Britain's Betting Industry Set to Boom
Thanks to the repeal of Britain's betting duty, the United Kingdom will have a "unique opportunity to lead the world" in gaming, global advisory firm Ernst & Young LLP said recently while announcing its newest Online Gaming & Betting Report.
The group also predicts the U.K. gambling companies will be major participants in the coming explosion of gambling profits, which E&Y said will double during the next year from just under $100 million to well over $200 million.
Driving the U.K. market's participation in the global expansion of gambling is Saturday's abolishment of taxation on winning bets, which will enable onshore bookmakers to compete more evenly with their offshore peers. No longer will punters have a financial incentive to bet offshore. British bookies will have a promotional advantage over the offshore sites, too, since only they can advertise their betting services in the United Kingdom.
"Customers trust big and well-known brands and that make converting customers from traditional betting and gaming to online customers much easier," said Iain Wilkie, E&Y's leisure, hospitality and gambling partner. "For online betting and gaming to be successful it has to reach the millions of people who enjoy the occasional flutter."
Korean Gambling Revenue on the Rise
South Korea's Ministry of Culture and Tourism on Saturday reported that gambling revenues have been steadily increasing even while the nation's economy has been slumping. The report was submitted to the National Assembly's Committee on Budget and Accounts and listed financial figures from the nation's casinos and racetracks.
The report noted that the nation's two horse racetracks had risen by 27.3 percent during the first half of this year, representing about 2.85 trillion won (US$2.17 billion) in turnover.
Casinos also recorded profits that rose 147.7 percent during January to June. In monetary terms, South Korea's 14 casinos earned 409 billion won (US$312 million) during that time.
Are Kids Being Groomed to Gamble?
The Star of Ontario reported recently that kids are being groomed to graduate from gaming to gambling.
It's only in the last few years that children have been exposed to gambling on a wide scale, while at the same time being exposed to "aggressive marketing and advertising telling them it's a legitimate, normal activity," the article said.
The article reported that today's kids are particularly vulnerable to the lures of electronic gambling since they grew up with computers and the Internet.
"Kids are very techno-savvy, and through this familiarity with technology they are being groomed to be gamblers," Harold Wynne, an Edmonton-based gambling researcher told the newspaper.
"Right now there is an imminent marriage between gaming and the Internet," he said, "and it concerns me because it's targeted at growing this new market, the so-called Nintendo generation."
Winning is a Long Shot, Students Learn
Some Louisiana schools want to show students that it's pretty unlikely that they'll ever win while gambling.
Based on a curriculum developed by Harvard University, school students will be shown that the odds are stacked against players in most gambling activities.
Former state Rep. Randy Wiggins, who in 1999 sponsored legislation requiring schools to educate students about the hazards of gambling, told The Daytona Beach News-Journal, "They're seeing the message to go to the casino and win a house or a boat. If you go in the way this program is approaching it, the students will realize they'll go into a casino and leave behind the money."
Students learn, for example, that there is a 1 in 80 million chance of winning the Powerball lottery, while other improbable events are more likely to occur, such as being struck by lightening (1 in 2 million chance) or dying from a bee sting (1 in 6 million chance).
At least one student is taking the program seriously.
"When you find out the odds of winning, it's not as easy as you think," 14-year-old Daniel Greenhouse said.
How to Prevent Illegal Gambling Activity
A university professor suggests that a government-regulated gambling center could be the key to controlling illegal gambling in Jakarta, The Jakarta Post reported Tuesday.
"The administration should regulate gambling," S. Budhisantoso, the head of the Structural Development Study Center at the University of Indonesia, told attendees at a recent conference. "Almost all metropolitan cities are equipped with controlled gambling centers."
Budhisantoso also said that in other locations where there is gambling, such as Kampung Ambon, West Jakarta, young people are less likely to be involved in fighting or criminal activity. For the Matraman area of Central Jakarta, where there are no gambling centers, teens do get involved with fighting and crime.