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Betting Shops in England Eligible for Grants of up to £6000 a Site in £5B Recovery Plan

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The UK Betting & Gaming Council (BGC) has welcomed the announcement ahead of Wednesday’s Budget that non-essential retail businesses such as betting shops will be eligible for direct cash grants of up to £6000 per site, although the bookmaker trade body has reiterated its call for an extension of business rates relief for a further year.

Details of the grant scheme came as part of a series of announcements ahead of Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s annual budget speech, in which he is set to reveal a new grant scheme totalling £5 billion to aid the recovery of high-street businesses in England.

Nearly 700,000 shops, restaurants, hotels, hair salons, gyms and other businesses in England will be eligible for “restart grants,” to be distributed directly to firms by local authorities from April. It will replace the current monthly grant system.

Under the budget plans, non-essential retail will be eligible for direct cash grants of up to £6000 to help them start trading again when allowed to do so, while hospitality, accommodation, leisure, personal care and gym businesses in England – which will remain closed for longer under the government’s roadmap out of lockdown – will be able to apply for grants of £18,000 per site.

“The BGC would warmly welcome any additional support for betting shops, be that business rates or grants, particularly giving the pressure independent betting shops are under,” a spokesman for the BGC said.

Racecourses and bookmakers in England were given a clear set of dates to work towards for reopening last week when prime minister Boris Johnson gave the first details of a timetable for leaving lockdown.

Non-essential retail, which has for most of the pandemic included betting shops, will form part of phase two of the plan, with April 12 the provisional date for reopening if vaccination rates rise and hospitalisations drop sufficiently.

BGC chief executive Michael Dugher has written to Sunak ahead of the budget setting out a five-point plan for more business support to “unlock the power of the high street and drive economic growth.”

Dugher said in his letter: “With premises shut for much of the past year, this would help protect jobs and remove a major financial pressure on businesses that have suffered a significant loss of income during the pandemic.”

Dugher pointed to the fact that licensed betting offices had been severely impacted by the various regional and national lockdowns over the past ten months, with revenues for this sector falling by 45% in 2020.

The letter also seeks assurance that funding for devolved administrations is made available to all business sectors in need. While businesses in England and Northern Ireland have benefited from business rates relief since last April, the Scottish and Welsh governments took the decision not to provide support for gambling companies.

“The UK Government’s backing for business stands in stark contrast to the refusal of the devolved administrations in Wales and Scotland to offer business rates relief to our members,” states the letter.

“This has sadly had a disproportionate impact on our smaller independent businesses, many of them family run, which have faced making staff redundant and an uncertain future.”

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Booming Games

New Fish Tales Colossal Catch: Link & Loot Released by Booming Games

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  • Booming Games has launched Fish Tales Colossal Catch: Link & Loot, the latest game in the hit Fish Tales series
  • The game boasts a 5×3 grid with 10 paylines, alongside a maximum win of 10,000x
  • Players can unlock two exciting bonus features; free spins and the all-new Link & Loot

Booming Games, a top supplier of high-quality gaming content, has today released Fish Tales Colossal Catch: Link & Loot. Featuring a 5×3 layout with 10 paylines, offering high stakes with a top win of 10,000x a wager, this is the newest entry in Booming Games’ popular Fish Tales series.

Link & Loot is a brand-new function where players arrive and capture fish to win rewards. Participants who stock their barrel with fish to observe their haul increase and possibly reveal significant multiplier rewards. Connect symbols to form massive symbols; the larger the catch, the greater the reward!

Placed against a stunning tropical backdrop, adorned with palm trees, crystal-clear waters, and engaging animations, the game showcases a variety of Colossal Fish icons. These are capable of providing Mini, Minor, Major, and Grand awards.

To enhance the possibility of achieving a huge win, players can also activate eight Free Spins by revealing three or more Scatters.

Craig Asling, Director of Games at Booming Games, said: “Fish Tales Colossal Catch: Link & Loot is the ultimate underwater adventure, where every spin could land your biggest catch. The Fish Tales series has been a big hit with players across the globe. Now with the brand new Link & Loot feature with ‘colossal’ win potential, bonus features and vibrant visuals on offer, this latest iteration is an awesome addition to the existing lineup of games. Now is the time to get swept away in the fun!”

The post New Fish Tales Colossal Catch: Link & Loot Released by Booming Games appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

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Akshay Rajagopal

Fireplace Raises $1.5M to Build Institutional Trading Infrastructure for Prediction Markets

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Fireplace, a professional trading terminal for prediction markets, announced a $1.5 million pre-seed round to bring institutional trading infrastructure to one of the fastest growing asset classes in history. The round was led by Frachtis, with participation from White Star Capital and several other notable VCs and Angel Investors, including Syndicate rounds on Legion and Echo.

Fireplace offers what prediction markets always lacked: a unified terminal that aggregates markets, liquidity, and execution across prediction market venues. Fireplace delivers real-time data, institution-grade execution, advanced charting, wallet, whale, and insider tracking, and discovery. Wallet technology and automations are powered by in-house Enclave Money infrastructure.

As prediction markets fragment across platforms and chains, Fireplace is being built to support cross-venue aggregation with smart-order-routing. Rather than forcing traders to manually compare prices and liquidity across venues, Fireplace will intelligently route orders when the same market exists in multiple places.

“Prediction markets are one of the most powerful financial primitives, but the user experience hasn’t caught up. Trading feels slow and information-poor, Fireplace fixes that by giving traders the fastest, most intelligent terminal,” said Sumer Malhotra, Co-Founder and CEO of Fireplace.

Prediction markets have exploded over the past year, becoming a core venue for macro-events, sports, crypto events, and elections. Despite this growth, tooling remains fragmented, slow, and information-poor.

Akshay Rajagopal, Co-Founder and CTO, added: “Prediction markets needed their own Bloomberg Terminal. Fireplace brings real-time infrastructure and execution that simply didn’t exist before.”

Fireplace sits above existing prediction markets, aggregating markets, traders, and liquidity into a single interface.

“Fireplace is building the professional interface that markets like Polymarket have been missing – the data, speed, and tooling that serious traders expect. This will unlock a new category for prediction markets, allowing pro-traders and institutions to participate in a new asset class,” said Xavier Meegan, CIO of Frachtis.

The post Fireplace Raises $1.5M to Build Institutional Trading Infrastructure for Prediction Markets appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

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Adventure One QSS

Dutch Gambling Authority Imposes Penalty on Adventure One QSS for Illegal Gambling

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The Netherlands Gambling Authority (KSA) has imposed a penalty on Adventure One QSS Inc. for illegal gambling. Adventure One offers games of chance on the Dutch market under the Polymarket brand name, without a license. The KSA has called on Polymarket to cease its activities immediately. If it fails to do so, the company will be fined €420,000 per week, with a maximum of €840,000.

Polymarket has been frequently in the news in recent months, particularly regarding betting on the Dutch elections. Although Polymarket itself states that prediction markets do not fall under the category of gambling, the Netherlands Gambling Authority (KSA) has taken a different stance. After contacting the company about its illegal activities on the Dutch market, there has been no visible change, and the offering remains available. The Netherlands Gambling Authority therefore imposed this order, subject to a penalty. A turnover-related fine may also be imposed at a later date.

Ella Seijsener, director of licensing and supervision at the Netherlands Gambling Authority (KSA), said: “Prediction markets are on the rise, including in the Netherlands. These types of companies offer bets that are not permitted in our market under any circumstances, not even by license holders. Besides the social risks of these kinds of predictions (for example, the potential influence on elections), we conclude that this constitutes illegal gambling. Anyone without a KSA license has no business in our market. This also applies to these new gambling platforms.”

The post Dutch Gambling Authority Imposes Penalty on Adventure One QSS for Illegal Gambling appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

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