News

Nine days after taking over from Justin Trudeau, Liberal leader Mark Carney called a snap election. He announced Canadians would head to the polls on Monday 28 April. 

Culture, media and sport secretary, Lisa Nandy, has unveiled the government’s preferred candidate for the position of independent football regulator chair.

Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois have come head-to-head with one another on the Wembley pitch ahead of their hotly-anticipated sequel showdown on Saturday 19 July.

Jack P. Shepherd, better known to fans as Coronation Street’s David Platt, has emerged triumphant from the Celebrity Big Brother 2025 house, beating bookmakers’ favourite Danny Beard. 

English golfer Marco Penge won his first DP World Tour title at the Hainan Classic on Sunday 27 April, just two months after returning to the sport after a betting-related ban. 

Casino MK has ceased trading with immediate effect after administrators confirmed it was not possible to complete a sale of the business. 

Videoslots has been hit with a SEK12m (£1m) fine by the Swedish Gambling Authority (SGA) for another breach of responsible gambling rules. This is the latest in a growing list of fines received by the company: a list that includes other fines from the same authority, as well as UKGC fines for similar breaches. 

Key Entain investors have backed Stella David to take the role of CEO on a permanent basis, following impressive stints as interim leader of the group. 

Mark Allen’s maximum 147 during his round-of-16 World Snooker Championship match has netted one lucky fan £25,000. Allen himself will get a £40,000 prize money bonus for the maximum, which is the first scored in the main tournament since Mark Selby and Kyren Wilson both scored maximums in 2023. 

Evoke has announced continued growth for the third quarter in a row as the company confirmed revenue of £437million for Q1 in 2025. 

The Horseracing Industry People Board (HIPB) has obtained £759,000 in funding towards its 2025 programme of activities – with the Racing Foundation and Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB) monetarily supporting the firm’s upcoming initiatives. 

Casimba Gaming, which owns and operates more than a dozen online casinos and gambling sites, has enlisted the help of specialist marketing company Vega Gibraltar. Vega, which was formed in 2022 following the merger of Markor Technology and Whitezip, will provide performance marketing services to help enhance Casimba’s growth in the UK industry.

With Jack Wilshere taking over temporary charge at Norwich City, Adam Kennedy has run the rule over who could be the Canaries' next permanent boss.

This year’s Celebrity Big Brother is nearly over, with the winner being unveiled in Friday’s episode. Six of the original 13 stars remain after Tuesday night’s triple eviction, and since then the odds have shifted firmly in favour of one housemate. 

The LeoVegas Group have announced plans to open a new city centre office in Leeds, West Yorkshire. 

Plans to liberalise UK government laws about high street slot machines have been paused and could be scrapped altogether. 

White-label online gaming service provider Grace Media will provide a variety of support services to Intergroup Partners (IGP) and its UK-based bingo brands. IGP, which operates UK Bingo, Chitchat Bingo, Bogof Bingo, and Panda Bingo, will receive customer relationship management, compliance, and payment support services, as well as fraud protection, from Grace Media, which recently announced four new senior appointments across its business.

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has issued a public warning to domestic iGaming operators who fail to complete or submit regulatory returns as per pre-fixed deadlines. 

Gambling Research Glasgow, part of the University of Glasgow, has revealed the results of a study into the gambling habits of players aged over 65. The study found that around a third of retirement-aged UK residents gamble regularly, outside of playing the lottery. 

Booming Games has signed a deal with online casino 32Red, which will see the company’s roster of popular games, including Cash Pig and Buffalo Hold and Win added to the British casino’s site. 

Playtech has announced a partnership with Progress Play that will see a state of the art bingo platform available across more than 120 iGaming websites. 

A Sky News reporter launched a probe after she fell victim to an elaborate AI deepfake plot.

Despite being illegal in some jurisdictions and operating in legally gray areas in others, crypto casinos took more than £60 billion in revenue in 2024. Players using crypto casinos, which are typically licensed in jurisdictions including Curacao, Malta, and Gibraltar, do not need to submit the same registration details as at UK-licensed casinos. This enables underage players, as well as those looking to bypass self-exclusion programs like GamStop, to register and play. 

Following the death of Pope Francis on Easter Monday, the papal conclave will convene to determine who will be the successor to the late pontiff. 

Jack P. Shepherd and Danny Beard are joint 2/1 favourites to be crowned Celebrity Big Brother champions as the competition nears completion. The housemates are facing the first-ever triple eviction in Tuesday’s episode after face-to-face evictions led to tears and awkward moments. 

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has concluded yesterday, 16 April, that a recent social media post by retired England cricketer Stuart Broad did not break their gambling rules. 

Wildly, 14 of the top 20 Irish Grand National weights have been taken out including several Willie Mullins horses and Aintree runners. Better Days Ahead now top weight.

Flutter-owned Sky Betting & Gaming have illegally collected data of a ‘problem gambler’ to target them with marketing, a high court judge ruled in London on 23 January. 

Despite being a relatively new addition to the UK iGaming software scene, having launched in 2022, Octoplay continues to expand its reach in the lucrative but challenging UK market. 

Two three-way bets featured McIlroy at the Masters, Nick Rockett in the Grand National and Godwinson in the Lincoln Handicap – combined odds of over 1,000/1. 

Brian Mattingley announced his departure in January and has been in-charge of Playtech since March 2021.

The finale will take place on 26 April at Sandown and it is evident that the bookmakers have already seen enough to pay out all bets early. 

The Premier League finale is nearly upon us, Liverpool may be champions elect - Though, there is now at least four other Champions League spots up for grabs. But where does the value lie? 

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) have published updated levy rates applied through their new statutory levy programme. 

The Northern Irishman had been stuck on four major championships since winning the 2014 PGA Championship. While it was glory for Rory, several bookmakers didn’t exactly enjoy the news, most notably William Hill.

A close associate of former British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been charged over election betting offences, along with 14 others. 

Newcastle United’s midfield maestro Sandro Tonali is once again under investigation for illegal betting activity in his native country of Italy.

With the action set to get underway at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield on Saturday, Englishman Judd Trump is the favourite to win the 2025 World Snooker Championship. 

The Batman and Robin undercover duo that were sprinting along the bridge on 15 February to stop an illegal gambling sting in its tracks.

The 35-year-old from Holywood, County Down, was vying for an elusive victory at the famous golf venue in Georgia, to complete the Grand Slam at the 11th time of asking. 

Sky Vegas has called for a review of its advertising strategy as the brand seeks to revamp core processes related to marketing.

Ascot Racecourse and Spotlight Sports Group (SSG) have agreed to a new 'strategic' partnership that will see all-new ‘Smart View’ technology available to racegoers. 

The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has revealed that its ‘Grand National charity bet’ campaign raised £15,375 for domestic causes. 

Published on April 9, the report includes responses from 1,250 children, 300 adults and ten gambling content creators from the UK found that a notable number of gamblers are being driven to unlicensed websites.

According to betting group Entain, which owns bookmakers including Coral, Ladbrokes, and SportingBet, it is one of the biggest betting events of the calendar and remains far more popular than LIV Golf. 

Across the whole group, Rank experienced a 10.9% annual increase in group net gaming revenue to £195.6m for the quarter ending 31 March. 

The UKGC has issued its latest threat assessment of the gambling industry, pointing to the increased use of AI deepfakes to circumvent customer due diligence checks.

Gamban has announced a partnership with the Professional Footballers’ Association of Northern Ireland (PFA NI) to provide support to footballers who suffer from gambling-related harms. 

The final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 is just over a month away, taking place in Basel, Switzerland, on 17 May.