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 Welcome to
the News desk.
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| 'Incredible hypocrisy' of Mail web betting
site |
15/07/2007 |
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Nick
Mathiason
The Daily Mail gambling website failed to offer
advice for vulnerable gamblers and uses young people to promote games, sparking
a volley of criticism from a unique alliance of church leaders and gaming firms
who have accused the paper of 'incredible hypocrisy'.
Just days after
the paper trumpeted its role in killing off the introduction to Britain of
Vegas-style supercasinos as a 'Very Moral Victory', The Observer has discovered
that the paper's MailBingo.com website, where punters can seemingly sign up
with minimum security checks to play internet poker, roulette and slot-machine
games, failed to adhere to guidelines set out by GamCare and Responsibility in
Gambling Trust, organisations which offer help and advice to addicts.
The Observer's discovery prompted a rushed statement from Cashcade, the
firm which runs MailBingo.com, that it would rectify the omission. 'We are
grateful that the absence of player protection references on this site has been
brought to our attention. This was an oversight which has been immediately
corrected.' While it is not a legal requirement to prominently feature
responsible gambling advice, it is considered best practice and most mainstream
sites do so.
Concern from church
groups and anger from gambling chiefs still remains. It focuses on the Mail's
use of young people to promote its games and that another firm within its
gambling business, Cassava Enterprises, is based offshore in Gibraltar and pays
negligible tax to the UK treasury.
'On the front page the Mail uses
pictures of women who don't look like they're out of their teens. There are
offers for children's parties. This is incredible hyprocrisy,' said one senior
gambling figure.
Captain Matt Spencer of The Salvation Army UK and
Ireland, says: 'Any responsible online gambling site should have clearly
identified age restrictions to ensure that children under 18 are protected.
Every site should also include prominent directions to organisations which can
be of help to people who accumulate large debts, or who realise that they are
developing an addiction.'
Requests for comments from Mail editor Paul
Dacre were referred to the managing editor's office but no statement has been
forthcoming.
There is no love lost between the Mail and the gambling
industry after its prolonged campaign against casinos.
The prospect of
the introduction of Vegas-style supercasinos in Britain is now remote after
Gordon Brown announced a review into the issue.
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