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bacta launch YGAM and Betknowmore UK Safer Gambling Training on portal

Published

4 years ago

March 2, 2022

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Bacta, the trade association which represents the amusement and gaming machine industry in the UK, has reiterated its commitment to raising standards by enabling access to the Safer Gambling Training programme through the bactaPortal.

Safer Gambling Training, developed and delivered by leading charities YGAM and Betknowmore UK, combines specialist knowledge, insight and research to raise standards in player protection. Informed by lived experience and relevant to the latest LCCP requirements, the initiative contains six programmes including key areas such as: understanding customer vulnerability; managing welfare; how to interact with customers and signposting to support services.’ The training will now be accessible via the new bactaPortal which went live in September 2021.

The bactaPortal allows gambling venues to maintain paperless records of all their customer interactions and self-exclusions, as well as hosting training modules and other valuable information. It is available to everyone, although bacta members benefit from a subsidised price.

John White, Chief Executive at bacta welcomed the announcement by saying: “YGAM and Betknowmore UK are renowned for their safer gambling training and we are proud that they have chosen to make it available via the bactaPortal. This initiative is the first of many that will make the bactaPortal indispensable to arcade businesses looking to remove paper from their operations. Not only will we populate the bactaPortal with additional training we will be providing a suite of tools from AV testing logs to crime alerts that will put the bactaPortal at the top of the must haves for the sector.”

The Safer Gambling Team will be attending the upcoming EAG conference in London to showcase their programme and talk to delegates about how they can access the training through the portal.

Ian Shanahan, Director of Business Development and Fundraising at YGAM, said: “We’re delighted with this commitment from bacta. It is encouraging to see an influential trade association support our work and I hope more sectors within the gambling industry continue to invest in our City & Guilds Assured Safer Gambling Training. All profits generated from our training are directed back into our charities to further support our social purpose.”

Frankie Graham, Chief Executive at Betknowmore UK, said: “We are delighted to see bacta support the Safer Gambling Training programme. Sector wide commitment to raising standards through training and enhanced learning is our best guard in the prevention of gambling harms.”

Since launching in April 2021, the charities have sold over 14,500 programmes. The bactaPortal training can be completed online, with each programme taking around 60-minutes to complete. The training can be easily accessed on PC, laptop, tablet or mobile at a time that suits the learner.

creator-economy

Red Bull runs one-day Balatro speedrun event, Boss Rush, on April 17

Published

12 hours ago

April 17, 2026

Wladimir P.

red-bull-runs-one-day-balatro-speedrun-event,-boss-rush,-on-april-17

Eight creators compete across five timed stages with eliminations, broadcast on Red Bull’s Twitch and YouTube channels.

Red Bull will stage a one-day Balatro speedrun competition, Red Bull Boss Rush, on April 17, 2026. The event brings together eight creators for timed runs in the roguelike deckbuilder, with viewers able to follow via individual creator POV streams and a central hub broadcast.

The competitor lineup includes Red Bull Player Ludwig, plus The Spiffing Brit, FrostPrime, Feinberg, Adef, Yahiamice, mbtyugioh and dreads. Red Bull said live commentary will be provided by esports host Yinsu ‘Yinsu’ Collins, card-game specialist Blake ‘Rarran’ Eram, and DrSpectered.

Boss Rush is structured as five 30-minute stages, with players ranked by completion time. Red Bull said the opening three stages use a shared random seed with unlimited resets, and points are awarded by placement each stage; the bottom four are eliminated after stage 3. Stage 4 determines the finalists, followed by a final winner-takes-all matchup.

The event also includes a downloadable Red Bull Boss Rush mod featuring a custom-branded deck and new Red Bull-themed Jokers, Bosses and Skip Tags. Red Bull highlighted additions including ‘Witch’, ‘Princess and Frog’, ‘Zebra’, Old Dog, ‘Pirate’, ‘Genie’, ‘Prince Charming’, and ‘Jester’, each designed to alter scoring or run economics.

Red Bull Boss Rush will stream on twitch.tv/redbull and Red Bull’s YouTube Gaming channel. Scan is supplying gaming PCs for the competition, according to the company.

Relevant data as follows:

Red Bull Gaming on Twitch; https://www.twitch.tv/redbull Primary broadcast destination for the event.
Red Bull Gaming on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/redbullgaming Secondary broadcast destination cited in the release.
Red Bull Gaming: https://www.redbull.com/ Official Red Bull site for event context and confirmation.
Balatro on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2379780/Balatro/ Authoritative reference for the game featured in the competition.
Scan Computers: https://www.scan.co.uk/ PC supplier mentioned as providing systems for the event.

The post Red Bull runs one-day Balatro speedrun event, Boss Rush, on April 17 appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

Argentina

Blask data shows LATAM casino lobbies diverge beyond Pragmatic Play’s baseline

Published

22 hours ago

April 17, 2026

Wladimir P.

blask-data-shows-latam-casino-lobbies-diverge-beyond-pragmatic-play’s-baseline

Brazil stands out for crash-game visibility, while Argentina fragments across 15 providers, according to Blask’s review of five markets.

Blask has published new data on casino lobby distribution across five Latin American markets—Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Peru—finding a shared baseline of Pragmatic Play dominance but sharply different secondary content patterns by country.

Across all five markets, Pragmatic Play “consistently dominates the top 30 most-distributed titles,” accounting for up to 16 positions in each country, Blask said. Beyond that layer, Blask argues there is “no single playbook” for how operators and aggregators build lobbies.

Brazil is the clearest outlier for mechanics, with crash-style titles such as Aviator and JetX appearing in the top 30, while similar formats are “largely absent” in the other markets analyzed. Blask also points to Brazil as the only country where Pocket Games Soft holds a meaningful distribution share, driven by its Fortune series.

Mexico shows the opposite pattern: the highest concentration of Pragmatic Play titles and a thinner secondary layer. Blask flagged Endorphina as an example of a provider appearing in Mexico’s top 30 but not elsewhere in its dataset.

Argentina is described as the most fragmented market, with 15 different providers represented in the top 30—more than any other country in the analysis—and broader visibility for live and table content. Chile “closely mirrors Mexico” structurally, Blask said, but includes a single non-Pragmatic title with near-ubiquitous placement across operator lobbies. Peru, meanwhile, spreads remaining top-30 positions across 12 providers, including studios not seen in the other markets and “legacy European brands such as Novomatic.”

Blask’s conclusion is that operators should not assume a winning lobby mix in one country will translate regionally. “Beyond the dominant layer, performance is defined not by regional trends, but by local player behavior and demand signals,” the company said.

The post Blask data shows LATAM casino lobbies diverge beyond Pragmatic Play’s baseline appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

Argentina

Same providers, different games: Blask uncovers hidden patterns in LATAM casino lobbies

Published

22 hours ago

April 17, 2026

GamingAmericas.com

same-providers,-different-games:-blask-uncovers-hidden-patterns-in-latam-casino-lobbies

Casino lobbies across Latin America may look similar at first glance — but a deeper look reveals they operate on entirely different logic. According to new data from Blask, all five major region players (Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Peru) share one common layer: Pragmatic Play consistently dominates the top 30 most-distributed titles, accounting for up to 16 positions in each market. But everything beyond that baseline tells a different story.

Crash games cluster in Brazil but not elsewhere

Brazil is the only market where crash-style mechanics achieve consistent visibility at the lobby level. Titles like Aviator and JetX both rank among the top 30, while similar formats are largely absent in the other four markets. At the same time, Brazil is the only country where a second provider, Pocket Games Soft, secures a meaningful share of distribution, driven entirely by its Fortune series. This dual pattern suggests a highly specific local demand profile rather than a regional trend.

Mexico runs on a tighter playbook

While Brazil expands, Mexico narrows. The market shows the highest concentration of Pragmatic Play titles and one of the most limited secondary layers. At the same time, it introduces isolated signals that don’t scale regionally such as the presence of Endorphina, which appears in the Mexican top 30 but nowhere else in the dataset.

Argentina breaks the pattern entirely

Argentina stands apart as the most fragmented market in the region. Its top 30 includes 15 different providers which is more than any other country analyzed. Unlike neighboring markets, where a handful of suppliers dominate, Argentina distributes visibility across a wide range of studios, particularly in live and table segments. The result is a lobby structure that resists standardization.

Chile shows how a single game can outperform the system

Chile closely mirrors Mexico in overall structure but with one key exception. A single non-Pragmatic title achieves near-ubiquitous placement across operator lobbies, becoming one of the strongest outliers in the entire dataset.This suggests that even in highly concentrated markets, individual titles can break through if they match local demand precisely.

Peru stretches the long tail further than anyone else

Peru takes the opposite approach to Mexico. While maintaining the same Pragmatic baseline, it distributes the remaining positions across 12 different providers, many of which do not appear in any other LATAM market analyzed. This includes both niche studios and legacy European brands such as Novomatic, pointing to a mix of underserved demand segments and alternative content sourcing strategies.

One region, no single playbook

The key takeaway from the analysis is simple: LATAM is not a unified market when it comes to content distribution. The same providers appear everywhere but the way their games are positioned, combined, and supplemented varies dramatically from country to country. For operators, this means that copying a successful lobby structure from one market to another is unlikely to work. Beyond the dominant layer, performance is defined not by regional trends, but by local player behavior and demand signals.

The post Same providers, different games: Blask uncovers hidden patterns in LATAM casino lobbies appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.