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How to play Thunder Screech
Taken together, the cases provide further ammunition for the anti-gambling lobby at a time when it is already facing political pressure, tax increases and demands for tighter restrictions. Each apparently avoidable failure makes it harder for the industry to argue that existing regulation is sufficient.
Yet Dan Waugh, partner at Regulus Partners, pushes back against the idea that enforcement notices reveal a fundamentally non-compliant sector.
“Operators failing compliance checks is never a good look,” he says. Campaigners often claim that financial sanctions are priced in and that the Commission should revoke more licences, although Waugh does not believe operators view settlements merely as a cost of doing business.
How to play Thunder Screech
The partnership also plans to analyse operational data, develop pilot programmes and construct a model for national deployment.
A systemic policy cooperation mechanism is expected, targeting youth gambling prevention and student safeguarding. Rather than implementing short-term campaigns, the focus will be on embedding gambling prevention into everyday school routines.
It will include combining restrictions on smartphone use with engaging RAS activities to effectively block and fill the time students might otherwise spend being exposed to gambling content.
How to play Thunder Screech
The commission also agreed with the state Department of Commerce’s assessment that the cooperative’s actions were driven by concerns over lost electricity sales rather than legitimate safety risks.
Commissioners pointed to evidence suggesting the tribe may have already been overcharged compared to other member customers.
The Upper Sioux Community also argued that, as a sovereign tribal nation, it is not subject to Minnesota utility regulations. The commission declined to rule on the sovereignty question, concluding it was unnecessary to resolve that issue to determine that Minnesota Valley could not prevent the casino from generating its own power.
