This week’s iGaming news is more intriguing than ever, as we have a lot to share. Our dedicated Nostrabet.com news team did everything possible to offer you the latest information, so it’s time to reveal all of it. Some of the things you are about to read will surprise you, so we recommend sticking with it until the end.
Bangladesh Declares a War on Online Gambling
Bangladesh is probably not the first place that comes to mind when talking about online gambling. Despite that, the local authorities decided to take a firm stance and “declared a war” on online gambling among a few other activities.
There was a statement from the Governmentabout the Cyber Security Act 2025 and how it prohibits anyone from sharing gambling or betting ads. Based on the statement, people who violate the laws will face severe consequences.
Bangladesh will use its National Cyber Security Agency to oversee the enforcement of the new directives. Alongside local companies, the authorities even talked with the likes of Meta Ads and Google Adsense because they want the latter to limit the type of ads that go against the law. We’ll follow this case to see how it works out in the future.
Betfred May Close its UK Shops if the Gambling Tax Increases
After last week’s news about William Hill and the fact that it could close more than 200 betting shops, Betfred also decided to join the movement. According to the brand’s co-owner, it could close all of its 1287 betting shops across the UK if the Government decides to increase the gambling tax. If that happens, more than 7500 people will lose their jobs.
Betfred’s co-owner, Fred Done, said that the company is already paying high taxes, and if that number increases, it will not have any profit. Moreover, more than 300 of the company’s betting shops are already losing money.
While on the topic of closing betting shops, Paddy Power, another big name in the UK, will part ways with 57 shops amid increasing costs and different challenges. The UK has the largest gambling market in Europe, so any changes here could have a big impact on the industry throughout the continent. We will have to wait and see what happens.
A former Raketech Employee Went to Prison
According to sources, a former Raketech employee received a four-year prison sentence after it became clear that he had been stealing money from clients’ accounts and sending it to his own bank account.
The events took place in 2019 and involved Jonathan James Borg, a person who was part of Raketech between late 2017 and mid-2018. An interesting fact is that the company reported their former employee for a different crime, but as the police started investigating him, they found a lot more problems.
The results revealed that Borg stole over $15K. He confessed to some of the transactions, but in the end, he got a four-year jail sentence. On top of that, Borg will have to return the money he stole, pay the court expenses and submit a 75k EUR personal guarantee to the Government.
Hacksaw Gaming Joins the Brazilian and Czech
Hacksaw Gaming is one of the biggest names in the casino software industry and is behind many popular games. The company is available in many parts of the world, and following its latest partnership with Esportes da Sorte, it has also entered the Brazilian market. The latter is an operator that recently acquired a license in Brazil.
Following the collaboration between the two, Brazilian players will have access to many of Hacksaw Gaming’s biggest titles, such as Wanted Dead or a Wild and Duel at Dawn. It is worth remembering that Hacksaw Gaming recently made headlines after offering 15% of its shares on NASDAQ Stockholm.
Alongside its operations in Brazil, the company will now be available in the Czech Republic. Hacksaw Gaming will partner with Apollo Games Casino and will offer its products to local clients. The operator in question has been operational since 2019 and has been available online since 2021.
William Hill became the sponsor of the Cheltenham Showcase Meeting
William Hill got into the news again, but this time, it is for something positive. The company became the first-ever sponsor of the Cheltenham Showcase Meeting, a two-day event. It will be held on Friday and Saturday this week and will “open” the National Hunt season. Following the deal, the event will now carry the company’s name and players can see it across 5 different races.
The sponsorship deal for William Hill comes at a time when the company recently updated its Vegas app. The latter is more than just a regular app because it uses AI to provide personalized offers for players.
The Gambling Commission in Belgium Published its 2024 Annual Report
Belgium has released its annual report on the country’s gambling industry for 2024. Based on the statistics, there were approximately 155,000 daily average players, which is around 37%.4% more than the number in 2020. Alongside that, the number of visitors playing once per month is also up by almost 20% (over 600K).
In terms of sanctions, the gambling regulator in the country inspected more than 101 operators. Many of them did not meet the criteria and were required to become inaccessible to local players. 34 of these sites were blacklisted, whereas 19 operators complied with local legislation.
There were also more than 133 sanctions, 66 of which were fines.
All in all, the gambling industry in Belgium has changed a lot in the last couple of years and it is slowly catching up to some of its neighbouring countries.
Bet365 Started Offering its Over/Under Game in Mexico and Arizona
Bet365 has a popular free-to-play game called Over/Under, and it is available in several parts of the world. It seems like people like it because the site decided to collaborate with Low6 and it will offer its game in Mexico and the U.S. This is good news for bet365 because the company recently expanded its services in Canada and several other U.S. states.
In terms of the game itself, it allows people to make multiple player prop selections. Users have the chance to combine up to 10 selections per entry.
The Police in India Arrested More than 684 Gamblers in Ganjam
The police in Ganjam took part in an investigation that lasted over a month, and it recently ended with the arrest of 684 individuals. Based on the news in India, the police also seized more than $339K in cash, 239 phones and motorcycles. All of those things were linked to illegal gambling activities.
Local people said that these kinds of activities usually escalated during the festive periods. The local police carried out the enforcement actions under the Orissa Prevention of Gambling Act and it will continue its investigation so it can identify who is behind the organizer.
The idea of the police raid (apart from curbing illegal gambling) is to discourage others from taking part in such activities. Gambling is gaining huge popularity in India, which is one of the reasons why local authorities are taking strict action.
Ukraine will create a Register of Excluded Gamblers
Responsible gambling is a popular topic in many parts of the world and Ukraine is one of them. It seems like the country decided to take more action in this department because it wants to create a register that will include excluded gamblers. The idea is to allow people wishing to self-exclude themselves to do so and users will even have the opportunity to impose a ban on a close relative. Aside from that, all gambling organizers will have access to this register and can identify a given player’s status.
An interesting fact is that Bulgaria did something similar a few years ago. Local authorities maintain a list that allows individuals to self-exclude themselves, and it appears to be effective. It will be interesting to see if Ukraine takes a similar approach.
Colombia to add New Laws related to Taxes on players ‘ bonuses
Colombia made interesting legislation changes a few months ago and added VAT on gambling deposits. It seems that the measures are paying off, as local authorities have decided to expand this and now have a different tax rate on the player bonus offers that operators distribute. Operators will have to pay VAT when offering playable bonuses (depending on specific conditions).
Ygam Reached 5M People Via its Educational Programmes
Ygam is one of the gambling harm prevention charity organizations in the UK that focuses on children and young people. Based on its most recent stats, it reached out to more than 5M of its target audience through its different educational and preventive initiatives. Their goal is to help people with gambling-related harms by providing resources and training.
Considering that more and more people in the UK have some kind of gambling-related issue, programs like this and even more important than before.
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