The association The European Lotteries represents the national lottery companies in Europe. It is primarily committed to promoting safe gaming and regularly audits its members in this regard. The lottery and casino administration in Bavaria was recently awarded gold status for special achievements. This means that it voluntarily exceeds the strict requirements of the State Treaty on Gambling (GlüStV) of 2021. But what exactly does this mean?
A new task force has recently been set up in Berlin. As is typical of the authorities, it bears the rather uninspiring name "Cooperation Platform for Combating Organized Crime with a Focus on Profit-Skimming Crime in Berlin's Commercial Sector" and is abbreviated to "OK BeGe". But why is there a new task force and what does the Berlin justice administration hope to gain from it?
Crooks are usually resourceful and often quite brazen when it comes to covering up their schemes. This also seems to be the case in the case of an apparently illegal poker round in Werdohl (Sauerland) in North Rhine-Westphalia. The main defendant claimed in court that he had been celebrating the Muslim festival of Eid. None of the participants claimed to have gambled or to have seen anyone gambling. However, the police report and the evidence paint a completely different picture.
E-sports teams are financed to a large extent by sponsorship. Gaming providers are only too happy to enter into such deals due to the rather lucrative circumstances for their purposes. However, game developers and event organizers are often critical of such partnerships. After a long period of resistance, League of Legends and Valorant creator Riot Games has now allowed gambling advertising. How did this rethink come about and why is gaming actually so attractive as an advertising medium for the gaming industry?
Lotto is the Germans' favorite game of chance, that much is certain. However, the figures that have now come out with the German Lotto and Totoblock's annual report for 2024 may have impressed even those responsible at the association. The official report speaks of a "strong year for luck". "193 million winnings in Germany - on average a new millionaire every other day": and that is just one of the many exciting facts that the review provides.
Schnick, Schnack, Schnuck, also known as Scissors, Rock, Paper, is a very popular and widespread game, especially among children. In theory, this game is perfectly balanced, as every player has the same chance of winning. But does that make it a game of chance? Opinions on this still differ widely today.
In 2024, the Darmstadt Regional Council (RP) processed an average of over 14 million queries per day via the OASIS player blocking system. In total, over five billion OASIS queries were made last year. But how can it be that there are tens of millions of such queries every day?
In the recent past, it has primarily been the up-and-coming talents who have left their mark on modern poker: with ambitious approaches, sometimes unconventional strategies and an unprecedented ease in dealing with digital possibilities. But other influences such as AI and fast poker variants also play an important role in the ongoing development of the game. A profound change is indeed on the horizon.
Shortly before Christmas, the Paderborn police and public prosecutor's office announced an important blow against illegal gambling in the region. Two men were arrested for allegedly operating several slot machines without authorization. The investigators seized assets worth several million euros. Explosive: the perpetrators were already known for similar offenses.
For those who want to know exactly whether a particular gambling provider has a German licence or not, the whitelist of the Joint Gambling Authority of the Federal States (GGL) is the first port of call. All legal operators in Germany are listed there in detail with specific company and licence data. However, it was previously difficult to obtain an overview, as the list was only available for download in PDF format. This is set to change with the new, now fully interactive version, which also includes various search filters.
The British player protection organisation GambleAware published its list of donations for the first quarter of this year a few days ago. According to this, GambleAware benefited from donations totalling the equivalent of just over 350,000 euros during this period. But how satisfactory is such an amount in view of the fact that several gambling companies, some of them worth billions, could donate?
A few days ago, there was a large-scale raid in tranquil East Frisia and Friesland involving the police, customs and the public prosecutor's office. A total of around 400 officers were involved in the operation. But were any arrests made during the large-scale raid and what evidence was seized?
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is already an international phenomenon. The tournaments are watched all over the world and the pros have hundreds of thousands of fans. So far, however, the events have mainly taken place on US soil, which is now apparently changing. It is reported that the WSOP is aiming for a large-scale expansion that will also anchor it more firmly in Europe. For players, this means easier participation and new match formats. Poker enthusiasts will get all the more exciting entertainment.
The International Criminal Police Organisation, better known as Interpol, struck a major blow against illegal gambling around a fortnight ago. More than 5,100 people are said to have been arrested in the course of the extensive investigations. Betting fraud was at the centre of the investigation. But how did Interpol track down the suspects?
Video games and gambling are actually two different things. Sometimes, however, the two worlds are mixed together. This is the case with ‘Peglin’, a rogue-like with key elements from classic Japanese slot machines. The game from Red Nexus was released back in 2022, but was only released a few weeks ago for the Nintendo Switch, which is primarily aimed at young target groups. Could there be problems here due to the gambling nature of the game?
Chris_W
Christian_1994