Australian Open as an Advertising Platform for Illegal Gambling
Offshore casinos used the Australian Open 2026 to promote illegal services to Australian audiences — through tournament logos, photos of tennis players, and influencers.
How offshore operators use the Australian Open
🔵 Vegastars — an illegal offshore casino — ran a giveaway on Instagram with tournament tickets and a $ 500 flight voucher
🔵 The post received 2,500 comments, including from Australian users
🔵 The promo used the Australian Open logo without any affiliation with the tournament
🔵 At least three other illegal sites also used the tournament logo and photos of tennis players in their promotions
🔵 Another 10 sites launched Australian Open-themed campaigns
Influencers as a promotion channel
🔴 Offshore operator Rainbet was promoted by an Australian influencer — the video gained 40,000 views
🔴 ACMA had warned influencers about the ban on promoting illegal services back in June 2025
🔴 The video was removed two days after a request from Guardian Australia
🔴 Rainbet is accessible to Australian users via VPN
Scale of the offshore market
🔵 $ 3.9 billion — the volume of online betting by Australians through offshore operators in 2024
🔵 $ 7 billion — the volume of the local online gambling market during the same period
🔵 The offshore segment accounts for more than one-third of the legal market
Regulator
🔴 ACMA has blocked 220 illegal services across 1,455 websites since 2019
🔴 Offshore operators bypass blocks by changing URLs — the regulator blocks them, and operators immediately return
🔴 Experts suggest payment blocking, following the models of Germany and Norway, as a more effective tool
🔴 No decision has been made yet
Conclusion
Offshore operators promote illegal services through legal infrastructure: tournament branding, photos of stars, and influencer reach. The audience sees familiar images and does not question the legality of the platform.
The regulator responds selectively: blocking websites, warning influencers, and investigating violations. But the speed of response still lags behind the speed at which new schemes appear.
South America: iGaming Market Map 2025−2026
SiGMA, together with Blask, has published the South America Market Report. The data period covers February 2025 to January 2026 and includes ten markets across the continent.
Top markets by engagement
The Blask Index is an aggregated indicator of user interest across all gambling brands in a country.
🔵 Brazil — 232.9M (regulated)
🔵 Peru — 30.0M (regulated)
🔵 Argentina — 16.3M (regulated)
🔵 Colombia — 14.1M (regulated)
🔵 Venezuela — 9.7M (unregulated)
🔵 Ecuador — 9.5M (unregulated)
🔵 Chile — 7.4M (unregulated)
🔵 Paraguay — 2.4M (regulated)
🔵 Uruguay — 260K (betting regulated)
🔵 Bolivia — 256K (regulated)
Top markets by revenue
🔴 Brazil — $ 551.1M (regulated)
🔴 Argentina — $ 137.2M (regulated)
🔴 Chile — $ 95.1M (unregulated)
🔴 Peru — $ 79.9M (regulated)
🔴 Colombia — $ 41.5M (regulated)
🔴 Uruguay — $ 23.9M (betting regulated)
🔴 Ecuador — $ 18.9M (unregulated)
🔴 Paraguay — $ 12.8M (regulated)
🔴 Venezuela — $ 10.0M (unregulated)
🔴 Bolivia — $ 6.4M (regulated)
What the data shows
🔵 Brazil stands in a category of its own: $ 551M per month, 4x larger than the second market
🔵 The top five markets by revenue generate over 90% of the region’s total monetization
🔵 Argentina ranks 2nd in revenue ($ 137M) but 3rd in engagement: high monetization per user
🔵 Chile ranks 3rd in revenue ($ 95M) but only 7th in engagement: an unregulated market with strong offshore operator activity
🔵 Venezuela and Ecuador show the opposite trend: top-6 in interest but near the bottom in revenue
Brazil
🔴 Engagement has stabilized at a peak of ~230M — the market has moved from rapid growth into maturity
🔴 Licensed sector: BRL 37B GGR, with BRL 10B in taxes for 2025
🔴 Parallel grey market: an additional BRL 30−40B — comparable to the legal sector
🔴 GGR forecast for 2026: up to BRL 70B
Engagement dynamics over the period
🔵 Venezuela — 2x growth (from 5M to 11M)
🔵 Argentina — +42% despite negative GDP in 2023−2024
🔵 Chile — +35% (from 5.4M to 7.3M)
🔵 Peru — +32% (from 25M to 33M)
🔵 Colombia — volatility with recovery toward the end of the period
🔵 Brazil — no active growth, mature market
Conclusion
South America is not a single market, but ten different ones — each with its own maturity level, dynamics, and regulatory environment. The region is moving in multiple directions at once, and each requires a tailored approach.
United Kingdom: Gambling Reform
In 2019, the UK gambling industry introduced a voluntary “whistle-to-whistle” ban on TV advertising during live sports broadcasts — no legislation, just a mutual agreement. The cross-party parliamentary group APPG examined its impact.
The ban and its consequences
🔵 The ban applied only to TV commercials
🔵 Pitch-side branding, shirt logos, and sponsorships were not restricted
🔵 The industry removed ads but intensified all other formats
🔵 Over 60% of gambling exposure during live broadcasts still occurred within the restricted time — just via other channels
Key figures
🔴 £1.5−2 billion — annual industry spending on advertising, marketing, and sponsorship
🔴 10,999 gambling references during the opening weekend of the Premier League in 2023
🔴 27,440 — during the opening weekend in 2025
🔴 A 2.5x increase in just two years
Children and youth
🔵 79% of children recall seeing gambling ads
🔵 96% of young people aged 11−24 saw gambling advertising in the past month
🔵 31% of children report being targeted by gambling promotions via influencers
🔵 34% of players acknowledge that advertising affects their behavior
🔵 16.3% increased their betting under its influence
UK vs Europe
🔴 Italy, Spain, Belgium, and Netherlands have introduced strict restrictions or full bans on gambling advertising
🔴 These measures are part of broader public health policies
🔴 Against this backdrop, the UK remains an outlier — broad advertising is still allowed
What lawmakers propose
🔵 A ban on gambling advertising before 9:00 PM across all media platforms
🔵 A ban on sponsorship in most sports
🔵 A ban on influencer marketing
🔵 A ban on advertising in children’s video games
🔵 A ban on direct marketing, including free bets
🔵 Most measures could be implemented under the existing Gambling Act 2005
Conclusion
The industry set its own rules — and found a way to neither break nor truly follow them. TV ads were removed, but everything else was scaled up.
Self-regulation failed precisely because it was voluntary — an industry with multi-billion advertising budgets will always find ways to formally comply while maintaining impact. Lawmakers have recognized this and, for the first time, are talking not about new agreements, but about legislation.
Evolution & UX: how the player’s brain processes interfaces
Thousands of years ago, the human brain scanned the horizon for predators. Today, it scans online casino lobbies. Pepper Partners explains which ancient reflexes drive player behavior—and how to account for them in product design.
Horizontal scanning
🔵 The brain scans space horizontally an evolutionary reflex inherited from our ancestors
🔵 That’s why platforms like Netflix and YouTube are built around horizontal scrolling
🔵 The first row in a casino lobby is the first place a player’s attention goes
Peripheral sensitivity to movement
🔴 The brain notices movement at the edge of vision first an ancient danger signal
🔴 Bonus or jackpot animations at the edge of the screen leverage this reflex
🔴 But overload the screen with motion and the brain stops reacting to it
Reading direction & localization
🔵 People read left-to-right or right-to-left and scan interfaces the same way
🔵 Localization is not just translation it’s restructuring the interface around visual flow
Takeaway
Over thousands of years, evolution has hardwired clear attention patterns into the brain. You don’t need to fight or override them you need to understand them and design on top of them. That’s when creativity enhances the product instead of competing with human nature.
Western Balkans unite: seven countries establish a joint gaming federation
This week in Belgrade, seven national associations signed a Memorandum of Cooperation and officially founded the Balkan Gaming Federation (BGF). The initiative was launched jointly by Serbia’s AGOS and Bulgaria’s AOGGOB.
Who joined the federation
🔵 Serbia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia
🔵 The federation brings together operators, suppliers, and technology providers
🔵 BGF is designed as a coordination platform — without replacing existing national associations
Goals and objectives
🔴 Coordination of regulatory policies and exchange of best practices
🔴 Joint lobbying at the legislative level
🔴 Promotion of the Western Balkans as a region within the European gaming industry
🔴 Combating illegal gambling and unfair competition
Regulatory context
🔵 Serbia and Romania — mature online markets attracting international operators such as Bet365, Evoke, and Superbet
🔵 Croatia and Bulgaria — strong land-based casino sectors alongside growing online segments
🔵 Bulgaria has introduced a full ban on betting for football players and national team staff, and extended the self-exclusion period to one year — 54,000 individuals are already enrolled
🔵 Bosnia and Herzegovina — a fragmented regulatory environment, one of the key challenges for the federation
🔵 Montenegro — ongoing disputes around tax reform
Relations with Europe and next steps
🔴 BGF is positioned as a distinct Balkan cluster while maintaining ties with EUROMAT
🔴 Next meeting — May 26 at the Belgrade Future Gaming exhibition
🔴 Approval of governance structure and election of the federation’s president — autumn 2026
Summary
BGF is an attempt by seven fragmented markets to speak to Europe with one voice. Regulatory reforms across the region remain uneven: each country has its own agenda, challenges, and pace. The federation does not eliminate these differences, but creates a platform where they can at least be coordinated.
How Spin Outcomes Influence the Next Bet: Insights from Italian Researchers
Pepper Partners published an analysis of a 2024 Italian study on player behavior in slot games. 36 participants aged 18−20 placed bets of three different sizes and experienced various outcomes: win, loss, draw, and “near miss.” The researchers tracked the size of the next bet, the time before the next spin, and heart rate variability.
Novice players: reaction to a win
🔵 Players with little experience were 38% more likely to place a larger bet after a win — compared to their behavior after a loss or a “near miss”
🔵 A win triggers a desire to take greater risks — especially in those who have not yet developed stable behavioral patterns
Experienced players: reaction to a “near miss”
🔴 Experienced participants were 44% more likely to place a larger bet after a “near miss” — compared to any other outcome
🔴 Researchers interpret this as a false sense of being close to a win — a pattern typical of regular players
Physiology: pulse and pause
🔵 After a win, players took the longest pause before the next spin — a phenomenon known as Post Reinforcement Pause
🔵 All participants showed a decrease in heart rate while waiting for the spin result
🔵 No difference was found in the time to the next spin between a “near miss” and a loss — the hypothesis that a “near miss” speeds up decision-making was not confirmed
What this means for operators
🔴 The type of outcome directly affects the player’s psychophysiology and behavior
🔴 Understanding these patterns enables the development of personalized engagement strategies
🔴 The data can be used to improve long-term retention and increase motivation for higher bets
Conclusion
Novice and experienced players increase their bets for different reasons, but both are driven by the same factor: dopamine anticipation. For novices, it is triggered by an actual win. For experienced players, this threshold shifts: the brain, conditioned by repeated gameplay cycles, becomes more responsive to the anticipation of a reward than to the reward itself.
How Prediction Markets Work: From $ 100M to $ 13B in Two Years
Prediction markets are exchanges where participants buy and sell contracts on the outcomes of real-world events: elections, sports matches, and economic indicators. The price of a contract reflects the collective assessment of the probability of an event.
This is neither a casino nor a traditional exchange — the platform does not set prices and has no stake in the outcome.
How It Works
🔵 Each contract has a nominal value of $ 1 and settles at $ 1 (event occurs) or $ 0 (does not occur)
🔵 Contract price = probability of the event. A contract priced at $ 0.80 implies an 80% probability
🔵 Buying 1,000 contracts at $ 0.25 costs $ 250 — if the prediction is correct, the payout is $ 1,000 (4x)
🔵 After the event occurs, an independent oracle confirms the outcome and triggers payouts
Market Growth
🔴 Trading volume: from less than $ 100M in early 2024 to $ 13B by the end of 2025
🔴 Number of users: from 4,000 to 600,000
🔴 ICE (the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange) invested up to $ 2B in Polymarket
🔴 Robinhood, Coinbase, DraftKings, FanDuel, CNN, and Google entered the market
Key Platforms
🔵 Polymarket — the largest decentralized platform. At the end of 2025, it returned to the U.S. market as a regulated entity
🔵 Kalshi — the first platform licensed by the CFTC, trading contracts in USD
🔵 PredictIt — a non-profit political platform focused on U.S. elections
🔵 Robinhood — added event contracts through a partnership with Kalshi
Regulation
🔴 In the U.S., Kalshi operates under CFTC oversight — providing federal coverage across all states
🔴 In March 2026, the CFTC issued a preliminary notice on developing unified rules
🔴 Kalshi is involved in more than 30 legal disputes with states that classify these contracts as gambling
🔴 In the EU, most countries classify prediction markets as gambling. The United Kingdom, Germany, and the Netherlands have introduced restrictions for unlicensed platforms
Taxation & Monetization
🔵 Platforms generate revenue from transaction fees on each trade and from the sale of aggregated data
🔵 For traders in the U.S., profits may be taxed either as investment income or as gambling winnings — the IRS has not yet made a final decision
🔵 In most countries, platforms do not automatically generate tax reports — traders must declare their income independently
Summary
Prediction markets have evolved from a niche tool into a multi-billion-dollar segment in just two years. Exchanges, brokers, and major financial companies have entered the space, the user base has grown 150 times, and platforms have obtained their first federal licenses.
However, the regulatory landscape remains fragmented: dozens of legal disputes are ongoing in the U.S., while in Europe most countries classify this instrument as gambling. There are no unified rules in either region.
Why Celebrities in Betting Ads Don’t Increase Trust
According to a YouGov study conducted in the United Kingdom, the use of celebrities in gambling advertising helps attract attention and improve brand visibility. However, it has little impact on trust: even if such ads are noticed more often, people’s perception of bookmakers does not significantly change.
Attention & Visibility
🔵 38% of players believe that celebrity ads make a brand more noticeable
🔵 39% say they are more likely to pay attention to such ads
🔵 Increased awareness is the main and most consistent effect
Trust & Perception
🔴 Only 28% believe celebrities increase trust in a brand
🔴 Around 40% disagree
🔴 48% think that celebrity involvement makes a brand look less serious
This means that higher awareness does not translate into higher trust — and in some cases, it may even reduce it.
Differences in Perception
🔵 25% of players say celebrity ads improve their perception of a brand
🔵 Among the general audience, only 8% share this view
🔵 Around 63% in both groups say celebrity involvement has no impact on their opinion
At the same time, regular players perceive such advertising more positively: those who bet weekly or more are almost three times more likely to evaluate celebrity involvement positively compared to occasional players.
Which Celebrities Work Best
🔴 Professional athletes — 39% consider them appropriate
🔴 Betting industry representatives — 38%
🔴 Actors — 36%
Reality TV stars are seen as the least appropriate, with only 28% approval.
Regulation
Since October 2022, the United Kingdom has banned the use of celebrities and influencers in gambling advertising if they are likely to appeal to minors. Regulators have already fined companies for social media posts featuring football players.
Conclusion
Using celebrities in betting advertising is a tool for increasing brand awareness, not building trust. People remember such ads, but trust is primarily shaped by a brand’s reputation and user experience — not by celebrity endorsements.
Common Mistakes of Online Casino Operators: Where They Lose Players
Building a reputation takes time and money — destroying it is quick and easy. Most operators focus on the financial and marketing side of launching, but overlook details that directly impact whether a player stays on the platform. Many of these mistakes are predictable — and preventable.
Content & Trust
🔵 Lack of detailed rules and clear terms & conditions
🔵 Poor localization: grammatical and stylistic errors reduce trust
🔵 No information about licenses and certifications
UX & Product
🔴 No mobile version
🔴 Weak design and poor navigation
🔴 Lack of personalization — settings, autoplay, spin speed options
🔴 Slow or unresponsive customer support
Marketing
🔵 No CRM or personalized offers
🔵 Weak retention tools: tournaments, free spins, loyalty programs
🔵 Absence of a VIP program
Finance & Payments
🔴 Delays and errors in withdrawals
🔴 Limited selection of payment methods
🔴 Anti-fraud system errors blocking legitimate players
Security & Compliance
🔵 Slow verification and excessive manual KYC/AML checks
🔵 Account blocks due to misconfigured security settings or geo-restrictions
🔵 Lack of automation leading to new errors and slower operations
Conclusion
Most operator mistakes are not technical or marketing-related — they are behavioral. Operators build platforms from a business perspective: conversion, game portfolio, bonus mechanics. Players evaluate them from a trust perspective: is it safe to keep money here, will they pay out winnings, can I easily find what I need?
The gap between these two perspectives is the source of most problems. The earlier an operator starts thinking like a player, the fewer mistakes they will make.
Hidden Wins in Slots: Loss That Feels Like a Win
Casino mechanics often rely on cognitive biases — some are built so subtly into the interface that players don’t consciously notice them. Pepper Partners studied one such mechanic: hidden wins in multi-line slots. The goal was to examine how visual win signals affect player perception when the financial outcome is negative.
Experiment: setup
🔵 136 participants played two types of slots: single-line and multi-line
🔵 Bet sizes were identical in both formats to eliminate their impact on emotional response
🔵 Button press force was recorded throughout the sessions
🔵 After each session, participants completed surveys on subjective experience and engagement levels
Experiment: results
🔴 75.7% of participants found multi-line slots more engaging
🔴 Engagement levels were higher when playing multi-line slots
🔴 Button press force during hidden wins was 5% higher than during regular wins — placing hidden wins closer to small wins than to actual losses in player perception
What is a hidden win?
🔵 In a single-line slot, there are two outcomes: win or loss
🔵 In multi-line slots, a third outcome appears: some lines show matching symbols while others do not. The financial result is negative, but the player still sees winning combinations
🔵 The brain interprets the visual signal as a win — even when money is lost
What this means for product
🔴 Multi-line slots create a higher-engagement environment — with measurable impact on player behavior
🔴 Hidden wins distort perception: players feel successful despite financial losses
🔴 For designers, this highlights that “illusion of success” mechanics are effective — but require balance with responsible gaming principles
🔴 Regulators are increasingly examining these patterns, which may impact what mechanics remain acceptable
Conclusion
A hidden win is not deception in the literal sense. It’s an interface design choice that leverages how the brain processes visual signals. The player loses money but receives an emotional reward — and stays in the game longer. The line between engagement and manipulation is thin, and the industry is only beginning to fully recognize it.
Colombia: 16% tax on player deposits in online gambling
Colombia is reshaping its online gambling tax model: Decrees 0240 and 0241 introduce a 16% tax on every player deposit — regardless of amount, payment method, or source of funds.
Tax framework
🔵 The tax applies to every deposit made to an online gambling platform
🔵 Applies only to online games of chance
🔵 Winnings are not taxed
🔵 Payment method does not matter: cash, bank transfer, crypto
Scope
🔴 The tax applies to both domestic and cross-border deposits
🔴 Key condition — funds must be credited to a Colombian-licensed platform account
Collection mechanism
🔵 Operators are responsible for collecting the tax
🔵 16% is deducted at the moment of deposit and transferred to the state budget
🔵 Non-compliance leads to regulatory sanctions
Market impact
🔴 Every € 100 deposit becomes € 84 in the player’s account
🔴 Offshore operators do not apply the tax — creating a direct pricing advantage
🔴 Part of the audience will shift to unlicensed platforms
🔴 Operators face additional operational load on every transaction
Key takeaway
A deposit tax is one of the most painful formats for players: the loss is felt before the first bet, not after a win. This directly affects behavior — users will deposit less often and in smaller amounts, impacting both deposit frequency and total betting volume.
For comparison:
— GGR tax is paid from the operator’s margin and is invisible to the player
— Winnings tax is psychologically softer — you only pay if you win
The government chose deposits as the simplest collection point: money comes in → 16% goes to the budget. But this simplicity creates a strong incentive to move to offshore platforms where no such tax exists.
$ 15M per stream: the economics of iGaming through xQc
One of the world’s most popular streamers, xQc, has revealed his earnings — and the numbers clearly show how gambling is reshaping the streaming market.
— ~$ 57,000 — max ad revenue per stream
— up to $ 15M — for a single gambling stream
— ~$ 1M — individual sponsorship deals (e.g. Warzone)
The gap is no longer just multiple — it’s across entirely different industries.
📊 The scale of activity is also massive:
— over 1.3M bets
— ~$ 3.6B in turnover
— ~10% win rate
💡 Key point:
the main income doesn’t come from winnings, but from contracts with casinos and platforms — fixed payments, bonuses, and partnership terms.
🚀 What amplifies this even more:
— a deal with Kick reportedly worth up to ~$ 100M over 2 years
— some streamers in the niche earn up to $ 1M per month
👉 What this means for the market:
iGaming streaming is no longer just content — it’s a full-scale acquisition channel with budgets comparable to top athletes and major ad campaigns.
⚠ Key trend:
some streamers are already considering launching their own platforms to capture more margin instead of relying on existing operators.
