Stake has pushed back hard against rival operator Entain after the latter questioned the crypto gambling giant’s decision to hold a Curaçao licence.
Entain’s general counsel Simon Zinger used Curaçao’s surprise appearance at the 2026 World Cup to raise scrutiny over operators licensed in the Caribbean island jurisdiction.
Zinger argued the island’s status as a gambling hub should prompt closer examination of companies operating under its relatively light-touch regulatory framework.
He suggested the tournament had exposed deeper questions about where Stake’s allegiances truly lie, claiming the company was effectively backing Curaçao over its home country of Australia.
Stake responded by pointing out that its technology business, Easygo, employs more than 800 people in Australia and pays taxes there.
The company embraced the Curaçao underdog angle with sporting spirit, noting it was also cheering on the Socceroos while taking a pointed jab at Zinger’s Canadian roots and Gibraltar base.
The row adds to a string of controversies surrounding Stake, including its ended Everton shirt sponsorship and withdrawal from the UK market following criticism of marketing featuring adult entertainer Bonnie Blue.
A lawsuit from a Swedish customer alleging he lost $1.5m after receiving gambling inducements has also kept the brand in the headlines alongside its rapid commercial growth.
Beyond the corporate sparring, bookmakers across the industry are celebrating what is shaping up to be the biggest betting event in history as the expanded 48-team World Cup gathers pace.
Flutter expects total staking to be at least double that of the Qatar 2022 tournament, partly due to the United States hosting matches in one of its largest markets.
The company believes it could be processing around 100,000 bets every minute during peak moments, a scale that underlines just how dramatically sports betting has expanded.
Analysts at Macquarie forecast global World Cup betting turnover could exceed $50bn, comfortably surpassing the estimated $35bn wagered four years ago.
FanDuel and DraftKings both reported that opening fixtures involving the US and Brazil became the biggest football betting events in their respective histories.
DraftKings recorded five times the betting handle seen at the same stage of the last World Cup, reflecting rapid gambling regulation across the United States since 2022.
William Hill says England’s victory over Croatia has been its biggest betting event of the tournament so far, while bet365 has already paid out £30m through promotional offers linked to substituted players.
Entain also reported strong engagement, though unpredictable results created a rollercoaster for its trading teams throughout the opening rounds.
Analysts caution that the tournament’s real commercial value will ultimately be measured by how many first-time customers remain active once domestic sport returns.
Away from the industry’s present-day drama, The Times offered a memorable look back at the career of Benny Figgins, who spent 55 years dealing blackjack at Caesars Palace.
The 82-year-old recalled rubbing shoulders with Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr, Diana Ross and Harry Belafonte across a career stretching from Las Vegas’s golden era to the age of $75,000 hands.
Figgins also witnessed profound social change at the casino, recalling that Black dealers were only permitted onto the casino floor in 1971, a milestone he remembered with obvious pride.
By his retirement in 2022, he was the last remaining employee from Caesars Palace’s opening day, with the casino marking the occasion by presenting him with crystals from the original dome chandelier.
He reflected that the greatest reward of his career was not financial but meeting his future wife Shirley at the casino, with the couple having shared nearly five decades of marriage.
