Latest Gambling News: Ireland’s Gambling, Advertising Watchdogs Meet To Discuss Remits, and more

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

Ireland’s Gambling, Advertising Watchdogs Meet To Discuss Remits

Ireland’s advertising watchdog has met with the country’s new gambling regulator to discuss advertising legislation and the authority's respective remits.

Ireland’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) disclosed meetings with the Gambling Regulatory Authority in its 2023 annual report.

The ASA’s report states: “We will continue to engage with the GRAI and to develop an engagement framework on how a relationship between the two organisations would develop.”

The ASA’s Advertising Code has detailed rules about gambling advertising and the Gambling Regulation Bill 2022 includes provisions relating to advertising.

Nevada Orders Playgon To Cease Unlicensed Live Dealer Games

The Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) has issued a cease-and-desist order to a Vancouver-based gaming company that, through an affiliate, has been producing unlicensed live dealer content in Las Vegas.

Playgon Interactive and affiliate Bitrate Productions produce blackjack, roulette and baccarat games with live dealers to online casinos worldwide, according to the company’s website.

In a letter dated July 18, the NGCB notified the company that it must cease operations by 5pm Friday (July 26). The control board advised Playgon that Bitrate’s activity requires appropriate licensing, which Bitrate does not possess from the Nevada Gaming Commission (NGC).

In the one-page release Thursday, the NGCB also advised Playgon that the company’s outside legal counsel, on two separate occasions in 2016, represented on behalf of the company that Bitrate’s activity would not require NGC licensing because the content would be used for entertainment purposes only.

At some point, however, Bitrate’s activities went beyond social gaming, the control board said.

The cease and desist states that Nevada law empowers the NGCB to “investigate for the purpose of prosecution, any suspected criminal violation” of the Nevada Gaming Control Act.

“The NGCB will take all necessary actions to enforce Nevada’s gaming laws and regulations,” NGCB chairman Kirk Hendrick said in a statement.

A representative of Playgon could not immediately be reached for comment.

Standard General Agrees To Buy Out Bally’s

Standard General has agreed to buy the balance of the shares in gaming company Bally’s Corp. in a deal that values the firm at about $4.6bn, the companies announced on Thursday (July 25).

Standard General, which already owns 21 percent of Bally’s stock, will acquire the company’s outstanding shares for $18.25 per share.

In March, Standard General offered $15 a share to buy the shares it did not already own. Bally’s expected the deal to close in the first half of 2025, subject to regulatory approvals.

After the deal closes, Standard General will merge Bally’s with a regional casino company it already owns, The Queen Casino & Entertainment Inc., which operates four casinos in Illinois, Iowa and Louisiana.

The combination will expand the company’s portfolio to 19 casinos, as well as a Bally’s owned racetrack in Colorado, and an online gaming operation.

“While leverage remains a concern for equity investors, the company today has several growth opportunities ahead, including the permanent Chicago casino, optionality with the (Oakland) A's site in Las Vegas, a new casino in Pennsylvania, as well as iGaming in Rhoe Island,” said Barry Jonas, an analyst with Truist Securities.

The deal announcement comes shortly after Bally’s secured $1.59bn of financing for its Chicago project from Gaming and Leisure Properties, in exchange for the real-estate assets of its casinos in Missouri, Louisiana, as well as under its permanent Chicago casino.

Texas Committee Formed To Study Gaming In Dallas

The North Texas Commission is forming a committee of business and community leaders to study issues related to integrated resorts, casino gaming and sports betting.

The committee will study the implications of gaming and make recommendations regarding issues such as economic development, workforce demands, infrastructure requirements and public safety, according to a report in the Dallas Business Journal.

Efforts to legalize casinos and sports betting have run into opposition in the Texas legislature, even with Las Vegas Sands majority owner Miriam Adelson spending millions of dollars to lobby on behalf of legalized gaming.

In 2021, Sands hired 76 lobbyists and spent $6.7m in Austin, the Dallas Morning News reported. Despite the company’s efforts, legislation failed to pass.

Republican Lieutenant Governor and Senate President Dan Patrick has repeatedly said that the Republican majority in the Senate does not support it. Patrick’s current term ends on January 19, 2027, but he is running for re-election for lieutenant governor in 2026.

Bills supporting casinos and sports betting in Texas were defeated during the 2023 regular legislative session.

Lawmakers are expected to file bills seeking to put the issue of casinos and sports betting on the ballot when the Texas legislature convenes in Austin on January 14, 2025.

Mexican Federal Judge Rules Against Slot Ban

A second judge has declared Mexico’s slot ban introduced in November 2023 decree to be unconstitutional.

The decision at the end of 2023 banned “betting games played with cards … dice, roulette wheels or slot machines.”

Now, Federal Judge María Isabel Bernal has ruled that the decree is unconstitutional, given that the Supreme Court of Justice wrote in 2016 that slot machines are permitted by the Federal Law of Games and Lotteries (LFJS).

That law has not been updated since it was enacted in 1947, despite desperate and loud calls from operators.

In her ruling, Bernal tagged on the clarification that card games and dice are also allowed.

A district court judge, Gabriel Regis, made a similar ruling earlier this year based on the same 2016 decision.

Dutch Regulator Orders Executive Sacked Over Illegal Past

The Netherlands Gambling Authority (KSA) has told an operator it must remove a member of staff from a policy-making position at the company because of their previous involvement with illegal gambling.

The KSA did not name the company or individual, but said it was the first time it had issued such an order.

Separately, the regulator said it had warned a licensee for breaching the ban on untargeted advertising.

The offence came via an TV spot featuring a football player wearing a shirt emblazoned with the logo of a gambling company.

The ad was not specifically for the gambling operator itself, the KSA said.

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