iGaming Daily

Speaker 1 (00:00.29)
Good morning and welcome to the iGaming Daily Podcast brought to you by OptiMove, the number one CRM marketing solution for the iGaming market. Today's episode is a bit of an iGaming expert special. We're going to do a pit stop tour around the globe looking at some of the more interesting markets and some of the more fascinating developments that have taken place in these markets. But before we get into it, we are going across the globe today. We are doing a bit of traveling without actually stepping foot on a plane.

Christian I'm interested, welcome to the show by the way, I'm interested to know next time you step on a plane where are you looking to go? Any destinations this year given we are across the globe on this episode? Yeah, anyway you're looking to tick off this year.

Thanks for having me Joe. I'm not sure if I'll take it off this year, but one of the places we are going to talk about is Japan. I'm the list for me to go to at some point just because the culture is so interesting. It's so different to what we're used to in Europe. So it's definitely somewhere that I'm hoping to step foot on at some point.

Interesting, interesting. And one of our more unique stories today, we're going to tap into the knowledge of Victor Khayyad. Victor, thanks for joining us. Obviously, yeah, we're going to talk Bulgaria today, but where else in the world are you looking to venture in the coming year? I know you've been to Jordan a few times, quite an interesting place.

Yeah, I've been to Jordan, I've been to a couple of European countries, anywhere really, anywhere I have the opportunity to travel is always a golden opportunity, know, whatever it is, new cultures, new food, new people. Traveling is really an interesting thing that I think should be a bigger part of our lives.

Speaker 1 (01:40.046)
Yeah, so give me one Vic, where's next on your list? Where are you looking to venture to?

I have to say Bulgaria. I haven't been there since the holidays and it's getting really hot there. So I'm really looking forward to going back home, enjoying the sun for the summer, going to the beach, et cetera, et cetera.

interesting. And I'm looking forward to hearing from you today about Bulgaria as well, yeah, some really unusual developments in the gambling industry in Bulgaria, right? Christian, you kicked us off with your choice of Japan. Yeah, talk to me a little bit about Japan.

Yeah, so think in Japan at the moment, there's been a lot of talk around the regulations in the country and also talk a bit of folks in the black market as well. And that's something that you've written about. So if you want to provide a little bit more information on what the regulatory efforts are at the moment.

There is a real concerted effort from the government and the regulatory bodies in Japan to crack down on illicit gambling operators operating in the country. Largely, the way they're doing that is by tackling the promotions of these gambling companies. Yoshitake Ito, the minister in charge of measures to combat gambling addiction, did state that there are strong indications that the number of people accessing online casino sites

Speaker 1 (02:59.35)
It is growing in Japan and there's real concern that this is fueling addiction in the country. They are taking measures, they are looking to kind of tackle affiliates, they are looking to tackle payment firms. There has been criticism that this doesn't go far enough. Noriko Tanaka, the representative director of the society concerned about gambling addictions and a lobbying group to continue not allowing online casino.

has urged more regulatory action, more legislative action to tighten the guidelines around the space. It's an interesting one and I think it's only been fuelled by some more cases involving sports players, right?

Yeah, of course. So something we reported recently is that 16 top level baseball players in the country have been found to be illegally engaging with online casinos. Obviously baseball is a huge sport in Japan. It's probably outside of the America. That's the biggest sort of location for baseball. And the fact that 16 of their players have been found to be using online casino is obviously that's going to create lot of headlines and further highlight the prevalence of the black market.

I think we also wrote about a report by the National Police Agency in Japan that found that a record number of users in 2024 used illegal high gaming sites, which was 279. However, the Japanese police force estimates that it could be close to 3 million users. So not even scraping the sort of, you know, even getting close to finding that true numbers with what was found last year.

Yeah, and those more recent cases, obviously a really worrying report too, and those more recent cases involving I think 16 baseball players, only one name so far because investigations are ongoing, but they come after a story I think last year, a very unique story involving a translator, right?

Speaker 3 (04:57.238)
Yeah, so this took place in America rather than Japan, but it was with the translator for Shohei Otani, who is probably some might say the best baseball player in the world at the moment. plays for the Los Angeles Dodgers. And in February of this year, his interpreter, Ipei Mizuhara, was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison for stealing nearly $17 million from Otani, which he was using to play specs and illegal bookmaker. So again, that just...

Highlights the danger of the black market. If you get involved with this, obviously, this is, you've got prison time, the amount of money you have to pay back to a tiny. Yeah, it really highlights what can happen if you get involved with the black market.

Yeah, but the Japanese market is a very interesting one. Currently there is a strict framework that prohibits gambling in Japan, which means the majority of gambling services are illegal. There's only a very few, a sparse amount, but there has been touted reports that they are set to explore the legalisation of a casino, the opening of a casino, which could come around 2029. Not going as fast as Thailand, but

Yeah, that is being explored and I think that kind of complements the clamping down on illegal operators and the promotion of illegal operators too. Another fascinating market as we move it on, one with a real concern at the moment about the black market is India. Yeah, a quite unique story when it comes to marketing the black market in India, right?

It really is. So an unnamed businessman, he actually went to the police and accused some really prominent Indian actors of accepting huge sums of money to promote illegal betting platforms in India. So there were six actors in total and 19 social media influencers. These actors were from the genre of Indian cinema that is in the Telugu language, more commonly known as Hollywood. So far, it's very interesting.

Speaker 3 (07:00.744)
And he's basically accusing them of actively promoting the platforms on social media via pop-up ads. And he said, he raised concerns about sort of young people seeing these ads. also said that he himself was nearly convinced to, convinced to use these platforms after they were advertised to him, but his family decided, sort of talked him out of it. But again, this highlights the sort of the prominence of the black market and also

the impact of advertising the black market can have. Something that you've written about before, Joe, is a number of, sort of the prominence of the black market in India. The All India Gaming Federation found over a three month period, there was nearly 1.6 billion visits to the black market, which is a pretty significant sum. And they specifically took aim at Facebook's advertising policy and the role of social media in promoting the black market and sort of leads this much engagement.

Yeah, that was a super interesting report. I implore anyone to go and check that out on iGaming Expert or on the India Gaming Federation site. It underlined just how effective social media marketing can be and how much of an impact it's had on the black market. And I guess that varies demographic by demographic, right? By region by region, which area is more engaged with which social media. But they said...

specifically in India, Facebook ads are having a really big effect. And we've seen reports before actually as well about Instagram ads also having a massive effect in India. yeah, to cut off that source, I think could be massive.

Of course, I think when you look at the black market, real concern for countries such as India that has high levels of poverty is the mindset around gambling. We've also recently seen in places like Malawi and Ghana, regulators have introduced new regulation that has a real emphasis on protecting the most vulnerable. So, and a lot of conversations that we hear about responsible gambling centred around betting and gaming being a form of entertainment rather than moneymaker. there's always that danger that those struggling financially

Speaker 3 (09:10.166)
may view as a potential way out of their situation and that sort of heightens the risk, especially with the black market where you don't have sort of the responsible gambling features and tools that the regulated market does have.

It's a really good point. We've seen digital penetration grow in these countries. We've seen the technological capabilities grow in these countries. as that happens, iGaming can evolve, but it's really vital, as you raise, that RG tools and social responsibility strategies evolve with that. yeah, the right procedures are in place to protect those most vulnerable in these countries, for sure.

Yeah, some really interesting points and we're going to continue talking about India, just looking ahead at what the market can do after the ad break. And don't forget, we are going to get a unique story from Bulgaria too.

Welcome back listeners. As Joe said before the break, it's all about what's next for the Indian market and what their next steps are. So Vic, what can be done to transition players from the black market and curb its influence.

So the Indian market is a very interesting one because the government, not the government specifically, but the market itself doesn't seem to have a very hospitable environment towards licensed operators. The tax, GST tax, which is the goods and services tax, is capped at 28%. It was recently, I say recently, but two years ago it was

Speaker 2 (10:45.752)
heightened from just 18%. So that's a 10 % difference that licensed operators have to cover out of their own profits and expenses. This drives away licensed legal operators out of the country, as we've seen many, times again, with proper players that are regulated and that want to

want to improve, want to impose a good problem gambling standard, go out of the market, nature doesn't, vacuums in nature don't last, illegal ones are gonna come and replace them. So I think that the government first and foremost needs to create a more, environment where online operators, and not only online operators, all operators that are respectful of international gambling laws.

went to an environment that welcomes them and yeah it doesn't chase them away.

Yeah, good points, Victor. Really good points. think you're right that once that tax comes down, it creates a more hospitable environment for gaming in India, for gambling in India, and that will help kind of tackle the black market. When it comes to tackling that black market, just how significant could it be to the Indian economy given the size of the region and given how many players engage?

Yeah, I mean, if you look at the numbers I stated earlier, 1.6 billion visits over just three months, that's a pretty significant figure that would have many operators. It would sort of catch the attention of operators. So if you can transition the players to regulate market, provide a significant economic boost from the tax and also licensing fees that come with operators entering the region. And also as well, if you look at cricket, the number two few sport in the world outside of football, that's largely driven by the popularity in India.

Speaker 3 (12:41.742)
And with the Indian Premier League having just started this weekend, that in itself provides a massive market potential operators in India to take advantage of. So I think it would be a of no brainer for operators to look at the market if it ever did become regulated in a way that is hospitable to them.

Yeah, really good points there about the Indian market. There is a real opportunity there, but I think first it kind of needs to just loosen up a little bit in terms of the GST tax. Let's see what happens this year. And as promised, Victor, to close the show, the big main event, you've got the final stage. talk to us about this big story from Bulgaria, a really interesting one.

We covered it yesterday on Lottery Daily. don't think any... We were one of the first media in the UK to cover it. Not that I'm bragging or anything, but if you want to read more... It's a TMA for you, know? So if our listeners want to read about it, they can open the link in the description below. So what happened is I'm gonna start from the beginning.

Straight in with the plugs from the outside

Speaker 2 (13:46.99)
The Bulgarian sports totalisator, is basically the state owned national lottery in Bulgaria, held a live broadcasted game on the weekends. This game, maybe the UK, our UK listeners will not be that familiar with it. Maybe the US listeners will be more familiar. It's called five out of 35. So basically five.

numbers, five balls with numbers on them are drawn and they must match the players ticket to, in order to grant, you know, big prizes. And these five numbers are within the one until 35. That's why it's called five out of 35. However, during the live broadcast, one of the balls that dropped was 41, which, you know, puzzled everybody who was watching.

Is there a draw where the 41 ball would ever be drawn?

Yes. Six out of 46. So it's a completely different game. But he got the balls mixed up. We don't know why. We don't know why, but the replications from this mistake were huge. Basically just mere hours after it brought... Remember this is a live broadcast. The whole country is watching. Yeah, the whole country is watching. So hours after the mistake, there was a huge outcry from the political elite.

Somebody got the balls mixed up.

Speaker 2 (15:14.862)
because basically the lottery state owns. naturally, know, the ministers will want some explanations. The head minister under which the lottery serves fired all managerial roles in the lottery. So every head staff in the lottery got axed. Investigations are currently ongoing to determine why this obviously caused a lot of

public discontent as well because people who played the lottery understandably started to think whether or not there is some manipulations going on. Nothing is clear yet. The lottery released a statement saying that it was a human mistake. The set of balls that were dropped into the gaming equipment were the wrong ones. So it took full accountability for the mistake.

Quick question for you here, Vic. Have you seen the footage? Yes. Which number ball was it? The last one. The last one. So there's gonna be people at home who've ticked off every one. They've gone four for four.

No

Speaker 2 (16:28.182)
Not only that, they did a second draw. However, instead of redoing just the last poll, they redid the whole row. yeah, there was a lot of unhappy people about it as well. Mistakes happen, know. Mistakes happen. It's a costly one.

A wild story on Lottery Daily nonetheless.

I just want to say that we've reached out to the Bulgarian regulator as well who was kind enough to tell us that the investigations are currently ongoing but once they are completed they will grant us with a comment on the situation so we are kept switched on to follow up on that story with us.

So I guess, yeah, what a wild story. I guess those, would have loved to have done like a goggle box on the people watching at home. don't know you're aware of goggle box, watch people watch TV, but the people watching at home that when this ball was drawn out, must've been some crazy scenes. And in terms of the state of play, obviously, you you've been in touch with the Bulgarian regulator. They said they're going to provide you an update in due course, but is there anything, any clarity we can get so far on what happens to those people that bought tickets or anything like that?

Or is it just up in the air at the moment? We're just waiting for clarification.

Speaker 2 (17:44.014)
As far as I'm aware, the only thing I know is that the game was held once again, so a second draw was held to draw new numbers. I don't know if there have been rain bursts or not. Nothing on that.

A really crazy story and I would have loved to have had some Gogglebox style views on the people watching the draw because it must have been some real scenes for that one. Yeah, I guess, have you ever seen anything like that before? I've never seen anything like that.

never seen anything like that. I hope it's the last time we see such a thing. again, mistakes happen, but yeah.

Thank you

Very costly mistake indeed. Well, we have been about the world today. We've explored various different markets, all from the comfort of this Manchester podcast studio. So thank you so much for your time and we look forward to seeing you next time on the iGaming Daily Podcast.