Michigan boots out sweepstakes operators
Michigan’s sweeps moves, Malta license losses, UK levy warning +More
Michigan ousts three in push against sweepstakes.
In +More: Missouri, Minnesota and Ecuador news.
Super7Plus is the fifth operator to lose its Malta license in the last fortnight.
A warning from independent bookies over UK levy proposals.
First class crew show dem why yuh have di city locked.
Michigan sweeps move
Three sweepstakes operators have been booted out by regulators as part of the state’s “continued, relentless efforts to halt illegal gaming operations.”
Panic in Detroit: The Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) sent cease-and-desist letters to a trio of online sweepstakes operators, two of which were US-based, one overseas.
The three in question are PredictionStrike, of Bay Shore, New York; Stake.us, based in Limassol, Cyprus; and California’s VGW LuckyLand, whose parent company is a global technology online social gaming company headquartered in Australia.
A probe found the three sweeps were offering gaming in Michigan without a license.
“Gambling regulations are in place for a reason, and illegal gambling operations are not welcome in Michigan,” MGCB executive director Henry Williams said.
He said unregulated sites “siphon funds away from communities because they are not paying taxes like a regulated, legal gambling establishment would.”
My prediction? Pain: PredictionStrike was found to be offering iCasino and OSB in Michigan without the appropriate license, while Stake.us was promoting an unlicensed online lottery and/or raffle for customers who could buy online.
LuckyLand breached the rules by “offering an internet game in which a player wagers something of monetary value for the opportunity to win something of monetary value,” the regulator said.
Operators can be charged with felonies and punished with 10 years’ jail time, a fine of up to $100,000 or both.
The three said they had taken steps to prevent Michigan residents from accessing their sites.
Michigan’s in the rearview now: Multiple operators have quit the state following a September 2023 crackdown by the MGCB, during which Michigan attorney general Dana Nessel secured an assurance of discontinuance to shutter the Michigan operations of Massachusetts-based Golden Hearts Games.
The sweepstakes casino business model is based on federal law, and not often addressed on a local level, leading to a somewhat dynamic situation where sites like Stake.us can remain legal in 40 other US states.
Outside of Michigan, two other states with strict policies against sweepstakes sites are Idaho and Washington.
“States do have the power to fight back against illegal online gambling sites – and the Michigan Gaming Control Board is proving it,” said Bill Miller, president and CEO of the American Gaming Association (AGA). “More states must follow their lead if we want to protect consumers across the country.”
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+More
North America
Missouri: A report undertaken on behalf of the governor’s office into the current ballot question initiative fronted by the state’s sports teams raises questions over what it terms a “major flaw.”
According to the St Louis Post-Despatch, the initiative fails to include a mechanism for allowing state agencies to collect or deposit taxes and fees generated by a legalized sports-betting program.
“Without the identification of an agency to collect the tax, no tax can be collected,” the paper quoted the report as saying.
A spokesman for the ballot initiative told the paper the proponents disagreed with the findings. They said that state statutes give the Missouri Department of Revenue independent authority to collect all taxes imposed by law.
The initiative has until May to collect 180,000 valid signatures.
Minnesota: State senator Jeremy Miller has said he will introduce an updated proposal to legalize sports betting based on feedback from constituents, legislators and other stakeholders. Local media reported that the Minnesota Sports Betting Act 2.0 combines ideas from his original Minnesota Sports Betting Act with provisions from other sports-betting bills introduced during the last session of the legislature.
The new bill provides for licensing of the state's 11 tribal nations to offer retail and mobile sports betting.
It also proposes a 15% tax rate on sports-betting revenue
The ProhiBet JV between Odds On Compliance and U.S. Integrity has announced it will provide its monitoring technology to LIV Golf alongside sports-betting integrity compliance and education.
Global
Quito while you’re ahead: An attempt by Ecuador’s president to loosen the country’s laws around gaming and see the reopening of casinos and gaming halls has been kiboshed after drug gang-related violence caused the authorities to impose a state of emergency.
President Daniel Noboa had previously put forward a petition to look again at the country’s gaming laws.
But his agenda – including the gaming measure – has been thrown into chaos by the violence that has led the military to undertake a wave of arrests.
The president said the reopening of casinos would help in the fight against money-laundering and crime as well as provide jobs.
Denmark-based iCasino Spilnu.dk has received a DKK700,000 ($102k) fine from the Danish Gambling Authority for breaching the gambling authority’s marketing rules.
Career path
The supervisory board of the Curaçao Gaming Control Board has appointed Cedric Pietersz as CEO, effective as of Feb. 1. He will oversee Curaçao’s transition to the National Ordinance for Games of Chance.
Five exit Malta
Exodus: With the news that Super7Plus has had its Maltese license canceled, it brings the number of operators to have had their credentials to operate from the jurisdiction taken away from them in the last two weeks to five.
Super7Plus joins Winners Malta, Genesis Global, Rush Gaming and Betago in being ordered by the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) to cease all activities.
All the operators received the same notice, saying they must settle all outstanding fees due to the MGA, refund all player monies, submit evidence to the MGA that all such transactions have taken place and remove any reference to the MGA on their websites.
Other than the official notice, the MGA has said nothing further about the sudden rash of license cancellations.
Game of risk: Separately, Malta has received its 2023 National Risk Assessment, which is published by the National Coordinating Committee on Combating Money Laundering and Funding of Terrorism.
Malta’s overall money-laundering residual risk has decreased when compared to the 2018 NRA, reflecting the effectiveness of mitigating measures implemented by authorities and the private sector.
Gaming was one of the sectors where notable improvements were noted, alongside trust and company service providers, banking and investment services, among others.
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UK levy concerns
State of independents: In an op-ed for the UK parliament’s The House magazine, a representative from JenningsBet, one of the UK’s leading independent bookmakers, has warned the new planned statutory responsible gambling levy would lead to a wave of betting shop closures.
The UK Gambling Commission is currently running a consultation on the introduction of a new hypothecated levy, announced as part of the government’s Gambling Act Reform White Paper plans.
The government said it represented a “generational shift in the funding system for research, prevention and treatment.”
Scorpion kick: While “broadly” welcoming the move, Vicky Knight, head of safer gambling at JenningsBet, said the levy as proposed “contained a sting in the tail for independent retail bookmakers” who would face disproportionate costs under the plans as already laid out.
Knight said the 0.4% sliding scale that would apply to smaller bookmaking chains doesn’t take account of how small some of the businesses are.
“It might not seem like a lot, but independent bookmaker’s margins are simply not big enough to swallow that fee, on top of all their other costs, without risking closures and job losses.”
One blow after another: The independent sector has been hard hit in recent years by the pandemic and also by changes affecting the regulation of fixed-odds betting terminals in licensed betting offices.
Knight noted that in 2018 there were 145 independent bookies running around 700 shops; that has now fallen to just 82 running ~500 outlets.
Compare/contrast: Knight also highlighted what appeared to be double standards on the part of the government, which has opted to offer a more favorable outcome for adult gaming centers and family entertainment centers, which, despite their similarities to the bookmaking sector, will only pay a levy of 0.1%.
“We both operate on the high street, and have similar operating costs and pressures, yet independent bookmakers are expected to contribute four times more,” wrote Knight.
Fair’s fair: Knight said independents such as JenningsBet were “proud” of their contribution it and its staff make to safer gambling initiatives. However, she added that if all independent bookies are “unfairly targeted with a higher levy than our peers, it will inevitably push some shops into unprofitability.”
“We want to pay our fair share, just as we’ve done for the last 20 years,” she added.
“But [the] government must listen to the concerns of independent bookmakers if they want to get reforms right. Supporting the levy can’t come at the cost of closed shops and sacked staff.”
Calendar
Feb 6-8: ICE, London incl. World Regulatory Briefing
Mar 5-7: SBC Summit Rio
Mar 27-28: Player Protection Forum, London
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