Aussie senator says gamblers shouldn't pay illegal sites

[The Buzz]

An Australian senator has a belief that many gamblers might share, but that many affiliates and casinos might have a problem with.

Senator Nick Xenophon wants to allow people who lose money on illegal online sites to be able to ask their bank to void the credit card transaction.

Online gambling company Betchoice has rejected Xenophon's ideas.

From ABCNews:

Senator Xenophon spoke to the commission sitting in Sydney via telephone, saying not enough has been done to stop the growth of online gambling.

He says there could be a massive expansion of the problem with people accessing sites using their mobile phones.

[Anthony]

Looks like Nick Xenophon is going to make our wall of shame.

[Renee]

He is a w***er...

That's the way.. encourage people to commit fraud because they spend more money than they can afford on gaming...

I've never heard such Dikshit...

Wait.... a few US politicians names ring a bell

[Buddy.]

This guy is a one trick pony who tries to stand out from the crowd on the basis of his anti-gambling stance.

I wonder why I don't like or trust politicians...

[Shaun O'neill]

Wow politician's kill me they really are so stupid, due to stupid politician's my company has to leave Estonia all of our staff will not be able to relocate so the state will have to support the staff with benefits until they find a job in a country that is almost bankrupt, at the same time the economy will be hit as the staff are among the higest paid in Estonia this effects several gaming companies and around 1000 staff which is a lot for country that has a population of just 1,340,300.

You have to love the policy makers on paper i am sure it was a good idea.....

Shaun

[Mike Keenan]

As an Australian myself I can clearly state that Nick is coming from the right angle. A lot of GPWA members might not be aware that online slots, poker etc are illegal in Australia with the only form of online gambling being legally allowed on racing & sports. In Australia the access to gambling offline is immense including poker machines, racing, sports, scratch tickets, lotteries and the list just goes on & the social problems that go with it have been immense with an estimated 200,000 problem gamblers, although this figure is more than likely a lot higher. There would be also very few in this country who have not been personally affected with a family member or friend who has had a problem with gambling in some form. And I can state for the record that just recently a friend of my wife, who's husband had a problem with poker machines lost his life in tragic circumstances as a direct result. As a GPWA member myself I have websites that promote gambling on horse racing & sports and many would see this as very hypocritical, however my websites are promoted as what they should be and that is in a social gambling context, and this is what gambling is meant to be all about, simply a fun and casual past-time, with safeguards put in place that if a user has a problem or thinks that they may have a problem are provided with numbers etc they can contact for free confidential support. There is no doubt that Australia is a country full of gamblers & you cannot blame them because we have access to gambling provided everywhere and Nick is simply drawing the line in the sand and there will be only a lot more to come on this issue as there should be. Online companies who are operating outside of Australian law by accepting wagers from clients based in Australia need to be prosecuted and it really is as simple as that.

[Renee]

As an Australian myself I can clearly state that Nick is coming from the right angle. A lot of GPWA members might not be aware that online slots, poker etc are illegal in Australia with the only form of online gambling being legally allowed on racing & sports. In Australia the access to gambling offline is immense including poker machines, racing, sports, scratch tickets, lotteries and the list just goes on & the social problems that go with it have been immense with an estimated 200,000 problem gamblers, although this figure is more than likely a lot higher. There would be also very few in this country who have not been personally affected with a family member or friend who has had a problem with gambling in some form. And I can state for the record that just recently a friend of my wife, who's husband had a problem with poker machines lost his life in tragic circumstances as a direct result. As a GPWA member myself I have websites that promote gambling on horse racing & sports and many would see this as very hypocritical, however my websites are promoted as what they should be and that is in a social gambling context, and this is what gambling is meant to be all about, simply a fun and casual past-time, with safeguards put in place that if a user has a problem or thinks that they may have a problem are provided with numbers etc they can contact for free confidential support. There is no doubt that Australia is a country full of gamblers & you cannot blame them because we have access to gambling provided everywhere and Nick is simply drawing the line in the sand and there will be only a lot more to come on this issue as there should be. Online companies who are operating outside of Australian law by accepting wagers from clients based in Australia need to be prosecuted and it really is as simple as that.

I don't think anyone is disagreeing that there are Aussies with gambling problems. This is the case all over the world.

What I am saying is that by convincing these "problem gamblers" to commit fraud (and yes that is exactly what they will be doing by telling the banks to void the transaction when they lose - simply because they made the transaction), it encourages them to gamble more... no matter what way you look at it, you can't disagree with me there... It would be like walking into a store and buying a drink, then you don't like the taste, so you walk in and tell them to give you your money back. You opened and drank the drink, so you should pay for it, regardless of whether or not you like the taste.

This guy is encouraging problem gamblers because this way they can gamble as much as they want, because if they lose they can just get the money back from the bank. Very responsible

For the record, I'm pretty sure that when I read the law that it states that it is illegal to take the bet, but not illegal to place it. It's like the law we have for buying cigarettes.. The legal age to smoke is 16, but the legal age to buy cigarettes is 18. The laws in our country are ridiculous and very poorly thought out IMO... (BTW I'm also in Oz)...

[Mike Keenan]

You are right with the law. It is not illegal for an Australian to place a bet with an Interactive Betting Provider offshore or onshore. However it is illegal for that provider to accept that wager. I have no problem at all with an Australian gambler cancelling a deposit etc with an offshore or onshore Interactive Betting Provider simply because the wager should not have been accepted in the 1st place. On the betting providers side as well they should not be paying out the bettor if they win again because they should not have accepted the bet in the first place. A catch 22 the way it should be lol!

[jarvi]

This is a similar issue to the drug problem. Do you try and reduce the supply or demand? Until the Australian government makes some real inroads into reducing traditional gambling (all types including racing), what they are trying to do with offshore online gambling appears to be partly based on not sharing in the spoils rather than for the good of the people.

I must admit I haven't kept up to date with all the laws etc, however can some-one answer this one for me. How would an Australian law be applied for a non-Australian entity? ie the offshore betting provider.

Why am I even participating in a politics thread. I vowed never to do that a long time ago.

[Renee]

You are right with the law. It is not illegal for an Australian to place a bet with an Interactive Betting Provider offshore or onshore. However it is illegal for that provider to accept that wager. I have no problem at all with an Australian gambler cancelling a deposit etc with an offshore or onshore Interactive Betting Provider simply because the wager should not have been accepted in the 1st place. On the betting providers side as well they should not be paying out the bettor if they win again because they should not have accepted the bet in the first place. A catch 22 the way it should be lol!

If the player is going to place a bet knowing that it's illegal for the company to take his bet, then he is assisting in illegal activity.. IMO he should be charged too.

I still disagree on what the polly is trying to do.. I think it will be worse for problem gamblers and it will encourage fraud.

[shortow]

most governments think any form of gambling is evil and likely to cause addiction until they figure out a way to extract tax revenue from it. It's a common hypocrisy around the world.

I struggle with the notion that some forms of gambling are 'a fun and casual past-time' while others are something more dangerous. It is not the context or the form of gambling that leads to problems, it's the nature of the player.