Gambling Commission Investigating Red or Black

Simon Cowell has managed to work his way into gambling news. I found the scoop at unrealitytv.co.uk. I’ve played the Red or Black slot game at an online casino but I’d have to disagree that the show makes it look easy to win.

“Simon Cowell may be in hot water yet again, after The Gambling Commission decided to launch an investigation into his ITV gameshow Red Or Black.

It has been reported that the gambling watchdog is concerned that the series – which aired on ITV1 last summer – may have glamorized betting by making it look ‘easy’ to win.

The series ran for seven nights and on each episode, one lucky contestant had the chance to walk away with a whopping £1 million, all based on a game of roulette. In the end, the show made four millionaires in a week and questions have now been raised about whether the premise of the format, would encourage vulnerable people to turn to betting, in a bid to solve their money worries.

Sources have told The Sun that the commission met with ITV bosses this week and want assurances that there will be changes made to the show, if it returns for a second series, so that it looks harder and requires a certain level of skill from the eventual winners.

Although the regulatory body does not have the official powers to shut the show down, it has been reported that ITV would keen not to upset officials and a source said:

“Put it this way, if the Gambling Commission kicks up a big fuss about your show publicly, it is unlikely that you would go ahead with it.”

“The Commission has concerns the show is glamorising gambling as so many people won £1million last time and did the best part of nothing to get it.”

It’s not yet clear whether channel bosses will want to throw their weight behind a second run anyway, as Red Or Black came nowhere near the expected ratings when it debuted in 2011.”

I thought it was down to pure luck when people won. For someone to think that it’s so simple doesn’t seem rational to me. Wouldn’t we all be rich if gambling was easy and glamorous? What do you think?