🔥 iGaming this week: the market is choosing its direction

Good morning! We’re back with the weekly agenda. As the year comes to an end, the market is behaving in a very telling way. Some reforms are slowing down, some regions are counting money, and others are finally shutting down grey schemes. We’ve put together the final weekly snapshot — to close the year with a clear understanding of where everything is really heading.

📌 Outlooks: good and not so good
— Poland: the president vetoed the increase of the winnings tax from 10% to 15%. A relief for both players and operators.
— Japan: parliament blocked the legalization of sports betting. Instead, measures against illegal gambling are being prepared.
— Thailand: casino development plans are on pause due to political uncertainty.
— Hawaii: discussions on legalizing gambling and betting are back — the budget needs to cover a $6B deficit.

📌 Let’s count the money
— Brazil: $1.59B in tax revenues from operators in 2025.
— Spain: iGaming GGR in Q3 reached €405.4M (+16.5% YoY).
— USA: online gambling revenues grew to $26.8B (+15%).
— Indonesia: online gambling turnover dropped by 57%, and the number of players fell by 68%. Bans and blocks are hitting hard.

📌 Grey won’t cut it
— Belarus: starting February 2, 2026, payments to foreign iGaming operators will be blocked across the entire banking system.
— The share of pirate websites in bookmakers’ advertising budgets in 2025 decreased by 1.5×.

📌 Crimes of the week
— Macau: 606 people detained during raids against offshore gambling.
— Kazakhstan: an illegal TikTok casino with $180K turnover was shut down — arrests and asset seizures followed.
— Malaysia: 85 people arrested for working in iGaming call centers serving clients from Asia and Australia.

📌 Our favorite news — from Brazil!
— New taxation rules for players introduced:
net winnings above $5.2K will be taxed at 15%.
Players must declare income themselves, and operators must provide an annual ComprovaBet report.

👉 Did we miss any important news? Share it in the comments.

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⚡️ iGaming industry in numbers from market leaders

The third quarter turned out to be mixed. Almost all major players saw a drop in NDC (New Depositing Customers) and pressure on RevShare, yet some companies still managed to grow — thanks to GEO diversification and shifts in business models.

📌 A quick market snapshot:
— RevShare remains the foundation, but it suffers the most due to sports volatility and player behavior
— CPA, subnoscriptions, and SaaS deliver more stable cash flow
— North America has firmly become the main growth driver
— The classic “SEO + RevShare” model no longer works on its own

Reports from Better Collective, Gambling.com, Gentoo, Catena, Raketech, and others highlight a clear shift: affiliates are increasingly earning not as media businesses, but as platforms and infrastructure providers. NDC is declining, traffic costs are rising, and GEO dependence is becoming a risk factor.

👉 A detailed breakdown of figures, models, and GEOs based on Q3 2025 results is already in the blog.

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⚡️ Discounts and bonuses — all in one place

The promo codes section for affiliates and operators has been moved and made more convenient.

📌 What’s improved:
— separate sections for affiliates and operators
— search by service, country, and type of benefit
— easy to find a discount for a specific task
— ability to add your own promo code

👉 Visit the updated promo codes section and take advantage of the deals

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Happy New Year! 😎

Thank you for being with us — for reading, commenting, and sharing your experience ❤️‍🔥

In the new year, we wish you:
— reliable partners and transparent terms,
— markets with strong potential,
— and simple human happiness.

🔥 2026 — working smarter, stronger, and results-driven.
Happy New Year!

⚡️ iGaming: key December news — how the market closed the year

December turned out to be revealing. In some places, markets are being officially opened, while in others betting is being shut down entirely without ceremony. We’ve gathered the key events of the month that set the tone for 2026.

📌 USA: growth and new rules
— Sports betting was legalized in Missouri — another step toward a fully legal betting map across the U.S.
— From December 1, Google Ads banned affiliates and CPA networks from advertising online horse betting. Licensed operators are allowed; intermediaries are not.
— Online gambling revenues in the U.S. reached $26.8 billion in 2025 (+15% YoY).

📌 Russia
— The president signed a law on self-exclusion from gambling. The new rules will become part of betting and iGaming regulation in the coming years.

📌 Curaçao
— The CGA regulator postponed issuing permanent licenses and allowed some operators to continue operating temporarily.

📌 Argentina
— Regulator ARCA updated the tax regime for online operators.
New registration deadlines, tax withholding rules, and disclosure requirements were introduced.
An added incentive: the option to retain a reduced tax rate when creating jobs within the country.

📌 Finland
— The move toward a dual licensing model from 2027 was confirmed:
B2C — for operators,
B2B — for software providers.
The Nordic market is preparing for a full opening.

📌 India
— The Supreme Court postponed the hearing on banning online real-money games until January.
Industry losses have already exceeded $840 million, with around 7,000 jobs cut.

📌 Africa: a tough year-end
— Ethiopia took the most radical path: the regulator revoked licenses from all betting operators following investigations into money laundering and national security threats.
Banks were ordered to block all betting-related transactions.

👉 Subscribe if you want to understand where the market is heading. 2026 will be hot — and we’re keeping an eye on it.

📌 What else is interesting?

😎 Happy New Year!

Thank you for being with us in 2025 — on the same wave, in the same industry, with shared goals.
This year brought challenges, growth, and new opportunities.

💰 May 2026 bring big wins and strong partnerships.
May your dreams come true, bold ideas take shape, and may you be surrounded by people who inspire you to grow, create, and succeed.
May every day carry energy, confidence, and an inner strength that keeps you moving forward.

Warmest wishes,
❤️‍🔥 The 3SNET Team

💘 Useless Facts Day: stories about casinos and bookmakers

January 4 is the official excuse to learn things that affect nothing — but are a pleasure to read. We’ve collected the most curious facts from the world of casinos and betting, from strange to slightly absurd.

📌 A few examples to get you hooked:
— There are no clocks on casino floors in Las Vegas — so you lose track of time.
— The biggest slot jackpot ($40 million) was once never claimed — the ticket simply “expired.”
— In football, odds can shift because a coach sneezed at a press conference.
— The very first bookmaker was opened by… a former funeral agent.
— Tennis, not football, is the highest-turnover sport for betting worldwide.

There’s also a darker side: robberies, bizarre bets, and stories where winning brought more trouble than joy. In short, a full set of New Year’s absurdity.

👉 The full list of 20 useless but very curious facts is here. Perfect weekend reading.

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🔥 iGaming: how 2026 is getting started

Happy first working week of 2026! The year has only just begun, but the market is already sending signals. Technologies are accelerating, regulators are keeping pace, and familiar jurisdictions are back in the spotlight.

📌 New technologies
— In Russia, the Unified TSUPIS, after implementing AI, reduced false player blocks by 74%, while detection of drop accounts increased by 37%. A practical case of how AI actually reduces friction instead of creating it.
— Telegram is testing the Emoji Stake feature — betting with the messenger’s Stars currency in the Dice emoji game. The code already hints at an affiliate mechanic (Star Affiliate Commission). There’s no official announcement yet, but the direction is clear.
— China is preparing rules that would ban AI chatbots from generating gambling-related content. This is part of broader regulation of “emotional” AI services. If adopted, it would set a global-level precedent.

📌 Curaçao — news that never gets old
— The CGA regulator has postponed issuing permanent licenses to a number of operators due to the volume of inspections. Temporary licenses remain valid.

📌 Brazil. Again and again
— The president signed a decree making banks, payment providers, and advertising companies tax-liable for working with illegal bookmakers. Pressure is being shifted across the entire chain.
— A phased increase in GGR tax has also been approved:
12% → 15% by 2027 → 18% by 2028. Regulation is becoming systemic and long-term.

📌 About the money (and yes, things look fine)
— The global gambling market reached $315.6 billion in 2025.
According to forecasts, it could grow to $541 billion by 2030. The trend remains upward — despite bans and pressure.

👉 Did we miss any news? Share it in the comments.

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⚡️ Trackier: when attribution becomes a growth tool

Affiliate marketing in 2026 is a strategic system for managing business performance. Modern platforms like Trackier function as a central analytics hub, where big data and artificial intelligence make it possible to predict partner value, automate workflows, and minimize fraud risks.

📌 We spoke with the Trackier team about how the platform tackles these challenges. Inside the article:
— mCaffeine case: +11.8% profit growth and reduced CPA
— Anti-fraud as risk management, not blind blocking
— Reports that actually change strategy, not just look good
— Flexible attribution built around the business, not “one-size-fits-all”

This principle of “flexibility based on transparency,” as we see it, will define the next era of performance marketing — and it’s exactly what Trackier continues to build its platform around.

👉 If you work with affiliate or performance marketing and want to understand why brands and networks choose Trackier, this one is worth reading. Special conditions are available for 3SNET partners upon registration.

🔗 Full version here

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🇪🇸 Spain — a mature market that’s still growing

Spain confidently remains among the top iGaming GEOs — the online market is hitting new all-time highs in GGR. It’s a rare case where a Tier-1 market stays workable and predictable for affiliates. We’ve prepared a complete guide to the Spanish iGaming market, breaking down legal nuances, explaining which channels work best for attracting Spanish audiences, and collecting ready-to-use strategies for a fast launch.

📌 In the overview, we cover:
— why Spain is a stable and promising GEO;
— how regulation and licensing are structured;
— which brands can be promoted legally;
— target audience specifics and habits;
— who plays and what they bet on;
— which models and channels deliver results.

🔗 Read the full Spain iGaming overview here

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🔥 The most unusual events to bet on

Football and tennis feel boring already? Take a look at these unusual events. In the world of sports, there are dozens of tournaments where showmanship, absurdity, and pure madness take center stage. And that’s exactly why they’re so fascinating to watch.

🔹 Air Guitar World Championships (Finland)
A championship of playing an imaginary guitar. No instruments — only charisma, movement, and crowd reaction. It’s not about numbers here, but pure performance.
🔹 Cheese Rolling (England)
A race chasing a wheel of cheese down a steep hill. Winners are those who manage to tumble to the finish line. Absolute chaos and zero predictability.
🔹 Laziness Championship (Montenegro)
A championship of… lying down. The winner is the one who stays down the longest. The most paradoxical tournament, which sometimes creates more tension than top-league finals.

And that’s just a small part. The list also includes frying-pan bobsleigh, oil wrestling, snail racing, and several other events that are hard to believe until you see them.

👉 Find the classic sports and current matches — as always, in our Sports Events Calendar.

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