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I might need to start looking for another job...


swampster

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Re: I might need to start looking for another job... That's such an intentionally misleading article, but as it's the Daily Mail that shouldn't really surprise me. "Experts say around a million children are addicted to gambling and Labour’s lenient gaming laws are largely to blame. They warn that vulnerable children have become hooked after casinos, bookmakers and betting websites were allowed to advertise on TV." That's such a ridiculous statement I don't even know where to start. Any bit of truth in that is lost in the ludicrous hyperbole. "And a loophole in the law means that countries across Europe – and others in a so-called ‘white list’ – can advertise their services in the UK without being subject to strict regulations. They include Alderney, the Isle of Man, Antigua and the Australian state of Tasmania." It's not a loophole. It's something that was intentionally placed into the law after a long consultation with the industry. It was the prevailing wisdom at the time. Then France and Italy came along and showed you could be hardline and it would still work, suddenly that's the prevailing wisdom. Anyway, yes the feeling in the UK goverment is they now look hugely out of step with regulation of online gambling and need to change the law. But changing the law is a long and difficult process.

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Re: I might need to start looking for another job...

The Responsibility in Gambling Trust, or RIGT, is an independent charitable body, funded by the UK gambling industry, which commissions treatment, education and research into problem gambling. The aim of the Trust is to make it less likely that people will become problem gamblers and more likely that those who do will be able to seek and to secure effective help.

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Re: I might need to start looking for another job...

"And a loophole in the law means that countries across Europe – and others in a so-called ‘white list’ – can advertise their services in the UK without being subject to strict regulations. They include Alderney, the Isle of Man, Antigua and the Australian state of Tasmania." It's not a loophole. It's something that was intentionally placed into the law after a long consultation with the industry. It was the prevailing wisdom at the time. Then France and Italy came along and showed you could be hardline and it would still work, suddenly that's the prevailing wisdom.
Personal dislike of mine the fact that so many jobs and so much income was lost to the U.K during the early years of online and telephone gambling. We were a million miles ahead of the rest of the world in preperation for the boom and failed to capitalise. Now your saying that the government and the industry connived to create the situation?
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Re: I might need to start looking for another job...

Personal dislike of mine the fact that so many jobs and so much income was lost to the U.K during the early years of online and telephone gambling. We were a million miles ahead of the rest of the world in preperation for the boom and failed to capitalise. Now your saying that the government and the industry connived to create the situation?
Depends what you mean by that Ed. The early years of online gambling was the late 1990s when the government did all it could to stop everyone going offshore. The gambling act wasn't in place until the late 2000s. At that point the government chose to go for the white list approach for reasons that seemed sensible at the time and seem a bit silly now. But that the industry (who have poker and casino servers offshore) agreed with.
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Re: I might need to start looking for another job...

I don't agree with the million miles ahead bit. Not at all.
Thinking more of the early 90's( or late 80's was it) when the government refused to abolish betting tax forcing our established bookmakers to move offshore.(think thats what happened) We were miles ahead in the bookmaking industry then and if we had moved fast enough we would have had set up all the internet forms of gambling under our worldwide brands. I'm sure in the early days of online casino's they were all operated from banana republics and there must have been some reason why we couldn't locate in the U.K. We might not have had the poker software technology but I am sure people would have preferred to play at established names like Ladbrokes rather than unknown entities like Paradise poker and Virtual city poker were I started out. Back to the original topic, gambling is a problem that I would prefer my children not overexposed to(rich as its my only income) yet its part of computer games and TV programs suggesting it is the only way to live a luxury lifestyle. Thankfully my son still thinks he's Wayne Rooney's next replacement at Man Utd plus he can see through me that gambling online is a far from healthy lifestyle. The figure might not be 1,000,000 but whatever it is, its too many.
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Re: I might need to start looking for another job...

Thinking more of the early 90's( or late 80's was it) when the government refused to abolish betting tax forcing our established bookmakers to move offshore.(think thats what happened) We were miles ahead in the bookmaking industry then and if we had moved fast enough we would have had set up all the internet forms of gambling under our worldwide brands. I'm sure in the early days of online casino's they were all operated from banana republics and there must have been some reason why we couldn't locate in the U.K. We might not have had the poker software technology but I am sure people would have preferred to play at established names like Ladbrokes rather than unknown entities like Paradise poker and Virtual city poker were I started out.
Gotcha. I was still young (ish) at the time, but I think you've got it a bit backwards. Firms starting with VC began moving to Gib because then the punter didn't have to pay any tax on his bets. Remember that? When Lads and Hills and the rest started following suit they abolish it and replaced it with a gross profit tax. William Hill launched an online casino in 2001 (based in curacao) and ladbrokes launched a poker room in 2002 (based somewhere offshore). So right at the peak of the boom times. But as it turned out people preferred to trust online brands such as Party/Stars etc. They didn't miss out on the chance, they just didn't make it work as well as some others. The reason you couldn't base your online servers in the UK is there was no licensing system. The only places offering online casino licences were offshore (and mostly still are). The UK brought in a licence in the 2005 gambling act. And nobody applied for one as it would have been too big a tax burden.
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Re: I might need to start looking for another job...

Back to the original topic, gambling is a problem that I would prefer my children not overexposed to(rich as its my only income) yet its part of computer games and TV programs suggesting it is the only way to live a luxury lifestyle. Thankfully my son still thinks he's Wayne Rooney's next replacement at Man Utd plus he can see through me that gambling online is a far from healthy lifestyle. The figure might not be 1,000,000 but whatever it is, its too many.
Agreed we should be careful about allowing gambling advertising to be too widely available. And poker is definitely included in that. For most people who play it, poker IS gambling.
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Re: I might need to start looking for another job...

William Hill launched an online casino in 2001 (based in curacao) and ladbrokes launched a poker room in 2002 (based somewhere offshore). So right at the peak of the boom times. But as it turned out people preferred to trust online brands such as Party/Stars etc. They didn't miss out on the chance, they just didn't make it work as well as some others.
99% sure Hills opened an line casino before 2001. Funny thing about Pokerstars in early days I didnt join as I couldnt believe any site could have that many players, once a cynic always a cynic:eyes Suppose the reason we missed out was poker just wasnt that big a thing in the U.K or Europe back then.
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Re: I might need to start looking for another job...

Only knew cos I moved back up here in 2000 and remember a heated discussion about "winnings" Hills wouldn't pay cos I hadn't wagered 70k or something equally ridiculous. Doubt if any one understood match bonuses in those days.
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