Harper Lane

Harper came to the iGaming desk sideways: she studied economics, fell into covering the business of gaming, and discovered that the regulated betting industry was where the most interesting and least understood stories lived. She has been translating regulator filings and market reports into plain English ever since.

Her rule for the desk is simple: explain how it works before anyone asks you to play. She covers licensing fights, market openings, responsible gambling policy and the esports betting boom with the same no-hype approach, and she is happiest when a reader says a piece finally made a confusing industry make sense.

Away from the filings she is a deeply average poker player, a surprisingly competitive Mario Kart opponent, and the person who actually reads the terms and conditions. She keeps a running list of the strangest things regulators have ever fined an operator for; number three involves a parrot.