The Nordic gaming company Paf has dropped its mandatory loss limit from €16,000 to €15,000 per year for all customers. Paf is dropping its loss limit gradually. It is now half the first loss limit of €30,000 per year that was set in 2018 and it is aiming to hit an annual limit of €8,000.…
Paddy Power has set out its plans to evolve the retail gaming experience through a new collaboration with ClearStake and the debut deployment of ID by bank in the retail space.
The new agreement aims to transcend the traditional brick-and-mortar experience by bolstering the digital experience within the retail space, giving the land-based sector a much-needed uplift when it comes to UI and the verification process.
Martin Burt, ClearStake CEO, commented on LinkedIn: “The same challenges exist in retail as they do online, and ClearStake provides a proven way to address them. This rollout shows how digital verification can enhance compliance and efficiency in physical venues, not just online.
“We’re proud to be supporting innovation in retail verification and look forward to seeing how bank-based ID continues to evolve across the UK market.”
The transition into retail seeks to reduce friction, bolster consistency and strengthen compliance for the operator, potentially shifting the ..
The Swedish National Audit Office is calling for stronger coordination between the Public Health Agency, the National Board of Health and Welfare and the county administrative boards when it comes to improving problem gambling support in Sweden.
Riksrevisionen underpinned the urgent need for Folkhälsomyndigheten and Socialstyrelsen to elevate their collaboration to support the Riskdag in reducing the negative impact of excessive gambling.
The National Audit Office emphasised that urgency is crucial as gambling problems have increased among children and young people.
High quality but failing to meet needs
The Public Health Agency’s and the National Board of Health and Welfare’s knowledge and support on gambling harm were described as ‘high quality’, but failing to meet the ‘municipalities’ needs for practical guidance to detect and prevent gambling problems, especially in children and young people’ as such support is ‘currently lacking’.
There is also a desperate need to update th..
Romania’s gambling regulator, the ONJN, has finalised the contract for the development of a new self-exclusion IT solution to be rolled out nationwide.
The announcement comes from ONJN President Vlad-Cristian Soare, who shook hands with the leadership of the Bucharest-based National Institute for Research and Development in Informatics (ICI), which will be tasked with creation of the tool.
Replacing the existing technical standard, the new solution will implement a modernised infrastructure that allows for remote player self-exclusion through ID and biometric verification scans.
“I said from the beginning that self-exclusion will not remain a project on paper. It is a commitment that I carry out, step by step,” Soare said on LinkedIn.
The agreement is one part of a long list of ideas that the ONJN is working on implementing to improve Romania’s self-exclusion system, which safer gambling proponents have long argued is outdated and represents a risk to the population.
It was just r..
The CEO of the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), Andrew Rhodes, is stepping down from the leadership role in the midst of the British betting sector’s biggest readjustment in decades. Rhodes’ departure from the Commission was announced by the regulator early this afternoon, with his resignation date confirmed as 30 April 2026. This comes 30 days after the HM Treasury’s new…
GamCare recorded a significant increase in referrals to treatment and peer-based support services in January 2026, following contact with the National Gambling Helpline and its live chat service.
The charity made 996 referrals during the month, up from 674 in January 2025 – a 48% year-on-year increase.
Excluding referrals to peer-based support services such as the Money Guidance Service and Way Forward, treatment referrals rose to 742, compared with 603 in the same month last year.
January 2026 was one of the highest referral months that GamCare has recorded in the past five years, with only October 2025 (1,165 referrals), September 2025 (1,022) and August 2025 (1,077) exceeding the figure.
“More people affected by gambling harms are choosing to start treatment,” said Victoria Corbishley, CEO of GamCare.
“The National Gambling Helpline is a 24/7, confidential route to support, and our advisers rapidly connect people with free, specialist help across Great Britain. That first conv..
The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) is evaluating whether the final destination for regulatory settlements paid by British betting operators should change.
Consultations are now open until 2 April on the potential amendment of section 2.39 of the UKGC’s ‘Statement of principles for determining financial penalties’.
Under the current texts, payments made as part of regulatory settlements do not need to be paid into the government’s Consolidation Fund.
The Consolidation Fund collects government proceeds from means such as taxation, which are then used to subsidise public initiatives. These include compulsory financial penalties imposed by the UKGC in relation to regulatory breaches under section 121 of the Gambling Act 2005.
However, as stated above, regulatory settlements – which are negotiated agreements at heart – do not currently end up in the Consolidation Fund, which the UKGC is now looking to amend.
“This would ensure that any future regulatory settlements, which are an impo..
iGaming stakeholders in Finland have warned that the proposed player protection recommendations would ensure the majority of gambling is taking place on the black market.
Speaking out against the proposed recommendations, Wildz Group told the Gambling Harm Risk and Harm Assessment Group in the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health that they would weaken player protections.
Meanwhile, SkillOnNet described the proposals as “too restrictive”, arguing that they will negatively impact channelisation rates and increase gambling harm.
The supplier lamented the lack of attention that it believes is currently being paid to eradicating the black market.
Several player protection obligations have been pitched by Finland’s new gambling act to prevent and reduce gambling harm in the commercially licensed market.
Measures include land-based slots having more stringent loss limits than online slots, loss limits – triggered at daily, monthly and annual limits – being centralised by government..
Romania’s regulator, ONJN, has asked the Ministry of Finance to take emergency measures and revamp the country’s self-exclusion framework.
ONJN’s President, Vlad-Cristian Soare, announced that they’ve put forward a proposal for an emergency ordinance (OUG) to iron all current existing gaps in Romania’s gambling legislature regarding player safety.
An OUG is usually reserved for extraordinary regulations that cannot be subject to delay, addressing matters that require urgent attention like natural disasters or economic crises – signalling that the ONJN is potentially moving to paint problem gambling as a national health matter.
Soare, who became the ONJN President in 2025 after a massive tax hole scandal saw the previous President step down, commented: “I promised that self-exclusion will not remain a paper project, as I found it when I took office, but will be implemented in three stages: functioning within the current regulatory framework (already implemented), legislative amendment to remove existing dysfunctions and implementing a modern IT solution (currently being implemented).”
Bringing self-exclusion into the modern era
In his LinkedIn post, Soare highlighted in detail what the ONJN is seeking to achieve with the help of the Ministry of Finance, listing some major improvements in Romania’s self-exclusion framework.
For one, the ONJN wants clearly defined self-exclusion periods for players to choose out from, including an indefinite option and cool-off periods in which self-exclusion cannot be withdrawn – a staple of player protection legislation across multiple mature EU gambling markets.
The ONJN also wants mandatory provisions that obligate operators to recover the deposits made by players who have been self-excluded but still given access to gambling services regardless.
Sanctions envisioned for gambling providers who have been found to be in breach of self-exclusion rules could be facing sanctions of between 50,000 and 100,000 lei (£8.5k – £17k), with repeated or serious non-compliance offences potentially escalating to license suspensions.
The proposed changes also lay the foundation for a truly centralised and simplified self-exclusion network, which the ONJN can enforce effectively against both online and land-based gambling providers.
For that reason, besides simplifying self-exclusion terminology to minimise confusion for players, the regulator is also looking to feature prominent self-exclusion information across online gambling websites and roll out specialised QR codes across gambling halls which would lead to the same national self-exclusion resources.
Lastly, Soare noted that he also seeks to break the ONJN’s exclusivity of its remit over gambling regulation and extend it over to Romanian Police authorities as well, while also being in active talks with the National Institute for Research and Development in Informatics to develop a brand new modernised and cost-effective IT network.
A 40% year-over-year uptick in young people self-excluding from online gambling has been recorded by Gamstop.
The increase relates to individuals aged 16-24 and covers the six-month period ending 31 December 2025. This age group, according to the self-exclusion scheme, represents 29% of all total new registrations.
More details revealed that 38% of under-25s prefer to self-exclude for a duration of six months. For all total registrations, the most preferred option (47%) is a five-year self-exclusion.
For those choosing five years, Gamstop introduced an additional auto-renewal option at the end of 2024, with the scheme highlighting that the option’s popularity has been steadily climbing, and that at the end of 2025 it was selected by more than 50% of five-year exclusions for the first time since its introduction.
These stats are, of course, relating to online gambling. In addition, Gamstop has also unveiled its new Multi Operator Self-Exclusion Scheme for Betting Shops (MOSES) identity, which rebrands Gamstop Betting Shops and integrates better with its online self-exclusion service.
This improved integration will replace the old method of having to self-exclude from retail venues via phone, with customers instead being able to do so online.
MOSES offers a maximum self-exclusion option of 18 months, currently covering around 6,000 retail shops and more than 60 operators, and more than 9,000 people on the register.
Fiona Palmer, CEO of The Gamstop Group, which operates both MOSES and Gamstop Online, said: “Our brand refresh reflects the evolution of Gamstop and will deliver clarity, consistency and accessibility while preserving the trust and integrity built over the last eight years since we launched.
“The continued year-on-year growth in registrations highlights the ongoing and increasing need for effective self-exclusion tools. The rise in take-up of our auto-renewal option, in particular, shows that many consumers are seeking longer-term support and recognise the value of self-exclusion in helping them manage their gambling.”