Author: Maisie Morrison

TLDR LeBron James announced a partnership with Polymarket on Labor Day weekend, teasing more news to come. Polymarket aired a 90-second ad directed by Peter Berg, featuring Eli Manning, Derek Jeter, Richard Sherman, John Leguizamo and Spike Lee. The campaign coincided with the launch of Squads, a social trading feature inside the Polymarket app. Polymarket ranked first on the App Store for free finance apps, ahead of Kalshi, Capital One Mobile, PayPal and Venmo. Anti-gambling advocates criticized the celebrity endorsements, pointing to a Bank of America study on household betting deposits. LeBron James posted a short video on X during…

TLDR Lagos State and FSGRN declared Stake.com unlicensed and illegal in Lagos and 24 other Nigerian states. Regulators say Stake.com ignored compliance notices and failed to pay taxes for two years. A 2024 Supreme Court ruling confirms Nigerian states have the authority to regulate gambling. Enforcement will target Stake.com’s directors, banks, payment firms, and promoters. The announcement lines up with Africa’s first Safer Gambling Week, running September 7 to 11. Stake.com has been declared illegal in Lagos and 24 other Nigerian states. The decision came from the Lagos State Lotteries and Gaming Authority, working with the Federation of State Gaming…

TLDR Mike Matusow claimed Ike Haxton won $32 million at Triton but actually lost $8 million. Triton’s own records and MTTDB list Haxton’s real winnings near $23 million, not $32 million. A study called the Triton Files shows Haxton down $7.72 million once every buy-in is counted. That number reflects staking deals and buy-in costs, not money Haxton personally lost. Haxton has $65.3 million in career live cashes and ranks seventh on poker’s all-time money list. Poker pro Mike Matusow has spent over a year saying that high-roller poker earnings are misleading. In late August, he took his argument further…

TLDR The Carolina Panthers gave NFL bettors the best return on investment last season at 60.48%, according to a Sports Illustrated study. Carolina finished 8-9 but still won the NFC South and lost to the Rams 34-31 in the Wild Card round. Quarterback Bryce Young posted career highs in passing yards and touchdowns but also threw a career high in interceptions. The Panthers will start the season without both starting offensive tackles due to injury. DraftKings has set Carolina’s 2026 win total at 7.5, with the team facing the NFL’s third-toughest schedule. The Carolina Panthers were the most profitable NFL…

TLDR German investigators raided eleven properties across Frankfurt and the Rhine-Main region The suspected network is believed to have handled more than €5.8 billion in stakes between mid-2021 and the end of 2023 Authorities seized assets worth about €82 million, including luxury cars Tax losses for 2024 alone are estimated at €77.6 million Industry groups are calling for tougher enforcement and a single nationwide licensing system German investigators have broken up a suspected illegal online betting operation worth billions of euros. The case is being called one of the largest of its kind uncovered in the country. Authorities searched eleven…

TLDR FATF says fast growth in online gaming and payment systems is creating new money laundering risks worldwide. Casinos, online casinos, and sports betting remain the most exposed parts of the gambling sector. The report is based on responses from 80 jurisdictions plus industry and law enforcement input. Offshore and unlicensed gambling sites are described as matching or exceeding legal markets in some countries. FATF lists specific red flags for operators, including odd ownership structures and unusual payment patterns. The Financial Action Task Force has warned that online gambling is becoming more exposed to money laundering. The Paris-based watchdog says…

TLDR Sands China trained 42 employees through its Responsible Gaming Ambassador Advanced Training Programme in late August 2026. The programme, now in its 11th edition, focuses on helping frontline staff spot and handle gambling-related concerns. Training included lectures, role-playing, video scenarios, and testing, with a certificate issued by UNLV’s International Gaming Institute. Speakers included experts from UNLV, the University of Macau, and Sheng Kung Hui Macau Social Services Coordination Office. The programme has trained more than 1,000 people since it launched in 2013, and all 28,000+ Sands China staff receive baseline responsible gaming training. Sands China has finished the latest…

TLDR The International Alliance Combating Telecom and Cyber Fraud launched on September 10 with 46 founding countries 34 observer countries and 4 international organizations, including the UN and Interpol, attended the launch Founding members include China, Vietnam, Laos, Kenya, Cambodia, Pakistan, and Russia The alliance will focus on intelligence sharing, cross-border coordination, fugitive tracking, asset recovery, and joint enforcement The group aims to protect the rights and security of individuals and organizations affected by fraud A new international group formed this week to fight telecom and cyber fraud around the world. The International Alliance Combating Telecom and Cyber Fraud was…

TLDR The DRC Ministry of Finance says it alone has authority over gambling regulation in the country. Ordinance No. 25/293 moved oversight of the sector from the Ministry of Sports and Leisure to the Ministry of Finance. Operators have been warned not to pay any department that lacks legal authority to collect fees. The DRC’s gambling sector reportedly earned $1.7 billion in revenue last year but paid only about $1 million in taxes. The government is building a new monitoring platform and legal framework to improve tax collection from operators. The Ministry of Finance of the Democratic Republic of Congo…

TLDR A new analysis of Kalshi’s trade data shows sports contracts made up about 61% of its August volume, not the small slice the company’s legal defense relies on. Contracts with the clearest claim to being financial “swaps,” like interest rates and inflation, made up just 0.6% of money staked in August. Kalshi’s often cited $40 billion volume figure shrinks to $11.4 billion when contracts are measured by actual money staked instead of face value. Parlay bets look like 44.6% of Kalshi’s volume under the company’s counting method, but only 9.6% when measured by money actually staked. Federal appeals courts…