F1 Drama and Controversy as Netflix’s Series 7 of Drive to Survive Finally Lands

Drive to Survive returns…

Devotees of Netflix’s Drive to Survive (DTS) will not need reminding that the latest series dropped on March 7, 2024. For those of you who are not members of the DTS fan club, the latest series (Series 7) dropped on March 7, 2024.

For those who are still nonplussed as to what I’m talking about, DTS is a US-made documentary that gives a behind-the-scenes peek into the glitz and glamor of the world of Formula One. It first aired in 2018, and the series that launched last week is the seventh of what has turned into a hugely successful franchise.

used the series to take F1 to a new audience

It’s a collaboration between the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) and Netflix, which initially used the series to take F1 to a new audience – the US. And it has worked.

When the series first aired, there was one Grand Prix in the US – in Austin, Texas – but now there are three, with Miami and Las Vegas added to the schedule.

Back in 2018, the original intention was to make a documentary solely about the Red Bull Racing team but it quickly became clear there was more value and more than enough content to make a documentary that covered all ten teams. The storylines came thick and fast.

DTS was born

For F1 purists, DTS is little more than a glorified F1 soap opera that has been given the Hollywood treatment, and there is no doubt the dramas and tensions are overplayed for artistic purposes. But there is also no doubt that DTS brings the F1 pit lane into our homes in a way that’s never been done before.

Given the drama that unfolded during 2024, it’s no surprise that Series 7 hasn’t disappointed, and has brought to life and added new dimensions to stories that made the front and back pages.

So, on that note, now feels like a good time to delve a little deeper into the biggest talking points of the new series 7, some of which were already front and/or back-page news. What DTS does is take a deep dive into those same stories to bring the viewers a new angle and behind-the-scenes footage.

Okay… here goes.

‍Red Bull and Horner

There weren’t too many stories that could have taken the focus away from Lewis Hamilton’s plan to leave Mercedes for Ferrari at the end of the 2024 season – a story that broke on the eve of the season – but Red Bull and their team boss Christian Horner managed to create one.

It was, as it transpired, the big F1 story of 2024. It was a scandal that rocked the Red Bull organization to its foundation: the allegation by a female employee within the team that Horner had acted inappropriately.

Netflix was always going to cover as much of the scandal as its lawyers would allow, but quite how deeply it was able to delve was a surprise

Worth noting is that the scandal still rumbles on – it will be brought before the UK Courts in January 2026 – so there were certain elements that Netflix had to skirt around, but what the program portrayed was the suffocating level of press scrutiny it placed on Horner.

Intense media scrutiny

It was summed up perfectly by a single quote in a talking head segment with F1 journalist and DTS regular, Will Buxton: “If Christian thought this was going to blow over, he was sorely mistaken.”

Because, in addition to Netflix showing the viewers what they already knew about Horner vs. Red Bull, it also provided an angle on the level of F1 media interest and, crucially, the level of interest from elsewhere in the F1 paddock.

Toto Wolff (Mercedes) and Zak Brown (McLaren) were both happy to offer their thoughts

In terms of Horner himself, he adopted a blanket “no comment” stance – reflecting the legalities mentioned above – but fellow team leaders Toto Wolff (Mercedes) and Zak Brown (McLaren) were both happy to offer their thoughts on how the scandal reflected badly on both Red Bull and F1 itself.

It will have surprised no one that DTS’s villain of the piece was Horner – not for the first time – but it was interesting to see first hand the sheer scale of the grilling he was given by the F1 media.

The Carlos Sainz soap opera

While Hamilton’s move to Ferrari was, of course, the big story in terms of driver changes, its repercussions were far-reaching. Not least for the man whose seat he took at Ferrari: Carlos Sainz.

And fair play to Netflix, it again managed to offer viewers an angle that F1 fans had not seen before, namely that Carlos didn’t take the news well and was every bit as disappointed as he should have been.

the Netflix portrayal of the Spaniard as someone scorned

The official line was that Sainz was accepting of the fact that Ferrari was not in a position to turn away the chance of recruiting a seven-time world champion, but the Netflix portrayal of the Spaniard as someone scorned felt much nearer the mark.

In the DTS take on events, there were no bad guys, but just a disappointed driver who confessed to being “caught off guard” and “upset,” just as anyone reading this piece would have been if given that same news.

Unsurprisingly, the natural direction for this story was to take us on a journey with Sainz as he decides which car he will race in 2025.

We know now, of course, that the answer to the riddle is Williams, but Sainz’s route to making that decision was far from straightforward. In the words of Will Buxton again: “Carlos has to play this right, if he picks the wrong team he might never win a race ever again.”

Initially, it appeared to be a two-way choice between Williams and Stake/ Audi (formerly Sauber) but there was a late twist that for DTS must have been manna from heaven.

Before the twist, which I’ll come to in a bit, the two-way battle was seen through the eyes of Carlos (obviously), Williams’ team boss, James Vowles, and Claire Williams, the daughter of the late Frank Williams, founder of the team.

Audi is expected to be a big player in 2026

For the part of Audi, it was the connection to Carlos Sainz Sr., a famed world rally champion who has had much success driving an Audi, that appeared to take the Spaniard’s thoughts in that direction. That, and also the fact that Audi is expected to be a big player in 2026 as their takeover of Sauber becomes complete.

The meeting that never was

It would be a “project,” and Sainz would be leading it. No doubt Sainz Sr. had his thoughts on the prospect, although DTS didn’t manage to get his definitive view on his son’s potential move to Audi.

The twist came when, after debating the pros and cons of the two offers on the table, a curve ball was thrown in in the form of the controversial Flavio Briatore, who returned to the F1 fold as the executive advisor for the Alpine team.

So much so that the DTS cameras were present at a planned meeting between Sainz and Vowles at a hotel where they expected him to sign on the dotted line.

The meeting never happened. Vowles and co were “stood up.” No Sainz and no signature.

The reason was that Briatore, a long-time admirer of Sainz, had tried to use considerable charm and muscle in his new capacity at Alpine to lure the Spaniard to the Oxfordshire-based team.

evidence that Alpine had more than entered the equation

Ultimately, the flamboyant Italian was unsuccessful in his pursuit of Sainz, but the canceled meeting with Williams, which the DTS cameras recorded at close quarters, was evidence that Alpine had more than entered the equation. They gave Sainz an offer that had to be considered.

Eventually, of course, he did sign on Vowles’ dotted line, but what DTS also revealed was the impact Sainz’s decision had on the entire field. Essentially, aside from back to Ferrari, he could have gone almost anywhere, the impact of which would have rattled through the whole grid.

But it boiled down to longevity, the strength of a team, and, yes, the project, which Vowles did a magnificent job of selling.

the struggling Logan Sargeant 

With the highly-rated Alex Albon already a Williams driver, Vowles’ wish to have two top-level drivers in situ to drive the team forward has now been granted. The days of having the struggling Logan Sargeant in his second car are long gone.

Incidentally, one thing we did learn from DTS was that Sargeant knew very early on in the 2024 season – well before the Sainz soap opera began – that he would not be driving for Williams in 2025.

Lando vs. Max

It was inevitable that DTS would try to dig deep into the ever-increasing on-track rivalry between current world champion Max Verstappen and would-be champion Lando Norris.

The scene was set almost perfectly when the pair, who have been friends and rivals ever since their karting days, had a string of on-track squabbles that spilled over into a war of words between their respective teams.

given a ten-second penalty

It was in the Austrian Grand Prix that this battle reached its peak when the Dutchman squeezed every last drop out of the current regulations to send the Brit off the track. He was given a ten-second penalty for the infraction.

But there were other less dramatic incidents that put the squeeze on the relationship in 2024, including Norris getting his first F1 win in Miami and then beating Verstappen in his home race at Zandvoort.

Both race wins were clear signs that Red Bull’s car – so dominant in 2022 and 2023 – was no longer going to have it all its way, something that didn’t sit comfortably with the ultra-competitive Verstappen.

But it was the personalities and mindsets of the pair, which couldn’t be more different, that DTS decided to focus on.

Plucky but sensitive rivals

Will Buxton summed it up in one sentence: “Key difference between Max and Lando. Max has a complete ‘f**k you’ mentality. That’s not Lando.”

While remaining friends, as human beings they are polar opposites, and one of the few things they now have in common is that they are F1 race winners and are set to  dominate the sport in the next few years.

The Dutchman is very much perceived as DTS’s baddie, while Norris is portrayed as the one lacking confidence and who is sometimes a victim of self-doubt and overthinking. Norris even admitted as much: “My weakness is caring too much about what people say or think or feel.”

Max is mean and ruthless

This was nothing new, however, and regular watchers of DTS will recognize this narrative from the previous series: Max is mean and ruthless, while any challenger is perceived as the plucky but sensitive underdog.

Unfortunately for Verstappen, this is an easy win for DTS as he does little to steer the story away from that narrative. For Norris’ part, he was quoted as being unhappy at the portrayal of his and Verstappen’s friendship as strained.

Future of Perez at Red Bull

DTS ended up telling us what we already knew – that Sergio “Checo” Perez would not be driving a Red Bull car in 2025 – but the journey to get there was revealed to be more convoluted and complicated than most of us imagined.

The program skipped over the fact that Checo had signed a contract to keep him at Red Bull beyond the end of the 2024 season, instead concentrating on why he was no longer considered fast enough to partner Verstappen.

Oddly, while it is well known in F1 circles that most of the hiring and firing at Red Bull is done on the say-so of Dr Helmut Marko, a veteran Red Bul executive, DTS focused on the mental gymnastics required of Christian Horner to make the call.

It also highlighted, without even trying, how the Red Bull team is, in effect, a double enterprise that also includes its junior team on the grid. For 2024, they were known as RB Visa Cash App RB (VCARB) but may as well have been named Red Bull B.

Ricciardo and Tsunoda in joint-pole positions

In the frame to get the Red Bull “A team” seat were Daniel Ricciardo, Yuki Tsunoda, and Liam Lawson, with theoretically Ricciardo and Tsunoda in joint-pole positions as they were the starting drivers in 2024 for VCARB.

When the conversation started roughly halfway through the season, Ricciardo was the name being bandied around, but Horner openly questioned whether he still had the desire needed to be Red Bull’s number two driver.

“If we were to replace Checo the obvious candidate we brought into the wings is Daniel. But has he still got it? Is he prepared to put everything on the line?” was Horner’s hand-wringing reply when asked for his initial thoughts.

But, as it transpired, not only did the Red Bull hierarchy question the Australian’s worthiness for promotion, but they also questioned whether he was the right man to partner Tsunoda in the VCARB team.

Ultimately, the answer was no. Only three top-ten finishes were never going to be enough, and even the news halfway through the season that Perez was to be replaced was still not enough to add sufficient fire to the belly of the Australian.

In true Red Bull fashion, mercy and sentiment were in short supply, and with six races of the season to go, they announced that Ricciardo’s seat in the VCARB would go to Liam Lawson for the remainder of 2024.

Goodbye, Danny Ricc…

But while Red Bull may have given Ricciardo short shrift, he’s always been a DTS favorite and was duly given the treatment by them of a departing legend – one whose personality and love of the camera made him a natural for the DTS cameras.

His departure from the F1 scene made the contest for Checo’s seat a two-way battle between Tsunoda and Lawson, but it quickly became clear that it wasn’t an even one.

From the outside looking in, and based on the DTS talking heads, the Japanese driver – for a reason that was never clear – was never really in the frame. Based on his performances in the limited VCARB, Tsunoda had done everything in his power to earn that opportunity, but it was one that never came.

thrust him into pole position for Perez’s seat

Instead, a mid-season test at Silverstone by Lawson, one in which Horner claimed he was lapping at only two-tenths of a second slower than Verstappen, was what appeared to thrust him into pole position for Perez’s seat.

What would have been an interesting interview, but which DTS didn’t manage to nail, was an interview with the notoriously feisty Tsunoda, whose thoughts in being edged out by Lawson would have been television gold.

What DTS did manage to portray, and which would have swayed the Red Bull hierarchy, was Lawson’s drive, determination, and unshakeable confidence. Ultimately, it was those qualities, even more so than the Silverstone test, that opened up the opportunity for him.

Lawson being shoehorned into the VCARB for the final six races of 2024 at the expense of Ricciardo was, in effect, a six-race warm-up for the New Zealander, but it did provide a few tasty on-track clashes between him and Perez.    

As ever, it was left to Will Buxton to sum up this storyline:

“He (Lawson) is like Max was ten years ago. When’s the last time a stand-in ended the career of two massively successful veteran drivers?”

The post F1 Drama and Controversy as Netflix’s Series 7 of Drive to Survive Finally Lands appeared first on Vegas Slots Online News.

A Punt a Day: Sam Greenwood Opens His Playbook

High end advice articulated crisply

Poker’s newest content creator is none other than Canadian high stakes beast Sam Greenwood, who just launched his new series of Substack articles entitled “Punt of the Day.” Five times per week, he will revisit the blunders that he has made on his way to winning $40m on the live felt. He will try to explain his mindset and thought process in key moments when he failed to execute to the best of his abilities.

Having been given a sneak peek of what is to come, the striking thing is how approachable Greenwood’s thought process is. He is a natural communicator, dropping pearls of wisdom that apply to everyone’s game. There can be no doubt that it is high-end advice for high-level thinkers, but it is also articulated so crisply that I suspect that it will find a wider audience.

The beauty of this series is going to be how it will show the difference between having knowledge in a vacuum and being able to deliver on that knowledge under pressure. VSO News sat down with Greenwood to talk about his new venture.

Q&A with Sam Greenwood

VSO News: Do you think there is a perception that the top players don’t make mistakes and is part of what you’re doing here an attempt to show how that isn’t true?

Sam Greenwood: I do think that there is a perception that the top players are so well-studied that they never make mistakes. I’m definitely trying to show that isn’t true.

In my time in poker, I’ve seen two types of errors from casual players. One is they see a top pro (everyone always picks Chidwick here, pick someone else ) make a play and say: “I know everyone says he’s the best, but I don’t believe it.” But there’s a slightly more enlightened level of incuriosity that is: “That play doesn’t make any sense to me, but X did it so it must be right,” without even considering the chance he might have made an error. That sort of incuriosity bugs me.

the insights that I have, shortcuts that I take, and the blind spots that I have”

The beauty of poker is that, in any given hand, one player can outplay anyone, so of course it’s possible that top pros have a bad read or misapply a theoretical concept. It happens constantly. My hope with the blog is that over the long run readers will not just learn poker fundamentals, but also get a window into how I think, which includes the insights that I have, shortcuts that I take, and the blind spots that I have.

VSO: What would make this a success for you as a project? Is it about gathering a large following/subscriber list to your substack, or is it more about satisfying a personal objective to do some writing?

SG: I like writing and always have. I love making videos for RunItOnce, but when I speak I can be digressive so I like the discipline of writing something short and focused every day. However, if this were just about personal growth, I would be doing it in private. I absolutely want to gain subscribers and build a community.

VSO: Define “punt” for me as distinct from “blunder.”

SG: Once a mistake is made in poker, it cannot be undone and, for me, the word “punt” is so evocative. You can spend days making careful, precise decisions and then one decision blows it all up. I played rugby in high school and writing about “punts,” I’m just picturing a ball flying high into the air floating off into the distance, never to be recovered. Now some decisions covered in the blog will be blunders and slip-ups and not, strictly speaking, “punts,” but I liked using punt in the title.

O’Dwyer and O’Kearney weigh in

Fellow high-stakes circuit regular Steve O’Dwyer thinks that Greenwood’s articles are going to hit a sweet spot. Speaking to VSO News, he said:

“I think Sam’s new Substack blog is an innovative idea in the realm of educational poker content. Sam is the first person I seek out on tournament breaks when I want feedback on a hand that I’ve played. He’s got an incredible mind for poker and always does a great job explaining his thoughts in a way that a dumb guy like myself can understand.”

Another of poker’s great strategic minds, Dara O’Kearney, applauded the structure of Greenwood’s breakdowns and said how he particularly liked the “what I got wrong section”. Speaking to VSO News, O’Kearney also commented on the integration of the background sims used:

“I think that the short explanations of why the solver advocates certain things are very valuable. It’s so important to relay the reasons behind what the solver does.”

Different subscriber tiers

Poker players at all levels today run sims or at least grapple with solver output. Greenwood’s breakdowns are going to be a daily treat for those players. His first entry is a hand he played versus the talented young Bulgarian Boris Angelov at the Triton Jeju $20,000 buy-in a few weeks ago. At the end, he grades his line as a D+, believing that he botched two of his four decisions.

so that we never bungle, blunder, botch, slip-up, fail, err, mess up, or punt ever again”

In the introduction to this series of articles, Greenwood lays out his tongue-in-cheek mission statement: “My hope is that you’ll gain some insights from my mistakes and we can all learn something together so that we never bungle, blunder, botch, slip-up, fail, err, mess up, or punt ever again.”

Punts may be inevitable, even from the best, but as Greenwood confesses more and more of his poker sins, his subscribers will be the beneficiaries, learning from one of the game’s great strategic minds.

As a cheeky tempter, unpaid subscribers will get access to one free post per week, whereas monthly plan subscribers will receive every post, plus the ability to comment on the Substack. Premium subscribers will get access to every post and access to the “Punt of the Day” Discord server, where they can see the original sims that Greenwood ran and delve into some additional analysis.

The post A Punt a Day: Sam Greenwood Opens His Playbook appeared first on Vegas Slots Online News.

VegasSlotsOnline News Talks to TaDa Gaming Head of Business Development

Fishing-shooting games are a popular genre in the iGaming space, and no one has perfected the recipe for these more than TaDa Gaming.

VegasSlotsOnline News spoke with Bryam Jacquet , Head of Business Development for TaDa Gaming, to find out a little more about these games, and how the gaming supplier ensures its offering stands above the rest.

TaDa Gaming has been making waves in the fishing-shooting game genre. How do you make sure your games stand out in this space?

Our reputation has been built partly on our superb animations and gameplay giving visually stunning and highly engaging games; but also by delivering straightforward rules and a clear goal. Games like Ocean Hunter are great entertainment as they are easy to learn and give on-screen tips during gaming.

TaDa releases also have in-built tutorials and demo play options

The basic concept for fishing-shooting is to shoot and hit a target with one shot = one bet. This is standard in all titles regardless of theme, so the basis of every game is easy to grasp. Plus, TaDa releases also have in-built tutorials and demo play options to give players risk-free practice.

We incorporate immersive mechanics such as special Power-Ups, which include Nuclear Bombs that take out the whole screen; Whirlpools in Fortune King Jackpot that catch all the other fish in the vicinity; or Free Thunder Bolt Attacks in All Star Fishing whereby players fill a Thunderbolt Meter to access a significant round of free fire power.

We also enable customisation and personalisation across every TaDa fishing-shooting game, starting with solo or multiplayer function with up to four players in one game. In order to give players personalised control over the experience, we offer ‘Room’ choices in our games. From bet value, risk, volatility, weapons, ammo and targets, players can set the game to their preference and this control is clearly resonating.

Add in mobile first lightweight deployment and cross platform compatible gaming that has prioritised localisation for each market and players can quickly see why TaDa Gaming is the No. 1 Provider for fishing-shooting games.

What do you think makes your top titles particularly successful, and are there any standout features that players love?

Whilst the games are different, they all offer TaDa’s signature quality. Ocean King Jackpot is a mix of features, including multipliers and a progressive jackpot. These are triggered by a rock ‘n’ roll vampire skeleton ruling an underwater world, so it’s visually stunning with a great guitar solo! Plus, including the jackpot feature in fishing-shooting games leads to better engagement and retention numbers for our operators. Fantastic for a Halloween theme, it also works as a standalone fishing-shooting game, delivering true entertainment and a 3,000x bonus.

Mega Fishing is about skill influenced gameplay, strategic choices and a more dynamic experience. There are some hefty bonuses – with multipliers to 950x, Immortal Bosses who give winning chances all the time they are on screen and Awakening Bosses, like the Giant Crocodile, who trigger Awakening Effects, which kill all the surrounding fish for enhanced wins. It also has some awesome firepower including torpedoes and an electromagnetic Railgun to take down these Bosses!

Ocean Hunter Shoot & Win is a good introduction to fishing-shooting with its tutorial option, as well fantastic animations and a Calypso soundtrack.

Unusually it has a human character – The Hunter – in it. The shooting position enables players to view the game from the position of the Hunter on his boat; and in a change to cannon and ammo fire, a high speed net is cast instead of shooting.

plus there is a chance to win up to a 1,500x jackpot

Every click to trigger the net adds to the Energy Bar Accumulator, building up to activate the Free Electric Net feature. Multiple choice is offered with three rooms – Newbie, Joy and Honor, each with different volatilities from low, medium to high, and different Fortune Wheel rewards. Joy offers 5x-600x and Honor 5x-1,000x; plus there is a chance to win up to a 1,500x jackpot. The Fortune Wheel feature is not available in Newbie.

Fortune Zombie is set to launch soon. Can you give us an exclusive sneak peek into what players can expect from this new fishing-shooting experience?

March 2025 will see the official launch of Fortune Zombie. This is a new step for us as we are literally coming out of the water! The game is set in a ‘Smallville USA’ town where a zombie invasion is taking place. The graphics and animations are fantastic with oversized bosses bringing a unique win factor as well as different ways to win, and a jackpot feature. There is also demo play and a unique ‘choose your avatar’ tutorial.

Multiplier wins come from some hilariously ugly zombies as well as a Lucky Drop bonus of 20x; an in-game Dice Bonus; an impressive Ferris Wheel bonus and three progressive Jackpots.

The weapon choice has also been beefed up with a grenade launcher and a Target Lock feature to ensure that the zombies meet their match when you fire. With multiple changes of scenery and location, spectacular graphics and 3,000x max win, we are certain that players are really going to enjoy this shoot out.

Innovation is key in the iGaming space. What new mechanics or features are you exploring to enhance engagement in the fishing-shooting genre?

One of the most important ways to increase engagement is through enabling everyone to better understand these games.

Our interactive stands at global industry events let operators experience what these games offer. We launched our ‘FI/SH campaign’ for playing tips and deep product info to show how fishing-shooting games are an exciting new RNG casino vertical, and not a replacement product for slots.

So, from Europe, Latin America and most recently Africa, we have actively worked with our partners to deliver news and information to maximise the intel on the games and engage players.

We have committed ourselves to lightweight deployment and fast loading – despite asset rich design – to ensure accessible, immersive mobile gaming. For example, Ocean King Jackpot is still only 23.7MB despite its features and bonuses and there is an on-going programme to further reduce all TaDa games’ loading times.

we also refined our tech to synchronise high-speed bullet firing

In addition to developing new themes and formats and enhancing the firepower for more immersive shooting, we also refined our tech to synchronise high-speed bullet firing with the transaction system. This reduced 30 seconds settlements to 3-seconds settlements, providing precise tracking of each individual bullet.

Altogether, these improvements across the entire product ensure that TaDa fishing-shooting games remain the most accessible and engaging ones available.

With player preferences constantly evolving, how does TaDa Gaming stay ahead of trends and ensure its games remain fresh and exciting?

Staying ahead lies in correctly predicting player behaviour patterns and the drivers of sustained engagement: so we evaluate data analysis, player feedback and market testing.

We analyse average playtime, retention rates and betting patterns. If a game maintains high retention rates and fosters continuous gameplay loops, we can see what specifically is driving this engagement. Further evaluation comes through feedback from our partners, streamers and players who participate in testing.

When introducing challenges, strategic decision-making or enhancing win potential, the mechanics can be a player’s first ‘pull’ towards a particular game. With all our titles, we research every detail, including cultural references and colour selection and prioritise the features and mechanics that drive gameplay.

Finally, experience is critical. The TaDa team comprises committed gamers with long exposure to iGaming, so part of the process is making the games we want to play.

Lastly, what can our readers and TaDa Gaming fans look forward to in the coming months? Are there any other big announcements or partnerships on the horizon?

We have new releases across all genres and each one will benefit from added gamification through our superb tools GiftCode and WIN CARD. Plus the new theme fishing-shooting games will continue to be developed.

our first partnership in the US with leading sweepstakes’ brand, Dara Casino

Very excitingly, we now have our first partnership in the US with leading sweepstakes’ brand, Dara Casino. As Dara fully adheres to all of the sweepstakes’ laws enabling it to operate in 44 US states, we are confident that many players in these areas will soon be accessing TaDa’s unique content, including fishing-shooting games.

As usual, we have a busy few months ahead with international exhibitions. We will be heading to SiGMA Americas, São Paulo, Stand N92 for 7-10 April and then New York for NEXT.i.o., Stand B10, 7-8 May. Meetings can pre-arranged for any of these shows by emailing business@tadagaming.com where our multilingual Account Managers and Business Development team will be happy to talk all things iGaming.

The post VegasSlotsOnline News Talks to TaDa Gaming Head of Business Development appeared first on Vegas Slots Online News.

UK Sergeant Court-Martialed for Robbing Army Mail to Gamble 

Soldier on a spree

A military court in Catterick, North Yorkshire has court-martialed an army sergeant for stealing £8,500 ($11,020) in military money to use on a gambling spree.

Prior to this, he had a spotless 22-year career in the military.

The court martial dismissed British Army Sergeant Surendrakumar Tamling, 43, for stealing the military cash in Cyprus. Tamling used the money to gamble at a casino. Prior to this, he had a spotless 22-year career in the military.

The sergeant, who had a “blameless” career and was due to retire in 2026, didn’t think he would get caught. Tamling thought, according to military court reports, that “this time I am going to win.”

Demob-happy

“Demob-happy” is a term described as the “feeling of elation or happiness” on being demobilized from military service.

temptation was the key to an Army post office safe

Tamling’s pre-demob temptation was the key to an Army post office safe in Catterick, the largest British Army garrison in the world. 

Assistant Judge Advocate General Andrew Smith stated Tamling was the only person with access to the safe’s key at the time. General Smith stated at the hearing that on February 18, Tamling opened the safe “and helped [himself] to [a] large sum of money in euros.”

Smith stated: “It was not a sophisticated offense. There was only you who could have done it, so what does stand in your favor is first of all, when confronted, you pleaded guilty and you accepted what you had done, and secondly, you did not try and cover this up and suggest that anybody else might be responsible.”

In his defense, the married father of two teenagers admitted he was addicted to gambling and used the cash “to try to pay off his debts.”

Tamling was stationed in Cyprus under the British Army’s postal and courier arm, which was responsible for running the mail, “handling money, and delivering mail to soldiers.”

Repercussions

General Smith ordered Tamling to pay back all of the £8,572, handed him an eight-month sentence, suspended for 12 months, and ordered him to work 120 hours for no pay. 

Smith said it was “absolutely inevitable” that Tamling would get caught. 

gambled it thinking you were going to win”

The military judge also acknowledged the soldier’s gambling addiction, stating he stole the money and “went to a casino and gambled it thinking you were going to win and pay off all your debts.

“But, of course, you did not, you lost that money as well.”

The post UK Sergeant Court-Martialed for Robbing Army Mail to Gamble  appeared first on Vegas Slots Online News.

Finland Government Sends Bill to Parliament to Open Gambling Market to Foreign Firms in 2026

The Finnish government has submitted a gambling reform law bill to its Parliament aimed at ending the country’s state gaming monopoly under Veikkaus by the end of 2026.

If parliament signs off on the reforms, the Veikkauss monopoly on online gambling will be replaced “with a licensing model that allows international gaming firms to officially enter the Finnish market.”

According to Finnish public broadcaster YLE, the proposed changes will also include setting up a new licensing authority to oversee the gambling industry that will be operational at the start of 2026. 

Veikkaus will retain its lottery and scratch card monopoly

Under the reforms, Veikkaus will retain its lottery and scratch card monopoly while also continuing its casino gaming and slot machine operations.

According to the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority, half of Finns’ online gambling spend goes to offshore operators. If the bill passes parliament, there will be “no set limit on the amount of losses gamblers could face.”

The post Finland Government Sends Bill to Parliament to Open Gambling Market to Foreign Firms in 2026 appeared first on Vegas Slots Online News.