SBC Americas

According to an announcement from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO), PointsBet allowed a Canadian customer to lose CA$500,000 in the span of three months with no interventions from the operator.

The AGCO has levied a fine of CA$150,000 for the operator allegedly responsible gambling violations, which include several infractions related to the user.

Per the AGCO report, PointsBet had flagged the customer as high-risk after a series of canceled withdrawals but the operator did not intervene and offer help or RG services.

Moreover, PointsBet did not require the customer to sit out the mandated 24-hour cool-off period when they removed the per-day deposit limits from their account.

The player also did not give explicit consent to be directly marketed to, however, PointsBet served the user with $35,500 in free play credits and also offered up tickets to sporting events for their loyalty.

“In Ontario, igaming operators have an obligation to proactively monitor their pa..

A new group of US gambling affiliates is essentially banding together to become The Avengers of responsible gambling.

The new group is called the Responsible Gambling Affiliate Association. It consists of the following six affiliate groups:

Better Collective
Catena Media
Gambling.com Group
Oddschecker
Spotlight Sports Group
XL Media

Arguably the six biggest affiliates in the country, the group is uniting to promote elevated standards of advertising that are sensitive to best practices when it comes to online gambling advertising.

“We are committed to doing everything possible to help empower our industry to promote gambling as entertainment and enable our customers to enjoy our products and services responsibly. Having the industry come together with a unified approach to creating standards and guidelines puts the best interests of our consumers, customers, and their families at the forefront. Not only is this the right thing to do for our customers, it’s the best thing to ensure t..

This week the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) announced the latest recipients of the group’s agility grants. This round doled out $176,000 to groups dedicated to problem gambling programs and research.

The list of recipients this round is:

The Alabama Council on Compulsive Gambling Prevention (ACCG)
The Problem Gambling Coalition of Colorado
AdCare Educational Institute of Maine
THe LCADA Way
Maryland Council on Problem Gambling

“Through agility grant funding, we aim to foster dynamic and responsive problem gambling prevention programs, helping to ensure that communities across the country are equipped to address this critical need with flexibility and innovation,” said Keith Whyte, NCPG Executive Director. “Each recipient receiving support this round displayed exemplary commitment to cultural competence, tailoring their approaches with sensitivity to the diverse needs of the populations they serve.”

The NCPG agility grant program is funded through a multimillion-dollar..

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board has issued three fines totaling $73,000 for social responsibility failings from its licensees.

Stadium Casino Westmoreland RE, LLC, operator of Live! Casino Pittsburgh, Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores, and Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment, Inc, operator of Parx Casino have all been fined by the regulator.

Live! Casino Pittsburgh received the largest fine at $30,000 after the casino was deemed to have allowed two self-excluded players to enter the gaming floor and gamble. Meanwhile, the casino allowed a person under the age of 21 to play slot machines.

Parx Casino was handed a $18,075 fine for a failure to submit two license renewal applications on time, while Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores was fined $25,000 for not providing the PGCB with ownership structure changes involving its five VGT truck stop establishment locations.

The PGCB stated: “The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board approved four consent agreements today presented by ..

Daily fantasy sports group Underdog is beefing up its responsible gambling efforts on several fronts, including the launch of a new $1 million investment fund, GuardDog.

The fund will serve as an “investment initiative” with a focus on fostering tech innovations in the responsible gambling space. In addition to providing financial investment, GuardDog will also offer mentorship and consultation from the following individuals:

Adam Warrington, former vice president of Responsible Gaming at FanDuel

Chris Grove, partner at Acies Investments

Dan Hartman, former director of the Colorado Division of Gaming

Sara Tait, former executive director of the Indiana Gaming Commission

In addition to being involved with GuardDog, Warrington is also coming on board as a consultant for Underdog on responsible gambling. Companies receiving GuardDog funding will also be provided access to mentors including renowned responsible gaming advocate, Brianne Doura-Schawohl.

“I’m incredibly excited to partn..

The rate of high-risk problem gambling activity in New Jersey is around three times higher than the national average, according to new research.

Research funded by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement has shown that high-risk problem gambling rates have fallen from 6.3% in 2017 to 5.6% in 2021.

However, this means that New Jersey’s problem gambling rate is around three times larger than the national average in the US. New Jersey is one of the more mature gambling markets in the US with its online casino sector opening in 2013 and sports betting going live in 2018.

The research, titled “The Prevalence of Online and Land-Based Gambling in New Jersey”, was led by Dr. Lia Nower, J.D., Ph.D. from the Rutgers University School of Social Work, Center for Gambling Studies and found that low/mid-risk gambling rates decreased from around 15% in 2017 to 13% in 2021.

“New Jersey has led the nation in evaluating every bet placed online and addressing the impact of wagering on its re..

The West Virginia Lottery Commission has fined sports betting operator Gamewise $7,000 for emailing customers who had self-excluded from marketing material and its platform.

The operator runs online and mobile sports betting for the Wheeling Island Casino and is reported to have sent out promotional material to 70 self-excluded customers being fined $100 per violation as a result.

Though Gamewise self-reported the incident to the commission, it was over a month after the material was sent when the operator notified the regulator of the breach of rules.

Courtesy of WVMetroNews, the State Lottery Director John Myles stated: “It was 45 days before they found out, so we kind of frown on that as well. While it was a programming error–it wasn’t something they did intentionally–we need to show that West Virginia takes those types of things seriously. Because if people have a gaming problem, we want to make sure they are protected.”

The self-exclusion scheme in West Virginia allows peop..

DraftKings came to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) this week hoping to be granted an exception on the state’s new regulation involving logo displays at major sports arenas. It came away from Thursday’s meeting with no exception and a clear expectation from the commissioners that logos at Fenway Park, Gillette Stadium, and TD Garden will need to change.

That could be a very costly endeavor for DraftKings.

DraftKings says TD Garden update will cost “several hundred thousand”

In its waiver application, DraftKings claimed that updating the embedded logo on the wooden floor of the Boston Celtics basketball court at TD Arena would be prohibitively expensive, stating, “the projected cost to update this asset is several hundred thousand dollars, which would be a substantial hardship.”

The operator also argued that the umbrella DraftKings brand is designed to encompass products beyond just sports betting, including DFS, DK Horse, and DK Network. In fact, the embedded logo in the c..

Four University of Iowa players have been fined $645 after pleading guilty to underage sports betting, a criminal offence in the state.

Three footballers and one basketball player were fined by the state court this week following several athletes receiving a similar punishment earlier this month.

Arland Bruce, Reggie Bracy, Jack Johnson and Ahron Ulis will all pay a fine of $645 for sports wagering under the legal age of 21.

Earlier this month, Hunter Dekkers, Jake Remsburg, former Iowa State player Dodge Sauser, and former Iowa athletes Aaron Blom and Gehrig Christensen were all fined the same amount after admitting betting on sports illegally.

The Iowa sports betting scandal has rumbled under the surface for much of 2023, with as many as 50 players being investigated for betting-related offenses.

In more serious cases, Denver Bronco and Iowa State alum Eyioma Uwazurike and Iowa State wrestler Paniro Johnson are being charged with felony identity theft. Both have denied the ..