Africa is viewed as one of the great hopes for growth by the international gaming industry, but the spread of sports betting and online casino in markets across the continent brings with it player protection challenges. Drawing on insights from proprietary research by SBC Media and 1xBet for the International Player Safety Index, our expert…
Responsible gambling tools such as deposit limits have limited effects on curbing risky behaviour, according to a new study of more than 24,000 online sports bettors in Australia. Tools that merely raise awareness or set voluntary limits rarely change behaviour unless they directly restrict access to betting. The findings raise questions about whether current harm-minimisation…
With Finland’s regulated commercial gambling market set to launch in July next year, Partner Jon Hautamäki and Associate Trainee Niko Hannolainen at Helsinki-based law firm Nordic Law provide iGaming Expert with a deep analysis of the regulation and the direction the market is heading in.
The success of the entire gambling reform depends on whether licensed operators can win players back from the offshore market. Several regulatory tracks are developing on top of the Gambling Act, but their cumulative effect on channelisation has not yet been considered.
Finland’s online gambling market will open to licensed competition on 1 July 2027. Applications for operator licences will open on 2 March 2026. For the first time, private operators will be able to offer sports betting, online casino games, online slots and online money bingo under a regulated framework. Physical slot machines and casino games will remain under a separate, state-controlled, exclusive license.
The Gambling Act is ba..
Šimon Vincze, Head of Sustainable and Safer Gambling for Casino Guru, writes for Player Protection Hub’s sister publicartion iGaming Expert, addressing a subject that many shy away from, yet is of the utmost importance when it comes to strengthening safeguards for the industry. I remember when I first heard that we should publish a course on suicide…
Kindbridge and Axis are looking to Deep Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and esketamine to tackle gambling harm
The legislation that would task the federal government with establishing national guidelines for regulating sports betting advertising may have been approved by the Senate two years in a row, but not all Canadian politicians in Parliament are convinced it’s the right way to go.
Bill S-211 would mandate the Minister of Canadian Heritage to consult with federal and provincial government representatives and a range of stakeholders to develop nationwide standards. Particular focuses would be on identifying measures to restrict ads as deemed appropriate, assessing ways to promote research and intergovernmental information-sharing and establishing guidelines for the prevention and diagnosis of gambling harms and addiction.
Last week, the National Framework on Sports Betting Advertising Act got its first lengthy presentation since it passed the Senate in October, as members of the House of Commons offered their thoughts to start the second reading process.
Sports betting hindsight and fore..
Better Gambling Forum Chair Shawn Fluharty is trying to reshape how the world thinks about regulated gambling. Interview by Steve Hoare
Benchmarking player protection across Africa Across Africa, gambling regulation and player protection are evolving at pace. New laws, emerging regulators, and growing political focus have placed safer gambling firmly on the agenda. Yet progress is uneven. While some markets are moving quickly toward modern frameworks, others remain constrained by unclear rules, limited enforcement, and the…
UK Gambling Minister Baroness Twycross has formed a specialised Illegal Gambling Taskforce to fend off the black market.
The formulation of the task force comes after years of warning by the regulated industry that black market operators are becoming increasingly prevalent in the UK.
This was raised multiple times during the debate around industry taxes last year, with operators arguing that over-taxation would lead to licenced operators taking measures that could push customers to the black market.
However, when the government ultimately put up taxes from 21% to 40% on online gaming (from April 2026) and gaming in general, except retail, from 15% to 21% (from April 2027), it included a commitment to investing money into combating the black market.
Although the taxes have yet to come into effect, it could be expected that the task force will receive some gambling tax-based backing. The Baroness-led taskforce may be an early fruit of the government’s planned anti-black market labour.
On the Department for Culture, Media and Sport LinkedIn profile, Baroness Twycross said: “Our Taskforce will work together over the next year to ensure that people who wish to gamble can do so safely, with the right protections in place.”
BGC backs task force
Some important details were also shared on LinkedIn by Grainne Hurst, CEO of the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), who was in attendance at the taskforce’s launch event.
Hurst outlined that the government has clearly set out its mission, which apparently involves “uniting key players across the industry and beyond, including tech companies and payment providers.” At this time, however, not much else has been revealed about the initiative.
Other than that, Hurst reminded of the scope of the black market in the UK – with 1.5 million people staking up to £4.3bn on it.
The severity of the problem has also been previously highlighted in reports from various organisations, such as Deal Me Out (DMO), a gambling harm prevention and education organisation.
A substantial survey from April last year drew answers from a UK pool of 1250 children, 300 adults and 10 gambling content creators, finding out that more than £10m has been deposited into the black market by adult consumers alone.
Breaking down the numbers further, £3.6m of the above amount was staked by individuals who are suffering from problem gambling, £1.9m from general consumers, and £5.1m from the 10 content creators – who, surprisingly or not, were paid to market illegal gambling websites.
DMO further states that 67% of respondents told them that they were self-excluded via Gamstop from licensed betting sites – the Ladbrokes, Corals, Paddy Powers and bet365s etc of the UK gaming sector – but continued gambling with black market firms.
Studies like those from DMO, while more limited in scope than those by the government or Gambling Commission, indicate that there is an extensive black market in the UK that requires attention.
Gamstop itself also revealed last year that around one-in-10 self excluded gamblers admit to regularly using offshore, unlicensed ‘non-Gamstop casinos’. This would align with the stat often cited by the BGC and others that around 10% of UK gambling volume takes place within illegal markets.
“While any proposal to work against the harmful black market is obviously welcome, it’s going to be an uphill battle,” the BGC’s Hurst wrote on LinkedIn. “Already the scale of it is huge – 1.5m Brits stake up to £4.3bn on the black market each year.
“Unfortunately, the significant tax rises on our sector will inevitably drive even more consumers out of the regulated market and into the hands of unscrupulous illegal operators.
“They are so incredibly harmful because they have no age checks, no safer gambling tools and no consumer protections. Nonetheless, it was good to see the Government bring people together to get talking about the subject. And to acknowledge the sheer scale of the problems we now face.”
Not everyone is convinced of the extent of black market activity, not necessarily in the UK but across other markets. In the Nordics, where industry cases about the black market are similarly used to argue against stricter regulations and in favour of market liberalisations, academics have doubted the extent of illicit activity.
In this episode of Martin Lycka’s Safe Bet Show, Martin is joined by Dr Mary Donohue, CEO of the Digital Wellness Center, for a powerful conversation on how neuroscience, technology, and behavioural science can reshape the future of responsible gambling. Dr Donohue shares the personal story behind founding the Digital Wellness Center after surviving a…