The 2019-founded Austrian Players’ Aid Association, also known as the Spielerhilfe Association, has recently slammed Austrian Lotteries for allegedly allowing underaged players to buy instant win products.

No Age Controls in Place 

According to the association aimed at advocating for better player protection in the country while offering media education and advice, 55% of all children who were used in their testing purchases had no problem buying the respective products, in spite of being aged between 12 and 14. 

The Spielerhilfe, therefore, slammed Austrian Lotteries for failing to perform the necessary age verification procedures during the purchases. 

Starting July 10, 2023, Austrian Lotteries has imposed an age limit of 18, abolishing the previous age limit of 16 for purchasing lottery tickets and other products. 

In the past years, the legal age of gambling has represented a controversial topic in many parts of the world. In March 2022, some of Michigan’s casino properties decided to lower their gambling age to 18 from 21. 

Spielerhilfe Carried 175 Test Purchases in Three Federal States 

Austrian Lotteries, which features Allwyn-owned Casinos Austria as the major shareholder, has allegedly sold the instant win products to minors in the federal states of Salzburg, Upper Austria, and Lower Austria where Spielerhilfe carried 175 test purchases throughout the current year. 

The children part of the testing were sent to buy scratch cards and other lottery products sold by Austrian Lotteries’ retail outlets. The action was used as a means of verifying their compliance with the regulations in the industry.

Spielerhilfe’s chairman and spokesperson, Christoph Holubar, commented that Austrian Lotteries “apparently has big problems controlling its sales partners”. He added that the protection of minors was yet to be guaranteed, since in over 50% of all purchases initiated by children, they were given the green light to buy the products. 

Holubar also mentioned the example of the Salzburg branch of Austrian Lotteries whose retail outlets served clients over the age of 16, in spite of the existence of the 2019 Salzburg Youth Act which banned individuals under the age of 18 from taking part in games of chance. 

The chairman commented that the lotteries’ actions ignored the federal state’s “legal situation.” He further explained that the company “apparently risked that its contractual partners would continually violate applicable laws” while committing administrative offenses.

So far, Spielerhilfe has referred 34 violations of responsible gaming regulations to the authorities in Salzburg.

At the start of September, Premier Lotteries Ireland was fined $160,000 for breaching its licensing conditions regarding self-exclusion. At the time, Carol Boate, the chief of the Irish lottery regulator that imposed the fine, also emphasized the need for robust measures that would eradicate underage gambling and lower the risk of problem gambling.

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The gambling industry’s backing of the University of Sydney’s new Centre of Excellence in Gambling Research doesn’t sit well with industry critics, who believe that the tie-up is a recipe for a conflict of interests.

The university recently unveiled its new multi-disciplinary center, which is tasked with advancing research on gambling behavior and minimizing harm. However, it became known that the University of Sydney will receive over AUD 800,000 (around $511,700) from gambling-related parties.

While some believe that the investment demonstrates the industry’s commitment to minimizing its negative impact and supporting safer gambling initiatives, others fear that it might cause a potential conflict of interest.

The Centre of Excellence in Gambling Research will be primarily supported by the International Centre for Responsible Gaming (ICRG), which will contribute AUD 600,000 to the cause. However, the ICRG is itself financially supported by gambling companies.

In addition, the University of Sydney’s new center is set to receive backing from Entain Australia, Sportsbet and the Australian Research Council’s Life Course Centre, which will provide it with AUD 180,000, 50,000 and 100,000, respectively.

The Research Needs to Stay Away from the Industry, Critics Say

Since the Centre of Excellence in Gambling Research will receive backing from the gambling industry, some fear that its work will not be fully independent. While the University of Sydney reassured interested parties that this is not the case, experts still fear that an industry-funded organization might be biased.

A Deakin University gambling expert, Samantha Thomas, expressed her thoughts on the matter. She noted that the gambling industry contributes to the problem at hand and therefore should not have a role in the research of gambling harm or development of regulatory policies.

Thomas argued that if the research seeks to understand gambling harm, then it needs to be “completely at arm’s length from the industry.”

However, the University of Sydney trusts that the ethics committee of its new center will be able to mitigate potential conflicts of interest. A spokesperson noted that the funding bodies will not have a say in the center’s decisions and research. In addition, the partnership with operators will provide the center with valuable data, the spokesperson added.

The Centre of Excellence in Gambling Research’s lead researcher, Sally Gainsbury is much more optimistic about the center than Thomas, calling it an “unprecedented collaboration” that will overcome previous limitations.

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Gizmodo, a popular media outlet, reported that blockchain betting site Polymarket had seen at least $220,000 wagered on the outcome of the Titan tragedy before the news of the vessel’s destruction and crew members’ demise was known.

There Is a Time and Place for Everything

The prediction website basically asked whether bettors believed that the Titan submarine and its crew had survived, with the majority of consumers responding in the negative. Polymarket said that it would honor “positive” bets providing that the vessel was physically recovered

Twitter was quick to pick up on the betting market and criticize running what many called a gamble on people’s lives. Gizmodo did reach out to Polymarket which engaged with the publication and simply stated that the betting markets can be of “actual value to those worried for their family members.” Polymarket simply stated:

That is a far more valuable service to them than sensationalist media coverage: with our markets, at least they understand the true probabilities.

Running a death pool is rare though and it mostly doesn’t happen in the world’s biggest markets where operators understand the ethical and moral implications of making such a move. Even those bookmakers that tried to dance around the rules a little, such as Paddy Power’s suggestion in 2009 that President-elect Barack Obama might be assassinated have been forced to deal with, the fallout of creating “death pool” markets.

Do Not Turn Tragedy into “Infotainment”

The tragedy with Titan remains, with the US Coast Guard confirming on Thursday that the vessel had suffered a “catastrophic implosion” shortly after descending, killing all crew members on board. Markets outside of sports have generally been very popular with bookmakers that are not based in a heavily regulated jurisdiction. Presently, there are efforts to legalize politics and entertainment bets in some countries, including the United States, but there is serious opposition for fear of undermining the legitimacy of some contests. When it comes to human tragedy

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