Author: Charles Shephardson

The UK Gambling Commission has confirmed a new set of regulations for category B gaming machines following a formal consultation process. The changes are designed to make machines safer and fairer for players across the country, with implementation set to begin in earnest from June 2027. Under the new rules, category B machines must provide consumers with improved access to gambling management tools and clearer sessional information during play. Sessional information will allow players to see exactly how long they have been playing and how much they have won or lost at any given point. Licensees will also have access…

The Upper Tribunal has wiped out a £13.2m Remote Gaming Duty bill against Jumpman Gaming in a landmark ruling with sweeping implications for UK online casino operators. Jumpman won its appeal against HMRC on 25 September, with the court ruling that approximately £13.2m in additional RGD should be reduced to zero. The case centred on the tax treatment of promotional free spins, an area that had long created uncertainty for operators offering bonus-based gameplay to customers. The tribunal concluded that an extensive tracking exercise required by HMRC did not emerge naturally from the legislation underpinning Remote Gaming Duty. As a…

Brazil’s illegal online betting market has surged into view following President Lula’s Provisional Measure banning the country’s regulated gambling sector. Within just one hour of the announcement on Friday, 25 September, monitoring tool Bet Legal had already flagged 41 new unlicensed betting sites operating in the country. Bet Legal is a detection platform operated by Iron Security, a cybersecurity firm specialising in anti-fraud and brand protection services for licensed gambling operators in Brazil. Iron Security is also currently working in collaboration with the National Association of Games and Lotteries, known as ANJL, as part of broader industry oversight efforts. A…

Despite widespread public support for the online betting ban, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is seeing little political reward ahead of Brazil’s upcoming presidential election. A new Quaest poll reveals that 62% of Brazilian voters back Lula’s Provisional Measure to ban online betting across the country. The poll was published just nine days before the first round of the presidential election, making the timing of the measure politically significant from the outset. According to Quaest, Lula leads Flávio Bolsonaro by 39% to 34% in the first round, with the two candidates tied at 42% each in a potential runoff.…

Brazil’s sweeping betting ban has sent shockwaves through the global iGaming sector, dragging down share prices across some of the industry’s most prominent publicly listed companies. The announcement triggered an immediate and broad market reaction, with investors responding swiftly to the uncertainty surrounding one of the world’s most anticipated regulated gambling markets. Better Collective was among the companies hit hardest by the news, with its share price falling following the announcement as the market digested the potential impact on its operations. Flutter Entertainment, one of the largest online gambling groups in the world, also saw its stock take a hit…

A fraud rate of zero sounds like the ultimate win, and in a boardroom presentation, it looks exactly like that on a clean, polished slide. Many risk managers across the digital gambling industry openly declare that eliminating fraud entirely is their primary professional objective and guiding operational principle. The problem is that chasing absolute zero fraud is not a sign of a healthy system — it is often a costly financial trap hiding in plain sight. Fraud prevention in the iGaming space was never designed to function as an impenetrable wall that blocks every suspicious signal at any cost to…

Oddin.gg, the B2B esports and fast betting content supplier, has launched eHockey, a new round-the-clock studio ice hockey product delivering around 1,600 matches per month. The launch arrives just one week before the NHL season opens, coinciding with the early weeks of the NFL season when sports audiences are at their most engaged. Fast betting content is specifically designed to fill the many hours each day when major league fixtures are not scheduled, giving bettors something familiar to wager on. Matches are short and frequent, played by real people inside a studio environment, and fully traded and risk-managed by Oddin.gg’s…

Continent 8 Technologies and FuturePath AI have launched Future8, a new AI-native operating company built specifically for regulated industries including iGaming. The joint venture was announced at SBC Summit Lisbon, marking a significant step toward production-ready AI deployment for licensed operators worldwide. Future8 combines FuturePath’s enterprise AI applications platform with Continent 8’s licensed global operating footprint, creating a purpose-built solution for regulated environments. The venture is designed to help iGaming operators move beyond AI experimentation and into full production deployment, embedding governance and auditability into every workflow from the outset. Continent 8 brings more than 28 years of experience serving…

Jumpman Gaming has secured a major legal victory against HM Revenue and Customs in a ruling that could reshape tax obligations across the UK online casino industry. The Upper Tribunal handed down its decision on 25 September, overturning a significant portion of an earlier ruling and wiping out approximately £13.2m in Remote Gaming Duty assessments against the operator. The dispute centred on Jumpman’s welcome promotion for new customers, who could make a qualifying deposit to receive a free spin of its Mega Reel game. That promotional spin could then award further free spins on other casino games, and HMRC argued…

Three Brazilian trade groups have filed petitions with the Supreme Federal Court, known as the STF, seeking to suspend President Lula’s provisional measure banning online betting. The provisional measure was introduced on Friday, 25 September, and immediately prohibited online betting operations across the country without delay. Operators have been given until 6 October to take their betting sites and apps offline in compliance with the sweeping new directive. Licence revocations are then scheduled to follow 30 days after the measure’s official publication, meaning the deadline falls on 25 October. Although the measure took effect immediately upon introduction, it still requires…