New Year Girls

What is New Year Girls?

The development marks a significant move by Merkur to expand its footprint within the French regulated gambling market.

On 27 August, Merkur signed a put option agreement with GPG Groupe Philippe Ginestet and DOFA, enabling the purchase of Casigrangi.

Casigrangi is the parent company of the Le Stelsia casino group, which operates seven small to mid-sized casinos across France along with related hospitality, restaurant and entertainment businesses. 

What is New Year Girls?

In one of his Instagram stories, speaking directly to the camera, Pedro (a fictitious name for a “professional gambler”) shares a “unique opportunity”. He says that he is going to release a “super promotion for a premium group, which has higher odds”.

The normal price for access to the Telegram group would be BRL397 ($77.18) per month. But, exclusively on that day, he would release both groups together for “only BRL14.91 per month on the annual plan”. This group is the main product sold by Pedro, where he publishes sports predictions, tips on betting operators and higher-value betting odds.

The problem is that many of these recommendations involve companies that are not authorised to operate in Brazil. Some may be licensed in other countries, but that doesn’t allow them to operate legally in the Brazilian market.

How to play New Year Girls

“Fabio’s appointment brings an important South American perspective to the IAGR board of trustees at a time when regulators worldwide are facing similar transnational challenges,” said IAGR President Ben Haden.

“Brazil has undergone an ambitious regulatory transformation in an extraordinarily short period, and his experience at the heart of this process will provide valuable insights to the regulators within our global community.”

Before joining the Ministry of Finance, Fabio Macorin served in Brazil’s Federal Police for 17 years. For a decade, he focused specifically on the investigation and prevention of banking and financial fraud. This experience helped shape his approach to betting regulation, particularly regarding anti-money laundering, financial monitoring, combatting the illegal market and inter-agency cooperation.