888.com in Breach of Gambling Act? Goes Off Line

Australia's communication's watchdog is investigating 888.com for an apparent breach of the integrated gambling act.

A spokesman for the Australian Communications and Media Authority confirmed to The Australian yesterday it had received a complaint related to the matter.

"We have had one complaint and our investigation is ongoing. However, we have not closed down the site."

Further elaboration was not provided.

But the site did suddenly go offline yesterday afternoon.

888 Holdings (parent company of 888.com) responded to inquiries about the site being down: "Unfortunately, the 888 site is temporarily unavailable. At this stage, we do not have an expected time for it to be available, and we unfortunately cannot take bets at this time.

"Once there is further information available, we will post this on the website."

The Australian also noted that chief executive officer of betting exchange Betfair, Andrew Twaits, attacked the site's legitimacy in a blog on March 17.

Twaits wrote: "Many of the operators offering online poker to Australians do so under the guise of `.net' or `play for free' sites. Once customers are on board, they are `cross-sold' to the illegal play-for-money sites." He then noted that 888 Holdings PLC had launched the new betting agency 888sport. "The company has no Australian wagering licence, they have been through no probity checks by federal or state authorities, they have not had to apply for race fields approval and they are using the face of their online poker business Shane Warne to promote their new Australian wagering business. It makes a mockery of the local licensing regime," Twaits said.

Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com