Web shop operators have slashed their winnings in the wake of Monday's failed referendum. The winning of $950 on a $1 online bet has been cut to $800, The Nassau Guardian understands. And winners will now get $700 as opposed to $900 for a win on a $1 ticket bought in a store. The win on the four ball has been slashed from $5,000 to $3,000, according to industry sources. The Nassau Guardian understands that the decision was made by web shop bosses at a meeting at Foxies Restaurant and Bar on Wednesday night.
The operators are attempting to make up for the more than $3 million they reportedly pumped into the recent Vote Yes campaign. During the course of the campaign some patrons got television sets, cars, lap tops, cell phones and other prizes. At least two houses were also given away. The Vote Yes campaign advertised heavily with print and broadcast entities, erected signs, printed brochures, gave out hundreds of T-shirts and staged nationally-televised rallies with paid entertainers, free food and drink.
One industry insider said no decision was made on whether the previous winnings will be restored at a later date. Web shop operators have expressed disappointment that they lost the gambling referendum on Monday. But one industry insider rejected the suggestion that web shop clients are being punished for failing to deliver a yes vote. Prime Minister Perry Christie has previously said that there are reportedly around 100,000 people who gamble at web shops.
According to the referendum results released by the Parliamentary Registration Department, 32,533 people voted yes to the regulation and taxation of web shops and 50,270 voted no. There had been concern among some gamblers that a yes vote would lead to lower winnings. Island Luck CEO Sebas Bastian said last week web shop bosses had no plans to reduce players' winnings in the event of a yes vote. Bastian responded to speculation that web shops would slash the amounts paid to winners if the government taxes the sector. "Noting [that] we have never operated in a regulated environment and [there] may be many unknowns, the industry's operators will remain committed to providing its patrons with the best possible odds," Bastian said.
there was widespread belief that after a no vote, the status quo would have remained and winnings would be untouched. Some Vote Yes supporters think that many people who gamble did not vote or voted no because they believed winnings would be slashed in a regulated environment where web shops would have been taxed. The government had projected that it would have collected between $15 million and $20 million in taxes from web shops.
Yesterday, those web shops continued to operate freely in light of an injunction granted by Senior Justice Jon Isaacs on Wednesday preventing authorities from shutting them down. Meanwhile, attorneys Wayne Munroe and Alfred Sears who represent a group of web shop operators are preparing to file documents in court to support their contention that the numbers houses do no operate under the Lotteries and Gaming Act. Those behind the Vote Yes campaign have said that the industry employs more than 3,000 people, directly and indirectly. The group has also said web shops pay out more than $14 million annually in national insurance contributions and more than $12 million annually in utility fees. It is unclear at this point whether the decision by operators to slash earnings would negatively impact their businesses, much of which involve online accounts.
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