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Betting and Gaming Council Warn Further Tax Increases Will Hit Customers, Prevent Growth, Cost Jobs and Bolster Black Market Gambling

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STANDARDS body the Betting and Gaming Council have warned further tax rises threaten to bolster the illegal gambling black market while undermining the regulated sector’s significant economic contributions.

Ahead of the Budget, new figures compiled by leading consultants EY confirm BGC members generate £6.8bn for the economy in Gross Value Added, raise a further £4bn in tax to the Treasury, while supporting 109,000 jobs.

The regulated betting and gaming sector supports the UK’s hard-pressed high streets through bookmakers, provides a vital pillar to the leisure and tourism sector through casinos, and a growing number of high value jobs in bases like Stoke, Leeds, Sunderland, Warrington, Nottingham and Newcastle Under Lyme.

They also pour millions into sports including horseracing, rugby league, football, snooker, darts and boxing.

But tax increases, combined with the impacts of last year’s White Paper on gambling reform, and the threat of the growing unsafe, unregulated gambling black market, could undermine that continued investment while threatening growth and jobs.

According to previous Government figures, the White Paper measures, many of which the BGC called for to raise standards, will cost the sector around £1bn.

While comparable markets in Europe which have increased taxes on regulated operators, have seen an immediate rise in black market gambling, which pays zero tax, does not contribute to sport and makes no effort on player protection, leading these markets to also have higher rates of problem gambling.

A recent study commissioned by the BGC found 1.5m Brits are annually staking up to £4.3bn on the illegal, unregulated gambling black market.

Meanwhile, the current economic headwinds – which are set to continue – have also hit customer’s pockets hard, including their financial freedom to spend on hobbies like betting.

BGC CEO Grainne Hurst said: “Our sector is at a crossroads as we seek to implement the measures contained in the White Paper and deliver a new era of stability and growth so we can continue making significant economic contributions to the country.

“After so many years of uncertainty, this sector needs stability to deliver sustainable investment, not further change which threatens to undo that contribution.

“Any new taxes now, at any scale, at this critical juncture risks undermining that good work while giving a leg-up to the lurking menace of the black market, which is ready to hoover up disaffected customers sensitive to any degrading of the offer they get in the regulated sector.

“Customers have been hit hard for years, with extreme pressure on the cash they have left in their pockets, once bills and taxes are paid, to enjoy their hobbies including having a flutter. We don’t want to see the pressure on working people ramped up.

“Regulated betting and gaming remains a hugely popular pastime in this country, enjoyed safely by the overwhelming majority, while our members are a Great British export and genuine global leaders, delivering enormous economic good in city centers, on high streets and in the growing online sector. That investment positively impacts other sectors too, with BGC members pouring millions into Britain’s world leading sports.

“We want to partner with Government to see the right, proportionate regulations, and a stable tax regime, which doesn’t hit customers, doesn’t raise the attraction of illegal operators, won’t risk jobs, but instead delivers on the Government’s new growth agenda.”

The White Paper – billed as a “once in a generation” moment for reform – announced measures including an Ombudsman to improve consumer redress, new online stake limits, modest casino modernisation plans and a new levy to fund Research Prevention and Treatment (RPT) services to tackle problem gambling and gambling related harm.

BGC members voluntarily donated over £170m to this work over the last four years – supporting a mature network of independent charity providers – including £50m last year alone.

The new statutory RPT Levy is expected to raise £100m a year when introduced.

BGC members also contribute around £100m a year to the Horserace Betting Levy to improve breeding, advance veterinary science in the sport and contribute to the wider improvement of horseracing.

The new research by EY also tracked trends in the sector, confirming Gross Gambling Yield from online betting and gaming has remained steady, while marking the significant pressures facing land-based bookmakers and casinos.

The number of casinos has fallen in recent years, from 156 in 2019 to 117 now, including the loss of five high-end casinos.

There are also currently 5870 bookmakers in the UK, with 2485 closures since 2019, a 28% reduction, prompted by regulatory changes and the lingering effects of the Covid pandemic.

The BGC has previously called on Government to introduce the modest but mission critical modernisation plans needed for the land-based sector to compete and offer the experience their customers expect.

The post Betting and Gaming Council Warn Further Tax Increases Will Hit Customers, Prevent Growth, Cost Jobs and Bolster Black Market Gambling appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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Animo Studios launches first multiplier roulette gameshow exclusively with Stake

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Cutting-edge live casino studio Animo Studios has unveiled its most ambitious release to date – Stake City Roulette. A first-of-its-kind multiplier roulette gameshow launched exclusively with Stake, the world’s most popular online casino.

Marking a significant milestone in Animo’s mission to redefine live casino entertainment, Stake City Roulette delivers a gameshow-style experience unlike anything currently on the market.

Players can win up to 500x their bet, all presented by Animo’s signature animated dealers inside a fully realised virtual world. Players can even spot billboards featuring Stake co-founder Ed Craven as the “Mayor of Stake City”, with in-scene placements dynamically integrated to reflect Stake’s brand and new initiatives.

The game is the product of Animo Studios’ proprietary technology stack, combining advanced technology, live broadcasting, machine learning and bespoke software to transform human hosts into live-action animated characters in real time. Rather than featuring a rendered simulation or an AI shortcut, games are hosted by a live human being, delivering the energy and authenticity of a real dealer inside a world that has never existed in Live Casino before.
This exclusive launch deepens the partnership between Animo Studios and Stake – both headquartered in Australia – following the initial beta integration and live debut of Animo’s titles in late 2025. Animo Studios was founded by Australian content creator, Fortnite champion and entrepreneur Harley Fresh.

Unique experiences – only on Stake

Harley Fresh, founder of Animo Studios, said: “We’ve built Animo to reimagine how players engage with live casino games, blending real-time entertainment with technology that brings any recognisable characters and interactive environments to life. Features like dynamic in-game content and evolving worlds are only the starting point, Animo demonstrates a level of scalability and flexibility that simply hasn’t existed in Live Casino before.”

“Stake City Roulette is an early example of our technology’s possibilities, we’re here to advance live experiences that push beyond the current limitations of traditional products.”

“Stake’s focus on unique, ‘only on Stake‘ experiences aligns perfectly with our ambition to redefine what live gaming can be. Our partnership allows us to bring that vision to life, and this launch is truly just the beginning of what’s possible with our technology.”

Animo Studios is continuing to set the bar for the Live Casino industry, accelerated by their latest release of the electric Stake City Roulette. With each spin the City comes to life, revealing up to 5 multipliers, reaching up to 500x.

Brais Pena, Chief Strategy Officer at Easygo – Stake’s parent company – said: “We’re constantly looking to push the boundaries of what online casino experiences can look like, and Stake City Roulette is a perfect example of that in action.

“Our partnership with Animo Studios gives us the ability to deliver something genuinely different – not just in terms of gameplay but in how players engage with the product as a form of live entertainment. This is about moving beyond traditional formats and creating experiences that feel immersive, social and uniquely Stake.

“By working with forward-thinking partners like Animo, we’re able to offer our community innovative content they simply won’t find anywhere else, reinforcing our position at the forefront of the industry.”

The post Animo Studios launches first multiplier roulette gameshow exclusively with Stake appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

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From B2C Scale to B2B Stability: Kanggiten’s Real-World Lessons in Platform Resilience

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Interview with Ivan Korkin, Head of Account Management at Kanggiten

After his successful participation at the HIPTHER Prague Summit 2026, we speak with Ivan Korkin, Head of Account Management at Kanggiten, to explore how real-world B2C operational experience can strengthen B2B platform stability in today’s high-demand iGaming environment — and why resilience, real-time monitoring, and proactive infrastructure design are becoming critical competitive differentiators.

Ivan, your discussion at HIPTHER Prague Summit focused on applying high-volume B2C operational lessons to B2B platform stability. From your perspective, what are the most overlooked insights that B2B providers can learn from real-world B2C environments?

The most overlooked insight is that B2B and B2C platforms do not require fundamentally different security and operational standards. In reality, the B2C experience differs mainly on the client side; the underlying security protocols needed to combat fraudsters, hackers, and bonus hunters remain exactly the same.

When designing platform architecture for long-term reliability, which core principles matter most today – and how has your approach evolved as traffic volumes and player expectations continue to rise?

The foundational principle is ensuring the platform is “Modular by Design”. Monolithic systems are simply too rigid for modern scaling. At Kanggiten, our platform is built from independent modules that communicate either through a shared data channel or via APIs. This ensures that if one module, like a tournament or bonus engine, gets overloaded, it does not bring down the entire platform; core functions like payments remain fully operational. This approach, called “graceful degradation,” keeps the platform reliable under pressure. Additionally, as expectations have risen, our approach has evolved to include self-healing capabilities, automatically restoring needed instances if a hardware failure occurs.

System resilience under load is a growing concern across the industry. What practical strategies should operators and suppliers implement to ensure performance remains consistent during peak demand moments?

Operators must utilize systems built for fast, automatic scaling without human intervention. When data volume grows, the platform should simply add more hardware on the fly. From a data hygiene perspective, peak loads often cause statistics to lag or duplicate. We prevent this by utilizing specialized columnar databases that scale horizontally for heavy analytical workloads. If a technical glitch sends the same data twice, our system recognizes it and refuses to double-count. Finally, resilience requires full system redundancy to achieve 99.9% uptime, ensuring there is zero single point of failure and that live database backups are hosted in physically separate data centers.

Kanggiten places strong emphasis on real-time analytics and monitoring. How do real-time metrics function as early-warning systems in modern iGaming infrastructure, and what signals should teams be watching most closely?

Real-time metrics are critical for identifying anomalies and root causes instantly. Many operators focus solely on technical metrics, but we closely watch business metrics like user registrations, deposits, bonus activations, and critical user chains. A server might appear healthy on a backend dashboard, but a sudden drop in these business metrics serves as an early-warning signal that issues are occurring on the user journey. Tracking these in real time prevents isolated technical glitches from turning into massive revenue losses.

Many teams still operate in reactive mode when incidents occur. What does a truly proactive issue-detection framework look like in 2026, and what cultural or technical shifts are required to get there?

A proactive framework utilizes dynamic product alerts and retrospective data analysis. Instead of waiting for a system crash, our alerting system compares the current volume of events against historical data—such as traffic from three weeks ago—to automatically determine if current metrics are normal or if human intervention is needed. Culturally, moving away from reactive firefighting requires a commitment to continuous testing; we run automated tests, manual checks, and cloud-based load testing before any code ever reaches production.

Looking ahead, as modular and full-stack platforms continue to evolve, what should operators prioritize now to ensure their infrastructure remains secure, scalable, and future-ready over the next three to five years?

Operators must prioritize a “provider-agnostic” approach to their infrastructure. Over the next few years, the ability to rapidly adapt to changing regulations and execute seamless, disruption-free migrations between cloud providers will be paramount. Security must also remain a top priority; operators should demand infrastructure that holds the highest-level PCI DSS certification (Level 1 v4.0) , where card data is encrypted with strong algorithms and in-transit data is secured using Sectigo and Google SSL certificates over TLS 1.2 or higher.

Kanggiten was the Silver Sponsor and Badge & Bracelet Sponsor at HIPTHER Prague Summit 2026. What key conversations did you have with operators and partners during the event, and what should the industry be watching next from your team?

We were delighted to speak with ambitious operators who demand speed, control, and performance without the bureaucracy of traditional platforms. We always want to discuss how our modular ecosystem allows businesses to launch in weeks, not months, and scale reliably under any load. As for what’s next, the industry should watch how Kanggiten continues to merge premium B2C conversion tactics with robust B2B infrastructure, delivering technology engineered specifically for measurable revenue growth and uncompromising stability.

The post From B2C Scale to B2B Stability: Kanggiten’s Real-World Lessons in Platform Resilience appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

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N1 SEO Traffic Cup: Multiply Your Traffic & Unlock Luxury Rewards

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The N1 SEO Traffic Cup, the first tournament in the global N1 Traffic Cups series by N1 Partners, is approaching its midpoint, and competition between teams is getting stronger. Participants continue scaling volumes, refining their strategies, and actively adding new brands to boost their N1 Cup Score and secure positions in the reward tiers.

More than 200 teams are still in the game, striving to achieve KPIs to gain participant status and reach the prize levels.

Win Big with N1 Partners

The prize pool of the N1 SEO Traffic Cup is one of the most extensive and flexible in the industry. Participants are grouped into performance-based levels: the more points they earn, the greater the rewards, and each team can choose a prize or cash equivalent from their level.

Level 1 (7,000+ points) – €25,000 per team

  • VIP experience at the Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix
  • Trip to a FIFA World Cup 2026 match in the USA
  • 7 nights in the Maldives with business class flights
  • Rolex Cosmograph Daytona
  • BMW S 1000 XR motorbike
  • Hublot Unico Titanium

Level 2 (3,500–6,999 points) – €15,000 per team

  • One week of golf at Monte Rei with a private villa stay
  • Private island getaway in the Seychelles (Four Seasons Desroches Island)
  • Ducati Monster motorbike
  • Bottega Veneta travel kit

Level 3 (1,500–3,499 points) – €7,000 per team

  • Zero-gravity flight (90 minutes)
  • Custom Luxury ski or snowboard gear set of your choice
  • Balenciaga Snowboard
  • Cartier Juste un Clou bracelet
  • Kronos Massage Chair

Level 4 (500–1,499 points) – €5,000 per team

  • Apple Vision Pro
  • MacBook Pro M4
  • Cartier LOVE ring
  • Pioneer OPUS-QUAD DJ system
  • Sonos Arc Ultra home audio system
  • Dior beauty set

Participant Giveaways

Even if a team doesn’t reach a reward level, the opportunity doesn’t end there. Bringing just 20 FTD on any brand unlocks participant status and access to a separate prize draw, featuring PlayStation 5 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and exclusive N1 Partners merch.

This means you still have a real chance to win prizes, even with a late start or smaller volumes.

How to increase your chances of winning

The key tournament metric is the N1 Cup Score, calculated as: FTD × brand coefficient.

The coefficient depends on how many brands you run:

  • 1 brand – 1x
  • 2–3 brands – 2x
  • 4+ brands – 5x

This means teams that diversify traffic across multiple products gain a strong strategic advantage and scale results much faster.

Why join the race now

The final stage of the tournament is not just about holding positions. It’s the perfect moment to rethink your strategy, test new approaches, and maximize the value of your current traffic.

Late entry is no longer a limitation. With the right approach to brands and GEOs, teams can quickly scale FTD and break into the reward tiers.

Join the N1 SEO Traffic Cup

Period: March 1 – April 30, 2026

Results announcement: by May 10

Entry: from 20 FTD per brand

N1 Partners means:

  • 14+ casino and sportsbook brands with up to 70% Reg2Dep
  • 10+ Tier-1 GEOs
  • CPA up to €700 and RevShare up to 45% + NNCO for top partners

Be number one with N1.

The post N1 SEO Traffic Cup: Multiply Your Traffic & Unlock Luxury Rewards appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

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