Dutch gambling regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) has issued a warning to internet service providers (ISP) after a firm was found providing web hosting services to affiliate websites that promote unlicensed operators, which is in breach of the laws of the Remote Gambling Act (KOA).

The ISP in question, Cloudflare, was flagged by the KSA for hosting the affiliate sites of unlicensed online gambling platforms, Onlinecasinospelen.com and Nederlandscasinos.net. 

The regulator ordered Cloudflare to discontinue its web hosting services to the said affiliates as they promote illegal games of chance. Furthermore, the owners of the affiliate sites could not be identified. Cloudflare has two weeks to comply with the KSA’s orders. Failure to do so could result in a subsequent sanction, such as a penalty and/or fine.

Dutch ISPs Warned to Comply with Advertising Rules

The Dutch government has this year introduced tougher advertising restrictions as part of its campaign against unlicensed operators. Under new amendments to the country’s gambling laws, the KSA was granted additional powers to monitor untargeted advertising and ensure full compliance with KOA’s advertising rules.

The KSA reminded ISPs of their duty to comply with the advertising rules which are aimed at protecting players from the harms associated with illegal online gambling.

What started as an ordinary day at the gaming tables at Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh turned into a memorable one for five players after their game triggered a huge $905,000 bad beat jackpot, allowing each of them to walk away with at least $45,000. 

Quad Aces vs. Royal Flush Triggers $904K Bad Beat Jackpot

The $905,000 bad beat jackpot was hit on November 28 at Rivers Casino Pittsburgh after Scott Thompson lost his quad aces to the royal flush of Brent Enos. Being the loser in that hand, Thompson took home the largest slice of the jackpot, worth $362,000. Enos received $271,000, while the three others who were at the same table with Thompson and Enos were each awarded $45,000. 

It looks like Rivers Casino Pittsburgh is slowly becoming a “national bad beat jackpot hotspot”, something that the venue welcomes with open arms. The venue currently holds the record for awarding the biggest bad beat jackpot in the US which was worth $1.2 million. It was hit in August 2022, with the “loser” taking home nearly $500,000.

The world record for the largest bad beat jackpot was set at Playground Poker Club in Quebec, Canada just this year. A poker bad beat jackpot worth an astonishing CAD $2,590,185 (approximately $1.9 million) was hit on August 9, with the loser of the hand receiving CAD $984,270.

Alexander Seibt, known by his moniker “Wolfgang Poker”, has hit a new milestone in his poker vlogging career after reaching one million subscribers on YouTube. 

Journey to Poker Stardom

A native of Chicago, Illinois, Seibt got acquainted with poker at a young age, playing the game with his friends in a Chicago basement. His passion for the game later expanded into the world of content creation, from which he gained a significant following. 

Seibt’s YouTube channel “Wolfgang Poker” was not initially intended for the game of poker. He created the channel in hopes of building a career out of it and avoiding the traditional 9-5 job. 

Wolfgang Poker started out as some sort of an entertainment channel where Seibt would post videos of himself doing funny things. The 29-year-old got his big break when his Justin Bieber impersonation video went viral, garnering nearly two million views. From there, the channel began to grow and eventually exploded in popularity when Seibt began posting short videos of his poker exploits. 

Seibt Creates History

No other poker content creator – not even Daniel Negreanu, Doug Polk, or Brad Owen – has amassed one million YouTube subscribers, which means Seibt has earned bragging rights for being the first to reach that milestone. 

At the moment, Wolfgang Poker is growing at around 4,000 subscribers a day and Seibt is just proud and happy that he is helping to promote the game and attract more people into the poker ecosystem through his channel.

The Australian state of Victoria could introduce a primetime ban on gambling advertisements, similar to what is currently implemented in South Australia. The measure is among the key recommendations of the state’s Public Accounts and Estimates Committee (PAEC) which recently concluded its review of three Auditor-General reports on the regulation of gambling and liquor in Victoria.

Primetime Ban Needed Amid Proliferation of Gambling Ads in Victoria

Under PAEC’s proposal, gambling adverts will be banned on television from 4 pm to 7:30 pm, adopting an existing policy in South Australia. The Committee made the recommendation after a 2021 study by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) found that over 900 gambling ads were broadcast daily on free-to-air TV in Victoria, with 148 broadcast between 6:00 pm and 8:30 pm every weeknight.

PAEC also highlighted the rapid increase in the number of gambling ads aired on free-to-air TV and radio across the country, which reached over one million in a span of a year (May 2022 – April 2023). The majority of those ads were from online wagering companies, PAEC revealed.

PAEC has also called on the Victorian government to reduce the number of electronic gaming machines throughout the state and review existing gambling loss limits. The Committee issued a total of 61 recommendations aimed at protecting vulnerable groups, especially children and young people.

South Korea’s newest integrated resort, the Mohegan Inspire Entertainment Resort, remains committed to launching its foreigner-only casino in the first quarter of 2024. The resort’s president, Chen Si, is optimistic they will be able to comply with all relevant gaming requirements by March next year.

Casino Launch Delayed Due to Requirements

Mohegan Inspire, owned and operated by the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, opened its non-gaming facilities on November 30, including its 1,275-room hotel and 15,000-seat Inspire Arena. 

The property will still go through a series of inspections and evaluations before it can launch its casino, as per the rules of South Korea’s Tourism Promotion Act. In particular, Mohegan Inspire must first obtain a five-star rating for its hotel before it can apply for a gaming license, Mr. Si stated.

The management is confident everything will be smooth sailing, with the casino, which will offer 150 table games and 700 machines, on track to open in the first quarter of next year. The initial facilities, including the hotel and casino, are part of Phase 1a of the development which is expected to be fully completed in the second quarter of 2024.

Providing further details, Mr. Si said Phase 1b would focus on promoting the Mohegan cultural heritage in South Korea and the rest of the world. According to Mr. Si, discussions are ongoing with various business partners and potential investors on the Phase 1b development which will likely commence in early 2025.