Wild North

How to play Wild North

Japan has drawn on Singapore’s IR development model, which embodies a balancing act between ambitious economic visions and restrictive conditions. But Andrew Klebanow, principal of Klebanow Consulting, believes Japan’s IR regulations swerved “too far into crafting regulations and policies”. Klebanow specialises in hotel-casino market feasibility studies, strategic planning and facility planning recommendations.

“As the RFP process played out, regulators introduced additional policies and regulations. As each regulation was introduced, developers adjusted their gaming forecasting models downward. Finally, those models reached a tipping point where potential revenues were insufficient to justify a project’s capital costs,” says Klebanow.

Japan’s attempt to reap the economic benefits of casino gaming while keeping gambling socially contained is comparable to Asia’s dominant casino hubs Singapore and Macau.

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Quarterly data from January to March 2026 reinforced this trend, with online verticals generating £2.2 billion, and remote casino alone accounting for 68.3% (£1.5 billion) of that total.

The first quarter of 2026 saw a total industry GGY of £4.4 billion including lotteries, or £3.4 billion excluding lotteries.

As of 31 March 2026, there were 2,154 licensed gambling operators, marking a 1.1% decline on the previous year. However the number of separately licensed gambling activities edged up 0.4% to 3,097. 

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“Sometimes what data tells you is uncomfortable because it’s challenging the norm,” he said at the time. “For me [it’s about] where we can make some marginal differences by using player data and challenging the perspectives of what the industry thinks should and does happen.”

The Gambling Commission suspended both licences with immediate effect on 28 August after enquiries revealed suspected social responsibility and AML failings. Reviews are now taking place under section 116 of the Gambling Act 2005. But in the wake of the suspension, the two sites have bowed to the inevitable and shut down completely.

According to the Commission’s licensing registry, Bet St George surrendered its four gambling licences on 4 September. BresBet surrendered its own licences on the same date.