A Facebook ad promoting GVC’s Gala Spins has drawn massive criticism and a stern warning from the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority. The promotional ad, which first appeared as a paid-for advertisement on the social media platform in August this year, featured the images of the five toy characters starring in Gala Spins’ Fluffy Favourites online pokies game.

The ad featured the caption, “It’s a Rollercoaster of Cuteness”, and “What’s your spin?” alongside gameplay clips from the pokie. According to the ruling handed down by the ASA, the text and images are likely to appeal to children as well as age-appropriate players. We reported last year that gambling ads in New Zealand are now also facing greater scrutiny.

GVC has since removed the offending advert from the social media platform.

Old news

Gala Spins responded to the ruling, saying in its defence that the video was erroneously posted and was out of date at the time of posting. The brand advised that the error possibly occurred because the ad was a component of a wider campaign targeted at female online gamers in the 18 – 65 age categories.

GVC was able to offer up evidence confirming that nobody under the age of 18 had viewed the content of the ad which was only intended to be viewed by adult audiences.

GVC cautioned

The ASA countered the response to its ruling, stating that aside from the content being shown to an audience that has to self-report their age, there were no other precautions in place to ensure the ad fell within the applicable age-specific requirements published early in 2019 by the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP).

The ASA further explained that the type of content in the Fluffy Favourites section of the campaign is exemplary of content typically employed to appeal to under-age persons and children. This motivated the ASA’s assertion that GVC and Gala Spins had acted in a socially irresponsible manner as per the provisions outlined in Section 16.1 of the CAP code of good advertising practice.

The ASA’s final decision was to not issue any kind of fine or severe penalty but issued Gala Spins with a warning to not post future ads for pokies that include content that will likely appeal to under-age persons.​

The global leader in the online casino content development industry,  Microgaming, has revealed its plans to broaden its online casino vertical.

The brand is set to debut a new range of poker games to its current offering, allowing Microgaming and its partners to expand their portfolios further.

A vital enhancement

In an official press statement, Microgaming the new additions are targeted at players who may have been disappointed at the company’s closure of its poker network earlier in 2020. The Microgaming Poker Network (MPN) had a 16-year history of providing premium online poker to punters.

The first poker variant due for release is Hold’Em Poker, with other games, including Lucky Showdown following soon after.

An explosion of entertainment

The Hold’Em Poker title creates an interesting strategic opportunity for the company as it offers a new type of immersive experience. Players will engage with a realistic environment with enhancements to boost engagement.

Hold’Em Poker is a Sit & Go tournament designed for an optimal experience on mobile devices. Players will discover a new wheel mechanic that houses random prize pool awards and a progressive jackpot that seeds at an impressive $25,000.

The CEO of Microgaming, John Coleman, explained that the game would add an exciting new facet to the brand’s casino vertical. He emphasised that the title is custom made for fans of both poker and online casino games and provides a captivating and entertaining gameplay experience.

He further stated that Microgaming’s plans include further diversification of its offering and the addition of new and thrilling innovations.

Microgaming will launch Hold’Em Poker in two phases, an exclusive release will take place on December 1, with a global launch planned for December 9.

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Microgaming‘s recently signed agreement with games studio Big Time Gaming (BTG) will see the software provider integrate BTG’s trademark Megaways mechanic into selected upcoming slot titles.

With its network of independent game studios, Microgaming plans to add the Megaways mechanic to appropriate new titles planned for release on its platform. The first slot to gain a Megaways enhancement will be Shamrock Holmes. Players will have to wait until January 2021 for its network-wide release.

BTG first revealed its Megaways innovation in 2016. The mechanic was designed to increase player engagement by employing energetic, fast-paced gameplay. The mechanic is a random reel modifier that causes each spin to produce a random number of symbols on each reel, providing hundreds of thousands of possible ways to win.

Microgaming CEO, John Coleman said, “Megaways has had huge success, and we’re excited to be integrating the mechanic into some of our future games. Big Time Gaming are proven innovators, and we are delighted to extend our relationship with them and grow their presence on our platform.”

Nik Robinson, CEO at Big Time Gaming was also enthusiastic about the agreement, saying, “We’re on a mission to bring the Megaways revolution to a bigger audience, and they don’t come much bigger than Microgaming. These guys were industry pioneers, and today they remain one of the biggest forces in the gaming space. As ardent slots fans, we’re delighted to be contributing in a small way to the Microgaming story.”​

Australian casino operator Crown Resorts has weathered extraordinary amounts of speculation into its affairs recently. Unfortunately, the attention has been overwhelmingly negative, mostly consisting of governmental inquiries into alleged criminal behaviour.

Most punters aren’t too fazed by the ethics of casinos, provided it doesn’t affect them directly, but the state and federal governments aren’t as forgiving.

Caught on camera

From the first emergence of a whistle-blower in 2019, Crown Resorts has been plagued by accusations of improper and criminal activities. These include allegations of money laundering backed up by spectacularly damning video evidence.

The video in question is reportedly from the Crown Melbourne’s security footage and was obtained by the anti-gambling legislator, Andrew Wilke. It shows gamblers walking in with cash-filled bags and some are seen to hand over large stacks of $50 and $100 notes at the cashier’s cage.

The whistle-blowers’ identity is still unknown but, in a statement, they offered justification for their actions.

“Anybody can walk in with any amount of money and launder it. Nobody really cares. They get to do what they want.”

They further went on to ask, “If it was legit, why wasn’t it in the bank?”

Accounts created for laundering

The investigation has unearthed two suspicious accounts held at the ANZ and Commonwealth banks that belong to shell companies. Upon further investigation, it was revealed that the accounts, which are in the names of Southbank Investments and Riverbank Investments belong to Crown Resorts.

VIP clients have been depositing large amounts into these accounts before visiting the casino to gamble since 2013. This practice flies in the face of Australian law as high-risk money transfers are meant to be reported to the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre. Crown’s financial team wilfully left these two accounts unsupervised.

A history of bad PR

Former chairman James Packer seemed to display an eerie level of instinct as his departure from the company for mental health reasons came very shortly before all the bad news started for Crown.

Three of Crown Resorts’ most notable PR disasters in the last few years have put the company’s resilience to the test.

Indonesian citizen Joseph Wong Kiia Tai, who was later revealed to be an arms dealer with ties to Liberian autocrat, Chares Taylor, spent $6 million at the Crown Perth and Crown Melbourne from 2004 to 2015. This happened despite him being on a United Nations sanctions list, which was meant to prevent him from travelling.

Crown Resorts’ planned sale of 20% of its holdings to Asian tycoon Lawrence Ho was halted in its tracks when an investigation showed that Ho was a former director for Lanceford Company Ltd. Lanceford, previously headed by the late billionaire and triad-connected Stanley Ho, is one of 59 entities that Crown was prohibited from doing business with.

Allegations of pokie machine tampering were brought forward by whistle-blowers at Crown Melbourne. Management had told staff to disable lower bet provisions and enable prohibited autoplay. This would have ultimately resulted in higher gambling losses. The disciplinary action to be taken against Crown, in this case, is being handled by The Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation.

A murky future

The number and severity of accusations that Crown Resorts is facing are unprecedented in the industry and there is speculation that the company could be facing more than just the usual fines and reprimands.

The negative attention has begun to jeopardise the future of some ongoing projects, such as Crown’s $2-billion casino project in New South Wales, where regulators have started to back off from their initial enthusiasm, leaving the entire project in peril.

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Australia and New Zealand’s casino industries have been buffeted by uncertainty amid the global havoc that the coronavirus continues to wreak. Gambling establishments have found themselves have to close and reopen sporadically in response to the proliferation of the virus.

Gambling venues in ACT speak out

Clubs in ACT have been lobbying the government to allow their reopening as the closures have severely affected their collective bottom line with some businesses facing the prospect of permanent closure with customers heading elsewhere to satisfy their needs.

These statements are far from hyperbolic as several ACT clubs like the Kaleen Eastlake Club have already had to close down for good. A significant number of other similar businesses find themselves facing the same eventuality.

The Average pokie in New South Wales has seen an 89% increase in activity since regional restrictions were relaxed with the City of Queanbeyan showing some of the best performance in the region with a turnover increase of 453%. This can be attributed to ACT residents crossing the border in search of poker machines.

Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith put the government’s position into perspective, saying, “It is about managing the cumulative risk to our community of people coming together, intermingling in situations particularly where there may be alcohol involved, where they may lose some of their inhibitions or may stay in a venue for a length of time.”

ACT resolution

The clubs’ complaints did not fall on deaf ears and restrictions on ACT gaming venues, strip clubs, and brothels were eased shortly thereafter. Dine-in service can now be offered at food courts and pubs, clubs, and bars no longer have to enforce patron limits.

Casino Canberra reopened on August 8 after 5 months of hampered activity with several anti-pandemic measures in place.

• A limit of 100 seated customers at any given time.
• Only one customer for every four-square meters.
• Patrons and staff must submit to temperature checks upon arrival.
• Reduced player numbers at each table.
• Chips are regularly cleaned.
• Special protective screens are installed at table games.
• Patrons may not physically touch playing cards.
• Employees clean pokies after each punter uses them.

A COVID-19 marshal is present to monitor staff and patrons’ adherence to the rules.

SkyCity grounded in Auckland

ACT punters have reason to celebrate, however, these in New Zealand are facing a daunting situation. After 100 days without any documented infection, COVID-19 has made an unwelcome reappearance in the country.

Four new cases were recorded by government officials who identified the cause as community transmission.

Auckland is now back on stage 3 restrictions for three days with the rest of the country on stage 2. The stage 3 measures are fairly severe but have previously been highly effective, they include:

• Restricted travel to and from Auckland.
• A limit of 10 people at gatherings.
• Bars and many other businesses must temporarily close.

As a result of this SkyCity casino in Auckland has once again had to close the doors to its casino and entertainment facilities with the hotel remaining open for existing guests. These measures only apply to Auckland, leaving SkyCity’s Queenstown and Hamilton locations remaining open for business for the moment.​

An executive for an Australian casino operator, The Star Entertainment Group Limited recently revealed in an official inquiry that his company is still doing business with the Suncity Group, regardless of allegations that the Asian junket firm is criminally affiliated.

The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper detailed in a report that the operator’s CEO, Greg Hawkins had shed light on these details during an official hearing that serves as part of a wide-reaching analysis of the casino industry in New South Wales.

Shedding light

The newspaper report explained that the investigation being conducted by the New South Wales Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority was also informed that The Star Entertainment Group Limited had recently shut down the private gaming room run by Suncity Group in its The Star Sydney property.

Hawkins reportedly stated that this decision was made following Suncity’s, Alvin Chau being banned from entering Australia by the Department of Home Affairs. This was prompted by suspicions that he was associated with organized crime, even possibly being a member of Macau’s infamous 14K Triad group.

Ongoing deliberation

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Hawkins further stated that his firm had relocated Suncity Group’s VIP gaming lounge to another part of its Sydney casino, instructing its internal anti-money laundering compliance team to conduct an investigation to ‘see if that brought any further information to light’.

The executive told the authority that his company was undergoing an ‘ongoing assessment’ with respect to this partnership with a final decision still pending.

Hawkins reportedly told the hearing,

“Certainly, nothing has been forwarded to me that would change our association with the junket at this point. I do have some doubts. All I’ve read is speculation but I’ve nothing to validate it. I wouldn’t pretend to fully understand the concepts of organized crime or what it relates to in that part of the world.”

Essential support

The news report showed how junket firms like the Suncity Group aided wealthy Chinese patrons in their overseas gambling excursions by providing pre-arranged credit. These customers can only claim their winnings once they return home as gambling is frowned upon in Beijing where exports of large amounts of domestic currency are heavily restricted.

Previous details

The news report revealed that Crown Resorts Limited had banned Suncity Group from running its own cash exchange desk in 2018 after uncovering close to $4 million in bills hidden in the firm’s private room at the Crown Melbourne development.

Hawkins purportedly also stated that the junket enterprise was never given a similar opportunity by his company as all its players must buy gaming chips from an official cashier cage.

A cooperative attitude

Hawkins went on to tell the hearing that he had met Chau ‘a couple of times’ at social occasions. He welcomed the prospect of New South Wales following the example of Queensland in creating an independent regulator to approve foreign junket firms. He opined that an agency like this could source better information from law enforcement agencies and assemble a team of casino inspectors to examine the events transpiring at The Star Sydney and Crown Sydney facilities.

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