Alleged topless croupiers and cock fights lead to 1xBet shutdown

Customers looking for a good time recently at 1xBet, a Cyprus-based online casino, found only a sign saying that the operation was closed until further notice. The closure comes after years of skirting the edges of the online gambling business with an operation that was referred to as a PornHub casino by the Times newspaper.
1xBet’s closure comes just days after the Times ran an expose accusing the site of offering everything from topless croupiers to wagers on cock fights and a litany of accusations in between. According to the Times report 1xBet basically had two faces. One the one side was the operator that competed in the legitimate market and sported its logo on Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur football club jerseys. 1xBet’s other side, however, allegedly offered betting markets on cock fighting and underage sports; topless croupiers; advertising featuring topless women; and ads on illegal file sharing sites – all massive red flags for UK gambling regulators like the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC).
The online operator started out as a Russian operation, though it’s currently blacklisted in that country, and is licensed in Curacao. In it’s current configuration, until last Friday anyways, the company was operated by FSB Tech in a white label deal. In a statement to the Times, a spokesperson from FSB Tech blamed the site’s problems on third-party vendors and vowed an investigation into how the site’s ads appeared on file-sharing sites. The spokesperson also said the operation complied with UK gaming laws and that customer’s accounts are safe.