Blueprint Gaming is inviting players to live like royalty and reign over Phrygia in its latest scatter-pay release, the Greek mythology-themed Midas King of Gold.

Players attempt to turn every touch into gold in this 6×5 scatter pays title, with the King himself appearing in symbols on the game’s richly coloured board alongside royal pillars and ancient artifacts.

The game has a variety of symbols, with eight or more matching symbols paying a win, removing winning symbols which are replaced by new ones cascading into view for enhanced winning potential.

The Midas Touch feature is triggered when any spin lands on the finger symbol anywhere in view. Once activated the background transforms into gold, with the mini reel awarding a cash prize, free spins, or a multiplier, remaining persistent until triggered.

Landing six scatter symbols will trigger 15 King of Gold Spins, where any Midas Touch symbols in view will stay in place throughout the free spins, and multipliers will award at least 10x the bet, with scatter wins multiplied by up to 500x.

In certain regions, players can directly access Midas Spins and King of Gold Spins with the Bonus Buy feature, for the cost of either 100x or 350x the bet.

Jo Purvis, Director of Marketing & Relationships at Blueprint Gaming, said: “The release of Midas King of Gold demonstrates our ability to produce unique and creative titles, with this scatter pays slot appealing to our players with its colourful background and strong feature set.

“The mythology theme stands out in our library of games and the Midas Touch feature offers optimal winning potential for those looking to try and turn spins into gold.”

The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has raised over £15,000 for good causes as part of its annual Grand National charity betting initiative.

Over 50 parliamentarians placed a charity bet on Saturday’s Grand National, with the UK’s biggest betting operators handing over all winnings to the MP’s charity of choice.

The eventual winner was 7/1 favourite I am Maximus, ridden by Paul Townend, owned by JP McManus and trained by the legendary Willie Mullins. The Grand National win for a Mullins trained horse comes nine years after Hedge Hunter romped home in 2015.

The parliamentarians who backed the winner were Christian Wakeford MP, Maria Caulfield MP, Justin Tomlinson MP, Greg Smith MP, Peter Aldous MP, Preet Gill MP and Liam Kerr MSP.

While Bob Blackman MP had a winner with an each way bet by backing Ain’t That A Shame which came in sixth.

Some of the winning good causes included Sir Jackie Stewart’s Race for Dementia, Raystede Centre for Animal Welfare and The Fed – social care charity for the Greater Manchester Jewish Community.

Other MPs who took part included Sir Alok Sharma, Dame Caroline Nokes and Scotland Minister John Lamont.

Shadow Gambling Minister Stephanie Peacock MP also took part alongside Shadow Defence Secretary John Healey MP.

During visits, MPs heard from staff about the range of safer gambling measures available to customers in bookmakers.

However, every nominated charity will receive at least £250 after BGC members including William Hill, Ladbrokes, Coral, Paddy Power and Betfred pledged to support charities even if MPs horses didn’t win.

These donations, combined with the winners, raised a total of £15,115.

BGC members – large and small – have raised more than £6 million for good causes since its formation in 2019.

Michael Dugher, chief executive of the BGC, said: “600 million people from all over the world tuned in to watch one of the best Grand Nationals ever, including millions in the UK on ITV. An estimated 12 million people in the UK – roughly a third of adults – enjoyed a bet on the National showing once again that for millions of us having a flutter is part of our great British culture.

“I want to pay tribute to all the thousands of people who work in betting shops to help support hard-pressed high streets and local economies. I would like to thank all those MPs who took part for supporting so many fantastic good causes and for taking the time to visit constituents working in betting shops. We had more MPs than ever before, from right across the political divide, ministers and shadow ministers, supporting the BGC and supporting the Grand National. I would like to thank all of our members for once again supporting the initiative.”

Eight out of 10 Lithuanians would approve of a ban on gambling ads in the country, a new survey revealed.

The survey commissioned by public broadcaster LRT was carried out by the public opinion and market research company Baltijos tyrimai. It showed that 80% of respondents aged 18 years and over are in favour of a complete ban on gambling ads in Lithuania and just 15% would oppose the move.

It has transpired that approval of the gambling ad ban was greater among women than men – 86% against 72% respectively. The move has also wide support among residents aged over 50 (84%) and by people with greater than secondary education and with monthly household income of up to EUR 1100 (85%). Opponents of the ban often include men (21%), young people under 30 years of age (23%), rural residents (18%) and people with unfinished secondary education (30%). 1115 adult residents of Lithuania were polled on 15-25 March.

In mid-March, parliament began to consider amendments to the law on gambling, which, if adopted, would prohibit gambling advertisements as of 1 January 2025.