Latest Gambling News: Merkur Slots UK Fined For Social Responsibility Failure, 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.

Merkur Slots UK Fined For Social Responsibility Failure

The Gambling Commission has fined Merkur Slots UK £95,450 for failing to interact with a customer who lost £1,981 at its premises in Stockport in 2023.

Merkur Slots failed to interact with the customer during a session a gambling session from 1.50pm to 6.43pm on November 1, and between 1.28pm on November 2 and 00.57am on November 3, breaching the UK's Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP).

The LCCP mandates that land-based businesses must interact effectively with customers to reduce the risk of experiencing harm.

Andrew Rhodes, commission CEO, said: “This was a clearcut case of an operator failing to follow rules aimed at keeping consumers safe from harm,” in an update published on February 13.

“In recent years there have been a number of cases of online gambling businesses failing to meet their social responsibility obligations — but this investigation shows that land-based operators also need to make sure they are minimising the risk to customers experiencing harms associated with gambling,” Rhodes said.

He called on all operators to ensure they have policies and procedures aimed at preventing harm in place and staff trained to follow and implement them.

Texas Legislature To Debate Casino, Sports Betting Bills

Texas lawmakers will consider two proposed ballot initiatives to allow voters to decide whether or not the state should legalize sports betting and casino gaming.

House Joint Resolution 134, introduced by Republican Representative Sam Harless, would amend the state constitution to allow sports betting through professional sports teams in existence before January 1, 2025, professional golf organizations that also held an annual sanctioned tour event prior to January 1, 2025.

Class 1 racetracks in operation on that date will be eligible for licensure.

A second measure, House Joint Resolution 137 authored by Republican Representative Charlie Geren, would limit licensed casinos to physical locations in Texas and cap the number of licenses at ten.

Geren proposed that tax rates on casinos and sports betting should not exceed 15 percent and required the state to negotiate compacts with the three federally-recognized tribes to allow Class III gaming, including sports betting, on tribal lands.

As of Thursday (February 13), neither HJR 134 nor HJR 137 had been referred to a committee for consideration. If approved, both measures would be on the November 4 ballot.

Virginia Casino Bill Dies In House Committee

For the third year in a row, legislation that would make a northern Virginia community eligible to hold a referendum on a casino has died in a House of Delegates committee.

Senate Bill 982, introduced by Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, a Democrat, would have authorized the Fairfax County board of supervisors to hold a ballot referendum to allow voters to decide whether the region would be home to the state’s sixth casino.

The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Agriculture, and Natural Resources did not advance SB 982 during meeting on Wednesday (February 12), instead lawmakers approved “passing it by for the day.” However, the subcommittee is not scheduled to meet again during the 2025 session.

Surovell’s bill  passed the Senate with a 24-16 vote.

Delegate Paul Krizek, who chairs the subcommittee, told the Virginia Mercury it “hurts” not to support Surovell’s bill, but the state needs to establish a strong regulatory framework to oversee gaming.

Krizek said he expected to use a budget amendment to establish the Virginia Gaming Commission, an independent agency to regulate all forms of gaming, except the Virginia Lottery.

Budget Amendment Proposed To Legalize Virginia Skill Games

Skill games legislation failed to receive a vote in the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee, but Senate Democrats have kept the issue alive by including an amendment in their budget proposal to legalize the terminals.

The House of Delegates’ budget proposal does not include any skill-games language. The amendment to Senate Bill 800 would require the Virginia Lottery to regulate skill games, along with casinos and sports betting in the state.

The lottery would be required to enact regulation no later than July 1, 2027, and authorizes the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority to grant a provisional registration, beginning July 1, 2026, until lottery regulations are approved.

Skill games would be taxed at 25 percent on the gross receipts of each machine in operation, with the money designated to fund education in Virginia.

“This amendment establishes the Virginia Small Business Economic Development Act for the purpose of providing a regulatory and registration scheme for skill game machines in the Commonwealth,” the amendment explanation reads.

The Senate budget amendment is identical to one included in a budget bill that was approved by the General Assembly last year but was vetoed by Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin. Youngkin supports the creation of the Virginia Gaming Commission before approving any new gaming.

Michigan Targets Nine Offshore Gaming Websites

Regulators in Michigan moved Wednesday (February 12) to shut down nine unlicensed online casinos, amid what the agency described as a nationwide rise in illegal online gambling.

The Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) said it took swift action against nine online casinos, issuing cease-and-desist letters for violations of state gaming laws.

An investigation by the MGCB allegedly found that these websites offer a range of casino-style games, such as slots, poker, blackjack, roulette and craps, as well as betting services for sporting events and horse races.

The sites that have been sent cease-and-desist letters were: BetAnySports (BAS), CoolCat Casino, Diamond Sportsbook International, d/b/a BetDSI.eu (BetDSI), Solar Game LTD and Busan Trade Office (Go Go Gold), My Dreams Casino, NonStop Casino, Palace of Chance, Xbet Casino, and WagerWeb.

“These unlicensed operators are not only in violation of Michigan’s laws but also pose significant risks to consumers by offering limited and often unreliable withdrawal options,” Henry Williams, MGCB’s executive director, said in a statement.

Williams added that the nine operators have 14 days to cease their illegal activities or face further legal action.

Australian Court Denies Aristocrat Injunction Against Light & Wonder

The luck of Australian gaming machine manufacturer Aristocrat Leisure has turned for the worse after an Australian court declined to grant an injunction against Light & Wonder over alleged slot machine copyright breaches.

The Federal Court in Sydney on Friday (February 7) refused to issue an interlocutory injunction against Light & Wonder over alleged intellectual property violations in thousands of its Dragon Train slot machines in the Australian market.

Justice Stephen Burley ordered the judgment be withheld from the public until the parties identify confidential material in his ruling that should be redacted. But the court did not indicate that Aristocrat’s allegations will be entertained any further.

The ruling against Aristocrat subsidiary Aristocrat Technologies Australia dampens the company’s success in obtaining an injunction against Light & Wonder in the US District Court of Nevada in September, in which the court said Aristocrat would be “extremely likely” to succeed in proving misappropriation of trade secrets.

The order list for the Australian case shows that documents from the US case were admitted as evidence on February 4, one day before Justice Burley held an interlocutory hearing.

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