The Gambling Industry Monthly Review - January 2021

The first month of the year 2021 was anything but boring in more ways than one. Some of the highly expected slots were finally released and Twitch casino streamers have managed to land some amazing wins.

Let’s take a look back and see what are the most important things that happened in the online gambling industry in the past 30 days.  

Pretty much every single day of January had something interesting in store for the members of the iGaming community. One of the most anticipated slots of the year 'San Quentin xWays' by Nolimit City has finally landed on the market. Both regular players and streamers have been going crazy about the game inspired by the infamous US correctional facility. In the first week of its release, San Quentin got the title of the most-streamed slot with 6.845 minutes on air.  

Famous studio Microgaming and its partners have gifted players with more than 10 slots. They have covered a variety of themes and features and also come up with the first Megaways powered slot available on the Microgaming platform - Shamrock Holmes Megaways. Aside from this one, the software provider has also added Foxpot, The Bounty, and Forgotten Island, among others. 

With 5 new titles in January, Pragmatic Play has taken players through space and time, from exotic Congo Cash right to a Mysterious Egypt. On the other hand, innovative studio GameArt is offering players a chance to meet the legendary Egyptian queen in its Nefertiti's Nile slot. This Malta-based provider has also made a slot 'Diego El Pibe de Oro', a tribute to one of the greatest football players ever - Diego Maradona.

Twitch casino streamers have reached new gambling heights in January 2021. There were some quite interesting spins and wins that will stay in everybody's minds for a long time. The most popular Twitch streamer Roshtein has had a very successful month, to say the least. First, he won €326,000 on the Pragmatic Play's game Fruit Party, his biggest win yet, just to raise the ladder two weeks later with whopping €500,000. This amazing prize was won on the one single spin at the same Pragmatic Play slot Fruit Party at Vegaz Casino.  

Roshtein's friend and fellow Twitch casino streamer DeuceAce has had an exciting month as well. The biggest win for him in January was on Beat The Beast Griffin's Gold by Thunderkick where he cashed out €105,405. Rosh Immortality Cube, one of GameArt's most popular slots, was also very generous to this casino streamer. In just one month he got €88.180 and €99.480 playing bonus rounds in this game. By spinning reels on Big Bass Bonanza slot by Pragmatic Play, DeuceAce landed an outstanding €87,000.

After dreadful 2020, both online and land-based casinos are hoping for a much better 2021. In the US, more and more states are focusing on legalizing sportsbetting and expanding the online gambling market. Legislators have introduced bills in New Mexico, Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi that would permit online sportsbetting in these states. 

DGE or the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement made it clear that delaying payments to players is not an option anymore. The only withdrawal delays should happen during the identity verification procedures and anti-fraud and anti-money laundering checks. This regularity body is trying to stop operators from using this and similar actions as a withdrawal reversal tactic.

In Europe, Finland regulator Veikkaus introduced identity verification on gaming machines. The Netherlands' Government has decided to delay the enforcement date of the Remote Gambling Act. And in Germany, the gaming machine trade association Die Deutsche Automatenwirtschaft eV (DAW) and its state equivalent Automaten-Verband Rheinland-Pfalz eV (AVRP) were protesting the legislation that requires for gambling halls to be located at least 500m from schools or youth facilities.

Brazil's Government is taking all the necessary steps to launch the sports betting industry in 2022, regulations regarding this will be available to the public in July 2021. On the other hand, the Chinese Government has passed legislation to impose big punishments on those citizens operating a gambling business.