Last bets for kids as Galway set for €60m Race Week

It will be the end of an era at the 148th Galway Races as the 2017 meeting will mark the last time youngsters can place a bet at the Tote.

New legislation banning all underage gambling is set to come into force later this year.

Bookmakers have been outlawed from accepting bets from minors since the 1956 Gaming and Lotteries Act.

However, even though the law prohibited the National Lottery from selling lotto tickets or scratch cards to under-18s – which, like the Tote, is based on a pool or dividend system – the Tote has always managed to escape the regulations. This was because a punt at the Tote was legally regarded as an investment.

That will change in October with the passing of the Courts and Civil Liberties Bill, which has been confirmed by Tote Ireland.

“It is Tote’s understanding that new legislation applying to on course betting for under 18s will take effect later this year,” Tim Higgins, CEO of Tote Ireland told the Connacht Tribune.

“Tote will fully comply with all legal requirements, as we have always done.”

Brian Barry, Operations Manager with GambleAware, said there had been an anomaly in the law that politicians had talked about getting rid of for years.

“Tote have been getting away with it since forever. Under 18s can’t go into a betting shop or can’t go online as you have to show an ID to set up an account. They can’t buy scratch cards yet they go to a racecourse and place a bet,” he stated.

“It will be big a problem for them. A lot of their customers are under 18 – it’s a traditional thing for children to go to the Tote while their parents go to the bookies. You often seen eight-year-olds putting on their €2 bet at the races.

“I don’t think it’s going to affect the level of problem gambling, but it is unusual compared to other countries where children can’t gamble.”

Organisers are predicting a bumper year at next week’s festival in Ballybrit, worth an estimated €60 million to the region – advance bookings are well up on last year, when over 145,000 people passed through the turnstiles over the seven days.

■ For more on this story, see the print edition of the Connacht Tribune.