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In its market-specific breakdown, the report noted a “rapid reduction in channelling” in the UK, following the increased use of affordability checks.
The remote gaming duty hike from 21% to 40% in April is also expected to have a significant impact on the black market, with Regulus estimating it could drive the market to be worth up to €1 billion, as consumers choose illegal offerings to access unrestricted bonuses.
Other studies have made similar estimations. In June last year two thirds of bettors surveyed by YouGov said the tax increase, which will also hit online sports betting from next year, would drive them to play with unlicensed operators.
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Çelik said: “If we can eliminate this sector, we will also minimise the funds flowing into the hands of the next criminal organisation.”
The president of the Turkish Green Crescent Society, Associate Professor Mehmet Dinç, expanded on this point, highlighting the relationship between supply and demand in the fight against illegal betting.
“In the fight against gambling, combating supply alone is not enough,” he said. “Combating demand alone is not enough; merely shutting down websites is not enough. This is an ecosystem: it starts with advertisements and continues through social media, sporting activities, influencers, games, mobile applications, payment systems, loans, bets, losses, debt and continued betting.”
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Yet Macau’s IR proposition extends well beyond the casino floor. Luxury accommodation, restaurants, shopping, concerts, conventions, art and other forms of entertainment have become part of a wider, equally indulgent experience surrounding gaming.
For Japan, the question is whether this broader proposition could make casino resorts more socially and culturally palatable by giving visitors reasons to come, other than gambling.
But for Klebanow, the lesson Japan should take from Macau and Singapore extends beyond the importance of non-gaming attractions. It is also about how regulation should work. Policymakers, he argues, should establish basic legal and commercial guardrails, while giving operators sufficient “latitude” to “propose and develop projects that best serve both the residential and tourism markets”.
