Latest News

Casino Guru teams up with City, University of London to research and recommend best practice for self-exclusion standards

Published

3 years ago

April 19, 2023

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Casino Guru, a global gambling authority with the most extensive database of online casinos, has recently engaged City, University of London, one of Britain’s top universities providing outstanding education to its students for over 125 years, to identify best practice in online gambling self-exclusion and to recommend a set of standards for adoption across different jurisdictions.

The origins of the project can be traced back to Casino Guru’s Global Self-Exclusion Initiative, launched back in 2020, whose aim is to establish an online self-exclusion scheme on a global scale that would provide a much-needed additional layer of protection for players grappling with problem gambling.

“Upon identifying the rules for self-exclusion in a proposed global system, we came to a conclusion that no general standards are currently in existence. Each jurisdiction creates their own set of rules for self-exclusion, and very few of them actually follow the same level of standards, not to mention the details of implementation. This creates a considerable gap in terms of the general effectiveness of self-exclusion within the industry, and the goal of this project is to close this gap,” stated Šimon Vincze, Casino Guru’s Sustainable and Safer Gambling Lead and the mastermind behind the Global Self-Exclusion Initiative.

The project is led by City, University of London’s Associate Professor Dr Margaret Carran, who possesses extensive research experience in the field of gambling and has in the recent past devoted herself to the analysis of player protection and monitoring of problem gambling in the EU states. The project is set to last around 18 months and involves three phases: research and fact finding, workgroup meetings with representatives of all stakeholders’ groups, and broader consultations.

The workgroup meetings will consist of experts with various backgrounds, whose task will be to find a consensus based on the research and fact finding exercises of existing self-exclusion rules’ impact, their professional experience, expertise and lived-in experience. This is set to be the main pillar of the project, which plans to deliver a recommended set of rules for online self-exclusion.

The final phase of the project will see the findings of the workgroup be open for broader consultation for other stakeholders in the industry. Gambling operators, regulators, non-profit organizations and trade associations will be invited to give their feedback. Criticism will be evaluated and incorporated, and the project will culminate in a series of freely available self-exclusion guidelines for effective implementation and greater protection of players who use self-exclusion to limit their access to gambling.

“Research represents a reliable basis for decision-making of regulators and the creation of standards, especially in the field of player protection. This project is exciting as no such work on self-exclusion has ever been done on an international level before. I have high hopes for the real impact of the project and wish for it to significantly improve player protection across jurisdictions,” Carran commented.

The first phase of the project has already started, and the second phase is scheduled to begin in September when the workgroup holds its initial meeting.

American gambling industry

Gaming Americas Weekly Roundup – January 26-February 1

Published

2 hours ago

February 3, 2026

Wladimir P.

gaming-americas-weekly-roundup-–-january-26-february-1

Welcome to our weekly roundup of American gambling news again! Here, we are going through the weekly highlights of the American gambling industry which include the latest news and new partnerships. Read on and get updated.

Latest News

ComeOn Group has launched its new marketing campaign in Ontario. The campaign underscores ComeOn Group’s long-term commitment to sustainable expansion – powered by ComeOn’s proprietary technology and a clear focus on delivering standout, personalised entertainment experiences at scale. At the centre of the campaign is a series of premium television commercials starring Jeremy Piven, a long-standing ComeOn brand ambassador. Piven’s high-energy presence and authentic connection to sports reinforce the brand’s entertainment-first positioning, bringing ComeOn’s sportsbook experience to life across TV and digital. Produced by ComeOn Group’s internal creative hub, the campaign provides a cohesive creative platform that clearly differentiates the brand in a crowded market.

Michigan commercial and tribal operators have reported a combined $399.8 million total internet gaming (iGaming) gross receipts and gross sports betting receipts in December. Gross receipts increased 19.1% compared to November. December iGaming gross receipts totaled $315.8 million, the highest to date. The previous high was $278.5 million recorded in October 2025. December gross sports betting receipts totaled $84.0 million, which is a decrease from the $87.3 million recorded in November. Combined total iGaming and internet sports betting adjusted gross receipts (AGR) for December were $357.87 million, including $296.74 million from iGaming and $61.13 million from internet sports betting — representing an iGaming increase of 27.2% and a sports betting decrease of 5.6% when compared to November 2025.

The Cordish Companies and Bruce Smith Enterprise celebrated the highly-anticipated grand opening of Live! Casino Virginia, the region’s first full-scale casino. The opening of the temporary gaming facility marks an important milestone in bringing new jobs, economic development and tourism to the region while construction advances on the permanent resort destination next door. Located just 25 miles south of Richmond and only 45 miles north of the North Carolina border, Live! Casino Virginia is conveniently off I-95 at Exit 48B. Live! Casino Virginia delivers a full-scale gaming experience 24 hours a day, seven days a week, featuring 75,000 square feet of gaming space with more than 900 state-of-the-art slot machines and over 30 live-action table games.

Partnerships

GuardDog, a responsible play innovation fund from Underdog, has announced an investment in Regen, the first platform to automatically convert entries into savings with every play. In addition to the investment, Underdog will feature Regen as a new resource in its responsible play hub, highlight Regen in customer communications from the responsible play and customer support teams as well as provide access to the platform to all of its employees. Regen allows users to link their sportsbook, fantasy sports and prediction market accounts, and automatically save a small percentage from every entry, win or loss, creating savings without changing how they play.

Table Trac Inc. has announced that the Mardi Gras Hotel & Casino located in Las Vegas, United States, Nevada, will soon have Table Trac Inc.’s CasinoTrac casino management system installed. Mardi Gras Hotel and Casino is located just steps from the Las Vegas Convention Center and Main Monorail terminal the Mardi Gras is convenient to all of the World Famous attractions of Las Vegas.

The post Gaming Americas Weekly Roundup – January 26-February 1 appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

Africa Bet Partners

How Traffy Cut FTD Cost in Half and Scaled Betting in Tanzania for Africa Bet Partners via Moloco Ads

Published

3 hours ago

February 3, 2026

Wladimir P.

how-traffy-cut-ftd-cost-in-half-and-scaled-betting-in-tanzania-for-africa-bet-partners-via-moloco-ads

This case highlights the impact of systematic optimization in Moloco Ads for the Betting vertical. Despite market turbulence in East Africa, Traffy not only maintained Africa Bet’s KPIs but also significantly improved ROI through deep, data-driven optimization.

Project Overview

Africa Bet Partners Offer: Betting
Traffic Partner: Traffy
Source: Moloco Ads (Google Play Inventory)
Geo: Tanzania (TZ)
Period: 2 months
Total Spend: ~$42,000

Final CR (Reg-to-FTD): 60%
Final CR (FTD 1-to-FTD 2): 45%

Challenge and Initial Metrics

At the launch of the campaign, the situation was challenging. The complex economic and political environment in Tanzania had a direct impact on consumer purchasing power and the stability of payment systems.

Initial Cost per FTD: $15.00

Goal: Reduce the cost of the target action to below $8 and identify scaling potential.

Optimization Strategy: What Was Done

The success of this case is the result of Traffy’s consistent work across four key areas:

1. Traffic Quality Management (Exchanges & Publishers)

Traffy conducted a comprehensive audit of publishers (placements) through which Moloco acquired inventory.

Blacklists were created based on low deposit conversion.
Collaboration was optimized with specific ad exchanges that demonstrated stronger Retention.

2. Creative Strategy

Traffy moved away from standard approaches and implemented a system of regular testing of new creative packs. Creative optimization significantly increased CTR and IPM, providing the Moloco algorithm with more data for learning.

3. Traffic Cleanup to Avoid Paying for Bots

Placements with suspicious install times (CTIT) were filtered out to protect against click flooding.
Device “farms” were identified and banned through Device ID analysis.
Using BI tools, installs were cross-checked with real user activity. Placements with no engagement were added to the Blacklist.

4. Funnel Optimization

Through targeting optimization at the campaign level, Traffy attracted more relevant users. This led to an increase in the CR from registration to FTD up to 60%, which is an abnormally high indicator for this region.

Key Insight

Deep publisher analytics in Moloco Ads combined with category segmentation allows reducing deposit cost by more than 2x while maintaining high player quality (Retention and repeat deposits).

Result

Traffy not only met Africa Bet’s KPIs but also built a stable model for further scaling. Even in “difficult” geos, a systematic optimization approach makes it possible to achieve outstanding results. At the moment, the campaign continues to run, and user Retention (FTD 2) shows organic growth.

The post How Traffy Cut FTD Cost in Half and Scaled Betting in Tanzania for Africa Bet Partners via Moloco Ads appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

Africa Bet Partners

How Traffy Cut FTD Cost in Half and Scaled Betting in Tanzania for Africa Bet Partners via Moloco Ads

Published

3 hours ago

February 3, 2026

GamingAmericas.com

Project Overview

Africa Bet Partners Offer: Betting
Traffic Partner: Traffy
Source: Moloco Ads (Google Play Inventory)
Geo: Tanzania (TZ)
Period: 2 months
Total Spend: ~$42,000

Final CR (Reg-to-FTD): 60%
Final CR (FTD 1-to-FTD 2): 45%

Challenge and Initial Metrics

Initial Cost per FTD: $15.00

Goal: Reduce the cost of the target action to below $8 and identify scaling potential.

Optimization Strategy: What Was Done

The success of this case is the result of Traffy’s consistent work across four key areas:

1. Traffic Quality Management (Exchanges & Publishers)

Traffy conducted a comprehensive audit of publishers (placements) through which Moloco acquired inventory.

Blacklists were created based on low deposit conversion.
Collaboration was optimized with specific ad exchanges that demonstrated stronger Retention.

2. Creative Strategy

3. Traffic Cleanup to Avoid Paying for Bots

Placements with suspicious install times (CTIT) were filtered out to protect against click flooding.
Device “farms” were identified and banned through Device ID analysis.
Using BI tools, installs were cross-checked with real user activity. Placements with no engagement were added to the Blacklist.

4. Funnel Optimization

Key Insight

Deep publisher analytics in Moloco Ads combined with category segmentation allows reducing deposit cost by more than 2x while maintaining high player quality (Retention and repeat deposits).