🚨Someone’s knocking at the door
Polymarket CEO’s Manhattan home raided by the FBI
Prediction market boss Shayne Coplan has phone, electronics seized.
Sector dodges a tax bullet in Louisiana.
Brazilian AG throws another spanner in the sports-betting works.
Sweeps operator hit with California class action.
Allwyn stalled by National Lottery tech blunder.
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It’s a raid
Let me clip your dirty wings: Federal agents raided the Manhattan apartment of Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan early Wednesday morning, demanding his phone and other electronic devices, the New York Post reported.
I see you: Coplan was not given a reason for the FBI raid, but the paper said sources claimed “political retribution” as trading on Polymarket pointed to an easy Trump triumph over Vice President Kamala Harris, in contrast to traditional polls.
Coplan was not arrested and has not been charged, a Polymarket spokesperson said.
“Polymarket is a fully transparent prediction market that helps everyday people better understand the events that matter most to them, including elections,” the spokesperson said.
👀The FBI has not commented on the matter. However, a report from Bloomberg suggested the arrest is related to allegations that Polymarket let US users bet on the offshore platform.
Coplan later posted on X: “New phone, who dis?” Meanwhile, crypto investor Ryan Sean Adams also used the platform to claim “this looks like political retribution and is actually bone chilling.”
Promise you, have been true: Last week, Coplan said Polymarket planned to return to the US, having frozen activity following a $1.4m settlement with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission over its licensing status.
Following the election, an anonymous French trader took $85m in profits for backing a Trump victory, some $50m more than previously reported, according to The Wall Street Journal.
It is being probed by France’s gambling regulator, Autorité Nationale des Jeux, over the matter.
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Quit playin’ games: Tabcorp has been fined A$262,920 ($170,210) by Australian regulators for taking online in-play sports bets, in breach of gaming laws.
The firm took 854 in-play bets across 69 tennis matches between April and October 2023, according to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).
Australia’s Interactive Gambling Act 2001 forbids in-game wagering.
The firm had been warned previously, having allowed betting on a US college basketball game in 2021.
ACMA member Carolyn Lidgerwood said it was “concerning” that Tabcorp took six months to fix the error.
LiveScore Group is the latest operator to quit the Netherlands following changes to the country’s regulatory framework and iGaming tax rate. Flutter’s Tombola exited the market in October.
Paraguay’s government has introduced a bill that will end the state’s gambling monopolies, open the market to private competition and bolster the regulator Conajzar’s powers. A review into the future of the monopoly system has been ongoing this year.
A Thai influencer, Tee Oros, was arrested in a petrol station this week by senior police officials, after using his Facebook account to promote a gambling website, in breach of the country’s laws.
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LA-LA land
Wilder shores: The threat of a huge tax hike for sports-betting operators in Louisiana was lifted after the sponsor of the bill in the state legislature deferred it, saying he would welcome continued dialogue with the operators in order to “better understand” the impact of the tax increase.
Louisiana representative Roger Wilder agreed to defer consideration of his 51% sports-betting tax bill during a Ways and Means Committee session on Wednesday.
The special session of the state legislature only runs until November 25.
Are you for real? Wilder’s proposal for the betting tax to be raised to 51% from its current level of 15% had drawn a furious response from industry organizations. Jeff Ifrah, co-founder of the iDevelopment and Economic Association, said the “staggering” increase would have marked a “drastic and counterproductive shift in policy.”
He added that the measure, had it stood, would have made Louisiana one of the highest-taxed sports-betting markets in the country.
It would have “significantly” undermined the competitiveness of legal operators in the state.
Brunt instrument: “Such a sharp increase would not only raise costs for operators but ultimately impact consumers, who will bear the brunt through less-favorable odds and reduced promotional opportunities,” Ifrah added.
He said Louisiana lawmakers have a “long, constructive history of working collaboratively with industries” to foster growth and benefit the economy of the state.
“Many of the state’s political leaders have historically championed economic stimulus through lower taxes on businesses and consumers,” he added.
The emergence of Wilder’s measure, then, was “out of alignment with these principles” and risked a shift of betting activities back to unregulated and untaxed offshore markets.
This would undermine the “very goals of consumer protection and tax revenue generation that regulated sports betting was intended to serve.”
Lost in a forest: But while the industry can breathe a sigh of relief that Wilder’s measure has been deferred, it is fair to say it isn’t out of the woods.
The bill had bipartisan support and House speaker pro tempore, Rep. Mike Johnson said the revenue generated could go towards offsetting some of the cost the state has incurred due to gambling addiction.
“If the product causes more social ills that require taxpayer dollars to treat, should not then the industry be responsible and have a part in taking up some of those costs?” Johnson was quoted as saying in the Louisiana Illuminator.
Tax rises have risen up the agenda this year but as it stands only Ohio and Illinois have actually raised their tax rates.
It was the latter's hike to between 20% and 40% depending on GGR levels that prompted DraftKings to propose its subsequently abandoned player surcharge plan.
Brazil battle
Action stations: A further potential obstacle to the launch of sports betting and iCasino in Brazil has emerged after the country’s attorney general filed papers with the Federal Supreme Court this week suggesting the legislation might be unconstitutional.
The so-called direct action of unconstitutionality argued that the gaming laws did not meet the standard needed to meet the minimum requirements to preserve constitutional values.
Specifically, it said it fails to protect the “fundamental rights of consumers” due to the “predatory nature” of betting.
Conflict of interest: Further, the AG said the legislation “conflicts with principles of the economic order and the internal market.”
It ignores the state’s “duty to protect the family unit.”
Disregards the constitutional requirement to grant public services by concession or permission, through bidding.
Lastly, it “deviates from constitutional restrictions on the advertising of products that pose a high risk to health.”
Threat level: VIXIO GamblingCompliance quoted two sources suggesting the move from the AG was a serious threat to the gambling laws.
It is “a very worrying sign” for a Brazilian market that stands on the cusp of regulation, the website cited one source as saying.
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Stay classy
Better get a lawyer: Another day, another sweepstakes lawsuit. California operator Yellow Social Interactive is the subject of the latest class action. Attorneys for plaintiff Dennis Boyle lodged papers with Orange County Superior Court against the Gibraltar-licensed gaming firm, which goes by the name Pulsz.com in the Golden State.
The online gaming platform bills itself as a free-to-play social casino. However, lawyers for Boyle claimed Pulsz.com is an illegal operation that should be shuttered immediately.
California’s powerful tribal gaming leaders have vowed to stamp out sweepstakes in the state, claiming the phenomenon amounts to unlicensed, illegal gambling.
Earlier this month, sweepstakes heavy VGW was sued by a Connecticut resident, who claimed the firm is trying to pass itself off as a legalized social casino.
Regulators in several states have issued cease-and-desist letters against sweeps operators, and lawsuits involving the firms are multiplying.
Here comes the judge: Others including DoubleDown, Playtika, PlayStudios, SciPlay and SpinX, are battling legal action as dissent from within the traditional gambling sphere continues to mount.
“We have a high degree of confidence that numerous new cease-and-desist orders have been issued by multiple states to sweepstakes casinos and sportsbooks,” said Howard Glaser, global head of government affairs and legislative counsel at Light & Wonder.
“Were I counseling investors and vendors in the sweeps sector, I would advise to specifically ask for pending regulatory actions and investigations as they occur,” Glaser wrote on LinkedIn.
All hat
Lotto trouble: The new operator of the UK’s National Lottery is struggling to deliver a vital technology upgrade after promising to double donations to good causes, The Telegraph reported.
Mis-match: Allwyn took over the National Lottery license from Camelot two years ago with a promise to double its contribution to good causes, although that pledge hinged on a major overhaul of software and hardware operations.
However, sources close to the National Lottery told the newspaper the changeover was likely to be pushed into next year, with several deadlines already blown.
They quoted technology experts saying the upgrade was like “trying to stick a Microsoft system on top of an Apple computer.”
All wrong: The National Lottery is one of Britain’s most lucrative public sector contracts and the country’s largest distributor of charity funds, providing crucial funding for sports and heritage.
The IT switchover was meant to have been complete when Allwyn took over the lottery from Camelot earlier in February.
International Games Technology (IGT), the existing provider, challenged that decision in the High Court. Almost 10 months on, there is no word from the new provider, Scientific Games, that the schedule is on track.
Insiders believe the system is so far behind it may be launched before it is ready, leaving it prone to glitches.
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Calendar
Nov 18: EGBA webinar series: problem gambling prevalence
Nov 20: EGBA webinar series: safer gambling tools
Nov 21: EGBA webinar series: KYC and safer gambling
Nov 22: EGBA webinar series: safer gambling messaging
Dec 2-4: Thai Entertainment Complex Summit, Bangkok
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