Author: Maisie Morrison

TLDR The Georgian Gambling Association says unlicensed gambling operators make over $742 million (GEL 2 billion) per year in the country Proposed fine increases would raise casino operator penalties from $2,600 to $7,400, with similar hikes across other license categories The GGA argues higher fines unfairly target licensed operators instead of addressing illegal and offshore platforms Georgian authorities disagree with the industry’s estimate and say enforcement against illegal activity is already underway The industry group is calling for government cooperation to shut down unregulated platforms rather than penalizing compliant businesses The Georgian Gambling Association has raised concerns about the scale…

TLDR Remote gaming duty in the UK will jump from 21% to 40% starting April 2026, with general betting duty rising from 15% to 25% in April 2027. The UK gambling industry generated roughly £16.8 billion in gross gambling income for 2024–2025. The Treasury has allocated an extra £26 million over three years to the Gambling Commission to fight illegal gambling operations. 48% of UK adults reported gambling in the past four weeks, with 2.7% scoring at levels linked to problem gambling. New gaming machine compliance rules take effect July 29, 2026, requiring operators to remove non-certified equipment. The UK…

TLDR The CFTC received over 1,330 public comments on prediction market regulation, with a last-day surge of filings before the April 30 deadline Tribal governments and casino groups argue prediction markets are gambling and should fall under gaming law, not derivatives regulation Academics are split — some praise prediction markets for price discovery, while others flag $143 million in suspicious trading profits Senator Catherine Cortez Masto called prediction markets “nothing more than gambling” and cited national security risks Kalshi created an AI tool to generate supportive comments, but only about 15 of the last 120 filings came from it The…

TLDR South Korea’s illegal gambling market is now estimated at 96 trillion won ($65 billion) 4% of the country’s young people have participated in illegal gambling Youth gambling criminal cases jumped 62% from 478 in 2024 to 777 in 2025 Officials warn the social cost of youth gambling could reach 2 trillion won New gambling commission chairman Choi Byung-hwan took office April 28 with a reform agenda South Korea is dealing with a rapidly expanding illegal gambling problem that has reached an estimated value of 96 trillion won, or roughly $65 billion. The issue is hitting young people especially hard.…

TLDR Kentucky passed HB 904, allowing tracks to offer fixed-odds horse racing wagers alongside traditional parimutuel betting The law takes effect mid-July 2026, but regulations still need to be created before any track can offer fixed-odds Churchill Downs confirmed it will not offer fixed-odds wagering at any of its racetrack properties Lawmakers say fixed-odds betting could attract younger bettors and allow cross-sport parlays with football and basketball Other Kentucky tracks like Keeneland, Kentucky Downs, and The Red Mile could be the first to adopt fixed-odds racing Kentucky has a new law on the books that will allow horse racing tracks…

TLDR BETBY has partnered with QTech Games to provide its full sportsbook solution to QTech’s global operator network BETBY will serve as QTech’s exclusive sportsbook provider, covering over 500,000 monthly events The deal simplifies sportsbook launches for casino-focused operators through a single API integration The partnership targets growth in Asia, Latin America, and Africa Both companies say the deal will help operators deliver localized betting experiences in emerging markets BETBY, a Tier-1 sportsbook provider, has announced a new partnership with QTech Games, a major game distributor and aggregator operating across emerging markets. The deal will see BETBY supply its complete…

TLDR UKGC’s Tim Miller confirmed gamblers won’t need to submit bank statements or financial documents as part of financial risk assessments A pilot study found 97% of customers would undergo frictionless checks with no disruption to their betting Only 0.1% of active accounts needed additional support to complete the assessment, far below the 0.6% originally estimated The Commission issued 741 cease-and-desist notices and flagged nearly 398,000 illegal URLs to search engines between 2025 and 2026 A final decision on implementing the checks hasn’t been made yet, with the Commission awaiting government support The UK Gambling Commission is pushing back against…

TLDR Betsson posted Q1 2026 total revenues of €285.3 million, with a slight decline from the previous quarter due to a 4% drop in casino revenue Latin America revenues hit €95 million, up 25% year-over-year, now accounting for nearly one-third of total company revenue CEO Pontus Lindwall called Latin America a major growth driver, citing low online gaming penetration and structural growth ahead in Argentina The company is preparing for the 2026 FIFA World Cup with increased marketing and a technology development freeze to prevent risks B2B segment performance declined, weighing on overall profitability, though Lindwall said the unit has…

TLDR Macau gaming-related crimes hit 2,373 in 2025, up 63% from 1,456 in 2024 Illegal money exchange cases exploded 429%, jumping from 89 to 471 cases Gaming fraud doubled from 333 to 667 cases, mostly tied to illegal currency transactions Traditional crimes like loansharking and criminal syndicate activity dropped by over 20-50% Robberies linked to casinos rose 250%, from 4 to 14 cases Macau recorded 2,373 gaming-related crimes in 2025, a 63% increase from the 1,456 cases reported the previous year. The data was published by the Office of the Secretary for Security. Officials said the spike was driven largely…

TLDR Colorado’s Senate passed SB 26-131 by a 20-14 vote, sending the bill to the House for further action The bill bans credit card deposits for sports betting and caps daily deposits at six per account Sports betting ads would be banned on broadcast channels between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. during live events A proposed ban on prop bets was removed after fiscal estimates warned it would cost $2.4 million in tax revenue Sportsbooks would be blocked from sending push notifications or texts encouraging users to place bets Colorado lawmakers took a step toward tightening the rules around online…