SBC Leaders speaks to Betting & Gaming Council CEO Grainne Hurst about the impact of UK tax rises and the rising tide of challenges facing the gambling industry Interview by: Steve Hoare Grainne Hurst is a stronger character than many people probably realise – she needs to be. The Betting & Gaming Council CEO spoke…
Hefty regulatory scrutiny has once more come in the direction of The Star Entertainment Group from the New South Wales (NSW) Independent Casino Commission (NICC) in Australia.
The Star Sydney has been slapped with fines totalling A$10m (approximately €6.2m) and an enforceable undertaking to set a further $5m aside to bolster its financial crime risk management operations technology.
A release from the NICC stated that thousands of breaches at The Star Sydney were investigated by the Liquor & Gaming NSW (L&GNSW) last year, resulting in four separate disciplinary matters that led to the casino regulator issuing the following orders:
$1.5m penalty – For allowing customers to continuously gamble without a break longer than the prescribed time limits between May 2024 and April 2025.
$3m penalty – For allowing the conversion of casino reward points to cash involving at least 1,898 patrons between December 2018 and November 2023.
$500,000 penalty – For the failure to prevent entry by an ..
A bill to prohibit licensed sports betting operators in New Jersey from offering micro bet markets is gaining momentum after an Assembly subcommittee advanced the measure on Monday.
The state Tourism, Gaming and the Arts Committee approved Assembly Bill 3258 by a 6-0 vote with one abstention. The bill, introduced by a consortium of Democratic Assemblymembers in January, explicitly bans micro, or “live bets” in the Garden State.
“Micro betting has become an increasingly popular practice whereby bettors can wager on each play in a sporting event,” reads AB 3258. “Examples of micro bets include whether the next pitch in a baseball game will be a strike or whether the next play in a football game will be a pass or run.”
Bill takes live ‘next play’ bets off the menu
AB 3258 provides clarity of what is considered a micro bet, defining the offerings as “a proposition bet which is wagered live, while a sport or athletic event is ongoing, and concerns the outcome of the next play or action ..
Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) now requires some younger players to set mandatory deposit limits to help control their online gambling activity.
Certain players under 25 years old who use OLG’s online platforms must now set a daily, weekly, or monthly cap (or some combination of the three) on how much money they can add to their account. OLG Director of Media Relations Tony Bitonti told Canadian Gaming Business that players will be selected for the new mandatory deposit limits “based on their level of engagement.”
“For example, currently, after a player under 25 deposits $500 or more at one time into their account, they will be prompted to set a deposit limit,” Bitonti added.
Targeted at a vulnerable demographic
The crown corporation said in an OLG press release on June 1 that the new measure, introduced specifically for the under-25 user demographic, is designed to provide further responsible gambling support for a player group that research consistently identifies ..
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis has signed an expansive sports betting bill that implements new responsible gaming standards and procedures for operators and bettors in the state.
Polis signed Senate Bill 26-131 on Monday, a measure making sweeping changes to Colorado’s sports betting market by adding new requirements aimed at protecting bettors in the state. The bill includes a landmark provision for regulated gaming in the U.S. related to how sportsbooks communicate with bettors.
What changes are being made to Colorado sportsbooks?
The Colorado sportsbook measure implements several sports betting-related changes in the Centennial State:
The bill makes Colorado the first state to prohibit the delivery of push notifications or texts to solicit bets
Bettors are no longer allowed to use credit cards to fund player accounts
Operators are barred from using “bonus bet” or “no sweat” language in marketing
Bettors are limited to six separate deposits for a sportsbook in a 24-hour period
Mar..
Finland’s state operator Veikkaus will roll out a new set of individualised safer gambling tools correlating to the harm risk of every major player age group.
The move comes ahead of the rollout of an open betting market in Finland next July. The other major stakeholder in the current system, the Aland Islands’ Paf, has taken similar measures as the duo prepare for the liberalisation of Finland’s gambling market.
From 9 June, Veikkaus customers will have their profiles fitted with a new notification system that tracks their losses and informs them when they approach a certain amount.
The update will move away from the standard €24,000 annual loss limit that is currently in place for all players, and will instead introduce periodical alerts sent out when a certain amount is reached based on a player’s age – with the fastest loss triggers rolled out for the youngest legal gamblers.
Risk lowers as age rises for Veikkaus players
Those aged 18 and 19 will be preemptively alerted when ..
The legislative effort to require sportsbooks in New York to provide players with monthly betting account statements has reached its last step before a potential governor’s signature.
New York Assembly Bill 10329 was unanimously advanced on Tuesday by the state Senate with amendments, sending the measure back to the Assembly for a final vote before heading to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s desk.
How would New York betting statement bill work?
Assemblymember Rebecca Kassay’s consumer protection bill aims to amend New York gaming law to require licensed operators to send sportsbook account holders monthly account activity statements via push notifications. Kassay’s legislation also requires operators to make the statements “continuously accessible through the bettor’s account.”
Under the NY sports betting bill, operators must deliver the activity statements to each account holder within 15 days of each calendar month ending, mirroring financial institutions.
The New York gaming bill also requi..
The Greek government is set to take a new approach to tackling unlicensed gaming, enabling a far more extensive strategy from the Hellenic Gaming Commission (EEEP).
Key to the new roadmap is tapping into AI surveillance and DNS filtering as the gaming regulator looks to tap into strengthened collaboration with the Bank of Greece.
It comes at a time when black market size estimates are drifting around €1.6bn–€1.7bn, triggering urgency from the Greek government to embolden the regulator to enhance its action against the surging issue.
Furthermore, it was a pledge at the start of the year from Greek Economic Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis, who emphasised he would fast-track action to tackle the issue, which costs Greece around €600m in tax revenue.
Underpinning the threat, the economic minister detailed that almost 10% of the population had engaged with the black market sector in some form, revealing just how significant the market exposure of unlicensed operators is.
According to r..
The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) is backing the European standard on markers of harm in gambling publication from the national standardisation bodies of the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN).
Support has been given to the standard, described by the trade association as ‘an important voluntary baseline for identifying risky gambling behaviour’, establishing a strong European consumer protection baseline with its members committed to standard alignment.
The standard received approval from national standardisation bodies in October 2025, while Maarten Haijer, Secretary General of EGBA, has described it as an ‘important milestone’ and said it will help ‘raise the bar on player protection across Europe’.
The association says the standard is ‘the first of its kind in the gambling industry’ and the organisation has been actively involved in its development since proposing it to CEN in 2022, working closely with operators, national authorities, academics and oth..
A new investigation by gambling harm watchdog GAMRS has raised questions about business partners involved in the planned Trump Tower Tbilisi development, alleging links between several construction firms and Santeda International, the global illegal gambling network behind brands such as MyStake, GoldenBet and VeloBet. The report examines relationships between development partners Finvest, BLOX and other…