In many parts of the world, the coronavirus pandemic is still being fought and lots of people are still required to stay at home. With so much free time and perhaps a lot of boredom, many of them have been looking for ways to pass the time and as it turns out, online gambling has been one of the ways that many people have been passing time.
The uptick in online gambling activities has been quite evident over the past few weeks with operators recording significantly more traffic. Naturally, there have been a lot of concerns especially with regards to irresponsible gambling behavior and some authorities across Europe have already stepped to try and provide solutions and guidelines.
In New South Wales, another area where the shutdown has resulted in the closure of many casino businesses, there is an expected boom in online gambling traffic. This trend has been pretty worrying and to that effect, the Office of Responsible Gambling in New South Wales has recently released a statement urging Australians to steer clear of illegal and unlicensed online gambling sites.
Will It Work?
Unlike in other parts of Europe where licensed and unlicensed operators have been going head to head with each other when it comes to acquiring market share, New South Wales does not have any legal online gambling operations. In essence, the land-based casinos are all there is and this their closure has been a pretty strong incentive for people to place bets with the unlicensed offshore gambling sites.
Even so, the gambling authority is New South Wales has been pretty clear about how much the risks outweigh the perceived benefits of these offshore gambling sites. For instance, if you choose to go with any of these sites, there is little to no guarantee that your winnings will be paid. Moreover, due to the lack of local oversight disputer resolution might be pretty hard to achieve.
The authority has already taken a number of measures to block the unlicensed gambling operators but some players will definitely find workarounds. It is, therefore, going to be an exercise of patience and responsibility for most people.
Still, this pandemic and its effects might be the incentive that the New Souths Wales authority needs in order to implement proper measures in order to finally give Australians in the region access to licensed and regulated online gambling options. This will, of course, take some time but it is perhaps one of the best ways of quenching the thirst for iGaming sites.
