Online casino Archives - Page 8 of 13

Dutch minister defends Curaçao reform timeline

Dutch Minister for Legal Protection Franc Weerwind has defended the timeline towards reform of Curaçao’s gambling system, noting the progress the island is making towards implementing the reforms demanded by the Dutch government.

Although the island’s Council of Ministers recently approved new gambling legislation that would drastically overhaul gambling from Curaçao – by replacing the master licence system with a new licensing authority – Weerwind still faced questions on illegal gambling from Curaçao.

The new rules are expected to raise the bar to entry, potentially forcing some operators out of the market, though Finance Minister Javier Silvania said that operators who cannot meet the new standards would not be a great loss.

The questions came just over six months after his predecessor Sander Dekker faced similar questions about the steps the Netherlands was taking to deal with the sector.

In response, Weerwind said that the Dutch government was already working to pressure Curaç..

July 7, 2022

Portuguese online gambling revenue jumps 23.6% YoY in Q1

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Portuguese regulator Serviço Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos do Turismo de Portugal (SRIJ) reported a 23.6% year-on-year increase in online gambling revenue for the first quarter of 2022.

Revenue for the three months to the end of March was €158.6m (£135.3m/$161.7m), up from €128.3m in the corresponding period last year.

Online casino revenue for the quarter amounted to €80.9m, which was 37.6% higher than €58.8m in Q1 of 2021, while online sports betting revenue also increased 11.8% to €77.7m.

Looking at player spending, consumers wagered a total of €2.21bn on online casino during the three-month period, up 37.3% year-on-year, though online sports bets were down by 12.8% to €369.4m.

Breaking down player gambling habits, of the total amount wagered in online casino, 78.1% was on slot games, with 8.8% on French roulette and 5.1% on blackjack.

In terms of sports betting, 69.9% of all online bets placed were on football, with 12.4% each on basketball and tennis, and the remaining 5.3% ..

July 5, 2022

Romanian government publishes plan for 40% tax on withdrawals

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The Romanian government has published the country’s new draft Fiscal Code, featuring a tax hike on gambling withdrawals to as much as 40%.

The new code was published by the Ministry of Finance, and contains updates to the country’s tax laws.

Previously, gambling withdrawals in Romania of less than RON66,750 (£11,579/€13,493/$13,980) were taxed at 1%, while withdrawals of up to RON445,000 faced a 16% tax – plus an additional payment of RON667.50 and withdrawals beyond that total were taxed at 25%.

However, now withdrawals of up to RON3,000 will be taxed at 10%. Withdrawals of more than RON3,000 but no more than RON10,000 are taxed at 20%, plus a RON3000 fee. Beyond RON10,000, the tax rate will be 40%, plus a RON1,700 fee.

The tax will be applied with each withdrawal.

When the tax hike was first reported, trade body the Association of Remote Gambling Organisations (AOJND) said that it would push players towards illegal operators.

It estimated that – if the tax comes into effect – ..

June 28, 2022

Towards intolerance of illegal operators

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Illegal online gambling remains a threat to both player protection and government tax yields. Yet, as Paul Girvan explains, most regulated jurisdictions continue to tolerate operators making money outside of the regulatory environment. Could more be done to fight the unlicensed sector?

Online gambling has existed since the inception of the internet, and over time we have seen increasing concern arise from the issue of black market gambling.

Equally, nearly all countries implementing legal market controls have encountered rising rates of gambling harm and negative social consequences, the causes for many of which remain outside the licensed market.

While there is much talk about the “licensed level playing field”, it’s hard to see how any marketplace is effectively levelled to the benefit of any parties if it tolerates the presence of the illicit black market. These shadow operators reap a competitive advantage as their regulated competitors pay a licence fee and taxes and comply wi..

June 28, 2022

Laos to mimic POGO model with new offshore licences

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Laos is set to regulate online gambling, setting up a regime where operators licensed in the country targeting markets elsewhere in Southeast Asia such as Thailand.

In a model similar to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), operators that receive a licence may set up an online gambling operation, but may not accept customers who are based in Laos.

Danny Too, a consultant assisting the Laotian government on the process, told iGB that the government is currently in the process of drawing up its regulations for the sector.

He said that the government had planned to publish guidelines to apply for licences in two months’ time.

According to Too, initial master licences are set to be issued to a small number of businesses, which can then contract out “sub-licences” to a wider number of businesses, similar to the model in Curaçao.

Too noted that this was due in part to the effects of Covid-19, which was devastating to Laos’ foreigner-only land-based casinos.

“During the pandemi..

June 24, 2022

KSA chair Jansen questions whether industry is “capable of self-regulation”

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René Jansen, chair of Dutch regulator de Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), has questioned whether self-regulation is possible within the gambling industry, as he expressed his continued frustration with operators that “look for the edges of the law”.

In a blog post, Jansen looked back on a roundtable discussion on gambling in the House of Representatives, in which he participated.

This discussion noted the success of the country’s online gambling regime in channeling players to licensed offerings since the market launched in October 2021. However, it also noted areas where there was room for improvement.

In particular, Jansen said one issue that became obvious in the discussion was “the behavior of some legal operators, who – unfortunately – did look for the edges of the law”.

As a result of this, Jansen said he had his doubts about whether it was possible for the industry to regulate itself.

“This raises the question of the extent to which the sector as a whole is capable of self-regulat..

June 23, 2022

Kyrgyz parliament votes to legalise casinos and igaming for foreigners

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Kyrgyzstan’s legislature has voted to re-legalise land-based gambling and launch online casino for the first time, though all offerings will only be available to foreign players.

The bill “On Gambling in the Kyrgyz Republic” – passed on its third reading – would legalise a wide range of forms of gambling. As well as casinos, slot halls and retail bookmakers – which had all been legal in the past before casinos were banned in 2012 and the latter two banned in 2015 – online casino games will also be legal.

However, all gambling will only be available to foreign players.

Land-based casinos must only be set up in restaurants or hotel complexes. The restaurant must have at least 100 seats, and the hotel must have at least 20 rooms. Slot halls, meanwhile, must be separate rooms or buildings from any other type of business activity.

Casinos located in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek must have at least 10 gaming tables, while those elsewhere must have at least five. Slot halls must contain a..

June 22, 2022

Kindred loses lawsuit over Norway fines, but plans to appeal

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Trannel, the business behind online sportsbook and casino Unibet, a subsidiary of Kindred Group, has lost its lawsuit against the Norwegian state – related to its presence in the country – in Oslo district court, but will appeal the decision.

Trannel initiated the lawsuit in the context of regulator Lotteri-og Stiftelsestilsynet (Lotteritilsynet) ordering the subsidiary to cease offering services in the jurisdiction. Neither Trannel nor its parent company has a licence to operate in Norway, which operates under a monopoly model.

After the initial ruling, Trannel complained to the Ministry of Culture and Gender Equality regarding alleged violations of the Gambling Act. Once the appellate body came to the same decision as the regulator, Kindred launched the lawsuit against the state.

Lotteritilsynet initially made the decision to stop Kindred brands Unibet, Mariacasino, Storspiller and Bingo doing business on 5 April 2019. After the order the gaming group was threatened with a daily ..

June 20, 2022

Italy stems flow of year-to-year drops in igaming GGR

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Italian igaming revenue rose year-on-year in April for the first time since November 2021. However, this figure was down month-on-month.

Italy’s igaming market revenue declined slightly month-on-month, at €292.2m in April compared to March’s €302.4m. This meant that revenue was up year-on-year for the first time in six months, after revenue came to €288.1m in April 2021.

This decline has been mostly driven by a 6.7% fall in online sports betting, with revenue now sitting at €118.9m: its lowest level since October 2021. This was still above the €103.6m recorded in April 2021, however.

Though online casino revenue remained stable, there were some interesting movements between operators within the market.

The biggest four online casino operators by GGR all lost ground to their competitors, Sisal and Snai being the worst affected as they drop to 8.5% and 8.3% market shares respectively, while Pokerstars’ share declined to 8.8% and Lottomatica 7.3%.

In contrast, on the online sports b..

June 20, 2022

Michigan online operators report $160.9m gross revenue in May

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In Michigan, online operators have reported combined $160.9m total gross receipts in May, a 1.4% decline from April.

The total combined gross receipts can be divided into $127.4 million from online casino sources and $33.5 million for sport betting. While the online casino segment decline 3.8% from April, sports betting revenue increased by 9.1% increase.

This pattern can also be seen in the adjusted gross revenue, which takes into account free bets. The combined adjusted revenue total was $137.2 million for May; with $114.7 million from online gaming and $22.5 million from sports betting. While internet gaming declined by 3.9%, sports betting rose by almost 35%.

Comparing to May 2021, internet gaming revenue was up by 28.8% – with sports betting rising 127.4%. One factor in the size of the sector’s increase is the ending of most Covid-era restrictions, which affected the sporting calendar in 2020-2021.

The total sports betting handle, that is the total amount that has been bet, w..

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