DAVID YATES: Betting affordability checks are sending punters to 'shark-infested' black market

A surprising admission by the Gambling Commission this week: its dreaded affordability checks are sending punters to the black market. The anti-gambling commission, remember, isn’t elected, but it holds huge power over how – indeed, whether – we can bet. The commission’s affordability checks – also known as financial risk assessments, they demand that punters produce private information such as bank statements and payslips to prove they have the funds to bet – were given the green light in July. Affordability checks were intended to protect the vulnerable – but have done the exact opposite by sending problem gamblers into the shark-infested waters of the unregulated sector. On Tuesday, the commission has admitted as much when it published the third phase of its research project into illegal gambling. One of the ‘push factors’ into the black market, it noted, was the attraction of “using websites that the consumer knew would not ask for much personal data”. In other words, the absence of its own affordability checks. Does that mean the commission will abandon the policy that it now accepts is growing problem gambling instead of tackling it? Don’t bet on it. But the Gambling Commission isn’t the only threat on the horizon. A total of 190 Labour MPs have urged Chancellor John Healey to increase the tax on gaming machines in betting shops in the Budget on Wednesday. It sounds like Healey will opt for a 5 per cent rise to 25 per cent rather than doubling the current rate of 20 per cent. Some will see this is a victory, but it will still cause shop closures and cost thousands of jobs. This is no cause for celebration, and don’t think for one moment that the zealots will be satisfied. They will keep coming back. Domination is a turn-off DID we get a worrying vision of the future in Australia on Friday? Queensland trainer Lachie Manzelmann had a winner at his local track, Mackay. Nothing too unusual about that, you may think. Well, Manzelmann couldn’t fail - he trained every horse in the 10-runner race. God forbid we should ever get to a situation when one name should dominate races to the extent that nobody else can get a look in. Imagine what a turn-off that would be. Mind you, looking at the rise of the ‘super’ trainer during the past couple of decades, I’ve an uneasy feeling we’re more than halfway there. Save the best until... nearly last THE feature contest - a Group 1, if you please - as the second event on an eight-race card? Madness. I know British racing culture isn’t to have the biggest race last of all, as they do in America, but we do expect something of a crescendo. The band had hardly tuned up by the time they ran the Group 1 William Hill Futurity at Doncaster on Saturday. The first three races from Town Moor were on ITV , and I’m all for flexibility when it comes to accommodating racing’s terrestrial partner. But there has to be a compromise - not the tail wagging the dog.