Casino titan Sheldon Adelson has died following complications from cancer treatment, bringing down the curtain on a life of incredible success and equally incredible controversy. 

Early Tuesday, casino operator Las Vegas Sands announced that Adelson had passed away on Monday night at the age of 87 due to complications from his treatment for non-Hodgkins lymphoma. The company announced just last week that Adelson was taking medical leave, the second such round following the original announcement of his cancer diagnosis in the spring of 2019. 

From humble origins in Boston, Adelson founded Las Vegas Sands in 1989 through his purchase of the faded Sands Hotel in Las Vegas. Adelson is largely credited with pioneering the ‘integrated resort’ casino model, relying on non-gaming amenities – particularly the meetings, incentives, conferences and events (MICE) aspect – to draw guests who would then mosey on over to the gaming floor during their stay. 

Sands eventually became the world’s largest casino operator, with highly lucrative properties in the US, Singapore and Macau. The latter market bolstered Adelson’s reputation as a visionary when he chose to build up a then-swampy area known as Cotai on which the region’s most impressive gambling palaces now stand. 

The 78th Golden Globe Awards are set to take place February 28, 2021, and despite a year that’s been terrible to movie box offices, there’s a lot of great contenders, both in the worlds of film and TV. Although nominees haven’t been announced yet, we have a whole slew of potential bets you can make on your entertainment of choice, thanks to Bodog.

In the area of Film Comedy and Musicals, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm figures prominently in the odds, ranking as a contender for best film, and with the two leads, Sacha Baron Cohen and Maria Bakalova, favored to win their categories. Although the comedy doesn’t seem likely to beat out more timeless competition (I like Palm Springs), Bakalova was talk of the town when Borat returned, so she’s worth a few bucks.

In drama, Nomadland and its lead actress, Frances McDormand, are favored to win. It’s a critical darling, and while Mank could beat it out at the Oscars (due to Hollywood bias), it’s hard to bet against it here.

TV comedy looks like a shoe in for Schitt’s Creek, not having to contend against last year’s winner Fleabag. The show is favored in nearly every category it’s in, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see it upset by Ted Lasso, considering the Golden Globes are voted on by a bunch of ‘football’ loving foreigners.

The December purchase of a Caesars Indiana Casino was meant to bring long term prosperity to the North Carolina-based Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (ECBI). But a portion of the tribe are now objecting to how it went down, fearful that it may give away long term control of their resources.

14 tribal members, with two Tribal Council members and a former principal chief, are attempting to reverse the December 17 vote that allowed the purchase of the casino. They point to section 16 of the Tribe’s Charter and Governing Document, believing the deal violates two portions. The segments state the tribe:

“Shall direct the management and control of all property, either real or personal, belonging to the Tribe”

As well as:

Betfair has a big decision to make. It introduced its sports gambling exchange to the Italian market in hopes of expanding its offerings, but was then met with a temporary turnover tax instituted by the country to counter the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. That tax spans all sports gambling verticals, including anything related to retail, digital and virtual sports activity, as well as sports betting exchanges. However, the 0.5% rate on the exchange segment is where Betfair could see the biggest hit, and efforts to have Italy reconsider its scheme have fallen flat. As a result, the operator might have to take a long, hard look at what it is able to offer to Italian sports gambling enthusiasts.

The tax was announced last summer by Italy as a stop-gap measure to help the country pull in revenue that was seeping out because of the pandemic. It was part of Italy’s so-called Covid Revival Decree and, almost as soon as it was announced, Betfair challenged the idea, asserting that the temporary tax meant that it would operate at an effective tax rate of 111%, making the operator’s access to the Italian market a losing proposition.

Betfair appealed the decision, suggesting that a better alternative might be an additional 3% tax on gross gaming revenue or even a tax based on the exchange commission. However, the tax authority is sticking to its guns, asserting that the tax will have to be calculated based on a “summation of all amounts matched between lays and bets, minus the betting tax, calculated for each individual market.”

As a result, Betfair asserts that its exchange users could potentially end up paying more in taxes than what they won, which would mean a quick death for the platform. With almost complete control over the sports gambling exchange market in the country, the operator is convinced that the tax structure is going to force virtually customers to quit using the exchange product. This, predicts Betfair, means a sure demise of the platform in the country.

As if trying to come to grips with Brexit weren’t enough, the U.K. is also having to deal with repeated jabs to the gut by COVID-19. A new wave of coronavirus issues, fueled, in part, by a mutated form of the virus, is forcing Great Britain to increase restrictions once again. The good news is that the U.K., weathering so many major challenges at once, will emerge stronger than ever. In the meantime, different industries will do what they can to overcome the mounting obstacles and the gambling industry, already having taken a beating by COVID-19, will do what it can to survive, as well. Greyhound racing will give fans and gamblers some entertainment and distraction during the chaos, with the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) promising to keep racing alive, even if behind closed doors.

The U.K. was recently forced to bring back tighter COVID-19 restrictions as new spikes began to appear. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a public address to the nation, “With most of the country already under extreme measures, it is clear that we need to do more, together, to bring this new variant under control while our vaccines are rolled out. In England, we must therefore go into a national lockdown which is tough enough to contain this variant. That means the Government is once again instructing you to stay at home. You may only leave home for limited reasons permitted in law.”

At the time, Johnson said that the Premier League and “elite sports” would be allowed to continue, provided they followed strict policies to thwart a spread of the virus. The British Horseracing Authority also planned on pushing forward, and the GBGB is stepping in, as well. The managing director of the group, Mark Bird, explains that it had “not been informed of any intention to temporarily halt greyhound racing,” adding via the GBGB website, “I have seen the comments being made on social media regarding the apparent pausing of elite sports by the government. There appears to be no substance to these assertions and certainly not from the government. We remain in close contact with DCMS as to any changes in government advice.” 

The Irish government acknowledged last week that greyhound racing would be allowed to continue, along with certain approved horse races and events, but that they would all have to take place with no spectator presence. While not the most ideal solution, it’s better than nothing at this point and the GBGB and the other groups can only do what they can to survive. The GBGB has already received £1 million ($1.36 million) from the government to help with that survival, but will need to be creative to overcome another prolonged COVID-19 battle.

Whether a mainlander working in Macau who hopes to head home for the holidays or a mainlander hoping to travel to Macau for a little R&R, Macau and China want everyone to stay at home. That is the general recommendation ahead of the Chinese New Year (CNY) next month, which has found the governments of both locations urging against making travel plans. The suggestion comes as China has begun to see new spikes in COVID-19 cases and fears are mounting that travel might cause the virus to spread more.

Macau’s Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL, for its Portuguese acronym) said yesterday that businesses should encourage their Chinese mainland employees to stay put and not consider traveling home for the CNY. However, it emphasizes that it’s just a suggestion and not an order, adding that avoiding travel can help keep Macau safe. A spokesperson for Macau’s Health Bureau added, “The call is not compulsory. We hope to reduce the risk of transmission within the community. It doesn’t mean that Macau is in an urgent situation, but we want to prepare early to deploy various works and coordinate with different departments and institutions.”

February 11-17 will mark the CNY Golden Week holiday period and, like last year, won’t bring a lot of relief to Macau. Visitation was down over 78% last year, falling from 1.21 million in 2019 to just 261,100 in 2020. With a major decline expected this year, and citing logistics issues, Macau has already called off its traditional CNY fireworks display and parade.

Macau receives most of its Mainland China visitation from the Guangdong province, which accounted for 60% of the arrivals recorded last year. However, the provincial health office has stated that residents, of which there are around 100 million, shouldn’t consider traveling to Macau, or anywhere else, this year to celebrate the CNY. If last year’s numbers are any indication, Macau can prepare now for a boring Golden Week once again.

Donaco International is ready to be the past squarely in the rear-view mirror. The casino operator has announced that it has completely wrapped up a long-running dispute it had with former Thai business associates linked to its Star Vegas property in Cambodia. That, along with other internal corrections, will allow the company to continue to recover from COVID-19 and get off on the right foot in the new year, building on growth it began to see as 2020 started to wind down.

Donaco’s fight had been raging since 2015 when it purchased the property from the associates, who proceeded to build a competing venue right around the corner in violation of a non-compete clause in the purchase agreement. That fight culminated in an agreement reached last March that has now “formally concluded,” according to Donaco. In other words, Donaco has likely received at least part of the multimillion-dollar settlement it was to receive for the alleged violations, which will be reflected in its half-year results for the last six months of 2020.

The casino operator, which also has a casino in Vietnam, adds, “In addition, the business has continued to improve to a positive EBITDA [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization] as impacts from Covid-19 have moderated from the earlier extreme levels. The company’s debt has been reduced significantly and a solid platform for growth is now emerging.” Donaco’s Star Vegas saw positive EBITDA of $540,000 and $800,000 in October and November, respectively, last year. 

The company had also been able to rework certain credit arrangements with its creditors, notably, Mega International Commercial Bank, last summer, which helped to gain strength in the second half of the year. Part of the revamped agreement included a $5-million payment to be made before 2021 rolled around, and it’s conceivable, but not confirmed in the announcement, that Donaco was able to complete the payment using some of the proceeds from the settlement with the Thai associates. Megabank had also been involved in settling that dispute.

In order to invest successfully this year, what must be understood and accepted first and foremost is that the world is now in a state of flux for the foreseeable future. There is no going back to the way things were before and just resting there. The pandemic was a historical fault line. That line has been crossed, and there is no traveling back in time. In many obvious ways the world has changed for the worse, but in some key and important ways, believe it or not and whether we can actually see it yet or not, the world has changed for the better. Put in investment terms, the companies that accept this and are ready to change accordingly, they have the best chance of succeeding in the new era.

Take Macau. Morgan Stanley is not very positive, but Macau Secretary for Economy and Finance, Lei Wai Nong is forecasting a strong recovery. To put it dryly, it’s a disagreement between a crony megabank that supposedly is packed with stock picking experts, whose stock is still down 30% from a tech bubble that popped 21 years ago, and Macau’s local government cheerleader. Take your pick on who you are going to believe.

The good news is that the new era has forced Macau casinos to improve efficiency dramatically. Morgan Stanley has pointed out that operating expenses across Macau have dropped by 39% this year, and we can expect casinos to be miserly in stepping up spending again too quickly in a highly uncertain environment like this one. In other words, the competition between Macau casinos has changed from which can grow the fastest in a profligate environment full of junkets, to which can be the most efficiently run in a challenging one where the VIP sector is now a giant question mark.

We should now start to see analyst focus change subtly from cheering on and rewarding high growth numbers, to targeting conservative, responsible management with a clear plan to stay financially lean and healthy. Like a man who has just suffered a massive heart attack and had successful bypass and is now committing to a healthier diet, it’s going to take time, but it’s certainly the right long term direction.

A new immigration, stay and residency bill could be coming to Macau this year. At least one provision of the legislative piece is not going to make privacy advocates happy; however, it’s also becoming the global standard and isn’t going to go away. According to André Cheong Weng Chon, Macau’s Secretary for Administration and Justice and a spokesperson for Macau’s Executive Council, the bill includes the legal authorization by the government to collect biometric data from anyone entering the city, which could also be shared with all government offices.

The bill, which is just a draft of the potential legal framework, would unify two current and competing immigration and residency laws, as well as two administrative by-laws that were introduced in 2003. Combined, these provide blanket coverage for immigration and residency issues, as well as extended visitation by non-locals, and topics concerning deportation and how the laws are enforced. The biometric data stipulation of the bill would allow the collection of fingerprints, palm prints, iris and retina patterns and facial recognition. Commissioner Ng Kam Wa of the Public Security Police (PSP) explained last Friday in a press conference that, once the law is implemented, only one form of biometrics data would be collected by immigration officers.

Cheong said of the new bill, “With reference to international common practice, the bill proposes the introduction of measures to collect and verify visitors’ biometric data so as to enable [immigration officers] to effectively detect those using a false identity, with the aim of preventing and combating illegal immigration and overstaying more effectively.” He added that the proposals are necessary in order to combat illegal immigration and to help curb criminal activity by those in the city illegally.

The bill would also require hotels to inform immigration authorities each time a non-local guest checks in or checks out. It also looks to cut down on marriages-for-residency and other fraudulent means of trying to stay in the city illegally. Going forward, fake marriages and forged employment documents would be more closely controlled by Macau’s legal system.

If Sue Glick gets her way, veterans groups in Indiana will be able to find much-needed funding to overcome losses caused by COVID-19.  The Senator has introduced a bill that would allow organizations like the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars to install video gaming terminals (VGT) in their establishments as a way to generate income, but the machines would still be off-limits for use elsewhere, such as in restaurants and bars. A separate effort might try to get the VGTs brought to those establishments, as well.

Glick’s Senate Bill 267 (SB 267) wants to change the language in Indiana’s gambling laws so that “congressionally chartered veterans’ service organizations” are legally authorized to allow VGTs. The American Legion, which is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars are just two of the organizations serving military veterans that were forced to cut back on their activity last year as the coronavirus pandemic continued to spread. The Senator believes the machines would be a viable alternative for the groups to recover, while not having to rely on handouts to survive.

Should SB 267 be approved, any eligible organization, described in the bill as any group identified by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or which is federally chartered by Congress, would have to pay $150 for an application fee to operate the VGTs. Those approvals would then have to be renewed every three years to remain valid and each organization would only be allowed a maximum of five terminals. VGT manufacturers and distributors would also have to pony up some money, paying a $25,000 upfront fee that would need to be renewed each year for $10,000. 

There would be no tax on the gaming revenue earned by the vet groups; instead, they would work out profit-sharing agreements with the manufacturer or distributor. Gamblers wouldn’t be allowed to wager more than $2 each time and the maximum win on a single spin would be capped at $599. All activity, including licensing, operations and use, would be overseen by the Indiana Gaming Commission.

In the fast-moving world of gambling, sometimes you might miss news that could be important to you. To make sure you’re all caught up on gaming industry news, be it online or brick and mortar, we’re rounding up the some of the announcements and partnerships from the last week that you might have missed.

Don’t miss out on all of the latest announcements. Our Press Release section is updated constantly. We also roundup the latest slot game releases for you every Wednesday.

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