New Licenses For Ukrainian Operators and New Regulator in Ireland: Main Events of the Past Week

The gambling industry continues to expand in Ukraine – every week CRGL issues new licenses. The same process will begin very soon in Japan and Wyoming (USA). Read about these and other news from the world of gambling and betting in the weekly digest from Ukrainian Gaming Week.

CRGL published new permits

The Commission for Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries continues to issue licenses to gambling operators. Thus, First Win LLC received licenses for another 176 slot machines, which will be located in the venues of Bila Tserkva, Kamianske, Khmelnytskyi and Petropavlivska Borshchahivka. Also, permits for 11 slot machines were issued to Storm Ukraine LLC, whose casino is located at Fairmont hotel in Kyiv.

Four Ukrainian hotels have received licenses confirming the compliance of the premises for organizing gambling activities. Thus, slot machine halls or betting shops may very soon appear at the hotels Zirka, Europe (Kropyvnytskyi), Vorontsovskiy (Melitopol), as well as Kharkiv hotel (Kharkiv), which area and star-rating also allows opening a casino there.

At the same time, another slot machine hall under the Slots City brand appeared in Kyiv. This was already the third institution to open in the capital under Gamedev brand. The hall with 100 slot machines is located at Mir hotel.

Gambling regulator to appear in Ireland by the end of 2021

Ireland is expected to pass a law reforming the gambling industry regulation in September 2021. The new rules are intended to limit advertising of gambling. According to the government, Irish young people are exposed to the negative consequences.

By the end of 2021, a regulator will be created in the country. Justice Secretary James Brown said the agency should be “extremely powerful” and focus primarily on the health and well-being of the population.

The UK has developed the first search engine for the gambling industry

UK-based innovations studio Graphyte has created Smart Search – the first targeted search engine. It is specially designed for the betting and gaming market. The search engine works on the basis of artificial intelligence and highlights information related to gambling. The system can produce 500,000 results in less than 10 milliseconds.

Developers say that operators and other organizations have been disappointed with the use of existing systems. There is a need to get more relevant search results related to the gambling industry. This led to the creation of Smart Search.

Users of the system can search for complex terms related to the betting market, promotions, specialized websites, as well as categorize an extensive catalog of gambling offers and casinos.

Casino resorts law comes into force in Japan

The Integrated Resorts (IR) Implementation Act of 2018 enters into force on July 19, 2021. It regulates the operation of casinos and the process of overseeing their activities. The law will make casinos legal, but the government has yet to issue licenses to real operators.

The document also includes a clause stating that local players will be limited to three visits over seven days or 10 visits over 28 days.

Initially, the country is going to open three integrated resorts. Four prefectures claim these places – Osaka, Yokohama, Wakayama and Nagasaki. Depending on the efficiency of the first IRs, the government is considering increasing their number in 7 years.

Wyoming initiates betting licensing application process

On July 15, Wyoming Gaming Commission (USA) began issuing licenses that give the right to accept online sports bets. The state is planning to launch the betting industry in September.

In accordance with the current legislation, Wyoming is ready to issue up to five licenses. Each of them will require an initial payment of $100,000 and an annual renewal fee of $50,000. Within a year after the launch of the market, the state government expects to receive $750,000 from operators’ royalties.

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