Casino and other gambling controls to be in new laws

In the Irish casino news this week we have been picking up reports that suggest that the long awaited and often reported new laws for gambling in the country may be about to be drafted. The first step in the process which was to get the general scheme approved has happened according to Alan Shatter and as the responsible minister he should know but as has previously been reported in the Irish casino news it is the drafting that is the difficult bit. The idea of having some controls over online casinos through licensing is in itself not a bad idea although implementation may prove a bit more problematic and the idea of protecting as far as possible underage persons and those that might have an addiction problem can only be good. Casinos.ie also supports the banning of what are known as fixed odds betting terminals or FOBTs which can be found in bookmakers shops in the UK for example as they provide very poor odds when compared to casino games played at online casinos but as the new legislation will according to Irish casino news reports include all forms of gambling including such pastimes as bingo whether provided by online casinos or not, the drafting might be in the Irish casino news many times in the future. According to Mr Shatter “A new executive agency will act as both the licensing authority and regulator for the sector, and will have responsibility for checking compliance and in enforcing the law generally.” It is interesting to note that the most popular form of gambling, the Irish lotteries, will not be included in the new bill but of course if you play the lotteries at the online casino of your choice they will need a license. There will many discussions ahead and casinos.ie will try to keep you up to date.