Many of the allegations centered on Mathew Bowyer, a Southern California bookmaker who took thousands of sports bets from the former interpreter for baseball star Shohei Ohtani. Bowyer has pleaded guilty in federal court in Santa Ana, California, to running an illegal gambling business and is awaiting sentencing. While under the Interactive Gambling Act it is an offence to provide or advertise prohibited gambling services such as online casinos or unlicensed sports wagering, not one offshore company has been fined for doing so.
With Suncity gone, Star on the way out, and Chow Tai Fook looking to pick up the pieces at Queen’s Wharf, the prospect of luring waves of VIP gamblers to Brisbane is over, according to casino industry consultant Ben Lee. But legal advice to the government found “insufficient evidence” that Chow Tai Fook deliberately misled the regulator — or knew that Chau was of ill-repute before his arrest. A Queensland government report that upholds the ABC’s revelation that a Brisbane casino owner had a “concealed relationship” with a criminal junket boss. “The cashless card at Crown pokies is working to prevent harm and Labor promised the public to trial and implement this card to all pub and Club and pub pokies. Reverand Costello from the Alliance for Gambling Reform has urged the premier to act, saying pokies are the most harmful form of gambling.
Brisbane Champs Delayed Amid Industrial Action at Star Brisbane
“I’m one of the lucky ones who managed to get through my addiction, but it cost me $100,000 which has set me back financially.” Mr Kempster hoped that the government’s much-vaunted BetStop scheme and the industry regulator would have done more to protect him. One example given on X laid out that under this new setup, if a gambler won $200,000 in a year but lost $210,000, they would actually be able to deduct only $189,000 worth of losses.
- The second arrived via recently released budget forecasts that show revenue from gambling will hit $2.6 billion this financial year and surge to more than $3 billion by 2028.
- Shareholders in bookmaker PointsBet were caught up in a botched vote last week to approve a $402 million takeover offer from Japanese entertainment giant Mixi.
- Gambling revenues have reached record highs in recent years as legalized gambling has proliferated across the U.S.
- Cotai Strip Biggest casinos in the world + newest casinos in Macau; Cotai Strip threatens mainland Macau for top gambling destination.
- Before he self-excluded from gambling he spent 10 years going through hell, battling an addiction to sports betting that he describes as “horrible”.
“The AFL received hundreds of millions worth of taxpayers money … so taxpayers are giving these sports money and in return they’re saying, ‘Well, we’ve actually got no social contract with you’. The ABC’s analysis found that the NRL had the most teams sponsored by gambling companies across any sporting code — 10 out of 16. Just when you thought our state’s addiction to poker machines couldn’t get any worse, the NSW government has outdone itself. According to the casino operator, 9000 hospitality jobs at its casinos in Sydney, Brisbane and the Gold Coast are on the line if Star Entertainment goes under. In Queensland, Premier David Crisafulli did not rule out help for the casino operator, but said he would like to strike a “good deal” for Queensland taxpayers and the casino’s 6000 state workers.
Judge Sides with Cedar Crossings, Casino Plan Cleared for Takeoff
The following day a second NICC report was published, which found The Star was still unsuitable to hold a casino licence. “Star’s deep-seated problems really began with widespread failures in anti-money laundering compliance,” Mr Hughes said. These problems might have been manageable, according to Mr Hughes, if Star wasn’t also dealing with the fallout from a 2021 investigation by Australia’s financial intelligence agency, AUSTRAC and the New South Wales Independent Casino Commission (NICC). “Queen’s Wharf became a drain because, as a 50 per cent joint venture, Star was on the hook for huge capital contributions and a big chunk of the project’s $1.4 billion debt,” Graeme Hughes from Griffith University’s business school said. Customers at Star Entertainment’s Sydney flagship and Crown Resorts’ Barangaroo casino can gamble up to $5000 in cash every day under existing state laws.
Gambling revenues have reached record highs in recent years as legalized gambling has proliferated across the U.S. Thirty-eight states, plus Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, now have some form of legalized sports betting, which has exploded following a 2018 Supreme Court ruling that broke up Nevada’s monopoly on the practice. In 2024, commercial gaming revenue reached a record high of nearly $72 billion, according to the American Gaming Association, which represents the U.S. gambling industry.
Experts believe the disparity is due to a lack of national cohesion across clubs and codes about gambling sponsorships and partnerships, and social responsibility. Star was already on its knees when carded play was introduced to its Sydney casino, a measure that brought it completely undone. Billionaire Sam Arnaout’s private company Iris Capital has been able to shield his gambling profits from prying eyes. The gaming group’s CEO, Matt Wilson, discusses its strategy, what businesses it might acquire, and how they are managing the Trump-led trade volatility. With a week to go to the election, bookies and punters have Labor the favourite in 77 seats, a figure that would secure majority government and a second term for Anthony Albanese.
A Queensland inquiry found The Star actively encouraged people banned from gaming in Victoria and NSW to gamble at its casinos in the Sunshine State. Just when you thought our state’s addiction to poker machines couldn’t get any worse, the NSW government has outdone itself with a series of decisions so weak and so craven that your head will spin. When ABC Investigations initially asked the ACMA how many times it had taken action against individuals or companies for breaching these laws, it directed us to a website link to its “Investigations into online gambling providers”. “I have even heard of Australian operators trading their bunch of lapsed gamblers so people like Mark get a call from a new business, with some sweeteners to tempt them, and off they go, often kicking off a relapse. It is extremely harmful.” A spokesperson for Ms Rowland said the government took seriously its responsibility to protect Australians from the harms of online gambling. From her years of research, Ms Levin says she’s learned that gambling industry figures are passing the contact details and profiles of betting addicts between companies.
“We’re always looking at everything within the best interest of the staff certainly our shareholders,” Daniel Finch, CEO The Star Brisbane, said 7NEWS on Monday. The group’s board will now seek for all shareholders to agree unanimously to the deal as it is within their best interests and will unlock the remaining Bally’s contribution, the ASX statement said. In https://www.gambling360.com/australia/casino-reviews/ a late-night update to the ASX on Monday, Star Entertainment revealed Bally’s would pay $100 million by Wednesday to keep the business’s doors open across Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Sydney. Both advocates had either personal or family experience of devastating gambling addictions. The Perth entrepreneur’s attempt to wrestle back total control of VGW should have been a bit more obvious were its disclosures made in time. The pokies giant said on Monday it had known about the overseas criminal investigation since 2019, but the board determined it did not need to inform the ASX.