In order to reduce the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, gambling operators come up with strange tricks
Covid-19 pandemic continued to spread, and governments in various countries have closed physical casinos to avoid swarm infections. In this case, the gaming players are indirectly transferred to online casinos, and the public health crisis unexpectedly promotes online casino business opportunities. Even British MPs demanded that online gambling companies should set the temporary betting limit of £50 during the outbreak. Because the data shows that after the lack of mainstream sports events, online gambling players are moving to higher-risk bets.
According to media reports, in an internal email from William Hill, the company suggested that employees can discuss other popular betting sport events with players, including table tennis and Japanese professional baseball. At the same time, the company posted a social media advertisement on its Twitter, which offers bets on international football (Belarusian Premier League). British parliamentarians signed a letter to UKGC, hoping that the unit urged licensed operators to put the protection of player safety before the company’s interests. British parliamentarians said that the Covid-19 pandemic not only caused a national public health crisis, but also made more and more people turn their attention to online gambling.
They asked the industry to set their own betting limit of £ 50 per day, which can show that the industry is willing to take responsible actions during extraordinary times and do everything in its power to protect the society and citizens’ finances. At the same time, they also called on the company to prohibit players from opening multiple accounts and to speed up the intervention of players who show signs of abnormal betting. British MP Carolyn Harris also criticized online gambling operators because they provide unfamiliar sporting events or computer simulations events for problematic players. She pointed out that the industry is trying to use a national disaster to reignite the problem gambling with reckless and stupid behavior. Another MP Duncan Smith added that it is shocking that in this situation, the gambling companies still want to earn all of the money from players’ pockets and lead them to betting on lesser-known events.
The British government has advised people not to gather in social places such as bars and restaurants. Betfred has also been criticized for continuing to welcome players into gambling retail stores, which exposes employees and players to a high risk of infection. William Hill said that betting funds obtained from the International Football League have been donated to charity. In addition, since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, marketing-related expenditures have also been reduced.
