Malaysian casino operator Genting BHD is seeking regulatory approval for the construction of a multi-million dollar casino at the heart of the Boracay Island in the Philippines.

Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) chair Andrea Domingo made the announcement on Tuesday as she defended the state regulator’s decision to issue a provisional license to Macau casino operator Galaxy Entertainment Group (GEG) later this month.

Domingo recalled that Genting submitted its request for a provisional license to operate a casino resort on Boracay in 2014. She said PAGCOR is already studying the proposal for a second integrated resort.

“But this one, all of the requirements and all of their applications were filed since 2014. That one has been approved,” Domingo told reporters at the sidelines of ASEAN Gaming Summit 2018 in Manila. “They say they’ll be operational in four months. I don’t know if that will happen. I think we are still scheduling the contract signing for that.”

Macau junket investor Tak Chun Group has announced that a new VIP club could soon be added to the Okada Manila casino resort in the Philippines.

In an interview with GGRAsia, the junket group confirmed that it plans on opening the VIP room, which will offer 18 gaming tables across five rooms. It will be the third VIP room for Tak Chun in the Philippines market.

Tak Chun already has a VIP room at the Solaire Resort and Casino and the City of Dreams Manila. Both are located in Manila, a rising hot spot for gamblers. The launch of the third VIP club is part of the company’s plans to expand throughout Asia, and executives anticipate a double-digit climb in the amount of gamblers it serves in 2018.

Okada’s gambling operations have had a strong run since 2017; however, the opening of the first section of its first hotel at the beginning of this year will help produce substantially higher returns in the area in 2018. The first hotel tower, Tower A, will offer around 500 rooms when it’s completed. An additional amount of rooms could be added by the end of 2019.

Two very different live tournament victories for Alex Foxen and Shuize Cai at the 2018 PokerStars Live Asia-Pacific Poker Tour at the City of Dreams, Macau.

God.

The Universe.

The Force.

March must be the month for incredible poker decisions. It was only a week and a half ago that Ian Steinman laid down his trip Kings in an amazing call at the WPT Rolling Thunder Main Event that saved him from losing a huge pot to a straight held by his opponent, Joe McKeehan. That decision allowed him to go on and finish second in the tournament to take home just over $201,000. In the latest head-scratcher, Antonio Esfandiari called a monstrous flop bet that left everyone understanding why he’s called The Magician.

Let’s start by setting the stage. Esfandiari was playing in some late night poker on Poker After Dark that included celebrities like Don Cheadle, Randall Emmet and Jennifer Tilly. During the course of the action, Tilly found herself looking at pocket aces and Cheadle was staring down at a fairly strong A-10 hand. Esfandiari’s Q-J off-suit was certainly a decent hand, especially when playing in position.

Pre-flop bets were made, with no one jumping out to show strength. A flop of 8-A-10 gave both Cheadle and Tilly a killer hand, with both ready to pounce at the right minute. Tilly led off with a small $10,000 bet, possibly intending on slow playing her set of Aces. Esfandiari, who had a comfortable lead with $370,000 but no connectors, called. Cheadle was certain that his two pair made him top dog, so he raised to $43,500. Tilly responded by moving all in with $94,000—and Esfandiari actually called the bet. Cheadle was pot-committed and not insecure about his cards, and responded by moving all in.

It needed to be pointed out that Esfandiari was only in the hand at this point for $15,000—far off the size of the bet and with no greater than a 27% chance at finding a connector. The three-time WSOP bracelet winner isn’t known for shying away from a pot, though, and he was there to gamble.

Casinos and gamblers in British Columbia (BC) have had a bad run of luck lately. Casinos have been facing increased scrutiny over their accounting practices, and gamblers have had to find new locations for their favorite pastime. It all stems from the same source—a spate of potential money-laundering cases that has been plaguing the gambling industry since last year.

Since the start of 2018, BC regulators have been looking at different ways to control what it deems as rampant violations of rules, and the latest is not sitting well with the casinos.

Regulators are looking to put a cap on the buy-in for high stakes games, according to a Postmedia report. That cap would be CAD10,000 (US$7,650), and casino operators estimate they will lose as much as CAD87.7 million ($67 million) per year if the legislation is approved. High-roller action is already on the decline in BC, with more and more gamblers turning to casinos in places like the U.S. and Macau to find their games.

Legislators already shot casinos in the foot once this year. A law passed in January provides the requirement that written proof of the source of funds be provided to the casino if someone gambles US$7,600 or more within a 24-hour period. Following the enactment of the law, casino high-roller action fell by about 30%.

Game Intel’s Alex Weldon questions the game integrity of the new cryptocurrency online poker room CoinPoker after he finds the same players mass multi-tabling their way through the company’s earliest promotions.

I’m like Superman. Cryptonite is my weakness. I have a mental block, in the same way, I can’t figure out the math or remember all the ways my wife tells me I behave when she cries. So I will tread so lightly on this one I won’t leave a footprint in the snow.

Many moons ago, I interviewed Ryan Gittleson, the co-founder of the online poker cryptocurrency startup Virtue Poker. My spidey senses told me I could trust him. There would be no broken teeth. I could share a tent with the man, and show him my peculiar small toe, safe from harm.

But there was more than the trust of a mere man driving my gut instincts in between half digested celery stalks. I liked the way that everything had to be just so. Like Roger Hargreaves’ green-coloured Mr Man. There was no rush. Virtue Poker would launch when Virtue Poker was ready. Integrity. Security. Patience.

The World Poker Tour carries off a successful DeepStacks debut in Argentina and adds five more stops to the North American Season 5 schedule.

Have you ever been to Tenby?

The small network of alleyways makes it look like a really crap Venice. It’s also cold this time of the year. On Saturday, I was walking along the road with my daughter in my arms. The coastal winds hit her so hard it nearly peeled her face off. The thought of it. One minute you have this symmetrical beauty, and the next, nothing but bone.

I came home early.