The International Gaming Standards Association (IGSA) has welcomed two new members to its Board of Directors.

“IGSA welcomes Donovan Meyer, Light & Wonder, and Charmaine Hogan, Playtech, to the IGSA Board of Directors. These two new members will be joining a very well rounded and seasoned group, and I am pleased that the Board has appointed these individuals, both of whom are from Director-level member companies,” said IGSA President Mark Pace.

“I would be remiss if I did not mention that Charmaine Hogan is replacing Martin Pedak, who not only was Playtech’s representative within IGSA for a long time but also served as Vice-chair of the Board of Directors. His contributions to IGSA were numerous and we wish him well in his new endeavors,” Pace added.

IGSA Chairman of the Board Nimish Purohit said: “I join Mark and my fellow Board members in welcoming our two newest individuals to the Board, as IGSA continues its growth and outreach to the industry. I also want to thank Martin Pedak for his contributions to IGSA and wish him the very best.”

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) has issued a $54,000 monetary penalty alleging Well Played Media, Unipessoal LDA promoted a deceptive bonus on its Casino Days website. The bonus offer is alleged to have encouraged high-risk behavior and failed to properly disclose key terms.

The AGCO launched an investigation triggered by a player who complained that more than $8500 in winnings had been confiscated by Casino Days. The investigation reviewed a so-called “welcome bonus” that promised new players up to $2000.

However, to qualify for the full bonus amount, players had to:

Deposit $2000 of their own money;

Wager $70,000 (35 times the deposit);

Keep each wager at or under $5; and

Complete all wagering requirements within 7 days.

Investigators also found that certain terms of the bonus offer were difficult to find, buried behind multiple links on the site.

AGCO’s analysis showed that the average player would first lose $3640 trying to earn the $2000 bonus.

According to Ontario’s igaming rules, registered operators must not offer bonus promotions that encourage harmful gambling behavior and fail to disclose key conditions appropriately. Further, operators are not permitted to entice players with bonuses that cannot reasonably be attained without significant gambling losses.

These rules are in place to protect players and support a safe, regulated market—one that stands in contrast to the risks of unregulated gambling sites.

An igaming operator served with an Order of Monetary Penalty by the AGCO Registrar has the right to appeal the Registrar’s decision to the Licence Appeal Tribunal (LAT), an adjudicative tribunal that is part of Tribunals Ontario and independent of the AGCO.

“Player protection is a non-negotiable priority for the AGCO. We expect operators to be truthful and transparent about their promotions, and we also require them to ensure that those promotions do not encourage reckless or harmful patterns of play. An offer that requires a player to sustain substantial losses for a perceived benefit is not a fair offer. This penalty sends a clear signal that we will not hesitate to take action against operators who fail to meet their obligations to protect Ontario players,” Dr. Karin Schnarr, Chief Executive Officer and Registrar of AGCO.

ZOOT (getzoot.us), a sweepstakes gaming platform bringing video game sensibilities to iGaming entertainment, announced it has raised $6 million in seed funding led by CoinFund, one of the world’s first cryptonative investment firms, with participation from Griffin Gaming Partners to expand the current US-focused business to a global-facing, stablecoin-driven one. The investment further grows the opportunities for instant, borderless payments in digital entertainment as stablecoin adoption surges past $239 billion in circulation, with payment giants like Visa and PayPal racing to integrate crypto rails for faster, cheaper transactions.

Co-founded by gaming industry veterans John Cahill (ex-Sega, Shockwave, Yahoo Games, and Open Wager) and Sean Ryan, who led Facebook’s multi-billion dollar games business, ZOOT is building an iGaming platform that pioneers a new approach to iGaming that combines the engagement of video games with the efficiency of blockchain-based payments. Ryan brings decades of experience from leadership roles including CEO of digital music service Listen.com/Rhapsody and co-founder of social casino games company OpenWager (home of leading sweeps product Luckyland Slots), which was successfully acquired by VGW in 2017.

“Blockchain gaming with real currency integration represents one of the most compelling opportunities in digital entertainment today. We’re bringing video game design principles to iGaming to create experiences that are not only entertaining, but also transparent and instantly rewarding. With stablecoins eliminating traditional payment friction, we can serve players globally with zero fees and instant payouts,” said Sean Ryan, CEO and Co-Founder of ZOOT.

Building on its successful launch in the US-focused sweepstakes sector, ZOOT’s upcoming global platform addresses key friction points in traditional online gaming—namely payment processing delays and geographic restrictions. The platform’s flagship games, including its leading Beer Pong adaptation of the classic Plinko game, show how traditional chance-based mechanics can be reimagined through a video game lens with more interactivity and greater audio and graphical fidelity.

“We are now seeing explosive growth in stablecoin adoption, and real-money gaming is a trillion-dollar market waiting to be transformed by crypto rails. Sean is one of the most thoughtful and experienced entrepreneurs in gaming, and we believe he and his team will be one of the largest winners in this market as they create a much more mainstream experience for real-money gaming players around the world,” said David Pakman, Managing Partner and Head of Venture Investments at CoinFund.