The Netherlands’ gambling regulatory chief is stepping down just as the country prepares to liberalize its online market.

On Friday, the Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) regulatory authority announced that director Marja Appelman (pictured) would be stepping down as of August 1 to take up a new directorship at the Interior Ministry’s Housing Market authority.

Appelman, who has been overseeing gambling activity in the Netherlands for nearly five years, claimed that her “job is done,” citing the KSA’s statutory evaluation in 2017, which determined that the regulator is “operational in order and ready for expansion of its tasks.”

Appelman noted that the Dutch government is finally moving forward with plans to push its long-delayed Remote Gambling Act over the legislative finish line. Appelman said that “both for me and for the Gaming Authority, it is time for the next phase.”

India’s Law Commission has hedged its bets somewhat on its recommendation that the government legalize gambling and sports betting.

On Thursday, the Law Commission of India (LCI) issued a report urging the government to approve laws that would legalize gambling and betting with certain consumer protections, calling it “the only viable option” to the current failing prohibitionist environment.

On Friday, the LCI issued a clarification in response to widespread media criticism of its call for legalization. The LCI’s clarification claims the media failed to take note of a press note that accompanied its report, that “strongly and categorically” recommends that legalizing gambling ‘in the present scenario is not desirable, and that a complete ban on unlawful betting and gambling must be ensured.”

The LCI added that its report’s description of legalizing gambling as the only viable option only applied “if it is not possible to enforce a complete ban” on illegal activity.

Casino investor Widus International Leisure Inc. (WILI) is considering listing its company with the Philippines Stock Exchange as part of its efforts to expand its business in the Southeast Asian archipelago.

WILI President and CEO Han Daesik considered seeking fresh funds for its expansion project through an initial public offering (IPO) but decided to wait for the market to recover, according to the GGRAsia report.

Daesik noted that the current government had fast-tracked 15 big-ticket infrastructure projects, including the PHP285 billion (US$5.3 billion) North-South Commuter Railway, the PHP211.46 billion ($3.96 billion) Malolos-Clark Railway, and the PHP134 billion ($2.51 billion) Philippine National Railway South Commuter Line.

Pending the completion of these infrastructure projects, Daesik said the company has “decided to postpone [the IPO] a little bit.” He estimated the IPO may happen after the completion of phase two of its current expansion programs.

White label gaming and services provider Nektan Plc. registered a 48.1 percent increase in its NGR during the 2018 financial year, spurred by a strong Asian demand for their technology.

On Wednesday, Nektan announced that the business raked £19.4 million (US$25.6 million) in NGR for the 12 months ending June 2018, higher than the £13.1 million ($17.3 million) NGR it posted in FY17. On the other hand, cash wagering was up 43.4 percent year-on-year to £559.8 million ($741.16 million).

The Gibraltar-based company also noted that the number of First Time Depositors (FTDs) for FY18 jumped 20.4 percent to 156,703 from 130,105 in FY17.

Nektan interim CEO Gary Shaw attributed the solid-figures of the company in FY2018 to “the rapidly accelerating demand” for technology from their international partners, especially in Asia. “We see the business continuing to strengthen further and growth opportunities within both existing markets,” Shaw said in a statement.

Casino revenue of South Korean casino operator Paradise Co. Ltd. remained robust in the first six months of the year, growing by as much as 23.7 percent despite a minor financial slip in April.

In a filing to the Korean Stock Exchange, Paradise announced that its casino revenue from January to June 30, 2018 reached KRW296.31 billion (US$264.67 million) this year, significantly higher than the KRW241.7 billion (US$210.3 million) the casino operator posted in the prior-year period.

Financial data showed that Paradise’s table revenue from January to June 2018 was at KRW275.41 billion ($246.62 million), 23.7 percent higher than the KRW224.8 billion ($194.72 million) it posted during the same period last year.

Machine game sales for the first six months of 2018 was at KRW20.9 billion ($18.7 million), up 23.7 percent from KRW16.9 billion ($14.64 million) in H1 2017.

In this week’s Calling the Clock we bring you news of the largest World Series of Poker Main Event since 2006, an ethics debate centred on Kristen Bicknell and Alex Foxen, and much more.

7,784 people entered the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event this year. It’s the second largest field since Jamie Gold won in 2006, 12-years ago, and up 9% YoY.

Players from 88 countries and every single American state contributed $10,000 to the cause, most donating, including 4,571 entrants on Day 1C, the highest single day Main Event field in history.

Those believing they are cavorting in some act of necrophilia each time they sit down to play poker are misinformed.

While the NBA still has some fairly big-name players available in free agency, the NHL’s market is essentially barren already. The best player signed by an NBA team was LeBron James by the Los Angeles Lakers, making them the clear free-agent winners.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

On the ice, the clear top player available was former New York Islanders center John Tavares, and he spurned returning to the only professional team he has known to sign a seven-year, $77 million deal with his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs – who became the clear NHL free-agent winners.

While LeBron’s signing with the Lakers improved Los Angeles’ title odds considerably, it didn’t make the Lakers the favorites. That’s not the case with the Maple Leafs, who have jumped into the favored role to win the 2019 Stanley Cup at +700.

This past Wednesday, 13 people were arrested by the Judiciary Police in Macau while visiting casinos in the Cotai area. The arrests come as a result of an ongoing anti-crime operation led by the police that targets illicit money exchange services at the casinos.

The 13 individuals are all from China’s mainland and were taken in for further questioning. The arrests follow a similar action from the middle of last month at casinos in Cotai where eight individuals from the mainland were detained over similar offenses.

Judiciary Police Director Sit Chong Meng told the media after the June arrests that his officers have been actively pursuing illicit money exchanges in casinos since the end of last year.  He indicated that possibly hundreds of mainlanders suspected of participating in the illegal activity had been returned to mainland China and were banned from returning to Macau for three years.

Wong Sio Chak, the secretary for security in Macau, announced in May that the city’s police force would be increasing efforts this year to eliminate the illegal money exchanges in and near Macau’s casinos. In the first quarter of this year, 12 different operations had already been conducted that targeted the activity. According to Wong, the police have effectively “cracked down” on gaming-related crimes since the beginning of the year.

Imperial Pacific International (IPI) is trying desperately to finish its Imperial Pacific Resort (IPR) in Saipan as soon as it can. However, company officials admitted to the Commonwealth Casino Commission last week that it doesn’t believe it can finish construction by its August deadline, and has asked for an extension until December of this year. Even with that extension, IPI has acknowledged that it might be necessary to employ a second shift of construction workers, who would have to work at night, to complete the casino by December.

VP of construction, Erik Poon, is currently discussing the possibility with the casino’s contractor, Pacific Rim Contractors. He affirmed, “Pacific Rim and IPI have been talking about second (work) shift which will start after 7pm until midnight. Right now, we already notified the people concerned about the possibility of night shift work.”  Poon added, “The exact date we still have to iron out with Pacific Rim because right now, we have to put the safety features needed especially at night before we put a date for the second (work) shift.”

A lack of manpower has been the primary reason for delays of construction, according to Poon. IPI has increased the amount of construction workers considerably over the course of the past several months, but it may have been too little, too late for IPI to meet the schedule.

“For the past few months, IPI has significantly increased manpower, especially from IPI’s side as we have H2-B workers. It helped us a lot to put our schedule even further… Moving along I can say we are back to normal like the way we want it,” explained Poon. “Currently, we have 68 management staff and 1,402 workers in construction—44 from Sinopan, 677 from Pacific Rim, and 700 IPI H2-B workers… we are still hiring… our requirement is 1,500 workers and right now we have 700 so we still have room to grow for sure.”