Australian cricket star Shane Warne has been slammed by anti-gambling groups for a tweet he sent promoting 888poker.
According to the Herald Sun newspaper, Warne sent a message to his 47,000 Twitter followers saying any who joined 888poker would receive a free $8 sign-on bonus on April 11. The tweet has been strongly criticized by anti-online gambling groups, lead by Tim Costello, particularly given many of Warne's followers would be under 18 years of age.
'Sporting heroes do carry a responsibility to ensure that kids who idolise them are protected from things that aren't appropriate for their age,' Costello said.
The tweet could also attract scrutiny from authorities, as technically, promoting online gambling operators not licensed in Australia, to Australian residents is illegal on a strict reading of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001.
Warne, who is no stranger to controversy when it comes to using mobile phones in ways that get him in to trouble, has yet to comment on his tweet.
Meanwhile, and still in Australia, Rugby League clubs the Sydney Roosters and Cronulla Sharks have been queried by League and Government officials regarding sponsorship arrangements with .net poker sites. Sydney is considering a sponsorship deal with Fulltilt.net, while Cronulla already has Pokerstars.net on their jersey sleeves.
While neither website is strictly a gambling site (both are operated as poker instructional sites - although the connection the .com real poker sites is obvious) the governments stated position is that they view the .net and .com sites of online poker operators as the same operation. The inference here is that they are online gambling sites, and as they are unlicensed in Australia, cannot advertise here.
The .net strategy is one a few governments are putting under the microscope, including authorities in Nevada who are looking to clamp down on .net sponsorship of poker events in Vegas.
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