Belgium’s Gambling Commission, the Kansspelcommissie (KSC), has reminded licensed operators that they must warn customers of the dangers of gambling across all of their communications.

The move follows a recent ban on gambling advertising in the country, barring operators from freely promoting their products. The drastic measures kicked off on July 1, imposing a blanket ban on ads.

Now, the KSC has contacted its licensees, reminding them that all their communications and messages visible to the customers must contain mandatory preventive messages. The messages must highlight the addictive nature of gambling and remind players to play in moderation.

In addition to that, as per Article 25 of the Royal Decree, gambling operators in Belgium must also reference the country’s self-exclusion program, Stopoptijd, across their messaging.

Article 25 of this Royal Decree states that the preventive message referred to in Article 20 must currently contain the following message: “Gambling can be addictive. Stop in time! More info at www.stopoptijd.be.”

KSC statement

The Strict Rules Seek to Mitigate Gambling Harm

Belgium introduced its blanket ban on ads amid concerns about gambling harm. The changes, first introduced by Belgium’s Minister of Justice, Vincent Van Quickenborne, seek to curb problem gambling and reduce Belgians’ exposure to gambling products.

Gambling and betting organizations tried to counteract the ban by launching a number of lawsuits but failed to prevent the new laws from getting passed.

The full ban is expected to be enforced from July 2025 and will ban partnerships between sports betting companies and sports organizations as well. The grace period was provided so that existing sponsorships can expire before the new rules come into force.

Finally, the Royal Decree raised the legal age for gambling from 18 to 21 years, in line with the required age for other verticals such as bingo and betting.

Belgium Still Attractive to Betting Companies

Despite the strict new rules, Belgium remains an attractive market for sports betting companies and suppliers, as attested by a number of recent deals.

Last month, Betsson announced its foray into the country through a €120 million acquisition of betFIRST, a leading local gaming and betting operator.

Peppermill Casino, on the other hand, just added content from Pragmatic Play, diversifying its offering and boosting the supplier’s presence in the country.

At the beginning of this month, Belgium’s competitions authority objected to a horse racing distribution agreement between Ladbrokes and Pari-Mutuel Urbain that could hurt competition in the country.

The post Belgium Asks Operators to Follow New Messaging Rules appeared first on Keno Wizard.

With the recent Powerball jackpot worth over a billion dollars falling to a lucky player in California, many fair-weather gamblers still want some skin in the game. The good news for them is that Mega Millions is not far behind in terms of jackpot prize value.

Next Estimated Jackpot
$820 Million
CASH OPTION: $422.0 MILLION
Next Drawing:
Tuesday, 7/25 @ 11 p.m. ET

What’s Up With the Billion Dollar Jackpots?

If it seems like jackpots are higher these days, it is because they are – the biggest prizes also fall less often because the jackpots are harder to win than they used to be, thanks to a rule change a couple of years ago. The longer it takes to win (the more tickets sold) the higher the jackpot grows. There’s also the knock-on effect of bigger jackpots inspiring additional ticket sales in what would seem like a win/win for everybody.

The odds of winning one of the huge prizes have always been astronomical. The odds of claiming the big prize are now just about 1 in 302.5 million, but the fact remains, you can’t win if you don’t play. It’s also good to keep that number in perspective. The entire population of the US, including every man, woman, and child is estimated to be just over 331M – that means that if everyone got a different ticket, the jackpot would be won but it would be shared by two people.

Cut the cash take-home roughly in half for each player, and the chances of becoming an “almost billionaire” are even worse. But that’s no reason not to play.

“Play” is the operative word. Since there is no way to increase your odds, and no single person could ever actually become a billionaire under most circumstances, the only rational way to approach the game is to consider it as fairly cheap entertainment. For a couple of bucks, you can imagine the very real possibility (not the probability) of having enough money to essentially do whatever you would like to, for the rest of your life.

Increased chances come with the same odds, but lower payouts

You can never change the odds. However, by buying more tickets, or by buying more than one ticket with a group of players, you increase your chances to win – but – the amount you could win is cut in half by everybody else who has the same winning numbers.

If you choose your own numbers, there’s a good chance someone else chooses the same ones. Plenty of people’s children have the same birthday, a lot of people are the same age… the point is that statistically, you are better off choosing completely random numbers (such as Quickpick) than choosing your own – the odds remain the same but the chance of having to split the prize goes down the more randomly chosen your numbers are.

Mega Millions, Like Powerball, is a Multi-State Lottery, and the Rules Matter

While Mega Millions tickets are sold by lottery retailers in 45 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, they are also sold by bonafide agents, and in many states, that agent can be part of a messenger service. In those cases, you pay a little extra for the ticket but somebody else picks it up for you.

While not legal in every state, we saw an Iraqi man use thelotter.com to buy a ticket a few years ago in Oregon and he was paid directly by the lottery there in the way he chose, and anonymously because of his special circumstances of living in a war zone. Whereas the state usually requires jackpot winners to reveal their identity, that requirement was waived in this situation for obvious reasons.

Even though lotteries operated in concert with the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) have commonalities, most notably a shared jackpot pool, players still need to collect winnings in the state the ticket was sold. You could mail in a winning ticket or claim it in person, but we doubt the US Postal Service would insure a nearly one-billion dollar ticket, or if anyone would want to plop a $0.60 stamp on an envelope with it, drop it in a box, and go about their day. Almost everybody, including the man in Iraq with his messenger service’s help, must claim big winnings in person.

Jackpot winners will only have so many days to claim their prizes – this will vary by jurisdiction but is always at least 90 days from the date of sale. Of course, legal counsel should be sought right away after securing a winning ticket but it should be recorded with the proper lottery authorities and claimed as soon as possible. To drive the expiration date home, the winner of a $1.5B jackpot in California (with 6-month expiry) recently waited until scant hours before the opportunity expired to claim their ticket.

You’ll have to claim the winnings on your tax return and most likely pay taxes on the winnings. Sadly, overall the lottery is already a poor man’s tax – the rich don’t need more money so they play the game less than people who may need it the most, and the odds are simply the worst. That said, the top tax bracket in the US is currency 37% and no matter where you live or how much income you have otherwise, the IRS will take 25% of your winnings before you ever see them.

With all of that…

Two things remain true – you can’t win if you don’t play and you should never expect to win or chase a jackpot, no matter how you choose to gamble.

Source: The Wildest Rules You Didn’t Know Powerball and Mega Millions Winners Must Follow After Hitting the Jackpot, People, July 21, 2023

The post Will you follow the rules and take home the big prize if you match the numbers? appeared first on Keno Wizard.

As a result, iGaming Platform (iGP) will assume its new contemporary identity through a recently-revealed and sleek website. This move is hailed as a milestone in the company’s evolution and a bold step forward with the idea of ensuring that the business communicates across to its clients core values such as innovation, integrity, excellence, empowerment, and customer centricity with ease and confidence.

iGP All Set on Delivering More Exceptional Products

The company was established in 2016 and it has been able to deliver some of the most worthwhile iGaming experiences. Working with iGP has allowed companies to set up and launch their business quickly and efficiently.

Since it launched, the company has worked with more than 40 casinos and 100 leading game providers, helping them gain further traction in the industry. As the rebranding is taking place, iGP is planning to launch new functionalities and products for customers, which will significantly improve the back office.

iGP COO Matthew Calascione has welcomed the latest milestone on a good note and said that the dedicated team at the company has worked relentlessly to build a successful business and help partners achieve their goals:

We take immense pride in presenting our true identity and the remarkable talent, products, and services available at iGP. This rebrand marks the start of an exciting journey as we gear up for a series of industry-leading events in the coming months, commencing with SBC Summit Barcelona in September.

iGP COO Matthew Calascione

iGP to Continue Writing Its Own Success Story

The news was fittingly also welcomed by company CEO Giovanni Paticchio who said that the platform has undergone a series of positive and forward-thinking changes culminating in the most recent rebranding.

He argued that under its new identity, iGP will continue to pursue greatness and create new success stories for clients and its own business. The company provides a range of solutions for iGaming businesses, including proprietary technologies, third-party integrations, crypto casinos, turnkey casinos, white-label casinos, and others.

The post iGaming Platform Rebrands to Follow Changing Marketing Paradigms appeared first on Keno Wizard.