iGaming market weekly report | May 11–17, 2026

The IIHF World Championship opening weekend drove the week’s biggest gains — Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Finland all had national teams in play from May 15. Turkey’s rise came from enforcement rather than sport: the Paymix-3 investigation identified 3.17M users in illegal betting records and kept gambling-related coverage running all week.

Singapore and South Korea both reversed last week’s spikes by a similar margin — a lottery jackpot win and police raids on illegal poker clubs that drove Week 19 each faded with no follow-on event. Morocco’s Blask Index dropped on a derby hangover: the Casablanca Derby on May 9 set an elevated base, and the following week had no comparable domestic fixture. Ecuador’s Copa Libertadores clubs had no group-stage games this week. Demand in El Salvador oscillated without a clear cause, as it has for the past several weeks.

Top gainers

Czech Republic +19.8% — The 2026 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship started in Switzerland on May 15, with Czechia beating Denmark on day one, then losing to Slovenia in overtime on May 16. The Czech national team’s run is a key annual event for Czech hockey bettors; the tournament runs through May 31.

Turkey +18.6% — The Paymix-3 investigation revealed that over 3M Turkish users whose national ID numbers appeared in illegal betting records could face fines of up to $8.8K per person. The number made it a national news story and kept gambling-related coverage running for the full week.

Slovakia +16.4% — Slovakia went 2–0 in the IIHF World Championship’s opening weekend, beating Norway on May 16 and Italy on May 17. Two wins in the opening two days put Slovakia level with Canada at the top of Group B and kept betting attention high through the week.

Lithuania +10.7% — Žalgiris Kaunas’ EuroLeague playoff series against Fenerbahçe went the distance, with the decisive Game 5 played May 13 in Istanbul. Fenerbahçe won in overtime to advance to the Final Four, ending Žalgiris’ season.

Finland +8.6% — Finland won its first two IIHF World Championship group games, and entered the Eurovision Grand Final the same weekend as the heavy betting favourite. Bulgaria won the contest; Finland placed 6th.

Top decliners

Singapore –28.5% — Mean-reversion. A single ticket winning a $10M lottery jackpot on May 4 drove last week’s +28.7% surge. Without a comparable draw this week, demand fell back.

El Salvador –24.2% — Football league semifinals ran through the week — first legs May 13–14, return legs May 16–17, final scheduled for May 23. El Salvador has swung between –11.7% and +13.5% in recent weeks with no clear cause in either direction; this move reads as the same pattern.

Ecuador –21.6% — Ecuador’s clubs had no Copa Libertadores fixtures this week; the next group-stage round begins May 19.

South Korea –20.2% — Mean-reversion. Last week’s +20.3% gain — driven by nationwide raids on illegal hold’em poker clubs — fully unwound as the news cycle faded.

Morocco –19.3% — Event hangover. The Casablanca Derby (Raja vs. Wydad, May 9) closed Week 19; Morocco’s top league completed its round on May 11. The weekend of May 16–17 had no domestic top-league fixtures, removing the demand recovery. The CAF Champions League final first leg was played away in Pretoria on May 17 (AS FAR lost 1–0) and did not generate the same domestic pull as the Derby.

Market spotlight: Turkey | +18.6%

Turkey’s Blask Index gained +18.6% on the back of the Paymix-3 investigation, which disclosed that 3.17M Turkish users — identified by national ID number in illegal betting records — could face fines of $2.2K–$8.8K per person. The operation also disabled 49 illegal betting sites and placed 67.4K bank accounts under examination. Coverage ran across mainstream Turkish outlets for the full week, not just specialist gambling press.

Turkey restricts legal betting to three state-licensed channels — sports betting, lottery, and horse racing. When enforcement identifies millions of consumers by name, the press cycle keeps gambling-related searches elevated well beyond the announcement. The pattern rhymes with South Korea’s Week 19 enforcement spike, though Turkey’s case is more personal: the Paymix records tied the story to millions of named individuals, not just raided venues.

Paymix-3 is the third major operation in Turkey this year. President Erdoğan has set eradicating illegal gambling as a stated priority ahead of the 2027 elections. Each prior operation produced a search spike followed by partial mean-reversion. If the investigation moves from identification to fine issuance for any portion of the named users, a second spike is plausible.

Regional snapshot

Europe

European markets dominated the upside. The IIHF opening drove gains in the Czech Republic (+19.8%), Slovakia (+16.4%), and Finland (+8.6%). Lithuania (+10.7%) gained on Žalgiris’ EuroLeague elimination. No European market appeared in the top 5 decliners.

Asia-Pacific

Singapore (–28.5%) and South Korea (–20.2%) both declined, each reversing the prior week’s spike. Demand in Singapore fell with no jackpot draw this week. South Korea’s enforcement news cycle ran out. Neither move points to a structural change.

Next week watchlist

IIHF World Championship — week 2

The tournament runs through May 31 in Switzerland, with hockey markets — Czech Republic, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden, Canada and others — active throughout. Group standings are still forming; Czech Republic and Slovakia — both top gainers this week — meet head-to-head on May 23.

EuroLeague Final Four (Athens, May 22–24)

The semifinals pair Olympiacos (Greece) vs Fenerbahçe (Turkey) and Real Madrid vs Valencia — a Spanish club derby that guarantees a Spanish finalist regardless of the result.

India — IPL closing rounds

The group stage closes May 24 with playoff spots still being decided. The closing rounds carry the highest betting interest of the tournament and are the strongest remaining cricket-betting event of the season.

Methodology note

Blask Index tracks real-time iGaming player interest via AI-analyzed Google search data, updated hourly and filtered to remove low-intent noise (scams, complaints). WoW% measures momentum: positive indicates growing attention; negative indicates declining attention.