Steve Hoare

President Sheinbaum hand forced on Mexican gambling deficiencies 

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Damián Martínez: SBC Noticias
President Claudia Sheinbaum has finally confronted the glaring liabilities of Mexico’s gambling laws. Yet her actions appear driven more by growing scandals than by a genuine effort to replace an 80-year-old legal charter, reports Damian Martinez of SBC Noticias.

Confronted by national media in the glare of a widening scandal, Claudia Sheinbaum has stated that Mexico’s gambling laws must be modernised to combat criminal activities that have exposed and benefitted from current liabilities.

On Wednesday, the President of Mexico held a press conference in which she acknowledged the flaws of a gambling regime governed by the Federal Law of Games and Lotteries of 1947.

“The regulations for online casinos must be updated, because when the law was created, this way of betting didn’t exist,” Sheinbaum said. “As a result, it must now be regulated, because otherwise it opens the door to money laundering.”

Her remarks followed revelations that 13 casinos are under federal investigation for allegedly facilitating multimillion-peso cash movements and international currency transfers aligned with recognised money-laundering typologies.

At a subsequent briefing, Omar García Harfuch, Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection, revealed that both physical and virtual casinos had, exposed “patterns of risk, fiscal irregularities, unusual operations and transnational financial connections that compromise the integrity of the financial system.”

The joint investigation carried out by the Financial Intelligence Unit, Federal Fiscal Prosecutor’s Office and the Attorney General’s Office has led to the temporary suspension of multiple venues, the blocking of online gambling sites, and the freezing of accounts linked to suspect operations.

Federal police described intricate schemes in which online casinos used identity theft and prepaid cards to move money abroad before returning it to Mexico as “legitimate” business income.

A relic of prohibition
The scandal draws renewed attention on the structural weaknesses of the 1947 law, a relic that views that gambling should be tolerated by Mexican authorities rather than legitimately governed.

More than a decade in power, the MORENA government continues its transition from the administration of Manuel López Obrador to Claudia Sheinbaum’s presidency.

Yet a sidelined gambling sector and police authorities are mounting pressure to repeal and replace the legislation, a reform long stalled in committee amid concerns over corruption, tax evasion and moral opposition from religious and conservative groups.

Last month, Congress approved Sheinbaum’s 2026 national budget, which introduces sweeping increases in IEPS (Special Tax on Production and Services)—the so-called sin taxes. The measure doubles levies on gambling, sugary drinks, violent video games and tobacco, with the government arguing it will strengthen public finances and discourage harmful consumption.

Industry demands 2026 guarantees
Mexico’s regulated gambling industry is worth an estimated $10 billion, modest beside the more liberal markets of Brazil, Colombia and Argentina. Yet the sector remains fragmented, divided between state-level permits and administrative licences issued by the Interior Ministry (SEGOB) and lacking a coherent national framework for online play.

Industry groups and trade associations have urged the government to begin legislative modernisation in 2026, insisting that the sector underpins tens of thousands of jobs and contributes significantly to hospitality, tourism and entertainment—pillars of the economy that Mexico hopes to showcase as it co-hosts the FIFA World Cup alongside the United States and Canada.

The Mexican Association of Gaming Suppliers (AIEJA) has long urged the government to modernise the country’s gambling laws. In previous campaigns, the trade body presented detailed proposals to transform gambling into an economically positive sector that could stimulate hospitality, leisure and tourism.

AIEJA argued that properly regulated gaming could enhance the appeal of Mexico’s resort destinations and generate substantial tax revenue. The vision was not to rival Las Vegas, but to harness the industry’s potential as part of a broader economic ecosystem. Successive administrations, however, rejected these proposals, with MORENA maintaining that the risks of liberalisation outweighed the fiscal rewards.

Failure will cost MORENA
The political question now is whether MORENA can deliver. Sheinbaum’s government must strike a delicate balance: tightening controls against illicit finance while legitimising an industry long treated as marginal. Success will require more than legislative tinkering; it demands institutional rebuilding—aligning fiscal, security and tourism policies around a sector newly recognised as economically vital.

If the administration succeeds, Mexico could emerge from 2026 with a modern, transparent gambling framework fit for the digital age. If it fails, it will greet the World Cup as a co-host still struggling to keep the game fair—off the pitch as much as on it.

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Dutch regulator homes in on young bettor behaviours

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Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), the Netherlands Gambling Authority, has initiated an investigation into young adult’s attitudes towards sports betting.

The project will focus on people within the Parkstad region, and will be conducted in collaboration with local football club Roda JC Kerkrade of the Eerste Divisie (Dutch 2nd division).

Results will help the regulator devise a stronger strategy around raising the awareness of sports betting risks among people aged 18-24.

According to the KSA, Roda JC was picked as a strategic partner for the initiative thanks to being “the only club in the Netherlands that has deliberately turned down a sports betting sponsorship” – making it a “logical” choice for the regulator in its venture to tackle betting-related harm head-on.

Jordens Peters, Roda JC Managing Director, said: “With this awareness campaign, we want to contribute to the de-normalization of sports betting. There seems to be almost social pressure to participate, because the subject is discussed everywhere. That is what we want to draw attention to.

“Cooperation with the Gaming Authority is a logical step in this regard. The research offers valuable insights to open the conversation and to develop activities that really make a difference, in line with our role as a socially engaged club.”

The research itself will focus on three key areas – investigate what percentage of young adults in Parkstad engage with sports betting, the frequency of betting and amount of money spent, as well as their own views on the sports betting sector.

Surveys will run in November and December, with the final results expected to be delivered in early 2026 and serve as a basis for follow-up collaborations between the KSA and Roda JC.

Last year, the Kamer received a set of recommendations on gambling policy aimed at safeguarding public health. The advice urged lawmakers to increase funding for research into the psychology of gamblers under 24, particularly among young men.This age group is considered the most vulnerable to gambling-related harm, and its needs must be factored into the forthcoming overhaul of the KOA market.

As previously noted, the report will help the regulator develop educational programmes aimed at raising awareness of young adults about the risks of sports betting.

Michel Groothuizen, Board of Directors Chairman at the KSA, added: “With this research, we get a clear picture of how young adults experience sports betting – not only what they think, but also what they do.

“This knowledge is crucial for effective measures. Roda JC is a strong and credible partner in Parkstad, with a prospect of national upscaling.”

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ACMA hopeful self-exclusion figures will support BetStop review

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The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has stated that self-exclusion leads to improvement in quality of life, but it remains to be seen whether the figures carry the needed weight for a wider impact.

Results were showcased in an ACMA-commissioned report conducted by market research firm ORIMA between May and June, from a pool of 381 participants. Given that 12,876 participants were invited, the final sample size represented a 3% response rate.

Responses were taken from users who evaluated their experience with Australia’s national self-exclusion register BetStop. Results showed that four in five people (77%) who self-excluded themselves from online and phone wagering for a period of time witnessed an improvement in their overall quality of life.

A total of 79% of those 381 said they’ve experienced improved mental health, while 69% of the whole pool reported better relationships with friends, family, and partners.

What’s more, 81% of all surveyed said they’ve completely stopped betting on sports or racing events, while 15% reported a decrease in their betting activity after self-exclusion.

Carolyn Lidgerwood, ACMA member, said: “We know online gambling causes a great deal of harm for too many in our communities. It is wonderful to see that the national self-exclusion register is having a positive impact. The stories shared with us are both moving and compelling.

“We want to make sure everyone who uses phone or internet gambling in Australia is aware of their options for self-exclusion. It only takes five minutes to register, and this could change your life.”

BetStop has been operated by Dataworks Group on behalf of the ACMA since the register’s launch in August 2023. Under Australian law, the register became the subject of a statutory review after 12 months of operations, which is still ongoing.

The ACMA believes that the results will help inform the review in question, but again – whilst self-exclusion is in fact proven to help those suffering from problem gambling, it remains to be seen whether the report itself will have a significant impact on the review given its small sample size.

Tie-in with wider Australian reforms
There is currently another ongoing debate around gambling on the highest political level, quite fierce at that. It revolves around the implementation of the Murphy report – a series of recommendations laid out by the late Peta Murphy in a multi-party parliamentary inquiry into online gambling harm.

Whilst the BetStop statutory review is a separate matter, it is entirely possible that the actions of current Australian PM Anthony Albanese’s cabinet in regards to the Murphy report will also reverberate over to the self-exclusion registry.

As there’s currently no single national gambling regulator in Australia – gambling matters are usually handled either by the ACMA for media complaints/violations and AUSTRAC for anti-money laundering obligations, the Murphy report supported the creation of a national body to end the fragmented governance of Australian gambling, spread across six territorial states.

Within its 31 recommendations, the report suggested the creation of a single national regulator that would supervise all gambling-related licensing, advertising, data collection, penalty enforcement and harm prevention initiatives such as BetStop.

Research, treatment and education funding has also been touched upon in the report, with Murphy suggesting a levy for online wagering service providers that would secure a constant finance stream for gambling harm infrastructure – potentially supporting BetStop’s operations as well.

Albanese himself has recently found himself under significant pressure by the opposition, which has accused him of delaying the report’s implementation in the interest of the gambling sector.

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EPIC looks to research and digital innovation as it celebrates 30th jurisdiction

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EPIC Global Solutionsproclaims 2025 as its most expansive year achieving milestone of its harm prevention programme, beyond what its founders envisioned in 2013.

Expanding its harm prevention practice beyond UK-shores, EPIC Global is now active in 30 jurisdictions, helping the safer gambling policy stakeholders in mature and emerging markets.

Its international expansion phase is underscored by EPIC Global forming 47 active relationships with partners spanning all key functions of gambling as a high-risk sector.

Reflecting on EPIC’s trajectory, CEO Paul Buck stated: “When we founded EPIC in 2013, we believed harm prevention needed to sit at the centre of gambling policy, not at the periphery. To see our work now embedded across 30 jurisdictions is a powerful sign that the industry is ready to place prevention on equal footing with regulation and commercial growth.”

North American expansion
EPIC’s momentum has been particularly evident in North America, where it has established itself as a frontline responsible-gaming services provider to market leaders including FanDuel and BetMGM. Its training and consultancy programmes have supported more than 95,000 individuals across the continent, including 27,801 NCAA athletes and staff during the 2024/25 academic cycle.

Meanwhile, the Know Your Play digital portal—developed with ROGA, Kindbridge and RGC—reached 68,435 US college students in just eight months, marking one of the largest youth-focused RG interventions in the region.

EPIC has also deepened its footprint in the daily fantasy sports category, designing tailored training modules for PrizePicks and Underdog. Its work played a central role in PrizePicks becoming the first DFS operator in North America to secure iCAP accreditation for responsible gaming.

Commenting on the market’s evolution, EPIC North America SVP Teresa Fiore said: “North America’s rapid expansion in sports betting brings extraordinary opportunity, but also new responsibility. Our work across the U.S. and Canada is centred on one principle: protecting people. By embedding lived experience, education, and behavioural insight into every partnership, we are helping teams, operators, and regulators create environments where individuals can thrive safely.”

Expanding UK reach & Euro bespoke programmes
Beyond North America, EPIC continues to cement its leadership across the UK and Europe through renewed and expanded partnerships with major operators, sports leagues and integrity bodies.

Entain reinforced its long-term commitment by commissioning EPIC to deliver global staff training across multiple territories, achieving a 99% positive satisfaction rate. In the UK, Sky Bet and Flutter maintained EPIC as their core partner for staff RG training for an eighth consecutive year.

Meanwhile, EPIC played a central role in the launch of William Hill and the Scottish Professional Football League’s gambling-harm education programme, now active across all 42 Scottish clubs and delivering post-session awareness uplift of more than 93% among players.

In Greece, lottery and gaming technology giant INTRALOT elevated EPIC to review and enhance RG frameworks across its active markets, while newly formed FDJ United partnered with EPIC to design specialist training for customer-care teams to strengthen intervention protocols.

Across all territories, EPIC’s programmes engaged more than 109,000 people between September 2024 and August 2025. The reach spans professional athletes across Europe, North America and Australia; operator staff across 18 global gambling brands; youth and community groups; and tens of thousands of students engaged through NCAA partnerships and digital education portals.

This breadth reflects EPIC’s core philosophy that effective training must be grounded in lived experience, blending behavioural science with real-world narratives to shift culture, strengthen empathy and embed sustainable harm-prevention practices.

Beyond Training: 2026 Digital Innovation and R&D
EPIC’s expansion is increasingly driven by research, digital innovation and a dedicated R&D strategy designed to future-proof harm prevention. Among the organisation’s most significant advances is a pioneering PhD study examining gambling’s impact on women’s elite sport, presented at leading conferences in New York and Finland. EPIC has also developed a suite of multilingual eLearning modules for the European Athletes & Players Association (EAPA) as part of the continent-wide PROtect Integrity project, delivering specialist education in English, French, Spanish, Italian and Danish.

Further innovations include scenario-based digital learning tools designed to strengthen early-risk recognition, alongside scalable interactive learning platforms capable of delivering bespoke content across global markets.

On EPIC’s shift towards a research-led future, CEO Paul Buck added: “The future of harm prevention lies in evidence, technology and lived experience working in unison. Our investment in research and digital learning is not a side project—it is central to how prevention must evolve if we’re going to stay ahead of emerging risks in a globalised gambling market.”

As EPIC enters 2026, the organisation’s combination of global programme delivery, expanding R&D capability and lived-experience leadership signals a new era of harm-prevention strategy—one in which prevention, innovation and player protection are increasingly recognised as essential to the long-term sustainability of the gambling industry.

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New public health strategy targets male fallout of gambling harms

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The government’s newly published “Men’s Health Strategy” calls for a deeper focus on how problem gambling impacts the male population of the UK, with an ongoing understanding towards policy treating gambling harms and consequences as a public health issue.

Announced by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), led by Secretary Wes Streeting, the strategy recognises that gambling-related harms are ‘disproportionately experienced by men’ and that young men in particular are more likely to gamble online, particularly with casinos.

Its publication comes seven months after the Select Committee on Health and Social Care, tasked with scrutinising departmental policy in this area, called for an urgent review of the 2005 Gambling Act to ensure that public health is factored into legislation.

National approach to gambling harm
Though the government has heeded the Select Committee’s calls to some extent – there is no commitment to yet another review of the Gambling Act, as White Paper recommendations were published in April 2023, and are yet to be fully implemented.

Responding to the strategy, Greg Fell, President of the Association of Directors of Public Health, said: “We are pleased to see this new strategy emphasises preventing the many avoidable illnesses and diseases – including a number of cancers and respiratory and mental health conditions – that are driven by smoking, drinking and gambling.”

A key pledge is the development of a ‘coordinated approach’ on gambling harm prevention, set at the national, regional and local level. Campaign groups and gambling treatment organisations, like GambleAware, had previously highlighted the need to gambling treatment policy to be tailored for different local considerations.

The government envisions a national-regional strategy including support for local authorities and the voluntary sector, development of digital tools, and building of evidence of best policy and practice.

The voluntary sector can expect to receive a grant from April 2026 to fund prevention programmes with a focus on young men aged 25 to 34, and both white British men and those from ethnic minority backgrounds.

This grant is going to be separate to the statutory levy on research, education and treatment – the RET levy – which came into effect in April this year as a key recommendation of the 2020-2023 review of the 2005 Gambling Act. Levy payment collections began on 1 September, at a rate of 0.1% and 1% depending on gambling activity type.

The strategy has praised the levy as being independent from the sector, a reference to the often repeated criticisms of GambleAware, the chief commissioning body for gambling harm prevention and treatment programmes, that the organisation was too dependent on industry funds.

Other pledges include greater data collection and evaluation, and delivering the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) research programme to address gaps in evidence and research into gambling harm.

James Grimes, Director of Chapter One, a prevention programme run by the gambling reform advocacy group Gambling with Lives, said: “The release of this strategy is very welcome, especially in its recognition of the health harms caused by gambling – harms felt by countless men across the country.”

Another score for gambling law reform
The government’s new strategy has seen gambling written into the NHS’ 10 Year Health Plan, alongside alcohol, drugs, tobacco and vaping – a clear endorsement that the government is increasingly viewing gambling as a public health issue as possible.

Outcomes will be indicative of the NHS taking a prominent role in gambling harm prevention and treatment, previously dominated by the charity sector. The NHS’ role had already been considerably expanded when NHS England was given the job of commissioning projects via RET levy funds.

The health body takes over this task from GambleAware, which is subsequently going to shut down in March – although the government is also in the process of scrapping NHS England itself as a part of a wider cost cutting and efficiency push.

As mentioned above, various stakeholders have been calling for such an approach over the past few years, including GambleAware, the Social Market Foundation (SMF), NHS professionals and other treatment specialists, and politicians.

Throughout 2025, various politicians have been calling for the government to take another look at gambling regulation. Layla Moran, Chair of the aforementioned health and social care Select Committee, is one such voice.

“The Men’s Health Strategy should be a golden opportunity for the government to get serious about reducing harms caused by gambling addiction,” Moran told PoliticsHome yesterday.

“The committee has already called on ministers to consider regulations on gambling ads, particularly to limit the frequency and kinds of promotions and incentives that can be sent to encourage individuals to gamble.

“And as many local authorities often struggle to prevent gambling venues from clustering on high streets in deprived areas, due to a lack of resources in the face of legal challenges, we say that public health officials should be given a greater say in the planning system.”

The strategy suggests that Moran and others have achieved at least some of their goals. In its assessment of local approaches to preventing gambling harm, the strategy notes that ‘several local authorities are introducing advertising and sponsorship policies that restrict exposure to gambling marketing’.

Today’s Men’s Health Strategy, coupled with the debate around taxation which has seen over 100 Labour MPs voice support for higher gambling tax rates, all seems to indicate a government policy in favour of tighter regulation and monitoring of this industry. This could perhaps see a two pronged political approach to gambling, treating it as both a business issue and a health issue, depending on the topic.

“The first ever Men’s Health strategy is an important milestone, and the fact that it correctly identifies gambling as a significant risk is particularly welcome,” said Lord Foster of Bath, Chair of Action on Gambling, summarising an opinion likely held by many other British politicians right now.

“Under the leadership of the Department of Health, progress in tackling preventable health issues that disproportionately impact men, such as problem gambling, will at last be possible.”

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ANJ deploys sophisticated self-exclusion for all French gamblers 

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French gambling will be protected by a new design and functionality of its “Interdiction Volontaire” national self-exclusion register for gambling harms.

l’Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ) France Gambling Authority has upgraded to a fully digital system that simplifies registrations, enhances identity verification and shortens activation to one day.

The Authority completes a key pledge to secure French gambling with its “ most significant update to France’s player-protection regime since the programme was created.”

The upgrade fully replaces the original protection scheme, introduced in 2007 under the Ministry of the Interior, when self-exclusion required players to attend a police station, complete paper forms, present ID and undergo one-on-one interviews for self-exclusion.

At that time, the ban applied only to casinos and gaming clubs. The scope widened after online gambling was legalised in 2010, eventually becoming part of the national register when the ANJ took over in 2020. Since then, the regulator has sought to modernise the process and extend its coverage in line with evolving responsible gambling requirements.

The 2025 digitisation introduces a fully online enrolment pathway via interdictiondejeux.anj.fr. Players authenticate their ID, complete a dynamic selfie through IDnow and receive confirmation once the ban is activated.

The ANJ aims to reduce activation to a single day. More than 85,000 people are currently registered, up from 40,000 in 2021 when the regulator assumed responsibility. Registrations have risen by 25% over the past two years, with 19,000 new entries recorded in 2024.

ANJ data shows that 77% of registrants are men. Individuals aged 18–24 represent 23% of the list, often citing exposure to heavy marketing or illegal gambling channels.

The 25–34 segment accounts for 33%, with sports betting the leading trigger for exclusion. Those aged 35–49 represent 25%, primarily driven by sports betting and online poker. Among players aged 65 and above, casinos remain the principal concern.

Moving forward the ANJ will launch personalised user accounts in 2026, allowing registrants to access documentation, track their exclusion status and request a lift after the three-year minimum period. A new call-back mechanism will also be introduced to gather user feedback and strengthen ongoing support.

The regulator states that the redesign aims to make self-exclusion “faster, more accessible and more secure” as France steps up efforts to reduce gambling-related harm across both online and land-based environments.

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DCMS introduces new player safety standards for prize draws

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Player protection around prize draw competitions in the UK has been significantly strengthened through a new code of conduct by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).
Championed by Gambling Minister Baroness Twycross, the voluntary code has already been signed by 23 prize draw providers. This is an important milestone, as prize draws do not fall under the remit of the Gambling Act 2005, hence lack the otherwise stringent player protection measures mandated by the gambling framework.
The prize draws sector, however, is still a highly popular offering among the UK population, with the DCMS estimating the market’s value at £1.3bn annually in 2023 fueled by 7.4 million adult customers and more than 400 operators. A total of 88% of the player pool was also engaged with commercial gambling and lotteries.

What’s included in the provisions?
Since prize draws support both a paid and free entry route, the voluntary code spans across the two options. For paid entries, there will now be a £250 monthly cap on credit card entries, in addition to a blanket ban on credit card use for all instant-win competitions.
Signees also need to ensure that free entry routes are sufficiently publicised and accessible for all eligible players. Meanwhile, operators will have to implement measures to identify and mitigate against harm, such as signposting to support when necessary.
When signed, the code will also require robust age verification procedures to be put in place to ensure that access is only provided to players over the age of 18.
Harm prevention provisions dictate that operators have to plan for monitoring of any financial harm or distress, excessive participation, frequency of spend limit reached, behavioural patterns, and more.
Prize draw marketing also needs to be conducted in accordance with the UK’s ASA standards and be compliant with the CAP and BCAP codes of conduct.
Accountability and transparency measures bind operators to specific clauses that ensure the constant assessment of their compliance with the code, review of active third-party contractual obligations, best practices exchange, and close DCMS collaboration.

Code success could lead to legislation change
As previously mentioned, the voluntary code was welcomed by Gambling Minister Baroness Twycross:

Fiona Twycross, Baroness Tycross – Source: House of Lords
“Millions of people enjoy entering prize draw competitions every year, and they should be confident that reasonable protections are in place. Thanks to the introduction of this code, that will be the case.

“I want to thank all of the operators who have already signed up, both for their cooperation in developing the code, and their commitment to following it moving forwards.”

James Oakes, President of Omaze – one of the code’s inaugural signees, added: “Omaze is proud to be a founding signatory of the new Code of Conduct. As the UK’s largest prize draw operator, we’ve consistently set industry-leading customer safeguards, whilst raising over £100m for charities across the country.
“As more and more companies offer prize draws, we welcome DCMS’s introduction of this Code and look forward to all operators committing to the same high standards.”
Whilst the code is not a legal requirement, the DCMS added that if proven successful, the UK Government might consider making it official legislation.

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Romania to set gambling age at 21 as coalition pushes sector reset

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Two draft proposals have been submitted to Romania’s Parliament, as parties forming the new Liberal Pro Europe Coalition government desire to drastically overhaul the governance of gambling.
Last week, Raluca Turcan, a Minister of the Liberal Party (PNL), submitted a draft proposal demanding that Parliament increase the Romanian age of gambling from 18 to 21.
Turcan called for PNL ministers to back her proposal as the “simplest measure to restrict gambling at the most fragile age”.

Protect the Age of Innocence

Turcan’s draft bill marks the PNL Party’s first step in addressing gambling reforms, a subject matter that has grabbed national attention.

The PNL minister views the age of 18-21 as the “most emotionally and financially vulnerable stage of those entering adulthood” – a period she sees as defined by impulsivity, early income management, and limited understanding of long-term risk.

The proposal aims to provide “a window of emotional and financial maturity” by restricting gambling access until age 21. Turcan highlighted successful precedents in Portugal, Greece and Moldova, where raising the legal age helped reduce youth indebtedness and early signs of gambling addiction.

Her proposal recognises the recommendations of a youth report made by international charity Save the Children which recommended Romania raise the legal age for gambling and ban gambling advertising across all mediums.

USR calls for toughest measures
A second, more sweeping draft bill was filed by Diana Stoica of the Save Romania Union (USR), marking a long-anticipated intervention by a party that is the most outspoken critic of Romania’s gambling sector and its regulatory failures.

Stoica noted that the bill responds to a “national drama hiding in plain sight,” citing research that one in four Romanian teenagers has participated in gambling before turning 18, with many starting before age 14.

Her proposal introduces a strict 06:00–24:00 ban on online gambling advertising, reflecting the digital habits of minors and young adults. It also prohibits the use of influencers, athletes and online personalities, arguing that these figures “normalise betting” and act as the primary gateway for youth gambling.

Additional measures include mandatory, prominent “addiction-risk warnings”, and a clampdown on indirect marketing through cultural or sports sponsorships when these campaigns serve as covert promotional tools.

Both proposals call for an overhaul of the Jocurilor de Noroc (Law of Games of Chance) incorporated in 2009 and last revised in 2023. Changes are needed to incorporate stricter age rules, digital-era advertising limits, and mandatory warnings.

ONJN to face reckoning
The USR has long called for a complete overhaul of gambling governance following a series of high-profile fallouts earlier this year that exposed severe structural failures at the national regulator, ONJN.

At the centre of the controversy was a failed financial audit, which revealed that ONJN had neglected to collect almost €1bn in tax and licensing income, a fiasco that dominated news cycles at the start of the year. ONJN defended itself by claiming that successive governments had failed to update and integrate tax-collection systems despite annual changes to gambling duties since 2018.

The scandal prompted a leadership reshuffle, appointing Vlad-Cristian Soare as the new head of ONJN. Yet the office remains under scrutiny, with USR openly advocating for ONJN to be disbanded entirely.

The party wants the Ministry of Taxation to assume temporary control of gambling oversight until the coalition establishes a new governing authority with modern compliance systems.

Adding further pressure on ONJN, September saw a wave of city mayors and municipal governments demand the right to licence and tax gambling establishments directly. The mayors argued that the change was urgently needed to recover lost revenues and stressed that they had “lost all trust” in the national regulator.

Coalition wants a coordinated push on reforms

Both bills arrive as part of a broader realignment under Romania’s new coalition government, formed in June and tasked with rethinking the country’s gambling, taxation and digital-economy policies.

New Finance Minister Alexandru Nazare, appointed by newly elected President Nicușor Dan, has been mandated to review and change gambling taxation once again.

As disclosed earlier this year, The Ministry of Finance is preparing a major redesign of the tax regime, set to take effect from June 2026, introducing new tiered tax bands on player winnings and increasing licensing fees across all gambling activities.

Nazare painted the measures as necessary: “We want to send a very important signal regarding the taxation of gambling, which we know very well how harmful it is to vulnerable communities when left unchecked.”

Although the PNL and USR proposals differ in scope, together they reflect an accelerating consensus within the governing bloc: Romania’s gambling sector requires a structural reset from youth protection and digital advertising to taxation, oversight and regulatory accountability.

Further legislative activity is expected in the coming months, as coalition partners prepare additional proposals on education, prevention, compliance, and long-term youth protection as Romanian politics views 2026 as a year of change for the gambling sector.

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Gamban launches “permanent” iOS app to celebrate anniversary

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Problem gambling support tool Gamban has marked its 10-year anniversary with the launch of a semi-permanent iOS mobile app.

Gamban emerged on the market in 2015, introducing the first-of-its-kind gambling blocking software for Apple Mac computers and pushing software innovation in the space forward for mobile devices.

In particular, Gamban differentiated its app by limiting the user’s ability to remove it from their Android devices at will whenever they had the urge to gamble, achieved through a myriad of investment, research and development, the company added. This functionality has now been transferred over to iOS as well.

At Gamban’s anniversary event in Shoreditch, Co-Founder Jack Symons said: “What sets us apart from other options is our commitment and ability to continually invest in our approach to blocking gambling. We are not interested in a minimum viable solution – gambling blocking software is far too important to do on the cheap.

“In line with this aspiration, we are pleased to announce that our new version for iPhones will be impossible to be removed by users for their chosen duration of protection. This will enable more peace of mind for Gamban users and their families as they embark on their recovery journey.”

While a full launch date hasn’t been specified yet, the iOS update is currently being beta tested in a variety of languages, including English, French, Spanish, Norwegian, Finnish, Dutch, Brazilian Portuguese and Japanese.

Besides a gambling block, the mobile app also includes features such as tracking the amount of saved time and money whilst away from gambling, as well as the ability to signpost to localised treatment services.

The success of Gamban was evidenced in the numbers provided at the anniversary event, with the company claiming that more than 460,000 people have used its app since 2015. Blocking of all types of gambling is currently available on the blocklist, which features around 350,000 domains and apps, and adds 300 new ones daily.

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GambleAware provides a loose fit on UK gambling attitudes 

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GambleAware has reported that more than five million people in the UK want to reduce or stop gambling altogether. Yet the headline figure appears loosely benchmarked against national population estimates.

The charity has used its annual Treatment and Support survey as a basis, which was conducted by YouGov over November and December 2024.

In total, the surveyed amounted to a total of 17,933 people, of which six in ten adults (60.8%) reported to have gambled at least once in the last 12 months at the time of the study.

Furthermore, the YouGov findings highlighted that one in six (16%) of those 60.8% reported that they want to either reduce or quit gambling entirely.

GambleAware’s estimate is based on extrapolated findings from a pool of 17,933 respondents against 2024 population figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), a method that raises questions about the accuracy of its portrayal of public attitudes to gambling.

ONS figures showcased that the total UK adult population stood at 53.5 million people. GambleAware has taken that and multiplied it by the 60.8% figure from the YouGov study, loosely highlighting that 32.5 million people gambled in the 12 months before the study was conducted.

That 32.5 million estimate was then multiplied by the previously mentioned 16%, resulting in around 5.3 million people who want to either quit or reduce their gambling.

Again, these figures are purely speculative, with GambleAware imposing the results from a survey pool of 17,933 people over the total UK population of 53.5 million as per official ONS estimates.

What the survey actually says
Examining the survey alone, YouGov highlighted that 80% of the total respondents who gambled in the last 12 months were happy with their current gambling habits.

Of that total, 62% were confident that they do not gamble very much, while 44% saw no need to reduce or quit gambling as they have not experienced any negative consequences. Additionally, one in five (20%) said they viewed gambling as fun, while 9% saw no gains from reducing or quitting.

“The qualitative data shows that the main reasons for participants not wanting to make changes to their gambling were because they felt that their gambling was under control, or because they perceived it as a fun activity and enjoyed the occasional wins, alongside the potential of ‘a big win’,” the report said.

“This was even the case among those who had previously experienced ‘problem gambling’, where people preferred having clear limits and better control over how much they gamble, as opposed to wanting to reduce or stop altogether.”

GambleAware to provide needs until final day…
GambleAware has historically been the commissioner of gambling harm education, prevention and treatment across Great Britain, but will close its doors in March next year.

The decision to close down the Charity and its twenty years of services is due to the new statutory levy introduced by the UK government that appointed three new commissioners across England, Scotland and Wales.

Until its closure, the charity will remain fully active and ready to deliver the necessary support for those experiencing gambling harm, with services like its support finder or spend calculator expected to remain operational until GambleAware’s shutdown in March.

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