Sydney Morning Herald – Clubs NSW chief executive Anthony Ball claims: ‘‘Fairfield Clubs do a fantastic job in supporting local community groups that might otherwise notexist if it wasn’t for their support’’ (‘‘Punters in west pile money in pokies’’, March 23). That is all well and good, but even Mr Ball would have to concede that the $298 million the clubs raised from annual poker machine profits is quite a lot tohave taken from the local community in the first place. Both the NSW and federal governments justify their softly, softly approach to problem gambling by citing individual rights (‘‘Time…

Fiorente, Gai Waterhouse’s 2013 Melbourne Cup-winning superstar, is the favorite for the 2013/14 Australian Horse of the Year, but faces stiff competition to take home the crown after a recent drop in form. Fiorente had a disappointing performance in last Saturday’s Ranvet Stakes, re-igniting debate over which horse should win the prestigious award. Sportingbet Australia has installed Fiorente as the marginal $2.50 favorite, but unlike previous years, there’s a number of other strong contenders. Boban ($2.70), Buffering ($6.00) and Lankan Rupee ($8) all have genuine claims with the Sydney Autumn Carnival likely to determine the front-runner. Earthquake is a $10…

In an effort to appeal to a younger generation, Australian poker machines are seeing changes to prizes, layouts and themes. According to a recently-released 2013 report from GamblingData.com, casinos and poker machine venues around the country are dealing with diminishing numbers from younger demographics. In an attempt to return boost their appeal, venues are changing prizes to include real products like Apple computers, as well as introducing machines with themes based on popular television shows and movies. Where is the younger demographic going? Internet and mobile gaming. International finance agency Credit Suisse has stated recently that both the Australian and…

iGaming Business – Casino operator Crown Resorts is set to increase its stake in online betting exchange Betfair’s Australian operations from 50% to 100%, according to Fairfax Media. Betfair operates in Australia as a joint venture between Crown and Betfair, but the report said that the latter is keen to offload its Australian stake because the venture has been far less profitable than it had hoped. Crown chairman James Packer is reportedly keen to complete a buy-out as the deal would secure 100% control of the company’s Tasmanian bookmaking licence. Crown and Betfair declined to comment, but such an agreement…

Irish Times – Strong growth in bookmaker Paddy Power’s Australian business compensated for a tougher time nearer home and played a key role in increasing its profits by 1 per cent to a record €141 million last year. Paddy Power yesterday reported an increase in net revenue in 2013 to €745 million from €663 million the previous year and said that pretax profit was up 1 per cent at €141 million from €139.2 million. Operating profit grew at a similar rate to €137.4 million in 2013 from €136 million in 2012. However, “adverse results”, including a large number of fancied…

Reuters – Australia’s Queensland government reported strong interest on Wednesday from both local and foreign bidders for its plan to build as many as three casino resorts, underscoring the northern state’s position as the country’s next gaming frontier. Australia is looking to build large casino resorts and other tourism attractions to lure high-end Asian spenders to compete with places like Macau and the Philippines. Australia’s 13 casinos currently capture just 1 percent of the $34 billion market for high-roller gamblers in Asia annually. A total of 19 companies have registered to make a potential bid for the licences for the…