Bet-at-home ordered to repay punter, Bovada quits Ohio, Evoke moves in Romania

This week’s update has to do with several high-profile cases from across the industry. First, the news from Ohio. The state gambling regulator has ordered Bovada, and its operating company, Harp Media BV,to exit the Buckeye State and withdraw its gambling products from the state.

In a cease-and-desist letter sent to Harp Media on August 6, the regulator alleged that Bovada had offered sports betting, online poker, and online casino products without a proper license, making the products "unlicensed or illegal," and ordering the company to comply by August 16.

An update on Bovada’s website indicates that Bovada now lists 12 states in the United States as a place where the website cannot be accessed, and this includes Ohio.

Bet-at-home was hit with a court ruling in Austria, after the Supreme Court said that the company and its subsidiaries had to repay a player millions worth of dollars in net losses incurred over a period of almost two years.

Between August 2018 and July 2020, a player lost $3.1m. Bet-at-home was finally asked to leave the market officially in October 2021. However, the Supreme Court holds the company and subsidiaries, bet-at-home.com Internet and bet-at-home.com Entertainment, as liable under tort law, and thus obligated to repay the player losses. The ruling specifically names the Internet entity.

This seminal ruling strikes a heel turn from an earlier ruling this year, when the Supreme Court of Austria ruled in favor of a gambling company, arguing that the player had to in fact repay the money they had won playing online.

Evoke is continuing to shift its strategic clout across the world, with the company now focusing on the Eastern European market through an ambitious merger and acquisition deal that targeted Win.ro, a local company with 7% share of the market in the country.

The deal is valued at €10m and has been funded in cash, which has allowed the company to secure the controlling 51% stake in the operator. Commenting on this opportunity, Evoke CEO Per Widerström said that he was pleased with the opportunity to increase the company’s footprint, adding:

"This acquisition is consistent with our strategy to build sustainable market-leading profitable positions in the most attractive markets. It is also consistent with our M&A strategy to focus on low-capital, high-impact combinations that accelerate the delivery of our strategy."

The industry beat

We went quickly over the events of the week, focusing on a few of the important takeaways on the eve of the upcoming American football season. For starters, a study by Optimove recently concluded that more people are going to be betting on the NFL this year, and more frequently.

At the same time, 55% of those interviewed said that they would be placing at least $51 on their NFL wagers, a rather big amount. The study focused specifically on individuals with income exceeding $70,000.

At the same time, the NFL announced that it is extending its partnership with the National Council on Problem Gambling through a new $6.4m grant, which has pushed the total amount allocated to $12.6m since October 2021.

The money will serve as part of the league’s multi-pronged approach in reducing gambling-related harm and promoting safer gambling.

Evolution Gaming has been fined by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) after the Board determined that the company had allowed an unidentified man to enter the studio environment and the dressing room of staff members.

The fine, although small, has indicated that the PGCB is continuously enforcing strict criteria of conduct. At the same time, a BetMGM Online Casino player in New Jersey has made history having won the eye-watering $6.4m, the largest online slot jackpot to have ever been won in the United States off an online casino.

The player had bet $200 on a single wager to get the outcome on Fruit Blaster, a popular progressive jackpot game developed by Entain.

Casino Guru in the news

Much has happened this year at Casino Guru and Casino Guru News. Starting with Šimon Vincze, Casino Guru’s Head of Sustainable & Safer Gambling. Vincze has joined the Board of Directors at the International Gambling Counselor Certification Board (IGCCB), an important distinction and a natural continuation of Vincze’s mission of helping make the gambling industry safer for consumers.

Vincze also recently sat down with James Mpiirwe for an episode of Safer Gambling Talks during which they discussed the creation of the gambling regulatory framework in Mpiirwe’s native Uganda, and the subsequent efforts to steer the industry to emphasize on better player protection and responsible gambling practices. You may watch the full episode here.

We had another great catch-up with Rosalind Baker-Frampton, Gordon Moody’s Evaluation and Research Lead, who spoke about the positive impact that removing barriers to problem gambling treatment has had, and how this could be pursued further. Baker-Frampton similarly explored the more pressing matter of analyzing a recently concluded residential treatment program for women, which yielded encouraging results. Read our full conversation with her here.

Martin Collins, Chief Business Development Officer at Soft2Bet, also joined us for a conversation this week, with the executive talking about the importance of gamification and personalization. Collins’ remarks addressed one of the biggest challenges for the industry, which comes outside the sector – the fight for consumer attention that also involves alternative entertainment options such as social media and streaming platforms, citing both Netflix and TikTok as potential competitors. You can find out more about our conversation with Collins here.

Last but hardly least, we caught up with Juraj Torok, Casino Games Specialist at Casino Guru, who spoke at length about Casino Guru’s extensive library of games and continued updates carried out on it to make it one of the very best resources for referencing online casino games.

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