Australian online sports betting operator Sportsbet is suing rival Crownbet over the latter’s attempt to rebrand as Sportingbet.

On Monday, Australian legal publication Lawyerly reported that Sportsbet, a division of UK-listed gambling operator Paddy Power Betfair, has filed a lawsuit alleging that Crownbet was infringing on Sportsbet’s trademark by trying to trademark the Sportingbet name.

Crownbet, which was acquired by Canadian online gambling giant The Stars Group in February, announced earlier this month that it planned to rebrand its expanded operations under the currently dormant Sportingbet brand. Crownbet assumed ownership of the Sportingbet brand after acquiring the Aussie operations of UK bookmaker William Hill in March.

In May, Crownbet filed an application to trademark Sportingbet and this month applied to register the name Sportingbet Pty Ltd with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. Sportsbet reportedly sent Crownbet a letter demanding the withdrawal of the application and requesting that Crownbet ditch its Sportingbet rebranding efforts. Crownbet’s solicitors rejected Sportsbet’s demands and the fight was officially on.

Macau may have found its footing this month after tripping on a lower gross gaming revenue (GGR) in May, according to the latest Morgan Stanley note.

The city state’s GGR fizzled by as much as 12.1 percent with Macau casinos raking in MOP25.49 billion (US$3.15 billion) in May. In terms of month-on-month comparison, Macau’s May 2018 GGR growth was lower than the 27.6 percent it posted in April 2018.

The May GGR slowdown was attributed to the fall in mass market numbers, which was partially due to the mid-month mainland police busts of currency exchange shops at the Gongbei border. The market may have also taken a breather after 22 months of growth.

Fortunately, Macau’s GGR weakness in May appears to have been only temporary.

The Canadian Civil Forfeiture is seeking to get ahold of some CAD75,000 (US$56,415) worth of casino chips that have been confiscated from a Chinese high roller tagged in the alleged $1.4 million U.S. fraud case.

A lawsuit, filed by the Director of the Canadian Civil Forfeiture on June 13, targeted the casino chips that the Canadian authorities seized from Chinese-Australian VIP Dan Bai Shun Jin in May, according to a Postmedia News.

Jin was arrested by Canadian authorities at River Rock Casino in Richmond, British Columbia, on May 25 due to the outstanding warrants that the U.S. court issued in connection with the bad checks, worth an estimated $1.4 million, he passed in different Las Vegas casinos.

The suspected money launderer reportedly yielded several “documents relating to criminal proceedings involving Mr. Jin in Australia,” as well as documents linking him to the illegal importation of US$20,000 to Canada.

The Philippine Commission on Audit (COA) has questioned the legality of a casino land lease deal between Hong Kong-listed casino investor Landing International Development Ltd. (LIDL) and state-run Nayong Pilipino Foundation (NPF).

Politiko reported that the COA ordered NPF to cancel the contract it entered with LIDL’s subsidiary Landing Resorts Philippines Development Corp. (LRPDC) on grounds that it was detrimental to the government.

Based on its estimates, COA warned that the Philippine government will lose as much as PHP26 billion ($486.2 million) from the deal since LIDL will be underpaying the lease relative to the market value of the land at the nearby Solaire Resort and Casino.

COA pointed out that the monthly lease rate on the NPF land that both parties agreed upon was a PHP150 ($2.81) per square meter or PHP14.36 million ($268,532), way below Solaire lot’s value of PHP600 ($11.22) per square meter.

Another round-up from the World Cup, this time from Groups E & F as both Brazil and Germany leave it late with crucial victories over Costa Rica and Sweden respectively.

It’s going to take something special for a South American side to win in Russia. As previously stated in other dusty recaps, only a Pele-inspired 1958 Brazilian team has ever won the World Cup on European soil (Sweden), and if this Brazilian side is to repeat that feat, it will no doubt be because of their own little Pele – Neymar Jr. 

The most fouled man at the World Cup (14 times) is the still the dude knitting everything together, and he was on his knees in tears at the end of the final whistle in a match that could have ended so tragically for the pre-tournament favourites.

Brazil did everything but score in a second half they dominated, and it looked like they would take the lead from the penalty spot after the referee blew for a dodgy looking foul on the Brazilian captain. Fortunately, the ref asked the lads in the VAR room for a second opinion, and he rightly reversed his decision.

This is a guest contribution by Ivana Flynn, a Malta-based SEO Consultant. If you would like to submit a contribution please contact Bill Beatty for submission details. Thank you. 

Will the Slovaks liberalize their iGaming market? And does it make sense to wait for any new laws? Our deep-dive into the Slovak market takes a closer look at the reality on the ground and how you can profit from it.

In May 2018, the Slovak government announced a planned liberalization of its restrictive iGaming laws.

This change would abolish the current state-owned monopoly on online casinos and it is hoped it will attract foreign operators. The plan is still in its early stages, but the detail released so far suggests the change will come into force in 2019, with a planned 23% tax on revenue.

This is a guest contribution by Willem van Oort, founder of Gaming in Holland. If you would like to submit a contribution please contact Bill Beatty for submission details. Thank you. 

The 7th annual Gaming in Holland Conference concluded yesterday in sunny Amsterdam. We had some big news and some big names.

In this newsletter, we will highlight some of most notable sessions, as well as the festive Responsibility in Gaming Awards Dinner, celebrating responsibility in Dutch gaming.

Breakthrough in Dutch Remote Gaming Impasse

Triton Poker is heading to South Korea. From July 23 to August 1, Triton will hold a poker festival at the Jeju Landing Casino, featuring a variety of poker events to suit almost everyone’s preference. The series follows shortly after a successful run in Montenegro that attracted a number of high-profile players, including Jason Koon and Phil Ivey. Both have already confirmed that they will be on hand in South Korea.

During the festival, there will be two NLHE tournaments, as well as three ante-only short deck (SD) events. SD, or six-plus hold’em, is a variation of the world’s most popular poker style, but is played with all cards from two to five removed from the deck. The Ace is still high or low, meaning a player can have a straight of A-6-7-8-9 or 10-J-Q-K-A.

When acknowledging that he would be making the trip to South Korea, Koon said, “I have been good buddies with Paul [Phua] and Richard [Yong] for quite some time and love what they’re doing,” said Koon. “These guys don’t play around. They put on big events; big tournaments and they treat players well. I am excited to go to Jeju. Bianca and I intend to get over there, do some leisure things, and win a couple of tournaments.”  Yong is the founder of Triton Poker and Phua is a Malaysian-Chinese businessman and poker player. He also regularly hosts high-stakes games in Macau.

The series will get underway with a $13,000 NLHE Ante-Only SD event with two flights on July 23 and 24. The final day of action will be held on July 25. Two $64,000 events follow immediately after – another Ante-Only SD tournament on July 25-26 and a 6-Max event on July 26-27.

Timothy Bruce has been appointed as the new General Manager for the Grand Hyatt Macau. The announcement was made last Thursday and is effective immediately. The Grand Hyatt is located in the City of Dreams Macau casino resort in Cotai.

Bruce is an executive with global experience. He has been in the hospitality industry for more than 30 years, having held a variety of culinary positions in Australia, Malaysia, Japan, Belgium, Britain and the United Arab Emirates. He began working for the Hyatt company in 1999 as the Food & Beverage Director for Hyatt hotel Canberra in Australia, and has been with them ever since.

After his stint in Australia, Bruce was sent to India, where he was appointed as the GM for the Hyatt Regency Kolkatta. From there, he moved to the Hyatt Regency Delhi, serving in the same role. Most recently, he was tasked with opening the Grand Hyatt Sanya Haitang Bay Resort and Spa in China.

Hyatt’s Cotai property offers 791 guest rooms and 15 multi-purpose areas that cover a total of 26,247 square feet. It occupies two towers of Melco Resorts’ City of Dreams, which just saw the completion of the Morpheus, a $1.1-billion hotel located at the northern end of the property. The Morpheus was designed by the late architect Zaha Hadid and has around 770 hotel rooms, high-end eateries and gaming.