From proposed legal changes in Sweden to several major deals in the gambling industry looming, this is the week in our news review.

Star Entertainment Group may get temporary relief as Oaktree Capital Management is proposing to buy its debt off a concert of creditors. Star informed about this development in a filing to the Australian Stock Exchange but has refrained from giving a definitive answer as to whether it would accept the proposal.

Light & Wonder pursued an acquisition of similar magnitude targeting the charitable gaming assets of Grover Gaming and G2 Gaming estimated at $1.05bn. The deal allows Light & Wonder to position itself in yet another promising vertical which it has not been exposed to.

The American Gaming Association (AGA) and the Social and Promotional Gaming Association (SPGA) are once again at loggerheads with the former using its State of the Industry address to criticize the latter.

According to the AGA, sweepstakes social casinos have been a source of illegal gambling, using "legal acrobatics" to offer games of chance without the necessary licenses.

For its part, the SPGA has argued vehemently against this summation, and said that the sweepstakes model was well-documented in the United States and operated within an established legal precedent and regulated framework.

Online Gaming and Betting

In a recent poll, Casino Guru sought to find out what type of slot game players prefer. As it turns out, the majority of casino players would rather play the so-called low-volatility slots, which are characterized by more frequent payout, even if they pay slightly less.

In other news, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has expressed cautious optimism for prediction markets during an earnings update for his company but did not offer too many details if his company plans to do anything in particular within that vertical.

Regulation and laws

The Swedish Trade Association for Online Gambling (BOS) has cautioned that the government ought to close a loophole that essentially emboldens offshore gambling operators to offer their products in the country.

BOS wants to criminalize these acts and thus give the authorities stronger legal recourse to counteract such operations. In the meantime, Thailand is well on its way to legalize Las Vegas-style casino resorts.

Called "entertainment complexes," these establishments may now receive a special rule that would require from Thai nationals to hold deposits worth $1.5m for several months in order to be admitted onto the casino floors.

In other words, this measure may essentially restrict locals’ access to casino gaming floors as they would need to cough up significant amounts to just enter.

North Carolina is the latest frontier state that is willing to push forward with the legalization of casinos on non-tribal land. The state already has experience running physical and mobile sports betting, and according to a new poll, the majority of locals also support measures designed to expand the physical casino footprint.

Responsible gambling

Gambling addiction searches are on the rise, the American Medical Association’s journal, JAMA Internal Medicine, has argued in a recent publication. There has been a consistent upward trend since the overturning of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act in 2018, the research said.

In the Netherlands, the regulator has taken a look at the most recently introduced responsible gambling measures, recapping their effectiveness and analyzing venues for improvement. Overall, problem gambling behavior has fallen and excessive spending has lessened, the Kansspelautoriteit outlined.

The voice of the industry

This week, there was much to talk about around the industry, with Casino Guru News publishing an in-depth interview with Casino Guru’s Data Team. The interview focused on how the Safety Indexhas been improved to ensure that players receive accurate and real-time data on important developments and changes in online operators, and thus pick a brand that is safer.

Moving on, Martin Calvert, who serves as an external judge for the Most Ethical Marketing Approach category at the Casino Guru Awards 2025, spoke about the importance of companies endorsing this brand of marketing practices. In a punchy statement, Calvert simply explained that ethical marketing practices aren’t less effective, and ought to be embraced.

He was joined by Denis Algreen, a fellow judge in the Most Ethical Marketing Approach category, who said that ethical marketing cannot be just a type of communication strategy for companies. Next up, Casino Guru News heard from Maris Catania, another respected industry specialist and also a judge at the Casino Guru Awards 2025, who simply stated that "the real MVP in the equation is the player."

Casino Guru News also had the opportunity to catch up with Krzysztof Opa?ka whose company, Tequity, is looking to empower operators through branded content and differentiate their offer through solutions such as dynamic RTP, Max Win, and Max Exposure.

In another interview, Casino Guru News spoke to Daisy White, Head of Business Development at Rdentify, and discussed the importance of personalized customer support, another strong area of interest that companies ought to be adopting.

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