News In Brief: July 28 - August 1, 2025

A New Jersey lawmaker wants to ban sports betting companies from offering or accepting micro bets, an increasingly common form of live wagering where gamblers can put a bet down on the next pitch in a baseball game.

Assemblyman Dan Hutchison, a Democrat, has introduced A5971 citing concerns over impulsive and excessive gambling behavior. 

“The pace of micro betting is designed to keep people gambling constantly, making one impulsive bet after another with little time to think,” Hutchison said in a statement. 

The bill defines a micro bet as a proposition bet placed live during a sporting event that relates to the outcome of the next play or action. Hutchison said it explicitly prohibits any licensed sportsbook operator from offering or accepting these types of wagers.

Violators of the proposed ban would face a disorderly person’s offense and a fine ranging from $5,000 to $1,000 per violation, consistent with penalties for other unauthorized gambling practices under state law. 

“This legislation isn’t about banning sports betting. It’s about setting boundaries to ensure it’s done responsibly,” Hutchison added. 

Hutchison’s legislation comes as lawmakers in Trenton have been tweaking the state’s gaming policies, including raising the tax rate on daily fantasy sports, online sports betting and iGaming to 19.75 percent of gross revenue.

Lawmakers also passed a ban on online sweepstakes casinos and a ban on partnerships between sports betting companies, and state colleges and universities. 

Another one of Ireland’s major banks is rolling out a digital gambling blocking tool for its customers as the country awaits the launch of the National Gambling Exclusion Register.

The Gambling Authority of Ireland (GRAI) welcomed Irish retail bank PTSB’s announcement of the initiative, with the regulator's CEO Anne Marie Caulfield praising the in-app gambling blocking tool as “ a proactive and valuable consumer protection measure helping to reduce the risk of gambling-related harms”.

The GRAI said it has been working with the Irish Banking Culture Board, the Irish Banking and Payments Federation and individual banks as it hopes as many financial institutions as possible will offer these blocking options to help consumers suffering from harm or those seeking to take a break from gambling, according to its update on July 25.

Bank of Ireland, AIB, EBS and Revolut all already offer their customers options to block gambling transactions.

The GRAI said it is working on the design and development of the National Gambling Exclusion Register, with it expected to be operational as soon as possible following the commencement of its licensing function.

The regulator will continue to work with stakeholders to “build on these initiatives and ensure greater support and guidance is in place for those that need them”.

Uganda’s government is hoping that the new board members of the National Lotteries and Gaming Regulatory Board (NLGRB) can match the success of their predecessors, who oversaw a sixfold increase in revenue collection.

Finance Minister Matia Kasaija told new board members of the NLGRB at their inauguration on July 24 that they must balance the need for innovation, growth and social safeguards if they are to continue improving consumer protection and revenue collection.

Annual gambling revenue increased from UGX 50.6bn ($14.1m) in 2019/20 to UGX 323bn in 2024/25, according to the NLGRB’s data.

The previous board also oversaw an eightfold rise in non-tax revenue collections from UGX 1.14bn in FY2019/20 to UGX 8.79bn in FY2024/25, driven by improved licensing, revised fee structures and strengthened compliance.

The previous board also oversaw an increase in turnover from UGX 500bn to UGX 8trn, the implementation of the National Central Electronic Monitoring System (NCEMS) and the building of new regional offices to help improve industry oversight.

Las-Vegas based slot machine, online gambling and casino management system heavyweight Konami Gaming has been awarded a gaming-related vendor licence in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The subsidiary of Japan’s Konami Group Corp is the 14th company and first East Asian-controlled entity to receive a vendor licence in the much-anticipated gaming jurisdiction.

“As the United Arab Emirates expands its economy to the regulated commercial gaming space, Konami is dedicated to supporting this market with the same integrity, innovation and excellence we bring to all 431 gaming jurisdictions we serve worldwide,” Konami Gaming president and COO Tom Jingoli said in a statement on Thursday (July 24).

Konami Gaming did not elaborate on the type of products or services it expects to supply to the UAE market, including whether it hopes to supply online gambling content or support.

The awarding of vendor licences in the UAE is gathering pace, with Light & Wonder, TCS John Huxley, Scientific Games, IGT and Novomatic among the latest major gaming companies to secure a foothold in the federation.

Joe Asher, former chief executive of William Hill’s U.S. operations, believes prediction markets offering wagers on sporting events under the auspices of a federal agency are inconsistent with the long-standing policy that states regulate gambling.

Asher said the idea that prediction markets allowing wagering on sports was permissible under Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) regulations probably would have been a surprise to U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts during the litigation over the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act.

He added he old friend Ted Olson, the lawyer who represented New Jersey and got PASPA overturned in May 2018, would also have been surprised.

“Seems to me that everyone was asleep and sports betting was legal all along under the auspices of the CFTC,” Asher told the Nevada Gaming Commission (NGC) last week. “That to me doesn’t make much sense. I’m always in favor of gambling being something that is regulated.”

“It should be regulated at the state level,” he added. The Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) is currently in a legal battle with Kalshi over its effort to ban the firm from offering its products in the state.

The five-member commission last week granted final approval to the state’s newest sportsbook. Asher is the president and CEO of Boomer’s Sportsbook.

Boomer’s Sportsbook is scheduled to launch on Friday (August 1) at the Commercial Casino in Elko, with two satellite sportsbooks at casinos in Las Vegas and Henderson, and a mobile application for digital wagering.