Weekly Digest: Fresh News From the World of Gambling

What Kyiv hotel has registered a trademark for providing gambling services? When can Philippine land-based casinos start accepting online bets and what is the record-breaking EuroMillions jackpot? Read more about the gambling industry in this week's news digest.

Dnipro hotel in Kyiv has registered a trade mark

According to LIGA.net, Ukrainian Intellectual Property Institute database has received an application for registration of TM Dnipro Casino. It was submitted by PJSC Hotel Dnipro.

According to the current classification, the new trademark will allow to provide services in the field of gambling, nightclubs, bookmaking, as well as to conduct lotteries, provide casino equipment, etc.

According to the UPEA Chairman of the Board Oleksandr Kokhanovskiy, after he acquired the Dnipro hotel together with partners and investors, his team received five offers to open a casino. For this reason, they decided to register a new trademark. At the same time, he stressed that this TM will not be the only one.

Earlier, Kokhanovskiy announced his intention to open a platform at Dnipro hotel for holding major esports events.

Slovak Football Association has become a partner of Malta regulator

The Malta Gambling Regulator (MGA) has signed an agreement with the Slovak Football Association, which involves the exchange of information between the two parties in order to comply with the rules of fair play and sports betting laws.

Association representative Jakub Čavoj expressed the hope that the transfer of data and recording of evidence with the help of the Maltese regulator will help fight against match fixing.

In November 2020, MGA launched a mechanism that allows licensed operators to report suspicious bets to a special unit of the regulator. Starting next year, all gambling companies operating under a Maltese license will be required to use this tool.

Record broken: €200m jackpot hit in EuroMillions lottery

On December 11th, EuroMillions lottery set a new record with a jackpot prize of €200 million. Previously, the highest win amounted to €190 million.

The owner of the lucky ticket was a resident of France. In the entire history of the lottery since 2004, the French have hit the jackpot 110 times, which is almost a quarter of the total number of winnings.

The winner has now 120 days to collect the money. Next jackpot is planned to be raised to €210 million.

Estonian government allocates money to fight gambling addiction

Estonia has recorded an increase in the number of gamblers suffering from gambling addiction. Such a sharp jump is associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and the introduction of a lockdown. Therefore, the government plans to allocate €200,000 from the budget to provide free psychological assistance to problem players, as well as organize consultations on the distribution of debts.

“The problem needs to be addressed in a comprehensive manner, working not only with the addicts, but also their relatives,” notes Käthlin Mikiver, Head of the Public Health Department at the Estonian Ministry of Social Affairs.

Estonian gambling addicts will be assisted by a non-governmental structure - the Gambling Addiction Counselling Centre. The head of the organization, Pille-Riin Indermitte, says that since the beginning of the pandemic, a rise in gambling addiction could have occurred also because many people wanted to solve their financial problems with the help of gambling, feeling the instability of the labor market.

Online bets in Philippine casinos may be launched by the end of 2020

In December of this year, the Philippine gambling operators providing services in the offline segment would be able to start accepting bets in the Internet. The head of the local gambling regulator Andrey Domingo said this at Asia Gaming Brief online forum.

According to the head of the collegial body, applications for the corresponding license have already come from three large land-based casinos. To launch online betting, operators must pay a contribution of 100 thousand Philippine pesos and integrate the necessary software. In the future, they will be obliged to pay the regulator 25% of gross income and transfer 5% as taxes.

As Domingo noted a little earlier, this decision is intended to stabilize the situation caused by the pandemic.

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