Crown Resorts is definitely no longer the jewel of the Australian gaming scene and can no longer expect to receive the same level of respect that it had one enjoyed. Tales of money laundering, war criminals, employee mistreatment, machine tampering and more have hobbled the once-great empire and most people believe that it is now on its knees, begging for mercy. It is asserting that it is at risk of having to give away massive amounts of money if credit ratings agencies don’t ease up; however, the agencies are only reaching their conclusions based on the company’s actions and inactions. 

The Guardian reports that Crown could have to repay over AUD$175 million ($135 million) if the agencies continue to mark down the company. Moody’s took Crown to Baa3 last November, which is just one step above being considered junk. The agency is also reportedly considering another push downward, given that Crown is still facing an inquiry by the New South Wales (NSW) Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority (ILGA) and its future status as a casino license holder is still in question. 

Yesterday, it was announced that Moody’s wasn’t willing to rate the $135 million in debt that was offered as euro medium-term notes (EMTN). These notes have been held by Crown for more than 14 years and are thought to belong to a Japanese investor. Although Moody’s won’t touch the debt, both Fitch and Standard & Poor’s (S&P) have rated it, giving it a rating of BBB, which is only two levels above junk. 

Should Fitch and S&P decide to follow Moody’s and either withdraw their ratings or list the debt as junk, that would allow the holder of the notes to claim repayment. That claim could potentially cover the face value, as well as interest that would have been paid between now and 2036, the year the debt would have matured. While Crown is believed to have the money to be able to cover the repayment, it would certainly impact its ability to work on other projects.

We need a new word for what’s going on in the capital markets. “Mania” just doesn’t cut it anymore. The stocks of nearly bankrupt companies are acting like vapid viral tweets, or the next video of an unlucky cat swinging from a ceiling fan and flung into a wall. A vast army of Robinhood day-trading high-school graduates living in their parents’ basements are flush with their Robinhood cash advances for opening a trading account, supercharged with their stimulus checks handed out by Congress, and add on top of that enhanced unemployment benefits to be renewed by the new Biden Administration, and then shifted into ludicrous speed with another $1,400 per person in additional direct payments soon to be passed.

If you’ve enjoyed gaming and casinos all your life, loved the atmosphere, the excitement, the colors, the adrenaline, the ring of a jackpot, then the way stocks have been behaving the last 9 months may be familiar to you, but in a haunted funhouse-mirror sort of way. Aside from the standard tech companies that now pretty much rule the world, the craziest and most widely covered absolutely wild upside action has been in isolated gaming companies of all things. GameStop (GME) just experienced one hell of a historic short squeeze, up about 900% in three weeks to a high of $159.18. Not bad at all for a company that was a penny stock just a few months ago and that has managed to lose $1.15 billion over the last two years.

This is what happens when bored, locked-down, inexperienced day traders with no rent to pay, armed with the right Twitter feed and thousands of dollars in free money coming from every direction, all pile in to squeeze giant hedge funds out of their short positions. It is completely bizarre, a blurring between reality and fantasy, sort of like watching a wrestling match that starts off staged but then gets out of control by accident and you no longer even know if you’re watching an act or something extremely dangerous. So you just sit there awkwardly watching, wondering, waiting.

GameStop may be getting all the coverage now, like some circus freak show that people just can’t turn away from even though they know this is just not right. But GameStop is not the only gaming stock that reached absolutely ridiculous highs yesterday. Penn National Gaming is right on its tail, hitting a new all time high of $111 yesterday at around the same time that GameStop was reaching its own transdimentional peak. What do the two have in common, and can we use the data to try to triangulate the next freak show?

Philippines casinos may eventually offer online gambling, but Okada wants you to know they haven’t started yet. The operator put out a pair of press releases denouncing fake news about their resort on January 25, while also announcing some news of their own.

In the first release, Okada clarified that, at least at this time, they offer no form of online play. Only services advertised on www.okadamanila.com, www.tigerresort.com, and @okadamanilaPH on social media are real, they note, and any site claiming to be an Okada online gambling platform is using their name against their wishes. They will take action against violators of their brand and trademark, they note.

Online gambling could come eventually for the operator, of course. In a December 9 interview with Asia Gaming Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) Chairwoman Andrea Domingo noted that a Liveshot scheme, to allow casinos to service registered players online, is in the works. But at least as of this time, no casino is known to have a service up and running, and Okada wants you to know they definitely don’t have one.

But if you do have a membership (as I do), then you definitely know they want you to visit the casino. They’ll even offer you a free meal and 100 pesos of free play!

Two Minnesota lawmakers are filing a bill to get sports betting in the land of many lakes. But while they want to keep Minnesota from falling behind on the sports betting gold rush, native tribes aren’t expected to take it well.

Republican Rep. Patrick Garofalo co-sponsoring the bill with Democratic Sen. Karla Bigham, and specifically said that what works for neighboring states should be fine for Minnesota. “Allow consumers to have a safe experience, have good consumer protections, and at the same time defunding some organized crime that might be taking place with that money,” Garofalo said.

By Garofalo’s math, Minnesota could generate as much as $50 million in taxes from the activity, and it serves what the people want. “Americans like to bet, Americans like sports,” Garofalo said. “You combine them together, it’s a natural activity.”

Although he makes convincing arguments, for some reason, Garofalo doesn’t like his chances of success. “There’s just something with the government in the state of Minnesota that acts slower than most other states,” he said. “I’m not saying we had to be the first state to legalize this, but why do we always have to be the caboose?”

Rodney Baker is polishing up his resume with one hand while massaging his arm with the other. The now-former CEO of the Great Canadian Gaming Corp. (CGC) has stepped down after it was discovered that he and his wife broke health protocols (and probably a few moral codes) in order to jump in line to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. His resignation is seen as almost a guarantee that the casino operator will now be sold to Apollo Global Management. 

According to Casino.org, Baker and his wife, Ekaterina, chartered a private jet to take them from Whitehorse to Beaver Creek, both located in Yukon, Canada. The goal of that trip wasn’t to get away to do some last-minute skiing or hiking; instead, it was to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. They showed up at a mobile vaccination clinic operated by Moderna, one of the companies that have produced a vaccine, posing as hotel workers in order to get preferential treatment to receive their shots. 

When the news broke, Baker admitted to what he had done and tendered his resignation. In the meantime, he and his wife could still face charges for their actions and are looking at accusations of having violated Yukon’s Civil Emergency Measures Act (CEMA). They have 30 days to contest the charges or face penalties of as much as $500 and/or six months in jail. 

Baker was discovered as a result of due diligence on the part of the team administering the vaccine. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation explains that the team, as part of their standard operating procedures, notified the hotel the Bakers claimed to work for after the couple received their shots. The hotel, however, confirmed that the Bakers were not employees, and the ruse unraveled from there.

There were already warnings issued against travel between China and Macau during the Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday next month, but those cautions have just been made much louder. Macau has been forced to pay closer attention to COVID-19 as a new asymptomatic case was registered just across its border in the Chinese city of Zhuhai this past weekend. As a result of that, and the fact that China is beginning to see pockets of outbreaks, CNY vacation plans are already being canceled by many would-be visitors. 

The Zhuhai COVID-19 case centers on someone traveling from Ukraine to China at the beginning of this month. After arriving in the country, the individual went through the mandatory 14-day quarantine period before going to Zhuhai, where another test was administered on January 23. In addition, Macau saw an internal coronavirus case last week, the first since last June, when an individual arriving on a private charter plane from Tokyo tested positive.

Elsewhere in China, there have been a number of new COVID-19 cases, leading to many travelers calling off their CNY plans and staying home. As of yesterday, there were 124 new daily cases in the country, leading to new travel restrictions and quarantine requirements in Macau. This is forcing the city to remain at much lower operating levels and prolonging the beginning of a much-needed jumpstart to the economy. 

As things stand right now, January’s gross gaming revenue (GGR) in Macau is expected to be around 67% of what it was two years ago. This follows an entire year of subdued gaming in the city last year and is an indication of how slowly recovery efforts in the city are going to be. The next several weeks are going to be key to how the following months progress and analysts with the Sanford C. Bernstein brokerage assert, “GGR declined materially last week as travel from China came under pressure due to rising COVID contagion. China has been instituting larger scale lockdowns and urging a reduction in travel. The travel impediments will lead to reduced visitation into Macau for the next few weeks at least, with Chinese New Year visitation being impacted.”

Vice President of Strategy for Income Access Sarafina Wolde Gabriel believes that affiliate marketers will have an opportunity to increase their influence in 2021. The V.P. was a panelist at SIGMA Europe; describing how affiliate marketers can have a positive influence in the iGaming space. Gabriel took some time out to offer her advice on the future of affiliate marketing, speaking with Calvinayre.com’s Becky Liggero Fontana.

Gabriel believes that affiliate marketers need to shift their focus to interactive marketing and engaging their audience. “What’s exciting about affiliate marketing it’s continuously evolving and typically affiliates were seen as a funnel. They’re just funneling traffic from one source to another, whereas now with more interaction the affiliates are actually engaging the audience,” Gabriel said. 

Gabriel thinks that affiliates can be taking a more targeted approach to capture potential customers:

“Before they funnel them through, they can get more targeted and make sure that they’re sending them to the correct places, so you could see more YouTube and video marketing. When we talked about influencer marketing, they’re building communities, they’re building their networks and then they’re trying to get to know exactly what products or services are more suited to them. Rather than just put up a creative or an ad for a brand and just send the traffic, so that’s a big trend that we’re seeing and it’s only just beginning.”

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 from the gambling industry. Our Press Release section is updated constantly, and we publish roundups of the latest partnerships twice a week.

Inspired Announces New Contract with Entain

Inspired to Provide Virtuals Across Entain’s Online and Retail Network

Philippine-based online gambling operators will face tougher anti-money laundering (AML) requirements as the country aims to avoid being ‘gray-listed’ by global financial watchdogs.

Last week, both bodies of the Philippine legislature approved a revised version of the country’s Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) that includes Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) and their service providers under the AMLA’s definition of ‘covered persons.’ 

AMLA, which was approved in 2001, was amended in 2017 to include the country’s land-based and online casino operators, as well as the casinos’ junket operator partners, under the covered persons definition. (Although critics expressed dismay at the high monetary threshold for reporting suspect transactions.)

But the amended bill didn’t cover the hundreds of POGO service providers, which was flagged as an area of concern by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) last March. The AMLC also expressed concern over many POGOs’ lack of commitment to observing their new know-your-customer (KYC) requirements.  

Casino operator Bally’s Corporation has further diversified its offering by acquiring daily fantasy sports operator Monkey Knife Fight (MKF), while rival Caesars Entertainment has made its own DFS play. 

On Monday, Bally’s (formerly Twin River Worldwide Holdings) announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire MKF, the third-biggest DFS operator behind market giants DraftKings and FanDuel and possessor of what Bally’s calls “the fastest-growing gaming platform in North America.”

The $90m transaction, which Bally’s expects will close in the current quarter, is an all-stock affair. MKF will get immediately exercisable penny warrants to buy around $50m worth of Bally’s shares, as well as contingent penny warrants to buy up to $20m more shares on each of the deal’s first and second anniversaries of closing. 

Bally’s plans to incorporate MKF into its new ‘Bally’s Interactive’ division, which also includes the Bet.works sports betting and iGaming platform that Bally’s acquired last November. The MKF add-on will make Bally’s only the third US sports betting operator to include a DFS component, joining DraftKings and FanDuel (more on Caesars’ efforts to join this formerly exclusive club below).

After a tumultuous weekend in the F.A. Cup, Frank Lampard lost his role as Chelsea manager, the holders Arsenal were knocked out and Liverpool suffered another defeat, this time at the hands of their bitter rivals, Manchester United.

With the Premier League returning in midweek with a full programme of 10 fixtures, which sides will be looking to move up the table and which others will be glancing over their shoulders nervously?

West Bromwich Albion vs. Manchester City (Tuesday, 8.15pm GMT kick-off)

A tricky tie for Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City side, not least because Kevin De Bruyne will miss the game after a hamstring problem sent the Belgian assist machine to the injury room at the Eithad for between four and six weeks.

A delayed start, quarantine regulations and COVID-19 restrictions – just how was anyone supposed to prepare for the Men’s Singles at the Australian Open properly?  

From the pundits to the players, the fans to the financiers and the advertisers to the organisers, putting on this year’s Australian Open has been a Herculean effort worthy of commendation. But with players forced to quarantine for a fortnight, many of the world’s best tennis players have found cause for complaint.  

Unsurprisingly, one of those is world number one Novak Djokovic, whose 305th week at the top of the men’s tennis rankings was spent calling out the AO for the condition players have been forced to isolate in. Living in their hotel rooms, players such as Djokovic have not been happy, but disharmony isn’t helping anyone.  

Djokovic said in his letter to the AO on Twitter that “better conditions” were needed for players in Melbourne and kicked back against those accusing him of wanting COVID-19 restrictions eased for his own benefit. Fans are understandably loathed to forget Djokovic’s antics around last year’s Adria Cup and are judging him with that indiscretion in mind.  

Last year, the World Series of Poker cancelled the biggest live poker festival in the world late. In fact, if you’re judging on the specifics, it was very late. Some players had booked months in Las Vegas before finding out in May that the entire WSOP was cancelled. From the fabled Main Event to the Colossus, it was in the bin.  

Or rather, it wasn’t, because the WSOP Online Series came along, promising to be the efinitive way to search for World Series bracelet winners during a global pandemic. If the poker mountain couldn’t be travelled to by the MMT poker player, then the mountain would come into players hoes via the internet. GGPoker and WSOP.com welcomed thousands of players to their online lobbies. Guarantees were met, winners received their bracelets via FedEx, some winners bounced off car park WiFi. It was a hoot.  

Then the World Series reappeared like a reanimated zombie at the close of the year. That summer event online wasn’t the World Series of Poker Main Event, this hybrid version was instead, they told players. Cue confusion, a lower top prize than the $5,000 single re-entry Main Event and an angry Bulgarian in Stoyan Madanzhiev.  

Well, after the turn-of-the-year win was sealed by Argentina’s Damian Salas for a total prize of $2.5 million (Madanzhiev won $3.9m back in the summer and he got a certificate too), the World Series has been distinctly quiet on whether or when the World Series of Poker Main Event and thus the festival itself will be back.