Macau casino junket operator David Group has publicly clarified its plan to reduce its presence in Macau while boosting its profile in other Asian casino jurisdictions. Last week, several analysts reported that David Group was planning to close some or all of its seven VIP gaming rooms in Macau thanks to a scarcity of high-rollers caused by Beijing’s increased oversight.

On Saturday, David Group announced it would be closing three of its Macau VIP rooms: one room at MGM Macau, one at Sands China’s Four Seasons and one at L’Arc, which operates under an SJM Holdings license. The rooms will all be closed by the end of the month. David Group had already closed rooms at the Venetian Macao and Melco Crown’s City of Dreams in Q3 2014.

Director of corporate communications Frank Ng told Bloomberg the company was “adjusting our business strategy” to cope with the “general trend in the industry.” Figures released by Macau authorities show VIP gambling revenue shrunk to 60.5% of the pie in 2014, down from 73% the previous year, representing $3.25b in lost VIP revenue. Ng insisted David Group was only “hibernating” and that the closed VIP rooms could reopen if/when the VIPs return in droves.

Ng said David Group would refocus its efforts on casino markets in the Philippines, Vietnam and on South Korea’s Jeju Island. David Group also plans to establish a presence in Australia before the end of the year and also in Europe at some undetermined future date. David Group operates a travel company with its own private jets that will assist these international efforts.

VIETNAM PREFERS LOCAL INVESTORS FOR PHU QUOC CASINO

Speaking of Vietnam, the government wants to give the new casino license on Phu Quoc island to a local company. On Sunday, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung asked administrators to cobble together some casino regulations for the island, which lies off the country’s southern tip, close to Cambodia.

Provincial authorities have previously set aside an area of 30k-square-meters for the casino project, which will be allowed up to 400 gaming tables and 2k electronic gaming machines. The government says investors with projects already on the go on Phu Quoc will be eligible for the most incentives, but whoever wins this derby will have to meet the government’s requirement to invest a minimum of $4b bringing it to fruition.

The Linq poker room becomes the latest Las Vegas Strip poker room to shut up shop at the bequest of its owners Caesars Entertainment.

The Imperial Palace in Las Vegas – those were the days. It was a right dump, but a popular dump. I remember being stuck in a queue a mile long waiting to go through reception. I had to switch my data roaming on to check my hotel confirmation e-mail and it cost me a fiver.

I didn’t worry about that lost fiver though. I was there to play live cash games. I was going to win big. A fiver? Don’t make me laugh. I had been told, that for a small time grinder like myself, The Imperial Palace was the perfect place to play poker. It was full of drunks handing out money with the speed at which Sheldon Adelson hands it out to presidential candidates.

It wasn’t full of drunks. It was full of small time grinders, like me. Nobody played a hand. Everybody was searching for the nuts. There were more folds than a Post Office. It’s not full of drunks today. It’s full of nobody. It’s deader than Roy Orbison.

A very large ball hit the Imperial Palace. I guess it wasn’t only me that thought it was a dump. In its place rose The Quad. That also looked like a dump – from the outside at least. I always though The Quad was a lackluster name for a Las Vegas Strip hotel. Caesars Entertainment eventually came to my way of thinking.

In Oct 2014, that battered old building became The Linq. A new casino/resorts complex that was accompanied by the world’s largest observation wheel. It twinkles in the night and reminds me of Blackpool. On Sunday afternoon, The Linq became the latest in a long list of Vegas casinos to close its poker room. Caesars may be making ground online – but they couldn’t find the bums to fill the seats in the 8-table poker room.

It is with great sorrow that we announce the closure of the Linq Poker Room. We want to thank you all for the years of patronage and support

A federal court in Nevada has awarded casino operator Las Vegas Sands a $2m default judgment against online gambling operators caught infringing on Sands’ trademarks. Last June, Sands filed trademark infringement suits in Nevada against the unknown operators of 35 online domains that were making liberal and unauthorized use of the Sands logo, Chinese characters that translate to ‘golden sands’ and images of the Marina Bay Sands casino in Singapore.

In his Jan. 14 ruling, US District Judge James Mahan awarded Sands $2m in damages and issued a permanent injunction barring the online operators from using the trademarks. All well and good but until the operators are identified, collecting the damages and enforcing the injunction will be akin to capturing a rainbow in a jar.

Sands is far from alone in having its intellectual property used without its permission. Last August, Macau casino operator Galaxy Entertainment Group warned the public about “bogus lookalike” online gambling sites utilizing its trademarks. A couple years prior, Caesars Entertainment lost a domain squabble with a Bangkok massage parlor that had the foresight to register the domains before Caesars did. But the Sands infringement was particularly ironic, given the anti-online gambling jihad currently being waged by Sands chairman Sheldon Adelson.

In other Sands news, the company announced that Sands China president and CEO Ed Tracy (pictured) will step down from his post effective March 6. Tracy, who ranked ninth on the most recent Inside Asian Gaming chart of the industry’s biggest movers and shakers, is said to be ‘retiring’ but will continue to work with Sands as a consultant and will assist management during the transition to new leadership.

Tracy assumed Sands China’s reins following the 2010 dismissal of Steve Jacobs, who has been waging a legal battle over his ouster ever since. An unidentified gaming analyst told Gambling Compliance that Tracy was invaluable at restoring frayed relations between Sands, Macau and Beijing. Tracy’s exit follows Sands COO Mike Leven, who left the company at the end of 2014. The two execs timed their exits to coincide with Macau’s worst revenue slump since the 2008 global economic meltdown. Well played, sirs.

Animal lovers around the world were transfixed by the recent story of Kai, a Shar Pei dog found abandoned at a train station in Ayr, Scotland. Like a real-life canine version of the beloved children’s book character Paddington the bear, Kai was discovered alone at the station on Jan. 2, tied to a railing next to a suitcase full of his belongings (toy, bowl, food and a pillow).

Kai had been abandoned by a woman who’d traveled to the station with the intent of purchasing a dog she’d previewed online. But the woman claimed the dog didn’t resemble the picture she’d seen and that the dog’s owner beat a hasty exit before she could finish protesting the switcheroo. The woman claimed she’d left Kai behind because she had to catch a train back to Aberdeen.

Kai eventually found his way to the Scottish SPCA, who discovered Kai suffering from eyelashes curling inside his eyelids, a condition common to his breed. Donations from well-wishers captivated by Kai’s story helped pay for operations on both eyes to alleviate the dog’s suffering.

Among those contributing to the SPCA’s kitty was online gambling operator Bodog, who have served as shirt sponsor for the Ayr United football team over the past four years. Bodog brand founder Calvin Ayre called Kai’s story “one we couldn’t ignore and we wish him all the best in finding a great home.”

However, Ayre acknowledged that “we do have a slight agenda as well; we are desperately hoping Kai’s fighting spirit will rub off on his local team as the Honest Men really need a boost right now.” The team has undergone a prolonged winless streak that has left the team languishing near the bottom of the Scottish League One standings.

Ayr United recently appointed Ian McCall (pictured, with Kai) to replace former manager Mark Roberts. McCall, who previously managed Dundee United and Glasgow’s Partick Thistle FC, took the opportunity to rub Kai for luck during a visit to the Scottish SPCA’s Glasgow Animal Rescue and Rehoming Centre.

SPCA Senior Animal Care Assistant Alan Grant thanked Bodog for its “very kind donation” and said the SPCA staff had been “touched by the generosity and good wishes of animal lovers all over the world who have followed Kai’s story.”