Regulatory news. Week №38

🇧🇷 Starting from October 1, Brazil will ban the websites of operators who have not requested licenses.

🇺🇸 New U.S. Sports Betting Law Seen as a ‘Slap’ by the Industry. Congressman Paul Tonko (NY) and Senator Richard Blumenthal (CT) have introduced the SAFE Bet Act, aiming to establish federal oversight of sports betting. The bill focuses on advertising, accessibility, and the use of AI in the industry. 🏟💸

🇳🇿 New Zealand plans to regulate online casinos from early 2026

🇳🇱 The Netherlands intends to make a phased tax increase for gambling operators. The indicator will first grow from 30.5% to 34.2% in 2025, and in 2026 to 37.8%.

🇵🇭 On the contrary, the Philippine gambling regulator PAGCOR announced a reduction in licensing fees for online gambling operators from 35% to 25%. The norm will take effect on January 1, 2025.

Regulation News in #cage. Week №38

🇷🇺 In Russia, “Liga Stavok” won ₽35 million in a lawsuit against “Telesport.” Last year, the joint-stock company promised to help the bookmaker sign a contract with Channel One. The deal fell through, and now “Telesport” must return the advance payment.

🪧 The advertising agency Hamkor Reklama Servis was fined $13,200 in Uzbekistan for promoting 1xBet. Any gambling promotion in the country is considered illegal.

⚾️🧢 The Major League Baseball (MLB) players’ union has filed a lawsuit against several U.S. bookmakers, accusing them of improperly using the names and images of hundreds of baseball players on their platforms.

🫷 According to a new report, the Macau government blocked more than 36,000 illegal gambling websites in the first half of the year.

🛑 The Argentine regulator has blocked 1,000 websites associated with online gambling.

☝🏼 The Maltese regulator issued warnings to unlicensed gambling websites. The list includes www.rayvietnam.net, www.rbvn08.com, www.raybet03.com, www.ray097.com, and www.ray40.com.

🤑 In India, 118 local operators are facing tax issues for not paying the 28% gambling tax. Over the past year, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes discovered 658 unregistered offshore operators.

📓 An unnamed iGaming operator failed to provide complete information about the change in company management, for which the Dutch regulator (KSA) issued a warning. KSA gave the operator 20 days to submit the required details. If not, they could face a fine of €25,000 per day, up to a maximum of €250,000, until the information is provided.

Regulatory news. Week №37

💰 The Brazilian government is taking large-scale measures to prevent payment processing by illegal operators ahead of the legal betting market launch on January 1, 2025. One of the publicly announced measures is blocking payments made by illegal operators through Pix, an instant payment service controlled by the Central Bank of Brazil, which is widely used in the betting market.

🖥 The Australian government has decided to completely remove online casino and other gambling advertisements from the Internet. The measure will come into effect soon and will affect all online content, including social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and X. Moreover, by 2026, gambling advertisements will also be partially restricted on TV.

🇩🇪 Google has announced stricter rules for gambling advertising in Germany. Starting in late September, only operators licensed in the local market will be able to use Google’s advertising opportunities to promote gambling.

Regulation News in #cage. Week №37

🇯🇵 Japan has announced its first-ever investigation into offshore casinos. Currently, online gambling is prohibited in the country.

🫣 The CEO of one of Brazil’s largest betting operators, Esportes da Sorte, has been arrested. The company is accused of organizing illegal gambling and money laundering. Moreover, the crackdown has extended to everyone associated with Esportes da Sorte. Recently, popular blogger Doelane Bezerra, who has 21 million followers on Instagram, was also arrested in Brazil.

🗳 The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) lost a court case. Kalshi defended the right for prediction markets to offer bets on presidential elections.

🤼 Bet365 was fined $33,000 in the U.S. The Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) discovered that Bet365 accepted bets on a mixed martial arts fight that had ended a week before the event was listed. Additionally, the regulator found that Bet365 offered bets on events not allowed under New Jersey law, including European friendly soccer matches and American college games (betting on in-state college teams is prohibited). These incidents occurred between February 3, 2022, and January 23, 2023, but the fine was issued only recently. Furthermore, in August this year, Bet365 was also fined $520,000 for illegal odds alterations.

🎰 U.S. regulators also fined DraftKings $19,000 due to a malfunction in one of its online casino slots that stopped generating winnings. Over a week, 522 players from Connecticut played Deal or No Deal Banker’s Bonanza, developed by White Hat Gaming, making around 20,000 spins without winning a single cent, despite the slot’s nearly 95% RTP. Complaints from gamblers were ignored by customer support, which eventually led to the fine. DraftKings also compensated players a total of $23,909. White Hat Gaming, the developer, was fined $3,500 for the technical issue.

🖼 In the U.K., an investigation has been launched into gambling companies that use sports and gambling-related memes to promote their brands. Research shows that memes attract young people four times more often than adults. Memes encourage them to follow bookmaker and casino accounts on social media, where gambling sites and apps are then promoted. Although memes are not technically considered advertising, the ASA has been forced to respond. U.K. advertising laws prohibit promoting gambling to individuals under 18.

😯 The Danish regulator has blocked 79 illegal iGaming platforms targeting Danes, including children and teenagers. Among the recently blocked are ggbet, drip, legzo, 1win, rakoo, 22bet, BC.Game, and others.

🫸 A total of 6,639 gambling websites have been blocked in Kazakhstan (the Ministry did not specify the time period).

Regulatory news. Week №36

👵🏼🧓🏼 Russia is considering raising the minimum age for placing bets from 18 to 25. Additionally, fines for advertising online casinos will be proposed: up to ₽200,000 for individuals, up to ₽600,000 for officials, and up to ₽6 million for legal entities.

🎰 On September 1, a law came into effect in Russia prohibiting bookmakers from using visual representations of casinos and slot machines.

✋ In the UK, new restrictions on betting in online casino slots have come into force. For players over 25, the maximum bet is now £5 per spin, while for those under 25, it’s £2.

⏱ On August 30, the UK regulator launched a six-month project to assess the financial risks of local players. The UKGC has started implementing “soft” financial checks by setting an initial deposit limit of £500 per month, which will be reduced to £150 per month by February 2025. The project’s goal is to identify players showing signs of problem gambling and protect them from significant financial losses.

✉️ Google is tightening its advertising rules for iGaming operators in Germany. Starting September 25, only gambling companies and affiliate programs with a license from the regulator (GGL) will be allowed to advertise on Google.

Regulation News in #cage. Week №36

🛩 Flutter Entertainment intends to appeal the decision of the Georgian court, which ruled in favor of Aviator with a $330 million lawsuit. Aviator had previously won the case against operators for the unauthorized use of its name and logo in the popular crash game of the same name (as we wrote about here).

☎️ Meta has allowed gambling ads through WhatsApp Business in India, Asia-Pacific countries, and Latin America.

🎲 The Ukrainian Gambling and Lotteries Commission (KRAIL) has issued a new license for an online casino. The permission to operate in Ukraine was granted to LLC “Gorillabet,” which operates under the brand GORILLA. However, just two weeks ago, the regulator refused to issue a license as the company failed to confirm receiving a loan.

🔨 Since the beginning of 2024, 6,008 online casinos have been blocked in Kazakhstan.

🏃🏻‍♀️ 162 migrants from China and Indonesia were detained by the Philippine police for running a large offshore gambling business. The operation was conducted at the request of the Indonesian embassy.

Stay tuned for fresh and up-to-date legal news from the gambling industry! 📰✨

Regulatory news. Week №35

🚨 Belgium Introduces Amendments to Gambling Law Effective September 1st. What Changes:

👉🏼 Advertising of any gambling activities, both online and offline, is prohibited. The only exception is advertising at football stadiums, which must be removed by January 1, 2025.

👉🏼 Operators can no longer offer bonuses, free bets, or gifts to customers.

👉🏼 The minimum legal age for players has been raised from 18 to 21 years.

👉🏼 Operators cannot operate a single website for multiple types of gambling activities that require different licenses. If a company holds a license for both sports betting and online casinos, there must be two separate websites as of September 1st.

🤳🏽 Bulgaria Allows Influencer Bloggers to Advertise Gambling. According to the country’s National Revenue Agency (NRA), the recently introduced ban on gambling advertising does not extend to social media. The NRA clarified that this measure applies to traditional media and their online publications and does not affect social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

🙈 Indonesian Authorities Mandate Google and TikTok to Combat Online Gambling. The government has demanded that 18,000 electronic service providers, including Google, Meta, TikTok, and X (Twitter), sign a pact to combat online gambling. Failure to comply with the pact’s requirements will result in the providers losing their registration.

⚽️ The Ghana Football Association Bans Betting on the National Championship. GFA President Kurt Okraku has warned all bookmakers in the country not to offer bets on Premier League matches, with the new season starting on September 6th. Officials explain that this move is necessary to combat match-fixing, which has become more frequent in Ghanaian football in recent years.

Regulation News in #cage. Week №35

📢 Kazakhstan has issued a manhunt for the alleged organizers of 1win. The Financial Monitoring Agency reported that the individuals are suspected of violence, unlawful deprivation of liberty, and organizing illegal gambling activities through the online casino 1win, which generated a criminal income of 3.8 billion tenge (€7.1 million).

📕 In the UK, the police have closed the case against politicians accused of dishonest betting. In June, a scandal erupted when several politicians close to the Prime Minister were suspected of betting on upcoming parliamentary elections using insider information. The police were unable to gather sufficient evidence to charge the party officials, so the criminal case was closed. However, the UKGC will conduct its own investigation.

✈️ Georgian company Aviator LLC won $330 million in a lawsuit against Spribe and Adjarabet for copyright infringement. The operator used the name and logo of Aviator in its popular crash game of the same name.

🌠 Investors have sued Entain in Turkey over a 44% drop in stock value following an investigation into bribery. The investors are seeking compensation amounting to €178 million.

🫣 An Austrian court has ordered Bet-at-home to pay nearly €3 million to a problem gambler. The court found that the claimant was suffering from gambling addiction and that the gambling company exploited this issue without taking any measures to restrict the addicted player from betting.

💻 In Australia, four more illegal gambling websites have been blocked: Casino Australia Online, PokiesBet, Pokiesman, and Smart Pokies. From April to June, the local regulator ACMA blocked an additional 50 websites and 359 URLs, including Richard Casino, Dundee Slots, A Big Candy, Jackpoty, John Vegas Casino, and others.

📱 In India, Telegram may be banned. The platform is suspected of facilitating the spread of illegal gambling. The final decision will depend on the results of the investigation.

🏎 In the Netherlands, the regulator KSA reminded the Formula 1 team Stake F1 Team that the casino Stake, which is the exclusive title sponsor of the team, does not have a local license. Consequently, the team should not have advertised this casino at the Dutch Grand Prix that took place last Sunday. Stake F1 Team did not heed the regulator’s advice, explaining that the casino does not target players from the Netherlands and that there was insufficient time for changes. No response from KSA has been received yet. In places where Stake advertising is not possible, the team usually uses the brand Kick—a gaming and streaming platform supported by Stake co-founders Ed Craven and Bijan Tehrani.

Stay tuned for fresh and up-to-date legal news from the gambling industry! 📰✨

Regulatory news. Week №34

📐 Netherlands Introduces Deposit Limits for Online Gambling.

Players aged 25 and older will only be able to deposit up to €350 per month into their gaming accounts. Additionally, the maximum balance allowed on the account cannot exceed €700. Gamblers under 25 will be limited to a deposit of just €150, with a maximum balance of €350. If a player wants to deposit a larger amount, they will be “rigorously questioned” about the source of the funds. If a gambler loses more than 30% of their deposit or a significant portion of a recent win, this will trigger an intervention from the licensees. The new rules will take effect on October 1st.

💰 Australia Plans to Introduce a 2% Tax on Gambling to Offset Media Revenue Losses if Gambling Ads Are Banned.

🎥 Argentina to Consider Legislation That Will Almost Completely Ban Gambling Advertising in All 23 Provinces.

Regulation News in #cage. Week №34

🇯🇵 Japanese police have announced an investigation into offshore online casinos. The police plan to thoroughly examine operators targeting Japanese users, including determining their locations, investigating methods of money transfers, and assessing the exact volume of visits to such sites from Japan.

🤳🏽 In Ukraine, the Gambling and Lottery Regulation Commission has reported that, with the help of Meta Platforms, Inc., they have removed over 600 gambling advertisements from social media. (Additionally, 64 Instagram blogger pages have been blocked.)

🎲 In Ukraine, government lottery sites have been blocked until martial law is lifted. The State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection has restricted access to the websites of two operators — “Ukrainian National Lottery” and “M.S.L.”

👨🏻‍⚖️ In the US, a class-action lawsuit has been filed against the developer of the game Royal Match. The plaintiffs claim that the game is addictive and violates state gambling laws. Royal Match allegedly manipulates players into purchasing virtual gold coins, which must be spent quickly for the game to continue. According to the lawsuit, the game, advertised as free-to-play, uses psychological triggers similar to those in casinos to encourage excessive spending.

💸 According to an official decision by the British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC), David Smilley, founder of the cryptocurrency exchange ezBtc, used $9.5 million of client funds for online gambling.

💍 In Taiwan, 31 people have been arrested for running online gambling operations for Chinese players. Since 2021, they operated on the island under the guise of a major IT company, registered as Care Well Technology Co. The organizers are a 30-year-old couple who previously worked as software engineers. They hired over 100 people to create a system of casino websites offering poker, mahjong, and other games.

Stay tuned for the latest and most relevant legal news from the gambling industry! 📰✨

Regulatory news. Week №33

💰 The Austrian Supreme Court has ruled that illegal gambling companies have the full right to demand the return of previously paid winnings from players.

🦹🏼 In Australia, more than 60 influential celebrities have signed a letter calling for reform in the gambling industry.

Among the signatories are former Prime Ministers John Howard and Malcolm Turnbull. The letter states that due to gambling addiction, Australians lose more than $25 billion annually, leading to social consequences such as divorces and suicides. To address the issue and protect teenagers, it is proposed to completely ban gambling advertising. However, they recommend implementing the ban gradually over three years. Additionally, operators may be prohibited from running promotions and offering welcome bonuses.

👊 In the U.S., Gemini and Coinbase have come to the defense of Polymarket.

The crypto companies are asking the CFTC to withdraw its proposal for a complete ban on betting on U.S. elections. We previously covered the start of this saga here.

Regulation News in #cage. Week №33

❌ As previously reported, the gaming platform Roblox has been blocked in Turkey. One of the reasons is the presence of illegal online casinos on the platform. Turkey hasn’t stopped there; it has also blocked Instagram and plans to “cut off” Telegram due to the spread of illegal gambling and drugs.

🏋🏼 The Ukrainian regulator KRAIL has blocked five more gambling sites. This time, the regulator has issued orders to the owners of the websites 1xslot.com, bet2casino.fun, betmatch2win.com, betwinner6.com, and kasinos-vip.net. They must close access to these resources within three working days.

🦘 Between April and June 2024, the Australian regulator blocked 50 websites and 359 URLs. Among the blocked sites were: Richard Casino, Wanted Win, Jogi Casino, Dundee Slots, Lucky Hunter, Lucky Wins, Lukki Casino, Spin Fever, Clubhouse Casino, Winport Casino, A Big Candy, Jackpoty, and John Vegas Casino.

📈 In Malaysia, more than 4,484 online casinos have been blocked in a year and a half, since January 1, 2020.

🥴 In Cambodia, over 7,323 websites have been blocked in recent months, including operators of online sportsbooks and casinos.

🫡 42 digital payment apps have received warnings from Indonesian authorities. The Minister of Communication is threatening providers with sanctions for facilitating gambling transactions.

🪞 Gambling holding Entain has filed a lawsuit against Bulgarian bookmaker Sportingwin in the Malta Civil Court over the name. The British gambling giant, which includes the operator Sportingbet, is demanding that Sportingwin change its similar name. Sportingbet has been on the market for over 25 years, while the Bulgarian operator emerged only in 2020. Entain believes that the visual similarity and similar name confuse players.

🙌 In Thailand, a suspected organizer of an illegal gambling network has been arrested. According to the investigation, he managed a gambling site with a monthly turnover of over $14.2 million. The investigation is ongoing. The main suspect remains at large and is presumed to be living abroad.

🇷🇺 The bookmaker BetMGM faces a fine in the US state of Massachusetts. The local gambling regulator is considering sanctions for accepting bets on sports events involving Russian and Belarusian athletes. According to a provision in the law, the company can offer bets if the athletes do not explicitly emphasize their connection to their home countries. The regulator’s office is now reviewing each case to reach a verdict on the bookmaker.

💸 The Netherlands Gambling Authority (KSA) has identified several licensed online gambling providers that are imposing unauthorized conditions on player credit payouts.