SBC News

UK affordability check clash looming on the horizon

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A showdown is brewing in Britain involving the Gambling Commission, horse racing, the betting industry, campaign groups and MPs, all over one big issue which has been fiercely debated for over five years.

This is of course, Financial Risk Assessments, as the Gambling Commission and 2023 Gambling Act review White Paper call the measures, or ‘affordability checks’ as critics in racing and betting industry circles prefer to call them.

The Commission’s decision to press ahead with Financial Risk Assessments (FRAs) – the most extensive of the two types of affordability measure, the other being light-touch Financial Vulnerability Checks (FVCs) – has seen an outpouring of criticism.

It has now been reported by the Racing Post that the British Horseracing Authority’s (BHA) attempts to gain information about the Commission’s decisionmaking around affordability checks fell on deaf ears in the months building up to the July decision.

Commission to face the affordability music?

This weekend, ..

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Congressman wants facial recognition to verify age of bettors, predictions users

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Rep. Josh Gottheimer is leading a legislative effort in Congress to ensure prediction markets and online sportsbooks to verify they accept only age-appropriate users via facial recognition.

On Wednesday, Gottheimer (D-NJ) introduced the Facial Recognition to Protect Children Act, a measure that would require prediction markets and licensed online sports betting operators to deploy facial recognition technology to verify the age of users who want to trade or wager.

Gottheimer introduced the bipartisan bill amid concern regarding the availability of trading and gambling to consumers under the age of 18. According to data provided by Common Sense Media, about 40% of boys aged 14 to 17 have gambled in the past year.

“We’re asking our kids to self-police their way past a system built entirely on the honor code. A kid can log into a parent’s, an older sibling’s, or a friend’s account and place a bet with no verification at all. Nobody checks. That’s it. That’s the whole system,” said Gott..

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Heavily-criticised GSGB reveals problem gambling rate in UK for 2025 was 2.4%

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Overall gambling participation in Great Britain dipped slightly in 2025, according to the latest Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB).

The Gambling Commission’s publication revealed that 59% of adults gambled in the past 12 months, down marginally from 60% a year earlier.

Participation over the previous four weeks edged down from 48% to 47%, while online gambling remained unchanged at 38%.

Excluding National Lottery-only players, gambling participation slipped from 41% to 40% over the past year, and down from 28% to 27% over the previous four weeks.

The National Lottery remained the country’s most popular gambling product, with 31% of adults purchasing tickets, while participation in other charity lotteries held steady at 16%. Scratchcard participation fell slightly from 13% to 12%.

Problem gambling rate dips … slightly

One of the big talking points since the inaugural GSGB in 2023 has been the rate of problem gambling in the UK.

The survey showed a modest decline in the pr..

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1xCare names Advisory Committee expert line-up

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1xCare, the non-profit responsible gambling initiative established by the owner of the global operator brand 1xBet, has created a four-member independent Advisory Committee chaired by Simon Westbury to strengthen the oversight of its player protection programme.

Westbury will be joined by experts in gambling regulation, public policy, programme governance, and sports integrity, who will all contribute to 1xCare’s ambitious programme.

The team will oversee 1xCare’s four core pillars – EduCare, TechShield, Support and Well-Being, and its Research Hub – expanding the Committee’s remit to funding allocation, ethical standards and compliance, focusing on regulated markets.

Looking at the individual Committee members, Westbury will leverage his role as Chairperson to provide strategic leadership, act as the primary spokesperson and monitor the ethical standards and NGO compliance.

Quirino Mancini, Partner at corporate law firm WH Partners and former President of the International Masters..

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Pennsylvania legislators, regulators say it’s time for more gambling rules

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As more states reassess the state of play of their gambling industries, there is a push on multiple fronts happening in Pennsylvania right now for the state to implement a range of new measures aimed at protecting online gamblers.

The bipartisan Joint State Government Commission released a report on Monday that proposes a number of changes, and the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) has put forth suggested regulatory amendments of its own.

What are Pennsylvania legislators suggestions for gambling?

The bipartisan and bicameral research agency of the state General Assembly published a lengthy study on July 13, after being mandated by House Resolution No. 60 to review how sports betting and iGaming are affecting the state and its population.

The ‘Sports Betting and Related Interactive Gambling in Pennsylvania‘ report was written by staff and overseen by the commission’s assistant general counsel. It cites several studies as evidence that increased gambling addiction in Pennsylv..

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Gamstop saw record amount of self-exclusions in lead up to 2026 World Cup

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Gamstop has reported that May 2026 was a month which saw self-exclusion rates on its platform at an all-time high.

The UK organisation further confirmed that under 25s are the most conscious about their online gambling behaviour in light of the problem gambling charity’s latest H1 2026 report.

For the period January-June, Gamstop saw an uptick of 16% in YoY registrations, with May going in the history books as the charity’s most active month on record in terms of new signees.

In that month alone, a total of 12,236 sign-ups were recorded, unlike the rest of the period where registrations have been consistent historically on a month-by-month basis. Gamstop expects the number of new signees in July to “eclipse” May, though, as it confirmed a surge is usually seen after a big football tournament or after England being knocked out.

Matt Burgiss, Head of External Affairs at Gamstop Group, warned: “There is a real risk that people have increased their gambling during the World Cup and on..

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Greece toughens domain enforcement in new strategy against illegal gambling

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Greece has approved a “key cooperation” to allow sophisticated and reactive web-blocking and domain closures against illegal gambling websites.

As announced by the Hellenic Gaming Commission (EEEP) a new strategy has been enabled with Hellenic Telecommunications and Post Commission (EETT) to prioritise “DNS-based” web-blocking and domain name enforcement.

The Commission states that the legislation introduces “a faster, more technically documented and more effective system” for identifying and blocking unlicensed online gambling operators.

The cooperation forms part of the ‘new Gambling Framework’ bill drafted by Minister of National Economy and Finance Kyriakos Pierrakakis, to modernise Greece’s gambling laws and enforcement capabilities against the growing threat of black market gambling.

DNS-based enforcement

The new enforcement will change the EEEP’s approach to how it monitors and penalises illegal gambling websites, which to date have led to illegal websites being solely bla..

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Evolution and UK Gambling Commission saga ends as supplier agrees £4.75m settlement

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Evolution has agreed a £4.75m settlement with the UK Gambling Commission, concluding a licence review launched in December 2024 over the availability of its content on unlicensed websites targeting British consumers.

The settlement relates to Evolution game content being available through two operators across six websites that offered content to British players without a UK licence, in breach of the supplier’s terms of supply.

According to the business, the operators had actively evaded restrictions in place at the time.

The company stressed that “no broader pattern of unlicensed access to Evolution content in the UK was identified” during the 18-month review.

Evolution said it fully cooperated with the Commission throughout the process and immediately terminated its commercial relationships with the two operators after discovering the issue.

Martin Carlesund, Chief Executive Officer of Evolution, said: “At Evolution, we always want to do what is right, and it is not acceptable t..

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Anjouan Gambling regulator hits back at illegal operators and black market claims

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Whether fuelled by the elevated betting engagement of the World Cup or global pressure, the Anjouan gambling regulator has tried to set things straight.

Anjouan Gaming made an abrupt intervention via a statement shared on Linkedin yesterday. The regulator has asserted that its licences are not presented as a means to operate globally.

The Anjouan licensing framework is much maligned amongst more mature iGaming markets. The fact that many regulated markets are grappling with the threat of black market operators has led to Anjouan facing scrutiny.

It feels as if the tensions between the regulated industry and the forces fuelling unlicensed operators in their jurisdiction are at a tinderbox, with a myriad of other players being engulfed in the hostility.

Not least, social media platforms that are awash with aggressive marketing content from unlicensed operators. In the conversations around unlicensed gaming, two jurisdictions are repeatedly mentioned – Curacao and Anjouan.

In retal..

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