Dusk Princess

What is Dusk Princess?

Betting shops declining for the twelfth consecutive period, standing at 5,617, a 3.6% decrease representing a loss of 208 shops year-on-year.

Various tier one and two retail operators, such as William Hill and Betfred, have scaled back and closed hundreds of shops between them this year.

Non-remote betting was reported at £2.4 billion (down 3.3%) with non-remote casinos at £933.9 million (up 0.4%) and non-remote bingo at £703.8 million (up 8.2%).

What is Dusk Princess?

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.

The UK has historically maintained a high channelisation rate due to it being particuarly mature with a huge competitive offering. According to the report, up to 1,491 licensed sites provides sufficient choice for engaged players.

What is Dusk Princess?

“I always found it funny when Colombia was starting, operators were saying ‘players here do not like slots’, as if they have a different DNA. Five years later, they would say, ‘well, they do like slots, but simple slots’. And five years later, they were playing all the usual [slots]. It’s not that they didn’t like slots.

“If someone takes the time to understand what they’re used to playing, what they like, what their history is and take that into consideration, then you can bridge that gap. If operators take that time to understand where players are at, it does make a difference.”

Local operators, meanwhile, have tried to close the gap by strengthening their technology, including working with world-class suppliers.