Evoke mulls sales, bookies brace for legal trouble in Australia

This week’s roundup saw a lot going on, with prediction markets once again a central theme in the United States, evoke bracing for a rougher future due to a tax hike, and bookmakers in Australia named in a new lawsuit.

To start, evoke is possibly in trouble in the United Kingdom, and abroad, as a new online gaming duty in the country now set at 40% and due to take effect next year, is expected to cost the company as much as £135m in additionaltax every year.

The company has already contacted bankers Morgan Stanley and Rothschild, looking for options to either sell or restructure its business, amid suppressed stock value and possibly moribund investor interest.

Sky News, a local media outlet, also reported a few weeks back that evoke may be looking to sell its Italian division for anything between £350m and £450m.

In Australia, jailed financial planner Gavin Fineff, who is serving a nine-year sentence for defrauding 12 victims of AU$3m, has filed a lawsuit against Sportsbet, Entain, and Tabcorp with the Federal Court, claiming that the bookmakers failed to execute proper financial and responsibility checks, and effectively led to his excessive spending.

Fineff financed his gambling habit by pilfering clients’ accounts and plowing the money into the bookmakers. Fineff is also targeting two VIP customer managers, whom he holds accountable for opening accounts and encouraging him to continue gambling despite his clear signs of gambling-related harm.

While courts acknowledge the role of gambling addiction in a person’s reasons for committing financial fraud or embezzling money, this has not been an alleviating factor in sentencing. As to Fineff’s defense, the legal team believes that should their clients win, it could "transform" the industry.

Business and finance

The premier gaming, hospitality, and entertainment destination in California, Yaamava' Resort and Casino at San Manuel, was distinguished with two prestigious awards.

On Wednesday, the go-to hotel and casino resort confirmed that the Newsweek Readers' Choice Awards recognized it with two awards, reaffirming its position as a premier destination for gaming, entertainment, and hospitality.

The leading technology, content, and solutions company that serves nearly 90 lottery customers across the globe, Brightstar Lottery, continues to expand the reach of its popular draw-based game.

Earlier this week, Brightstar Lottery said that its patented Cash Pop draw-based game touched down in Pennsylvania.

In other news, Continent 8 Technologies, an IT solutions company for the iGaming and sports betting industries, has appointed Julia Weygandt as its new Head of Client Growth and New Business.

Laws and regulations

Indiana is debating a new legal action aimed at sweepstakes. House Bill 1052 was introduced by Rep. Ethan Manning earlier this week and seeks to eliminate gaming platforms that use dual-currency systems.

A dual-currency system is a system that sweepstakes casinos often use – one currency is usually granted for free, although it could be bought as well, while another can be redeemed for real-world rewards, often cash.

This news comes on the heels of another important development impacting the sweepstakes vertically, with New York Gov. Kathy Hochulsigning S 5935 into law, and effectively making the segment illegal in the Great Empire State.

In the meantime, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said that he was still opposed to commercial casinos in the Lone Star State in principle. However, he acquiesced that his opinion may change in the future. Gov. Abbott’s main concern is how the legalization of commercial casinos would impact residents and whether it would bring harm.

In the meantime, prediction markets are facing increased pressure in the United States, after a year full of scrutiny and lawsuits. While Kalshi won a brief victory this week in Connecticut, the platform is still fighting on in multiple states, with Massachusetts the latest to issue a challenge.

Responsible Gambling

Change The Game Ohio and Ohio for Responsible Gambling have released a new statement in which they highlighted the risks that children face because of gambling-like products intended for them.

The organizations argued that families should strive to limit their children’s exposure to addictive products, such as apps, digital add-ons, and games.

This is not the first initiative to highlight the risks associated with early life exposure to gambling-like products, with lottery products often cited as unsuitable gifts for children.

At the same time, the University of Maryland has released a new study in which it dug into gambling-related harm and behavioral analysis of gamblers.

The survey indicated that since the state legalized sports gambling, there has been an increase in the number of adults experiencing gambling-related harm, sitting at 5.7%.

The voice of the industry

This week, Casino Guru News caught up with Sumsub Head of iGaming Product Kris Galloway, who explained how AI-driven verification, behavioral analytics, and dynamic risk scoring allow secure onboarding in seconds, reduce player friction, and combat modern fraud, including deepfakes and AI-generated documents, while keeping operators aligned with evolving AML and KYC requirements.

Casino Guru News was able to catch up with Anastasia Semenkova, CEO at Payop, at the recently concluded SiGMA Central Europe.

Semenkova shared her insights on regulatory changes, affordability checks, and how these measures help protect players in the iGaming industry, as well as Payop’s cooperation with operators.

The interview also discussed the introduction of Verification of Payee, a new rule that has recently started applying across Europe. This has come with a particular challenge – failure of bank transfers, which was gradually smoothed out over the past months, Semenkova noted.

Not least, Casino Guru News published an Op-ed by Mike de Graaff, Chief Compliance Officer at BetComply, who broached an important topic – how regulating gambling in individual jurisdictions impacts the number of gamblers, and whether this is tied to increased gambling harm.

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