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Prediction Markets
U.S. Court of Appeals Rejects Kalshi Claims in Tennessee
Tuesday September 29, 2026 (7:43 am EDT)
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled in favor of Tennessee, rejecting Kalshi's claim that federal commodities law exempts its sports bets from Tennessee's laws. Kalshi is an online company offering sports bets without a Tennessee license. This decision lifts an order that previously blocked the State from enforcing those laws against the company.
“This is a great win for Tennessee. Kalshi attempted an end run around Tennessee law to avoid any of the rules or taxes associated with sports gambling. They failed,” said Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti. “Sports wagering is heavily regulated because it can do a lot of harm, and I’m glad we thwarted Kalshi’s efforts to remove every safeguard and put Tennessee sports bettors at risk. I’m proud of our outstanding team for defending Tennessee’s right to set its own rules.”
Kalshi argued that its sports-event contracts are “swaps” under the federal Commodity Exchange Act, which would place them under the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission and beyond state regulators’ reach. In a unanimous opinion, the Court rejected Kalshi’s argument, explaining that the federal law Kalshi relied on pertains to financial tools like interest rate contracts, which businesses use to manage real financial risk. It held that the contracts are not “swaps” because the underlying sporting events have no inherent financial consequence and added that Kalshi previously conceded its sports contracts carry no real economic value.
The Court went further, holding that even if Kalshi’s contracts did count as federal financial products, Tennessee’s sports betting laws would still apply: Congress never said States were barred from regulating gambling, and nothing stops Kalshi from following both federal and state laws.
The Sixth Circuit decided Tennessee’s appeal together with a parallel case from Ohio.
Casino News (Arkansas)
Saracen Casino Resort Names New Chief Executive Officer
Tuesday September 29, 2026 (7:43 am EDT)
Two executives of the Saracen Casino in Pine Bluff, Arkansas are alleged to have developed gaming software called “GamePhysics” and had marketing that produce to “third parties within the Arkansas gaming industry.” The board of directors of the Downstream Development Authority, whose job is to oversee Saracen, wanted both men out. Carlton Saffa was the current chief market officer, while Matt Harkness served as the casino's general manager. Both men have now been terminated. The casino was quick to appoint a new Chief Executive Officer after terminating its Chief Marketing Officer and General Manager. Saffa, who was the casino's first employee, actually had to be hospitalized after learning of the decision to recommend his termination last week. That story had gone viral here at Gambling911.com throughout much of the Southeastern US over the weekend. Rod Centers has been named the casino's new CEO. Centers served as Chief Operating Officer of Seneca Gaming Corporation, the Seneca Nation's gaming enterprise, where he led operations for Seneca Niagara, Seneca Buffalo Creek, and Seneca Allegany.
Sweepstakes Casinos
Social casino Operator Playstudios Resolves Class Action Over Virtual Chips
Tuesday September 29, 2026 (7:25 am EDT)
Social casino operator Playstudios has agreed to a $3 million class action settlement that resolves allegations its virtual-chip sales violated gambling laws in six states. The agreement affects players in Alabama, Ohio, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Tennessee and Kentucky who spent money on virtual chips in several Playstudios-operated casino-style games. (source: CDC Gaming)
Gambling News (Brazil)
Updates on Brazil Online Gambling Ban
Tuesday September 29, 2026 (7:25 am EDT)
Brazil has just taken the extraordinary step of effectively shutting down its regulated online gambling market, including both online sports betting and online casino games. This move has stunned the industry as Brazil has become one of the most lucrative internet gambling hubs in the world, almost on par with the United States with Brazil occasionally overtaking the US in terms of readership ranking this summer. On Sept. 25, 2026, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed a provisional measure prohibiting the operation, offering, intermediation and advertising of fixed-odds betting. New deposits are already prohibited. Players have until Oct. 5 to withdraw funds voluntarily, and betting websites/apps are scheduled to be blocked beginning Oct. 6. Remaining player balances are supposed to be returned through financial institutions.
Brazil Betting Ban Reaches Supreme Court as Operators Count Losses and Clubs Boycott Talks - Brazil’s abrupt prohibition of online betting has moved into the Supreme Court with two of the country’s gambling trade groups, the Brazilian National Association of Games and Lotteries and the Brazilian Institute of Responsible Gaming, filed requests with the Supreme Federal Court on Monday seeking immediate suspension of the provisional measure signed by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on September 25.The applications are before Justice Luiz Fux, who is already overseeing litigation concerning Brazil’s betting legislation. No injunction has been granted. Brazil’s Attorney General’s Office, the AGU, has asked Fux for 72 hours to prepare the government’s response, saying agencies involved in regulating the sector need to be consulted before it makes its submission. (read more from iGaming Today here)
Black Market Seizes on the Opportunity - The illegal gambling market has not skipped a heartbeat, seizing the opportunity, and 415 new illegal betting sites have been identified by the survey conducted in partnership with Iron Security in just a few days following the measurés announcement. Following the announcement of the new measure, the Ministries of Justice and Finance took down 506 websites in the immediate wake of the measure’s announcement, but black market operators have had years of experience dealing with ISP blocks, with most of them running mirror domains or having backup copies set up only to offer them to their players once a website is taken down.
- Chris Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
