Rabid Randy

About Rabid Randy

According to Nederlandse Loterij, illegal operators currently control approximately half of the Dutch online gambling market and account for roughly 95% of online gambling advertisements, frequently masquerading as licensed providers. 

The Loterij suggested around 200,000 Dutch citizens already engage with unauthorised platforms.

Earlier this summer, the Dutch Online Gaming Providers (VNLOK) trade body initiated legal action against Meta and lodged a formal complaint with the European Commission, accusing the social media giant of failing to prevent the widespread display of illegal online gambling advertisements targeting Dutch users on Facebook and Instagram. 

About Rabid Randy

In 2025, Playtech agreed a partnership to provide a platform for the launch of Brazilian state-owned bank Caixa’s betting operations.

Weizer previously said the Caixa tender could be “one of the most significant opportunities for Playtech for the coming years”.

However, due to its role as a a state-owned bank, and ongoing scrutiny around betting in Brazil, Caixa has come under political pressure, and its launch in the market has been postponed on several occasions despite it having paid the BRL30 million ($5.9 million) licence fee.

What is Rabid Randy?

During a livestream on Sunday, he said he had met with “eight victims of online betting”. To reinforce his criticism of the sector and in an attempt to win over conservative voters, he pointed out that one gambler had made 1,400 instant fund transfers (Pix) to a betting site. Lula criticised the Central Bank for failing to detect such a high volume of transactions to a single company.

However, that responsibility does not lie with the Central Bank. It is the role of the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets to monitor and regulate the sector. Betting companies submit detailed daily reports on bettors’ financial transactions with the sites. A specific module within Brazil’s betting management system detects recurring transfers.

“Today I met a young man who made 1,400 Pix transfers in three months, and the Central Bank didn’t detect that this was an excessive number of transfers to the same company?” Lula said.