The UK Gambling Commission has responded to a lawsuit filed in the High Court by ex-Entain executives Kenny Alexander and Lee Feldman accusing it of flouting privacy laws.
a duty to act”
According to media reports on Wednesday, the UKGC said it had “a duty to act” in opening an investigation into the ex-Entain pair over their links to the since-rebranded GVC Holdings’ historic sportsbook violations in Turkey.
The UKGC’s response to the claim filed by Alexander and Feldman on October 29 centers on the regulatory body’s decision to launch a license review into 888 Holdings on July 2023.
At the time, Alexander and Feldman had recently purchased shares in 888 and were making a big push to take executive control of the firm, but instead, the UKGC’s Turkey probe caused 888 to immediately sever ties with the pair.
The ex-Entain execs believe the UKGC’s Section 116 licence review into 888 wrongly cast their gambling credentials in a bad light. The regulator, meanwhile, stated this week that it was duty-bound to take action because “Feldman and Alexander were in senior positions at GVC during the period under investigation.”
The duo’s suit claims, however, that while they were not directly under investigation, the UKGC’s disclosures “gave the misleading impression that they were unsuitable to hold gambling licenses.”
The breach of privacy accusation includes a press statement by the UKGC which, ironically, was to publicize it had dropped its license review of the pair.
Alexander and Feldman maintain the UKGC breached its own policy of not making early-stage investigations public except under exceptional circumstances.
The UKGC argued, however, that it never made any direct accusations against the men, and that the offending press statement was only “shared reactively with four journalists in response to media inquiries.”
Making headlines
While the UKGC’s High Court filing states it “acted within its statutory duties and did not improperly disclose private information” on the pair, Alexander and Feldman say the regulator’s actions led to widespread coverage in the media.
Alexander and Feldman cited the Bloomberg v. ZXC case in which the Supreme Court ruled that individuals under regulatory inquiries “generally have a right to privacy unless there is a strong public interest in disclosure.”
Video footage from a Thai military camp reveals signs of torture on some of the 250+ victims freed last week from fraud centers across Myanmar’s Karen State.
On Thursday, a Philippines news outlet published the video in which a man from Bangladesh was interviewed along with four Ethiopians.
threaten to sell their body parts
All the men revealed brutal signs of torture, with one stating his captors would even threaten to sell their body parts to an alleged major market for the trade in Myanmar.
The news comes as Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra announced Wednesday that around 7,000 people have been rescued from Myanmar scam compounds and are awaiting transfer to Thailand.
Massive clean up
PM Paetongtarn’s bombshell followed a communication from the Royal Thai Police that they were preparing to receive “up to 10,000 foreigners rescued from a network of notorious scam centres.”
Some of the torture victims said they were forced to work nearly 20 hours each day to scam people via instant messaging applications and were beaten if they didn’t hit targets. Ethiopian national Yotor, 19, added he’d “received electric shocks every day.”
Less than a fortnight ago, PM Paetongtarn and China’s leader Xi Jinping agreed cooperation in eradicating crime syndicates operating online scam operations and illegal gambling, typically run by Chinese nationals, along the infamous Thai-Myanmar border.
On Wednesday, Thai Defense Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said of the 7,000 people recently freed, around 600 Chinese will return home on three China Southern Airlines flights Thursday to face the music back in China.
The rapid rise of Myanmar’s scam centers came with the vacuum COVID created forcing crime online and from the 2021 arrest of junket billionaire Alvin Chau whose massive criminal organization controlled China-focused gambling operations in Macao.
The Chinese gangs forced out of Macao subsequently found a new gangster’s paradise in Myanmar, with their slick operations luring tens of thousands from across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East into enslaved work at scam centers.
At least for over 7,000 former captives, the tables are finally turning. NGO Global Advance Projects’ International Director of the Anti-human Trafficking Judah Tana said on Wednesday, however, it was “horrific” to see some of the victims.
“It’s as if they have walked out of a minefield or a war zone.”
The American Gaming Association (AGA) has revealed that total commercial gaming revenue in the country reached nearly $72bn in 2024, making it the fourth consecutive record-breaking year.
It easily surpassed 2023’s $66.5bn total, representing a 7.5% increase. The final quarter of the year saw a record $18.6bn in revenue for operators nationwide.
Online gambling continues to grow more popular, accounting for 30% of 2024’s total. Land-based table games and slot machines still dominate the rankings.
Sports betting revenue rose 25% to $13.7bn, with iGaming hitting $8.4bn despite only seven states having online casinos.
The Las Vegas Strip remained the dominant region for gambling income, with the only change in the top five rankings being Queens/Yonkers replacing the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
operators contributed about $15.7bn through direct gaming taxes last year
Local and state governments continue to benefit from gambling tax revenue, as operators contributed about $15.7bn through direct gaming taxes last year.
AGA President and CEO Bill Miller is confident that the sector will continue to grow and benefit all sorts of parties. He also spoke about how “every dollar of gaming revenue fuels jobs, investment, and economic growth.”
An Oklahoma Senate committee has passed three strategically linked sports betting bills, one of which would give state lawmakers the belief that 2025 will be the year the pastime becomes legal.
The bill that stands out among the three passed by the Senate Business and Insurance Committee last week is Senate Bill 585, an olive branch to Governor Kevin Stitt, who has argued against giving state tribes a monopoly on the market.
Oklahoma Senate’s Majority Whip, State Sen. Bill Coleman (R-Ponca City) authored SB 585. The bill by the ex-radio broadcaster and keen sports fan will grant NBA franchise the Oklahoma City Thunder the ability to offer mobile sports betting on non-tribal land.
I’m optimistic that this is the year”
“I’m optimistic that this is the year Oklahoma’s tribes, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the governor and other stakeholders will come together to find a compromise everyone can get behind,” stated Coleman.
Strategic approach
The Business and Insurance Committee also approved sports betting bills from Sen. Dave Rader (R-Tulsa) and Sen. Casey Murdock (R-Felt).
In a statement, Coleman said the three bills were strategic and opened “several different avenues for the Oklahoma Legislature to legalize sports gaming this year.” The lawmaker upped the ante by adding that there was “a growing sense of urgency” from Oklahomans to legalize sports betting.
In addition to cutting the Thunder in, Coleman’s bill allows the 38 state tribes to offer in-person sports betting at their 143 casinos and gaming centers, while also permitting mobile betting on tribal land.
revenues estimated to be worth about $20m per year
While catering to both tribal and retail interests, SB 585 would give the state 10% of the net sportsbook revenues estimated to be worth about $20m per year.
Rader’s SB 125 will allow state tribes to amend their gaming compacts to offer online and brick-and-mortar sports betting while giving the tribes complete monopoly of the vertical.
Murdock’s SB 164, meanwhile, gives regulatory power to the Oklahoma Lottery Commission and will allow “tribes and non-tribal entities to apply for a ‘sports pools’ license.”
Big push
While Oklahoma is home to the most tribal casinos in the US and allows betting on horse racing and the lottery, Coleman has said bringing the tribes into sports betting would create “thousands of new jobs and millions in revenue to further boost our economy.”
Oklahoma can’t afford to fall behind”
“As more states legalize sports betting, Oklahoma can’t afford to fall behind,” Coleman said last week. It remains to be seen if adding the Oklahoma City Thunder, owned by Republican businessman Clayton Ike Bennett, will appease Governor Stitt’s reluctance to hand tribes total sports betting exclusivity.
In late 2023, Stitt released a controversial sports betting plan that proposed giving commercial entities the mobile sports betting market while allowing tribes to only offer the vertical via retail.
A new draft regulation from Thailand Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s government on the national plan to establish integrated resort casinos in the country by 2029 appears, by design, to dissuade Thai citizens from participation.
could also cool investor interest
According to media reports, the draft rules released on February 17 could also cool investor interest.
The draft issued by Thailand’s Office of the Council of State essentially prescribes Thai nationals to have fat bank accounts before they can set foot in an IRC to gamble.
To enter a regulated casino in Thailand, as per the draft’s wording, nationals will need to prove they have at minimum THB50m ($1.48m) in fixed deposits for at least six months in their bank accounts.
While Thailand is the only non-Muslim ASEAN country without a legal gambling market, Paetongtarn’s government faces the dilemma of legalizing the market while incurring the wrath of Buddhist hardliners.
would restrict casino access to wealthier Thai individuals”
In addition, according to a Singapore gaming consultant, casino entry fees as high as $148 “would restrict casino access to wealthier Thai individuals.”
Daniel Cheng added that the $1.48m bank deposit rule “would render Thai casinos no better than foreigner-only regimes like South Korea’s.”
What’s next?
The proposed draft law will now be run through public hearings until March 1 and then Paetongtarn’s cabinet will need to approve it before the draft is sent up to parliament for another decision.
A further restriction in the draft could give potential US investors in Las Vegas Sands, MGM Resorts, and Wynn Resorts the jitters. It states that the casino area of an IRC can only occupy a maximum of 10% of the entire complex space.
Trainwreck spoke to his Kick stream audience on Tuesday about his motivations for gambling, providing some deep insights into his mental state during playing sessions:
He revealed that it’s not winning that makes him happy, as he’s never satisfied and tries to go again for an even bigger win. The 34-year-old contemplated whether it’s the comeback that drives him, when he’s had a bad streak and is attempting to drag himself out of a big hole. He questioned if this is why he has such an obsession with gambling, a mindset which many experts say is an indicator of problematic behavior.
Trainwreck spoke about a day four years ago when he won 2,300 BTC (worth $220m at today’s price of $95,767). Despite hitting such a hot streak of massive wins, it still wasn’t enough for him, and he gave it all back to the online casino the following day.
plans to convert the winnings from cryptocurrency ASAP and withdraw them
The Arizona native concluded by speaking about how it will just be a constant loop of winning and losing unless he buys something that he can’t gamble away. The Kick personality spoke with his friends recently about how, after future big wins, he plans to convert the winnings from cryptocurrency ASAP and withdraw them from Stake, or otherwise, he’ll gamble it all back.
Every two years for the last ten years, the average age of a poker player has increased by almost one year. This statistic, which was told to me by one of poker’s leading marketeers, was brought sharply into focus yesterday when the 1989 WSOP Main Event champion announced that he will be skipping this year’s “Big Dance” on account of its grueling length. Phil Hellmuth says that the WSOP Main Event is still his favorite tournament, but insists that the structure needs to be changed before he will grace it with his presence again.
I am not playing the @WSOP Main Event. It has become an “Endurance contest.”
I truly believe that 80% of the players want changes made to the @WSOP Main Event. 12 hour days, or longer, for 6-7 days in row, is brutal and disproportionately affects older players pic.twitter.com/7K4OcJOZ56
After his announcement, the poker community was abuzz with responses to Hellmuth. They ranged from sympathy to ridicule, with some suggesting that he was bluffing. Poker’s resident Meme-Lord took it a step farther, implying that the video was part of a guerrilla marketing stunt for Breinfuel.
I must admit that my own first instinct was incredulity. “The Poker Brat” never misses an opportunity to self-promote and the WSOP Main Event is poker’s biggest stage. On reflection, however, I think that he is using his considerable voice to highlight a genuine problem with the Main Event structure which could and maybe should be fixed.
If poker is becoming an older person’s game, should its flagship tournament make modifications to suit that demographic? Even if we disregard average age, is there a better way to get from 10,000+ players to one over a fortnight in the desert? Which compromises are tolerable and which ones should be absolutely off the table? I do think that the Main Event should be an endurance test, but that doesn’t mean that it has to be grueling. As somebody who is aging terribly, I need to consider my position carefully here, as Hellmuth might be my canary in the coal mine. With that in mind, here are a few suggestions for how the structure could be tweaked.
100-minute levels on Day 1
The money bubble of the Main Event pretty consistently bursts either late in Level 15 or during Level 16. That might seem like essentially the same thing, but which it is actually has consequence. Level 15 is the last level of Day 3. Level 16 is the first level of Day 4. Personally, I think it would be good to burst the money bubble on the last hand of Day 3, so I would propose figuring out a way to play one more level across the first three days.
the 300 big blind stack depth is a big part of why people love the Main Event
The most obvious way would be to reduce the starting stack from 60,000 to 50,000. As any tournament director will tell you, the difference between 300 and 250 big blinds will save you about one level of play. However, whether you are the type of player who likes to splash about with a big stack early on or someone who appreciates that you can get coolered and still have chips left, I think the 300 big blind stack depth is a big part of why people love the Main Event.
If we are looking to shave off a level, I would instead propose playing 100-minute levels on Day 1, four before the dinner break and two after. I would also suggest closing late registration at the start of Day 2, one level earlier than it is currently. That will also ever so slightly help the attrition rate with max-late-reggers forced to play one more level. Those two things in combination should get us to the money bubble in Level 16 at the end of Day 3. In the unlikely event of it being level 17, then I think you play it out that night and guarantee an 11-hour turnaround for the players before the start of Day 4.
Four levels per day from Day 5 onwards
The next thing I would recommend is having a rest day after Day 4. At this point, the entire remaining field (roughly 4.5% of the entrants) will have played two long days in a row and most will have played three. Since only one out of every 22 players will make it this far, this rest day is also a reasonable hedge-point for players who are not interested in playing side events to book their flights home.
From there, I would propose playing just four levels per day with no dinner break and finishing at 9pm. That means that the 20 levels that are currently played between Day 5 and Day 8 would now take one extra day. The counterpoint is, of course, that this adds an extra day to the tournament’s overall duration, on top of the extra rest day that I suggested after Day 4.
these extra days are affecting a very small number of people
My counter-counterpoint would be that these extra days are affecting a very small number of people whose equity in the tournament is more than making the inconvenience worthwhile. By the end of Day 9, the remaining nine players will have played five 8-hour days since their last day off and will now have another rest day to rest and prepare for the final table. There’s no doubting the seriousness of that grind, but at the same time, it does seem more humane.
A marathon with more down time
In its current form, the Main Event is a ten-day tournament, taking place over 15 days when you factor in the four Day 1s, two Day 2s, and one rest day. If these changes were implemented, it would be an 11-day tournament, taking place over 17 days. The key thing, though, is how player-friendly these changes would be, in terms of offering more downtime across what will always be a marathon event, whatever way you cut it.
His points are nonetheless valid and I think they should be heeded.
It’s only fair to point out that Hellmuth has not cashed the Main Event in a decade, with six Day 2 bust-outs and three Day 3 eliminations since 2015. Factoring in how he usually makes his grand entrance after dinner on Day 1, it’s fair to say that he hasn’t exactly been put through the mill by the Main Event. His points are nonetheless valid and I think they should be heeded.
In the video, Hellmuth claimed that some friends of his blew their chances on Days 6 and 7, making mistakes because of fatigue. I think that the above addresses these issues without corrupting the sanctity of poker’s greatest tournament. With more opportunities for rest and all the Breinfuel they can guzzle down, surely Hellmuth and his fellow super-seniors could keep pace.
Superstar rapper Drake is currently in Australia performing a run of 14 shows over several weeks. As soon as he landed on January 29, he went to the casino at the Crown Melbourne, reportedly winning AU$700,000 (US$444,443). He’s now in Sydney, staying in a penthouse.
online casino is clearly open on the device
Drone footage appeared on social media of the 38-year-old’s open laptop on the balcony. An online casino is clearly open on the device as Drake walks outside while the drone takes a look. He proceeds to take off a slider and try to throw it at the contraption, which then zooms away:
Someone flew a drone to Drake’s penthouse in Sydney, Australia and caught him gambling pic.twitter.com/1M5xKpmJx9
While some fans expressed their incredulity at the footage, others questioned if this was just a publicity stunt. An eagle-eyed viewer slowed down the footage and zoomed in on what appears to be a drone pilot off to the side:
Drake has a long-running partnership with the Stake gambling site and some people have speculated that this was just an ad for the platform. He also released a new album titled “$ome $exy $ongs 4 U” last week.
Despite Manchester United’s struggles in the English Premier League (EPL) this season with just 13 games to go, it’s still one of the most talked about soccer clubs in the world. The ongoing struggles with the club’s ownership and player pool dominate daily headlines.
With such a thirst for information, many fan pages exist online to report on the latest news stories and to give their opinions on unfolding situations.
One of the biggest brands is “The United Stand,” which has 2.6 million X followers and features breaking news and reaction videos. Mark Goldbridge, the main man behind the channel, hasn’t taken too kindly to a post from another Manchester United fan page:
Mate….you're playing with people's lives and mental health doing this. Most of your stuff has "Stake" all over it putting gambling promos out to kids. As if Qatar is picking up the phone to you and not Keegan, Ornstein or Romano. https://t.co/Rx4nJtikwc
Some of the comments agree with Goldbridge’s view, while others question if it is a double standard, as they contend that he has promoted SkyBet products in the past.
Soccer is still deeply entwined with gambling, whether it’s pitchside advertising or official partnerships with EPL teams. Some of Manchester United’s most legendary players like Wayne Rooney, Roy Keane, and Gary Neville appear on the “Overlap” podcast every week, which is sponsored by SkyBet.
The UK’s regulatory authority for horse racing has issued a warning over the threat the industry is facing via a major spike in use of unlicensed betting sites.
The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) expressed its concerns last week, citing a new study by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA).
visits to over 20 of the most popular unlicensed sites in the UK grew by 522%
The study covered a four-year period between 2021 and 2024. According to the IFHA, the total number of unique visits to over 20 of the most popular unlicensed sites in the UK grew by 522% during that time.
The study also revealed that between January and September of last year, over 600,000 unique visits to such sites occurred per month.
BHA Acting CEO Brant Dunshea said British racing had “repeatedly warned” the UK government of the threat “inadvertently growing illegal market activity” had on the industry.
Dunshea added that the IFHA study “certainly demonstrates that very concerning threat becoming reality.”
Banging the drum
In a BHC release, Dunshea stated that his organization would share IFHA’s findings with the government in the hope that it “will work with us to encourage bettors to stay in the legal market given this growing leakage.”
The BHA has long rallied against the introduction of affordability checks. In a 2023 statement, the BHA cited a Racing Post editor as stating the checks were “driving bettors towards the black market and away from regulated operators.”
important for gambling regulations to be both balanced and proportionate”
In his recent statement, Dunshea reiterated the BHS’ call to listen to bettors. “The study serves as a further reminder of why it’s important for gambling regulations to be both balanced and proportionate, with those who are betting safely on racing allowed to do so without interruption.”
In contrast to the growth in popularity of unlicensed sites, the IFHA study found just a 49% increase in visits to ten of the most popular regulated UK betting sites between January and September.
Limited but noteworthy
Even though the BHA described the IFHA study as “limited,” it noted the pace of popularity for the unregulated sites in recent years.
Last week, the BHA also flagged noted that “British racing has lost £1.6bn ($2m) worth of remote betting turnover in just two years.”
The regulatory body concluded that the current trend jibes with developments internationally “where moves to tighten regulation in the legal market has driven customers away.”
