Gaming Law International

U.K. To Host Online Gambling Conference

The British ministry of Culture, Media and Sport has announced plans to host an international online gambling conference later this year to discuss the status of online gambling worldwide and to discuss tackling regulation of the online industry and protection of minors from access to online gambling sites.

One of the problems with permitting online gambling in one jurisdiction and allowing access to the site by Internet users in another jurisdiction (Gibraltar and Canada for example) is that the gambling services provider cannot control who gambles and who doesn't and consequently, there is nothing to stop computer savvy 12-year-old children from using their parents' accounts to gamble. Then there is the added problem of gambling addition - the user country deals with the social problems associated with problem gamblers but has none of the revenue available from traditional gambling operations to set up social programs to deal with gambling addiction. The conference won't solve these issues but raising them for discussion may lead to some solutions long-term.

Poster of Jesus With Gambling Chips Criticized

A poster campaign for an online bookmaker in the U.K. depicting Jesus seated behind a stack of chips has been withdrawn following a rebuke from the U.K. Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The poster drew widespread complaints for showing a pastiche of Leonardo da Vinci’s painting of the Last Supper with Jesus next to the chips and the Apostles playing cards or roulette. The ASA noted that the representation of the Last Supper as a casino, with the Christian imagery replaced with items used for gambling, could cause serious offence and was a breach of the ASA taste and decency clause. The online bookmaker said they had tested the campaign on their employees beforehand and received a positive response.

New Gambling Law Means Surge in Gaming

The British gaming industry is predicting that the relaxed new Gambling Bill will result in 250,000 new gamblers within a year in the U.K. In the five weeks since the Gambling Bill was brought into force, Britain’s 138 casinos have received 100,000 more visits, three times more than predicted. As a result of the Gambling Bill, 17 new casinos will be open by 2009 in Britain and another 40 are likely to be approved within months. Two of the big changes under the Gambling Bill include:

1. £1,000,000 prize slot machines; and
2. casino advertising.

You can read the full story at The Times Online.

Online Gambling in the U.K.

According to a recent poll in the U.K., Britons spend between $20 to $40 a week gambling at online sites. Read the story here.