
Jonathan Parke, former head of commissioning at RGT, now director of Sophoro Ltd.
The Responsible Gambling Trust (RGT), the UK’s leading problem gambling advocacy group, has found itself in the harsh glare of the news spotlight again, this time for allegations of nepotism.
The charity, which can be funded by the bookmaking industry to the tune of $5 million each year to research and promote the prevention of problem gambling, has been under fire in the British press recently for apparent conflicts of interest. Because of its close ties to the gambling industry, concerns have already been asked as to whether its scientific studies are fully separate of video gaming interests.
The RGT maintains that it’s unbiased. But the revelation this week by the united kingdom’s Independent newspaper that a firm owned by the husband associated with the charity’s Director of Commissioning, Jane Rigbye, has been awarded a lucrative research agreement, isn’t helping the explanation for credibility for the outfit.
Marital Agreements
According towards the Independent, Sophoro Ltd. owned by Rigbye’s husband Jonathan Parke, was offered a research that is major as part of a £750,000 initiative into the effect of online video gaming on issue gambling.
Parke was previously head of commissioning at RGT himself, leading to accusations he and their wife swapped jobs, then promptly swapped contracts.
Sophoro had been granted the contract in the first of two, but until last year the company was registered at the couple’s family home, and both Rigbye and Parke were listed as company directors december.
Also, Sophoro bid for the RGT agreement just two months after Rigbye stepped down as director to take in her role that is new at.
In response to the news, Labour shadow gambling minister Clive Efford said RGT ‘should be disbanded’ if its research was found to protect the ‘interests of the industry at the cost of individuals with gambling problems.’
Goulden Steps Down
RGT has for ages been accused of being too sympathetic to the industry, and in particular for its refusal to denounce fixed-odds terminals that are bettingFOBTs) in bookmaking shops.
Last thirty days, Neil Goulden, the trust’s chairman, stepped criticism that is down following The Guardian newspaper that while chair of RGT, he had been additionally a chair associated with the industry lobby team known as the Association of British Bookmakers (ABB). The roles had been held concurrently between 2012 and mid-2014.
Goulden told the Guardian that his participation with RGT, therefore the participation of the industry as whole, had been integral to researching and ultimately understanding problem gambling.
‘[Bookmakers] wouldn’t normally have released data or have taken the actions it continues to ingest prevention of harm without my influence that is personal and,’ he said.
RGT, which will probably be examined by the charity regulator over the Sophoro affair, told the Independent that Rigbye had no say in commissioning of research agreements.
DraftKings Appeals Ny AG Lawsuit, Filing Says Empire State Should Ban Spelling Bees
New York AG Eric Schneiderman, who has been accused by DraftKings of earning mistakes in his lawsuit against DFS sites. (Image: pokerhomegames.com)
DraftKings has launched its appeal against the nyc State injunction that is preliminary seeks to ban daily dream sports (DFS) and put an end to its operations in the Empire State.
The DFS operator’s 67-page filing brings no punches, accusing ny Attorney General Eric Schneiderman of legal misapprehensions that ‘did perhaps not come close to carrying the duty’ of proof that DFS isn’t game of skill.
It further accuses the court of ‘abusing its discernment’ in siding with Schneiderman.
‘The court applied the wrong legal standard, and ignored the undisputed evidence, in finding that daily fantasy sports contests are games of chance casinopokies777.com,’ the business argued in its filing.
Is An Entry Fee A bet?
In December, Justice Manuel Mendez granted the AG’s injunction, ordering DraftKings and FanDuel to stop operations in New York State, its second-biggest market after California.
DraftKings immediately filed an expedited motion to remain the court’s choice pending the upshot of its appeal. This is upheld by a Court of Appeals judge that same afternoon, permitting the companies to continue company temporarily in New York until the truth is solved.
In their December ruling, Mendez was indeed required to see whether DFS was a game of skill or of chance, and more especially, whether setting a line-up was a skill-based process with an ‘entry cost,’ or an out-and-out ‘wager.’ He decided it was the latter.
‘New York State penal law does maybe not refer to ‘wagering’ or ‘betting,’ instead it states that a person, ‘risks one thing of value,” he said. ‘The re payment of an ‘entry fee’ because high as $10,600 on a single or more contests daily could be deemed risking certainly ‘something of value.’ ‘
Dog Shows and Bass Fishing
DraftKings’ appeal filing claims that if this had been the way it is, then ‘dog shows and bees that are spelling yachting tournaments and bass fishing’ should be ‘criminalized’ under Judge Mendez’s ruling. Each of the are events entry that is requiring whose result is susceptible to an element of chance, argues the DraftKings filing.
‘Daily fantasy sports are skill-based games which can be, and really should be, legal,’ DraftKings’ lawyer David Boies said in a statement. ‘DraftKings contests are believe it or not legal than season-long dream sports, which the Attorney General has repeatedly conceded are legal.’
In January, Schneiderman amended his lawsuit against DraftKings and FanDuel to look for the return of all of the buy-ins compensated by New York residents paid to both businesses throughout 2015, and also a $5,000 fine head that is per.
With 600,000 DFS customers in the state, this would represent a huge selection of millions of bucks in buy-ins, plus around $3 billion in fines.
Outrage Over NFL-Owned Youngsters Daily Fantasy Sports Site from Youth Advocacy Group
The NFL kids daily fantasy sports site is dealing with backlash from several outraged groups, arguing the league really should not be marketing their product to children as young as six years of age. (Image: fantasy.nflrush.com)
Targeted at pre-teen kids, daily fantasy sports (DFS) site NFL Rush is being asked to stop operations by the non-profit company Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC).
The truth is that the National Football League is catering to children to participate in free DFS contests, with the chance of winning weekly prizes like an XBOX One, video games, and a grand prize of a $5,000 scholarship in a story that might seem more appropriate for satire.
According to the NFL Rush Fantasy website, ‘US residents between 6 and 12 who have actually parental consent are eligible.’
Though the league and its commissioner, Roger Goodell, have long publicly opposed sports gambling and betting, it apparently doesn’t have qualms when it involves children and dream sports. The CCFC is calling on Goodell and the NFL to stop marketing fantasy football to children in conjunction with the National Council on Problem Gambling.
‘ There is evidence that playing fantasy sports, particularly with the incentive of valuable prizes as offered on the NFL Rush Fantasy app and website, can lead to problem gambling and addiction,’ CCFC Executive Director Josh Golin said in their letter to your league. ‘It is unconscionable that the NFL encourages kiddies as young as six years old to build up the habit of doing this adult activity.’
NFL Hypocrisy?
The NFL has always maintained that any expansion of conventional recreations betting could adversely impact the league and compromise the integrity of its games. Surprisingly, it is taken a rather different stance on daily fantasy contests.
FanDuel has contracts with 15 NFL groups, while Dallas Cowboys and New England Patriots owners Jerry Jones and Robert Kraft hold stakes in DraftKings.
DFS differs from sports gambling because of the actual fact that the participant isn’t just picking a team or line, but assembling a roster of players in a procedure that is considered to be a skill-based endeavor.
Multiple attorneys general have ruled that DFS constitutes gambling, with all the operators themselves, not interestingly, fighting right back. The statistics on who routinely wins DFS contests seems to help the skill over luck debate.
But as it applies to children, teaching 6 to 12-year-olds how to assemble a group of players to give the very best likelihood of winning a video game console is cause for concern certainly.
‘By providing these valuable incentives, the NFL is indoctrinating young ones into engaging in fantasy sports by having a financial stake in the end result,’ the CCFC noted. ‘This exposes them, and our communities, to the risks of gambling issues.’
You have to Be Carefully Taught
It ought to be noted that the NFL hasn’t just promoted a site that is online it’s offered an in-classroom curriculum for teachers as well. Launched in 2014, NFL Rush Fantasy Learn, Enjoy, Score! was billed as a language and math arts program based around fantasy sports. The league says that this system wrapped by the end of 2014-2015 period, however in it, children were encouraged to ‘choose their fantasy that is ultimate team week’ through critical thinking.
This program did employ basic math in determining exactly how fantasy that is many are to be allocated based on the player’s performance, but it also required the student to understand the rules of soccer. Critics of the scheme argued it’s the NFL’s way to engage a new audience, as youth soccer involvement continues to decline.
Hey, then just teach the worth of a dollar with a ‘Let It Rain’ math program because well?
No Safeguards for Guardians
In the event that you’re thinking NFL Rush features a few protections to avoid children from signing up on their own, you’ll be surprised to learn that registrants are simply just required to produce their parent’s email address, so that the NFL can validate their guardian and age permission.
Surely no 10-year-old would think to enter their friend’s email or develop a yahoo that is quick to self-confirm their validation, right? Of course not.
From online poker to the emergence of daily fantasy sports, the primary concern for a lot of legislators is how to protect adult consumers that are best while video gaming on the Web, as well because the extremely problem of age verification. However, into the case involving kiddies, the most susceptible and impressionable demographic, small will be done to keep your child that is way-under-18-year-old from in daily fantasy activities.
Interestingly, no body through the pro-RAWA contingent seems to have jumped on this site as evidence that children won’t be exempt from gambling online. It’s precisely the type or sort of fodder that Sheldon Adelson and the bill’s other sponsors, like presidential GOP contender Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida), would love to throw in the face of everybody else who supports Internet gaming.