Everygame Casino Releases New Wonder Reels Slot

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Entain, the global sports betting and gaming group, announced the conclusion of a strategic review by the Board’s Capital Allocation Committee (CapCo) of Entain’s portfolio of markets, brands and verticals, which commenced in January 2024.

With the objective of maximising shareholder value and reflecting the operational progress of the business, the conclusions of the review are:

• Entain has the appropriate portfolio of diversified strategic assets, brands, capabilities and geographic footprint to ensure it is well positioned to deliver high quality long term growth.
• There remains significant upside by focusing on delivery of the Group’s strategy of returning to organic revenue growth, expanding margins and winning in the US.
• Entain’s balance sheet and leverage position is robust and has been strengthened by the recent extension of Entain’s RCF and term loan repricing and add-ons.
• Crystalbet, the leading gaming brand in Georgia, is non-core to the Group. As such, strategic alternatives for this business will be considered, including interest already received from potential acquirers.

As part of this review, the CapCo considered developments in Entain’s key markets and the operational progress made towards its strategic objectives including:

• Brazil returning to strong double-digit revenue growth during Q2, with actions taken to improve customer acquisition and retention accelerating the performance.
• The levelling of the regulatory playing field in the UK with the new voluntary industry code on customer safer gambling checks and implementation of industry wide slots limits from September, together with improving customer offer, support expectation of returning to growth later this year.
• Delivery of the product roadmap for BetMGM is progressing well, including recently launched MLB and NBA sports betting markets supported by Angstrom’s unique capabilities, particularly in parlay products.
• On 16 May 2024, the Nevada Gaming Commission unanimously approved the applications of Entain and certain of its subsidiaries without limitation.
• Entain CEE is performing well and the outlook for online casino liberalisation in Poland is increasingly encouraging.
• Project Romer is on track to deliver targeted cost savings through simplifying Entain’s operations and improving efficiency.

Following the review, the CapCo will continue to regularly review strategic progress and consider options to maximise shareholder value, including ongoing oversight of all significant aspects of capital commitments.

Barry Gibson, Chairman of Entain, said: “I am delighted that the Capital Allocation Committee has concluded its strategic review of our portfolio. Whilst we still have more work to do to improve our operational performance, the Board is pleased with the progress Entain is making so far in 2024 in line with our strategy. The Group has the core strengths, brands and products to be competitive across its markets and continues to be a global leader in betting and gaming. The Board looks forward to updating the market further on its progress at the interim results in August.”

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Online bookmaker QuinnBet has become the Betting Partner of the Tattersalls Irish Guineas Festival taking place from May 24 to 26.

The Tattersalls Irish Guineas Festival is one of the most prestigious weekends in the racing calendar. The top-class programme takes place over three days, the Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas being the main feature on Saturday. On Sunday, the Tattersalls Irish 1000 Guineas and Tattersalls Gold Cup take centre stage with both races set to gain increased international exposure as part of the Tote World Pool for the first time. The festival will offer record prize money of just over €2.4 million, ensuring the best horses compete throughout the weekend.

The sponsorship includes title naming of the valuable €100,000 QuinnBet Emerald Mile which features on Friday and the QuinnBet Premier Handicap with total prize money of €50,000 taking place on Sunday.

“We are delighted that QuinnBet has agreed to enhance their association with the Curragh. Their brand will be visible across the three days to include sponsorship of two very competitive races which will ensure maximum exposure for them,” said Curragh Racing and Sponsorship manager Evan Arkwright.

QuinnBet Managing Director Stephen Kelly said: “We are delighted to have penned this deal with The Curragh which will see QuinnBet as the Official Betting Partner of the 2024 Tattersalls Irish Guineas Festival. The Curragh is widely regarded as one of the best racecourses in the World and home to Ireland’s five most important flat races, two of which will take place over the Guineas Festival and open the curtains on the Irish Summer Classics Season. It is therefore a huge privilege for QuinnBet to be associated with this event which builds on our ongoing commitment to sponsorship of Irish Racing, that we and our customers are so passionate about.”

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Sumsub, a global full-cycle verification platform, released its 2024 iGaming Fraud Report, with updated identity fraud numbers and predictions for the industry. According to findings, the most popular fraud schemes in the iGaming industry are bonus abuse, affiliate fraud, illegitimate chargebacks, money laundering and account takeovers.

Key findings of Sumsub’s 2024 iGaming Fraud Report include:

• Between 2022 and 2024, fraud in the online gaming sector increased 64% year-over-year on average.
• By country, Bangladesh leads the fraud charts in Q1 2024 with a whopping 8.5% of all applicants being fraudsters, followed by Indonesia (8%), South Korea (6.6%), Pakistan (6.1%), and Bosnia and Herzegovina (6%).
• Selfie mismatch is the most frequent type of fraud attack in gaming, representing 73% of all detected fraud in Q1 2024.
• AI-powered deepfake scams are advancing at unprecedented rates, having grown 10x between 2022 and 2023.
• Money muling remains the most widespread fraud scheme.

“Due to the growth of sophisticated scams and increase in the overall fraud rates in the iGaming industry, simple KYC checks are no longer a guarantee of players’ genuine personas and platforms’ robust protection. To ensure companies best avoid fraud scenarios and remain safe and compliant, they must deploy user identity verification at the onboarding stage in addition to betting pattern analysis and ongoing transaction monitoring,” Kris Galloway, Head of iGaming Product at Sumsub, said.

According to Statista, in 2024, the revenue of the online gambling market is expected to exceed $100B. By 2029, the number of users is predicted to reach 281.3M globally. Between 2022 and 2023, fraud losses for mobile casinos and betting platforms totaled $1.2B. With regulations becoming stricter, leading to millions in fines paid by iGaming platforms every year and license revocations, it is obvious that businesses that choose to settle for minimal defenses will likely suffer heavy financial and reputational losses.

“A combined approach is the best bet against advanced iGaming fraud. Every step of the user lifecycle must be protected—from initial sign-ups to the withdrawal stage. That involves KYC, behavioral intelligence, device fingerprinting, database checks, and more. Sumsub combines all the necessary checks within its full-cycle verification platform tailored to the needs of gaming platforms and operators, ensuring advanced fraud protection and a smooth player journey,” Andrew Novoselsky, CPO at Sumsub, said.