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As eSports become more popular, time for the industry to get real about security

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Police in Ukraine recently seized 3,800 PlayStation 4 consoles, which currently retail for around 290 each, and found to their surprise that the operation wasn’t mining cryptocurrency as they assumed but was in fact being used to generate content packs for FIFA Ultimate Team, a popular game mode in the FIFA football series.

The raid and its results underline a fact that may escape more traditionally minded members of the gaming community: eSports is a major industry, and like any industry it is susceptible to fraud. The fact that the games themselves take place virtually is irrelevant to fraudsters who can use the familiar toolkit of multi-accounting, bonus abuse and affiliate fraud to earn thousands.

With many sports teams unable to play throughout much of 2020 and 2021, eSports grew massively. League Championship Series (LCS), one of the largest eSports leagues, became the third most viewed professional sports league amongst 18-34 year olds in the U.S and has retained its corporate sponsors at a time when other leagues were shut down. Success stories like these are blunted by how pervasive eSports fraud is,

So, what kinds of fraud are taking place in eSports, what is it costing eSports organizations and what can be done to stop it?

What kinds of fraud are possible in eSports?

eSports attracts very similar types of fraud to regular sports betting, including:

  • Bonus Abuse: Like other sports betting companies, eSports companies often give sign-up bonuses such as free bets to new players. By coding automated systems, a fraudster can sign up to hundreds of accounts and use the free bets to win real money. This can cost gaming companies up to 15% of their revenue.
  • Multi-accounting: Similarly, a fraudster can use multiple accounts to perform other types of fraud, such as matched betting, ‘smurfing’ or arbitrage of affiliate fraud.
  • Affiliate Fraud: Those eSports betting organizations that draw in some of their new players from affiliates are vulnerable to affiliate fraud in which an affiliate creates fake accounts to gain the pay-out.
  • Account takeover: Using lists of passwords from data breaches, keyloggers or phishing a fraudster can gain access to a player’s account and drain their funds.
  • Chargeback fraud: A player, who may be a legitimate gamer and not a professional fraudster, initiates a chargeback on a transaction. This is common in gaming when gamblers regret a bad bet and claim that their account was hacked.

The costs of eSports fraud

Fraud costs have a way of snowballing, with each $1 lost through fraud actually costing companies $3. The above techniques are hardly equivalent to the major data breaches of major banking and tech companies that cost on average $3.86 million, but the constant barrage of low-level frauds can soon drain your company’s security budget. Aside from the cost of the fraud itself, there are a number of hidden costs such as:

  • Chargeback losses: Investigating and disputing chargebacks will take up your risk team’s time, leaving them little time for more valuable activities. More worryingly, a company with a large number of chargebacks is likely to find it difficult securing credit or loans. Visa and Mastercard’s resolution processes are making things even more difficult for merchants, so you are likely to lose even more.
  • Affiliate budget waste: You could be paying for useless clicks from bot networks rather than legitimate customers, wasting your marketing budget and reducing overall ROI.
  • Reputational damage: Once word of mouth spreads about customers losing the entire bank accounts to account takeovers it will not be long until players start deserting your site.
  • Regulatory fines: The regulations around eSports are not as stringent as with other sports betting, but it will not be long before they catch up. With the industry growing it will not be long before countries put regulations in place to protect players, and without stringent security your company could be fined.

The solutions

You will notice that the majority of the types of fraud common in eSports have to do with fake accounts. These are easy for fraudsters to create using the wealth of publicly available data and leaked information, but fortunately artificial intelligence-based tools have been developed that allow companies to spot synthetic identities.

Through device fingerprinting, email profiling and IP analysis a complete picture of a new signup to your site can be created, allowing software to spot the tell-tale signs of a hastily created account. For example, it could find that an email address does not match any social accounts, or that they use VPNs and data centers to conceal their IP address.

Of course, a sophisticated fraudster could create a convincing fake identity, especially with the wealth of information available from data dumps, so modern technology can also spot the use of pre-paid credit cards or even the speed with which information is entered, which could indicate it is being filled in automatically by a script.

By combining data points from a large and ever-growing set a system can determine whether it is likely that any given new account is fraudulent. For the many cases in which it will not be fully clear whether an account is authentic or not adaptive Know Your Customer checks can be used – customers with several red flags will be given full tests to determine their identity whereas other customers will have less obtrusive tests for a smoother site experience.

eSports has gone from a niche concern to an Olympic sport in a few short years, and that success is going to attract fraud, so it is vital for the industry to pre-emptively defend against fraud by adopting the very highest levels of security.

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Scientific Games’ Scratch-Off Partnership with Florida Lottery Shatters Retail Sales Record with $7.093 Billion in 2025

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Record Scratch-Off Performance Drives Education Funding, Florida Students Benefit from Growth

Scientific Games and the Florida Lottery announce that their long-time Scratch-Off game partnership delivered a record $7.093 billion in retail sales in calendar year 2025, breaking the previous high of $7.091 billion set in 2022. The milestone year generated more than $1.21 billion for the Florida Educational Enhancement Trust Fund, directly supporting education for Florida’s public schools, colleges, universities and Bright Futures Scholarship Program recipients.

Scratch-Off sales increased by 6.84% year-over-year, underscoring continued player demand and the strength of the Lottery’s data-driven instant game portfolio. In 2025, Scratch-Off games accounted for nearly 74% of the Florida Lottery’s total annual sales of $9.63 billion, reinforcing its role as the Lottery’s primary revenue driver.

Reginald D. Dixon, Florida Lottery Acting Secretary said, “We are extremely proud of our partnership with Scientific Games. Our work together continues to achieve high performance for our Scratch-Off games by using data analytics to inform our game portfolio planning and logistics. More than breaking a record, our efforts drove higher contribution to education for Florida’s public schools, colleges and universities, as well as the Bright Futures Scholarship Program.”

Florida Lottery winners claimed more than $5.23 billion in Scratch-Off prizes during the year, while the Lottery’s network of retailers earned $425 million in commissions from Scratch-Off sales. Outstanding performers behind the banner year included the player-favorite GOLD RUSH MULTIPLIER family of games ($1, $2, $5, $10, $20 and a new $50 game), which represented $1.29 billion in sales—more than 18.3% of total Scratch-Off sales. The WEEK FOR LIFE and HOLIDAY CASH families of games and prize-packed blowout games also made a significant impact on the year of record sales.

The Florida Lottery currently ranks among the top five performing lotteries worldwide in per-capita instant scratch game sales (La Fleur’s 2025 World Lottery Almanac).

“Scientific Games has served as the exclusive or primary supplier of Florida Lottery Scratch-Off games since the Lottery’s inception in 1988. In 1997, our relationship expanded to a full instant game partnership anchored by the Scientific Games Enhanced Partnership program,” said Angela Goodwin, Senior V.P., Instant Products, Americas. “We have collaborated closely with the Florida Lottery’s team to drive responsible growth with Scratch-Off games, and our longtime partnership has proven to be highly successful.”

Today, five of the world’s top six performing lotteries participate in SGEP, which optimizes instant game performance through advanced game design and portfolio management, data analytics, SciTrak predictive logistics and ordering, licensed brand services, and sales and marketing support. In Florida, the SGEP program is supported by Scientific Games’ operations in Orlando, which supports a network of more than 13,550 Florida Lottery retailers across the state.

With products representing 70% of instant scratch game retail sales globally, Scientific Games is the largest lottery games creator, producer and services provider in the world. The company provides retail and digital games, technology, analytics and services to 150 lotteries in 50 countries around the globe.

SciTrak™ is a trademark of Scientific Games. ©2026 Scientific Games, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

 

The post Scientific Games’ Scratch-Off Partnership with Florida Lottery Shatters Retail Sales Record with $7.093 Billion in 2025 appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.

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WSOP Europe 2026 Adds €1,000 Ladies Championship in Prague — Exclusive Gold Bracelet Up for Grabs

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The World Series of Poker (WSOP®) has added a prestigious €1,000 Ladies Championship to the WSOP Europe 2026 schedule in Prague, set for Saturday, April 4, 2026.

The inaugural Ladies Championship highlights WSOP’s ongoing commitment to growing women’s competitive poker on the world stage and elevates the Prague festival’s lineup of headline events.

Ladies Championship: unique bracelet and premier competition

Open exclusively to female players, the new Ladies Championship offers more than a prize pool — the winner will receive a specially designed WSOP gold bracelet created uniquely for Ladies Events. This custom bracelet features additional gemstones and a distinct setting that sets it apart from standard WSOP hardware, adding prestige to the victory and reinforcing the event’s status among international women’s tournaments.

A star-studded field confirmed

The inaugural Ladies Championship is already drawing top international talent. Early registrants and confirmed players include celebrity entrant Mackenzie Dern and elite pros such as Leo Margets, Vanessa Kade, Kitty Kuo, Xuan Liu, Shiina Okamoto, Cecile Ticherfatine, and Kasey Lyn Mills. Popular poker vloggers Ashley Frank and Abby Merk, along with GGTeam’s Andrijana “Lijapoker” Gligoric, are also slated to compete. WSOP will announce additional entrants and schedule highlights on its official social channels in the weeks ahead.

WSOP Europe 2026 — festival details

WSOP Europe 2026 runs March 31 – April 12 at the Hilton Prague, and promises to be Europe’s largest poker festival of the year. The series is anchored by the €5,300 Main Event and its headline €10,000,000 guarantee, plus a deep festival schedule designed to serve professionals and recreational players alike.

Players can qualify for WSOP Europe events exclusively through GGPoker, with additional event information and updates posted on WSOP’s official channels.

Why this matters for women’s poker

Adding a dedicated Ladies Championship to the Prague schedule underscores WSOP’s strategy to broaden access and spotlight women’s competition at major international venues. The event not only creates high-profile competitive opportunities for female players but also enhances community engagement and visibility for women in poker worldwide.

For more details and the latest announcements about WSOP Europe 2026, follow WSOP on social media or check the WSOP news hub for schedule updates and player announcements.

The post WSOP Europe 2026 Adds €1,000 Ladies Championship in Prague — Exclusive Gold Bracelet Up for Grabs appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

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All the Ways Players Pay: Super Bowl

Paysafe research: Half of Super Bowl fans to bet in regulated North American markets

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Payment speed and brand reputation remain crucial for bettors’ selection of online sportsbooks for Super Bowl LX, with 27% expecting to wager more than usual

In the countdown to this Sunday’s Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara, California, 51% of fans who’ll follow the football game in U.S. states and Canadian provinces with regulated sports-betting plan to bet online, according to research issued today by leading payments platform Paysafe. The company’s All the Ways Players Pay: Super Bowl report also indicates strong interest in legal betting from fans in this year’s host state, if California were to regulate sports-betting, as well as in Texas and Canada’s Alberta.

Appetite to legally wager in California, Texas, and Alberta – with the Canadian province expected to launch its jurisdiction before year-end – rivals the regulated market, with 52% of fans keen to wager on future Super Bowls. Across these currently unregulated jurisdictions and regulated sports-betting markets alike, fans consider payments crucial for online sports betting.

Surveying fans intending to bet in the regulated markets of Florida, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Canada’s Ontario, the report reveals that 59% of them plan to place bets on game-day and 27% expect to wager more than usual. Their top criteria when choosing an online sportsbook are brand trust (prioritized by 43%) and streamlined payouts (37%). Cashing out a Super Bowl bet seamlessly is considered more important than every other non-payment factor, including good odds (30%), UX (22%), promos (21%), and sports events (14%).

Other payment factors are also instrumental in how fans in regulated markets choose sportsbooks, especially rapid deposits (prioritized by 25%) and range of payment methods (24%).

With bettors prioritizing their go-to payment methods’ availability, the battle for Super Bowl customers will likely be won in part by sportsbooks with diverse cashiers.

Across the regulated market, players’ preference for debit cards (43%) is today rivalled by digital wallets (42%). And while states like Massachusetts ban credit cards for wagering, they remain a preference for 33% overall, rising as high as 51% in New York and 47% in Ontario, the top choice in the province.

With established local payment methods (LPMs) like Venmo in the U.S. and Interac e-Transfer in Canada, it’s no surprise that 20% of bettors expect to see their favorite LPM at the cashier. And with 17% of players preferring to wager with pay-by-bank solutions and 10% favoring eCash, sportsbooks with these options will likely gain a competitive edge.

With over a quarter of bettors expecting to wager more than normal, the game offers an important short-term revenue opportunity, but the real value for operators is retaining customers for the long-haul – and here payments are also key. If the payment experience goes awry for the game, 84% of bettors would switch brands.

While California, Texas and Alberta are yet to launch regulated sports-betting markets, Super Bowl fans there are already aware of payments’ importance. If wagering were legal, fans would prioritize payment factors – fast payouts (29%) and rapid deposits (26%) – above everything but brand reputation (36%) when selecting a sportsbook.

Zak Cutler, President of Global Gaming at Paysafe, commented: “Super Bowl LX is expected to generate a record $1.71bn in legal wagers from the U.S. market alone, with an unprecedented betting volume also likely in Canada’s Ontario. The game represents a massive growth opportunity for North American online sportsbooks, and our research indicates that operators that are laser-focused on their cashiers and streamlining the payment experience will give themselves an edge in a highly competitive market.”

The post Paysafe research: Half of Super Bowl fans to bet in regulated North American markets appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.

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