Lucky Dragon

How to play Lucky Dragon

Global operator Bet365 has confirmed plans to cut around 340 jobs in response to increased regulatory and tax-related costs.

The job cuts, which represent approximately 3% of Bet365’s workforce, will be made across the company’s offices in Stoke-on-Trent, Malta and Gibraltar.

Bet365 attributed the job cuts to a “highly competitive trading environment, plus increased regulatory and tax-related costs”.

What is Lucky Dragon?

The US land-based casino market had begun to mature and the number of obvious new markets and projects was shrinking. Online gambling offered a new source of growth, particularly through the expansion of legal sports betting. That opportunity was quickly reflected in share prices.

The problem is that legalisation has not happened as quickly as expected, while taxes and competition have increased. “Online gaming has been affected by the broader re-rating of growth-oriented internet and software stocks,” says Chad Beynon, managing director and head of US research at Macquarie Capital. “But there has also been a genuine deterioration in expectations for parts of the sector.”

Beynon says sports betting companies have suffered particularly badly because the market is questioning both future earnings and the size of the eventual opportunity. More iGaming-focused companies such as Rush Street Interactive and Super Group have generally performed better operationally, helped by stronger earnings growth and profitability.

What is Lucky Dragon?

Evolution has for several years denied any involvement in illegal activity. In a statement to iGB in November, the company said its defamation litigation aimed to hold Playtech and Black Cube “accountable for its wrongdoing” and to protect shareholder value.

The report also revealed that Evolution had ignored virtual currency risks, as they had accepted wagers in said currency without triggering the enhanced due diligence normally expected in such cases.

Moreover, Evolution had continued earning revenue from operators in so-called grey markets without enforcing contractual blocks or other remedial measures despite earlier allegations.