30 Spicy Dice

About 30 Spicy Dice

Another bettor noted that gambling debts fractured personal relationships: “Sports betting ruined my six years of friendship because I couldn’t pay back the borrowed loan from my friend. He stopped talking to me.”

Americans wagered nearly $167 billion on sports in 2025 through regulated sportsbooks, an 11% increase year-over-year, according to data from the American Gaming Association (AGA).

The blurring line between financial investing and gambling has been accelerated by the rise of prediction markets—exchanges offering event contracts that are federally regulated as financial derivatives. U.S. News found that over 40% of active sports bettors now also participate in sports prediction markets.

What is 30 Spicy Dice?

In April, a federal jury sided with Skillz (now operating as Firy Inc.) on its claims that Papaya deceived consumers by utilizing computer bots in its head-to-head mobile games.

Three months later, Judge Denise Cote ordered Papaya to pay Skillz $719 million in damages for poaching players from its skill gaming platform on the belief that Papaya had more players and therefore facilitated considerably faster peer-to-peer pairing times.

Papaya, headquartered in Israel, quickly secured a temporary stay of proceedings from the Tel Aviv District Court and filed a Chapter 15 petition with Delaware’s U.S. Bankruptcy Court. The Chapter 15 petition seeks to prevent Skillz from initiating collection efforts until its appeals play out.

What is 30 Spicy Dice?

Merkur represents the gaming and leisure division of the Gauselmann Group, a historic German family-owned enterprise specialising in gaming machines, software and casino operations across Europe. 

Earlier this year Merkur Group agreed to acquire the slots provider White Hat Studios. Merkur said the acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approvals, would “further accelerate” its US expansion, complementing its 2025 purchase of the Nevada-licensed supplier Gaming Arts.  

Framing the acquisition as the latest step in the company’s online expansion, Merkur supervisory board Chairman Michael Gauselmann stated: “Having made early inroads into the online space in Europe via our Blueprint acquisition in 2012, I am delighted by this latest development and am confident that White Hat Studios will be a great addition to our group.”