Clover Islands

What is Clover Islands?

The ASA’s ruling directed both Dribble Media and Limay Media to ensure the offending advertisement would not be redisplayed in the same form.

This is Midnite’s third ASA ruling this year. Last month, the operator came under scrutiny for an ad that suggested that “gambling was an escape from personal problems”. The ASA received 125 complaints on the offending ad and the company was ordered to remove the advertisement. 

Another June ruling was not upheld.

How to play Clover Islands

“Brazil has undergone an ambitious regulatory transformation in an extraordinarily short period, and his experience at the heart of this process will provide valuable insights to the regulators within our global community.”

Before joining the Ministry of Finance, Fabio Macorin served in Brazil’s Federal Police for 17 years. For a decade, he focused specifically on the investigation and prevention of banking and financial fraud. This experience helped shape his approach to betting regulation, particularly regarding anti-money laundering, financial monitoring, combatting the illegal market and inter-agency cooperation.

Brazil’s regulated betting market formally launched in 2025 and has since become one of the most closely watched regulatory initiatives in the global gaming and betting sector. Macorin, who also served as the SPA’s undersecretary for monitoring and enforcement, has been directly involved in initiatives to combat illegal operators, strengthen cooperation with financial institutions, telecommunications providers and other government authorities, as well as develop data-driven tools for regulatory oversight and enforcement.

What is Clover Islands?

Is the monopoly safe, is it set in the law that it will operate forevermore? No, it’s under constant evaluation, Petra explains: “The Dutch state, represented by the Ministry of Finance, is our shareholder and they evaluate every seven years, not only us as Holland Casino, but all state-owned companies.”

One of the operator’s most significant challenges is the increase in gambling tax enforced over recent years. Petra has been particularly vocal about this and the company’s profitability has taken a reasonable hit, since the first tax increase to 34.2% of GGR came into effect on 1 January 2025.

Holland Casino now pays 37.8% of GGR to the state, as per the additional increase in 2026, but with labour tax on top the business pays around 52% before they can look at their base running costs. It is not a small burden by any stretch of the imagination, so it is heartening to see the business doing well despite the tightening tax burden.