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Online gambling

Yesterday

Matt Tripp, Betr’s chairman, has built and sold a number of successful bookmaking businesses.

Betr mulls revisiting controversial 100-to-1 promotion as it expands

The ASX-listed bookmaker is buying Queensland-based TopSport in its second major deal in a year, putting it “right on the heels” of major rival PointsBet.

  • Zoe Samios

This Month

Betr boss Matt Tripp is making an M&A bet.

Matt Tripp’s Betr raises cash to buy Queensland bookie

The target TopSport reported a turnover of $198.9 million for 11,000-plus gamblers in the December half of the financial year.

  • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport

January

Anthony Albanese and Peter V’landys inside the NRL chairman’s suite at the first State of Origin game last year..

PM speed-dated TV, sports bosses before U-turn on gambling ad ban

In a 95-minute period on August 30, Anthony Albanese spoke with the country’s major sporting and TV bosses about his draft gambling ad policy.

  • Ronald Mizen
Peter Webb, founder of Bet Angel.

‘I made millions from sports betting, without ever backing a winner’

By carefully analysing reams of data and taking advantage of changing odds, Peter Webb has made a tidy sum since the easing of online gambling regulations in the UK.

  • Mattie Brignal

December 2024

Entain is the owner of Ladbrokes.

AUSTRAC sues Ladbrokes and Neds owner

Entain allegedly did not conduct appropriate checks on 17 high-risk customers and deliberately obscured the identity of some through use of pseudonyms.

  • Zoe Samios
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Tabcorp chief executive Gillon McLachlan has axed about 200 jobs in a bid to simplify the business.

Tabcorp slashes 10pc of workforce in cost cut drive

The move is the first major change made by the wagering group’s new chief executive Gillon McLachlan. Cost-cutting had been flagged with investors last month.

  • Updated
  • Zoe Samios

November 2024

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Communications Minister Michelle Rowland.

‘Vested interests’ frustrate gambling ad reforms

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland is facing growing frustration, including from within her own party, over the shelving of plans to restrict gambling advertising.

  • Max Mason
Adam Rytenskild left Tabcorp in March after being accused of making a lewd remark about a female industry regulator.

Deposed Tabcorp boss has a warning for CEOs everywhere

In his first interview since being sacked as the chief executive of the wagering giant, Adam Rytenskild says he was put “six feet under” with no warning.

  • Zoe Samios
Laurence Escalante built Virtual Gaming Worlds into a multibillion-dollar business.

Laurence Escalante’s VGW bulks up exec ranks as casinos bristle

Virtual Gaming Worlds was one of the early beneficiaries of a US legislative loophole in states where gambling is otherwise banned. It’s now under attack.

  • Primrose Riordan and Zoe Samios
Peter V’landys is not a fan of “nanny state ideology”.

V’landys slams gambling probe, claims NRL betting is least damaging

Peter V’landys doubled down on past claims racing and sports betting are less harmful than lotteries and slammed all 31 recommendations of the parliamentary inquiry.

  • Ronald Mizen

October 2024

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland says the government will deliver its gambling advertising reforms by the end of the year.

Betting firms pull $150m in advertising as crackdown looms

The Albanese government says it will unveil new restrictions on wagering advertising before the end of the year. Gambling firms are already pulling back.

  • Sam Buckingham-Jones
Crypto billionaire Tim Heath has an estimated worth of $2.27 billion.

Crypto casino Rich Lister victim of attempted kidnapping

Billionaire Tim Heath was attacked in his home in Estonia in July by a group of foreign nationals who attempted to abduct him.

  • Yolanda Redrup
Anthony Albanese and Peter V’landys inside the NRL chairman’s suite at the first State of Origin game last year..

NRL, AFL personally lobbied Anthony Albanese against gambling ad ban

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and NRL chairman Peter V’landys have been singing from the same songbook when it comes to gambling advertising. New details suggest why.

  • Ronald Mizen
Labor MP Mike Freelander has previously called for a total gambling ad ban.

Labor MP blasts tax credit scheme as gambling firms claim millions

Revelations that gambling companies have been spending millions on R&D tax credits have come as a surprise to some senior figures in Labor.

  • Zoe Samios and Ronald Mizen

September 2024

Tabcorp chairman Bruce Akhurst at Derby Day in 2022.

Tabcorp chairman Bruce Akhurst quits before he is pushed

Investors have been concerned about the wagering giant’s performance, with its shares down 50 per cent since the start of the year.

  • Updated
  • Zoe Samios
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese opposes a total ban on online gambling advertising.

‘Show some courage’: Pressure on Albanese over gambling ad ban

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says gambling, not advertising, is the biggest issue to be dealt with, and reiterated his opposition to a total ad ban.

  • Ronald Mizen
Laurence Escalante built Virtual Gaming Worlds into a multibillion-dollar business. But competition and regulatory pressures are mounting.

Online casino mogul gets into lotteries as profits surge

Revenues at Virtual Gaming Worlds, which pioneered the use of a loophole to offer casino-like games with cash prizes in the US, has soared above $6 billion, accounts show.

  • Updated
  • Primrose Riordan
Pointsbet CEO Sam Swanell.

HG Vora chips away at Pointsbet stake; Jefferies on hand

Sources said it was a standard block trade, with three funds on the buy side.

  • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
Former Tabcorp CEO Elmer Funke Kupper.

Tabcorp’s former CEO says betting ads have gone too far

Elmer Funke Kupper said the risk of harm from wagering had “materially increased” since the rise of social media, smartphones and targeted online advertising.

  • Sam Buckingham-Jones
Tabcorp ads appear on on-field signs at The Gabba in Brisbane.

Gambling advertising ban on jerseys and stadium signs back in play

The government had planned a separate process, but discussions have restarted after bookies supported the idea.

  • Ronald Mizen, Zoe Samios and Sam Buckingham-Jones

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/online-gambling-1mqr