Finland’s state-run Veikkaus gambling monopoly isn’t going anywhere for the foreseeable future, according to a new government proposal for ‘reforming’ the nation’s gambling legislation. 

On Thursday, Finland’s Ministry of the Interior announced it was soliciting comments on “a proposal for reforming the Lotteries Act.” The key planks of this proposal are increased consumer protections, combatting prohibited gambling marketing and “securing Veikkaus Oy’s capacity to channel the demand for gambling.”

In case that last plank wasn’t sufficiently clear, the Ministry added that “the basic premise of the reform is that Finland’s gambling system will also in the future be based on the state monopoly in line with the government program.”

To preserve this monopoly, the Ministry wants to empower the National Police Board to compile a blacklist of internationally licensed gambling sites that market their wares to Finns, and local banks and other payment processors would be required to block the movement of money between these sites and Finnish gamblers. 

Netherlands gambling regulators have imposed a €600k penalty on a Curacao-licensed online gambling site for serving Dutch punters without local permission. 

On Friday, the Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) gambling regulatory body announced a €500k penalty on Virtual Coin Gaming NV, the Curacao-based firm behind the Futgalaxy.nl and nl.futgamer.com gambling sites. An unidentified individual connected with the sites was personally penalized an additional €100k. 

The sites offered games of chance linked to EA Sports’ FIFA video games, which are illegal under a Dutch law approved in 2019. The sites also offered betting markets on real world sports and eSports events using the FUT Coin virtual currency.

The KSA noted that the penalty was higher than the usual low-six-figure for “several reasons,” including the fact that the regulator had determined that “minors, or at least young adults,” were among the site’s customers. 

A lot of the news out there seems pretty bleak right now, making the concept of ignoring it all seem pretty enticing. With all of the obvious danger and political strife out there, it might seem irresponsible, but for your own mental wellbeing, it might be worth a try. Here’s how you can benefit from tuning out, and how you can do it responsibly.

The benefits of ignoring the news

First off, you’ll feel better. The news tends to focus on the dramatic, and although there are exceptions (Covid), most of it has no immediate chance of affecting us.

Secondly, you’ll find you have time for better things. Most of the things in the news act more as a form of entertainment than anything useful in your daily life. If you spend less time on news, you can spend more time with loved ones, work on a project, or simply read or watch more entertaining and fulfilling content.

U.S. President Donald Trump has finally conceded the 2020 election, admitting that a transition to a new administration will happen in just under 2 weeks. But after the events of January 6, when Trump supporters barged into the U.S. Capitol, will Trump last until the next inauguration?

Betting markets offering lines on if Trump would finish his term reacted sharply after the riots of January 6. With Democrats calling for another impeachment, and reportedly some Cabinet members whispering about invoking the 25th amendment to install Mike Pence as Acting President, PredictIt prices for Trump finishing his term went from $0.90 to $0.74 on the day of the action. Prices for Resignation, which were at a 30-day low of $0.06 just a week ago, spiked to $0.15 on the same day.

Although his initial tone on January 6 was definitely bellicose, he’d backed off that messaging when it became just how terrible the day was going to be, telling his supporters to go home. That didn’t stop Democrats from calling for impeachment, or several of his cabinet members from resigning, disgusted with the events of the day. By January 7, he was forced to provide his video of concession, admitting that some kind of new administration would begin on January 20 (but not naming Joe Biden as the President elect).

pic.twitter.com/csX07ZVWGe

The COVID-19 turbulence isn’t over yet. 2020 was a write-off for many businesses and, every time it seemed like the world was getting one step ahead of the pandemic, the pesky virus figured out how to weasel its way back in front. The gaming industry everywhere suffered significant setbacks because of the pandemic and Macau was one of the areas hit hardest, having spent many of its formative years concentrating on casinos. After losing as much as 75% of its gross gaming revenue (GGR) and seeing days where the number of visitors could be counted on one hand, Macau is ready to get back to work and is optimistic that this year will be much better.

Lei Wai Nong, Macau’s Secretary for Economy and Finance, said in a statement yesterday that the city will see a “stable and positive” economy this year, with optimism growing that Macau will be able to report GGR of around $16.28 billion. He pointed out that the forecasts for visitation weren’t hit, but emphasized the uptick that has been seen since mainland China began relaxing its visa travel regulations at the end of last summer. That culminated in a significantly higher level of traffic in the city to celebrate the new year. 

Lei added that one of the goals in 2021 is to entice visitors to stay longer in order to help support Macau’s recovery. He explained, “We are trying to keep mainland visitors to stay longer in Macau if the number of visitors does not increase greatly. We need to improve our services and products to make our visitors feel welcome and warm, and to attract them to visit Macau again.”

Those efforts, however, might prove to be more difficult than initially anticipated. When it seemed as though the world was finally coming to grips with how to keep COVID-19 from spreading and travel restrictions started to be reduced, Macau implemented a requirement that arrivals from foreign countries needed to produce a negative coronavirus test that had been administered within seven days. Now, as the virus is once again spiking everywhere, the city has reduced that timeframe to just 72 hours. Not only does this make it more difficult for last-minute visitors, but the simple fact that the virus is back is going to give would-be travelers reason to reconsider their journeys.