Harlequeen

What is Harlequeen?

Here, advertising for online betting sites is positioned differently. Presented as news, the content talks about the highest odds on the market, features offered by operators, regulatory changes and various cases of bettors, ranging from those who made huge financial gains to those who lost everything. 

It is very common among the different profiles identified to refer to regulatory bodies, such as the National Advertising Self-Regulation Council and SIGAP (Brazil’s betting management system). They also speak of responsible gaming in a generic way. In many cases, this is associated with illegal operators and potentially irregular advertising practices.

In this context, the regulations developed to protect players begin to function as a means of legitimisation, with illegal operators even using the term “authorised” in their communication and the “.bet” extension in their domain, which is intended only for licensed operators.

About Harlequeen

Meanwhile its B2C revenue, which took a significant hit last year as it offloaded the majority of its B2C operations, including Snaitech and Happy Bet, declined 22% to €32 million.

This segment is predominantly made up of Sun Bingo in the UK, a white label brand which Playtech said it was reviewing in March, due to the impact of the UK Remote Gaming Duty hike earlier this year.

Regarding further investment into the company, it said high-growth verticals like live casino were receiving targeted capital deployment, while in terms of geography, the Americas remained a core focal point for the company. It expects to reach profitability in the US this year.

How to play Harlequeen

On Monday, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) announced that Ruth Evans has succeeded Charles Counsell to take on the full time role of Gambling Commission chair.

Counsell took the helm in February 2025 following Marcus Boyle’s departure in January last year.

Evans, who chairs Stop Scams UK, an initiative she founded in 2019 to unite banks, technology companies and telecom providers to combat payment fraud, will assume the position on 30 September, commencing a five-year term.