The second-last weekly iGaming news for 2025 has just arrived. We are slowly but steadily preparing for 2026, but this does not mean the online gambling industry is sleeping. On the contrary, many things have happened in the previous week and Nostrabet.com’s team is here to show you all about them. Let’s dive into some of the information that you should be aware of.
Two People from China Arrested in Manila over Illegal Gambling
The Philippines is one of the countries where gambling is legal, assuming you follow the rules. Well, it seems like this was not the case for two Chinese individuals because they were involved in illegal online gambling activities. Both were arrested in Barangay Tambo.
According to the authorities, the 38-year-old and 48-year-old individuals were arrested following a collaboration between the Filipino and Chinese authorities. The two people established many offshore gambling platforms that targeted Chinese nationals. Based on the stats, they have “scammed” more than 500,000 people and generated close to $1.2M in illicit profit.
Betsson Becomes Peristeri BC’s Sponsor
Peristeri BC is one of Athens’ most popular basketball clubs and it just got into an interesting sponsorship deal with Betsson. According to the news, there will be a two-year collaboration between these two. This should help Betsson strengthen its presence in the local market and become a more popular option for basketball bettors.
The Casino Revenue in Macau Recovered Faster than Expected
After having some issues earlier this year, Macau’s casino revenue seems to outperform expectations. One of the reasons is the improvement in tourism products, along with the increased variety of options available to people.
According to the latest report, Macau’s casino GGR will grow by 9% in 2025, which is pretty impressive. With that said, the figure remains lower than that in 2019, but this was before the pandemic.
Many experts believe that local companies offering high-end products and services are outperforming their competitors.
There is Landmark Lawsuit in Australia
Gavin Fineff filed a truly landmark court case against three major operators in Australia in an attempt to get back millions of dollars he had stolen and used for gambling. His actions are against Entain, Tabcorp and Sportsbet and he believes that each of these brands did not investigate where the funds come from.
The plaintiff is currently in jail on a 9-year sentence after defrauding 12 victims for close to $1.9M. He believes that all of the gambling companies had VIP managers who were aware of his excessive gambling habits.
Fineff’s lawyer believes that the gambling companies have essentially “preyed” upon him. It is worth knowing that the authorities in Australia have already penalised Entain and BetEasy for their failure to identify problem-gambling patterns.
It’s safe to say that this case will be very interesting because it will also focus on the VIP systems that operators have in stock.
Gambling Harm in the UK Could be More Dangerous than Expected
The UKGC released a white paper last year, which stated that companies must perform special checks on individuals who lose more than £ 150 over the course of 30 days. The goal here was to show how many players fall into this section, and whether there is anything that authorities can do about that.
Despite the UKGC’s efforts, the actual number of users who fall into this category remains unknown. Some people decided to analyze the bank transactions of more than 240,000 gamblers and it became clear that more than 25% of them would fall into the category of 150+ GBP losses.
All of this data comes at a time when there is pressure in the UK gambling market. Many other sources have shared their findings regarding how many people actually hide or downplay their betting. Sources like GambleAware even announced that 62% of people who took part in their survey said that gambling promotions made it unavoidable to place bets.
2026 will undoubtedly be an exciting year for the UK online gambling industry. We expect to see some regulatory changes that will tighten the way operators can advertise their services.
The Authorities in Turkey Sent 20 suspects to Prison
Around two months ago, we reported that Turkey was facing its biggest match-fixing scandal yet, which involved numerous referees and professional players. Well, it seems like the battle is still on. The recent news shows that the court has ordered a total of 20 suspects to be sent to prison during the ongoing trial.
All the individuals who were sent to jail were part of the additional arrests made in relation to the case last week. Aside from them, thousands of other players have faced some kind of disciplinary actions and some of them were even suspended.
According to some rumours, players like Mert Hakan Yandas and Metehan Baltaci were arrested and jailed. The investigation is still going on and it will be interesting to see if there will be any new suspects in the future. One thing is certain – this is the biggest match-fixing scandal we’ve seen anywhere in the last couple of years.
Pragmatic Play Launched the Bingo Spot Game Show
Pragmatic Play is one of the biggest casino software developers in the world, and the company decided to launch a new game. The Bingo Sport will be a live casino game that has, well, a bingo gameplay. Based on our research, the game will offer 2x, 3x or 5x multipliers. On top of that, people can win up to 20,000x their ticket.
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