Free Cash to Gamble
In recent months Australia has been flooded with advertisements offering free cash to gamble with online bookmakers and sports betting agencies. A glance at the internet brings further offers of free cash from online casinos based offshore in the Caribbean and other places.
In Australia, online bookmakers are offering free cash as an inducement to sign up new customers. In March 2008, BetFair successfully sued the Western Australian government, overcoming restrictions on interstate advertising. This means that bookmakers licensed in Tasmania and the Northern Territory can advertise their services in the major States. This has resulted in an unprecedented advertising blitz by bookmakers and sports betting operators, all offering attractive inducements to sign up. For example, Sportingbet offers $100 credit when you open a new account and deposit $30.
Registered clubs and hotels are prohibited from offering free credits to gamble on machines and totalisators also have restrictions on providing free credit. So why is it that bookmakers are allowed to offer free cash?
Essentially, the provision of credit by bookmakers is an historical anachronism, from the days when racing was the sport of kings and gentleman who considered it inconvenient to cart a large amount of cash to the races. Instead, gambling debts were paid in a gentlemanly fashion on “settling day”. Failure to pay was considered disgraceful and would typically result in the punter being spurned by all the bookmakers at the track.
Internationally, the prevalence of problem gambling is 3 to 4 times higher in Internet gamblers compared to non-internet gamblers. It is likely that the provision of free cash is the biggest attraction in getting problem gamblers to start on the internet. Of course, you don’t get something for nothing, so what the internet bookmakers and casinos give to get people started, they will recoup later.
