Compliance Updates
Texas House Passes Bill to Abolish Texas Lottery Commission
The Texas House has approved legislation to abolish the Texas Lottery Commission and reform lottery operations after multiple scandals have rocked the agency.
Authored by State Sen. Bob Hall (R-Edgewood), Senate Bill 3070 abolishes the commission that has overseen the lottery since shortly after its founding in 1991, moving operations to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.
As originally written, the bill would also limit ticket sales per transaction, require age verification at the point of sale, push the agency into a two year probationary period and provide for greater oversight of the lottery—oversight that has been either intentionally or unintentionally lacking.
In January, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick made an impromptu visit to a lottery ticket reseller responsible for selling millions of tickets online. During the course of his visit, he was denied access to the area where ticket printing was taking place.
The bill, as originally written, would allow the lieutenant governor, Speaker of the House, attorney general, and governor the ability to act as inspectors of lottery operations.
At the eleventh hour, State Rep. Charlie Geren (R-Fort Worth) offered a 58-page amendment to the measure that removed this and other critical parts of the bill. It was this amended bill that was, according to Geren, drafted with the lottery vendors, colloquially called stakeholders, that ultimately passed the House.
Among other changes, the Geren amendment changed vendor and employee retention.
While it was argued that the current employees would provide for a smoother transition from the TLC to TDLR, this would include members of the staff who were complicit in the extra legislative expansion of gambling in the state of Texas, and covering for the lottery’s multiple sins.
The Geren amendment, passed under the watchful eye of IGT’s lobbyist and former chief of staff to Gov. Greg Abbott, Luis Sanez, also guarantees that the state lottery contract will remain with its current vendor, IGT. According to a lawsuit filed in Houston, the company played a critical role in an international gambling syndicate’s rigging of the April 2023 $95 million jackpot.
According to testimony given to the Texas Senate State Affairs Committee, representatives from IGT were onsite for hours during the ticket printing at a location that conducted no retail business, which is against state rules. This is the same location where children were filmed printing tickets.
Geren, a longtime proponent of expanding gambling in Texas, failed to pass a bill last session that would have allowed casino gambling in the state. This session, the lottery, and its corrupt operation took all the oxygen out of the room.
State Rep. Brent Money (R-Greenville) offered an amendment to Geren’s amendment that would have abolished the lottery and not just the commission. Money’s amendment failed by a vote of 71-58.
Geren’s amendment was ultimately adopted in a vote of 91-44.
The legislation passed in a vote of 110-29.
Now, the bill requires one more vote in the House before going back to the Senate for either approval or to be reconciled in a conference committee.
If the bill is not reconciled, the lottery may be abolished, or a special session could be forced to save the corruption-plagued institution.
The post Texas House Passes Bill to Abolish Texas Lottery Commission appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.
Armenia accelerated one of the most aggressive gambling regulatory reforms in Eurasia after approving new measures to control digital platforms, advertising, payments and financial supervision across the betting sector. The strategy promoted by the government of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan aims to strengthen legal gambling operations, increase fiscal oversight and tighten control over offshore operators in a market that has expanded dramatically over the past decade.
The reform is being driven by the Ministry of Finance of Armenia led in 2026 by Vahe Hovhannisyan, together with the State Revenue Committee headed by Rustam Badasyan. The main political architect behind the changes is MP Hayk Sargsyan from the ruling Civil Contract party.
The core of the reform focuses on payments and financial monitoring. Armenia plans to block transfers to unlicensed gambling operators, strengthen AML/KYC requirements and connect licensed platforms directly to state monitoring systems operating in real time. Armenia is advancing the software operator selection for its centralised gaming monitoring center, following the legal framework established in early 2024 to connect platforms directly to state systems in real time.
The 2026 update focuses on accelerating the public tender for the private operator, rather than the initial creation of the monitoring infrastructure, with the State Revenue Committee (SRC) leading the technological implementation. The fiscal framework is also becoming stricter. Since July 1, 2025, Armenia has applied a 10% turnover tax on gambling operations, while online gaming license costs doubled in April 2025 and are scheduled to continue increasing annually through 2028.
According to official figures cited by lawmakers, Armenia’s gambling turnover reached approximately AMD 6.3 trillion in 2023, equivalent to nearly €14 billion, while online casino deposits climbed to AMD 811 billion during 2024.
The government also tightened gambling advertising restrictions, limiting promotions to luxury hotels, border checkpoints and authorised operator channels. Armenian authorities argue that the new regulatory model is designed to protect legal operators, reinforce financial traceability and modernise state supervision over one of Eurasia’s fastest-growing digital industries.
The post Armenia Launches Sweeping Gambling Payment Reform appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has officially extended the deadline for licensed remote operators to implement Phase 2 of the new deposit limit regulations.
In October 2025 the first phase of improvements to tools that help consumers to manage their gambling were introduced in the Remote Technical Standards (RTS) with the second phase due to be introduced on 30 June 2026.
Following stakeholder feedback, the Commission has extended the implementation period of the second phase to the end of September 2026 to allow for further operator technical development time.
From 30 September 2026 operators must:
• offer gross deposit limits to customers, and in some cases re-introduce gross deposit limits to the options available to customers
• name gross deposit limits as “deposit limits” – only this type of limit can be called a “deposit limit”
• offer gross deposit limits with at least equal prominence as other types of financial limit.
“We have also updated our consultation response document to clarify that to ensure consistency across the industry, from 30 September 2026 only gross deposit limits must be offered over fixed time frames. Rolling and fixed time frames can be used for other limit types,” the UKGC said.
“In preparation for implementation operators are asked to refer to the Remote Gambling and Software Technical Standards: Consultation Response and linked annex for the RTS 12 in full effective from 30 September 2026.
“All operators are advised that an annex initially published alongside the supplementary consultation response on 7 October 2025 contained small errors and was temporarily removed from our website. Any downloaded or offline versions of the Annex saved prior to 22 May 2026 should be disregarded.”
The post UKGC Extends Phase 2 Deposit Limit Regulation Deadline to September 2026 appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
Coljuegos has officially authorized MrYoker as Colombia’s newest regulated online sports betting and casino operator.
It is estimated that, over the next 5 years, the new operator will obtain revenues close to $2.83 billion.
Through concession contract C2261 of 2026, Coljuegos authorized the entry into operation of the portal www.mryoker.co, a site where sports betting and online games can be carried out legally and monitored by the entity.
The online gaming sector is experiencing one of its best periods, thanks to the industry revitalization strategy implemented during the current administration. With MrYoker, there are now 15 authorized operators in Colombia.
The new portal belongs to the company Global Vitxo SAS, and will initially be able to offer live casino, virtual slot machines, and sports betting until 2031.
According to the projections presented, it is estimated that, for the next 5 years, this operator will contribute approximately $27.282 billion in monopoly revenues and administrative expenses, resources that will go directly to finance the subsidized health system.
It is worth mentioning that, during 2026, online betting portals have contributed $253.224 billion to Coljuegos in terms of exploitation rights, and it is expected that, by the end of the year, these transfers will exceed $450 billion.
The post Coljuegos Authorizes MrYoker as Colombia’s Newest iGaming Operator appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.
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