This week, Casino Guru News has dived into the key industry events you shouldn’t miss, highlighting some of the most interesting developments across the gambling world.
To start, the Netherlands has produced a lot of headliners this week. The Netherlands saw a small decline in channelization rate to 91% from 95% in its latest report. However, newly introduced player protection measures on October 1, 2024, have reduced the contribution to the industry’s gross gaming revenue from high-loss accounts to 23% from 73% previously.
The question remains, argues Matej Novota, Casino Guru’s Head of Data & Complaints, what happened to the players behind these high-loss accounts, and whether they stopped playing or reduced total gaming spend altogether – an unlikely scenario. The report also highlighted that 50% of the total gambling spending in the Netherlands was most likely spent with illegal gambling operators.
Still in the Netherlands, the local regulator has hit Techno Offshore Ltd. with a €1.2m fine over what the Netherlands Gambling Authority alleged was a refusal to comply with earlier recommendations to discontinue the access of Dutch customers to two websites operated by the company.
Business and finance
Marharyta Yerina has been appointed as Managing Director for ELA Games, a prominent iGaming studio and developer of hard-hitting and player-favorite casino games. Yerina is a well-seasoned business veteran with over a decade of experience across numerous industries.
Casino Guru’s Complaint Resolution Center celebrated a major achievement this week, revealing that the center has successfully assisted players in receiving $40,000,000 back from casinos, with the 50,000th complaint published on the forum. The CRC is the global frontrunner in resolving player complaints and facilitating the recovery of lost funds.
Star Entertainment has released its half-year results for the period ended on December 31, 2024, with the company reporting a decrease in revenue and a significant loss over the period.
SOFTSWISS confirmed this week that Rubens Barrichello will remain in his role of Non-Executive Director in Latin America. The globally recognized Formula 1 legend and SOFTSWISS first announced their involvement in April 2024.
Regulations and laws
The United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC) has opened an investigation into the General Election betting scandal of its own. This probe comes independently from a previous investigation that saw the Metropolitan Police do the same and eventually drop the case, clearing all persons involved of wrongdoing.
However, the UKGC is bringing its own probe against 15 people who were implicated in the scandal and may have had insider information on the electoral date, as well as bet against them winning the election – the implicated people were mostly (now former) members of the Conservative Party, along with several staffers and bodyguards.
ACMA has once again issued a blocking order against unregulated websites in Australia. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has issued an ISP blocking order against four individual websites, pushing the total number of blocked illegal gambling and affiliate entities in the market to 1,210.
Kalshi has won an important battle in Nevada, with US District Court JudgeAnthony Gordon issuing a ruling that the company may continue to offer its prediction markets on sports for the time being. At the same time, the state of Michigan and its gambling regulator announced that they would also investigate Kalshi’s offer of event sports contracts.
Responsible gambling
The Netherlands has issued its first-ever penalty targeting a yet unnamed company in the regulated market for failing to adequately protect young adults, in particular. The financial penalty of €734,000 was applied to the operator, which has been granted a temporary injunction by a judge so that its name cannot be revealed. The penalty is still subject to appeal.
The German Sports Betting Association (DSWV) has welcomed the new German government’s announcement that it will, among other things, seek to address the illegal gambling market. The DSWV seized the opportunity to issue five recommendations that the government could try and follow in order to improve the gambling environment.
The voice of the industry
Casino Guru has exciting news to share, as the Evaluation Phase of the Casino Guru Awards 2025 is set to begin online on April 22 and April 23. The phase will consist of 30-minute evaluation calls between shortlisted candidates and Casino Guru’s panel of judges, who will engage in an open dialogue to select the most deserving companies in the sector and in each respective category.
Earlier this week, Casino Guru also confirmed Wicked Games, a leading developer of online casino games, as the latest sponsor to have joined the Casino Guru Awards, alongside other prominent backers, including PayOp, Medier, BGaming, Evoplay, PIN-UPGlobal, and Winfinity.
Casino Guru News also had the opportunity to catch up with Harry Cott, CEO at beBettor, who discussed his company’s approach to helping casinos personalize the offering they bring for their players by using player wealth data and beBettor’s signature Player Wealth Scores.
In similar news, Casino Guru News published its video interview with BGaming’s Chief Commercial Officer, Olga Levshina, recorded at ICE Barcelona 2025.
In the interview, Casino Guru News correspondent Denisa Vydumova spoke about the supplier’s current and future plans, and the arrival of new bespoke games modeled after the successful partnership between rapper Snoop Dogg and BGaming.
Casino Guru News also caught up with Head of Product Management at TaDa Gaming, Dahung Chen, with whom the publication discussed the success of the fishing-shooting game genre, and why it is exciting for players.
