Australia looks at separating online casino accounts

Australia is considering the possibility of online casino games separate accounts, which distinguishes between an account for casino games such as live blackjack and a sports betting account. However, the Belgian commission for Belgian online casino operators is against this plan, as it could harm the gambling industry.

The Belgian government is considering separating betting from online casinos. this initiative comes from an amendment to a 2019 bill submitted to the Chamber of Representatives. The original law prohibited operators from offering bets and casino games on the same website.

The Belgian Gaming Commission (BGC) issues separate licenses for casino games and sports betting. Court rulings in Australia have determined that, in order to ensure equal conditions with games of chance at land-based casinos, operators cannot offer the two markets (betting and casino games) on the same website.

The original 2019 law stipulated that operators online gambling and have to divide betting across different websites. However, players were allowed to use one account that could be used on the operator's various sites. However, the new change would ban that and force players to register for each industry (online gambling and sports betting) separately.

The amendment to the law states “" it is not allowed to use the same player account to participate in games of chance operated under different licenses. It is also forbidden to make transactions between different player accounts.” It is therefore not possible as a player to transfer money from account sports betting to account casino games. Or vice versa.

However, the BAGO is vehemently against the new possible rules. BAGO warned that this new rule could cause players to lose control of their spending. This is because they would have more accounts to keep an eye on. That extra friction could lead some players to turn to the black market, it said.

This black market is also a factor that is fiercely taken into account in New Zealand. Ideally, all policy makers would ban casino advertisements from tv, social media and other advertising. However, the ban could cause players to move to the black market. A market that policymakers have no insight or control over. Which in turn can come at the cost of playing the zodiac and the safety of the players.