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　　AUSTRALIAN SENATOR XENOPHON CALLS FOR BAN ON SOCIAL CASINO GAMES

　　Infamous Australian anti-gambling senator Nick Xenophon intends to propose a legislation that would ban social casino games in the country. Even though real money is not directly involved, Xenophon argues that social casino games are harmful.

　　Australia's anti-gambling crusader Nick Xenophon will soon propose a new law that would ban Facebook and other social networks from allowing citizens to engage in social casino gaming activities. Xenophon believes that social casino gaming is the same as real money online casino gaming.

　　One argument raised by Xenophon is that social casino games are supposedly created in the way to attract the interest of minors with the intention of later converting them into real money online casino players. As such, social casino games should be prohibited in his opinion.

　　At this moment social casino games are not covered by any Australian legislation because they don't directly involve real money. Some social casino games do allow players to play with virtual credits that can be acquired with real money but they don't offer actual real money gameplay.

　　Social casino gaming is at this moment extremely popular in many countries but so far there are no conclusive studies that link social casino gaming to the increase of real money online gambling or problem gambling.

　　Social gambling is very popular in the UK as well where Facebook recently permitted the company GameSys to launch their first true real money Facebook casino games Slots Friendzy and Bingo Friendzy. However there are no signs that hint that this increases the incidence of problem gambling or gambling in the ranks of minors.

　　Xenophon is known as a strong opponent of gambling and online gambling so it's not surprising that he's trying to attack the newly emerging trend in the casino industry which is social casino gaming. However, Xenophon's opinions aren't shared my most other Australian politicians.

　　At this moment only online sports betting is legal in Australia. Recently multiple Australian politicians argued that banning online gambling is not technically possible, therefore regulating it would be a better approach. It's not unlikely that sometimes during the next couple of years Australia might decide to legalize all types of online casino gaming activities.