El Dioni

What is El Dioni?

In August, Cambodia’s state news agency, AKP, reported that authorities had inspected 195 licensed casinos nationwide as part of a broader anti-scam crackdown. This resulted in the revocation of 20 licences and the suspension of 29 others, with an additional 23 licences lapsing naturally. 

Touch Sokhak, deputy spokesperson of the Ministry of Interior, emphasised that the operation seeks to prevent Cambodia from becoming “a safe haven or money-laundering base for technology-related criminals”.

However, the sustained enforcement drive has already taken a toll on the wider Cambodian economy. In May, the government lowered its 2026 GDP growth forecast as construction, real estate and consumer spending absorb the short-term impact of the crackdown.

How to play El Dioni

The timing is significant. The illegal gambling market is attracting growing attention from regulators and the wider industry, while estimates of its size vary considerably depending on definitions and methodology.

A recent Fincord Intelligence report highlighted by the Betting and Gaming Council estimated that illegal online gambling generated around $50 billion in gross revenue globally in 2025. It estimated that around 5,000 operator structures were using more than 15,000 websites and apps.

Other estimates are considerably higher, illustrating how difficult the market is to measure. As an example, separate research from Gaming Compliance International put the value of unregulated online gambling at $5.9 trillion in wagering value in 2025, while estimating that unregulated operators accounted for 78% of global online gaming GGR.

What is El Dioni?

“In my opinion it’s a mature market,” Rossi states. “Because historically, I believe Peru was one of the first betting markets in all of Latin America. Although the regulation was not there, betting was quite tolerated in the past.

“Of course, the room to grow is going along with the increasing penetration of mobile. And of course, demographically wise, a quite important area, a generation that is looking into online entertainment always wants more and more.”

The next stage for Peru may therefore depend not only on how operators compete for existing bettors, but on how they engage a new generation of digital consumers. “It’s our responsibility, of course, to educate those newcomers into the online gaming world to always play responsibly, with their head on their neck,” Rossi concludes.