Sport is made for betting

As mentioned here several weeks ago , the amount of betting editorial and odds plugging during live broadcasts of Australian sport is over the top. Public sentiment was turning against it and it was inevitable that something would have to be done. Now the Australian Federal Govt has gotten involved, essentially telling broadcasters and sports bodies to sort it out within the next 12 months, or we will do it for you.. Live broadcasts of betting odds to be phased out by June, Stephen Conroy says "INSIDIOUS" live broadcasts of betting odds will be phased out to prevent gambling becoming embedded in football, cricket and other sports, the state and the federal government agreed today. But the Federal Government's bid to introduce mandatory wager limits on poker machines was rejected by the states and a constitutional battle is now likely. A meeting of state and federal ministers in Canberra agreed that the promotion of live odds during the broadcast of sport events...

There's been more than enough proof over the years that this South Australian senator is just a headline seeker when it comes to his views against gambling. I admired his stance against pokies (slots/fruit machines in other parts of the world) which are in plague proportions in most of Australia, but his credibility, if he had any left, is seriously undermined when he gets involved in an argument like this. MP calls for ban on rate-rise betting Betting on the Reserve Bank's interest rates decision should be banned because it ''invites trouble'' and opens the door to corruption, Independent Nick Xenophon says. The Age yesterday reported that a stand-off between the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and online betting agency Centrebet, over betting on interest rate rises, had ended. ''Millions of Australians are affected by interest rate movements. It is not a game for families; for many families it can be the difference between pay...

Sportingbet Australia are banking on a change to betting in-running laws with this move to develop an IPTV betting platform . Racing provides the lion's share of their business but the big potential for growth is with sports betting. However due to a ludicrous piece of legislation, which is unlikely to be amended during the term of a minority government, you can only bet in-running on a sporting event via a voice call from within Australia. The Queensland govt needs more tax revenue so the easiest way to do that is put more pokies in the casinos . Evil bloody things that should be outlawed but they never will. The politicians hide behind the fact that it's no more for the state, but the fact is these ones will see far higher footfall than hidden away in a suburban pub, equalling more tax revenue and more damage to the moral fabric of Qld society. At least WA continues to resist the urge . The bidding for the UK Tote hots up with a consortium fronted by Martin Broughton lin...

There's no denying that Australia is a nanny state now. Political correctness, occupational health & safety and ambulance-chasing lawyers have changed the fabric of society, almost entirely for the poorer. A couple of years ago, a constitutional challenge by corporate bookmakers and Betfair threw out the age-old ban on bookmakers advertising in states other than the one they were licensed in. It defied the constitutional notion of free trade across state borders which every other industry had benefitted from since federation in 1901. But the nanny state mentality fought back in order to protect their once state-owned monopoly TABs, with the banning of incentives for free bets - standard marketing practice anywhere else in the world. Bookies charged for bet offers CHARGES have been laid against three bookmakers just four days out from the biggest event of the Spring Carnival. The Victorian Commission for Gambling Regulaion has laid charges against three bookmaker firms ove...

Under the EU guidelines/legislation/regulations, EU member states are expected to allow gambling services from other EU members states unless they can prove the reason behind blocking them is social policy - namely protection of locals from the 'evils' of gambling. In countries like the Netherlands, this leads inevitably ends up being protect the local monopoly but ban all others - hardly social policy at all, just the protection of high margins which go directly into the state coffers. Norway, and much of Scandinavia, attempts the same social policy - outlawing all competition in favour of the local high margin, state-owned operator Norsk Tipping. Studies around the world, in Norway and Australia in particular, have shown that problem gambling is most likely to originate from betting machines - called slots, pokies or fruit machines depending on where you live. In fact, just a few years ago, because 80% of problem gambling cases were coming from these machines, Norsk Tipping u...

Betfair's sponsorship portfolio in Australia now covers Betfair Park racing, Hawthorn FC, numerous sport and racing sponsorships in Tasmania and now the Wests Tigers. A big step up from the doom-sayers saying every cent would go back to the UK when lobbying for a licence just a few yrs ago. Read the LeagueHQ article here An interesting progression considering that the NRL has been the sporting body most concerned (or should I say hypocritical?) regarding gambling sponsorship. A decade ago when the government-owned SportsTAB opened, the NRL couldn't give them enough perimeter signage. A change of CEO and public sentiment re gambling, particularly in NSW where the league clubs' finances are heavily based on the pokies clubs and the gambling problems they create, and those relationships changed. Over the years the NRL has had a few minor gambling scandals, nothing of the magnitude of match-fixing, but more exotic markets such as First Tryscorer and TV markets such as Man of th...

From a Betfair Australia email to affiliates: On 3rd December 2008 the NSW state government passed an Amending Act for the advertising laws in New South Wales, the Amending Act enables all Australian licensed wagering operators to legally advertise in NSW. The Act included a regulation whereby licensed wagering operators are not permitted to publish gambling advertising that “offers any credit, voucher or reward as an inducement to participate, or to participate frequently, in any gambling activity (including as an inducement to open a betting account)”. In essence, this means that by law Betfair can no longer advertise free bet offers to residents of NSW. It should be noted that the legal onus is on Betfair to comply and that there is no legal risk on the affiliate for displaying a Betfair free bet advertisement to a NSW resident. Additionally, it is the advertising of, rather than the crediting of, a free bet which is now illegal in NSW.... ------ If this restriction applies to all g...

Well maybe not, this is a massive blow to their businesses. Herald Sun article - the pokies duopoly is to be broken up But the Australian Stock Exchange has halted trading on these firms in the meantime. Tabcorp, Tatts in trading halt This has the potential to be a fantastic decision for the people of Victoria. Take the evil machines out of the greedy corporations running the show, and into the hands of smaller venues and the local communities. Then they can make the individual decision of whether they bring benefit or ruin to their patrons. Still would prefer to see them banished forever, but that's not a realistic proposition. Hopefully a few hotels will see the light like this modern-day hero .

A damning article in the Melbourne newspaper The Age, reporting on the damage caused by poker machines (also known as slots in the US and fruit machines in the UK). These machines are totally pointless and do not have "any real civilised justification for (poker machines) other than a means of indirectly taxing the people who are too stupid to work out what they are doing". Come on governments of Australia - you look down on some societies for their 'problems', well this is yours and it is endemic. You're all too gutless to ban them, so start restricting their numbers and the places they can be operated. Putting them in regions of high unemployment and welfare reliance is simply stealing from the poor. Almost anything is good in moderation - putting them in every pub in every suburb is like giving every citizen free syringes and a bottomless heroin supply. These machines cause far more devastation to society than people smoking.