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How to play Timber Stacks
Botswana’s National Assembly has passed the Gambling (Amendment) Bill, 2026, retaining a proposal to lower the country’s legal gambling age from 21 to 18 and update the regulatory framework for the expanding sector.
The bill passed at third reading on 13 August after second reading debate and clause-by-clause consideration during the committee stage. The measure has not yet been confirmed as having received presidential assent or entered into force.
If enacted, the bill would amend the Gambling Authority Act (Cap. 19:03). Its provisions would take effect on a date appointed by the responsible minister through an order published in the Government Gazette.
How to play Timber Stacks
The committee has advocated for applying a public health framework to gambling advertising regulation. It criticised the existing patchwork of self-regulation, noting the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) codes, co-regulation for broadcasts and industry-led voluntary measures, were inadequate.
Instead, the report recommended that advertising regulation be placed on a statutory footing under the Gambling Commission.
This would grant the regulator enhanced powers to proactively enforce rules and restrict problematic advertising channels effectively.
What is Timber Stacks?
The GMI, know locally as EEE, is described as a “residual payment to guarantee and legal minimum income for all residents”.
Anyone residing in Cyprus, with income not high enough to support their basic needs, is eligible for the benefit.
Cyprus is not the first market to consider whether to block its welfare recipients from using their benefits to gamble, Brazil introduced a similar ban in 2025.
