Bandit Bust

What is Bandit Bust?

The 2026 NFL season arguably marks the most contentious battle to attract customers interested in sports betting and predictions, dating back to the historic PASPA decision. For the first full NFL season, traditional sportsbooks such as DraftKings will offer sports-event contracts in the three most populous US states – California, Texas and Florida.

Unlike regulated sportsbooks, prediction markets allow customers between the ages of 18 and 21 to trade on sports-event contracts. Craig Carton, a sports talk host with WFAN 660 AM in New York, criticised the athletes for their endorsement of Polymarket. Carton, a recovering compulsive gambler, opined that the “unregulated” gambling markets are driving Americans into bankruptcy and kids out of school. Regulated books prohibit those under 21 from betting on their platform, leading Carton to question the celebrities for promoting the company.

“At what point does someone come along where you say no to the offer?” Carton asked.

What is Bandit Bust?

Spectrum Gaming Group’s 2022 report, which sits at the heart of the long-running dispute between the major games suppliers, has been unsealed as part of Evolution’s legal case against Black Cube.

Black Cube, an intelligence firm hired by Playtech in 2020 to look into alleged illegal behaviour at its rival Evolution, released a divisive report into Evolution’s actions. Evolution denied and refuted much of its findings.

Evolution then commissioned Spectrum Gaming Group to produce a report on its actions and the validity of the Black Cube report. Produced in 2022, the report has long been subject to confidentiality despite Evolution claiming the report exonerated the company.

How to play Bandit Bust

Limay reported implementing new safety measures for AI-generated gambling creatives, including specifying age-related prompts and reviewing the perceived age of AI outputs.

Despite these measures, the ASA found that the character’s age was not credibly verified. The prompts used to generate the AI image did not explicitly require the character to appear aged 25 or over. Without an independent verification process, the regulator determined the character still “seemed to be under 25”.

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