With another busy week in the gambling world wrapping up, Casino Guru News offers a brief overview of the most important stories, highlighting interesting regulatory updates and significant business moves.

A newly released study conducted by Ipsos highlighted that a vast majority of online gamblers in Alberta and British Columbia are gambling via offshore and unregulated gambling platforms. The study, conducted by Ipsos on behalf of the Canadian Gaming Association, revealed that while an overwhelming majority of the players in the two provinces were aware of PlayAlberta as a regulated website, many who had registered with unregulated websites were not aware that such operators were not allowed in the province.

After the recent SBC Awards Europe wrapped up, Casino Guru came home with a prestigious honor, winning the "Casino Affiliate of the Year" award. The SBC Awards Europe 2025 were held at the Hilton Malta in San ?iljan, Malta on June 12, and recognized the best operators, suppliers, affiliates and game developers.

This week, the fast-growing and trusted iGaming software provider, NuxGame, released its updated sportsbook solution, NuxGame Sportsbook. The enhanced and improved solution brought a range of useful features that benefit gambling operators and at the same time boost customer engagement and retention.

Business and finance

A newly released report by the Campaign for Fairer Gambling (CFG) focused on the expansion of gambling across the United States, warning about an increase in consumer losses. The report was titled CFG State Supplement #1 and was released as an addition to the CFG's USA National Online Gambling Report 2024.

This week, PointsBet's Board of Directors rejected Betr's bid and voted in favor of a rival proposal from MIXI and MIXI Australia. The company's C-suite considered that the rival proposal offered greater value and recognized Betr's bid as inferior when compared to the one tabled by MIXI's.

Kaizen Gaming's leading betting and casino brand, Betano, teamed up with FIFA, becoming the Official Partner of the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 for South America. The strategic agreement follows a similar collaboration announced between the duo back in 2022 for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

International Game Technology, the global gaming company, announced that its lottery organization, IGT Lottery, changed its name to Brightstar Lottery. The move comes at a time when Brightstar Lottery continues to expand its global footprint, growing its portfolio of partners. The change, effective immediately, comes ahead of the completion of the sale of IGT's Gaming and Digital Business to Voyager Parent, LLC. The aforementioned acquisition is expected to close as early as July 1, 2025.

On Wednesday this week, Cirsa, the leading Spanish gambling company owned by Blackstone, confirmed its intention to launch an Initial Public Offering (IPO) and raise as much as €460m by listing on the Madrid stock exchange. At the time of the announcement, the company did not disclose the exact date of the IPO and the number of shares. Still, what's known so far is that Cirsa may sell €60m of secondary shares and €400m worth of newly issued shares.

The Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC), the non-profit organization that combats manipulation and fraud in esports, announced that Thunderpick has become its latest Anti-Corruption Supporter. Supporting ESIC's work, the leading esports betting platform reaffirms its dedication to upholding the integrity of esports and safeguarding it from betting-related fraud or match-fixing, among other threats.

Regulation and laws

In the United States, the fight against sweepstakes casinos continues. In Connecticut, lawmakers have taken a strict approach against sweepstakes social casinos, effectively banning them via a recently passed legislation.

As a result, Connecticut became the second state, after Montana, to ban the popular sweepstakes casinos after Senate Bill 1235 was signed into law by Governor Ned Lamont. The legislation comes into effect on October 1, 2025, and reaffirms the lawmakers' dedication to take action against the popular sweepstakes casinos that operate in many states within a legal grey area.

Elsewhere, New York lawmakers passed an anti-sweepstakes bill in a move similar to the one in Connecticut. The proposal, SB 5935, is now awaiting a signature from New York Governor Kathy Hochul. If the legislation is signed into law, New York would become the third state to outlaw sweepstakes.

In Michigan, the state's gambling regulator, the Michigan Gambling Control Board (MGCB), took action against five websites by sending cease-and-desist letters. The gambling watchdog said that the aforementioned websites have been operating illegally, thus in violation of Michigan's Lawful Internet Gaming Act, the Michigan Penal Code, as well as the Michigan Gaming Control and Revenue Act. Considering the letter, the five websites were given 14 days to comply with the MGCB's request.

A similar action was taken by the Louisiana Gaming Control Board, which sent 40 cease-and-desist letters against gambling operators it said were offering their services illegally. According to the Gaming Control Board, the gambling companies, some of which used the sweepstakes casino model, offered their services without a license in Louisiana. This constitutes a violation of the established rules, which is why the gambling watchdog sent the letters and gave the 40 companies 14 days to comply.

Across the ocean, in Sweden, proposed legislation seeks to ban gambling with credit cards. The new draft bill aims to better protect gamblers from over-indebtedness and proposes an overhaul to the existing restrictions regarding gambling on credit. Notably, the change would prohibit the use of gambling with credit cards in cases it is "immediately apparent at the time of purchase that the payment is a credit card payment."

In Japan, authorities have reached out to regulatory bodies overseas in an effort to decrease the number of gambling operators targeting Japanese customers. As revealed in local media reports, the country has reached out to notable gambling conglomerates, including the Isle of Man, Gibraltar, Malta and Curacao, among others, to clamp down on illegal gambling targeting Japanese citizens.

The voice of the industry

Earlier this week, Casino Guru News had the opportunity to sit down for a chat with Relax Gaming's CEO, Martin St?lros. In an interview, the executive spoke about the changing face of jackpot products post-Dream Drop, among other hot topics.

This week, Casino Guru News released an extensive analysis on YouTube's most loved gambler, Brian Christopher Slots, who is also popular among his fans as BCSlots. The analysis focuses on who is Brian Christopher, how does he make money and how he became the face of original games.

The latest episode of Safer Gambling Talks, Casino Guru's Head of Sustainable & Safer Gambling, ?imon Vincze, was joined by Duncan Garvie, the Founder and Trustee at BetBlocker, who spoke about the impact of the black market. Notably, Garvie pointed to "predatory" practices by the gambling sector and warned that users on the black market effectively lose every right.

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