In this episode of iGaming Daily, supported by Optimove, Martyn Elliott, SBC’s Project Director, and Ted Menmuir, SBC’s Content Director, focus on the implications of a court ruling against Sky Bet regarding the valid consent of a problem gambler being marketed to. The duo discuss why the case has drawn such significant attention, who is…
UK gambling will move forward to implement new controls, empowering trust and transparency for online consumers, to be applied from 31 October 2025.
New controls have been added by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) to the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP), continuing to apply the recommended reforms of the Gambling Review’s White Paper: High stakes: gambling reform for the digital age.
Changes seek to provide consumers with a more effective way to manage their gambling spend by ensuring that a customer sets and maintains deposit limits when engaging with online operators.
From 31 October, online gambling operators must ensure that a customer sets a financial limit on their account before making their first deposit. Further conditions call for online operators to make it easier for customers to review their spend and modify the financial limit at any point of activity.
New controls detail that online licences will be required to remind consumers every six months to rev..
The Cambridge Health Alliance’s Division of Addiction has announced a new course entitled ‘The Gambling & Recovery Podcast Science Accelerator Course’. It is a free educational opportunity for allied health professionals who are interested in learning about the experience of gambling-related harms through research and lived-experience insight. ‘The Gambling & Recovery Podcast Science Accelerator Course’…
The rise of the black market presents various threats to the safety of the gambling industry and to player safety, one of the less reported is the stark rise of fake games. Duncan Garvie, Founder of BetBlocker, sits down with iGaming Expert to discuss the issue. While researching the rise of fake games, Garvie says…
From this month going forward, Slovakia’s national gambling helpline will be managed by the Predná Hora specialist treatment centre.
The treatment center – a former Bulgarian royalty residence nestled in the Slovakian mountains – has been operating as a hospital for addiction and compulsive gambling patients since 1995.
Its activity includes international collaboration, including participation in joint research initiatives with universities and hospitals from Poland, Sweden, and the Czech Republic.
Vladimír Stanislav, Director of the Predná Hora center, said: “Our system works with a comprehensive treatment program, with the community and, above all, with enthusiastic and committed staff, who believe that our clients are high-quality and valuable individuals who are able and willing to change their lives.”
Predná Hora will operate the new helpline seven days a week from a free telephone number open between 9am-1am, with the option to connect to an answering machine outside of wo..
Matt Bastock
February 3, 2025
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) has fined BetMGM $260,905 for permitting self-excluded gamblers to play on its site.
The PGCB found 152 instances of players who were self-excluded from gambling, placing wagers across the BetMGM and Borgata platforms.
Upon an audit of accounts, 148 breaches of the rule showed over $252,000 in deposits, with around $82,400 being withdrawn. The difference retained by BetMGM & Borgata as a result was approximately $170,000.
Two additional incidents were highlighted as self-reported. The first, in July 2022, saw a self-excluded individual deposit $700, later withdraw $100, and the iGaming provider retain $600.
The second, in July 2023, saw two additional self-excluded accounts have wagering activity. The total deposited was $183,600, with $92,935.59 withdrawn. BetMGM retained $91,648.41.
The overall figure for the period in review saw over $436,000 deposited by individuals who had placed themself on the ..
Matt Bastock
February 3, 2025
The Swedish gambling regulator, Spelinspektionen, has published a report showing an increase in young people’s gambling.
Spelinspektionen was commissioned in 2024 to undertake an investigation into gambling among young people and also minors. The Gambling Authority notes that there has been an increase in gambling not only among 18-24-year-olds but also among those under the age of 18.
The report published questions the underlying factors behind the increase in young people’s gambling and how they relate to the current gambling landscape. It suggests that lottery-like games serve as an introduction to games and marketing in the form of influencers and streaming.
Key Findings: How and Why Young People Are Gambling More
Data from the Swedish Public Health Agency’s 2021 study shows that 34% of those surveyed between the ages of 16 and 17 had gambled in the past year, up from 20% in 2015. The rise was predominantly in young male students, whereas the ..
The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) have been urged by campaigners to investigate the advertising practices of operators targeting consumers.
The call for regulators to investigate the advertising algorithms and data tracking of operators follows a High Court ruling by Justice Collins Rice that Sky Betting and Gaming (Sky Bet) had violated UK data protection laws.
The High Court had arbitrated a former problem gambler’s case against Sky Bet for advertising to him without obtaining valid consent. Sky Bet was accused of using cookies to create an extensive profile of the problem gambler to target him with personalised adverts via third parties.
The gambler is reported to have lost £45,000 over a decade playing with Sky Bet. He was profiled as a ‘high-value customer’ and did not opt out of marketing communications.
Upon review of the evidence, Justice Collins Rice determined that Sky Bet had breached data protection laws, as its mechanisms..
Alberta’s government has stopped funding a non-profit organization that provides education and other support for problem gamblers as the province prepares to expand its online gambling market.
The government has provided the Problem Gambling Resources Network with $129,700 in annual funding on an annual basis via a deal that has been in place in some form for more than 30 years.
However, earlier this month, the network’s Executive Director Ray Reshke told the Canadian Press was told the government was ending its three-year contract, meaning that the Edmonton-based organization “had our rug pulled out from under us a year early.” Reshke said the money represents 95% of the network’s annual budget but will now run out at the end of February, and he fears the organization will have to shut down as a result.
The network does not offer direct counselling but does offer a drop-in centre and an education program which Reshke estimates has held “around 10,000 gambling education presentation..
Wire Industries and Birches Health are teaming up to provide bettors with access to responsible gaming education and tools.
Wire Industries, owner and operator of sports betting marketplace WagerWire, has announced a partnership with behavioral healthcare company Birches Health to promote RG, help bettors identify signs of problem gambling and address any related issues.
As part of the deal, Birches Health and Wire Industries will collaborate to create a collection of clinical materials that are designed with the modern bettor in mind. WagerWire will also integrate Bitches Health content into its social media.
Wire Industries will also host Birches Health clinicians on online audio platforms.
“Wire Industries was created with the sole purpose to empower bettors and create an environment of responsible gaming,” said Wire Industries CEO Zach Doctor. “By working with Birches Health, we join ourselves with another innovative company in the industry that is also doing whatever they can ..