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UKGC Imposes £9.4M Fine on 888 UK Limited Over Social Responsibility and AML Failures

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The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has imposed a fine of £9.4 million on 888 UK Limited for social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures.

888 UK Limited, which operates 78 websites including 888.com, has also received an official warning and will have to undergo extensive independent auditing.

The penalty package marks the second time 888 has faced an enforcement action by the UKGC who in 2017 ordered the FTSE250 operator to pay £7.8 million due to its failure to protect vulnerable customers.

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Andrew Rhodes, Chief Executive of the UKGC, said: “The circumstances of the last enforcement action may be different but both cases involve failing consumers – and this is something that is not acceptable.

“Today’s fine is one of our largest to date, and all should be clear that if there is a repeat of the failures at 888 then we have to seriously consider the suitability of the operator to uphold the licensing objectives and keep gambling safe and crime-free.

“Consumers in Britain deserve to know that when they gamble, they are participating in a leisure activity where operators play their part in keeping them safe and are carrying out checks to ensure money is crime-free.”

Social responsibility failures included:

  • not effectively identifying players at risk of harm because their policies determined financial checks should be carried out after a customer had deposited £40,000
  • not carrying out a customer interaction with a customer who lost £37,000 in a six week period during the Covid-19 pandemic
  • not taking into account the Commission’s formal guidance on customer interaction
  • giving a customer they knew was an NHS worker earning £1400 a month a monthly deposit cap of £1300
  • most of the interactions conducted predominately consisted of an email just detailing the responsible gambling tools and did not require a customer response
  • during a Commission assessment, there was no evidence of the operator proactively placing restrictions on accounts where social responsibility concerns were raised
  • not ensuring that if a customer has multiple accounts those accounts are managed for customer interaction holistically and financial limits can be implemented across all accounts. In one example, a customer had one of his 11 accounts restricted because of Source of Funds (SOF) concerns, but he was allowed to open three more accounts and continue gambling.

Money laundering failures included:

  • implementing a policy where customers were allowed to deposit £40,000 before carrying out SOF checks
  • accepting verbal assurances from customers as to employment income and being reliant on open-source information to validate SOF
  • not setting out which documents should be requested as part of SOF checks
  • allowing one customer to spend £65,835 in just 5 months without SOF checks being carried out
  • not effectively implementing its own policies which stated that customers have 10 days to present SOF documentation before their account was restricted. In one case a customer’s SOF were not requested until three weeks after the 10 day trigger and lost £15,000 during that period.

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Million Games Launches Million Mine – A Strategic Grid Game Inspired by a Classic

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Million Games is pleased to announce the release of Million Mine, a strategic, grid-based casino game inspired by the beloved mechanics of minesweeper. Offering a modern update to the classic format, Million Mine lets players select their difficulty, uncover hidden diamonds, and cash out before disaster strikes.

The game features:

  • Customisable grid sizes from 3×3 to 7×7

  • Mines selection from 3 to 24 for adjustable volatility

  • Instant cashout after any successful pick

  • A 96.3% RTP and a high multiplier ceiling

Each tile revealed adds tension and reward, making Million Mine a fast-paced, strategic game of choice and nerve.

“Million Mine is deceptively simple—but a great player experience,” said Thomas Nimstad, CEO of Million Games. “It’s familiar, clean, and highly customisable. We see it becoming a favourite for both casual players and high-stakes explorers.”

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Million Mine is now available across all Million Games partner platforms.

The post Million Games Launches Million Mine – A Strategic Grid Game Inspired by a Classic appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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ReferOn Shortlisted for Acquisition & Retention Partner of the Year at SBC Lisbon 2025

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ReferOn, a next-gen affiliate management platform, has officially been nominated for the “Acquisition & Retention Partner (Supplier)” category at SBC Lisbon 2025, cementing its position as a key partner for operators and affiliate teams.

This shortlisting highlights the platform’s rapid growth in 2025 due to its developments that address real problems affiliate managers face, a passionate product-minded team, and ambitious plans to empower users in the affiliate marketing industry.

ReferOn challenges legacy platforms by creating a simple and accessible system built for modern needs and placing affiliate marketing at the forefront of growth strategy. Key features such as full-cycle automation, customisable dashboards and reports in pivot-style format, instant postbacks, and real-time data visibility reduce chaos and bring clarity to operations, ultimately boosting performance. Additionally, powerful tools like the Sub-Affiliate System, No Bundling Model, and dynamic variables provide managers with increased control.

Vlad Bondarenko, ReferOn’s Head of Product, commented on the nomination, “Acquisition and retention aren’t just buzzwords to keep affiliates happy. They’re real benchmarks that help our users drive growth and scale. The ReferOn team has proudly built a platform that gives affiliate managers real control, clarity, and speed over their operations to help achieve their

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goals. This nomination reflects our efforts and how far we’ve come regarding pushing the industry forward and challenging the status quo.”

The nomination for the “Acquisition & Retention Partner (Supplier)” category bolsters ReferOn’s roadmap and growth trajectory. Going forward, the team will continue to invest in impactful product developments and customer-facing services to become the leading platform for affiliate managers.

Key ReferOn members will be in attendance at the SBC Lisbon Awards 2025 ceremony on September 18 for a night celebrating excellence and innovation.

The post ReferOn Shortlisted for Acquisition & Retention Partner of the Year at SBC Lisbon 2025 appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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SHINE ON DRAGON’S DIAMONDS

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This text contains puns. Reader discretion is advised.

“Dragon’s Diamonds” is now live, a fang-tastic 6×5 new scatter-pays slot from the Berlin-based developer Hölle Games with wins of up to 12,000x.

Unlike the miserly reputation they’re known for (a tall tail), the Hölle Dragon is a generous beast (with a fiery personality). With every matching cluster that lands, the Dragon will breathe flames onto the reels – removing winning symbols and allowing more to fall into place. There is no limit to the number of potential cascades that can occur here, so lucky players can quickly scale-up their hoard of wins.

Plus, hitting 4 or more scatters to enter the Free Spins will unlock the Feature Multiplier, which cumulates all Multiplier wins across the entirety of the Free Spins. Re-triggers can be clawed out too, with only 3 scatters needed.

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For any players who find the base game is dragon-on, there is the Stake Boost feature, which increases the chances of hitting the Feature for a slightly higher stake, or also the option of directly entering Free Spins via the Feature Buy. That’s no fire-drill!

The game is now available for MGA with other territories winging it this way soon.

The post SHINE ON DRAGON’S DIAMONDS appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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