Latest Gambling News: Mexico Investigates Thirteen Casinos For Alleged Money Laundering, 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.

Mexico Investigates Thirteen Casinos For Alleged Money Laundering

Mexico’s Ministry of Finance and Public Credit has been investigating 13 casinos over alleged money laundering by organized crime groups, including millions of dollars in cash transactions and the use of unsupervised digital platforms.

“Behaviors allegedly consistent with international money laundering typologies were identified,” the ministry said in a statement.

The agency said the casinos are located in the states of Jalisco, Nuevo Leon, Sinaloa, Sonora, Baja California, State of Mexico Chiapas, and Mexico City. Some of the locations benefited from multi-million-dollar cash transactions, while also transferring funds to countries such as the United States, Romania, Albania, Malta, and Panama.

The casinos also used digital platforms, which helped them disperse the funds, hide them, and reintegrate them into the Mexican and international financial systems.

Similarly, federal authorities identified that digital platforms were using people with financial profiles that did not match the amount of money received.

The casinos used housewives, students, retirees, and the unemployed who, for a percentage of the funds, transferred the money to the real owners, apparently legitimizing the income obtained from the games.

Based on its findings, the ministry will file complaints with the attorney general’s office and notify the federal tax prosecutor’s office.

Senate Committee To Question CFTC Chair Nominee

Michael Selig, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be the new chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), was scheduled to go before the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry on Wednesday (November 19), according to a posting on the committee’s website.

Selig was expected to be questioned on the legality of prediction markets, especially sports-event contracts, which he will regulate if approved to lead the CFTC. If approved by the committee, the full senate will vote on Selig’s nomination.

In October, Trump tapped Selig, a cryptocurrency regulator, to lead the CFTC after the White House pulled the President’s initial pick to lead the CFTC, Brian Quintenz. Quintenz is also a board member of Kalshi.

During his time as a CFTC commissioner, Quintenz wrote an unofficial dissenting opinion arguing that sports- event contracts should be allowed.

The position of CFTC chair has been vacant since Rostin Behnam stepped down in January, and if Selig is confirmed, he will be the only commissioner. Current acting chair Caroline Pham will leave the commission when a new chair is appointed, while former commissioners Summer Mersinger and Christy Goldsmith Romero both left in May.

PrizePicks, Polymarket Partner For Prediction Markets

PrizePicks shed more light on its prediction market plans Tuesday (November 11), announcing a multi-year partnership with Polymarket that will include sports event contracts, among others.

The daily fantasy operator had previously received approval as a Futures Commission Merchant (FCM) from the National Futures Association, allowing the company to offer Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)-approved contracts through a partnership with a federally regulated exchange, such as Polymarket.

The multi-year agreement will see PrizePicks “integrate Polymarket’s event contracts, spanning a wide range of sports, entertainment, and cultural moments” into its platform.

“By entering the U.S. predictions market, PrizePicks will create greater competition, drive innovation and deliver even more value directly to members,” said Mike Ybarra, CEO of PrizePicks, in a statement. “Together with Polymarket, we'll continue to focus on product, innovation, and exceeding our customers’ expectations.”

The company joins rival Underdog in the prediction space, who launched prediction markets in September through a partnership with Crypto.com. Polymarket has yet to launch its platform in the U.S. following the company’s acquisition of the QCX exchange and subsequent approvals from the CFTC to re-enter the U.S. market.

Chilean Casino Regulator Has No Authority To Regulate Online Gaming

The Chilean Comptroller General of the Republic has issued a legal opinion that the Superintendency of Casino Gaming (SCJ), which regulates land-based casinos, does not currently have any authority to regulate online gambling.

In addition, comptroller Carlos Vargas noted that self-exclusion is only included in the regulations governing legal casinos.

Vargas’ five-page opinion was the result of a complaint filed by a private individual over the SCJ’s lack of oversight of online gaming operating in the country, and the refusal of the regulatory body to allow her to voluntarily self-exclude from iGaming sites under the same rule that apply to land-based casinos.

When asked for its opinion, “the SCJ stated that it lacks the authority to supervise and sanction the development of gambling outside of casinos regulated by Law No. 19,995 and its regulations, and that it has filed the corresponding complaints with the Public Prosecutor’s Office regarding the illegal conduct in question.”

Under Law No. 19,995, the SCJ is responsible for supervising land-based casinos to ensure proper compliance with Chilean gaming regulations.

Even though the SCJ does not regulate online gaming in the country, Vargas noted that the SCJ is obligated to report any illegal gambling activity to the Public Prosecutor’s Office and has the power to take legal action against illegal gambling activity.

On this point, Vargas wrote that the Chilean Supreme Court has ruled that “both lottery draws, and online sports betting are, as a general rule, prohibited under our legal system, and ordered a number of companies not to broadcast or promote games of chance” and to block all websites.

California Judge Denies Tribes Preliminary Injunction Over Prediction Markets

A federal judge in California has denied a motion brought by three tribes for a preliminary injunction against two prediction market operators in an ongoing legal battle over whether their sports-event contracts are illegal gambling under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA).

U.S. District Court Judge Jacqueline Corley issued her ruling on Monday (November 10), writing that the Blue Lake Rancheria, the Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians and the Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians have not shown a likelihood of success on the merits of their claim under IGRA and the so-called Lanham Act.

A motion filed on October 31by Kalshi and Robinhood to dismiss the case will be heard in March, the court clerk told Vixio GamblingCompliance in an email.

The three tribes also claimed that offering sports-event contracts violated their gaming compact with the state of California.

“First, under the Lanham Act, plaintiffs have not identified a false or misleading advertisement,” Corley wrote. “Second, plaintiffs’ IGRA claim fails because the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement act (UIGEA) and the Commodity Exchange Act, and not IGRA, govern Kalshi’s event contracts.”

“The court does not have jurisdiction to decide whether the event contracts violate the Commodity Exchange Act,” Corley added.

The three tribes filed the lawsuit in July in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California seeking to block Kalshi and Robinhood from offering prediction markets in California, arguing the companies were offering illegal sports betting in violation of tribal sovereignty to offer gaming, as well as state and federal law.

As of late Monday, it was unclear if the tribes would appeal Corley’s ruling.

Major League Baseball, Sportsbooks Agree To Limit Pitch Bets

Major League Baseball (MLB) announced an agreement Monday (November 10) with sports-betting operators on a nation-wide agreement to cap wagers on pitch-level markets at $200 and exclude those bets from parlays.

These new measures, effective immediately, are intended to mitigate integrity risks and maintain the transparency and data access benefits that the regulated sports betting market provides, MLB said in a statement. Sportsbook operators representing more than 98 percent of the U.S. betting market have agreed to the new rules.

“Since the (U.S.) Supreme Court decision opened the door to legalized sports betting, Major League Baseball has continuously worked with industry and regulatory stakeholders across the country to uphold the most important priority: protecting the integrity of our games for the fans,” said commissioner Robert Manfred.

Manfred thanked the gaming industry for working with MLB “to take action on a national solution to address the risks posed by these pitch-level markets, which are particularly vulnerable to integrity concerns.”

On Sunday, federal prosecutors indicted Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz on charged they conspired with gambler to rig pitched during several games so the bettors would profit based on inside information.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn, New York, Clase and Ortiz took several thousand dollars in payoffs to help two unnamed gamblers from their native Dominican Republic win at least $460,000 on in-game prop bets on the speed and outcome of certain pitches.

Prosecutors alleged that Clase, a relief pitcher with the Guardians, began to rig pitches in exchange for bribes, while Ortiz, a starting pitcher on the Guardians, joined the scheme in June 2025.

In one example, Clase agreed to throw a ball at a certain point in a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 28, but the batter swung, costing the gamblers $4,000 in wagers. After the game, which the Guardians won, the indictment said Clase sent text messages with images of a man hanging himself with toilet paper and a sad puppy dog face.

On July 3, MLB placed Ortiz on non-disciplinary paid leave, which was extended twice, while Clase initially was placed on non-disciplinary paid leave on July 28. On August 31, MLB announced Ortiz and Clase would reach remain on leave “until further notice.”

Both defendants have been indicted with wire fraud conspiracy, honest services wire fraud conspiracy, conspiracy to influence sports contests by bribery, and money laundering conspiracy for their alleged roles in the scheme to rig pitches during a professional game.

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