Notes from the floor
Honest, unfiltered thinking on iGaming - platform selection, CRM, compliance, African markets, offline-to-online, governance. From someone who's been in your chair.
Norway: A Different Theory of Problem Gambling
Norway published a four-year problem gambling action plan. No changes to legal access. No new betting limits. No advertising bans. That is a specific policy philosophy.
UK RGD Doubles. The Tax Picks Winners.
April 1. The UK doubled its Remote Gaming Duty from 21% to 40%. Flutter's UK CEO said it on the record: 'We'll take share from those who can't absorb it.' Read that sentence again.
Seven Markets, Seven Directions. The Balkan Gaming Federation.
Seven Balkan countries signed a Memorandum of Cooperation. The agenda: fight illegal gambling, align best practices. Each is also running its own regulatory experiment in a different direction.
Romania Consolidation: CEE's First Domino
Super Technologies acquires MaxBet Romania. The headline reads like a single transaction. It isn't. It's a phase change.
Sweden's Credit Card Ban Is a Compliance Event. It's Also a Product Event.
Most operators treated the Swedish credit card ban as a compliance milestone. What it actually is: a backend infrastructure test, and a CRM model drift event most won't notice until Q3.
The Channelization Paradox
Germany has 11 illegal operators for every licensed one. Channelization is a product design problem at the regulatory level - not a policing problem.
The Concession Trilogy
OPAP builds. Danske Spil optimizes. The third model extracts. Same structural advantage, three outcomes.
Germany: 77% or 50%? The Number Nobody Disputes Is 17%.
Two numbers are circulating about Germany's online gambling market. The regulator says 77% channelization. The operators' association and the University of Leipzig say 50%. The black market grew 17% anyway.
The First Operator Has Entered Finland. Who's Next?
Finland will have 40 to 50 licensed operators. The number who were actually ready will be smaller. We'll find out in 2028.