In today’s episode of iGaming Daily, SBC Media Manager Fernando Noodt is joined by SBC Media Director Martyn Elliott and iGaming Expert Editor Joe Streeter as the trio discuss whether current regulation, taxation and industry practices are unintentionally fuelling the growth of the gambling black market, and what needs to change to stop it. Tune…
The UK government’s Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) has confirmed that it is finalising the list of those who have received funds from the new statutory levy for gambling harms. OHID is responsible for the £30m portion of the levy that has been branded ‘Gambling Harms Prevention: Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE)…
Kansspelcommissie (KSC), the Belgian Gambling Commission, has reportedly opened an investigation into one of its greatest-ever footballers in Eden Hazard after he became a global brand ambassador for Stake.
The former Chelsea and Real Madrid winger signed a partnership with the Easygo-owned business last week, which initially raised eyebrows as Stake is not licensed in Belgium.
The KSC is set to keep a close eye on how the deal unfolds, as advertising illegal gambling services to people in Belgium is banned.
If the advertising campaign is deemed to be targeting a Belgian audience, Hazard could face legal prosecution, including an administrative fine which could potentially be as much as €700,000 (£605,000)
“We are going to investigate to what extent that advertising is targeted at people in Belgium, because that is of course prohibited,” Stefaan Savenberg, a KSC spokesperson, confirmed to Belgian news outlet VTM NIEUWS.
“Mr Hazard has many Belgian followers on his Instagram pag..
Spanish gambling will pivot to a ‘new system of accountability’ for player protection built on new commands for licence holders to identify risks and intervene on gambling threats and prevent fallouts.
The message came from Mikel Arana, Director General of the DGOJ, as he was presenting the “Juego Seguro 2030” (Safe Play) programme for Spanish gambling, which has been co-designed alongside the Advisory Council of Responsible Gambling.
The programme will be implemented from 2026, through to 2030. It forms part of the DGOJ’s mission to ‘redefine a new regulatory philosophy’ and enhance both player protections and gambling environments.
Tackling problem gambling head-on
From 2026 onwards, the DGOJ will develop Safe Play initiatives based on the ‘core structure of comprehensive protection’, which it is confident will uphold ‘safe environments, and the analysis and diagnosis of harms and threats’.
The programme will not be applied as a legislative decree. However, the DGOJ will apply t..
Dutch gambling licence holders have been informed of new guidelines to ensure that marketing campaigns comply with ‘targeting rules’ set by the Kansspelautoriteit (KSA).
Since July 2023, the KSA has imposed a ‘ban on untargeted mass-market gambling advertising’, a policy applied across all Dutch media channels.
The ban formed part of the first revisions to the Remote Gambling Act (KOA), the legislative framework that launched the Netherlands’ regulated online gambling market in October 2021.
Under strict orders, licence holders must ensure that marketing campaigns target audiences aged over 24 years old, with campaigns required to demonstrate a minimum 95% compliance threshold.
Operators must also show evidence of age-gating, audience segmentation and protective algorithms, with clear instructions that campaigns should be terminated when these compliance tools are deemed insufficient.
Since 2023, the KSA has issued penalties of €400,000 to operators, including Bingoal, Hillside ..
More people than ever in the UK are seeking financial guidance following gambling losses, according to new data from GamCare and PayPlan.
Debt provider PayPlan reported record demand in January 2026, with 21,000 contacts across the month – a 22% year-on-year increase – as specialists flagged a growing link between debt and gambling harm.
Publication of the results comes amid political pressure mounting on the UK gaming sector once again, with MPs like Dawn Butler of the Labour Party focusing heavily on the industry’s societal impact and effect on vulnerable people.
Butler is leading a campaign for the government to scrap the ‘Aim to Permit’ rule around retail licensing, taking particular aim at Adult Gaming Centres. The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Gambling Reform is also calling for another review of betting legislation, despite the last one having only concluded in 2023.
Growing demand
Meanwhile, GamCare revealed that the number of people using its Money Guidance Serv..
Finnish gambling operator Paf has reduced its mandatory annual loss limit from €16,000 to €15,000, meaning it has now halved its original €30,000 annual loss cap introduced in 2018.
The move marks the latest step in a multi-year strategy to curb high-intensity play and shift towards “more sustainable revenues”.
Paf has previously stated an ambition to lower the annual loss limit further to €8,000 per year, though no timeline has been confirmed.
“We are extremely proud that, through concrete measures and long-term investments in responsible gaming, we have now managed to halve the first loss limit that was introduced in 2018,” said Christer Fahlstedt, CEO of Paf.
“It clearly shows that we are serious about our ambition to be a sustainable entertainment company. We have been clear about our ambition to take a strong stance on responsibility as a gaming company and to drive development towards a better gaming market.
“Unlike many other operators in the industry, we are also prepared..
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has delivered its opinion that insolvency proceedings should enable EU states to freeze the bank accounts of non-European licensed online gambling operators.
The legal opinion, published on 5 March, was delivered by Advocate General Rimvydas Norkus in his review of Case C-716/24.
The AG was tasked with examining the interaction between “EU cross-border debt recovery and insolvency proceedings” and how certain mechanisms can be applied to offshore gambling operators operating outside of the EU’s remit.
The decision has been fuelled by a claim brought by a German player seeking to recover approximately €57,000 in online gambling losses from an operator incorporated in Curaçao. After obtaining a default judgment in Germany, the claimant applied to freeze bank accounts believed to belong to the operator in the member state of Cyprus using the European Account Preservation Orders (EAPO).
The EAPO scheme was created to enable creditors ..
The third survey on German gambling prevalence calls for tougher monitoring of gambling environments as the Interstate regime provides stable data, but academics refuse to question unfixed liabilities.
German authorities and the Bundesländer (states) have been urged to strengthen the “Verhältnisprävention” (structural prevention) framework embedded within the Fourth Interstate Treaty on Gambling (GlüStV 2021).
The recommendation forms the principal conclusion of the Glücksspiel-Survey 2025, conducted by the Institute for Interdisciplinary Addiction and Drug Research (ISD) and the University of Bremen. The survey is published on a bi-annual basis, with research funded by Germany’s state lottery association, the Deutscher Lotto-und Totoblock (DLTB).
The third edition of the survey concludes that the Bundesländer and the federal gambling regulator, the Gemeinsame Glücksspielbehörde der Länder (GGL), should prioritise “structural prevention rather than relying primarily on individual r..
The Faculty of Education at the University of Trnava has been enlisted to develop a new programme aimed at raising awareness of gambling risks and harms among the public, institutions and authorities of the Republic of Slovakia.
The project has been launched through a ‘memorandum of cooperation’ agreed by the university and the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Slovakia (URHH), with the aim of bringing “professional knowledge and academic training” into Slovakia’s education and government systems to minimise exposure to gambling harms.
The new initiatives will provide the faculty with access to national gambling data, enabling it to develop an educational framework for both lecturers and students.
The programme will examine key areas including gambling regulation, addiction prevention, the risks posed by digital environments and the emergence of new online gambling formats.
Academic fix
Upon completion, the University of Trnava will publish professional consultations and academic ..