For nearly a decade, lawmakers such as Rep. Dina Titus have continuously urged the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to raise the existing threshold on slot winnings that require a W-2G tax form. The current regulation requires anyone with winnings of $1,200 or more to submit a W-2G tax form. This policy was established back in 1977, a time when Nevada was the only state where gambling was available.

But much has changed since then, including the statewide expansion of casino gambling via commercial and tribal operators across the United States. As a result, the existing regulation creates a burden not only for the IRS but for casino operators and their players, Titus said.

Titus, along with Rep. Guy Reschenthaler introduced the Shifting Limits on Thresholds Act, a legislative proposal that called to update the tax threshold for slot winnings, increasing it from $1,200 to $5,000. The proposal marked the latest effort of lawmakers to increase the threshold, updating the policy.

In November, the IRS Advisory Council (IRSAC) supported the proposed change to raise the tax threshold on slot winnings. It suggested the threshold for the required W-2G tax form to be raised to $5,800, which is even higher than the Representatives’ proposal. Considering this support, Titus and Reschenthaler urged the IRS once again to update the policy earlier this month.

In a recent interview for the Nevada Independent, Titus revealed that the policy update can be completed via a change in the regulations without a requirement for legislation. She encouraged Danny Werfel, IRS’ commissioner, to follow the recommendation of the IRS Advisory Council. Rep. Titus explained that it looks like the proposed legislation helped push forward the whole process.

AGA Supports the Proposed Change

The proposed change is important as it will reduce the burden on the customers and the gambling industry. What’s more, the IRS will have much fewer W-2G tax forms to process, considering the potential raising of the threshold. The American Gaming Association (AGA), the premier national trade group for the US casino industry, also showed support for the proposed change.

“The antiquated slot tax threshold creates unnecessary burdens for consumers, casino operators and the IRS.“

Bill Miller, CEO of the American Gaming Association

AGA’s CEO, Bill Miller, called the current policy “antiquated,” saying that it brings unnecessary burdens for the IRS, the consumers and the casino industry. “The AGA commends Representatives Reschenthaler and Titus and other Congressional leaders for their dedicated efforts to modernize this long-outdated policy and join them in urging Commissioner Werfel to raise the threshold,” he explained.

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Across Europe, the minimum legal age required for gambling activities varies between 18 and 21. Unlike the United States, where the legal age for gambling and consuming alcohol is 21 in a majority of states, many countries on the Old Continent permit such activities after 18.

The Flemish Expertise Center for alcohol, illegal drugs, psychoactive medication, gambling and gaming, VAD, released a new memorandum this week, asking for changes to the existing legislation in Belgium, effectively restricting young adults under the age of 21 from gambling. The organization flagged concerns about the impact of gambling on young adults, encouraging lawmakers to increase the minimum age required for such activities.

Belgium’s existing gambling laws prohibit individuals under the age of 21 from playing at retail slots or visiting brick-and-mortar casinos. Similarly, anyone under the age of 21 is not allowed to engage in online gambling.

While those restrictions sound good enough, there are gambling activities that young adults who are 18 or older can access. For example, anyone above the age of 18 can participate in lotteries, bingo, as well as some online games of chance.

Effective Measures to Protect Young Adults

According to VAD’s memorandum, the prevention of harm related to alcohol and gambling can be achieved through several measures. It said that the most “cost-effective” measures include the implementation of an advertising ban, increases in prices as well as limiting availability.

Besides increasing the minimum gambling age to 21, the organization supported the raising of the minimum age for alcohol to 18. The proposed changes that seek prevention “through cost-effective measures in legislation,” are in line with VAD’s 2021 10-point plan on effective gambling regulation.

As an example of why there is a need to increase the gambling age in Belgium, the organization pointed to the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Citing data, VAD revealed that some 43,122 new players registered for the first time with a gambling operator at that time. A majority or 58% of the players were under the age of 30, the organization confirmed. Citing research, VAD explained that exposure to gambling activities at a young age increases the chance of gambling addictions.

Besides gambling and alcohol, VAD’s memorandum outlines a total of nine priorities that seek to implement effective policies for gaming, illegal drugs and psychoactive medication. The memorandum highlighted the increasing risks of all such activities, urging not only for prevention and early intervention but also assistance and harm reduction.

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Self-exclusion from gambling is one way for people affected by problem gambling or at-risk gambling to limit their access to such activities. While self-exclusion options can help people who are struggling with gambling, bank gambling payment blocks can also have a positive impact on that process. This is because such payment blocks can reduce the possibility for people affected by at-risk or problem gambling to deposit funds with gambling operators.

Now, the UK charity that helps people affected by problem gambling, GamCare, reiterated the importance of improving bank gambling blocks and the benefits such options bring to consumers. On Monday, the charity revealed that a key part of the process is to help raise awareness of bank gambling blocks and provide support for people that needed it.

The announcement comes after earlier this year, GamCare organized its second workshop on bank gambling blocks. The workshop sought to uncover new ways to raise awareness of bank gambling blocks and other gambling management tools. During the event, GamCare heard different ideas and opinions from experts.

A key part in the process of improving bank gambling blocks is raising awareness, the workshop found. An idea was formed that banks need to be proactive and notify their customers about tools that can limit gambling activities such as blocks.

Still, that wouldn’t be a general requirement but rather affects consumers that have “vulnerability markers on their account.” Additional proactive efforts by the banks would be to refer such customers to organizations that provide gambling support such as TalkBanStop.

Inconsistency in Naming Bank Gambling Blocks

Deelan Maru, one of the members of GamCare’s Behavioral Insights Team, explained that one challenge bank gambling payment blocks face is the inconsistency such activities are referred to by different banks. As an example, he pointed out that some banks refer to gambling payment blocks as “card freeze,” while others present the block as “restriction” or “merchant control.”

“Our analysis of bank gambling tools shows that gambling blocks have inconsistent naming conventions across different banking apps. For example, one bank may call it ‘card freeze’, whilst another would place it under ‘merchant control’ or ‘restriction’ settings – ultimately causing ambiguity and confusion for the consumer.“

Deelan Maru, Behavioral Insights Team member at GamCare

Maru explained that the inconsistent naming of the bank gambling blocks creates confusion for the customers. According to him, consistent naming of the solution across bank institutions and a proactive approach can raise awareness of those tools and ultimately help more people.

GamCare also pointed out that while self-exclusion options are popular, some people learn about bank gambling blocks only when they encounter gambling harm first. The charity revealed that there are people, affected by problem gambling that reach out for support and discover the option for bank gambling blocks.

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According to a number of prominent community members, gambling websites that are being promoted on Twitch have been failing to offer basic protections to players, such as failing to carry out mandatory background checks on consumers and verifying their age for one.

Is Counter-Strike Gambling Sprawling Out of Control, Again

The situation as of today reminds the mid-2010s when clandestine esports betting sites were focused on player acquisition and sought to onboard as many paying customers as they could. A Reddit post that has accumulated more than 320 comments has discussed whether the CS:GO gambling scene was becoming too big again and whether Valve would intervene to attack gambling websites again.

Many players pointed out the fact that such gambling websites have been promoted on Twitch and they have led to an unhealthy uptick in the number of bettors. Some suggested that Valve would have to intervene as well and “destroy” the sector or shutter websites. This is easier said than done.

For one, many of the operators that are running today are legitimate and licensed establishments. Betway, Rivalry, Pinnacle, and bet365 are just some of the examples of companies that provide players with betting on Counter-Strike, among dozens of other video games.

They are licensed and have the legal right to operate. Fans were mostly referring to the case of CS:GO skin betting, which was clamped down on Valve, the developer and publisher of CS:GO following a class-action lawsuit against the company by parents whose children had spent, in some cases, thousands on digital cosmetics for the video game.

Interestingly, according to some prominent organizations, including the Esports Integrity Commission, esports does not necessarily appeal to underage individuals, with the ESIC confident that betting on video games is mostly reserved for people of the legal gambling age which is 18 or 21 years in most jurisdictions.

Esports Betting Dynamics Are Much More Complicated

However, the community’s criticism towards content creators who spent ubiquitous time on creating gambling content makes a lot of sense as these influencers have prioritized gain from gambling partnerships over the well-being of their followers.

xQc, who used to stream Overwatch, has been a passionate supporter of gambling and has vituperated against gambling streams being restricted on Twitch. Much of what is said on Reddit is conjectural, and it doesn’t fully grasp the dynamics and realities of what esports betting has become – a regulated vertical within the growing sports betting ecosystem.

However, fans do have a point – the CS:GO gambling scene is growing and this is not always done in a way that is best for fans and consumers. For one, fans know when they are seeing too much gambling content promoted to them on stream – and they are right about this.

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