Octoberfest

What is Octoberfest?

MP Yasser Gourari, one of the deputies promoting the measure, told Diwan FM that the bill provides for fines of MAD10,000 to MAD500,000 and prison terms of one to five years. Penalties rise where there is recidivism, involvement of minors or suspicion of money laundering.

He described online gambling and betting as a “social scourge“. Some people, he said, “after repeated losses and financial difficulties, have been driven to despair, sometimes to the point of contemplating suicide”.

The committee considered the bill once, on 3 February, and has since taken no further action.

About Octoberfest

Jean-Michel Costes has also left the board after concluding his role at France’s Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ). 

Costes was involved with GREF at a time when numerous European regulators, including the ANJ, focused on tightening advertising regulations and boosting player protection frameworks. The forum thanked Costes for his dedicated service.

Replacing Miller as treasurer is Ian Angus, director of policy at the UK Gambling Commission where, since 2020, he has been closely engaged in policy development. This includes the Gambling Act white paper and its recommendations on financial risk assessments.

About Octoberfest

However, the judgment in that specific case against Star Casino ruled that Grant was a self-professed advantage player, and that a casino where the staff was competent and the games were operated correctly had nothing to worry about. 

Grant has maintained that advantage play is not “dishonest or cheating” ever since his first legal brush with Star Casino.

However, he may have indeed been able to spot the imperfection in the cards, which is an outcome completely different than what was ruled in the case of Phil Ivey, a popular poker pro who ended up using edge sorting to win millions of dollars, but had to forfeit or repay his winnings in the end.