A new illegal advert has appeared in the Netherlands, using a fraudulent copy of Lot of Happiness to redirect Internet users to unauthorised online casinos.
This Dutch casino is part of the Janshen-Hahnraths Group which operates and manages amusement centers and casinos throughout the Netherlands.
As the new school year gets underway, the windows of 1,500 press shops in Belgium are being adorned with a clear message: alcohol, tobacco and gambling are forbidden to minors. Behind this national campaign are the trade associations Perstablo and Prodipresse, who want to remind people of a simple but sometimes forgotten rule: “18 is the minimum age. Simple though it may be!”
In the corridors of the European Commission, the major national lotteries, grouped under influential banners such as the European Lotteries Association (EL), are waging a strategic offensive to influence the sector’s regulatory future. Their objective? To preserve a model that feeds public coffers while distinguishing itself from private operators deemed to be out of control.
1 September 2025 marks an important milestone for the Gaming Commission (GC). The Royal Decree formalising the new composition of this key body in the regulation of gambling in Belgium comes into force today.
The world of online gambling attracts enthusiasts and crooks alike. In recent weeks, an illegal site has stolen the visual identity of the famous Belgian establishment PepperMill Casino. Copied logos, identical banners… Everything seemed authentic at first glance. But behind the facade, there was no link with the legal parent company.
In Los Angeles, an unprecedented legal battle is under way: the city has filed a lawsuit against Stake.us, the American branch of the online casino Stake, accusing it of disguising a genuine illegal casino behind a so-called “sweepstakes” model.
One figure catches the eye: one press shop in seven in Belgium still sells lottery tickets to minors. This is the finding of a series of checks carried out by the National Lottery in the first half of 2025.
In his office at the Barrière casino in La Baule, Geoffrey Salingue smiles when he talks about money. Not because he pockets it, but because he knows that every chip wagered becomes the business of a whole complex mechanism: players, machines, municipality, State. And when it comes to the economics of gambling, every euro tells a story.
On 28 August, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) revealed that it had charged Kenny Alexander, former CEO of GVC Holdings (Entain), with conspiracy to defraud and pay bribes. He and ten others are charged for their alleged role between 2011 and 2018 in the provision of gaming services in Turkey. The complex investigation, led by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), aimed to identify fraudulent behaviour and systematic corruption within GVC’s former Turkish network.
In Amersfoort, a cashier from the Primera chain was sentenced to community service after being caught stealing scratch-off tickets from the shop where she worked. The shop owner discovered several torn tickets in the bin behind the till. CCTV footage later confirmed that the cashier had taken the tickets without paying for them.
In the world of online casinos, visibility is everything. But what happens when that visibility is hijacked by malicious actors? Frank Kruit, an expert in SEO and affiliation in the gambling sector, has observed a worrying increase in fraudulent practices aimed at impersonating legal casinos.
In the hours leading up to the public announcement of their engagement on 26 August 2025, a user of the Polymarket prediction market known by the pseudonym ‘romanticpaul’ made a bold bet. He massively bought contracts betting on Taylor Swift’s engagement to Travis Kelce, boosting the odds from 24% to 41%.
The National Gaming Authority (ANJ), well known for its vigilance against betting abuses, is preparing to show its commitment to amateur sports. In August 2025, it announced an original partnership: to sponsor fourteen amateur clubs during the 2025/2026 season, in order to raise long-term awareness of the dangers of sports betting.
The fight against gambling addiction is entering a new phase in the Netherlands. The Kansspelautoriteit (Ksa) and the health research organisation ZonMw have announced an ambitious plan: a £21 million investment in the extension of the Gambling Addiction Prevention Programme.
On 22 August 2025, Teun Struycken, Secretary of State for Legal Protection, announced his resignation. This decision comes amid an already tense political climate, following the collapse of the coalition government in June and the announcement of early elections in October.
In July 2021, when Germany opened its online gaming market via the Gaming Treaty (GlüNeuRStV), a protection mechanism was launched: OASIS, the national self-exclusion system. Today, this mechanism is proving to be a tangible success.
