About this app
About Forest Dreams
Ahead of the government’s Autumn Budget in October, Entain CEO Stella David cautioned that doubling the current MGD rate to 40% could result in widespread closures of betting shops and significant job losses, while potentially reducing tax revenues for the government.
A potential MGD rise was first reported in the The Financial Times, as Chancellor John Healey is allegedly looking to raise the tax, on the recommendation of the Social Market Foundation, which proposed the increase in a recent report.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham had already announced the government’s intention to scrap “aim to permit” for betting shops as well as insisting that AGCs will now need planning permission to function.
What is Forest Dreams?
“To this point, sportsbook product creation has largely been guided by a trading department’s ability to profitably price and risk-manage certain bet offers,” Lamb says. “AI trading lifts those limitations, while also enabling that existing human expertise to be leveraged more effectively.”
The 2026 tournament demonstrated why Kambi believes this total integration of AI is necessary. Sportsbooks are no longer built primarily around match results and traditional pre-match markets. Bettors increasingly expect to construct wagers around individual players and specific moments within a game.
The number of Bet Builder bets on the 2026 World Cup doubled compared to the 2022 tournament, with the increase particularly pronounced in-play, where seven times as many live Bet Builders were placed. They accounted for 22% of all live bets, compared with just 3% four years earlier.
What is Forest Dreams?
Kesitilwe told iGB an important theme of the event was fostering year-round collaboration and turning conversations on safer gambling into practical measures.
“The initiative demonstrates that cooperation does not have to remain at the level of conference and policy discussion,” he said.
“It has to translate into practical action, educating players, engaging communities, protecting young people and highlighting the dangers of illegal and unlicensed gambling.”
