La Française des jeux, the French national lottery, will be using artificial intelligence (AI) to estimate the age of players when they purchase tickets at points of sale to ensure that they are over 18 years old. The AI system, which was tested on millions of faces, will set the age limit at 20 years old with a margin of error of about one and a half years. If in doubt, players will be required to present identification. The move is aimed at tackling the high number of young people who gamble illegally, with more than one in three between the ages of 15 and 17 having done so. However, controlling the age of players for online games remains a challenge, with online gaming volumes increasing by 16% last year.
Facial recognition technology has been tested in the UK, specifically in hypermarkets for purchasing alcohol. When a customer presents bottles of beer or whiskey at the checkout, a camera scans their face, and if the technology identifies them to be 25 or younger, they are required to present identification to prove they are over 18, the legal age for buying alcohol in the UK.
- The Iowa Lottery is changing its time limit for redeeming winning lotto tickets from 365 days to 180 days. The move has been made to bring the Iowa Lottery in line with other lotteries in the country, with 180 days being the standard redemption period. The transition process has begun with the gradual dropping of the limit on advance ticket purchases. This step down will allow for a smoother transition to the new time limit, which will help to make the process more secure by reducing the time frame for ticket claims.
- The Virginia Lottery has become the first in the US to use a fully cloud-based iLottery program. The lottery’s iLottery system uses Neo-based technologies, including NeoDraw, NeoSphere, and NeoPlay. NeoPollard Interactive, which is co-owned by NeoGames and Pollard Banknote Limited, said the migration to cloud hosting would enhance the scalability of the iLottery platform, thereby enabling better support for its growth.
- A proposed constitutional amendment has been advanced by the Arkansas House State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee, which would ask voters if proceeds from the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery should be used at vocational and technical schools in addition to public or private non-profit two- and four-year colleges and universities. Arkansas voters approved the state lottery in 2008, which established the scholarships, but Rep. Robin Lundstrum’s amendment would expand the list of schools where lottery scholarships can be used. The proposed amendment must still clear the full House and Senate before it can go on the 2024 ballot.
- Lotto Hessen is the first lottery provider to partnered with Fennica Gaming, a subsidiary of Finnish National Lottery Veikkaus. It will to integrate Fennica’s eInstant titles and expand its online games portfolio. Its titles will be offered to Lotto Hessen’s customers as GaaS on a cloud-based platform to ensure they remain up-to-date and comply with the latest industry security and quality standards.
- The Texas House State Affairs Committee has passed two sets of bills that could legalize sports betting in the state. The first set, HB 2843 and HJR 155, would allow destination casino resorts and retail sports betting. The second set, HJR 102 and HB 1942, would legalize online sports betting sites and would be regulated by the Texas Lottery Commission. The casino bills are supported by Las Vegas Sands, while former Governor Rick Perry has been a spokesman for the Sports Betting Alliance (SBA), whose members include DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, and Barstool Sportsbook, as well as Texas professional sports teams. However, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick has stated that the Senate does not have the votes to pass the bills.
- Joan Parker-Grennan has lost the latest stage of her legal battle with Camelot over her claim that she is entitled to a £1m ($1.4m) prize from a 2015 National Lottery ticket. Parker-Grennan purchased an Instant Win Game ticket online for £5 on August 25, 2015, and claims that two numbers matching her ticket appeared on her screen with a designated prize of £1m, although Camelot maintains a technical issue was responsible. The company disputes her claim and says it is only liable to pay out £10. On Tuesday, the High Court rejected Parker-Grennan’s application for summary judgment in the case.