Outgoing Entain chairman Barry Gibson set the tone for the day at the SBC Summit in Lisbon by unveiling a five-point plan to tackle illegal operators. Following the Betting & Gaming Council’s research on the scale of the black market, Entain has engaged Regulus Partners to find a way of dealing with the issue. The…
Entain has backed a Regulus Partners report which has asked the UK government to “implement a concerted policy crackdown on the growing threat of black market operators to grow revenues and enhance player protections”.
Revealed at SBC Summit in Lisbon by Entain CEO Barry Gibson, Regulus Partners’ report sets out a series of policy proposals to combat unlicensed operators in the UK and internationally, helping to “close a tax gap of almost £340m for the UK Exchequer across the next parliament”.
“Taking on the black market operators should be a key priority for policymakers around the world,” commented Gibson
“It will tackle crime and raise money which could be spent on critical areas such as healthcare, education and infrastructure. It would ensure that customers get greater protection from playing with fully regulated and legitimate operators.”
Entain noted that Regulus Partners’ report showed that “black market participation in the UK is still growing” despite the country’s “prop..
Image: Jessica Yurinko Photography
Integrity Compliance 360 (IC360)is a leading global technology and consultancy firm specializing in comprehensive integrity and compliance solutions for the gaming industry, formed earlier this year by the merger of U.S. Integrity and Odds On Compliance. Asrticle author Eric Weiss is IC360’s Managing Director of North America and formerly spent 30 years with the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement.
As we observe Responsible Gaming Education Month (RGEM), it is an opportune time to recognize the notable achievements of the online casino and sports betting industry in promoting responsible gaming practices.
Since the inception of online casino gaming in 2013 and the advent of online sports betting in 2018, the regulated sector has shown a strong commitment to safeguarding at-risk individuals by providing access to essential resources and support.
Key initiatives include:
Equipping players with ongoing education and self-regulation tools.
U..
BetBlocker, a gambling harm prevention charity, will launch the Portuguese version of its award-winning blocking software at SBC Summit, SBC’s flagship event in Lisbon.
Hot off the back of receiving the Jim Wuelfing Annual Award for Prevention from the National Council on Problem Gambling in the United States, the charity is pushing to expand in new languages to ensure that their best-in-class, anonymous to use, and free support tool is accessible by more people than ever.
With over 200 million native Portuguese speakers worldwide, this launch removes a significant language barrier for crucial support that can now be accessed by millions of people impacted by gambling harms across the world.
Founder and Trustee for BetBlocker, Duncan Garvie, had this to say about the launch of the Portuguese version of the app:
“BetBlocker is the only free and anonymous to use blocking software. Users can go from download to blocked in less than two minutes. But only if they understand the set-up instr..
The National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) is evaluating how regulated sports betting markets across the country protect consumers.
The NCPG has released a report, U.S. States’ Online Sports Betting Regulations: An Evaluation Against National Council on Problem Gambling Standards, providing an analysis of how regulated markets adhere to their laws and regulatory frameworks.
The report, prepared by Vixio Regulatory Intelligence, uses public information from states and their regulatory agencies. It does not include data on RG practices by operators.
“This report is the first time that state sports betting laws and regulations have been evaluated against the NCPG’s Internet Responsible Gambling Standards,” said Executive Director Keith Whyte. “With the widespread adoption of legalized sports betting, NCPG felt there was a need for a report comparing sports betting laws and regulations to the IRGS.”
The NCPG’s Internet Responsible Gambling Standards (IRGS) provide guidance in gami..
New research from the Canadian Gaming Association (CGA) suggests that regulatory policies around gambling advertising are evolving at a faster rate than relevant evidence and warns the misalignment could lead to regulations that are wide of the mark.
The CGA, along with leaders from GP Consulting and Eilers & Krejcik, published a comprehensive research paper evaluating gambling advertising and regulatory intervention.
The idea was to undertake what the CGA called a “rapid review” of available academic literature on the responsible gambling-related impacts of sports betting and online gaming advertising. The CGA notes that “rapid reviews” are recognized by the World Health Organization and governments worldwide as efficient tools for informing health policy and communicating information to stakeholders.
The paper drew upon dozens of academic, peer-reviewed publications from the last 10 years that researched exposure to gambling advertising and its impact on consumers’ gambling behavi..
The UK Gambling Commission has called for the gambling industry’s continued cooperation to strengthen the Gambling Survey for Great Britain.
Ben Haden, the UKGC’s Director of Research and Statistics, sent out the request in a blog post following the publication of the first quarter of participation figures for year two of the GSGB last week.
The latest GSGB figures, covering a nationally representative sample of 5,191 adults aged 18 and over who were interviewed between January 2024 and April 2024, stated that overall gambling participation was 48% in the past four weeks.
Delving deeper into this overall participation figure, the online gambling rate was 38%, falling to 16% when removing lottery draws, while the in-person gambling rate was 29%, dropping to 18% when excluding lottery draws.
GSGB feedback
While the development of the GSGB is still in its early stages, the UKGC’s Research and Statistics Director thanked gambling sector stakeholders for voicing their opinions on the s..
Prime Minister Dick Schoof of the Netherlands expressed his confidence in the Conservative Coalition’s plan to strengthen Dutch laws and restrict high-risk gambling.
He addressed the Kamer after Wednesday’s presentation of the 2025 Dutch Budget, where the coalition government confirmed a ‘two-stage tax hike‘ on gambling income, raising it from 30.5% to 37.8% by 2026.
Schoof made it clear that the Coalition believes the government must actively discourage citizens from gambling.
Backed by the conservative parties, including the Freedom Party, VVD, NSC, and the Farmers Movement, Schoof fully supports the Coalition’s plan to reform gambling laws. The focus will be on protecting consumers, preventing addiction, and fighting fraud and crime.
When asked why the Budget deviated from its original plan to impose the 37.8% tax starting in 2025, Schoof explained that changes were necessary to address sports funding concerns.
“One of the reasons for delaying this was the strong opposition from..
Vixio, a regulatory intelligence solutions provider, has launched the Vixio Technical Compliance Tool to assist online casino operators with regulatory compliance when entering new markets.
Described as a “one-stop solution for technical requirements in the online casino industry”, the Technical Compliance Tool gathers the need-to-know requirements for providers and operators alike in regulated markets in a consistent format, saving them time in terms of manual research.
The tool will sit within Vixio’s GamblingCompliance platform, which offers insights into specific requirements for over 180 jurisdictions to help users stay compliant with regulatory landscapes and support their growth objectives.
“At Vixio, we’ve always prioritised listening to our customers and the launch of our Technical Compliance Tool is a direct response to their needs,” stated Mike Woolfrey, CEO of Vixio.
“We understand the complexity and urgency of staying compliant in a rapidly evolving industry, and this..
The KSA has reduced the sanction given to Videoslots according to a report by Dutch media outlet, Casino Nieuws.
It’s a decision that came off the back of an appeal by the group, which led to the record penalty being reduced from €9.9m penalty to €975,000.
Off the back of the sanction initially being announced in 2023, Videoslots took aim at the KSA accusing the regulator of “abusing the mystery shopping regime”.
In offering detail on what led to this point, the operator noted that in preparation for a KSA application in April 2022, the regulator’s logo was “mistakenly visible for a short period of time”. It is noted that it was “quickly removed”.
However, Videoslots added that the KSA tried to sign-up as a Dutch customer after becoming aware of this, but failed due to the systems put in place. It is also suggested that the regulator accessed the site as a German customer, before making a deposit and sole wager of 20 cents.
Ulle Skottling, Deputy CEO at Videoslots, stated at the t..