15 Samurai

What is 15 Samurai?

As the NFL season begins, a state in close proximity to the New England Patriots became the latest to attempt to curb the influence of the trading platforms. On 10 September, one day after the Pats’ season-opening loss to the Seattle Seahawks, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont addressed the growth of the markets during a speech in downtown Hartford. On the same day, the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection issued cease-and-desist orders to nine unregulated operators, including Polymarket, Robinhood and Underdog Predict.

“Prediction markets have branded themselves as legal and safe, but the reality is they are not adhering to Connecticut’s consumer protection standards,” Lamont wrote in a statement.

While such orders have become customary around the nation this year, Connecticut’s missive took it one step further. The department also issued nearly 30 subpoenas to licensed gaming service providers and a bevy of media outlets. Those issued subpoenas include ones served to PayPal, Sportradar Solutions and Plaid, a payment processing app that holds a gaming licence. Although those companies are not under investigation, the subpoenas appear to be the first against service providers that conduct business with prediction markets in some form.

How to play 15 Samurai

The report sought to understand how VIP portfolios are managed daily, how the tools are utilised and other key operational challenges.

Although three-quarters of respondents rated their VIP data as good or very good, 71% reported data spread across multiple systems. Half admitted sometimes making decisions with incomplete or outdated information. 

“Silent churn” was prevalent, with nearly half (46%) stating that VIP players often or very often became inactive without prior warning. Around 48% had no indicators of players’ behavioural signals or health. Co-author Viktoriia Grygorenko, CEO at The Playa, called this finding the “clearest commercial case in the report”.

What is 15 Samurai?

Candidates from the VVD party urged the government to take a “harder stance” against these big tech platforms.

Some politicians stated their opinion that the legal gambling age in the Netherlands should be increased to 21 from the current barrier of 18 years old.

This isn’t the first time this policy has been mooted in the Dutch parliament. A 2025 bill proposed raising the age for “higher-risk” activities like online slots.