Gamblers will soon be able to play three new casino games, the Government announced tonight.
The games, already seen in casinos around the world, will be introduced in Britain from May 13 under new laws.
They are the Big Six, also known as Wheel of Fortune, the Chinese dice game Sic Bo and three card poker.
The Big Six, or Wheel of Fortune, is like a form of vertical roulette with a large spinning wheel in a frame. It is divided into 52 or 54 parts and players gamble on which slot will finish on top when the croupier spins the wheel.
Sic Bo is a Chinese dice game played with three dice. Players gamble on one or two numbers being thrown, or on the total.
Players in three card poker back their hands against the banker’s, with winnings paid out according to fixed odds.
The new laws, due to be set out in Parliament by Sports Minister Richard Caborn next week, will also change four existing games – casino stud poker, roulette, dice and blackjack.
Players in those games will be given more options during play, a spokesman for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said.
Announcing the new games, Mr Caborn said: “These regulations will allow casinos to offer products that are already available abroad.
“In the future, our proposed ccmhalloffame Gambling Commission will regulate casino games, but until that happens statutory regulations to the Gaming Act continue to be the only way that we can respond to the changing demands of casino punters.”
Gambling law changes under way
Government intends to change gambling legislation to create greater uniformity across provinces and to help improve monitoring and enforcement, Trade and Industry Minister Alec Erwin said on Thursday.
In a speech prepared for delivery at the second South African gambling conference in Sun City, he said there was a need to review gambling policy, given the experience gained so far and the fast changing market environment.
“We are in the process of completing this and intend to make certain amendments, which will create greater uniformity in action and policy.”
The provinces would retain responsibility for direct control, but within more uniform regulations.
It was intended to firmly place policy formulation within national government and to clarify the roles of the various gambling boards, Erwin said.
The minister said the differences in surveillance and monitoring in the provinces, and the movement of funds and activities, could result in evasion.
“A regulatory system that can not ensure compliance is not worth much. It is our view that the capacity for monitoring, surveillance and enforcement has to be national as well as provincial.”
The department also had to look at creating an enabling environment for Internet gambling.
“We now face the fluidity of Internet gambling.
“We are of the view that a well-regulated and reputable environment is the objective, rather than attempts to prohibit or allow a free for all.”
The National Gambling Board and the provincial boards were also trying to address regulatory problems regarding horse racing and betting.
Erwin said concerns that gambling had resulted in a shift in spending away from necessary consumer goods and other basic necessities seemed misplaced.
Research had shown that money used for gambling was being transferred from other entertainment and not basic necessities. “The patterns of expenditure in a modern economy will vary continually and this is not a factor that we need to take into account.”
“What we will have to observe is the specific patterns of expenditure in regard to problem gambling and in adjacent communities.”
In formulating policy, government had to continually balance public interest concerns, he said.
“It can, as an industry, contribute to the economy and to the process of economic transformation of the country, but in doing so it can have socio-economic consequences.”
Gambling had so far generated about R11,7-billion in investment, and in 2000/01 had generated R492-million in tax revenue. It had also created about 50 000 direct and indirect jobs.
Erwin said the gambling board’s national inspectorate and multi-agency teams, including the Scorpions and the Assets Forfeiture Unit, had conducted successful operations against illegal gambling operations.
The focus would now move to targeting the suppliers of illegal slot machines and financiers of this illegal industry.
On casino licenses, the minister said it appeared there would not be a full quota of 40 casinos, as there had been little response from the market to set up additional establishments.
Projections showed that the number of casinos could peak at 30.
In addition, it seemed unlikely that the maximum of 50 000 limited payout machines would be allocated, with the take up nationally expected to be about half that number, he said.
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