“Gone are my blues and gone are my tears, I’ve got good news to shout in your ears, The long lost pound has come back to the fold, With silver you can turn your dreams to gold, oh, We’re in the money, We’re in the money, We’ve got a lot of what it takes to get along, We’re in the money, The sky is sunny.”
Yep, for once my top Grand National forecast – “whack a few quid on I Am Maximus each way at 13/2” – came in and hopefully you all backed it, too. Who needs Deborah Graham, star of TLC’s The Psychic Matchmaker, when you can have my tips for free?
It seems that at last I may have found my side hustle, and, as the football season enters the business end, followed by a summer of international football, tennis, and cricket tournaments, there is a chance for us all to make a few bob on sweepstakes and workplace betting pools.
Well, that is what I thought until a rather annoying email popped up from “the gambling experts at USDT Casino” which claims many of these informal games, especially those involving money, could fall foul of the Gambling Act 2005. Bah.
Over to USDTCasino.bet’s Ian Sandall: “Most people don’t realise how easy it is to accidentally cross the line from fun to illegal. If money’s involved and the game doesn’t meet specific criteria, you could be gambling illegally without knowing it.”
Apparently, some of the biggest culprits are fantasy football with cash entry where winnings aren’t distributed equally; Olympic sweepstakes open to clients, friends or other offices; workplace score predictors or “last goal” games involving stakes and using company emails or systems to manage betting groups.
According to the Gambling Commission, for office betting or sweepstakes to be legal, all of the following typically need to apply: it must be limited to people who work at the same location; all stakes must go back to the participants as prizes; it must not be run for profit; and it shouldn’t be promoted externally or online.
Ah well, there are worse crimes out there. And, let’s be honest, who’s going to find out…
Surely the Gambling Commission aren’t monitoring this website are they? It’s a gamble, I know, but hey that’s the point isn’t it?
Follow Foxy on X and Instagram if you must, but don’t get too excited as I’m never there
