Recent content by conker

It's a clean test of motive. It isn't a clean test of whether it works, and those keep getting conflated in here. A cynically motivated policy can reduce harm. A sincere one can fail. The February vote tells us about the first thing only.

Legally the prohibition would lapse. Practically you'd have eighty five operators who've written off their licences, closed their Brazilian entities and laid off staff. You don't rebuild that in a week because a deadline passed.

Both of those are true at once and that's what makes this one genuinely hard. The mechanics here aren't normal. This is a provisional measure, not an act of parliament. It takes effect immediately but Conggress has 120 days to approve it or it lapses. So the market can be shut down now and the...

That's the actual trade, and it's worth being honest that it is one rather than pretending either side is obviously right. Denmark decided a bonus which can't realistically be cleared is a misleading product, so they capped the size and the wagering until the offer became a real thing rather...

3rd study is the one that speaks to what @gamebandit39 and @Greenpickle are describing, though not through games. Research agency interviewed young people aged 16 to 21 for the regulator. What came back was that first contact with gambling typically happens between eight and twelve, usually...

You set this number. That's the actual distinction and it's not a small one. The Commission has been explicit that these reforms don't impose income checks or general affordability requirements. You pick your own cap based on what you know about your own finances and the operator has to honour...

The FRA pilot is a fair thing to raise but the framing isn't quite right. The whole design goal was to avoid asking players for anything. It used credit reference agency data in the background specifically so nobody would have to upload bank statements or payslips. The reason it struggled is...

Worth adding that Anjouan hasn't stood still either. Through 2025 and 2026 it's been raising fees, asking for real corporate documentation, and revoking licences from operators that ignored complaint rulings. Partly self-interest, since the licence is worth less if it's known to mean nothing...

That's crude but it's closer to true than most people realize, and the CGA says so itself. Its own site states that resolving disputes between players and operators is not within its mandate. It cannot order an operator to compensate you and it is not a civil court. So the regulator is not your...

Affiliates are captured, actually. The definition of wagering advertising in the bill covers content by, on behalf of, or for the benefit of a licensed provider, and that reaches affiliates and platforms. Enforcement's another question entirely.

The Greens and Pocock voted against it, which tells you something about how it's landed. Pocock called it a betrayal. Jenny Ware, who actually sat on the 2023 inquiry, has criticized it as well, and she's Liberal. So you have reform advocates saying it's too weak and the industry sayin it's too...

@BillThornes going back to your question, the honest answer is that racing was carved out because racing is treated as a sport with a heritage attached and slots are treated as a product. Once policy decides something is a product rather than a culture, it becomes taxable in a way the other...

The Treasury's own position wasn't hidden though. They stated they expected operators to pass on up to 90% of the increase to consumers through higher prices or reduced payouts. That was in the documentation. So the "they didn't know this would happen" argument doesn't hold. They knew. They...

thats a genuinely good point and it hadn't occurred to me. enforcement pushing the product toward the most legally contested category

worth noting the platforms know this now and are moving on it faster than any regulator asked them to. kalshi put in guardrails in march stopping politicians trading their own races and athletes trading their own leagues. polymarket published market integrity rules the same week what none of...