About this app
What is Tombstone Rip?
While the guide does not impose novel legal duties, it effectively tightens the operational framework that operators must observe to manage player fraud in France.
It has addressed ongoing questions faced by operators regarding when it is reasonable to close accounts, withhold or return player balances, cancel bets, or redistribute tournament prizes deemed fraudulently obtained.
Notably, it has also provided insight into the evidentiary standards French courts expect operators to meet before taking corrective actions that could be subject to legal challenge.
What is Tombstone Rip?
Yet Dan Waugh, partner at Regulus Partners, pushes back against the idea that enforcement notices reveal a fundamentally non-compliant sector.
“Operators failing compliance checks is never a good look,” he says. Campaigners often claim that financial sanctions are priced in and that the Commission should revoke more licences, although Waugh does not believe operators view settlements merely as a cost of doing business.
Nor are regulatory breaches unique to gambling. Waugh notes that Tesco was fined more than £8 million for food hygiene failings in 2021, without parliamentarians demanding that it should be prevented from selling cornflakes.
About Tombstone Rip
He also called for continued rigorous enforcement efforts alongside strict regulation to safeguard consumers, adding: “Anyone who wants to strengthen player protection must therefore consistently crack down on illegal services and strengthen legal ones.”
The DSWV said the findings should prompt a thorough reassessment of official black market size estimates in Germany.
The DOCV, another trade body representing licensed online casino operators in Germany, also expressed support for the prosecutorial efforts. However, it emphasised that the raid exposed regulatory gaps which had allowed organised crime to flourish.
