New Zealand South Waikato Community Struggles with Gambling

Gambling impacts individual communities differently and this is precisely what happens in the case of South Waikato in New Zealand. The district has been heavily influenced by the gambling 먹튀검증 사이트 추천 which has taken a turn for the worse, leading to financial morose and a variety of issues in the population.

South Waikato Bears the Brunt of Problem GamblingNow, a new survey has indicated that people in the South Waikato community lost more than $8 million between 2020 and 2021. This, locals have confirmed, has had devastating consequences on families. The money was lost on Class 4 Pokies machines for the fiscal period and across the 160 available machines in the region.

More people stepped up and spoke to Stuff, a local media. One unanimous local said that she had witnessed the devastating consequences of excessive gambling in her community first-hand. She also said that her parents were gamblers and she became aware of the damage that this environment did to her only when she grew up.

Having pokies in the district has proven too difficult for the interviewed woman. She told the media what those were:

“’I’m a grown woman now and this issue has always existed here for us. It isn’t getting better; it has increasingly gotten worse over time. I’m sure pokies have economic benefits but it is devastating families here.”

Anonymous victim of the proliferation of gambling in South Waikato, NZIndependent experts on problem gambling tend to agree with the problems reported by locals who are disproportionately impacted by the proliferation of pokies. Gambling and problem gambling in particular has been tied to a higher incidence of fraud, child neglect, job loss, relationship fallout, and even suicide.

In fact, in the United Kingdom, for example, out of all addictions, gambling has the highest rate of suicides because of how severely it may impact a person’s life over a short time. According to a study, 49% of the people who gamble at pubs experience gambling harm, which could lead to more serious issues.

The woman Stuff spoke to wished to see a time when the South Waikato district and community would no longer have to deal with pokies. However, there are no immediate plans to suspend the licenses of venues that offer gambling machines.

In March, a self-confessed gambling addict criticized the safety measures in place after he was allowed to repeatedly enter the SkyCity Casino in Auckland and continue gambling even though he was self-excluded. The exclusion included both casinos and pubs that have pokies. However, the exclusion seemed to fail as the person was able to spend eight hours at a time playing at the machines.

Pokies in pubs have proven to be some of the biggest problems and enforcing self-exclusion manually is difficult if not impossible. That is why the job is left to facial recognition software, but with only 15% of the available pokie machines offering this feature, stories like those are very common. For the people of South Waikato, the evidence is inescapable.

Casino Operator Enjoy Wins Battle Against Chile’s Gaming Regulator

Enjoy is enjoying a moment of satisfaction as it continues to battle Chile’s gaming regulator. A court has sided with the casino 맥스벳 operator, giving it more leeway to complete its Puerto Varas Casino.

The legal battle continues between casino operator Enjoy and the Superintendency of Casinos (SCJ, for its Spanish acronym) over the development of the Puerto Varas Casino. However, the last two decisions announced by the courts have been in favor of Enjoy, a good sign that could save the operator over $12 million.

The SCJ revoked the license following alleged noncompliance by the operator. Enjoy had assumed the obligation to build the approved comprehensive casino project within two years, possibly extending it for another year. That agreement ended on August 1, 2021.

After the SCJ revoked the license, Enjoy filed a request to temporarily stop the project and a lawsuit against the SCJ. It alleges that the Directorate of Municipal Works of Puerto Varas engaged in “arbitrary and illicit” behavior that prevented the construction and timely execution of the works.

Court of Appeals AgreesThe Court of Appeals agreed with the operator. It ruled that, absent a precedent case, it would grant the suspension request. Then, the SCJ sent a report that assured that Enjoy’s request sought only to delay the process. It asked the court to declare that the order only covered the license suspension and not the legal dispute.

The court’s last decision was to reject the request of the SCJ. It reiterated that the courts granted the suspension on the same terms it was requested. In other words, the order paralyzes the entire process until a final judgment is issued in the ongoing dispute.
In 2005, the Municipality of Puerto Varas tendered the operation of a casino in the city, awarding a bid of approximately 1.2 billion Chilean pesos (US$1.46 million). That concession, in theory, remained in place for 10 years.

The concession expired on December 31, 2015. From that moment, a new bidding process began. Instead of Puerto Varas controlling the concession, the SCJ led the process for the first time.

In 2018, Enjoy received a new concession for 15 years. The agreement included a stipulation that the casino begin operating in June 2020 with new amenities and expanded services.

However, as Enjoy claims, local politics are preventing it from moving forward. The Puerto Varas Municipal Works Directorate refuses to approve the construction plans, arguing that they don’t conform to construction standards.

Major Impact on EmploymentSome lawmakers believe workers should receive compensation for whether the casino is operational through the concession language. Chilean Deputy Daniel Lilayu asserts that if the concession is valid for 15 years, employees need to be paid for 15 years.

The repeated extensions have left workers without compensation. Some already completed more than 20 years of service, losing years of work seniority. The casino previously employed 400 workers.

Lilayu now wants the government to get involved and recently requested that the Chamber of Deputies intervene. He wants oversight of the SCJ, with the regulator providing updates on the progress of the resolution, as well as potential employee compensation.

Lilayu also feels that the government of Puerto Varas might need some oversight. He is requesting the local government provide a report on what is doing to find a solution and explain why it didn’t do more to safeguard employees’ income.