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Cricket Poker Stumped
Victoria gamling regulators bowl Shane
Warne out
One of the world's great cricketing legends, fast bowler Shane
Warne found himself headed back to the pavilion in short order this
week, but it was a UK-based gaming website, rather than a cricket
pitch that witnessed his departure.
The Sunday Herald Sun in Australia reports that a gaming website
promoted by Warne has been shut down by the Victorian Commission
for Gambling Regulation following an investigation. The Commission
ruled that PokerCricket.com broke state laws.
"It is illegal to offer or advertise in [the Australian state
of] Victoria the playing of interactive [gambling] games,"
executive commissioner Peter Cohen said. "Gambling is a strictly
regulated business and we would expect all people to comply with
legislation, whether they are high profile or not."
Warne escaped punishment by the regulator because his management
removed the UK-based site from the internet.
Anti-gambling campaigners accused Warne - who is claimed to have
said on the site that poker players should not to be scared of losing
- of cashing in on vulnerable people.
The Commission launched an investigation after the Sunday Herald
Sun asked the regulator if Warne's site was legal. Cohen said investigations
found Warne's website did not have a licence to operate in Victoria,
but he was satisfied the leg spinner and his management did not
realise the site was breaking the law.
Warne launched the site last June under the slogan: "Pad up
or deal. Either suits me."
Visitors who clicked on the site's "play poker now" button
were taken to a separate site where they could gamble on poker and
casino games.
PokerCricket.com also featured a blog by Warne, a computer cricket
game and the cricketer's poker tips.
Warne's manager James Erskine was unapologetic and direct about
the newspaper's role in getting the site closed this week. He accused
the Sunday Herald Sun of gutter journalism for approaching the commission.
"Stop being a weasel and get a proper job," he told reporters.
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