Union trouble
Evolution's workforce problem has an impact on both sides of the Atlantic
Solidarity with striking Evolution workers throws up Nevada licensing issues.
GuardDog has announced its latest investment in the Game Safety Institute.
The American football league has called in retired cops and G-men.
It’s an esports winter in Turkey.
I say what I think, that the company stinks.
Power to the people
A little local difficulty: A strike undertaken by up to 5,000 of Evolution’s employees in the Eastern European country of Georgia is having ramifications when it comes to the company’s attempt to buy Las Vegas-based table game provider Galaxy Gaming.
All that is solid: Evolution said that the $85 buyout announced in mid-July “solidifies” its US positioning.
Melts into air: However, as reported by the Nevada Independent, representatives of the Las Vegas Culinary Union Workers Local 226 used a public comment session at a meeting of the Nevada Gaming Commission to bring up Evolution’s industrial relations record.
Roots of the dispute: The dispute erupted in mid-July over allegations of poor working conditions in Evolution’s live casino facility in Georgia. Evolution responded by cutting 1,000 jobs and announcing the move via Facebook.
T&Cs: Now, in a statement last week, Culinary Union secretary-treasurer Ted Pappageorge said the labor organization wanted to bring a dispute to the attention of Nevada gaming commissioners, who will ultimately have to approve the sale.
He requested the gaming commission reject Evolution’s license application in Nevada if the company “continues to refuse to treat its employees with respect and provide for decent wages and safe working conditions.”
“The Culinary Union offers solidarity to the Evolution workers in Georgia and asks the Nevada Gaming Commission to take into consideration the labor practices of this company,” the statement added.
A spokesperson told the Nevada Independent that UNI Global, a federation of gaming industry unions, asked them to highlight the issue to Nevada gaming regulators.
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A marks the spot: A third illegal bookmaker from California has signed an agreement to plead guilty to running an illegal bookmaking operation and money laundering in California and in a Las Vegas casino, the Las Vegas Review Journal has reported.
The paper says that Damien LeForbes, a professional poker player based in Long Beach, could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison, three years of supervised release and fined $500,000.
Court documents only identify the Las Vegas casino as ‘Casino A,’ but LeForbes has been a frequent player at Resorts World Las Vegas.
Unsubscribe: Two Dutch influencers have pulled a YouTube video after the country’s regulator was alerted to advertisements for an unlicensed operator on the channel. Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) warned the pair twice, sending letters to notify the hosts that action would be taken. “If an advertiser advertises illegal offers, they themselves run the risk of a sanction,” the KSA said.
Michigan’s gaming regulator has ordered an Arkansas-based online lottery and raffle operator to stop targeting citizens in the Great Lakes State. The Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) sent a cease-and-desist letter to OC Media Holdings, operating as One Country Give (One Country), stating that offers of sweepstakes are in breach of Michigan law.
Americans are embracing casino gaming and sports betting as acceptable forms of entertainment and view them increasingly as responsible industries, according to a new survey by the American Gaming Association.
The survey found that 65% of Americans believe the gaming industry behaves responsibly in communities where it operates.
For sports betting, 90% view it as an acceptable form of entertainment and 75% of Americans support legal sports betting in their home states, the survey said.
65% of those surveyed believe the industry is committed to encouraging responsible gaming, up from 55% last year.
Do it yourself: Allied Irish Bank will allow customers to voluntarily block gambling transactions on their personal and business cards. AIB is the second Irish lender to introduce controls that can be activated directly by individuals who feel they have a problem.
Intralot will continue serving the Netherlands lottery and retail sportsbook brand TOTO until June 2027 after an agreement was reached to extend the partnership.
Three years after it quit the market, Betclic Everest arm Bet-at-home must pay $3.11m in player losses, Austria's Supreme Court has ruled.
Director of Integrity & Compliance – São Paulo
Senior Compliance Manager – Cyprus
Head of Monetization – Cyprus
GuardDog investment
New money: GuardDog, the regtech investment arm of Underdog Fantasy (a sponsor of the Compliance+More newsletter) has announced its latest investment, this time in the Game Safety Institute.
GSI is run by co-founders Simo Dragicevic and Sarah Ramanauskas. It was launched last year.
Build better: GuardDog said the money would help GSI in its efforts to “build wider product intelligence platforms to more accurately assess risk for each game type and develop opportunities to better educate players and showcase tools to help players control their play.”
Ramanauskas said the majority of investment and innovation in RG over the past 15 years has been centered on solutions focused on the player.
“As these initiatives start to mature, we anticipate increased regulatory and industry focus on product safety,” she added.
“A recent survey of major global operators showed that almost all understood the importance of product safety, however only a third are satisfied with their current approach to understanding product risk.”
This is the second investment undertaken by GuardDog which was set up by Underdog Fantasy with $1m to invest in startups working in the responsible gambling arena.
Football integrity
Sound of da police: With the NFL season about to get underway, the American football league has called on retired cops and G-men to make sure players aren’t betting on games (or themselves).
After what it considered a successful offseason in terms of player education, and no scandals for a good 13 months, the league has ramped up efforts to ensure the trend continues.
Each team has been assigned Integrity Representatives, which the league describes as “typically retired FBI or executive level police officers”.
The reps will monitor for suspicious activity on site during games and partner with local law enforcement, provide advice to teams on gambling issues, and support investigations related to potential gambling (or other integrity-related) violations.
Foolish games: Last offseason, 10 players were suspended for gambling breaches, before eventually returning to action. The last to be freed from a ban was Denver Broncos defensive end Eyioma Uwazurike, who received a one-year suspension.
Gambling scandals involving players have tarnished the professional football, baseball, basketball and ice hockey leagues in recent years, prompting concerns over the extent to which sports betting is growing as a phenomenon.
Esports winter in Turkey
PERA-normal activity: On 6 August 2024, PERA Esports announced the end of its operations, marking the closure of the short-lived Turkish esports organization. While the "esports winter" initially seemed to be the cause, journalist Richard Lewis revealed deeper issues related to match-fixing.
The official announcement saw the Turkish organization disband its Counter-Strike: 2 roster, and completely cease operations. The official statement was brief, stating the “end of an era” despite the organization being created less than nine months ago.
Although the “esports winter (a broad market correction that has seen venture capital investment dry up and several companies exit the market) could have been the reason,
Suspicious minds: PERA was blacklisted by major betting platforms due to suspected match-fixing activities.
Suspicious betting patterns were detected early, particularly involving players Jurus "Kamion" Zsolt and Norbert "msn" Török, who were flagged during their time with the ONYX team.
Dubious sponsorship: PERA claimed sponsorship from Turkish betting site Perabet, but investigations revealed no official connection between the two.
Furthermore, oddsmakers discovered irregular betting activities, such as large bets placed by VIP accounts with no prior history in esports betting. PERA's legitimacy was further questioned due to the absence of official registration and public management.
Poor play: Accusations of cheating were made by opponents, notably after a poor performance at the CS2 Major qualifiers in Copenhagen. Despite changes in the roster, PERA's reputation remained tarnished, arguably leading to their eventual shutdown.
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Events calendar
Sep 5: Sports Integrity Summit, São Paulo
Sep 10-13: European Conference on Gambling Studies, Rome
Sep 24-26: SBC Player Protection Summit, Lisbon
Oct 7-10, G2E, Las Vegas
Nov 5: Gaming in Germany, Berlin
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