I was heckled during my time as a college player in the late 1990s. But young athletes today must endure an ocean of bile from all areas of the internet

Throughout this year’s men’s and women’s NCAA Tournaments, athletes have reported receiving death threats on social media. After LSU’s loss to Iowa last week, an emotional Angel Reese said she has been receiving such threats since winning the national title in 2023. Days later, Iowa’s Gabbie Marshall deleted her social media altogether due to threats hurled her way after she drew a game-clinching foul against UConn in the Final Four.

On the men’s side, Purdue’s Carson Barrett hit a three-pointer at the end of his team’s victory over Grambling State. That bucket appeared to have affected the betting outcome for people who had gambled on Purdue’s margin of victory. Barrett’s reward? A direct message on Instagram that told him to “slit you throat” for “taking that three”. The sender ended the message by telling Carter “I hope you kill yourself.”

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Government criticised over decision to let companies self-regulate gambling-style features after expert finds numerous breaches

The government’s decision to let technology companies self-regulate gambling-style loot boxes in video games has been called into question, after some of the developers put in charge of new industry guidelines broke their own rules.

In the past six months, the advertising regulator has upheld complaints against three companies involved in drawing up industry rules, including the leading developer Electronic Arts (EA), for failing to disclose that their games contained loot boxes.

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Inside Gambling Anonymous, the 12-step program offering compulsive gamblers help, and hope

Each man enters the room, one by one, escaping the dark night outside. Before long some two dozen are sitting in a horseshoe. They hail from different worlds and different generations, but have been united by the same problem.

For decades, Gamblers Anonymous (GA) has offered compulsive gamblers a place to share their stories, and listen to others, in the hope of turning their lives around. Veterans of the 12-step program say it is now experiencing a sharp rise in interest from troubled young addicts.

Find out more about Gamblers Anonymous at gamblersanonymous.org .

In the US, call the National Council on Problem Gambling at 800-GAMBLER or text 800GAM. In the UK, support for problem gambling can be found via the NHS National Problem Gambling Clinic on 020 7381 7722, or GamCare on 0808 8020 133. In Australia, Gambling Help Online is available on 1800 858 858 and the National Debt Helpline is at 1800 007 007.

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With concern focused on online casinos, the firms who run ‘adult gaming centres’ have been expanding fast – and glad-handing dozens of MPs

In the corner of a dimly lit room, the face of a middle-aged woman is bathed in the greenish-yellow glare of a giant slot machine. Next to her, an increasingly agitated man jabs furiously at the “spin” button, as the jackpot eludes him yet again.

It is early afternoon on a weekday and they are among half a dozen punters robotically feeding banknote after banknote into the mesmerising terminals of an “adult gaming centre”.

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As ‘adult gaming centres’ spread across the UK, one woman tells of how she kept playing even after getting a cancer diagnosis

Jackie Olden can pinpoint the troubling origin of her mum’s gambling addiction. “She was the kind of person who’d go to one shop where milk was a penny cheaper and another where bread was cheaper,” Olden recalls.

“This [gambling] would never have entered her head.”

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Call for stricter rules for betting firms to stop use of promotions with references to popular culture that appeal to under-18s

Tougher rules are required to crack down on betting firms’ use of “sneaky” social media postings and campaigns that may lure young people into gambling, warns a new report.

Researchers at Bristol University have reported a rise in gambling promotions that typically blur the line between advertising for a betting company and popular cultural references, from ET to Gladiator .

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Exclusive : Syndicate agreed to lend up to €640m to Allwyn in 2020, two years before contract awarded

The company behind the national lottery was borrowing millions from Kremlin-owned banks when it won the UK’s largest public-sector contract, the Guardian can reveal.

Russia’s two largest lenders, VTB and Sberbank, were part of a syndicate that agreed to lend up to €640m (£545m) to Allwyn in 2020, two years before the pan-European gaming specialist was named the “preferred bidder” for the £6.5bn lottery contract.

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The TV audience may be in decline, but a passionate community of amateurs has been monitoring every tremor of buzz long before the ceremony

Jason Turer has been an Oscars obsessive since he was a teenager. The first Academy Awards he watched was the controversial 1999 ceremony, when Shakespeare in Love took home the best picture gong over Saving Private Ryan; since 2001, he’s attempted to predict Oscar nominees and winners every year. For many Oscars fans, predictions often take the form of, say, an office sweep or game between friends; others might make a list in their notes app and check off correct predictions on the night.

But for the past 10 years, 36-year-old Turer has been predicting the Oscars competitively on the industry blog and fansite Gold Derby – an outlet for awards season fanatics to score points based on their predictions in a game that combines the frivolous glitz of the Oscars with the obsessive, stats-based fandom of fantasy football. He describes his experience of the site, where he counts as an “all-star user” because of his high success rate, as one of “friendly competition – we’re all having fun here,” before conceding: “One of my life goals is to correctly guess every single category one year.”

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Maximum will be £2 for younger adults but campaigners say government has not gone far enough

The amount that can be staked on the spin of an online slot machine will be capped at £5, or £2 for younger customers, as part of government plans to tighten regulation of the £11bn-a-year gambling industry in Great Britain.

Online slots are currently exempt from limits on how much punters can wager.

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie . In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org , or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

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