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A New York assembly member has filed a bill that would block sportsbook operators from limiting bettors depending on the size or frequency of their bets.
Democrat Assembly Member Alex Bores filed the bill, dubbed A9125, on September 26. It aims to prevent sports betting operators from limiting sports bettors based on the size and frequency of their deposits and bets, or banning them entirely based on their success rate. The bill has now been referred to the Committee on Racing and Wagering. With the New York legislative session now closed until January, the bill won’t progress until then.
If the bill is passed, it would amend state law and mean that sportsbooks cannot limit or block users because they gain financially from their wagering activity. There would be exemptions in place to cover occasions when suspicious wagering activity is suspected or when there are indications of gambling addiction or related harm.
Whenever an authorized sports bettor is limited or banned, the bill would require the operator to provide written notice and explanation to the user within 24 hours.
Sportsbook legislation in New York
Bores’ attempt to level the playing field for bettors in New York follows on from another bill filed in April, which saw fellow Assembly Member Robert Carroll seek to introduce a limit on how much gamblers can wager within 24 hours. Known as A7962, the bill would implement a maximum total wagering amount of $5,000 and a maximum number of deposits of five per 24 hours per customer.
The bill has not progressed since being introduced and will now need to wait until the new year, in the same as as Bores’ A9125, thanks to the closed legislative session in New York.
Such bills echo similar efforts made in Connecticut that aim to establish maximum wager limits for online sports betting.
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The Australian government is facing criticism for not tackling gambling ads fast enough, with fears of young people being exposed to harmful messaging.
Former Tabcorp and ASX chief Elmer Funke Kupper has an op-ed in the Australian Financial Review that calls for a crackdown on gambling ads in Australia, following what he describes as “an invasion” of gambling ads during the AFL Grand Final on September 27. It was the most-watched game of 2025, attracting more than four million viewers across the country.
Kupper claims that around 750,000 of them were under the age of 20, exposing young people to a high proportion of gambling ads. This has renewed calls for the Australian government to speed up progress on a gambling ads ban.
“I was surprised to be confronted with several sports betting ads in the thirty minutes before the centre bounce,” Kupper wrote. “I thought that the AFL and the government had dealt with this, and banned gambling advertising close to the games.
“The government and AFL Commission should reconsider their stance. Implementing stricter gambling advertising controls should be one of the simplest acts of leadership. Let’s not have gambling ads at next year’s AFL Grand Final”.
Gambling ads in Australia
The conversation around gambling ads in Australia has been ongoing for several years now. The government was slammed back in February 2025 when it made a perceived U-turn on the topic, following on from a delay to potential reform at the end of 2024. In the summer, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that an outright ban on gambling advertising would be difficult to enforce.
Critics like Kupper speculate that the Australian government is reticent to give up the  hundreds of millions in ad revenue that come from gambling ads. Gambling companies account for an estimated $180 million a year into TV advertising, or around six per cent of total free-to-air revenue.
However, proponents of an outright ban continue to argue that this is a matter of public health. Indeed, Australia wouldn’t be the only country to pursue such a measure, with the UK recently passing gambling ad reform and Japan cracking down casino ads.
Featured image: Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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A woman accused of running a multimillion-dollar illegal gambling ring is asking Florida authorities to return six figures in cash and a gold bar.
44-year-old Rima Ray was arrested on July 21 in St Johns County, in connection with an alleged $24 million racket targeting seniors around IL Villagio Senior Entertainment Center in Lady Lake. According to a report from Greater Belize Media, $340,872 in cash and a gold-colored bar were seized from Ray during a July traffic stop, which the alleged illegal gambling operation leader now wants returned.
IL Villagio Senior Entertainment Center has been shut down as a gaming venue after being raided by police in July. The State Attorney’s Office suspects that Ray lured seniors in to play on illegal slot machines, using offers of free food and drink. When raided, 190 slot machines and $348,221 in cash were seized.
The head of a multi-million-dollar illegal gambling ring
It’s estimated that over $24 million was channelled through accounts connected to the illegal gambling operation via shell companies and overseas accounts between January 2023 and July 2025. $3 million allegedly went directly into Ray’s personal account, although she only reported under $20,000 in annual income to the IRS.
Ray has reportedly also been linked to the Caribi Bleu Casino in San Pedro, Belize, under the nickname ‘Remington Ray’. She currently faces charges of RICO, money laundering, keeping a gambling house, and possession of slot machines charges.
Ray has complained to the Florida authorities that the seizure of a backpack stuffed with cash and a one-kilogram gold-colored bar during her arrest violated the Florida Contraband Forfeiture Act. Under Florida law, seizure of goods requires a probable-cause determination within 10 business days of the seizure and to inform owners of the right to an adversarial preliminary hearing, which Ray claims did not take place.
Florida authorities take illegal gambling operations seriously, with more raids taking place this summer in a renewed crackdown. If found guilty, Ray could face seizure of assets, fines, and jail time.
Featured image: Google
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British MP for Barrow and Furness, Michelle Scrogham, is pushing for a levy on harmful online gambling products to fund tackling child poverty.
Michella Scrogham is working with over 100 Labour MPs across the country to bring the levy to Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves, with the goal of introducing the new policy in the Autumn Budget, due to be delivered on November 26. The proposal is for a levy on online gambling products, ringfencing the revenue to help address child poverty and related harms.
“We propose this policy as a means to redress the relatively light taxation of online gambling, supporting our shared goals of delivering sustainable public finances alongside improved public health outcomes,” reads a letter from the MPs to the Chancellor. “Such a policy would support the government’s manifesto pledge to reduce gambling-related harm and enable vital action to alleviate child poverty.”
This marks a different approach to the Treasury’s recent proposal to merge tax treatment of remote gambling into a single Remote Betting and Gaming Duty (RBGD).
“The Gambling Reform All-Party Parliamentary Group and others have submitted responses cautioning against the proposed harmonisation,” argues the letter. “Treating all remote gambling activities under one duty fails to reflect well-established differences in risk and harm.”
A levy focused on online gambling
The MPs highlight that 4.3 million children in the UK (nearly one in three) are living in poverty. The revenue generated from increasing the levy on online gambling could help reduce that number, with online gambling currently taxed at a lower rate in the UK than other countries.
“An online gambling levy – calibrated to reflect both profit and harm – offers exactly that: a credible, fair, and immediate source of revenue,” the letter concludes. “It would signal a government serious about aligning fiscal responsibility with social justice, and committed to tackling poverty not just with words, but with action.”
Featured image: Unsplash
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The man accused of murdering a Parx Casino winner in New Jersey has been cleared of murder charges following a three-week trial.
A Middlesex County jury has cleared 31-year-old Jekai Reid-John of all charges but conspiracy to commit armed robbery, in a three-week trial that ended on September 26. Reid-John was accused of murdering a Parx Casino winner, after allegedly following the victim home early in the morning on October 26, 2021.
The jury found that the prosecutors couldn’t conclusively prove he did it, with the prosecution relying on casino footage, toll records, and circumstantial evidence. The defense highlighted that there was no gun match to Reid-John’s weapon and no direct forensic evidence.
The Parx Casino murder
The victim, Sree Aravapalli, was found suffering from gunshot wounds in his Plainsboro home in New Jersey at around 3:30 AM. He was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead at 5:24 AM. Prior to the shooting, Aravapalli had won around $10,000 at Parx Casino, with prosecutors alleging that Reid-John and another suspect, Devon Melchor, targeted him as a result.
Surveillance footage showed two men watching Aravapalli throughout the night, with a debit card transaction linking one of the men to Reid-John. Toll data showed that a white BMW later connected to Reid-John went the same route as Aravapalli’s car. A search of Reid-John’s house revealed a loaded 9mm handgun that the defense would later argue didn’t match casings found at the crime scene. No forensic evidence, like fingerprints or DNA, was found at the scene.
Melchor pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree armed robbery and one count of second-degree conspiracy to commit armed robbery and is awaiting sentencing. Reid-John was charged with murder, armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, burglary, multiple weapons offenses, and witness tampering.
The trial that concluded in September was his second trial, after a May 2025 proceeding ended in a hung jury. The conspiracy charge still attached to Reid-John will be addressed in court on October 10.
Violence connected to gambling is not a new phenomenon, with similar cases taking place in the Hollywood Hills and Nevada.
Featured image: Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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