Author: Charles Shephardson

Entain has left the door open to additional portfolio restructuring after completing the first stage of its planned exit from Central and Eastern Europe. CFO Michael Snape indicated the group is not committed to maintaining its current business structure, raising expectations of further strategic moves ahead. In June, Entain agreed to sell a 20% stake in its CEE joint venture to existing partner EMMA Capital as part of its wider capital allocation strategy. The company confirmed at the time that it intends to fully exit Entain CEE eventually, with the initial disposal representing the first step in that process. Speaking…

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has named betting shops among high street businesses his government intends to actively discourage, igniting fierce industry backlash. The anger centres on licensed betting shops being grouped alongside what Burnham separately described as “dodgy businesses,” a phrase widely understood to refer to criminal fronts. Betsmart Consulting founder and CEO Kirsty Caldwell told reporters: “I’m absolutely livid about it, and I think everybody in the industry is and should be.” Jeremy Godden, MD of The Godden Gaming Organisation and Bacta vice president, expressed his own frustration with the prime minister’s framing and choice of language. Godden…

Live dealer content has fundamentally shifted its position in the casino lobby, moving from a secondary offering to a core vertical for operators worldwide. In several markets, live casino titles already lead visibility rankings, signalling a structural change in how operators approach their game libraries. Data from Blask, an AI-powered iGaming market analytics platform, tracks visibility scores from zero to 100 percent based on which operators feature a game and at what lobby positions. Among the top 20 live titles measured in July 2026, Crazy Time from Evolution leads the field with an impressive 620 brand listings across global operators.…

Swintt has launched Grillmaster Garry, a new addition to its SwinttPremium portfolio that combines barbeque-themed fun with serious prize potential. The game plays out across a 5×3 reel set featuring five fixed paylines, giving it a classic structure that keeps the focus firmly on its unique feature mechanics. Symbols include barbeque tools, corn cobs, succulent sausages, and traditional playing card values, all adding to the summer cookout atmosphere the developer has crafted. Players must watch for special grill and steak symbols during base gameplay, as these two icons are the key ingredients for triggering the slot’s main attraction. When steaks…

The UK government’s plans to give councils greater control over gambling premises have reignited fierce debate about the future of betting shops on the high street. Prime Minister Andy Burnham appeared to shift the focus of the plans by including betting shops in a video highlighting businesses he suggested local communities had not asked for. Writing in The Spectator, author Rupert Hawksley questioned why the government was targeting an industry already experiencing dramatic decline across the UK. There were 8,882 betting shops in the UK in 2015, falling to 5,872 by 2025, with Betfred recently announcing plans to close 132…

The UK Gambling Commission has found that consumers participating in social media lotteries are more focused on whether a draw looks genuine than whether it is legally operated. The regulator’s intelligence team recorded an increase in reports of suspected illegal lotteries and raffles on TikTok during 2025 compared with the previous year. In response, the Commission commissioned Yonder Consulting to examine why consumers take part in these draws, how they encounter them, and how operators run them. Key findings revealed that lower ticket prices, informal presentation and familiar payment methods could reduce consumers’ perception of risk when engaging with these…

CreedRoomz has announced the launch of what it describes as the first-ever culturally localized live casino game built specifically for the African region. The iGaming innovator says the new title is engineered to meet the demands of a rapidly expanding African market with genuine, localised gameplay experiences. At the heart of the game is a fully native Kiswahili user interface, covering all menus, buttons, betting layouts, and in-game instructions for seamless navigation. The title is hosted live by native Swahili-speaking dealers who communicate and interact with players entirely in Kiswahili throughout each session. This combination of language authenticity and live…

Rank Group has closed nine Mecca Bingo venues across financial year 2025/26 as it battles a toughening taxation environment across the United Kingdom. Eight of those closures came in a single wave during June 2026, with the shuttering of Mecca Bingo Scarborough in November 2025 bringing the full-year total to nine. CEO Richard Harris, who took over from John O’Reilly on an interim basis in January before being confirmed as permanent CEO in July, has overseen all eight of the June closures. Harris was direct about the reasoning, stating: “These clubs were either loss-making or not commercially viable, so we…

Bragg Gaming Group has pulled its 2026 financial guidance following a second-quarter revenue decline of 12% compared to the same period last year. Revenue for the three months ended 30 June came in at €22.9m, down from €26.1m recorded during the equivalent quarter in 2025. The shortfall was driven primarily by weaker platform revenue in the Netherlands and flat performance in Brazil throughout the period. Dutch revenue fell 14% as customers completed migrations away from legacy platform contracts, reducing income that Bragg had previously relied upon. Some Brazilian operators also moved towards direct integrations with suppliers during the quarter, further…

Kenneth Dart, the reclusive billionaire heir to the Solo Cup fortune, has formally tabled a mandatory cash offer to take Evolution private. Dart’s investment vehicle Candle Lake issued the offer on 13 August 2026, pricing Evolution shares at SEK695, equivalent to €63.03 per share. That figure represents Evolution’s closing price from 24 July and sits notably below the supplier’s current trading level of SEK733.30 per share. The mandatory offer follows Dart’s shareholding in the live casino giant crossing the critical 30% threshold last month, triggering obligations under Swedish listing law. Candle Lake has been clear, however, that it has no…