South African Online Gambling Bill - Pokerpages.com

A debate over online gambling advertising that must be resolved before amendments to South Africa's National Gambling Amendment Bill can go forward in Parliament has caused yet another delay in the long road to regulation for the online poker industry.

The delay comes after the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) amended the Bill to include an outright prohibition on the advertising of online gambling, reports IT Web.

The Bill, as introduced into Parliament last year, would have amended the National Gambling Act of 2004 to regulate "interactive" gambling, defined as betting over the Internet or mobile phones.

Terrestrial casinos, bingo parlors and betting on horse racing are already legal and licensed in South Africa. Most firms are keen to enter the interactive gambling market once regulated.

But online poker and online gambling were outlawed by the National Gambling Act of 2004 because government wanted more time to research how to regulate and tax these sectors which were already growing quickly at the time (click here for related article).

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