Jump in Australian online gambling during COVID-19 shutdown

The Northern Star, 17 April 2020:

The new isolation measures bought on by the coronavirus pandemic are being linked to an increase in online gambling. 

There was a 67 per cent increase in online gambling from a survey of 250,000 Australian consumers, according to a recent study by Australian credit bureau Illion in collaboration with analytics firm Alphabeta. 

Professor Matthew Rockloff, Head of Experimental Gambling Research Laboratory at CQU, said the increased spare time could be a trigger for gamblers or introduce new people to the habit. 

“People may try online gambling as a way to gamble because they can’t gamble in-venue anymore … they might try overseas sites, which puts them at increased risk because most of the time these sites don’t have consumer protection measures..... 

Some serious money is being laid down in one political betting marketplace

In October 2017 SportsBet stated that one punter has just bet $100,000 at $3.40 on Donald Trump winning the 2020 US Election and the same individual also has $20,000 at $3.75 as well.

SportsBet (Australia) and politics on 16 October 2017:

*Just the beginning of a large field ending with Beyonce.

NSW ELECTION

AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL ELECTION

Australian Federal Election 2016: polling at the beginning of Week 4 of the campaign

News.com.au, 28 May 2016:

Three weeks into the two-month campaign, the 7News-ReachTel poll, released on Friday, has Labor ahead 52-48 on a two-party preferred basis.

Earlier in the week Newspoll and Essential had Labor leading the coalition 51-49 per cent, reversing the Fairfax-Ipsos result from the previous weekend.

For those who place more faith in the punters here are Sportsbet markets covering NSW Northern Rivers at 8am 29 May 2016:

Sitting Nationals MP Kevin Hogan since 2013 vs Labor candidate Janelle Saffin

Sitting Labor MP Justine Elliot since 2004 vs Nationals candidate Matthew Fraser & The Greens Dawn Walker

Sitting Nationals MP Luke Hartsuyker since 2001 vs candidate “Any Other” & Labor’s Alfredo Navarro

How the bets are running at the start Week 3 in the 2016 Australian federal election campaign

At 1.48pm on 21 May 2016 this was how betting on the Australian federal election results for 2 July……

According to Oddschecker 72.65% of bets were on the Australian Labor Party and 27.3% on the Liberal-Nationals Coalition and the market stood like this:

Sportbet was taking bets on the size of the cross bench and who will control the Senate:

When it came to betting on the three most topical seats in New South Wales Sportsbet’s odds for Wentworth (Malcolm Turnbull MP),  New England (Barnaby Joyce MP) and Warringah (Tony Abbott MP) and were:

Betting on individual electorate outcomes in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales according to Sportsbet:

COWPER

* 1.01 is likely an automated lay price because there has been no bet placed yet for the Coalition.

PAGE

RICHMOND

The "very well known person" the ICAC is referring to

The lads at the table of knowledge at the local watering hole, who are not averse to having an occasional wager, are flabbergasted that the sports agencies (aka the online betting mob) haven't framed a market on who the "very well known person" is that the ICAC is currently referring to in relation to a chain of controversial emails between that "very well known person" and a Liberal identity.

 It's possible to punt on just about every other imaginable event, so why not the identity of the "very well known person"?

For example, one agency is offering odds (see below) on who will be first to confirm by September 2015 they have been abducted by aliens.

BTW, one of the lads reckons both Clive and Alan are well over the odds in the Aliens Stakes and is real keen to have a a few bob that the "very well known person" is someone who came undone at the ICAC quite a few years ago. Could he be right?

Oz formula one driver Mark Webber's view on gambling

Mark Webber says he won't be tuning into Tuesday's big race. Not because he'll be racing around a track in his Red Bull, but because he hates Australia's gambling culture. ''I love sport but horse racing is not far off the bottom of my list,'' he said after Saturday's qualifier for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. ''Gambling, in my house, my father didn't tolerate it. Actually, I'm not a big fan of how much it's rammed down your throat in Australia, in terms of how you can bet on who farts at what stage in a football match.'' [Source: Sydney Morning Herald, 5/11/12]

Hey, Mark, you're spot-on about gambling in Australia - there's far too much of it AND there's too much promotion (especially online and television advertising) of it.

But, isn't formula one racing with its petrol guzzlers a hell of a waste of our scarce resources. As for formula one racing, this bloke wouldn't walk across the street to watch it, even if Mark gave away free tickets. So, there!

The Gillard Government gambles on a mandatory poker machine pre-commitment trial

The Gillard Government has spoken on the subject of poker machine gambling, apparently indicating that the mooted trial of the new mandatory pre-commitment system will take part in the Australian Capital Territory.

A fact which should see clubs and pubs across the NSW border in Queanbeyan experience a wave pokie refugees as the new technology is bedded down in Canberra.

Tasmanian Independent MP Andrew Wilkie's formal support of the minority federal government appears to be over and he may yet see all hope of curbing problem gambling through legislation slip from his grasp, as it is highly likely that any incoming Coalition government in 2013 would fail to act on the results of this trial.

Media release 20 January 2012:

The Gillard Government today announced its plan to tackle problem gambling, helping the five million Australians affected by problem gambling in this country.

This plan means the Gillard Government will do more to tackle problem gambling than any Commonwealth Government in Australia’s history.

The Government will act to:

• Undertake a large scale trial of mandatory pre-commitment;
• Expand pre-commitment technology to every poker machine across the country, that could then be used for mandatory pre-commitment if it is supported by a trial.

Rolling the technology out to every machine now ensures that we will be ready to flick the switch to a best-practice mandatory pre-commitment system, if the trial results support it.

We believe this evidence-based pathway to help problem gamblers and their families will gain the necessary support to pass the current Parliament.

It is our intention to introduce legislation in the first Parliamentary session of this year which will require that:

• All new poker machines manufactured from 2013 must be capable of supporting pre-commitment; and
• By 31 December 2016 all poker machines must be part of a state linked pre-commitment system, except eligible small venues which will have longer.

We will also continue to work on pre-commitment technology through the COAG Select Council on Gaming Reform. At this forum in May last year, state and territory gaming ministers agreed to support the required infrastructure for pre-commitment technology in all jurisdictions.

The Gillard Government understands that many Australians enjoy gambling responsibly. But for others it can have devastating consequences.

Problem gambling ruins lives.

That’s why in November 2008 we asked the Productivity Commission to inquire into problem gambling in Australia.

The Productivity Commission found that problem gambling affects up to five million Australians, including friends, family and employers of people with a gambling problem.

These far reaching impacts are why the Australian Government is delivering genuine, long-lasting reforms to help problem gamblers and their families.

The Government is also taking a range of other actions to support problem gamblers and their families including:

• Introducing a $250 daily withdrawal limit from ATMs in gaming venues (excluding casinos) by 1 February 2013;
• Electronic warnings and cost of play displays on poker machines by 2016;
• Additional counselling support with 50 new financial counsellors to work with problem gamblers, and expanding the reach of Gambling Help Online;
• Strengthening self-exclusion arrangements; and
• Improving training for staff in pokies venues.

Further, the Government recognises that gambling online and sports betting are a growing concern, and we will:

• Ban the promotion of live odds during sports coverage;
• Extend pre-commitment to online betting services;
• Crack down on online sports betting companies offering credit and introduce stricter limits on betting inducements; and
• Increase the powers of the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to enforce these new rules.

The actions the Gillard Government is taking will be the most significant and far reaching national reforms to tackle problem gambling ever seen in this country.

From Obama to McWho? Where punters are putting their money in the lead up to the 2012 U.S. Presidential Election

It only takes a casual glance at the U.S. media to know that, aside from the incumbent president, guesses as to who else will contest next year's race for the White House are somewhat unrealistic and all over the place.
Here's where the average punter is laying win-only money (market depth) at Betfair according to OddsChecker:

2012 Presidential Election - Next President
Barack Obama	1.89 $36	1.9 $1359	1.91 $106
Mitt Romney	4.3 $223	4.4 $19	4.5 $4
Newt Gingrich	5.6 $30	5.7 $79	5.8 $3
Ron Paul	28 $4	30 $95	32 $18
Rick Perry	60 $3	65 $9	95 $5
Herman Cain	60 $12	100 $27	130 $18
Hillary Clinton	34 $5	40 $5	60 $9
Jon Huntsman	3.75 $15	24 $6	38 $13
Michele Bachmann	25 $3	38 $12	50 $20
Rick Santorum	250 $3	300 $4	320 $6
Gary Johnson	380 $3	390 $4	400 $3
Rudolph Giuliani	100 $66	200 $7	1000 $32
Joseph Biden	380 $3	490 $3	500 $5
Sarah Palin	400 $10	410 $4	500 $5
Michael Bloomberg	420 $3	520 $10	550 $11
Donald Trump	300 $6	360 $7	430 $3
Chris Christie	840 $3	990 $3	1000 $14
Mitch Daniels	590 $3	650 $3	770 $3
Tim Pawlenty	250 $3	500 $3	1000 $58
David Petraeus	130 $3	250 $3	1000 $41
Mike Huckabee	920 $3	980 $3	1000 $18
Jeb Bush	27 $13	500 $3	1000 $22
John Thune	60 $7	500 $3	1000 $44
Haley Barbour	30 $3	34 $7	1000 $96
Marco Rubio	25 $3	500 $3	1000 $45
Bobby Jindal	90 $15	500 $3	1000 $82
Condoleezza Rice	500 $3	730 $3	1000 $56
Lindsey Graham	130 $3	500 $3	1000 $80
Mark Sanford	3.5 $3	500 $3	1000 $92
Charlie Crist	60 $7	500 $3	1000 $86
Chuck Baldwin	500 $3	640 $4	1000 $84
John McCain	500 $3	610 $8	1000 $94
Bill Owens	30 $12	500 $3	1000 $89
Fred Thompson	60 $14	500 $3	1000 $92
Evan Bayh	40 $15	500 $3	1000 $93
Tom Ridge	75 $9	500 $3	1000 $78
Al Gore	90 $7	410 $3	520 $3
George Allen	300 $4	500 $3	1000 $93
George Pataki	34 $9	500 $3	1000 $90
Bill Frist	3.5 $3	500 $3	1000 $88
Janet Napolitano	3.5 $3	500 $3	1000 $92
Sam Brownback	480 $3	500 $3	1000 $90
Eric Cantor	40 $7	500 $3	1000 $82
Jim DeMint	44 $7	50 $7	1000 $66
Mike Pence	3.5 $3	500 $3	1000 $82
Kay Bailey Hutchison	100 $10	500 $3	1000 $88
Rob Portman	90 $6	500 $3	1000 $86
Dirk Kempthorne	100 $11	500 $3	1000 $88
Scott Brown	3.5 $3	500 $3	1000 $76
Paul Ryan	470 $13	500 $3	1000 $52
Mark Warner	90 $6	500 $3	1000 $84
Tim Kaine	100 $10	500 $3	1000 $87
Rand Paul	3.5 $3	75 $7	1000 $55
Fred Karger	90 $6	500 $3	1000 $88
Alan Grayson	120 $7	500 $3	1000 $85
Alvin Greene	120 $7	500 $3	1000 $85
John Boehner	70 $7	500 $3	1000 $85
Chuck Hagel	120 $7	500 $3	1000 $85
Duncan Hunter	120 $7	500 $3	1000 $85
Norm Coleman	120 $7	500 $3	1000 $85
Jim Webb	120 $7	500 $3	1000 $85
Kathleen Sebelius	120 $7	500 $3	1000 $85
Caroline Kennedy	120 $7	500 $3	1000 $85
Thaddeus McCotter	3.5 $3	500 $3	1000

Smokers get royal treatment in Maclean

The Lower Clarence Services Club in Maclean  has gone to great lengths and spared no expense to ensure its patrons who want to have a durrie or two can do so in very comfortable surrounds.

Here are a couple of pics of the new palatial smokers' room which is housed in a new extension the club added to its premises.

Maclean locals are reported to have said they have no idea how much the new building must have cost the club, but they reckon the architect's fees alone were probably a six-figure sum.

Club members and visitors who use the room are reported to be tickled pink and really appreciative of the club's management for making what they describe as "a very bold move".

Patrons who are partial to the dreaded weed said they are sick and tired of having to put up with the terrible antics of club patrons who are on the premises simply for tippling purposes, feeding one-armed bandits or having punts on the TAB and Keno.

"It's about time we were looked after", one patron told NCV. "We've had a gutful of having to hide in toilets and similar locations in the club. Drinkers and gamblers wouldn't put up with the conditions we've had to endure."