
Jonathan Parke, former head of commissioning at RGT, now director of Sophoro Ltd.
The Responsible Gambling Trust (RGT), the UK’s leading problem advocacy that is gambling, has found itself in the harsh glare of the news spotlight again, this time around for allegations of nepotism.
The charity, which is funded by the bookmaking industry to the tune of $5 million per 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 ties that are close the gambling industry, questions were asked as to whether its research is fully independent of gaming passions.
The RGT maintains that it is impartial. But the revelation this week by the united kingdom’s Independent newspaper that a firm owned by the husband for the charity’s Director of Commissioning, Jane Rigbye, has been granted a research that is lucrative, isn’t assisting the explanation for credibility for the outfit.
Marital Contracts
According towards the Independent, Sophoro Ltd. owned by Rigbye’s spouse Jonathan Parke, happens to be 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 once head of commissioning at RGT himself, leading to accusations he and their wife swapped jobs, then immediately swapped contracts.
Sophoro was granted the contract in December, the firstly two, but until final year the business ended up being registered during the couple’s family home, and both Rigbye and Parke were detailed as company directors.
Also, Sophoro bid for the RGT agreement just two months after Rigbye stepped down as director to take on her role that is new at.
In response to the headlines, Labour shadow gambling minister Clive Efford said RGT ‘should be disbanded’ if its research had been found to protect the ‘interests of the industry at the cost of people 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 wagering terminals (FOBTs) in bookmaking shops.
Last month, Neil Goulden, the trust’s chairman, stepped down following criticism by The Guardian newspaper that while chair of RGT, he ended up being also a chair for the industry lobby group known as the Association of British Bookmakers (ABB). The jobs were held concurrently between 2012 and mid-2014.
Goulden told the Guardian that his participation with RGT, as well as the participation of the industry as whole, was integral to investigating and ultimately understanding problem gambling.
‘[Bookmakers] will never have released data or have taken the actions it continues to take in prevention of damage without my influence that is personal and,’ he stated.
RGT, which is going to be examined by the charity regulator on the Sophoro event, told the Independent that Rigbye had no say in commissioning of research agreements.
DraftKings Appeals New York AG Lawsuit, Filing Says Empire State Must Ban Spelling Bees
New York AG Eric Schneiderman, who has been accused by DraftKings of earning errors in his lawsuit against DFS sites. (Image: pokerhomegames.com)
DraftKings has launched its appeal against the New York State preliminary injunction that seeks to ban day-to-day fantasy sports (DFS) and place an end to its operations in the Empire State.
The DFS operator’s 67-page filing brings no punches, accusing nyc Attorney General Eric Schneiderman of appropriate misapprehensions that ‘did perhaps not come close to carrying the responsibility’ of proof that DFS isn’t game of ability.
It further accuses the court of ‘abusing its discretion’ in siding with Schneiderman.
‘The court applied the incorrect standard that is legal and ignored the undisputed evidence, to locate that daily fantasy sports contests are games of chance,’ the business argued in its filing.
Can be An Entry Fee A wager?
In December, Justice Manuel Mendez granted the AG’s injunction, ordering DraftKings and FanDuel to stop operations in New York State, its market that is second-biggest after.
DraftKings immediately filed an expedited movement to stay the court’s choice pending the results of its appeal. This was upheld by a Court of Appeals judge that same afternoon, permitting the companies to continue business temporarily in nyc until the scenario is remedied.
In his December ruling, Mendez had been needed to see whether DFS was a game of skill or of chance, and more specifically, whether setting a line-up was a process that is skill-based an ‘entry charge,’ or an out-and-out ‘wager.’ He decided it was the latter.
‘New York State law that is penal not refer to ‘wagering’ or ‘betting,’ instead it states that an individual, ‘risks one thing of value,” he stated. ‘The payment of an ‘entry fee’ as high as $10,600 using one or more contests daily could certainly be deemed risking ‘something of value.’ ‘
Dog Shows and Bass Fishing
DraftKings’ appeal filing claims that when this had been the way it is, then ‘dog shows and bees that are spelling yachting tournaments and bass fishing’ is ‘criminalized’ under Judge Mendez’s ruling. Each among these are events requiring entry fees whose result is vunerable to a component of possibility, argues the DraftKings filing.
‘Daily fantasy sports are skill-based games that are, and should be, legal,’ DraftKings’ attorney David Boies stated in a declaration. ‘DraftKings competitions are no less legal than season-long dream sports, that the Attorney General has repeatedly conceded are legal.’
In January, Schneiderman amended his lawsuit against DraftKings and FanDuel to seek the return of all the buy-ins compensated by New York residents paid to both companies throughout 2015, plus a $5,000 fine head that is per.
With 600,000 DFS customers in the state, this would constitute hundreds of millions of dollars 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 facing backlash from several outraged groups, arguing the league really should not be marketing their product to children as early as six years old. (Image: fantasy.nflrush.com)
Targeted at pre-teen kids, day-to-day fantasy recreations (DFS) site NFL Rush is being expected 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.
In line with the NFL Rush Fantasy website, ‘US residents between 6 and 12 who have parental consent are eligible.’
Though the league and its commissioner, Roger Goodell, have long publicly opposed activities gambling and betting, it evidently does not have any 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 issue gambling and addiction,’ CCFC Executive Director Josh Golin said in their letter to the 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 traditional sports betting could negatively impact the league and compromise the integrity of its games. Surprisingly, it is taken a stance that is rather different daily fantasy contests.
FanDuel has contracts with 15 NFL teams, while Dallas Cowboys and brand New England Patriots owners Jerry Jones and Robert Kraft hold stakes in DraftKings.
DFS differs from sports gambling as a result of the actual fact that the participant isn’t simply picking a team or line, but assembling a roster of players in an activity that is known as to be a skill-based endeavor.
Multiple solicitors general have ruled that DFS constitutes gambling, because of the operators themselves, not interestingly, fighting right back. The statistics on who routinely wins DFS contests seems to help the ability over luck debate.
But as it pertains to children, teaching 6 to 12-year-olds how to assemble a group https://casinopokies777.com/casino-888/ of players to deliver the best likelihood of winning a video game console is certainly cause for concern.
‘By providing these valuable incentives, the NFL is indoctrinating kids into engaging in dream sports having a financial stake in the results,’ the CCFC noted. ‘This exposes them, and our communities, to the risks of gambling dilemmas.’
You have to Be Carefully Taught
It should be noted that the NFL hasn’t simply promoted an online site: it’s offered an in-classroom curriculum for teachers because well. Launched in 2014, NFL Rush Fantasy Learn, Play, Score! was billed as a mathematics and language arts program based around fantasy sports. The league says that this program wrapped at the end of 2014-2015 season, but in it, young ones were encouraged to ‘choose their fantasy that is ultimate team week’ through critical reasoning.
This system did employ basic math in determining exactly how numerous dream points can be allocated based on the player’s performance, however it also required the student to comprehend the guidelines of soccer. Critics of the scheme argued it’s the NFL’s way to engage an audience that is new as youth soccer participation continues to decline.
Hey, you will want to just teach the value of a dollar with a ‘Let It Rain’ mathematics program as well?
No Safeguards for Guardians
In the event that you’re thinking NFL Rush features a number of protections to avoid kiddies from registering by themselves, you will be surprised to find out that registrants are simply required to deliver their parent’s email address, therefore that the NFL can validate their age and guardian permission.
Undoubtedly no 10-year-old would think to enter their friend’s email or create a quick Yahoo address to self-confirm their validation, right? Of course not.
From on line poker to the emergence of daily dream sports, the primary concern for many legislators is just how to protect adult consumers that are best while gaming on the Internet, as well since the very issue of age verification. However, within the instance involving kiddies, the most susceptible and impressionable demographic, small will be done to keep your way-under-18-year-old child from participating in daily fantasy recreations.
Surprisingly, no one from the contingent that is pro-RAWA to have jumped with this site as evidence that young ones will not be exempt from gambling online. It’s exactly the type or type of fodder that Sheldon Adelson and the bill’s other sponsors, like presidential GOP contender Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida), would want to throw in the face of every person who supports Internet gaming.
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