Tag Archives: Legal & compliance

Marathonbet to “temporarily suspend” UK site

Marathonbet to “temporarily suspend” UK site

Marathonbet has temporarily suspended its services in the UK, due to “ongoing events in Europe”.

The business would stop allowing new customers to sign up immediately from today (4 April). Existing customers would then no longer be able to deposit or place bets until 14 April.

“As the Marathonbet brand is operated globally, recent and ongoing events in Europe have had a significant impact for us,” it said. “We regret to inform that we have taken the decision to temporarily suspend services offered on the marathonbet.co.uk website.”

The business did not give any indication of when the site may resume activity.

Both the Marathonbet.co.uk site and mbet.co.uk site will close. However, the Malta-licensed Marathonbet.com will continue to be active.

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FanDuel withdraws daily fantasy product from Ontario

FanDuel withdraws daily fantasy product from Ontario

FanDuel will withdraw its daily fantasy sports product from Ontario from 1 April, in line with the Canadian province’s regulations for when its online betting and gaming market opens to licensed operators.

Ontario is set to launch licensed sports betting and igaming on 4 April, ending a state monopoly. Earlier this month, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) released a guide for operators that revealed that businesses which apply for registration before the 4 April launch must cease operations in Ontario from the moment their registration is approved by AGCO.

FanDuel is among the operators that has received a licence, and as a result it has opted to withdraw its daily fantasy sports brand, including both free and paid games, as this vertical is not permitted under the new regime.

The operator did note, however, that its daily fantasy sports brand would still be available in other provinces.

All entries submitted prior to April 1 will run as normal, with all winnings ..

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Minnesota committee approves online betting bills

Minnesota committee approves online betting bills

A Minnesota house legislative committee has adopted two bills that would both allow for online sports betting to be conducted by the state’s 11 federally recognised Native American tribes.

The Committee for Finance and Policy was presented with a tribal and commercial sports betting bill – House Bill 778 – and House Bill 167, which initially had nothing to do with sports wagering and instead dealt with sentencing hearings.

However, it opted to amend both bills to produce identical pieces of sports wagering legislation in which betting may be operated by the state’s recognised tribes.

Both bills would allow for only two master sports betting licences, which may be granted to “organisations comprised of two or more Indian tribes”.

Of these licences, one will go to an entity with headquarters north of Interstate Highway 94, and one located south of the highway. I-94 stars at the Wisconsin border near Minneapolis and moves northwest before leaving the state near Fargo, North Dakota.

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Nairobi bill would only permit betting in five-star hotels

Nairobi bill would only permit betting in five-star hotels

The Nairobi County Assembly has approved at first reading a bill that would only allow gambling operators to be located five-star hotels, and would only allow them to operate between the hours of 8pm and 6am.

The Nairobi City County Betting, Lotteries and Gaming (Amendment) Bill, 2021 would amend the country’s Gaming Act, which only became law last year.

The bill was approved at its second reading last week, bringing it one step closer to becoming law.

It would add new provisions to the country’s gaming laws, including only allowing betting, lotteries and gaming facilities to be “domiciled in a five-star hotel”, as rated by Kenya’s Tourism Regulatory Authority.

In addition, licenced premises would only be allowed to operate between the hours of 8pm and 6am.

Meanwhile, gambling advertisements may not be broadcast during the watershed period, which occurs from 10pm to 5am. Physical advertisements such as billboards would be banned entirely.

The law would also require all operators ..

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Kentucky lawmaker begins push for legal betting, fantasy and poker

Kentucky lawmaker begins push for legal betting, fantasy and poker

A bill to legalise sports betting, fantasy sports and online poker in Kentucky has been introduced to the state's Senate.

Senate Bill 213, authored by Senator David Yates, has been referred to the Committee on Committees, and it outlines the operation of online and in-person sports wagering, fantasy contests and online poker.

Sports betting licencees will be subject to a 9.75% tax rate on adjusted gross revenue from retail bets, while online bets will be taxed at 14.25%.

Wagering will only be permitted in the state at licensed racetracks, professional sports venues or on a mobile app, for which in-person registration will be mandatory.

This registration requirement will then lift from 2024, when players aged 18 and above will be able to download an app anywhere.

Tracks and venues are only allowed to partner with one provider at a time, using a format available in both a retail and online capacity.

For fantasy sports operators, the registration fee has been set at $5,000,..

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Dutch regulator warns operator over Twitter ads during matches

Dutch regulator warns operator over Twitter ads during matches

Dutch gambling regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) has issued a warning to a licensed operator for advertising on social media platform Twitter during football matches.

The unnamed operator tweeted updates on games and in some posts quoted odds and included a direct link to its website where consumers could place bets on the matches.

Dutch law prohibits advertising during sports events in order to discourage players from impulsive betting.

As such, the KSA said the operator’s tweets on the matches breached this regulation.

The regulator contacted the licensee once it was aware of the tweets, ordered it to cease posting immediately and to not carry out this form of marketing in the future. The KSA said the operator complied with its orders.

The KSA added that it would continue to monitor the operator’s activities and warned it could impose sanctions if further breaches were identified.

The warning comes after the regulator last week also issued warnings to a number of operators ov..

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Zebet becomes latest operator to secure Dutch licence

Zebet becomes latest operator to secure Dutch licence

Dutch regulator de Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) has granted an online gambling licence to a 12th operator – Zebetting and Gaming, which operates the Zebet brand.

Zebetting and Gaming will be permitted to offer bets on sports and horse racing at the Zebet.nl and Zeturf.nl websites.

It becomes only the 12th operator to be permitted to launch online in the Netherlands. When the Dutch online market opened on 1 October – after a number of delays – only ten operators were permitted to launch.

These initial licensees included Bet365, Tombola, Play North, Dutch land-based operator Holland Casino and state lottery Nederlandse Loterij with its Toto Online brand.

The Janshen Hahnraths Group with FPO Nederland, Italy-based Betent, Belgian brand Bingoal, NSUS Malta, which runs the GGPoker.eu brand and sports media and betting business LiveScore Malta also secured licences.

Soon after the market launch, JOI Gaming, a division of Dutch land-based casino operator JVH Gaming & Entertainment Group, be..

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Resorts Digital to grant third NJ skin to “major global company”

Resorts Digital to grant third NJ skin to “major global company”

Resorts Digital Gaming, the online arm of DGMB Casinos, is in “advanced discussions” with an unnamed “major global sports betting company” to bring the business into New Jersey under Resorts’ licence.

Resorts Digital said the deal is set to be signed imminently, with the brand then able to launch once it receives approval from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement.

“I can’t wait to announce this exciting deal once it is finalised – it really will give RDG the most diverse stable of sports betting brands in the New Jersey market,” Resorts Digital Gaming chief executive Ed Andrewes said.

“This will also free up our third sports betting skin, allowing us to focus all our energy on our core casino customers.”

Because New Jersey licensees are only permitted three online sports betting skins.

As Resorts Digital already has deals in place with Flutter’s Fox Bet and DraftKings, the operator will stop offering sports betting on its ResortsCasino.com website.

All existing unsettle..

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South Dakota mobile sports betting bill passes at Senate

South Dakota mobile sports betting bill passes at Senate

A bill proposing the legalisation of mobile sports wagering in South Dakota has been passed in the state's Senate.

Senate Joint Resolution 502 is set to be introduced during South Dakota’s next general election, allowing citizens the chance to vote on whether it should come to pass. The proposal was passed by a slim majority – 18 votes to 17.

Should the proposal be voted in at the general election, players will be able to place mobile wagers on sporting events, provided the platform is partnered with one of the casinos in the city of Deadwood.

The legislation stipulates that any proceeds from games of chance should be used for educational, charitable, patriotic, religious, or other public spirited uses – which include the historic restoration and preservation of Deadwood. The resolution will also allow for a state-run lottery and video games of chance.

Sports betting was legalised in South Dakota back in March 2021 after Governor Kristi Noem signed Senate Bill 44 into law, bu..

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Oklahoma charitable betting bill pre-filed in Senate

Oklahoma charitable betting bill pre-filed in Senate

A new bill pre-filed in the Oklahoma State Senate would allow for sports wagering and poker, but only if organised by private citizens or charitable organisations with prizes totalling no more than $1,000 (£739/€873)

The bill – Senate Bill 1821 – outlines that recognised charities may host wagering events on their own premises, while private citizens may host wagering events in their own homes.

Wagers would be permitted on “any challenge, match, game, race, fight or contest occurring between individuals or groups of individuals whether or not recognized as an amateur or professional sports event”, provided it is not a juvenile sports event.

In addition, wagering may be conducted on certain card or dice games including poker and dominos, but not “casino gaming” or “mechanical or electronic gaming devices”.

For private wagering events, players may not bet more than $100 per event per day.

Winnings will be subject to income tax.

Currently, no form of sports betting is legal with Okl..

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