Commission agrees £691,000 regulatory settlement with MrQ
20th September 2023 | By Zak Thomas-Akoo
20th September 2023
The GB Gambling Commission agreed a £690,947 (€798,643/ $853,793) regulatory settlement with MrQ operator Lindar Media for anti-money laundering (AML) and social responsibility breaches.
The Commission began its regulatory review of MrQ after it made a compliance assessment in September 2022.
The review found failings in the online bingo and igaming operator’s processes for stopping money laundering and protecting people from being harmed by gambling.
It also found that Lindar Media had breached several of its Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP). These ranged from AML to social responsibility failings.
The Commission said that, based on these failures and considering the operator’s actions since the assessment, it had agreed a £690,947 regulatory settlement with Lindar Media. This money will be directed to social responsible causes.
Findings of the compliance assessment
The GC outlined the specific failings it had found in Lindar Media’s compliance assessment. These included weaknesses in its implementation of AML policies, procedures and controls.
The regulator also discovered shortcomings in its responsible gambling policies, procedures, controls and practices. It highlighted failures that extended to its reporting as to when key events took place.
Other deficiencies included Lindar’s head of regulatory compliance taking additional management posts without Commission approval.
The operator also did not advertise its products in a socially responsible way. Finally, it failed to make its required research, prevention and treatment contributions to an organisation supporting those harmed by gambling.
“You win some, you lose some”
Responding to the regulatory settlement, Lindar Media said that the breaches happened during a time of growth for the business and that safer gambling policies had been improved since the time of the failures.
“My focus since 2022 has been centred around maturing the day-to-day operations through the development of the senior leadership team,” said Lindar Media chief executive Savvas Fellas.
“We’ve implemented scalable processes that provide consistency as we grow and built technology-driven models that underpin compliance and safer gambling promises to our players; all of which are aligned with our mission of offering progressive, value entertainment – with delight and transparency,” he added.
Money laundering and terrorist financing failures
Licence condition 12.1.1(1) says licence holders must assess their money laundering and terrorist financing (ML and TF) risk.
The Commission said MrQ failed to have an appropriate assessment for these risks. This was because it did not assess risk relating to customers, their means of payment, or additional inherent and emerging risks.
The ML and TF assessment also did not address key risk factors. These include customers associating with higher risk countries, along with a disproportionate spend relative to their wealth and business arrangements taking place in unusual circumstances.
Other risks not accounted for related to a customer being the beneficiary of a life insurance policy as well as when a customer is a foreign national applying for residence in return for transfers of capital.
The Commission also said Lindar breached licence condition 12.1.1(2) which outlines the operator’s responsibility for putting in place ML and TF controls.
Lindar failed to have appropriate measures in place. This included the company’s practice of automatically assigning a “low” level of ML risk to new customers.
The Commission said that, at this point, there would be not enough information to give them a rating. It assessed there was an over-reliance on financial triggers to identify and maintain ML risks.
The Commission also noted that financial thresholds for ML were too high, thereby allowing customers to deposit and lose more than £10,000. The regulator said this “did not appear to be sufficiently risk-based”.
MrQ’s social responsibility breaches
MrQ’s licence condition 15.2.1(4) makes clear licensees must notify the Commission within five working days after a key event takes place.
The operator did not inform the Commission promptly when its head of regulatory compliance left the position in June 2022. As such, the regulator found that the business was in breach of the licence condition between 20 June and September 2022.
The online bingo business also failed to comply with paragraphs 1a, 1b and 2 of the Social Responsibility Codes of Practice 3.4.1 (Customer Interaction).
These rules outline how licensees must interact with customers in a manner that minimise the risk of customers experiencing harms associated with gambling.
Lindar Media failed to identify customers at risk of experiencing gambling harms. Its financial and safer gambling triggers “were not always effective”, especially when dealing with customers depositing at a high velocity.
Disproportionate spend relative to personal circumstances was not considered until large amounts of money had been lost. When MrQ did consider personal circumstances, it did so using County Court judgements and bankruptcy data which was not always effective.
MrQ’s advertising failures
The Commission criticised the company for allowing its agents to use cartoon imagery to advertise the business. This is because of its appeal to children.
Surely such association is much more damaging to the sport’s image, and hence its future, than a handful of top players opting out of a rather minor event in favour of an unstreamed exhibition in China, earning some money whilst sparing themselves a tiring back and forth trip across several time zones…
Any player making two maximum breaks during this season’s Triple Crown Series will be rewarded with a massive £147,000 bonus.
This new initiative applies to the 2023 MrQ UK Championship, the 2024 Masters and the 2024 Cazoo World Championship. A player who makes two maximums (either a 147 or 155) in either the qualifying rounds or the final stages of those three tournaments will earn the huge bonus.
WST Chairman Steve Dawson said: “There is nothing quite as exhilarating in snooker as a maximum break, those moments bring us to the edge of our seats. And we’re making that achievement all the more special this season during our Triple Crown events.
“We’d love to see at least one player make a 147 at the MrQ UK Championship which would give them two more tournaments to chase the bonus. Last season we saw maximums from Kyren Wilson and Mark Selby at the Crucible – imagine the thrill if there was an extra £147,000 on the line!
“The skill level in snooker now is higher than ever and we expect this new prize will give the players extra motivation to go for maximum breaks.”
The bonus would be awarded in addition to the high break prizes for the individual events.
Up to three players could win this bonus, for example if three different players each made two 147s then they would each win £147,000. Or if one player made six maximums then he would bank £441,000!
The counting events are:
MrQ UK Championship. November 18-23 (qualifying rounds) and November 25 to December 3 The Masters. January 7-14. Cazoo World Championship. April 8-17 (qualifying rounds) and April 20 to May 6.
Looks great he? Well the snooker.org team had a good look at the stats. In the history of the game so far, a player having 2 maximum breaks in the course of those three events happened only once, in 2007/08 when Ronnie had one against Mark Selby in the 2007 UK Championship semi-finals, and another one in the last 16 of the 2008 World Championship against Mark Williams. In total there was never more than three maximums made during those three events combined in a season, and, other than Ronnie’s “double”, they were always made by three different players. So, this, in my eyes is just a publicity coup, as WST probably looked at the stats and know that the “risk” they are taking is very, very small … No player in their right mind will take the risk to go for a maximum in the second most important ranking tournament of the season, unless, maybe, if they are so far behind that they have forfeited any serious hope to win the match in progress.
Judd Trump the Ace in the Pack as he beats Shaun Murphy in thriller to reach Cazoo Champion of Champions semi-finals
Judd Trump showed why he is known as the Ace in the Pack as he came from 2-0 and 3-1 down to beat Shaun Murphy 6-4 and book his place in the Cazoo Champion of Champions semi-finals.
The World Number 2 demonstrated why was the pre-tournament favourite, playing a positional shot in the seventh frame which he rated among his top three best ever shots, as he potted the yellow and opened up a red at the same time.
Trump had to fight for his win to set up a semi-final showdown with Barry Hawkins on Friday night, unlike his earlier Group 3 opener in which he brushed aside Baipat Siripaporn 4-0.
Murphy delivered an early masterclass as he raced into a 2-0 lead. After Trump hit the first break, The Magician potted a long red and took the frame with a break of 107.
It was more than 20 minutes before Trump potted his first ball, and Murphy took his chance again to win the second frame 90-5.
The best of 11 Group final was looking ominous until Murphy missed a straightforward red in the next frame which allowed Trump to pull one back with a clearance of 73. But Murphy won a safety battle to lead 3-1 at the break.
Trump showed why he was the man to beat as he won the next two frames to level the match. He then played some of the best positional snooker in the business – including that yellow – to come from behind and edge the frame to lead for the first time.
Trump went from strength to strength and came back in the next frame from needing snookers to win it on the black and move to within one frame of victory.
This was the most exciting of the four Group finals and Murphy refused to give up, and he came from behind to win the ninth frame and reduce Trump’s lead to 5-4.
That was the end of the fightback, however, as Trump booked his fifth successive Champion of Champions final with a closing 107 break.
“I didn’t feel great out there, I felt a bit nervy, a bit rusty, but I managed to produce some good clearances and just dig in and turn it around,” said Trump. “I have played a few good shots in my time but in terms of position, that yellow is in the top three, but I will let everyone judge it on social media.
“When they go in, it gives you the inspiration to go on and do well in the tournament.”
Trump had safely negotiated the potential banana skin of facing Thailand’s rank outsider Siripaporn earlier in the day.
It was always going to be a tough ask for the women’s World Champion, in her first year on the world tour, facing the man with three ranking tournaments under his belt.
Although she made some impressive pots, it was a routine 4-0 win for 2021 Champion of Champion Trump, whose highlight was closing the match with a final frame break of 115.
The other Group match was not as close as predicted, as Murphy made the most of some mistakes from Tyneside Terror Gary Wilson to ease through 4-1 in the best of seven format.
Murphy also closed out the match with a century, notching a 107 break in the fifth frame.
The winner of the Trump-Hawkins semi-final will face either Mark Allen or John Higgins in Sunday’s final, as they meet in the other semi on Saturday night.
There is no doubt that Judd has evolved a lot both as a player and a person over the last years. There was a time when he came across as pretty arrogant, in my eyes at least, would complain about bad luck whenever he lost, and go for stupid shots when things weren’t going his way: in short … the typical spoiled brat attitude. He was only young and supremely talented which can be a bad combination at times! He has matured a lot … and well, like a fine wine. He now has the complete game, without losing his attacking nous. He’s a lot more considerate when talking about his rivals and “bad luck” quotes are a thing of the past.
As for Shaun Murphy … there were shot choices yesterday making me wonder about his thought process.
In other news…
The 2023 IBSF Championships are still underway in Doha, Qatar. This time, I didn’t find the usual website, with all the draws and results as well as the videos. Yes, it’s presentation was outdated and rather ugly, but it had everything.
And the most extraordinary news came from Facebook where Peter Williams shared that yesterday afternoon, Ray Reardon, aged 91, made a 100 break on the “tight table” in his club!
Heroic Higgins books place in Cazoo Champion of Champions semi-finals with win over Ding Junhui
JOHN HIGGINS produced the best snooker of the Cazoo Champion of Champions so far to storm into the semi-finals.
The Wizard of Wishaw swept aside Ding Junhui 6-1 in the Group 1 final at Bolton’s Toughsheet Stadium, to set up a tournament semi-final against Mark Allen on Saturday night.
The snooker was of the highest quality and Higgins had the crowd buzzing in the opening frame as he edged towards a maximum 147 break.
At 48-years-old, he would have been the oldest man in snooker history to make a maximum, but his bid came undone when he was on 96 and the 13th red rattled in the jaws of a pocket.
Ding, nicknamed Enter The Dragon, hit back immediately with a 106 break to level the match, before Higgins regained the lead with a break of 83.
Higgins, who has been a professional for 31 years, didn’t look back after that as he reeled off the next four frames with breaks of 80 or higher to book his third Champion of Champions semi-final appearance.
Higgins, who lost only one frame all day, said: “I felt good out there today and I really enjoyed it. It’s a brilliant venue and I can’t wait to come back on Saturday.
“Me and Mark always have great matches. Last time he pipped me 9-8 in the Northern Ireland final so maybe I owe him one back. I can’t wait to play him.”
Higgins was firing on all cylinders from Wednesday’s first break, beating Chris Wakelin 4-0 in the Group 1 opener as he opened with a 70 and never looked back.
Wakelin, who had not beaten Higgins in three attempts, looked out-of-sorts in his first appearance at the Champion of Champions, and never recovered from missing an important pink in the second frame.
The other best of seven frames Group match was the battle of the two Chinese stars, with man of the moment, Zhang Anda, looking to book a clash against his idol, Scotsman Higgins.
Arriving on the back of his weekend International Championship victory, he fought back brilliantly from 3-0 down to level against Ding – who was a last-minute replacement for Ronnie O’Sullivan.
However, he was finally beaten in a thrilling decider on the final black.
This report doesn’t do justice to one of the best, and most extraordinary best of 7 match you can ever see. Indeed the match between Zhang Anda and Ding Junhui delivered huge drama and, in particular, one absolutely superb clearance by Zhang Anda.
Here it is, shared by Matchroom Multisport on their YouTube Channel:
There was a huge crowd in attendance, likely attracted by the prospect to watch Ronnie. The fans were served an absolute treat and showed their appreciation with a standing ovation and the end of the match. Both players were chased for autographs. They deserved it! Zhang could have suffered a “hang-over” after winning his first ranking tittle, Ding had to fly from China at the very last moment. All credits to them both.
Alan McManus and Neal Foulds were lost for words in the studio after the match.
Yes, Higgins won the group, playing very well, but Ding was probably very tired in that match, after the thrill of the afternoon and the long last minute trip. Zhang also had traveled late after his triumph in Tianjin. What the Chinese lads produced was something very special. Congratulations to them.
The draw for the MrQ UK Championship in York has been made, with Mark Allen to begin the defence of his title on the opening afternoon on Saturday November 25.
The tournament runs from November 25 to December 3 at the York Barbican. The schedule for top 16 seeds has now been announced:
Saturday November 25 1pm Mark Allen v qualifier Mark Williams v qualifier
7pm Kyren Wilson v qualifier Tom Ford v qualifier
Sunday November 26 1pm Luca Brecel v qualifier Zhang Anda v qualifier
7pm Shaun Murphy v qualifier Ali Carter v qualifier
Monday November 27 1pm Judd Trump v qualifier Barry Hawkins v qualifier
7pm Mark Selby v qualifier Jack Lisowski v qualifier
Tuesday November 28 1pm Ronnie O’Sullivan v qualifier John Higgins v qualifier
7pm Neil Robertson v qualifier Robert Milkins v qualifier
Northern Ireland’s Allen beat Ding Junhui 10-7 in the final at the Barbican last year to win the title for the first time. This year’s event promises to be a classic, with many all-time greats in the field as well as in-form Zhang Anda and Tom Ford who have leapt into the top 16 for the first time.
The 16 seeds will be joined by 16 players who come through the qualifying rounds in Leicester, which run from November 18 to 23. Star names among the 128 players heading for the qualifiers include three-time UK Champion Ding, Stephen Maguire, Stuart Bingham, Hossein Vafaei, Ryan Day, Si Jiahui, Jimmy White and Ken Doherty.
Or watch the drama unfold during all six days of the qualifying rounds, from November 18th to 23rd, live on discovery+ or the Eurosport App (depending on your location), as well as the last four days on WST’s Facebook and YouTube channels.
The last two days of the qualifying event, on November 22nd and 23rd, will be ‘Judgement Day’ as players battle for coveted places in the final stages. The random draw for the final stages will be made on Thursday 23rd.
First of all, I’m glad to see Ronnie’s name in the draw. I wasn’t sure he would enter it but of course this is one of the “triple crown” events in a city he likes and that surely helps.
Next, this is a format I like. The lowest ranked players are not immediately facing a top player and get more winnable matches to start with. Of course, they have to win more matches to get to the venue, but they have the opportunity to get some useful experience, ranking points and money before facing the big boys. Also, it’s longer matches, which allows more time to settle.
DOMINANT DAY FOR BARRY HAWKINS WHO SOARS INTO CAZOO CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS SEMI-FINALS
BARRY HAWKINS blew away the opposition on Tuesday as he stormed into his first Cazoo Champion of Champions semi-final.
“The Hawk” followed up his 4-0 victory over World Champion Luca Brecel in the afternoon Group 2 opener by soaring past Robert Milkins 6-2 in the evening.
Hawkins was too clinical for “The Milkman”, who had pulled of a shock in the afternoon with a solid 4-2 triumph over veteran Mark Williams.
Victory for Hawkins, 44, in the best of 11 tie set up a possible semi showdown with Judd Trump on Friday, assuming the tournament favourite comes through Group 3 on Thursday.
“I’m delighted to get through that group because all the groups here are tough with tournament winners,” said Hawkins. “I know Judd is the man of the moment and probably favourite to get through, but they are all great players in the other group. It’s a short format in the first match so it could be anyone who gets through.
“I’m playing again on Friday, and I am sticking around because it is too far for me to go home and travel back on Thursday, ready to play Friday. I’ll get some practice here and there and just chill.”
After scoring two centuries on his way to the Group final, Hawkins didn’t have it all his own way as he had to come back from needing two snookers to take the opening frame 56-52, but he never looked back as he took the next three frames to lead 4-0 at the interval.
Hawkins lost his first frame of the day when the players returned, but claimed the next, before Milkins pulled another one back with a break of 81. The fightback ended there, however, as his in-form opponent won the next frame to wrap up victory.
Earlier in the day it was a miserable fifth appearance in this tournament for “Belgian Bullet” Brecel as Hawkins opened and closed their match by breaking through the ton barrier.
He won the opening frame with a break of 128, and the fourth with a break of 108 in the best of seven tie.
The other semi-final was a war of attrition as Milkins won the first and third frames against Williams but was pegged back each time, before pulling away from “The Welsh Potting Machine”.
Wednesday’s Group 1 action at Bolton’s Toughsheet Stadium will take place without Ronnie O’Sullivan, after “The Rocket” withdrew from the tournament on Tuesday morning and was replaced by China’s Ding Junhui.
The group contains another Chinese star and snooker’s man of the moment, Zhang Anda, fresh from his weekend triumph in the International Championship.
Luca Brecel was utterly awful yesterday, as he has been since the start of the season … when he actually played. It’s been the pattern ever since I’ve known him as a junior. Every time he has a huge success, he goes walkabout… Disappointing but unsurprising.
Milkins played well in beating Willo, but was poor, really poor, against Hawkins before the MSI. He had lost the lengthy first frame, when really he should have won it, and that appeared to affect him. His body language was negative and his concentration had gone. He improved after the interval but he had left himself too much to do.
MARK ALLEN MARCHES INTO CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS SEMI-FINALS
MARK ALLEN booked his place in the Champion of Champions semi-finals with a 6-2 victory over Ali Carter on Monday evening.
The Northern Irishman followed up his 4-1 win over Jimmy White in the afternoon to progress from Group 4 in the tournament at Bolton’s Toughsheet Community Stadium.
Allen, 37, raced into a 3-0 lead over Carter with the help of century breaks in the first and third frames – opening with a break of 135 in less than 10 minutes.
The second frame was much tighter, before the colours fell kindly for Allen to clean up and he ran out winner by 71-42. A break of 104 then sealed the third frame.
Carter found his rhythm in frame four as two confident breaks helped him to a 112-4 win, but a crisp 70 break in the fifth frame restored Allen’s three-frame cushion. He moved to within one frame of victory when he took the next 71-36.
Allen, the 2022 UK Champion and World Grand Prix winner, had to wait for victory as Carter won the seventh frame with a brilliant 143 clearance. It was the best of the day and the 397th century of his career.
Allen crossed the finish line when he took the next frame with a comfortable 98-5 win.
“I feel like I’ve turned a corner, but I am still not where I want to be,” said Allen. “It would be nice to win a tournament when playing well, and I am getting closer.
“I’ve been working hard on the mental side of my game and I have improved. I am more controlled now.”
Allen was flying home on Saturday morning to rest and will play the winner of Group 1, which includes defending champion Ronnie O’Sullivan, on Saturday.
In the afternoon’s best of seven frame matches, the curtain raiser saw Allen beat White in the battle of the left-handers.
The opening frame saw White bounce back from five “fouls and misses” on the same red after being snookered. The duo were tied on 58 points when “The Whirlwind” won it with a great pot of the black.
Veteran White, a 500-1 outsider, struggled with the speed of the table and that was to be his only highlight as Allen ran away with it, winning the second frame with a break of 76 and the third with a break of 84, before edging a tight fourth frame 62-45.
By then, “The Pistol” Allen was firing on all cylinders and finished the job with a break of 108 to clinch victory.
In the other Group match Carter, 44, from Essex, was appearing in this tournament for the first time since 2016, having qualified by winning the German Masters. He pulled of something of a surprise in when he beat Mark Selby 4-3.
Carter took the opening frame 75-34, and “The Captain” was in control of the second before missing a straightforward pink into the middle, allowing Selby to level with a narrow win of 65-56.
There was no joking around from “The Jester” as Selby took a 2-1 lead thanks to a break which ended just short of a century when he missed a difficult yellow.
An early foul in frame four when Selby potted the cueball allowed Carter to build a 48 break, and then return to win the frame with a second break of 76 which cleared the table and levelled the tie.
It was then Carter’s turn to pot the cueball when he was 35-0 ahead and Selby stepped up to take the frame 87-35 and lead 3-2.
Carter ensured the match went to a deciding frame when he won the sixth with the first ton of the tie, clocking up an impressive 121. He then clinched victory by taking the final frame 83-47.
Tomorrow sees world champion Luca Brecel take on European Masters winner Barry Hawkins before British Open winner Mark Williams faces Welsh Open champion Robert Milkins live on ITV4 in the UK.
Nothing much to add really. Allen played well all day, Carter and Selby served the fans an excellent match. The arena looks really great.
The T-shirts divided the fans, some find them terrible, others find them nice … me, I think they’re OK.
… and Ronnie has decided to withdraw from the event …
Not really surprised either … with a possible disciplinary hearing coming over comments he made, he won’t be in the best of mindset, and, maybe, resting his elbow ahead of the UK Championship isn’t such a bad idea.
Polish teenager Antoni Kowalski secured the biggest title of his career to date as he defeated Rory McLeod 5-3 in the final to win the fourth Q Tour UK/Europe event of the season.
The latest stop on snooker’s secondary circuit, a bumper field of 139 players representing 24 different countries entered the tournament held at the Landywood Snooker Club near Walsall in England.
Competing in only his third Q Tour event during his maiden season on the circuit, Kowalski had previously reached the last four on debut at September’s Event Two in Stockholm.
Due to his performances at Q School earlier this year, Kowalski began his campaign in the last 64 where he ousted Alfie Davies – the other losing semi-finalist from Event Two – 3-2 with a 72 break in the deciding frame. He then compiled three half-century breaks during a 3-1 victory against English under-21 champion Ryan Davies in the last 32 and saw off former Crucible qualifier Simon Bedford 3-0 in the last 16.
Returning for Finals Day, the 19-year-old dispatched two further former professionals; Craig Steadman 4-2 in the quarter-finals and Steven Hallworth 4-1 in the last four – the latter performance saw him rack up four efforts of 50 or above.
Progressing through the other side of the draw was the vastly experienced McLeod.
Despite having not been past the last 16 in any of the opening three events of the term, the 52-year-old Jamaican enjoyed a dominant run to the final, dropping just a single frame en route. McLeod registered four clean sweep wins, including a 4-0 success against Harvey Chandler in the semi-finals.
Reigning Polish national champion Kowalski made a superb start to the title match as he rattled in runs of 70, 74 and 57 which helped put him 3-0 ahead before taking a close fourth frame on the final pink to go into the mid-session interval one frame away from glory.
However, determined former European Tour professional event winner McLeod shifted the momentum after the break as he opened his account with the aid of a 58 break in frame five and then threatened a huge comeback win as he also claimed the next two frames to move within one of his opponent.
With the pressure intensifying, though, Kowalski kept cool and completed the task in frame eight to secure the title and vital ranking points in his quest to reach the World Snooker Tour for the first time.
Zielona Góra cueist Kowalski becomes the fourth different winner from as many events on this season’s Q Tour UK/Europe series and he also represents the fourth different nationality to lift a trophy following previous event winners Liam Davies (Wales), Michael Holt (England) and Umut Dikme (Germany).
Event Five is set to take place at the Castle Snooker Club in Brighton between December 15-17.
Gratulacje Antoni !
That’s two events, out of four so far, won by young players from mainland Europe, and three out of four won by young players who have never been professionals. This is in stark contrast with the Q-School where older, former pros, are largely more successful than the youngsters. This suggests that if we had a secondary “development” tour we would probably see more talented young players, and more players from continental Europe, succeed on the main circuit as the transition from amateur to full professional would be more “gradual”. And I stand by all I have said before regarding the main Tour structure: get rid of qualifiers, invest more in continental Europe, structure the calendar better as to minimise expensive and tiring traveling and seriously consider a different ranking system, or better a ELO type rating system.
The last two days of the qualifying event, on November 22nd and 23rd, will be ‘Judgement Day’ as players battle for coveted places in the final stages. The random draw for the final stages will be made on Thursday 23rd.
