Five individuals from Nevada have filed a lawsuit against the manufacturer of a prescription drug that they claimed caused them to become addicted to gambling, resulting in losses.

A complaint was filed in Washoe County District Court against Japan-based Otsuka Pharmaceutical and its American arm, Otsuka America Pharmaceuticals Inc. alleging that the company’s anti-psychotic drug Abilify caused compulsive behavior, including gambling, The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

The Nevada plaintiffs are suing for monetary compensation related to gambling losses as a result of taking the drug, although no dollar figure was specified in the lawsuit, according to the report. Currently, there are over 1,000 lawsuits pending across the nation against both the manufacturer and distributors of Abilify.

Abilify, and its generic counterpart aripiprazole, are used to treat schizophrenia, depression and autism spectrum and bipolar disorders. The manufacturers were aware of the possible side effects in 2011, and even submitted a report to the European Medicines Agencies stating, “compulsive gambling could not be excluded…” from the effects of taking the drug. While it added a warning to the drug’s label in Europe and Canada in 2012, it did not include the label on American-distributed bottles until 2016.

The European Union’s official ombudsman has a stark message for the continent’s online gambling operators: you’re on your own.

This week, the European Ombudsman’s office dismissed a complaint filed in December 2016 by the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) alleging official indifference by the European Commission in dealing with protectionist gambling rules in many EU member states.

The Ombudsman noted that the EC announced last December that it was dropping all pending online gambling infringement cases against member states, saying it was “not a priority” to pursue the goals of the EU Single Market, at least when it came to online gambling matters.

The Ombudsman said the EC “enjoys wide discretion” when it comes to deciding whether or not to pursue infringement cases, and claimed the EC’s decision to drop all pending cases involving online gambling “is covered by this wide discretion.” As such, the Ombudsman says it lacks the authority to tell the EC to pull its head out of its ass (and hey, in that position, it’s not like they could hear it anyway).

PokerStars release details of five new MEGASTACK and Festivals events, PokerNewsReport hears of a $10m Guaranteed Online High Roller Series on the grapevine, and someone wins $3.3m on a $1.25 spin of an online slot machine.

I haven’t shaved in over a month. I am growing far too much body hair. Not in one place, but everywhere. Armpits, belly button, head, up the nose and those two places that will make you think less of me if I mention them.

It’s time to snap a few shoelaces and get out of the house.

Back when all my pieces were in the right order on my chessboard poker was a big part of my life. It was the one place where alcohol didn’t play the starring role. The only place I sought over the incoherent ramblings of a man with blood in his knickers. Gold. The opportunity to slip a few crisp 50s into my wife’s handbag when she wasn’t looking.

Las Vegas Sands’ legal pursuit of a deadbeat VIP gambler is challenging the company’s longstanding claim that its Singapore casino doesn’t deal with junket operators.

Last month, high-rolling gambler Luo Shandong appealed a summary judgment that said he owed the Marina Bay Sands casino $3.5m ($2.98m plus interest) stemming from an unpaid marker Luo ran up during a 2015 visit to the casino.

On Feb. 27, High Court Judge Choo Han Teck issued an order reserving judgment in the case. Choo said he was intrigued by the questions raised by Luo’s defense and would allow the appeal to proceed provided Luo deposited $3.5m with the court within 14 days.

In a nutshell, Luo claims that he owes MBS nothing because he already paid the outstanding sum to a company called Tian Du Gaming Promotion Company, which Luo claims is a Macau-based junket operator employed by MBS to provide credit to VIP gamblers.

The Chinese have decided it’s wiser to have a standalone Global Poker Index China website and rankings, and the Hong Kong Player’s Association becomes the live stream partner of the Asian Poker Tour.

It’s all kicking off in China.

Donald Trump introduced a punitive tariff on steel and aluminium imports, and all hell broke loose. Randy Lew was so afraid he pawned his undelivered engagement ring and slid a gold cellophane jobbie on Celina Lin‘s fine looking finger (the ungrateful sod only went and lost it). And then the Chinese demanded a split from the Global Poker Index (GPI).

Beijing’s Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, promised a response.

Lee Davy mates a Bernadette Jiwa blog post with a Steven Pressfield word for procrastination and a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy tool to come up with an article on chopping the heads off poker players.

Your wife called you a cock while throwing a toy clown at your laptop. The screen smashes. You had pocket aces. Money bubble. She hates you. You hate her. Later as the people who steal cars come out to play you lie on your hedgehog of a mattress talking to your mate, and listen as he tells you how to get closer to the clown slinging, cock screaming woman of yours.

Only you don’t want to get close to her.

In the world of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) there is a Gandalf type wizard called David D. Burns. If you told him this story, he would likely tell you that you suffered from Outcome Resistance, and until you took a blowtorch to that resistance, melting it – nothing changes.

The head of Paraguay’s gambling regulatory body has resigned amidst a growing controversy over the awarding of a monopoly sports betting concession to a politically connected company.

On Wednesday, Javier Balbuena announced that he was stepping down after more than four years as president of the National Commission of Games of Chance (Conajzar). Basilio ‘Bachi’ Núñez has been named Balbuena’s successor.

Balbuena (pictured) used his personal social media accounts to inform the nation that he was retiring “with the conviction of having fulfilled my duties and having laid firm foundations for the orderly development of the field.” Balbuena insisted that the decision to step down was “100%” his own, although not everyone sees things in such absolute terms.

Balbuena was increasingly under fire for last December’s decision to award the country’s monopoly sports betting concession to Daruma Sam SA, a local firm that operates under the Aposta.la brand. Daruma’s president is reportedly close friends with a key adviser to Paraguay’s President Horacio Cartes.

South Korean casino operator Grand Korea Leisure (GKL) has struck a deal with fintech firm Dragon Inc to incorporate cryptocurrency technology into GKL’s VIP gambling rooms.

This week, the Hong Kong-based Dragon Inc announced that it had inked a strategic partnership with GKL to incorporate its Ethereum/ERC20-based Dragon Blockchain platform and its Dragon Coin (DRG) crypto-token in VIP gaming rooms at GKL’s three Seven Luck-branded casinos. Dragon Inc hopes to open its first Seven Luck crypto VIP room by April.

South Korea has developed a reputation as a cryptocurrency hotbed, although the government has at times expressed unease with the idea of linking crypto trading with its strictly controlled gambling market. It will be interesting to gauge the government’s response to Dragon’s GKL deal.

Dragon’s business model is based on reducing the estimated 5% charge that junkets pay to move funds from mainland China to regional gaming hubs such as Macau, Junket customers, meanwhile, pay anywhere from 5-7% to repatriate their winnings.