A provincial civil servant has been suspended after he was among 28 people including three Ontario Hells Angels who were charged last week in what police call a multi-million-dollar illegal offshore gambling enterprise.

Richard Pereira, 35, of Oshawa, was charged with criminal breach of trust and unauthorized use of a computer in the police operation, which police said was linked to York Region mobsters as well as outlaw bikers.

Pereira is a Ministry of Transportation employee and was the only civil servant charged.

The employee in question has been placed on suspension pending investigation, Alisha Tharani of the provincial Treasury Board Secretariat told the Star.

She offered no details about the terms of the suspension.

The Ontario Public Service will cooperate with authorities as required, Tharani said in an email. As this is currently an active human resources matter we are unable to comment further at this time.

Charges against other suspects in the police crackdown included commission of offences for a criminal organization, bookmaking, firearms, money laundering and tax evasion.

The Ontario Provincial Police said they seized more than $12 million in assets, including sports cars, two golf carts, seven residences, nine illegal handguns, jewelry valued at approximately $300,000, $330,000 in precious metals, $1.2 million in financial accounts and approximately $1.7 million in cash.

The multi-jurisdictional police operation was dubbed Project Hobart and began in January 2018. There were 228 charges laid against 28 people from across the province and Oka, Que., last week.

Police said the complex gambling network was controlled by Ontario Hells Angels bikers with ties to York Regional mobsters.

The operation pulled in more than $131 million in gross revenues and included the websites Ultimate SB, Titan SB, PlaytoWin WB, Privada SB and Players SB, police said.

Gamblers were allowed credit limits as high as $20,000, but they were also expected to settle doubts within a week, police said.

The groups also operated a gaming house in Mississauga, police said

The three full-patch Hells Angels who were charged by police are Robert Barletta, 49, a London, Ont. strip club owner; Craig (Truck) McIlquham, 49, of Oakville; and Eugenio (Gino) Reda, 55, of King City.

Barletta was hit with 11 charges, including illegal firearms possession, bookmaking and commission of an offence for a criminal organization.

McIlquhams dozen charges include possession of a restricted weapon, bookmaking and commission of an offence for a criminal organization.

Reda faces three bookmaking charges and another for commission of an offence for a criminal organization.

Niagara Hells Angel Michael (Diaz) Deabaitua-Schulde was originally also targeted in the project. Deabaitua-Schulde was murdered on March 11 after leaving a workout at a gym in a commercial plaza in Mississauga.

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The gambling operation was linked to the Figliomeni Crime Family of York Region, some alleged members of which were charged in July by York Regional Police in a sweeping investigation called Project Sindicato, OPP Chief Supt. Paul Beesley said.

Three Montreal men were charged with first-degree murder in Deabaitua-Schuldes death and another Montreal man has been charged with complicity after the fact.

Police said the investigation was spurred by an escalation of violent crimes across Ontario, including attempted murders, arson, extortion and threats.

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Ontario Ministry of Transportation employee suspended after arrest in Hells Angels gambling bust - Toronto Star

A loving dad and husband killed himself after he could not cope with his enormous gambling debts, an inquest has heard.

Jowan Evans, 32, took how own life in March this year after facing "significant financial problems" and racking up debts from online gambling websites.

An inquest into his death revealed over the past 11 years the father-of-three had spent more than 111,000 in online bookmakers and betting shops including more than 53,000 in the six months before his death, with losses amounting to 19,000, reports Cornwall Live .

Mr Evans wrote about his gambling addiction in a note discovered by police investigators after his death.

He said he had kept his addiction hidden from everyone - including his wife Lucie.

It read: "This monster living inside me has ruined my life."

Lucie described her husband as "perfect" and shared a powerful message urging anybody suffering at the hands of similar demons to seek help.

The inquest heard Mr Evans was last seen on March 17 after he dropped off his older son from a previous relationship with his mum.

He is understood to have then hanged himself in a wooded area some 800 metres from his car which he left on the car park.

His concerned wife Lucie raised the alarm after he did not re-appear that night.

A search operation was then launched which involved a helicopter, heat-seeking camera, sniffer dogs and members of the Cornwall Search and Rescue Team.

Mr Evans' body was discovered the following day.

Further investigation of his bank accounts revealed the extent of Mr Evans' gambling addiction with bets on the two sites ranging from a few pounds to 1,500 or 2,000.

In the months prior to his death, Mr Evans had borrowed 20,000 from his father to help him expunge other debts, particularly on his car as it was about to be repossessed, but that money was used to gamble on various sporting events.

Detective Sergeant Stephen White, who led the investigation, told the inquest at County Hall in Truro that Mr Evans' first partner had left him because he had gambled away 30,000 which had been put aside as a deposit for a house.

Assistant coroner Guy Davies said these gambling sites operated on a pay-as-you-bet basis with money coming directly out of people's bank accounts without any deposits required onto the sites themselves, making it quite easy to gamble.

Recording a suicide conclusion, Mr Davies said: "This is a case in which Jowan Evans struggled with his hidden gambling addiction which led him to take his own life.

"There had been nothing to warn his family about what went on in his mind. There was no cry for help. Police investigation revealed a note left in his van. It was clearly a suicide note. In it he mentioned how he gambled his money away again and again.

"Jowan had significant financial problems and a longstanding gambling addiction and unpaid finance as well as un-repaid loans from family members.

"For him it was an accumulating wall of debt. He took his own life as a direct result of his gambling debt and his perception to beat his gambling addiction."

If you need confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see http://www.samaritans.org for details.

For help with gambling issues visit the NHS website here or see information about the NHS's National Problem Gambling Clinic here or the Gamblers Anonymous charity can be found here .

See the article here:

Gambling addiction drove loving father to take his own life after spending 111,000 - Mirror Online

HSBC will allow customers to prevent themselves from spending money with bookmakers and online casinos, as it becomes the latest bank to introduce measures intended to help problem gamblers.

Europes largest bank will offer its 14.5 million UK customers the option to self-exclude from all gambling transactions, a restriction that can only be reversed after a 24-hour cooling-off period.

It said the scheme, designed in partnership with the charities GamCare and GambleAware, would create positive friction by giving customers time to consider their urge to gamble.

The bank said the move was a response to concerns expressed by its customers about the impact that betting is having on their finances.

More than half a million of its customers placed bets every month in 2018, spending an average of 52.50, while it receives more than 12,000 calls from customers about gambling per year.

It has trained staff to respond to these calls with the help of GamCare and will also analyse data on card spending to see who might benefit from advice.

HSBCs move to help people who are trying to rein in their gambling is part of a growing trend in the financial sector to arm customers with technological tools to do so.

Dr Heather Wardle, an assistant professor and gambling behaviour researcher at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: The financial sector is a key enabler of the gambling industry without them online gambling couldnt exist.

So its right that banks and other financial institutions take the protection of people from gambling harms seriously.

High-street lender NatWest said last month that it would offer counselling sessions for gambling addicts inside branches as part of a groundbreaking pilot scheme that could be rolled out across the country.

Lenders such as Monzo, Barclays and Starling also allow customers to block gambling transactions on their bank accounts or credit cards, but HSBC is the largest bank to introduce such measures.

We are committed to helping customers manage their finances and that includes introducing new tools that can help control spending, said Maxine Pritchard, HSBCs head of financial inclusion and vulnerability.

With the bank receiving 12,000 calls a year relating to gambling, its clear we should do more to support these customers.

An influential cross-party group of MPs recently called for much stricter regulation of online gambling, including a ban on betting with credit cards.

Online payments firm PayPal promised to tighten up its controls earlier this year after the Guardian revealed that it was letting problem gamblers spend up to 150,000 a day on credit.

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HSBC to let customers block spending on gambling websites - The Guardian

For 25 years now, millions of people have been winning and (mostly) losing money on the UKs National Lottery. And while it has created much personal wealth and raised significant amounts for various good causes, the lotterys creation and its impact on society have been the source of deep political division.

The small chance of becoming unimaginably rich by picking out the right line of six numbers for a 1 fee was immediately popular, and came about during a time of significant political change.

After John Major succeeded Margaret Thatcher as prime minister in November 1990, he hoped to adopt a more conciliatory and unifying approach to governance. He wanted, he said, to govern a nation at ease with itself.

This reflected a feeling within both the Conservative Party and perhaps the wider public that the Thatcher era had developed an image of harshness, division and severity. In particular that there had been too much emphasis on economics and individualism at the expense of community activity and society.

Major appeared to offer a revised social policy narrative. The hope was that such an agenda could revive his partys fortunes and reunite the country.

Indeed, Major was a much more enthusiastic advocate of public services than his predecessor. He also expressed nostalgic attachment for British customs and traditions, and was openly supportive of artistic, cultural and leisure activities things he felt were vital to enhancing the countrys image and bringing people together.

The difficulty for a more caring and compassionate form of Conservatism was how to fund it. After all, the Conservatives had spent the previous decade cultivating a reputation as an individualistic, tax-cutting party of the smaller state.

So when the National Lottery was launched in November 1994, it was seen by Major and his cabinet as the ideal vehicle to raise funds to support their social and cultural programme.

In effect, the lottery could be seen as an innovative way of funding public services while keeping personal income tax rates at a historically low level. About one-quarter of lottery funds have consequently supported good causes defined by the government.

Over the past 25 years, governments have all sought to use lottery funds to reinforce and subsidise expenditure in various areas of public policy particularly wider public access to sport, culture and heritage.

As a communal activity, a collective gamble in the hope of winning a financial windfall while supporting communal causes could also be seen as having a positive social impact. And from Majors perspective, it arguably offered something fun to bind the country together after the bleak period of recession in the early 1990s.

But not everyone has seen the lotterys impact as a win-win situation. The policy had a less favourable reception from the more traditional factions of the Conservative Party, for example, who viewed the lottery as state encouragement of gambling.

Other critics saw it as a form of stealth tax from which government funding was boosted by a voluntary yet potentially harmful leisure activity.

Those on the political Left, meanwhile, voiced concerns that the use of lottery funding allows governments to pass the buck on their own spending responsibilities and to not distribute funds fairly.

But a quarter of a century on, the National Lottery still appears to have public support. For while initial levels of enthusiasm may have subsided in recent years, an estimated 50% of the population still buy a ticket at least once a month.

Now a normal part of everyday life, the lottery can be viewed as one of the most positive legacies of the Major administration. It has provided funding opportunities for social mobility, particularly in sport, where it has challenged domination by the higher social classes. Many have specifically credited it with being a decisive factor in Britains highly successful performance at the 2012 London Olympics.

Overall, National Lottery funding has evidently had a positive and significant impact on both individuals and communities. It has created more than 5,000 millionairesand raised an estimated 40 billion for good causes.

This has ultimately allowed various governments since the Major era to channel a new source of funding into various public spending commitments. But concerns have been raised that the amount going to good causes has slowed down, while critics have continued to point at the lotterys failure to address the potentially negative impact of gambling as an activity.

Now facing a multitude of smaller yet growing competitors such as the Postcode Lottery, Major himself has voiced concerns about such rivals due to increasing competition reducing the National Lotterys potential funding for good causes.

With the lottery licence due for review in 2023 and the growth of more diverse online gambling trends it remains to be seen whether a state funded lottery survives in its current form for another 25 years. You might not bet on it.

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The National Lottery: 25 years of gambling and charity funding - The Conversation UK

Nov 13, 2019 11:00 PM ESTCredit:

Adam Hagy, USA Today Sports. Pictured: Justin Rose

The Action Network spoke with several of todays top professional golfers to find out their favorite personal golf betting stories.

When: AnytimeWhere: Anyplace

While most professional golfers enjoy a little side action during non-tournament rounds, Rose doesnt usually play for anything when hes preparing for an event. In fact, the man whos probably won the most bets against him isnt a fellow elite-level player, but a largely unknown former pro who once spent a little time playing the Sunshine Tour his half-brother, Brandon Harcus.

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Generally, Im the worst gambler. Im the easiest guy to take 10 bucks off of, Im the worst social golfer there is.

For me, I dont know what the number is to make it feel like it should matter, but I dont necessarily like playing for that number, because I dont play a lot of golf when Im not on Tour. I probably play four rounds of golf per year that arent professional rounds of golf. Its just not something I do. I practice, I hit balls, I get away from the game and spend time with my family.

On the gambling side of things, Ive never really done much of it out here.

My brother loves it. My brother thinks hes the best putter on the planet. If he manages to hole one, hes got all the bravado and the swagger before he hits a putt.

Hell be standing over a 6-footer to take your money and say, You know what? The last time I missed one of these, they cut one of my fingers off. Then hell show his 10 digits and roll in the putt to take my money.

Not only does he take my money, he literally rubs it in my face, too. He actually does have a great short game. If he could drive the ball, hed be dangerous.

Read more from the original source:

Justin Roses Favorite Golf Gambling Story: The Worst Social Golfer There Is - The Action Network

Its been said previously that the offshore sports gambling market in the U.S., prior to last years approval by the Supreme Court to give back control to the states, was worth $150 billion a year. Of course, theres no true way to calculate how much money is spent on the activity since tracking the revenue is impossible. However, what is known, based on the preliminary statistics across the last 18 months or so, is that theres a lot of money to be made in sports gambling. Theres even more waiting, though, and Morgan Stanley believes the number will reach $7-$8 billion within the next six years.

On November 11, industry representatives at the NYC sports Betting Investor Summit, including some from MGM Resorts, Mohegan Sun and Hard Rock International, got together to talk about numbers. This year, about $833 million is expected to be seen in the U.S. sports gambling market, and that comes from just 14 states some of which are only now launching the activity.

Soon after the Supreme Court shot down PASPA and told lawmakers they were wrong to have approved it, states began to roll out legalized sports gambling, New Jersey being the first. At around this time last year, the consensus was that, by 2025, the market would be worth about $5 billion. Given the growth seen in 2019, everyone is revising their forecasts and taking a more bullish approach on the future.

As with any industry, though, not everyone is going to survive. Those who arent able to manage their finances and overextend themselves thinking theyll be able to control a huge majority of the highly competitive market are going to fall flat on their faces. This isnt anything that hasnt been seen in any new commercial offering throughout history and its to be expected. MGMs president of interactive gaming, Scott Butera, asserts, It is a growing market here in terms of revenue but its a very tough market. Everybody wants to be here. Ultimately I think well see some shaking out.

Buteras also optimistic about the revenue thats going to be generated and thinks that it could even top the high end of most predictions. He adds, Ill take the over on $8 billion.

Morgan Stanley thinks so, as well. While the pragmatic forecast is for the industry to be worth around $8 billion by 2025, the firm believes that it could reach as much as $15 billion if all states were to legalize the activity. There are already 14 states on board, and more are coming on a continuous basis, so the prediction may not be as far off as some may believe.

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Morgan Stanley: US sports gambling to be worth $8 billion by 2025 - CalvinAyre.com

Sports gambling technology and solutions provider SBTech continues its advance across the U.S. as it looks to capture as big a chunk of the betting market as possible. Its latest move involves Indianas burgeoning industry and comes through a partnership with Rising Star Casino. On November 11, SBTech officially launched an on-property sportsbook at the venue.

The sportsbook is being operated under the BetAmerica brand owned by Churchill Downs, according to a company press release. It offers self-service gambling kiosks, as well as cashier booths and a full bar. Following Indianas recent launch of online betting, SBTech will roll out its proprietary online and mobile sports gambling platform.

SBTech U.S. President Melisa Riahei indicates in the announcement, We are very excited to be entering the great state of Indiana. Our on-property sportsbook product has been extremely successful to date, and we look forward to replicating that success for Rising Star Casino, in partnership with Churchill Downs.

The company recently helped the Oregon State Lottery (OSL) launch its Scoreboard app last month. That platform allows sports wagers across all major leagues and provides access to live bets, prop bets and futures, and is available through both the OSL website, as well as a stand-alone app. Permanent betting kiosks are expected to be added sometime next year.

Ian Williams, the president of online gaming for Churchill Downs, adds in the release, We are thrilled to be working with SBTech and Rising Star Casino to bring the BetAmerica sportsbook to Indiana. Using SBTechs superior technology platform and innovative products, we have established a strong foothold in several states, and look forward to continuing our growth in partnership with SBTech.

SBTech is now found in many states in the U.S., adding six to its portfolio in the past 18 months. In addition to the partnerships it has with the OSL and Churchill Downs, it has also inked deals with Golden Nugget, Resorts Casino Hotel and many more.

Indiana introduced mobile sports gambling in October, a month after retail sportsbooks first saw action. The past two months have been successful for the activity, with a handle of $35.2 million in September and $91.7 million a month later. As more options, such as SBTechs launch, are put into play, the state will be able to generate even more revenue to cover its budget.

More here:

SBTech goes live with sports gambling in Indiana - CalvinAyre.com

STATEN ISLAND -- With as many as 5,000 problem gamblers around the Island, the Gamblers Treatment Program at Richmond University Medical Center officially expanded to a new headquarters Friday.

Local elected officials, doctors from RUMC and representatives from the state and city cut the ribbon at the programs new headquarters at RUMCs Center for Integrative Behavioral Medicine at 1130 South Ave. in Bloomfield.

One of our main purposes was to bring this program and this type of program closer to the community and take it out from behind the black wall, from behind closed doors and make sure that those folks who are suffering from this addiction and other addictions and other behavioral health disorders do not feel embarrassed, said Rosemarie Stazzone, RUMCs chief operating officer and chief nursing officer.

RUMCs problem gamblers program launched in 1982 as one of three outpatient gambling programs in the state and currently serves as one of the only programs of its kind in New York City.

As gambling becomes more accessible over the Internet and on cell phones, officials said gambling is targeting the Islands youth in particular.

The accessibility to all forms of gambling has increased with the Internet, with legislative changes, with casinos, and gambling and the close proximity to Atlantic City, its certainly a great temptation for problem gamblers to continue their addiction or regress from breaking away from their addiction," said Dr. Daniel Messina, RUMCs president and CEO.

Messina said of the 5,000 gamblers around the Island, many of them are not enrolled in any kind of treatment program.

Dr. Joel Idowu, who chairs RUMCs Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, said gambling is an up and coming epidemic in the field of psychiatry and mental health and affects more men than women.

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RUMC expands its gambling treatment center to new Bloomfield headquarters - SILive.com

On Veterans Day, Nov. 11, the Poarch Band of Creek Indians released its winning for Alabama plan, which, if accepted by the state, would give the tribecomprised of roughly 4,000 individualsexclusive gaming rights throughout Alabama.

Over the last several weeks, PCI, which pays no tax on its gaming profits in the state, has been running ads touting the tribes contribution to the states economy.

This offering is widely seen as a response to statewide commercials being run by the nonprofit organization, Poarch Creek Accountability Now.

New nonprofit wants to provide facts about Poarch Creek Indians

Led by former state Sen. Gerald Dial, the group is seeking to inform citizens on, true and accurate information about PCI and their gaming revenue and expenditures.

Under PCIs proposal, the tribe would pay the state $225 million for exclusive gaming rights in the State through a compact.

Gov. Kay Iveys office says there have been no formal discussions with the tribe concerning a compact.

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PCI also proposes opening two additional first-class gaming and tourism destination sites with unlimited gaming.

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At these new facilities, the tribe would offer blackjack, craps and other table games. The tribe also asking for the right to operate sports betting at its casinos.

In response to the PCI offer, Dial said, Its encouraging that they are coming to the table with a proposal because right now the Poarch Creek gaming operation pays no taxes on gaming profits.

PCI says it supports a A clean, traditional lottery, which is believed to mean a paper lottery as presented during the last Legislative Session by state Sen. Greg Albritton who represents PCI.

Iveys press secretary, Gina Maiola, responding to APRs request for comment, said, The governor, as she has previously stated, is open to Alabama having a clean lottery. However, she concluded the new PCI plan goes further than a lottery and Would need to be thoroughly discussed and fully vetted.

Iveys spokesperson said, Ultimately, this is a question for the Legislature, but the governor is open to hearing any recommendations.

The tribe says it is willing to pay up to a 25 percent tax rate for the two additional destination resort sites and up to a 25 percent revenue share on Class III games at existing sites. It is unclear how this would be accomplished given federal regulations concerning Indian gaming.

PCI claims its plan would provide revenues of more than $1 billion after the first year.

APR offers an analysis here.

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Tribe offers to buy exclusive rights to gambling in Alabama - alreporter.com

Theres no way to deny the fact that New Jersey is almost single-handedly responsible for expanded sports gambling in the U.S. The states continued fight with the Supreme Court finally paid off in May 2018, when the high court told lawmakers they were wrong to have approved PASPA, and New Jersey became one of the first states to take advantage of the reversal. However, the Garden States main gambling hub, Atlantic City, hasnt reaped any benefits from the legalization of sports gambling and its new mayor wants to change this.

Mayor Marty Small calls it unacceptable that Atlantic City isnt directly given any of the booty sports gambling provides the state in tax revenue. Theres a significant amount of money at stake, given that over half a billion dollars in wagers was seen in just July and August.

Small became mayor in October after the City Council unanimously approved his selection to replace ousted Mayor Frank Gilliam. Gilliam had been given the boot after pleading guilty to wire fraud, but resigned instead of being forced out. Those wire fraud charges stemmed from an investigation by the IRS and the FBI that determined that he had stolen $87,000 from a basketball program he had founded. The fact that he was involved in a public altercation outside the Golden Nugget late last year didnt help his image.

At a meeting of the Atlantic City Taxpayers Association on November 7, Small expressed his opinion on the lack of tax revenue going to the city, asserting, In 14 months, New Jersey has overtaken Las Vegas as the No. 1 sports betting destination, and a lot of it has to do with the success of Atlantic City, and a lot of it is online. But we dont get one penny. Just think about that. Thats unacceptable.

The sports gambling tax code is written in such a way that a certain percentage 1.25% of all wagers is destined for the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, which was created exclusively for tourism and marketing programs for the City of Atlantic City. However, the city doesnt control that fund; rather, the state does.

Part of the reason Atlantic City doesnt control the fund is, apparently, because the citys administration couldnt be trusted. Good call, given Gilliams downfall. In the meantime, the state oversees its management, per former Governor Chris Christies order, and will continue to do so through 2021. Phil Murphy, the current governor, had run on a campaign ahead of the 2018 election that included returning control to the city, but changed his mind after seeing the instability once in office.

Murphy stated late last year after taking office, Atlantic City is on the rise. But I dont want to see this great and historical city on the mat again. This is not the end of our efforts. This is just the beginning.

Until the city can demonstrate that it is responsible and knows how to properly manage its finances, the state government doesnt plan on making any changes.

Original post:

New Atlantic City mayor wants a cut of the sports gambling action - CalvinAyre.com

Imagine if, after watching the thrilling victory of the Chicago Cubs in Game 7 of the 2016 World Series over the Cleveland Indians a game in which the Cubs won their first championship in over a century you learned that the Indians had collaborated with gamblers to intentionally throw the series.

Would you trust the game, its umpires and its players, ever again?

That was the scope of the crisis that enveloped baseball a century ago, when key members of the 1919 Chicago White Sox, including pitchers Eddie Cicotte and Claude Lefty Williams, conspired to throw the series to their opponents, the Cincinnati Reds.

What became known as the Black Sox Scandal rocked professional baseball. But it wasnt an aberration in a sport that was otherwise clean.

Baseball became Americas national pastime because of and not in spite of gambling.

Gambling Fuels Baseballs Rise

In his book Baseball in the Garden of Eden, historian John Thorn explains how gambling was far from an impediment to the games flowering; instead, it was the vital fertilizer.

In baseballs infancy, the sport was thought of as a boys game. But over the course of the 19th century, gambling deepened adult interest and investment in the sport, attracting cohorts of older fans.

Gamblings popularity was helped along by the spread of statistics, that particular lifeblood of baseball that still keeps fans hooked today. Developed initially to allow the results of a game to be printed onto the page in the form of box scores, statistics also created a pool of data that gamblers could use to inform their bets many of which were made from the stands, in the middle of games.

In his history of Fenway Park, Glenn Stout describes how, in the ballparks early years, the best seats were quickly taken over by a rabid contingent of gamblers who bet on absolute everything imaginable, ranging from the eventual winner to ball and strike calls and even such arcane issues as whether the wind would change direction. Fans waving dollar bills and barking out bets resembled brokers on the floor of the stock exchange.

This kind of gambling was so common in the stands that Ernest Lawrence Thayers iconic 1888 poem, Casey at the Bat, captured such a moment in one of its stanzas:

Story continues

A straggling few got up to go in deep despair.

The rest clung to that hope which springs eternal in the human breast;

They thought, "If only Casey could but get a whack at that

Wed put up even money now with Casey at the bat.

Playing to Lose

Some players also sought to get in on the action.

In 1919, the highest-paid player was Detroit Tigers outfielder Ty Cobb, who earned US$20,000 which equates to roughly $300,000 today, or less than Major League Baseballs current minimum salary.

Most of Cobbs peers earned far less than the future Hall of Famer. Working with gamblers was an attractive way to supplement their incomes and many of them did.

One of the most notorious was first baseman Hal Chase. Dubbed the Black Prince of Baseball by baseball historians Donald Dewey and Nicholas Acocella, Chase made a veritable career out of throwing games. Playing mostly with the New York Highlanders, Chase, as Charles Fountain noted, threw games for money, he threw games for spite, he threw games as a favor for friends, he threw games apparently for no reason at all other than to stay in practice.

But this wasnt the kind of gambling that brought baseball to the brink of disaster in 1919. That scandal saw the players themselves working in tandem with professional gamblers and gangsters fix the World Series.

The 1919 World Series was the best-attended Series at that point in the games history, but the play of the White Sox turned the games into elaborate theatrical performances.

Those in on it had to play to lose, and the statistics are telling.

Shortstop Swede Risberg hit .080 not a typo while committing four fielding errors. Outfielder Happy Felsch didnt do much better, hitting .192, with just five hits in 26 at-bats. He also committed two errors. Pitcher Claude Lefty Williams surrendered 12 runs in 16.1 innings of work.

While the players tried to pull off authentic performances for fans, they werent always successful. Felsch was chided by his fellow cheaters for his blunders in center, which they deemed too obvious.

Fundamentally, however, the games lacked the core drama and appeal of sports: the uncertainty of the outcome.

Sportswriters took notice. Rumors were already flying in the press box before the World Series conclusion that something was wrong. Sports journalist Hugh Fullerton had heard these rumors when he arrived to cover the series, though he tried to convince himself and his readers that the story couldnt be true. Still, once the series ended, Fullerton wrote worriedly in the Chicago Herald and Examiner that Yesterdays, in all probability, is the last game that will be played in any World Series.

Fullerton kept pursuing the story and became the first sportswriter to break the details to the public in December 1919, with an article in the New York World entitled, Is Big League Baseball Being Run for Gamblers, with Players In on the Deal?

As more details emerged, the scandal overwhelmed the sport and threatened to destroy it. If the World Series itself, baseballs premier event, could not be trusted, how would the sport survive?

The new baseball commissioner, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, acted decisively and independently of the courts. Even after the players were acquitted in a trial that ended on Aug. 2, 1921, Landis a former federal judge had already made his decision.

Regardless of the verdict of juries, he announced, on the morning of Aug. 3, 1921, no player that throws a ball game; no player that undertakes or promises to throw a ball game; no player that sits in a conference where the ways and means of throwing games are discussed and does not promptly tell his club about it, will ever play professional baseball.

The stunned White Sox players including stars like Shoeless Joe Jackson, who had hit .375 in the series but was nonetheless aware of what his teammates were up to were banned from baseball for life.

The Specter of 1919

Seventy years later, commissioner Bart Giamatti acted in a similarly swift and punitive manner when he banned all-time hits leader Pete Rose from baseball in 1989.

Rose had admitted to gambling on his own games, even as a manager. Some thought Giamatti overreacted, given that Rose never bet against his own team.

That argument, as historian Bruce Kuklick wrote in a 1999 essay, doesnt hold up. Rose, he points out, didnt bet on every game. Its not inconceivable, then, that he would make decisions during games in which he didnt place bets say, not bringing in his best relief pitcher to make sure that reliever would be available for the games he did bet on.

Giamatti surely had 1919 on his mind when he meted out Roses punishment. With the game having barely escaped death once, Giamatti knew that organized baseball couldnt risk skating too close to that edge again.

And yet in August of this year, Major League Baseball made FanDuel a daily fantasy sports gambling service its official gambling partner.

It may be that baseball hopes that gambling will bring more adults back to the sport, just as it did in its early days. After all, attendance at games is down. Football, meanwhile, has become the most watched sport on television in the U.S. Six million viewers even tuned in for the 2019 NFL Draft.

Gambling may fuel more interest in the sport. But throwing on more fuel can result in a fire that burns out of control. In 1919, baseball came close to burning its own house down. One hundred years later, journalist Hugh Fullerton would surely be stunned to know that big league baseball has once again made a contract with gamblers, in full view of both players and fans.

Lets hope the story doesnt end in scandal this time around.

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Rebecca Edwards, Professor of History, Rochester Institute of Technology

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Image: Reuters

Read the original article.

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How Gambling Built Baseball and Then Almost Destroyed It - Yahoo News

This is a guest contribution by Bruno Berlafa. If you would like to submit a contribution please contact Bill Beatty for submission details. Thank you.

1.1 The background of the Swedish Gambling Act

It has been almost a year since the new Swedish Gaming Act came into force. And what a force it has been! What was once considered to be one of the prime online gambling markets in the world has turned into a more competitive market than ever before. It might turn out for the best, but for now, the situation has worsened whether you ask operators, affiliates or even game developers.

Over 200 gambling brands targeting casino and betting are not only facing each other but also market shares with the state-owned giant Svenska Spel and ATG. All while being monitored by big brother in the shape of the Gaming Inspection (Spelinspektionen) and Konsumentverket, the government authorities whose mission is: To ensure that lotteries, casino games, and other gaming activities in Sweden are carried out legally, safely and reliably.

While aiming to fulfill safer gambling environment, the Swedish state is also collecting generous money streams from the 18% tax of the gross gambling revenue from license holders. The licensed companies had a total turnover of SEK. 3.484 billion during Q3only this year, according to figures from the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) and the Gaming Inspectors preliminary figures. Not too shabby of an income, one must say.

Meanwhile, listed gaming companies, such as Kindred, Leo Vegas, and Betsson have all seen their share prices take a negative hit. The same negative trend has also applied to everything from affiliates, such as Raketech and Catena Media to gaming providers as NetEnt.

Speaking of hits, we have Ninja Casino, the former major I-gaming rocket that took all by surprise and gained enormous market shares until it was forced to shut down.

This leads us to look more into the actual framework of rules and guidelines that the Gaming Inspection has set in stone. What are the real effects so far for both gambling companies, but also the end consumers?

1.2 Take responsibility or face the consequences

We already mentioned that one of the main goals with the new gambling act was to have a more safe, reliable and legal playground. A playground that, however, many operators and people from the industry have claimed to be vague at best with the rules and the general direction in how the marketing should be performed.

In February, the main civil minister in charge of the new gambling act, Ardalan Shekarabi, told the gambling companies take responsibility or face the consequences. As a result, a more moderate and subtle form of marketing was requested with a less aggressive tone.

On the other side of the coin, we have gambling companies pushing endlessly to find the balance between getting more customers, but also finding a way around to interpret whatever subtle marketing means.

Ninja Casino misinterpreted it, and during the course of this year, several more operations have been fined; fines that would even make UKGC jealous.

1.3 The current landscape from an operators point of view

Lets just face it. The reality for the many licensed online operators within casinos and betting is harsh and risky and bound at this stage to create a market where many of the 200 brands will have to pull out in the future to come. The cold hard math equation is affected by some of these variables:

18% tax on GGR Players must set deposit limits by day, week, month and limit their log-in time; self-assessment tests should also be available. Limited opportunities to distribute bonuses (only 1 bonus per license holder) Spelpaus (The national self-suspension register) Significant marketing restrictions No VIP-treatment or any kind of up-sell is allowed (bye to a big chunk of the few % VIP-players that previously made the real difference) An individual spin on a slot machine must now have a 3 second cool-off rather than 0 cool-off between spins. (a significant decrease of turnover from an operator point of view)

Try to run a brand new operation under those conditions. The days of a weekly launched brand on the Swedish market are therefore long gone.

The players might have a safer environment now, but the margins from an operator point of view have decreased significantly. The lack of loyalty disappeared significantly once players only one bonus is allowed per operating license. So lets take a look at how things have changed from a players point of view.

1.4 Bye bye bonus, hello joy killers

From a safety point of view, Spelpaus has been a blessing to all those gamblers who cant fight their inner demons. Many of them, with such strong gambling addictions that it directly poses a danger to them and their immediate family. Countless stories of abuses crashed economies and marriages and even a greater likelihood of committing suicide.

Now, within less than one minute, they can turn themselves off from all online gambling sites and be protected from gambling advertising from 1 month until further notice. Once done, there is no turning back. At least not if you want to play on a licensed option.

Any joy to win with 3 seconds between every spin?

For those slots junkies out there the new sets of rules that enforces all slots makers to make sure that each spin must take at least 3 seconds the actual enjoyment has gone down significantly. A move that was made in order to create a more safe environment, but the question remains. How much left of the excitement and enjoyment of the core product?

For those players who are actively looking for some type of deposit bonus, their freedom of choice is much more limited. The days of countless offers and promotions are over. In addition, significantly fewer online casinos and betting sites are released. Where should that vast crowd of players that enjoys regular bonuses and slot sessions with interruptions do now? The answer can be found on the web.

1.5 Where Wild West still applies

Here comes the interesting part. Imagine if you were Spelinspektionen. All the preparation and time spent in order to create a more safe framework where gaming activities in Sweden are carried out legally, safely and reliably.

This new bill has a clause stating that licensed operators are required to protect players from excessive gambling activities by adding restrictions and self-help options to their site. Lets see how safe things really are.

Here comes the bombs in plural. As can be seen on figure 1, the search volume for casino utan licens (casino without a license) has increased enormously (all search volumes presented are estimations taken from Accuranker.com).

From the beginning of the year roughly 500 searches/month were made, but latest data from August shows an estimation of 6600 searches/month. To put it in a wider context, the term online casino had 14 800 searches/month during the same period. That places the keyword casino utan licens to be one of the biggest searches gambling keywords on the Swedish market if you exclude brand searches.

Figure 1. Trend line of estimated searches for casino utan licens.

The very same trend can be shown if you dig into the betting vertical. As figure 2 shows below, there is a clear upward trend on the searches for bettingsidor utan svensk licens (betting sites without Swedish license).

Significantly fewer searches compared to the casino vertical, but still around 590 searches/month during September, which can be comparable to the more generic term bettingsidor that brought in around 1600 searches/month.

Figure 2. Trend line of estimated searches for bettingsidor utan svensk licens

According to Spelinspektionen the estimation is that roughly 91% of Swedish players are playing on a licensed alternative. Are those lies, damn lies or skewed statistics?

Regardless of what the real number is, the fact remains: There is a whole market of unlicensed options targeting Swedish players. Meanwhile, licensed operators will have to watch while their margins shrink. Most importantly, players are not in any way safer than they were before.

1.6 Is there a final countdown?

Almost one year has passed and no measures have been taken to prevent unlicensed operators from targeting Swedish users. The consumers are free to use their service since its not penalized. Looking at the three main factors why consumers are favouring these options, the following points are the most vital:

1. Self-excluded from Spelpaus for a longer time then they planned and are now eager to play and look for options where they are allowed to play. The only options are the unlicensed not connected to Spelpaus.2. A lack of bonuses and campaigns3. They want to play slots without the 3 second delay between every spin

There is a loophole that has been been there since the new gambling act came into place. An extremely profitable one if you consider the fact that the audience consists of players blocked by Spelpaus, who may also happen to be the more bonus driven players.

One of the most recognized operators to have targeted these types of players has been ComeOn. With their MGA licensed brands such as Mobilebet, Getlucky and Folkeautomaten they had an active agenda to target these high value users despite it being illegal, unethical and pretty much wrong in every possible way.

A rather surprise considering that they have several of their brands such as Snabbare, Hajper and Comeon with their very own valid Swedish license. So here we have a company that covered the full spectrum of users all while Spelinspektionen are supposedly monitoring from their end.

Figure 3. Comeon targeted Swedish users until recently with several of their brands.

Other operators that have gone down the same road to target Swedish customers without a valid Swedish license consists of a various mix of MGA and Curaco license holders. All of them are catering for the increasing demand for other options that the legal ones cant offer to the Swedish consumers.

So what is being done to stop these gambling companies to get more market shares? Nothing. There is no geo-blocking in place. Their payment solutions work. Same applies for the games that are being offered.

All taking place while licensed operators are dealing with limited opportunities to distribute bonuses, marketing restrictions, higher taxes and Spelpaus blocks. There are deep holes to be filled before Spelinspektionen can claim that they created a legal, safe and reliable market for all stakeholders that are affected. If you make 10.000 regulations you destroy all respect for the law. The wise words put by Churchill could very well be placed in this context.

Bruno Berlafa has been in the I-gaming space for over 6 six years now. He started his journey at BetIt that was later sold to Gaming Innovation Group. There he was head of affiliates before changing his path to once again help a small startup become an I-gaming giant with Dreamz.com Besides that he is the co-founder of the digital agency Perfecto Digital SL that are among many things working as affiliates with the site bstabettingsidorna.se.

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Who really gets the Jackpot under the new Swedish Gambling act? - CalvinAyre.com

Watch out! Sorethroat said. Theyre coming back and, if the past is prologue to the future, were in danger.

He and I were in the parking garage opposite the Statehouse. As usual, this long-time state employee was smoking. In addition, he was fuming.

The Indiana General Assembly, he continued, will gather for Organization Day on November 19. Ha, its more like disembowelment day.

Why do you say that? I asked.

Its when they remove whatever guts a Senator or Representative may have, he answered. You know, most of them are really good people who want to do whats best for Hoosiers. But the leadership wants them to be gutless followers of the party line.

Surplus over Service, thats the mantra they have to chant, he declared.

They raise taxes by allowing Hoosiers to engage in activities previously banned, he continued. Cell-phone gambling on college sports! Recreational marijuana use is only months away. All in the name of personal freedom to be irresponsible, thereby generating more tax revenues.

Yes, I agreed. Bettors, with reduced inhibitions, losing their hard-won dollars for the transitory thrill of hope. Now, people too embarrassed to visit a casino will squander money in private to satisfy the greed of legalized thievery and political mischief-making.

Sorethroat gave me a quizzical look. I didnt think youd be against gambling and marijuana use, he said.

Like many things in life, one may support them in principle and oppose them in practice, I replied.

Gambling matches the opinions of one group against those of another group, just like the stock market, I went on. It may be based on hunches, partisanship, or on seemingly reliable information.

Its OK as long as the cost of matching buyers and sellers, persons or organizations of opposing opinions, is low (as in the stock market) and no one has special advantage.

And thats the danger, Sorethroat said. Government that stands to gain from gambling isnt going to regulate it very much. And the more people gambling, the higher the costs of regulation, government has less incentive to check for honesty.

As for marijuana, I said, I have no experience with it. But any product or process that loosens inhibitions offers increased opportunities for recklessness and potential danger to third parties.

Its like alcohol and tobacco, my friend said. The government taxes them at high rates to discourage their use simultaneously takes advantage of their addictive powers. They dont tax the use of sugar in the same way and that too can be addictive.

And youre still smoking, still coughing every few minutes, still sneaking time for a smoke break, I said.

Sure, he said. I know better, but thats how I support my government.

Morton Marcus is an economist, formerly with the Indiana University Kelley School of Business. Send comments to letters@dailyjournal.net.

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Gambling with the lives of Hoosiers - Daily Journal

Single-issue campaign groups are curious beasts. They spring up, sometimes overnight, when the need arises. In many cases, they succeed in achieving their stated goal, and all the blood, sweat and tears involved in facilitating change is recognised as worthwhile.

However, there is a bittersweet irony at play during the very moment of triumph. Victory signifies the end of relevance for the organisation in question. The disease being fought against is cured, the social ill identified is obliterated.

Sensible campaign groups recognise the inevitable nature of their demise and respond accordingly by shutting down.

But there is a subset which decide that even if their particular dragon has been slain, the lure of the limelight is too great to surrender. They convince themselves that their cause has not quite been fulfilled that the disease or social ill has only been 98 per cent eradicated and that there is a justification for their carrying on to prevent recidivism.

Such is to be the fate, it would appear, of the Brexit Party, and in particular its leader, Nigel Farage.

In his long career in British politics, Farage has enjoyed outsized influence for a non-mainstream politician. When he joined a tiny irrelevancy called Ukip in the 1990s, Farages belief in what has become known as Brexit never wavered.

Slowly but surely, he built what was a fringe movement into one that catapulted him into the European Parliament, and which became a force of disruption in British domestic politics.

Farage scaled the heights of influence in the 2010 parliament. Ukips vote-winning ability in marginal constituencies was held to be one of the main reasons for the Conservative failure to win a majority in that election.

With a goodly number of his own MPs and members supportive of Farages stance on Europe, Prime Minister David Cameron took a fateful course of action and promised a referendum on EU membership in a bid to stave off discontent.

It worked. The Tories secured a majority in 2015. Cameron called the Brexit referendum, Farage headed the unofficial Leave campaign, and the rest should have been history, with the Ukip leader retreating from active politics to wile away the hours hosting talk radio shows with his new pal Donald Trump, and his party slumping onto the sidelines.

Except that it wasnt to be.

Theresa Mays governments failure to close the door on Brexit gave the ever-opportunistic Farage a way back in. And to be fair, there was a legitimate argument to suggest that Mays Brexit deal involved Britain being a paying rule-taker and not a rule-maker, as the infamous Irish backstop relied on continued EU customs union membership.

The Brexit Party was born to finish Farages life mission, and the pressure it created helped ensure that Mays deal died a death on parliaments floor.

But this is where the hero of our tale or is it villain stumbled. When a new, blond-haired and equally pugnacious champion arose to take on the mantle of Brexiteer-in-chief, Farage found it difficult to move aside.

Boris Johnsons deal with the European Union is everything that Mays was not from a sovereignty perspective. The UK will leave the customs union, and Great Britain the Single Market. There remain regulatory compliance and judicial requirements, but any trading regime including a WTO one will require submission to some form of collective arbitration.

This kind of deal should have been the stuff of dreams for someone who had been advocating British sovereignty for the past 30 years.

Yet Farage has found it hard to adapt and settle on a new position. First he announced that he wanted an electoral pact with the Conservatives, then that Brexit Party candidates would stand nationally, and finally that they would stand only in non-Conservative held seats.

This makes very little sense. If the Conservatives were fitting partners for a Leave Alliance to rival the Remain variant, then Farages initial decision to stand candidates against them could only have been motivated by pique that his attempts to secure a share of real power for once (as opposed to just influence) had been rebuffed.

Nor is his current stance much better. The Leave vote may now be prevented from splintering in Conservative seats, but even a stripped-down Brexit Party presence could threaten a Conservative majority by handing victory in marginals to Remain-supporting parties.

The Conservatives believe that this election is winnable because Leave voters will switch directly from Labour to themselves in parts of the country that have been red for generations. But if the Brexit Party stands, these voters might take a non-tribal option, robbing the Conservatives of victory.

Farage may well claim, erroneously, that Boriss deal is not Brexit, but in so doing he is gambling with Brexit itself.

It is not too late for our latest single-issue party to see sense. It would be the ultimate irony for one of the architects of Brexit to be responsible for its demise. By the time nominations close tomorrow, we will know if it is truly the Brexit cause, or merely his position within it, that Farage values most.

Continue reading here:

In his pursuit of power, Farage is gambling with Brexit itself - City A.M.

A new 20% excise tax is in the works in Mexico for online gambling operators. It is the result of a proposal by Emmanuel Reyes Carmona, a member of the Chamber of Deputies.

The plan is likely to find approval without undue objections. Carmona believes that specific laws and taxes are needed in this sector to keep it consistent with other gambling segments in the country.

It is not yet well known that some of the most popular online casinos are based in Mexico. The industry is not responding favourably, however, with considerable criticism. An agreement with the Mexican government could help.

The time is ripe as online gambling is experience growth, particularly sports betting and football wagering.In fact, Mexicans are among the top bettors in the world. You can see this at the time of the World Cup and the Champions League.

Source: https://europeangaming.eu/portal/latest-news/2019/11/11/58327/mexico-to-impose-20-excise-tax-on-online-gambling-firms/

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A 20% Excise Tax on Online Gambling Firms About to be Imposed in Mexico - Tunf.com News

With Responsible Gambling Week 2019 well underway, Kindred Group has been utilising its sponsorship of UK sports teams and fixtures to ensure that safer gambling messages can gain the maximum level of exposure possible.

In an interview with CasinoBeats, sustainability manager at Kindred Group Anna Jein explained that the operator groups sponsorship of UK teams offers a huge opportunity to make a difference.

She explained: Sponsors have a unique link to communities, places and people, and therefore a huge opportunity to make a difference. We can help support more than just the clubs performance on the pitch. And that is why we boosted our efforts earlier in 2019.

Through our 32Red brand, we launched a new model of football club sponsorship one that means investing in the local community, as well as the club. Football clubs have a unique ability to leverage the power of football to engage supporters and improve lives.

Earlier this year, 32Red committed itself to reinventing the current football sponsorship model by making a major investment into a new mens mental health programme via a Team Talk initiative.

The initiative saw the online gambling platform which currently sponsors five Championship clubs and Rangers in the Scottish Premiership invest heavily into the development of Team Talk hubs across the city where men can seek advice, help and encouragement to discuss their mental health.

Jein continued: As part of the renewed terms of our sponsorship deal with Derby County, we announced a significant, yearlong investment in, and partnership with, Derby Countys Community Trust and their Team Talk project.

Their model and our investment into the scheme means DCCT will now reach, and support, hundreds more men across Derby who are struggling with mental health problems through their innovative project.

Utilising such sponsorships has become a major driver for responsible gambling messaging for 32Red and Kindred Group, especially during industry-wide campaigns such as #RGWeek19.

We believe sport can be a tool for social development and drive positive change in society. Sponsors have a unique link to communities and therefore a huge opportunity to make a difference, and through sponsorships organisations can help support sports clubs to use their power to add value to local communities, she says.

Our commitment to mental health stretches into horse racing too, where our Unibet brand has invested in the #GoRacingGreen campaign a fantastic project that helps horse racing be accessible for those suffering from mental health issues.

And we have also recently expanded our responsible gambling strategy through our 32Red and Unibet brands in the UK. This initiative means that responsible gambling messages will dominate all matches where two 32Red teams play each other during the 2019/20 season. The initiative was launched during one of the biggest matches in world football Rangers vs Celtic where Rangers amended front of shirt logo carried 32Red: Stay in Control.

By using our assets to cut through effectively with sporting audiences, and promoting healthier gambling behaviour and advocating for control, we can work together with both our customers and wider society to make real progress in ensuring people gamble responsibly.

Responsible Gambling Week focuses on triggering a national conversation about what it means to gamble responsibly, with the campaign taking place from 7-13 November.

Spearheaded by the Industry Group for Responsible Gambling (IGRG), the initiative works towards bringing together both British and Irish bookmakers and sports teams to raise awareness of responsible gambling initiatives.

We see Responsible Gambling week as a catalyst for what we see now with more and more RG-messaging. It is crucial that we as an industry have these tough conversations year-long, Jein added.

That is why we at Kindred host the Sustainable Gambling Conference, to gather experts from across the industry under one roof and discuss how we can work together to secure safe gambling and a long-term sustainable industry.

Initiatives like Responsible Gambling week are great ways of boosting communication and extend the safe gambling even further. Much has been said about gambling companies and our involvement in football. But at Kindred we are clear: Gambling companies and the wider industry have an important role to play in tackling problem gambling.

Responsible Gambling Week is a good opportunity to create further awareness and engagement in the tools that are available to help customers stay in control. Responsible gambling is a very important part of our sustainability framework and has been an important part of our business from the very beginning.

The key message from the industry towards the players must be that gambling should always be fun and a form of entertainment. It is also important that the players know that we offer a variety of tools to help ensure you only spend the time and money you can afford.

See the rest here:

Kindred: The industry has a role to play in tackling problem gambling - SBC News

Throughout Responsible Gambling Week, CasinoBeats is offering insight and opinion from leading figures in the gaming sector.

Today we hear from Swintt CEO David Flynn, who moderated a session on CSR and gaming at Septembers CasinoBeats Summit, at which the recently launched developer was the Platinum Sponsor.

This is the first time weve actually presented the new company, explains Flynn. Were presenting all our products, the direction were going in and a whole new suite of gamification tools. And that direction includes a heavy focus on CSR activities and, as Flynn puts it, acting as human beings.

To gaming companies and everyone in general its the right thing to do, he says. The most important reason Im doing it is that I feel good about what I do for the world.

My aim is that every company in the industry has a CSR initiative and is hopefully working with us.

At the 2019 CasinoBeats Summit, Flynn moderated a high-profile sustainable gaming panel that included Green Jade Gaming chairman and former Mr Green CEO Jesper Krrbrink,MicrogamingCEO John Colemanand former Sky Betting & Gaming CEO Richard Flint. Does such a high-profile panel suggest CSR and responsible gambling in particular are now getting the attention it merits? Flynn thinks so.

In terms of responsible gambling, its really important to look after our customers and that we ensure that there are no damaging impacts on their lives. There are a number of charities here [at the Summit] and people that have been addicts in the past and to hear their stories is heartbreaking, he says. It may be a small percentage but the impact is really hard on those people and their families.

Some suggest theres a risk that the industry might become too focused onresponsible gambling measures does Flynn think is this a possibility? Its a simple response no.

Watch the full video interview with David Flynn below.

Link:

'It's the right thing to do' - Swintt's David Flynn on responsible gambling - - CasinoBeats

When Huddersfield Town FC unveiled its 2019-20 match shirt emblazoned with an enormous sash bearing the logo of bookmakers Paddy Power, fans were horrified and took to social media to voice their disgust.

But the new shirt was actually a hoax, the latest in a series of high-profile marketing stunts from the media-savvy bookmaker, and part of its Save Our Shirt campaign that aims to get sponsors to stop ruining football kit with excessive branding. That the fans took the whole caper at face value is a telling sign of how normalised the relationship between gambling marketing and football has become.

In 2005, the Gambling Act made it legal for gambling companies to sponsor football clubs or competitions in the UK, as well as relaxing restrictions on advertising on television and other gambling marketing opportunities. Since then, there has been a dramatic increase in gambling sponsorship in the UK.

In the 2019-20 football season, half of the teams in the English Premier League (EPL) have the logo of a bookmaker displayed on their match shirts. In Scotland, all four professional leagues and both of the domestic cup competitions are sponsored by gambling companies, such as the Betfred Cup.

Some clubs even have relationships with several gambling companies. Leicester City, for example, recently announced a partnership with Asian betting brand Yabo Sports, making a total of five gambling sponsors of the club at the one time.

There appears no limit to how gambling can be promoted through football. For example, at most grounds, gambling operators provide matchday betting services, branded betting kiosks, supporter competitions to win money-cant-buy experiences, and advertising around the stadium on match days.

Like Paddy Power, some gambling companies are becoming more subtle and clever in their promotion. For example, Wayne Rooneys latest transfer to Derby County was reportedly partly funded by online casino 32 Red. Unsurprisingly, he will wear the number 32 on his match shirt.

For the most part, gambling companies are responsible for self-regulating their sport sponsorship activities. In response to criticism about the amount of gambling advertising in sport, the latest self-regulatory initiative is a voluntary whistle-to-whistle ban on advertising during live sport, which began this season.

The development was led by the Remote Gambling Association, a group that includes leading bookmakers such as Bet365, Ladbrokes and Paddy Power. Under the whistle-to-whistle ban, gambling companies agreed not to show gambling adverts during all live sport broadcast on television before 9pm in the UK, except for horse racing.

The ban is only partial, starting five minutes before the match kicks off and ending five minutes after it finishes. This means that adverts are still permitted during the pre-match build up. The ban also only covers adverts in commercial breaks. But other forms of marketing can appear in the match, including shirt sponsorship and pitchside advertising.

In our recent research, we examined gambling marketing in five television football broadcasts in the UK before the voluntary ban came in. This included two live games from the English Premier League and one from the Scottish Premier League (SPL).

We assessed how often references to a gambling company appeared, where these references appeared (such as pitchside advertising), and what they looked like (for example, on match shirts). It repeated our previous work exploring alcohol marketing at the UEFA Euro 2016 football tournament.

So will the whistle-to-whistle ban have any real impact on exposure to gambling marketing during football? In a word, no. In the five football matches analysed, we recorded over 2,000 gambling marketing references. For example, in the EPL match between Bournemouth and Crystal Palace, there were 974 gambling references, appearing around once every 15 seconds. In the SPLs Rangers versus Celtic match, there were 920 references, appearing around once every ten seconds.

Across all five matches, three-quarters of the references were recorded during the match action, so appearing when the audience are likely to be most engaged. We identified a sophisticated array of opportunities to promote gambling companies, with logos on match shirts and pitch-side adverts appearing most often. Around 1% of references were explicit adverts during commercial breaks, yet these are the only forms of marketing covered by the ban.

It is also worth highlighting that two of the matches analysed in our study featured very few gambling references. These were England versus Italy in an international friendly and Tottenham Hotspur versus Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League. This demonstrates that football, including high-profile matches featuring popular teams, can exist without highly visible gambling sponsorship.

Some football clubs have recently taken a stance against gambling sponsorship. Luton Town FCs chief executive Gary Sweet has publicly stated that although the club was not taking an anti-gambling postion, it did not want to advertise gambling to childrenor be responsible for gambling addictions getting worse.

Other clubs such as English amateur side Headingly FC and Lewes Community Football Club have agreed to wear the Gambling With Lives logo on their shirts to warn about the dangers of gambling addiction.

But until mandatory restrictions are put in place to reduce the volume of gambling advertising visible during televised football, such laudable actions will pale in comparison. And we should not underestimate the effect of this kind of 360 marketing on the 2m people in the UK who are problem gamblers or at risk of gambling addiction.

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Gambling and sport: how bookmakers win in voluntary 'whistle-to-whistle' advert ban - The Conversation UK

A storm of impeachment-related intrigue besieges the nation's capitol. Congressional Democrats are assembling a case for the removal of President Trump, and the future of the administration hangs in the balance.

So naturally, there's a bunch of people on the internet trying to make money by gambling on how that will pan our.

Whether they're more established bookmakers like Dublin's Paddy Power or upstart prediction markets like PredictIt, there are plenty of ways to turn Washington's political troubles into cold hard cash. (It's illegal to place wagers on betting sites located in the US, which is why many of these sites are based in Ireland and the UK.)

"Look, I can't get into specific volumes," said Joe Lee, the head of Trump betting at Paddy Power Betfair, "but I can tell you that the impeachment market is probably in the top three in terms of volume that we're seeing among the Trump propositions."

As it stands, Paddy Power's users put the odds of impeachment at around 20%. They believe there's an 8% chance Trump will resign, and an 81% chance the president will actually complete his first term.

The Trump candidacy and subsequent administration has been a boon for oddsmakers attempting to capitalize on both the riveting nature of the former reality star's tenure, as well as the frequent uncertainty regarding his presidency.

"We opened up impeachment markets pretty much straight away once Trump got elected," Paddy Power's Lee said. Those markets, long dormant, have been particularly volatile over the past two months.

Will Jennings, the head of public engagement at PredictIt, has seen a similar uptick in impeachment betting.

"This is one of our more liquid and high-interest markets on the site," Jennings said.

While still not as busy as the election-related bets the Democratic nomination is a particularly high-volume wager at this time, and across the whole company Paddy Power Betfair saw over one million wagers on the 2016 election the existence of people willing to put their money where their mouth is can offer some guidance to people trying to make heads or tails of the current state of politics.

PredictIt's users, it seems, have the odds on Trump's impeachment and they've thought of every possible outcome. According to users:

The price of each of those bets was determined by thousands of transactions each and every day. And those four stats alone can help us determine exactly how the market perceives the risks of impeachment for the Trump presidency. Here's what it looks like.

Skye Gould/Business Insider

Those will change in the past week, the implied probability of impeachment in 2019 fell by 4 percentage points, though the implied probability of impeachment within the first term rose a point, indicating that the market's perception of the timeline of impeachment may be shifting.

Still, it illustrates the peril for both the President and his allies in Congress. According to these stats:

While nobody truly knows how this will unfold, having the general chances as perceived by betting markets laid out gives you an idea of how the public feels about impeachment and what they expect in the weeks and months to come.

More here:

Think Trump will get impeached? Gambling sites say the odds are in your favor - INSIDER

Gambling, the betting or staking of something of value, with consciousness of risk and hope of gain, on the outcome of a game, a contest, or an uncertain event whose result may be determined by chance or accident or have an unexpected result by reason of the bettors miscalculation.

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sports: Gambling and sports

One of the most popular forms of gambling is wagering on sports, which taps into the passion of sports fans. A bet placed on a race or a

The outcomes of gambling games may be determined by chance alone, as in the purely random activity of a tossed pair of dice or of the ball on a roulette wheel, or by physical skill, training, or prowess in athletic contests, or by a combination of strategy and chance. The rules by which gambling games are played sometimes serve to confuse the relationship between the components of the game, which depend on skill and chance, so that some players may be able to manipulate the game to serve their own interests. Thus, knowledge of the game is useful for playing poker or betting on horse racing but is of very little use for purchasing lottery tickets or playing slot machines.

A gambler may participate in the game itself while betting on its outcome (card games, craps), or he may be prevented from any active participation in an event in which he has a stake (professional athletics, lotteries). Some games are dull or nearly meaningless without the accompanying betting activity and are rarely played unless wagering occurs (coin tossing, poker, dice games, lotteries). In other games betting is not intrinsically part of the game, and the association is merely conventional and not necessary to the performance of the game itself (horse racing, football pools). Commercial establishments such as casinos and racetracks may organize gambling when a portion of the money wagered by patrons can be easily acquired by participation as a favoured party in the game, by rental of space, or by withdrawing a portion of the betting pool. Some activities of very large scale (horse racing, lotteries) usually require commercial and professional organizations to present and maintain them efficiently.

A rough estimate of the amount of money legally wagered annually in the world is about $10 trillion (illegal gambling may exceed even this figure). In terms of total turnover, lotteries are the leading form of gambling worldwide. State-licensed or state-operated lotteries expanded rapidly in Europe and the United States during the late 20th century and are widely distributed throughout most of the world. Organized football (soccer) pools can be found in nearly all European countries, several South American countries, Australia, and a few African and Asian countries. Most of these countries also offer either state-organized or state-licensed wagering on other sporting events.

Betting on horse racing is a leading form of gambling in English-speaking countries and in France. It also exists in many other countries. Wherever horse racing is popular, it has usually become a major business, with its own newspapers and other periodicals, extensive statistical services, self-styled experts who sell advice on how to bet, and sophisticated communication networks that furnish information to betting centres, bookmakers and their employees, and workers involved with the care and breeding of horses. The same is true, to a smaller extent, of dog racing. The emergence of satellite broadcasting technology has led to the creation of so-called off-track betting facilities, in which bettors watch live telecasts at locations away from the racetrack.

Casinos or gambling houses have existed at least since the 17th century. In the 20th century they became commonplace and assumed almost a uniform character throughout the world. In Europe and South America they are permitted at many or most holiday resorts but not always in cities. In the United States casinos were for many years legal only in Nevada and New Jersey and, by special license, in Puerto Rico, but most other states now allow casino gambling, and betting facilities operate clandestinely throughout the country, often through corruption of political authorities. Roulette is one of the principal gambling games in casinos throughout France and Monaco and is popular throughout the world. Craps is the principal dice game at most American casinos. Slot and video poker machines are a mainstay of casinos in the United States and Europe and also are found in thousands of private clubs, restaurants, and other establishments; they are also common in Australia. Among the card games played at casinos, baccarat, in its popular form chemin de fer, has remained a principal gambling game in Great Britain and in the continental casinos most often patronized by the English at Deauville, Biarritz, and the Riviera resorts. Faro, at one time the principal gambling game in the United States, has become obsolete. Blackjack is the principal card game in American casinos. The French card game trente et quarante (or rouge et noir) is played at Monte-Carlo and a few other continental casinos. Many other games may also be found in some casinosfor example, sic bo, fan-tan, and pai-gow poker in Asia and local games such as boule, banca francesa, and kalooki in Europe.

At the start of the 21st century, poker exploded in popularity, principally through the high visibility of poker tournaments broadcast on television and the proliferation of Internet playing venues. Another growing form of Internet gambling is the so-called betting exchangesInternet Web sites on which players make wagers with one another, with the Web site taking a small cut of each wager in exchange for organizing and handling the transaction.

In a wide sense of the word, stock markets may also be considered a form of gambling, albeit one in which skill and knowledge on the part of the bettors play a considerable part. This also goes for insurance; paying the premium on ones life insurance is, in effect, a bet that one will die within a specified time. If one wins (dies), the win is paid out to ones relatives, and if one loses (survives the specified time), the wager (premium) is kept by the insurance company, which acts as a bookmaker and sets the odds (payout ratios) according to actuarial data. These two forms of gambling are considered beneficial to society, the former acquiring venture capital and the latter spreading statistical risks.

Events or outcomes that are equally probable have an equal chance of occurring in each instance. In games of pure chance, each instance is a completely independent one; that is, each play has the same probability as each of the others of producing a given outcome. Probability statements apply in practice to a long series of events but not to individual ones. The law of large numbers is an expression of the fact that the ratios predicted by probability statements are increasingly accurate as the number of events increases, but the absolute number of outcomes of a particular type departs from expectation with increasing frequency as the number of repetitions increases. It is the ratios that are accurately predictable, not the individual events or precise totals.

The probability of a favourable outcome among all possibilities can be expressed: probability (p) equals the total number of favourable outcomes (f) divided by the total number of possibilities (t), or p = f/t. But this holds only in situations governed by chance alone. In a game of tossing two dice, for example, the total number of possible outcomes is 36 (each of six sides of one die combined with each of six sides of the other), and the number of ways to make, say, a seven is six (made by throwing 1 and 6, 2 and 5, 3 and 4, 4 and 3, 5 and 2, or 6 and 1); therefore, the probability of throwing a seven is 6/36, or 1/6.

In most gambling games it is customary to express the idea of probability in terms of odds against winning. This is simply the ratio of the unfavourable possibilities to the favourable ones. Because the probability of throwing a seven is 1/6, on average one throw in six would be favourable and five would not; the odds against throwing a seven are therefore 5 to 1. The probability of getting heads in a toss of a coin is 1/2; the odds are 1 to 1, called even. Care must be used in interpreting the phrase on average, which applies most accurately to a large number of cases and is not useful in individual instances. A common gamblers fallacy, called the doctrine of the maturity of the chances (or the Monte-Carlo fallacy), falsely assumes that each play in a game of chance is dependent on the others and that a series of outcomes of one sort should be balanced in the short run by the other possibilities. A number of systems have been invented by gamblers largely on the basis of this fallacy; casino operators are happy to encourage the use of such systems and to exploit any gamblers neglect of the strict rules of probability and independent plays. An interesting example of a game where each play is dependent on previous plays, however, is blackjack, where cards already dealt from the dealing shoe affect the composition of the remaining cards; for example, if all of the aces (worth 1 or 11 points) have been dealt, it is no longer possible to achieve a natural (a 21 with two cards). This fact forms the basis for some systems where it is possible to overcome the house advantage.

In some games an advantage may go to the dealer, the banker (the individual who collects and redistributes the stakes), or some other participant. Therefore, not all players have equal chances to win or equal payoffs. This inequality may be corrected by rotating the players among the positions in the game. Commercial gambling operators, however, usually make their profits by regularly occupying an advantaged position as the dealer, or they may charge money for the opportunity to play or subtract a proportion of money from the wagers on each play. In the dice game of crapswhich is among the major casino games offering the gambler the most favourable oddsthe casino returns to winners from 3/5 of 1 percent to 27 percent less than the fair odds, depending on the type of bet made. Depending on the bet, the house advantage (vigorish) for roulette in American casinos varies from about 5.26 to 7.89 percent, and in European casinos it varies from 1.35 to 2.7 percent. The house must always win in the long run. Some casinos also add rules that enhance their profits, especially rules that limit the amounts that may be staked under certain circumstances.

Many gambling games include elements of physical skill or strategy as well as of chance. The game of poker, like most other card games, is a mixture of chance and strategy that also involves a considerable amount of psychology. Betting on horse racing or athletic contests involves the assessment of a contestants physical capacity and the use of other evaluative skills. In order to ensure that chance is allowed to play a major role in determining the outcomes of such games, weights, handicaps, or other correctives may be introduced in certain cases to give the contestants approximately equal opportunities to win, and adjustments may be made in the payoffs so that the probabilities of success and the magnitudes of the payoffs are put in inverse proportion to each other. Pari-mutuel pools in horse-race betting, for example, reflect the chances of various horses to win as anticipated by the players. The individual payoffs are large for those bettors whose winning horses are backed by relatively few bettors and small if the winners are backed by a relatively large proportion of the bettors; the more popular the choice, the lower the individual payoff. The same holds true for betting with bookmakers on athletic contests (illegal in most of the United States but legal in England). Bookmakers ordinarily accept bets on the outcome of what is regarded as an uneven match by requiring the side more likely to win to score more than a simple majority of points; this procedure is known as setting a point spread. In a game of American or Canadian football, for example, the more highly regarded team would have to win by, say, more than 10 points to yield an even payoff to its backers.

Unhappily, these procedures for maintaining the influence of chance can be interfered with; cheating is possible and reasonably easy in most gambling games. Much of the stigma attached to gambling has resulted from the dishonesty of some of its promoters and players, and a large proportion of modern gambling legislation is written to control cheating. More laws have been oriented to efforts by governments to derive tax revenues from gambling than to control cheating, however.

Gambling is one of mankinds oldest activities, as evidenced by writings and equipment found in tombs and other places. It was regulated, which as a rule meant severely curtailed, in the laws of ancient China and Rome as well as in the Jewish Talmud and by Islam and Buddhism, and in ancient Egypt inveterate gamblers could be sentenced to forced labour in the quarries. The origin of gambling is considered to be divinatory: by casting marked sticks and other objects and interpreting the outcome, man sought knowledge of the future and the intentions of the gods. From this it was a very short step to betting on the outcome of the throws. The Bible contains many references to the casting of lots to divide property. One well-known instance is the casting of lots by Roman guards (which in all likelihood meant that they threw knucklebones) for the garment of Jesus during the Crucifixion. This is mentioned in all four of the Gospels and has been used for centuries as a warning example by antigambling crusaders. However, in ancient times casting lots was not considered to be gambling in the modern sense but instead was connected with inevitable destiny, or fate. Anthropologists have also pointed to the fact that gambling is more prevalent in societies where there is a widespread belief in gods and spirits whose benevolence may be sought. The casting of lots, not infrequently dice, has been used in many cultures to dispense justice and point out criminals at trialsin Sweden as late as 1803. The Greek word for justice, dike, comes from a word that means to throw, in the sense of throwing dice.

European history is riddled with edicts, decrees, and encyclicals banning and condemning gambling, which indirectly testify to its popularity in all strata of society. Organized gambling on a larger scale and sanctioned by governments and other authorities in order to raise money began in the 15th century with lotteriesand centuries earlier in China with keno. With the advent of legal gambling houses in the 17th century, mathematicians began to take a serious interest in games with randomizing equipment (such as dice and cards), out of which grew the field of probability theory.

Apart from forerunners in ancient Rome and Greece, organized sanctioned sports betting dates back to the late 18th century. About that time there began a gradual, albeit irregular, shift in the official attitude toward gambling, from considering it a sin to considering it a vice and a human weakness and, finally, to seeing it as a mostly harmless and even entertaining activity. Additionally, the Internet has made many forms of gambling accessible on an unheard-of scale. By the beginning of the 21st century, approximately four out of five people in Western nations gambled at least occasionally. The swelling number of gamblers in the 20th century highlighted the personal and social problem of pathological gambling, in which individuals are unable to control or limit their gambling. During the 1980s and 90s, pathological gambling was recognized by medical authorities in several countries as a cognitive disorder that afflicts slightly more than 1 percent of the population, and various treatment and therapy programs were developed to deal with the problem.

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