Published 07.07.2019 Author: J.D Category: News
Spelinspektionen, Sweden’s gambling regulator has given any breathing room to operators who have been slipping up. This time, eight operators found themselves lumped with a fine after they were found to have been offering wagers on sports games which had underage players – which is a direct violation of the law.
The operators have been named as Betfair, Bethard, Casinostugan, Electraworks, Hillside, Polar Limited, TSG Interactive and Zecure Gaming, with the total fines equaling a sum of SEK41.2 million ($4.4 million). Each of the operators were fined different amounts, depending on the size of the offense, with TSG Interactive and Hillside receiving the bulk of the fine, with a $1.08 million fine each.
The wagers that were in question took place during U19 and U21s league fixtures, where many of the players were under the age of 18. This runs against the regulation of the country, which states that
It’s speculated that these operators have been being monitored for some time. Looking back to May, where the regulator warned all of their operators that they need to stay clear of underage matches. At this time, they did not name any of the offending operators, but with the size of some of these fines, it’s likely that some operators have been breaching this rule for some time.
Published 05.07.2019 Author: J.D Category: News
Responsible and safe gambling is the subject of conversation for many countries around the world and Australia is no exception. Last week, we saw one of the country’s banks withdrawing their credit cards from being used to purchase anything gambling related. This week, New South Wales has announced that they are developing new initiatives and have already invested around $800,000 in player protection measures.
The funding for the new player protection measures saw a sum of $100,000 sent to the University of Sydney’s Gambling Treatment and Research Clinic. The clinic will spend the funding developing a website which will be focused around self-exclusion from gambling venues. Currently the self-exclusion will be limited to in-person venues and will not initially have support for online casinos
Natalie Wright, the director of the New South Wales Responsible Gambling segment said: “Just as technology is changing the way people gamble with the rise of online and app-based betting, it is also driving exciting new initiatives to support people to gamble responsibly. By funding programs and research projects like these, we will further develop and underpin the evidence base for responsible gambling policy and programs.”
Published 03.07.2019 Author: J.D Category: News
Gambling operators are finding it hard to stick to the rules set out by the Swedish gambling regulator, Spelinspektionen. The countries regulator has once again stuck to their guns and enforced the rules these operators have agreed to follow, by issuing further fines to two gambling companies. Betsson and SkillOnNet have been the latest operators with targets on their backs after they were found to have violated Sweden’s bonus offer rules.
The regulator announced the fines to the public via their website, posting a notice stating that Betsson’s NGG Nordic Ltd has received a warning and will be fined $2 million for offering “weekly surprises, cash prize draws, travel and free spins, bonuses, rewards and free games to loyal players.” They added that NGG Nordic has been offering the activity for 4 months, regardless of the fact the new gaming laws came into action 6 months ago, meaning the promotion started after the law was enforced.
In SkillOnNet’s case, the operator was offering “daily bonuses, monthly rewards, free spins, cashback and VIP packages” along with hosting an online lottery, which it does not have a license for. The operator will receive a warning and a fine of $1.5 million
One of SkillOnNet’s brands, PlayOJO has recently announced they will be altering the way they advertise in order to provide better protection to underage potential gamblers. They continued to state that they would no longer advertise between 4-9 PM, but the change was too little too late to avoid the fines.
Betsson took a different approach to the fine, releasing a statement saying they do not agree with the decision and they “supports NGG Nordic Ltd’s view that their customer offerings have been in line with what is permitted under the new gambling legislation. The regulation on bonuses is vague and has been shown to leave much room for different interpretations.”
Published 01.07.2019 Author: J.D Category: News
Whether video game loot boxes are considered gambling or not has been an ongoing debate for some time now, with many countries having already made their decisions. The Netherlands and Belgium have already enforced bans on loot boxes, after deeming them as gambling, whereas France and New Zealand have taken an opposing stance. In the states, lawmakers are on the fence with many arguing that they should be banned from any games that could be targeted to teens, which doesn’t narrow it down much.
Most recently, a member from the UK’s parliament, has joined the conversation, making it clear that she doesn't believe loot boxes are a form of gambling. She said that it would be a mistake for Parliament to try and introduce regulations on loot boxes, until they are properly educated on the subject.
A further statement was released from UK’s parliament saying
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