News

The responsible gambling charity has added to calls for the government to think again about leaving loot boxes out of its review of gambling legislation.

UK.- Earlier this month, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport announced that it would not be proposing legislation on loot boxes as part of the government’s review of the 2005 Gambling Act. However, a growing number of stakeholders are asking it to think again.

Last week, the children’s commissioner for England, Dame Rachel de Souza, criticised the decision and called for loot boxes to be included within the definition of gambling. Now the industry-backed responsible gambling charity GambleAware has added its view, calling for measures to limit young people’s access to the products.

GambleAware said it had “long been concerned about loot boxes”, adding that they are “used by 40 per cent of children who play video games” and cause “the normalisation of gambling-like activities”.

It said: “We are therefore encouraged to see the government recognising these risks in the response to the call for evidence on loot boxes in video games. However, we hope that going forward, the new government may consider legislative action on their use, particularly with regards to limiting the access of children and young people to these products.

“Research has shown that loot boxes are psychologically akin to gambling, and therefore more adequate protection would help to prevent future gambling-related harms.

“We look forward to the publication of the ‘Video Games Research Framework’ later this year, which we hope will guide and inform legislation to protect children and young people from gambling-related harms through video games.”

Epic Risk Management, a consultancy specialising in gambling harm minimisation, also said it was disappointed that the government would not recommend legislation for the sale of loot boxes to minors.

While the UK review of gambling legislation appears to be on hold until a new prime minister is chosen, culture minister Nadine Dorries announced last week that a ban on loot boxes would not be part of the delayed gambling white paper.

She said the UK would not follow countries like Belgium, which banned loot boxes in 2018, and Spain, which plans to ban them for minors. Dorries said the government would instead pursue tougher “industry-led” protections.

She said that imposing restrictions or an all-out ban through legislation could result in “unintended consequences”. Instead, a working group comprising games companies, platforms and regulatory bodies will seek to develop industry-led protocols to protect players and reduce the risk of harm.

Expected measures will include parental controls and increased transparency. A Video Games Research Framework will seek to improve evidence on the positive and negative impacts of video games.

Last month, the Betting Control and Licensing Board said the majority of betting and gaming firms had not complied with licensing requirements.

Kenya.- The Kenyan gambling regulator, the Betting Control and Licensing Board (BCLB), says it has cleared 11 companies to receive operating licences for the 2022/2023 financial year. BCLB chairman Cyrus Maina sent the names of the companies deemed eligible for licences in a letter to Ezra Chiloba, director general of the Communications Authority of Kenya.

The firms that have now been deemed eligible to receive licences are reported to include Betika, Odibets, Dafabet, Bangbet, Kilibet, Kwik Bet, Sportika, Betviva, Scorepesa, A Kick-off Sports Bar and Betafriq.

The news comes after the Betting Control and Licensing Board reported last month that the majority of betting and gaming firms had not complied with licensing requirements.

The Communications Authority of Kenya ordered mobile network operators to stop issuing ICT platforms and services, including USSDs, shortcodes, and paybill numbers to betting, gaming and lottery operators who had not renewed their Betting Control and Licensing Board (BCLB) licences.

General Chiloba said the directive was in line with licence conditions on the provision of the licensed services. Gaming firms require their licences to be renewed by the BCLB.

However, new requirements imposed by interior cabinet secretary Fred Matiang’i require clearance by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), the Financial Reporting Centre, CA and the Interagency security team as well as the Communications Authority. The majority of the betting, gaming and lottery firms reportedly did not meet those criteria.

Matiang’i has ordered a crackdown on unlicensed gambling, asking the BCLB to create a list of unlicensed sites that the Communications Authority will then be instructed to block.

In May, the BCLB began an investigation into money gaming operators invest in the sponsorship of sports clubs and community projects amid rumours that betting companies were channelling funds to political parties rather than CSR activities. Chief executive Peter Mbugi ordered all gaming operators to disclose the activities, amounts, and beneficiaries of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) spending.

The two regulators plan to work together on the supervision of gambling and lottery operations.

Lithuania.- The Gambling Supervisory Authority in Lithuania and the Commission for the Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries (KRAIL) in Ukraine have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The agreement will see them work together on certain aspects of the supervision of gambling and lottery.

The regulators will exchange information, ideas and best practice with the intention of expanding their knowledge of the industry, improving each country’s gambling sector, and ensuring the optimum implementation of relevant laws.

Experts from each regulator will also collaborate on the exchange of legal information, details of regulatory practice and other issues. They will also take part in joint seminars, lectures and staff exchanges.

Virginijus Daukšys, director of Lithuania’s Gambling Supervision Service, said: “We are ready to share with Ukrainian colleagues our experience in areas in which we already have considerable expertise and practice, such as in the field of problem gambling prevention, measures against entities providing illegal remote gambling services and technical requirements for gambling devices.

“We are very happy with this agreement and the fact that our new partners are colleagues of this persistent, unyielding and proud state institution. We hope that this cooperation will be mutually beneficial, and we will help our Ukrainian colleagues as much as we can in their needs according to our competence.”

Earlier this month, the Lithuanian legislature, the Seimas, approved new amendments to the country’s gambling and lottery and gaming tax legislation. The changes will allow the national regulator, the Gambling Supervisory Authority, to offer a specific licence for remote gambling.

The move will allow the government to split the requirements for remote gambling and land-based gambling, which are currently tied. Online gambling operators currently need municipal consent to tie in with a land-based gaming operator.

Meanwhile, the regulator has been very active in enforcement action against operators for breaches of Lithuania’s ban on promoting gambling. It has issued several €25,000 fines to operators in recent months.

In Ukraine, gambling businesses in some areas have begun reopening amid Russia’s continued attack on the country. Some operators that were located in heavily bombarded areas in the east have relocated to the west of the country. Venues have been allowed to open but must respect the ongoing curfew.

Many gaming businesses have donated funds to charities working to help alleviate suffering in Ukraine during the conflict.

Ohio Casino Control Commission has approved BMM to test and certify sports gaming equipment.

Press release.- BMM Testlabs, the world’s original gaming test lab and product certification consultancy, is pleased to announce that the Ohio Casino Control Commission has authorized BMM to test and certify sports gaming equipment.

Melissa Shuba, VP government affairs, commented, “BMM is very pleased to have been approved for issuing certifications for sports gaming equipment in Ohio. We look forward to utilizing our decades of experience to provide testing services for the state. We value our ongoing partnership with the Ohio Casino Control Commission and would like to thank their staff for their continued cooperation and diligence during this process.”

BMM Testlabs is now accepting supplier submissions for testing and certifying sports gaming equipment in Ohio.

The firm has confirmed the launch date for the rebranded Mirage Hotel & Casino after MGM Resorts.

US.- Hard Rock International has confirmed that the rebranded Mirage Hotel & Casino will open in 2025. It reached an agreement to buy the resort from MGM Resorts for $1.07bn in December.

The Seminole Tribe of Florida, owner of Hard Rock, will transform the resort into Hard Rock Las Vegas in the company’s iconic guitar-shaped structure. The venue will close for construction later this year.

Until 2020, Hard Rock was present in Las Vegas with the Hard Rock Hotel. However, the company did not own or manage the hotel and it has since been rebranded as Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, now operated by Mohegan Sun.

Hard Rock chairman Jim Allen said: “We are honored to welcome The Mirage’s 3,500 team members to the Hard Rock family. When complete, Hard Rock Las Vegas will be a fully integrated resort welcoming meetings, groups, tourists and casino guests from around the world to its nearly 80-acre center-strip location.”

In June, Hard Rock International and GEK Terna Group announced more details for their construction and operation of an integrated resort and casino at Hellinikon, the former airport in the Greek capital of Athens. The 5-Star luxury resort is scheduled to open in 2026.

Construction of the project is expected to begin within the first few months of 2023 and will last around three years. The development will include a casino with 200 tables and 2,000 gaming machines and a tower with more than 1,000 guest rooms and suites overlooking the waterfront and views across Athens to the Parthenon. The project includes an entertainment venue, the highest outdoor rooftop terrace in Athens and a spa.

Las Vegas’ Silverton Casino Hotel to undergo $45m renovation
The Silverton Casino Hotel in Las Vegas will undergo a $45m renovation to mark its 25th anniversary. The hotel and pool will close during the work. The Sway pool deck will be closed starting in August and is scheduled to reopen in early 2023. The casino, restaurants, aquarium, Veil Pavilion, Johnny Rockets, Starbucks and Bass Pro Shops will remain open.

Some 300 guest rooms and suites will be transformed into “rustic-luxe” rooms, with their “own design stories”. Some of the themes include Cowboy Kitsch Collection, Rustic Modern Collection, and Livin’ Lodge Collection. The move is inspired by sister property Hotel Drover, which opened in 2021.

The European Advertising Standards Alliance has recommended more clarity in some areas but described the EGBA code as a “solid basis for responsible advertising”.

Belgium.- The first independent monitoring of the European Gaming and Betting Association’s (EGBA) pan-European responsible advertising code has found that it provides comprehensive and detailed content and that EGBA members already correctly apply most measures.

The monitoring was conducted by the European Advertising Standards Alliance (EASA), a Brussels-based association that represents European self-regulatory organisations for advertising. It found that the EGBA code provided “a solid basis for responsible advertising”. It also found that EGBA members already applied most of the code’s measures.

EASA suggested some improvements to strengthen the code and its application. It suggested more clarity in responsible gambling messages in adverts (both in terms of legibility and speed), the explicit mention of legal age requirements for online gambling and the use of age-gating mechanisms on social media profiles.

The pan-European responsible advertising code for online gambling was established by EGBA in 2020 and covers advertising content, social media, minor protection, and responsible gambling messaging. Monitoring is an integral part of the code and EGBA members have their compliance periodically monitored by an independent third party to improve the code’s effectiveness and ensure it is kept up to date.

EGBA commissioned EASA to monitor the code during the Euro 2020 football tournament in 2021. EASA was assisted by the advertising analytics company Nielson, which collected 1,240 adverts from EGBA members in four countries (Greece, Ireland, Romania and Sweden). EASA then assessed these adverts, which included TV ads, online pre-rolls, static and animated online banners, along with the social media accounts of EGBA members.

In its conclusions, EASA gave positive feedback about the code, stating that it provides a solid basis for responsible advertising, due to its comprehensive and detailed content. It noted that EGBA members had been particularly successful in correctly applying measures on content moderation.

As a next step, EGBA members will discuss how to utilise and implement the feedback from EASA to further strengthen the overall effectiveness of the code.

EGBA secretary general Maarten Haijer said: “We’re pleased with the monitoring results and the progress our members are making in promoting responsible advertising. We thank EASA for its critical but constructive approach. Advertising is an essential tool to inform the public of which gambling operators are licensed and regulated – and it can be done responsibly.

“We encourage other operators to sign up to the code and join our efforts to raise responsible advertising standards. The industry must get serious about responsible and measured advertising, especially with the World Cup coming up later this year, otherwise the pressure of advertising restrictions will continue to pile on.”

In March, the EGBA welcomed a reported 55 per cent decrease in advertising from major gambling brands being placed on websites that breach intellectual property rights in the EU. The figure comes from a new study by the European Union’s Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO).

The study analysed the amount and type of online advertising found on IPR-infringing websites and apps in the EU, including streaming sites for sports, movies and TV shows. It found that advertising from major gambling brands, including EGBA members, on such sites fell by 55 per cent in 2021 despite advertising from all sectors increasing by 26 per cent.

The association also launched a new expert group on cyber security to facilitate information sharing on cyber threats and attacks among its members and to promote cooperation to track and resolve incidents and identify and solve security vulnerabilities.

The group will comprise cyber security experts from EGBA member operators, with a Memorandum of Understanding to allow for data sharing between the different operators. Participation will be open to all members. The group will also seek to research and implement best practices on cyber security.

The tax hike will go ahead but at a lower rate than initially proposed. Land-based and online gambling operators will have to apply the new rates from August 1.

Romania.- The Romanian parliament has ratified a new rule in the country’s Fiscal Code that will impose a big increase in the tax charged withdrawals of gambling winnings. All licensed Romanian operators, both land-based and online, will have to apply a new tiered withholding tax structure on winnings across all verticals from August 1.

Gambling operators licensed by the national regulator ONJN will have to apply a withholding tax of 3 per cent on winnings of under RON 10,000 (€2,000) 20 per cent on winnings of between RON 10,000 and 66,750 (€13,600), and 40 per cent on any winnings higher than that.

That compares to the current rate of 1 per cent on player winnings below RON 66,750, 16 per tax on winnings between RON 66,750 and 445,000 (€110,000) and 25 per cent on winnings over RON 445,000. It does, however represent a concession on the original hikes proposed, which would have seen 10 per cent charged on winnings of under RON 3,000.

Meanwhile, operators will also face heftier fees for licence renewals. The ONJN will more than double its current fee from €120,000 to €320,000.

The government intends the changes to raise the tax contribution from Romania’s gambling sector, although operators have argued that the change could have the opposite effect if it drives players away from licensed operators.

The Romanian Remote Gambling Trade Association AOJND has called on the government to hold the changes to allow time to discuss possible alternatives with operators. It warns that the change would severely threaten Romania’s 90 per cent channelisation rate of players to licensed operators.

It also claims that the new tax bands constitute a penalty on recreational players with low winnings since 80 per cent of winnings were below RON 1,000 (€200).

AOJND president Odeta Nestor said: “Before adopting such a fiscal measure, a number of factors must be taken into account. Firstly, online gambling is primarily entertainment, not a source of revenue for players.”

He added: “Basically, we are mostly talking about cases in which the player does not pursue the win at any cost but the pleasure of competing. In this way, online gambling is a source of reducing daily stress.

“I have often emphasised that Romania is a success story in terms of gambling legislation. But this situation depends on the ability of the authorities to maintain an attractive legislative and fiscal framework.”

In March, Romania’s National Gambling Office ONJN blocked another 26 unlicensed gambling sites. The Romanian regulator has been regularly updating its list of blocked sites since it began in 2015 ahead of the introduction of regulated igaming.

The latest list of blocking orders featured Sloty.com and a1xSlot.

Slovakia’s Office for the Regulation of Gambling intends for the list to help players identify which online gambling sites are licensed.

Slovakia.- The Office for the Regulation of Gambling has announced the launch of a whitelist of online gambling websites run by licensed operators. The regulator already has a public blacklist of unlicensed sites, but the creation of a positive whitelist is intended to make it easier for players to check if a site is licensed.

The regulator also noted that keeping the blacklist up to date was a constant challenge since new sites spring up all the time. The whitelist, however, should prove a lot easier to keep up to date.

General director Dávid Lenčéš said: “We prevent one illegal website from operating and another one is created immediately. The operators’ creativity has no limits. They often try to motivate players with irresistible bonus offers, modern visuals, unlimited deposits, and in the case of foreign operators the perfect Slovak language.

“If players do not check the mandatory details of the website, they may have no reason to suspect that it is illegal content operating from outside our country. However, by playing on the illegal website, they are depriving themselves of the possibility of getting their winnings and their legal protection under the laws of the Slovak Republic.”

Lenčéš added: “In the section ‘legal websites’, we will publish all of the licensed websites of licensed entities. This means that all others not included in this list are illegal. Illegal websites can deprive players of their stakes and winnings and are available to risk groups for whom gambling can harm mental health.

“By providing more easily accessible information about the legality of a website, we are able to highlight the scope for playing online gambling under the control of valid Slovakian legislation.”

He also stressed that licensed operators are subject to remote supervision and face sanctions or even the revocations of their licences if they breach regulations.

Last month, Slovakia’s Office of Gambling Regulation announced the publication of a “Concept of Responsible Advertising” document with which it intends to improve gambling advertising standards. The document will introduce new standards for gambling ads in all media.

The document is intended as a “starting point” that operators and media bodies can use to introduce new self-regulatory and control mechanisms to ensure a safe gambling market for consumers and prevent crime and gambling harm.

Last year, Slovakia banned Twitch after a user streamed himself playing poker online. The US streaming platform is used by professional gamers, allowing fans to watch them play in real-time while interacting and giving them their opinions and advice.

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission has reported $93m in revenue for the state’s three casinos.

US.- The Massachusetts Gaming Commission has reported that Plainridge Park Casino, MGM Springfield and Encore Boston Harbor generated $93m in gross gaming revenue (GGR) in June. Encore reported GGR of $60m, MGM Springfield $21.1m and Plainridge Park $11.9m.

Together, Massachusetts’ three casinos generated approximately $26m in tax revenue in June. Approximately $1.127bn in total taxes and assessments from the casinos in Massachusetts have been collected since the opening of each gaming facility.

Plainridge only offers slot machines; the other two casinos have both slots and table games. Plainridge, a category 2 slots facility, is taxed on 49 per cent of GGR. Of that total, 82 per cent is paid to Local Aid and 18 per cent to the Race Horse Development Fund.

MGM Springfield and Encore Boston Harbor, category 1 resort-casinos, are taxed at 25 per cent of GGR. The funds are allocated to several specific state funds as determined by the gaming statute.

The Gaming Commission has encouraged Encore and MGM to reopen poker tables saying gamblers wanted more access to the game.

The Peruvian Congress has approved the new legislation with no votes against it.

Peru.- The Peruvian Congress has voted to approve legislation that will legalise online gambling and sports betting. The law, which will create a new regulatory framework for the verticals, received 91 votes in favour and none against.

The law will be overseen by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism of Peru (Mincetur) and will come into effect 60 days after its publication in the official government gazette, El Peruano. As well as online gaming and sports betting, it will also allow the creation of venues for remote sports betting where players can place bets via betting terminals.

Under the legislation, correctly licensed operators will be able to offer bonuses for online gaming as they cannot be exchanged for money. Sports betting operators will have to display messages on all platforms warning that “excessive online sports betting can cause pathological gambling”.

The legislation sets gaming tax at 12 per cent of each operator’s tax base (net income minus maintenance costs), to be collected on a monthly basis. A maintenance tax of 2 per cent will be charged on monthly income. Tax will be collected by the tax agency Sunat.

The penalties for breaching regulations will range from a warning and a fine of up to SOL200 (€50) for minor offences to a licence disqualification, either for up to 10 years or permanently. Mincetur will have the authority to temporarily close an operation and confiscate assets as a precautionary measure.

Elsewhere in Latin America, gambling legislation is still being held up in Brazil.