Latest Gambling News: Chile’s Online Gambling Bill Back On Senate Agenda, and more

Catch up on some of the stories our gambling compliance analysts have covered lately, and stay up-to-date on the latest news.

Chile’s Online Gambling Bill Back On Senate Agenda

After more than a year of inactivity, Chile’s Senate has resumed its consideration of a bill to regulate online gaming and sports betting.

The Senate’s finance committee held two hearings on the long-pending bill on July 7 and 14, taking testimony from Betway-owner Super Group, representatives of Chilean land-based casinos, plus the country’s two national lottery operators.

The bill was approved by the lower house of Congress in December 2023 and then by the Senate’s economy committee in March 2024.

If approved by the finance committee, the measure would also need to be approved by the full Senate.

One key flashpoint are current provisions of the bill that would preclude Chilean-facing offshore operators from applying for a licence in Chile for at least 12 months.

In testimony submitted to the finance committee, the general manager of Chile’s Loteria de Concepción public lottery called for that cooling-off period to be extended to “a minimum of two years” in order to “avoid unfair competitive advantages and ensure an orderly and fair market”.

Tamil Nadu Gaming Regulations Appealed To Apex Court

An esports group and a professional poker player have appealed to the Supreme Court of India to overturn the Madras High Court’s confirmation of Tamil Nadu state’s gaming curfew and player verification rules.

The Esports Players Welfare Association (EPWA) filed a special leave petition with the Supreme Court on Tuesday (July 15), potentially adding a third action to current apex court cases on the goods and services tax's (GST) applicability to online gaming and the wider legality of online gaming with stakes.

The following day, professional poker player P. Vikram Kumar, also known as Vikram Lungi, filed a separate special leave petition protesting the Madras court’s upholding of Tamil Nadu's tough gaming legislation and associated Online Gaming Authority regulations.

The petitions reflect industry confidence that the Supreme Court may again lean toward gaming operators and gamers, but also concerns that gaming regulation in Tamil Nadu, if left unchallenged, may embolden other gaming-hostile states to introduce similar chilling measures.

As Tamil Nadu regulations stand, real money gaming is prohibited between midnight and 5am, while players must use the state-backed Aadhaar biometric and demographic identification network to access gaming platforms, among other restrictions.

“We hope that there’s no domino effect where other states bring in similar restrictions without understanding the realities of professional gaming,” Vikram Lungi told the Storyboard 18 news outlet in early June after the Madras High Court handed down its verdict.

“What starts in Tamil Nadu could slowly cut off players across India from opportunities we’ve worked years to build,” he said.

Based on earlier comments by EPWA counsel, its petition is likely to target alleged jurisdictional overreach by the Tamil Nadu government and argue that the national government has overriding constitutional authority to legislate on digital communications matters.

The Supreme Court, meanwhile, will wrap up evidentiary hearings on the GST case this month, starting the clock for a judgment crucial to the future of the gaming industry as a whole.

Maverick Gaming Files For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

Maverick Gaming, which operates casinos and cardrooms in Nevada, Colorado, and Washington state, has filed for bankruptcy following a debt restructuring last year.

In its bankruptcy filing, Maverick listed total assets and liabilities of $100m to $500m, according to Bloomberg. Maverick filed on Monday (July 14) in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas following a 2024 debt restructuring.

That restructuring gave Maverick a two-year extension on its debt repayments and an undisclosed amount of cash. However, Standard and Poor’s Global Ratings withdrew its rating on Maverick on June 10 because “of a lack of sufficient information to maintain the ratings.”

“At the time of the withdrawal, our outlook on the company was negative,” the report noted.

Maverick operates 20 cardrooms in Washington, but its business has struggled due to an inflation-driven rise in operating costs and the inability to expand the games offered to include sports betting.

Cardroom operators scored a rare win in 2013 when the Washington State Gambling Commission (WSGC) voted 3-2 to raise the wagering limit to $400, a $100 increase. Maverick had petitioned for an increase to $500.

The WSGC in January also denied a Maverick petition to centralize surveillance of cardrooms, which the company stated, “hindered our ability to compete effectively.” That decision also led to the closure of four cardrooms.

The WSGC had no comment Tuesday (July 15) on Maverick’s bankruptcy filing.

Philippine Casinos, PAGCOR React To Congressional Pressure

Growing political and regulatory pressure targeted at online gambling has prompted three integrated resorts to publicly defend their nascent online operations and regulator PAGCOR to target outdoor advertising and livestream gambling.

The owners of Okada Manila, Newport World Resorts and Manila's two Solaire casinos released a joint statement on Sunday (July 13) that maintains the companies’ online gambling products adhere to “strict responsible gaming principles”.

“These principles have seamlessly extended into all facets of our online gaming platforms, reflecting our unwavering dedication to regulatory compliance and ethical operations,” it said.

“We prioritise ethical business practices and promote responsible gaming, under the robust regulation of PAGCOR,” it said.

The statement responds to increasing heat on the booming domestic online gaming segment from both houses of Congress, including a clutch of bills threatening to strip the segment of advertising privileges, e-wallet use and celebrity endorsements, or to ban it altogether.

The Philippine central bank has also weighed in, releasing a draft circular last week that would crack down on digital payments in online gambling, including the imposition of transfer limits and new monitoring and intervention requirements for providers.

The casino companies’ statement follows a PAGCOR order to industry stakeholders on July 7 to remove all advertising for online gambling products on billboards and other physical spaces as part of “intensified efforts to regulate gambling-related promotions in public”.

Closely regulated online gaming advertising may be permitted after an advertising inventory is completed later in the year, the statement said. In the meantime, advertisers must declare all “billboard and wallscape advertisements” by this Wednesday and remove them by August 15.

PAGCOR on Thursday also warned the public against unauthorised streaming of online gambling on social media.

Flutter Secures Total FanDuel Ownership With Boyd Deal

Flutter Entertainment is buying the remaining stake in FanDuel to take full ownership of the sports betting and internet gaming platform, which is now valued at $31bn.

The company announced late Thursday (July 10) that it has reached an agreement with Boyd Gaming to acquire its five percent stake of FanDuel for $1.755bn. FanDuel is the largest online sports betting operator in the U.S. with a 43 percent market share.

The companies also entered into new market-access agreements, set to expire in 2038, under which Boyd will get a fixed fee per state from FanDuel’s mobile sports-betting business in Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana and Pennsylvania.

“We see the deal as a win, win for both companies,” Barry Jonas, an analyst with Truist Securities, wrote in a research report. “While (Boyd) will lose $50m-$55m of online EBITDA with revised market-access terms, it will gain $80m-$85m of interest saving post-debt paydown.”

Boyd intends to pay down debt with proceeds from the sale. The new market-access terms will save Flutter $65m in annual operating costs.

“With this transaction, we see Flutter looking to reduce ambiguity and present a cleaner story to investors,” Jonas wrote. “Flutter has now secured full ownership of FanDuel, its prized U.S. asset, before factoring Fox’s option.”

The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2025.

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