This has led to questions about whose interests these MPs are serving.

That the gambling industry is keen to maintain relationships with MPs is no surprise. The government knows the industry is in dire need of reform. It is in the middle of a comprehensive gambling review, which has pledged to put consumer protection at its forefront. Our understanding of gambling-related harm, its causes and the practices of the online gambling sector should leave policymakers far better placed to legislate than in 2005, when the industry was in its relative infancy and smartphones werent yet widespread.

The gambling industry needs all the friends it can get, given that the sector it represents has spent more than a decade alienating people. The House of Lords gambling industry select committee found that 60% of the industrys profits came from the 5% of customers who were either problem gamblers or at risk.

But this business model, built on a section of customers losing way more than they can afford and finding new gamblers once theyve lost everything, is obfuscated by MPs friendly to the gambling lobby, who often resort to paint by numbers libertarian rhetoric around not telling people how to spend their leisure time.

It sadly remains the view of government that gambling is more of a leisure activity than a public health issue, although the two are not mutually exclusive. However, when the Social Market Foundation suggested affordability checks if someone wanted to deposit more than 100 a month, or the Gambling Commission consulted on checks taking place at losses of 125 a month, the gambling lobby and its supporting MPs were outraged. But even if gambling is considered a leisure activity, this is surely compatible with appropriate controls on spending that are in line with other leisure sectors.

If we legalised illicit drugs, we would do so knowing the products were addictive and therefore regulate their supply and consumption, with adequate controls applied. Drug-taking might be considered a leisure activity in such a context, but promoting it through advertising would be extremely controversial.

Our knowledge of gambling disorder and its neurological parallels to cocaine addiction have evolved considerably since 2005, and a higher proportion of people who engage with online slots or casino products get addicted to them than those who smoke cannabis and get addicted. But as our knowledge has evolved, the arguments MPs connected to the gambling lobby are making remain the same. They warn of a black market emerging if we increase consumer protections, despite the Gambling Commission dismissing this as nonsense.

Yet the very same MPs are happy to accept gifts and hospitality from gambling firms operating in unregulated markets. If they are so worried about illegal gambling, perhaps they could ask the representatives of these online gambling firms that they go to the races or football matches with if theyll withdraw from jurisdictions they are not licensed to operate in. Or if they will come back onshore and pay UK corporation tax.

Such pushback might stop the flow of gifts. Thats because the interests of online gambling firms are not aligned to those of the country. MPs who take their side are clearly not serving the best interests of their constituents.

Matt Zarb-Cousin is the director of Clean Up Gambling. He writes in a personal capacity

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Gambling companies feed on addiction and misery. Why are MPs helping them? - theguardian.com

Description: Baltic countries are using gambling as a way to boost revenue and enhance the economy. Check out how these countries are using cost-effective strategies when it comes to gambling.

Gaming Regulations in Baltic Countries

Home to Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, the Baltic region is known for flat rate taxes and a liberal outlook. After the Soviet Union collapsed, these countries have regained independence and are thriving. To help their economy, Baltic regions have regulatory frameworks regarding gambling and licensing for online casinos are available. In the past few years, the iGaming market has had continuous growth, which has allowed these regions to generate revenue. The economic impacts of casinos have been beneficial, and here, we take a closer look at how the casino economy is thriving.

Business Boosts Economy

One cost-effective strategies of governments are legalising online gambling in countries. There has been commercial gaming expansion in Baltic regions, which has also led to an increase in the number of operating online casinos. The result has been positive. Counties can earn profits from taxes paid from gambling winnings and earn revenue from licensing fees charges to online operators.

There are many positive effects of gambling on the economy. In other countries that have passed iGaming laws, there has been a tremendous boost in revenue. This is happening all over the world. Today, a casino in Nordic countries, for instance, is also believed to reach thousands of players online. If you look at the online casino Finland list, youll see many successful representatives of the booming industry.

Money earned in taxes and licensing fees is not the only perk. There are effects of casinos on local communities as well as more jobs are created. With legalised online gambling, residents can benefit from playing their favourite casino games in a secure environment while the country will also reap the benefits.

Estonian Regulations

As one of the smallest Baltic countries, Estonia only has a population of 1.4 million. About 80% of adults in Estonia engage in gambling activities. Compared to the rate in Sweden, which is at 66%, it is evident that gambling is the main pastime in Baltic countries. More than 10 years ago, Estonia legalised iGaming to generate profits for the local economy. At an online casino Estonia, players will engage in exciting games and redeem super bonuses. These casino sites can securely be accessed and provide excellent player protection.

Residents have legal access to online games of chance, bingo, sports betting, and lotteries. With some great online casinos available, those over the age of 21 can legally wager on their favourite games. Not only can they win payouts, but the revenue generated will go towards strengthening the local economy!

Legalised Gambling Pros and Cons

Legalising gambling in Baltic countries has been very beneficial, and it allows players to play at sites in their own country instead of accessing offshore areas and spending money elsewhere. When the Baltic regions decided to legalise gambling, they weighed the pros and cons. Today, we can see that there are many advantages to legal gambling, but some drawbacks have come into play. Here, we take a close look at the different pros and cons of legalised gambling.

As for the advantages, the legalisation of gambling provides a country with data and statistics. This allows governments to gain insight into who is gambling and the average age of gamblers, along with how much they are spending when they engage in gambling activities. Legally operating casinos also increase profits that can be used to improve healthcare systems and education. It also provides residents with safe ways to engage in real money play. Some may wonder, can gambling be a job? If you reside in a country where it is legal, you can become a professional gambler and make significant profits.

Just as there are advantages, there are also disadvantages. Gambling is known to be a risk and can be detrimental to mental health. It also means that operators will be able to advertise services, which may attract underage gamblers. While the government will benefit from taxes, legalised gambling may not benefit everyone unless new customers join a site.

Conclusion

Gambling in Baltic regions has been quite popular for many years. Several land-based casinos are operating. With the legalisation of Gaming, residents can enjoy a vast assortment of games, from slots to roulette, right from home or by using a mobile device. These online sites provide enhanced security to protect all members, and the money earned will be put back into the economy.

Aside from using money to improve roads, schools, and healthcare systems, a portion of the money earned is also used to fund organisations that help with problem gambling and programs that mitigate any adverse effects of gaming. Most money is used for public services, so the legalisation of Gaming in Baltic regions has been something that has been seen as positive.

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Gambling Regulations in Baltic Countries: Cost-Effective Strategy of Governments - Baltic Times

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We expect the government to do right by our armed forces; to protect them during active duty and care for them as veterans. As a nation we have enshrined this in the Armed Forces Covenant. Each year the public express their gratitude on Remembrance Day. These tributes, however, should not begin and end on November 11th. We need world class welfare support services for all those in the military.

The UK has a long and honourable record of providing support to our military. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) understands that the particularities of military life can make those who serve more vulnerable to certain forms of mental health harms. Since 2008, the MOD has published annual data on a wide range of armed forces mental health issues. This longitudinal evidence, alongside a range of pre-existing academic literature, prompted the MOD to introduce the AUDIT-C questionnaire for alcohol misuse screening in 2016.

The case of alcohol screening is a textbook example of governments intervening in response to evidence. When the MOD started to collect data into alcohol misuse, they were already building on a sizable body of academic literature looking at the relationship between the armed forces and alcohol consumption.

Gambling related harm is often hidden andcompounded by the uniqueness of the military environment

Until the recent Armed Forces Bill, the MOD was able to ignore the issue of problem gambling in the military due to a dearth of UK-based academic literature on the issue. There are only two UK studies to date analysing gambling in the military community; both concluded that veterans were at a significantly higher risk of gambling related harm compared to the general adult population.

The most recent 2021 study, The United Kingdom Armed Forces Veterans Health and Gambling Study, found that gambling-related harm co-occurred with complex PTSD, a possible indicator that problems begin during active service.

Despite previously being reluctant to recognise this problem, the MOD has made some welcome progress. There is now a commitment to remove all gambling machines from military bases, to include a question on gambling related harm in the Armed Forces Continuous Attitudes Survey (AFCAS), and a general commitment to capture gambling-related harm in their annual research on mental health.

Positive though this is, it is vital that the government gets the implementation right. Whilst the removal of gambling machines is a positive step, it does not address the fact that most gambling harms occurs online, something implicitly recognised by the Army Headquarters Regional Command in their transition IPPD information Sheet 14 when it highlighted gambling as an activity that can occur unsupervised in secluded single living accommodation.

The focus must, therefore, be on incorporating the best possible screening question into the AFCAS. The US Department of Defenses Health Related Behaviour Survey currently uses the two question lie-bet questionnaire to ascertain problem gambling levels. The MOD would be wise to mimic the American example, given the USAs greater library of research and action on the issue of gambling related harm in the military.

Finally, the somewhat vague commitment to capture gambling related harm should still mean that gambling-related harm is put on parity with and treated as seriously as alcohol-misuse, which has been a staple of the MODs annual UK Armed Forces Mental Health: Annual Summary and Trends over Times reports since their inception.

Gambling related harm is often hidden and not treated in the same way as other addictions, and like other addictions it can be compounded by the uniqueness of the military environment. The Ministry of Defence has a strong record on military welfare and it is to be hoped they will continue to improve on that record by treating gambling related harm as seriously as other mental harms.

The Lord Bishop ofSt Albansis a non-affiliated peer.

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We need to start taking problem gambling in the military as seriously as alcohol abuse - PoliticsHome

GambleAware has announced that it has recommissioned the Scottish Gambling Education Hub for a further three years from November 1, 2021, which has been delivered by the Fast Forward charity since 2018.

This Hub works with young people, and the adults in their lives, to raise awareness of gambling harms, and ensure that those working with young people and families are confident in their ability to offer harm reduction advice and, signpost those who need it to advice and support.

Upon the renewal, the pair assert that the mission will remain to ensure all children, young people and families in Scotland have access to gambling education and prevention opportunities and resources.

Furthermore, it is added that improvements to the current structure of the programme will be made, to ensure partners, practitioners, and policymakers remain engaged with the issue.

Allie Cherry-Byrnes, Fast Forwards CEO, explained: Fast Forwards work supports young people to make informed choices regarding risk-taking behaviours, towards positive life-long healthoutcomes.

Gambling has become normalised in our communities, with many young people affected by their own gambling, or by the gambling of a parent, carer, or family member.

The renewed funding from GambleAware means that the Scottish Gambling Education Hub willcontinue to work with young people, parents and educators to raise awareness of gamblingharms and ensure support is accessible if they need it.

Furthermore, in 2019, the Scottish Gambling Education Hub established the Scottish Gambling Education Network in a bid to bring together individuals from a variety of settings, with the aim to share best practices, provide support and help establish, sustain, and improve gambling education and prevention provision across Scotland.

The Hub will continue to facilitate and broaden the scope of SGEN activities, including the introduction of hosting a national conference in 2022.

Dr Jane Rigbye, prevention director at GambleAware, commented: Fast Forward has demonstrated its value as a key partner to prevent gambling harm among young people in Scotland. Given the success of the work already carried out, continuity is vital.

The Scottish Education Hub has engaged with young people, parents, the community and youthworkers in an impactful and creative way to deliver unique projects over the years.

We are delighted to support them further in their prevention and education work and look forward to publishing the independent evaluation of the project for their work in 2022.

To date, the Hub has trained staff from more than 550 different organisations across all 32 localauthorities in Scotland, including schools, colleges, universities, youth work and family services.

Moreover, the Scottish Education Hub will play a key part in supporting the creation of the English Education Hub and Welsh Education Hub, projects that will soon be commissioned byGambleAware to help the prevention of gambling harm among young people in both nations.

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GambleAware recommissions the Scottish Gambling Education Hub - Casino Beats