The Provincial Growth Fund is meant to fund… growth… in the provinces. So why is it building a huge new racetrack in one of New Zealand’s biggest cities? Because the racing industry seems to get whatever it wants, argues Duncan Greive. Yesterday morning saw a blazing RNZ report that the Provincial Growth Fund has allocated … Read more
How are students gambling, and is it possible to actually make a success out of it? Nina Minogue spoke to a few gamblers to find out in a story originally published by Critic Te Arohi, the Otago University student magazine. Between 2017 and 2018, New Zealanders lost nearly $2.4 billion on gambling between the TAB, … Read more
The TAB is pulling in millions at the halfway point of the Cricket World Cup. So how much are they paying out? Don Rowe reports. As the Black Caps slug their way towards the finals of the 2019 Cricket World Cup, the TAB is pulling in record profits from punters back at home. More than … Read more
An international gambling industry source has told The Spinoff that World Cup warm-up matches are prime targets for the vast subcontinental fixing machine. Warm-up games in the Cricket World Cup are a match-fixer’s paradise, a veteran international gambling industry source has told the Spinoff. The combination of big names and high publicity means a lot … Read more
A new Gambling Advertising Code has been announced that closes a loophole which saw offshore online casinos preying on vulnerable Kiwi gamblers while local operators were shut out. In May last year, a Spinoff investigation found JackpotCity, one of five online casinos operated by a shady ‘global gaming and entertainment group’ licensed in Malta, … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: SkyCity charges ahead with controversial online gambling plan, Defence Force releases review into Afghanistan allegations, and coal use to continue for decades in Canterbury. SkyCity has come up with a novel way of mollifying the government’s concerns over a planned offshore-based online casino. The NZ Herald reports the company … Read more
There’s a big revitalisation of the racing industry on its way, with Racing Minister Winston Peters promising a raft of new measures to get people gambling more. But why, asks Joseph Plunket, should we blindly support an industry that preys on addicts? The government’s shakeup of the racing industry is on course for this year, … Read more
Hundreds of millions of dollars are lost by punters at the TAB every year. Where does it go, asks Don Rowe. It’s the biggest day of the racing year and all around the country hopeful punters are throwing fistfuls of cash at the TAB. Here, the Melbourne Cup and New Zealand’s state-controlled gambling operator are … Read more
Māori and Pasifika are disproportionately represented in problem gambling figures and it’s time targeted efforts were made to reduce harm. Indira Stewart reports for RNZ. “I can’t stop it myself or control myself. Everytime I go sit there, have a smoke and look at the Sky City – I see the light go ‘bling bling!’,” … Read more
The acclaimed Hunt for the Wilderpeople is the main attraction on a new line of Instant Kiwi scratchie cards, raising concerns among actors, artists and anti-gambling activists. A line of Instant Kiwi scratchie cards featuring popular New Zealand movies has left those involved in the films upset their work is being used to promote gambling. The … Read more
SkyCity want to open an online casino. What makes them any different from the sharks already here, asks Don Rowe. In a presentation to shareholders announcing a record $169.5 million net profit, SkyCity this week signalled their desire to launch an online casino. That’s despite legislation which on the face of it prohibits New Zealand … Read more
Exclusive: Following a Spinoff investigation into foreign sites using a legal loophole to advertise on TV and exploit Kiwi gamblers, the government has sworn to take action – and they’re asking the private sector to do the same. Don Rowe reports. The government has promised to close loopholes allowing offshore casino operators to exploit vulnerable … Read more
JackpotCity gets around NZ laws to advertise on television in a scheme that grooms gamblers, including the young and vulnerable. Authorities need to show the moral muscle to tackle it, writes Paula Snowden. Read Don Rowe’s investigation for the Spinoff here JackpotCity has navigated its way around our laws and its getting away with it. … Read more
Headquartered in a tax haven, JackpotCity is getting around legal restrictions to advertise on television with what critics call a ‘Trojan horse’ – then using aggressive sales tactics to keep vulnerable gamblers hooked. And according to the Department of Internal Affairs, it’s all totally legal. Don Rowe investigates. Imagine yourself at home on your couch. … Read more
Lootboxes have embedded themselves in the gaming industry – and audiences are not happy about it. Adam Goodall talks to a free-to-play developer and a public health expert about why lootboxes were inevitable, and how we can change the direction they’re taking the industry. I’ve been playing Dungeon. Inc for ten minutes when my assistant, … Read more