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Nigeria’s Senate has officially passed the Central Gaming Bill, 2025, pushing the country closer to repealing the National Lottery Act of 2005 along with its 2017 amendment, despite persistent objections from state-level regulators.   The bill, brought forward by Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele, successfully completed its third reading on 4 December and now moves to the House of Representatives for concurrence before being forwarded to President Bola Tinubu for his signature.

Lawmakers in Estonia have granted final approval to a bill that will gradually lower the tax rate on remote gambling to 4 per cent by 2029. The legislation cleared its third reading in parliament on Wednesday, passing by a vote of 51-31, with one abstention. As first reported in October by Gaming Intelligence, the bill reverses an earlier plan to increase the remote gaming tax in Estonia to 7 per cent in 2026. Under the new legislation, the tax rate will gradually fall from i

Brazil has settled on an 18% tax rate for fixed-odds betting operators, marking the latest and most significant fiscal adjustment in the country’s newly formed gambling regime.   The decision follows today’s approval by the Senate’s Committee of Economic Affairs (CAE), which endorsed the plan to lift the gross gaming revenue (GGR) tax from the existing 12% to 18% through a phased process beginning in 2026.   Under the CAE-approved proposal, the tax rate will rise to 15% by 20

The £825,000 penalty imposed on Done Brothers Cash Betting Limited, trading as Betfred, has brought renewed attention to ongoing deficiencies in anti-money laundering (AML) controls within the retail gambling sector. According to the first paragraph of the regulatory report, the fine resulted from an investigation that concluded the operator had “failed to maintain effective anti-money laundering oversight for customers using B3 gaming machines.” Regulators determined that th

Macau’s casino operators entered the week on a strong note, with shares climbing again Monday as the market reacted to a November gross gaming revenue (GGR) report that surpassed expectations and reinforced the sector’s robust 2025 performance.   Casinos in the special administrative region reported $2.63 billion in revenue last month — a 14.4% increase year over year — extending Macau’s streak of monthly gains to ten consecutive months. The total also exceeded the consensus

New research suggests that Australia’s nationwide ban on using credit cards for online gambling has indeed curbed sports betting — but not because it restricted access to borrowed money.   Instead, the reduction appears to stem from the added inconvenience the policy introduced for bettors.   The study, conducted by economists Aditya Maitra and Matthew Maltman and published by the e61 Institute, examined anonymized bank-transaction data from before and after the federal gover

Advocate General Siewert Lindenbergh has issued guidance indicating that gambling agreements entered into before the Netherlands introduced its licensing system in April 2021 should not be regarded as invalid by default. His opinion comes in response to questions raised by the district courts of Amsterdam and Noord-Holland, both of which are handling test cases brought by players who are seeking repayment of losses accumulated before the country formally regulated online gamb

In a coordinated enforcement effort that spanned Sweden and Spain, Europol-backed authorities exposed the financial engine behind a violent criminal organisation whose activities hinged on illicit gambling and extensive laundering schemes. The operation resulted in multiple arrests, the confiscation of luxury goods and cash, and the discovery of locations dedicated to managing underground revenue. Officials stated that the network not only generated significant sums through u

Sky Bet, a major force in the UK gambling market, has officially moved its main headquarters to Malta, a decision that took effect this month and is expected to substantially reduce its UK tax burden—by as much as £55m per year—due to Malta’s significantly more favourable tax framework.   The operator has been steadily expanding its presence on the island, having begun active recruitment there in the summer of 2025.   The relocation entails the transition of core teams and se

The UK government’s 2025 budget was thrust into the spotlight earlier than intended on Wednesday morning after a leak exposed Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s plans—most notably a sweeping series of gambling tax increases designed to raise more than £1 billion from the betting sector. The premature publication came after the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) mistakenly posted its Economic and fiscal outlook online ahead of schedule. In its statement acknowledging the error, th

South Africa’s National Treasury has unveiled a proposal for a national 20% tax on gross gambling revenue (GGR) from online gambling, positioning the measure as a tool to reduce the social risks linked to the rapidly expanding digital betting sector.   In a discussion paper released on 25 November, the Treasury outlined plans for the levy to cover all forms of online betting, including interactive gambling platforms.   Although Treasury officials estimate the measure could ra

The Association of Gaming Operators of Kenya (AGOK) commemorated its 20th anniversary last Friday with an elaborate celebration at Nairobi’s Safari Park Hotel, bringing together industry operators, government representatives and key stakeholders for an evening devoted to networking, entertainment and evaluating the evolution of Kenya’s gaming landscape.   Throughout the event, participants focused heavily on AGOK’s achievements, the sector’s growing emphasis on responsible ga

Shares in Evoke, the UK-based operator behind William Hill and 888, plunged today after the company cautioned that rising taxes on online gambling will sharply reduce profits and force a sweeping restructuring that could include thousands of job cuts.   The announcement comes on the heels of new tax measures unveiled by UK Finance Minister Rachel Reeves in yesterday’s budget.   Under the government’s plan, taxes on online slots and games will jump from 21% to 40% starting Apr

Britain is preparing for one of the most sweeping changes to online gambling taxation in years, with Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves unveiling plans to sharply increase the tax burden on the sector’s most lucrative operations.   The details surfaced ahead of schedule after the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) mistakenly published its analysis before the official announcement in the House of Commons.   Under the new framework, online casinos will face a dramati

A fresh comparison of raw demographic inputs from Blask, examined alongside the markets singled out in the EGBA’s 2023 overview, shows just how differently Europeans approach online gambling — not only in scale, but in who plays and why.   Europe’s gambling heavyweights — Italy, the UK, Germany, France, and Spain — dominate the continent’s revenue landscape according to the EGBA’s 2023 figures, yet the customer profiles behind those numbers, illuminated by Blask’s datasets, p

Colorado’s gaming authorities have issued a $50,000 fine against BetMGM after determining that the sportsbook violated state regulations by accepting wagers on individual student-athlete performance, a betting category explicitly banned under Colorado law.   The New Jersey-based operator notified regulators of the issue itself, revealing 48 prohibited bets placed on NCAA basketball and football events between March 2023 and October 2024.   The unlawful wagers involved two men

Seven of Europe’s leading gambling authorities have committed to deeper collaboration in an effort to curb the accelerating spread of illegal online gambling, cautioning that rapidly evolving digital ecosystems are enabling unlicensed operators to slip past national regulatory systems. Representatives from Germany, Austria, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Portugal, and Spain cemented this alliance during a meeting held on 12 November 2025 at Spain’s Directorate General for

In September 2024, Wynn Las Vegas acknowledged to the U.S. Department of Justice that it had “conspired with unlicensed money transmitting businesses that moved millions of dollars in illicit funds through the casino,” agreeing to forfeit an unprecedented $130 million. At the time, the public learned little about what exactly drove the largest-ever forfeiture involving a U.S. casino. The government’s announcement offered only sweeping descriptions, leaving unanswered question

Google has rolled out yet another update to its gambling advertising policy, bringing its rules further in line with regulations enforced in various jurisdictions. Under the newly introduced restrictions, advertisers are now blocked from promoting offline gambling in any region where such activity is deemed illegal. In its announcement, Google confirmed that 35 countries fall under the updated limitations, explaining that “the promotion of offline gambling is prohibited in lo

William Hill has announced via customer support that it will withdraw from several non-core markets across Africa, Latin America, and Asia, signaling a strategic retreat from regions deemed secondary to its core business. The bookmaker’s site lists 13 markets affected by the exit, with nine located in Africa—Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, the Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Somalia. Outside Africa, William Hill will leave Viet