Latest Gambling News: Dutch Authorities Will Fine Offshore Operator, and more

Catch up on six of the stories our payments/gambling compliance analysts have covered lately, and stay up-to-date on the latest news.

Dutch Authorities Will Fine Offshore Operator

The Netherlands Gambling Authority (KSA) will fine an offshore gambling company €280,000 per week if it does not cease offering gambling to players from the Netherlands.

The KSA said that lala.bet was accessible from the Netherlands and had continued to be so even after initially complying with an order to block gamblers from the country.

As a result, the regulator said it was imposing a fine of €280,000 per week, up to a maximum of €840,000, until the operator of the website, Curaçao-based Casbit Group NV, blocks access once again.

An objection has been lodged against the enforcement action, the KSA said.

New Regulator Is Rumoured In Brazil

Sources in Brazil say that the government has at last anointed a new Secretary of the Prizes and Bets Secretariat in the form of lawyer Regis Dudena, who is unknown to the industry and inexperienced in gambling.

He served as deputy secretary of legal affairs in 2016 during the presidency of former President Dilma Rousseff.  

Dudena also acted as a special advisor to the Executive Secretariat from 2013 to 2016.

He is currently the head of the Legislative and Regulatory Advocacy practice at Brasilia-based law firm Manesco, Ramires, Perez, Azevedo Marques Sociedade de Advogados.

The appointment was written up by industry blog BNLData, but as of publication was unconfirmed by official documentation.

Lawmakers To Consider Kentucky Governor’s Vetos

Kentucky lawmakers return to the state Capitol on Friday (April 12) for the last two days of the 2024 regular session of the General Assembly to act upon bills vetoed by Democratic Governor Andy Beshear.

Among the 21 bills Beshear vetoed was Senate Bill 299 which would create the Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corp., a standalone government corporation to regulate all pari-mutuel wagering, including historical horseracing machines, as well as sports betting and charitable gaming.  

Beshear vetoed SB 299 because it moved horseracing, sports betting, and charitable gaming to a new entity, with no reasonable explanation.

If lawmakers override the governor’s veto, the corporation would replace the existing Kentucky Horse Racing Commission and the Department of Charitable Gaming.

Mississippi Senate Approves Stripped Sports-Betting Bill

Mississippi legislators once again left open the possibility of enacting mobile sports-betting legislation in the state, with the Senate moving to keep the legislation alive ahead of a key deadline.

The Mississippi Senate voted Tuesday to approve House Bill 774, a bill that, upon original passage by the House, would permit each of the state’s casinos to offer mobile sports betting through one mobile skin.

The Senate version of the bill, however, is a strike-all amendment designed to keep talks alive past Wednesday’s deadline for bills to clear their second house of the legislature.

“The amendment … makes no changes to the current law, it does not express a Senate position one way or another but it does express our position to continue to discuss this and hear from people across the state about this issue,” said Senator David Blount on the Senate floor before the bill’s passage.

“It simply keeps this issue alive and sends it to a conference for further discussion.”

The bill will now move to a conference committee where legislators from both chambers can negotiate a bill to be considered by both chambers before the May 5 adjournment of the legislative session.

Five Daily Fantasy Sport Operators Exit Maine

The Maine Gambling Control Unit (MGCU) confirmed Wednesday (April 10) that five daily fantasy sport (DFS) operators are no longer licensed to operate fantasy contests after they failed to renew their state licenses.

The operators who have left Maine include Data Force, Bidventures, Underdog Fantasy, Boom Shakalaka and Sportsbub. The state now has six licensed DFS operators, which include Certamen Games, DraftKings, FanDuel, Yahoo Fantasy Sports, FFPC, and RealTime Fantasy Sports.

Underdog’s exit from Maine was expected after the MGCU fined it $391,850 in October and ordered the company to immediately cease offering pick’em style games in the state.

Underdog has been offering the pick'em style contests in Maine since January 2021 and has accepted more than 482,000 pick'em wagers from more than 7,800 unique users, bringing in more than $1.4m in revenue on the pick'em games through October 15, 2023.

Minnesota Tribe Asks Court To Overturn HHR Decision

A Minnesota Indian tribe is asking the state;s Court of Appeals to block a Minnesota Racing Commission (MRC) decision allowing the state’s two racetracks to operate historical horseracing machines (HHR).  

The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community filed the petition on Tuesday (April 9) asking the court to review and overturn the regulatory change approved last week. The HHR machines allow patrons to wager on past races and are considered pari-mutuel wagering in the eight states where they are legal.

On January 4, Canterbury Park and Running Aces submitted a joint request for approval of HHR. After receiving testimony, evidence and other documents, Camille McArdle, chair of the MGC, said the commission concluded that HHR “did not constitute an illegal gambling device” under state law.

McArdle described HHR as a system that relies principally on the skill of handicapping horse races rather than chance. In their filing, the Shakopee tribe argued the racing commission lacked the authority to authorize both tracks to offer up to 500 machines each.

The machines have been approved to begin operating on May 21.

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