Cupcakes

About Cupcakes

“Stakeholders increasingly want evidence that initiatives deliver meaningful outcomes rather than simply demonstrating good intentions,” Skinner suggests.

That shift is increasingly visible across the sector, with DEI framed less as a standalone initiative and more as part of everyday business culture.

For Grainne Hurst, CEO of the Betting & Gaming Council in the UK, the evolution has been clear. “The conversation has moved beyond representation alone towards inclusion, retention, well-being and progression,” Hurst explains. “Businesses increasingly understand that DEI must be embedded in everyday culture, not treated as a separate initiative.”

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It has addressed ongoing questions faced by operators regarding when it is reasonable to close accounts, withhold or return player balances, cancel bets, or redistribute tournament prizes deemed fraudulently obtained. 

Notably, it has also provided insight into the evidentiary standards French courts expect operators to meet before taking corrective actions that could be subject to legal challenge.

The regulator identified six key categories of fraud frequently encountered in online gambling. These included identity fraud, payment fraud and abusive chargebacks. It also covered in-game cheating, money-dumping and sporting event manipulation

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Although three-quarters of respondents rated their VIP data as good or very good, 71% reported data spread across multiple systems. Half admitted sometimes making decisions with incomplete or outdated information. 

“Silent churn” was prevalent, with nearly half (46%) stating that VIP players often or very often became inactive without prior warning. Around 48% had no indicators of players’ behavioural signals or health. Co-author Viktoriia Grygorenko, CEO at The Playa, called this finding the “clearest commercial case in the report”.

“Every other finding – portfolio overload, fragmented data, reactive workflow, no behavioural signal – resolves here, in revenue that walks out without notice, without warning and without anyone getting the chance to intervene.”