Like kids demanding to open their presents on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas morning, Atlantic City’s two new/old casinos opened their doors to the public one day ahead of schedule.

Both the Hard Rock Atlantic City and the Ocean Resort Casino were scheduled to open to the public by mid-day Thursday but both venues decided to throw caution to the wind after the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement authorized their launch by mid-afternoon Wednesday.

The Hard Rock (the revamped Trump Taj Mahal) began welcoming gamblers around 3pm, while the Ocean Resort (the de-mothballed Revel) followed suit less than an hour later. Both properties insist their scheduled grand openings will go ahead as planned although the allure of these events has obviously been muted somewhat.

Todd Moyer, the Hard Rock venue’s senior VP of marketing, told the Associated Press that last-minute preparations for the grand opening were still underway, “but the heavy lifting has been done.”

The 11-time World Series of Poker gold ring winner, Maurice Hawkins, has told CalvinAyre.com of his delight at being proved innocent after a series of slanderous accusations threw his reputation into disrepute.

Reputation is everything, especially in poker, and the 11-time World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) gold ring winner, Maurice Hawkins, is beginning to paste over the cracks of his after winning a vital lawsuit recently.

In July 2017, Jim Rosica of FloridaPolitics.com covered a story relating to an interview with Tallahassee attorney, Hal Lewis, that contained allegations that Hawkins had swindled the lawyer out of $22,788.

According to the Rosica report, Lewis had been Hawkins’ backer and was suing him over the misappropriated sum claiming that a series of text messages received from Hawkins proved that he lost the money gambling after busting from a tournament left him with a “feeling of despair.”

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) is warning gambling operators that they face “relentless escalation” in financial penalties unless they up their compliance game.

On Thursday, the Financial Times published an interview with new UKGC CEO Neil McArthur (pictured), who related grim statistics indicating the regulator’s newfound intolerance of its licensees falling short of their social responsibility and anti-money laundering obligations.

The UKGC issued penalties totaling £18m in the 12 months ending April 1, 2018, a more than tenfold increase on the £1.6m in penalties doled out in the previous 12-month period. The numbers were juiced by the £6.2m penalty imposed on William Hill in February, a £2.5m bill handed to Gala Interactive last November and the record £7.8m penalty against 888 Holdings last August.

The carnage has continued in the three months since April 1, during which the UKGC hit 32Red with a £2m penalty for encouraging a problem gambler to keep at it while LeoVegas was dinged £600k for failing to protect self-excluded gamblers.

Another round-up from the World Cup in Russia that sees both France and Denmark qualify for the Round of 16 where the French will face Argentina in a blockbuster of a match.

If you thought it was dull to watch, spare a thought for the people, who have to write about it.

The bookies believe both Belgium and England have a better chance of winning the World Cup than France, after Argentina’s late show against Nigeria means they will face the French in the Round of 16.

It took 37 games, but we finally had a goalless draw.

Vietnam’s online sports bettors have one less wagering option after police made their second major bust in less than a week.

On Tuesday, Vietnamnet Bridge reported that police in the northern Thanh Hóa Province had arrested 11 people suspected of involvement in an online football betting operation that reportedly handled nearly VND100b (US$4.4m) in wagers since the 2018 FIFA World Cup got underway earlier this month.

The ringleaders reportedly had connections with 332bet.com, a password-protected gambling site based in the Philippines’ Cagayan Economic Zone. The group paid VND2b for a master account on the website, then solicited wagers from local residents. Police claimed to have seized over VND700m ($30,500) in cash in addition to dozens of phones and computers.

This latest bust follows hot on the heels of last Friday’s bust of an online betting ring in Ho Chi Minh City. That operation, which was linked to Philippines-licensed operator 12bet, reportedly handled $26.2m worth of wagers since last year.

Pennsylvania gaming regulators have doled out over $480k worth of fines, more than $400k of which was due to American Gaming Systems’ (AGS) failure to disclose a business relationship.

On Wednesday, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) announced that it had fined four companies a total of $481,116 for various infractions, including a $50k penalty against the operators of the Valley Forge casino for giving out excess amounts of free slots play, and a $24k fine for slots provider Ditronics Financial Services being late in filing its annual financial statements.

But the bulk ($351k) of the fines were levied against AGS for failing to disclose an intellectual property purchase agreement with In Bet Gaming, which develops tweaks to popular casino table games such as In Between blackjack side wagering, Dragon Poker and Hot Roller Craps.

In Bet Gaming is licensed to operate in Pennsylvania but AGS is not, but the PGCB claims this didn’t prevent AGS from engaging in business with Pennsylvania casinos via In Bet Gaming and receiving proceeds from In Bet Gaming’s business with these casinos.