Macau casinos might want to blame other regional gaming jurisdictions for the downturn in VIP gambling activity, but a new report says this claim is overblown.

Morgan Stanley analysts issued a report this week examining the causes of Macau’s VIP decline. February’s VIP gaming revenue was off 50% year-on-year and analysts are expecting a similarly epic swoon when March numbers are released next week.

Beijing’s corruption crackdown is the prime culprit in Macau’s VIP decline, but competition from casinos in Australia, South Korea and the Philippines is routinely cited as a chief contributing factor. Leading junket operators like Suncity and David Group have made no secret of their plans to expand their presence in these markets, which are ramping up as Macau winds down.

Morgan Stanley acknowledges that these other jurisdictions have benefited from Beijing’s crackdown, but not to the degree many suspect. True, Australia’s VIP market rose 80% in the second half of 2014, while South Korea gained between 20% and 30% over the same period.

New Jersey gaming regulators have published the first research report into the impact of the state’s regulated online gambling market on problem gambling.

The report (viewable here), which was submitted by Rutgers Center for Gambling Studies’ Lia Nower, covers the first full year of New Jersey’s online market. The study is the first of four annual reports that Gov. Chris Christie insisted upon when he approved the state’s online gambling legislation in February 2013.

Of the three states that have launched regulated online gambling operations, Nower says New Jersey’s regulations are “the most clearly directed toward aiding consumers in making informed choices about their gambling behavior and promoting responsible gambling (RG).”

In overall terms, Nower says “very few” gamblers utilized any of the RG features. Nower also said that the data couldn’t distinguish players who selected these options at multiple online skins, meaning the actual take-up rate could be even lower than the numbers indicate.

US Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has announced he will not seek re-election in 2016, leaving gambling proponents mourning the loss of a key ally.

Reid, who first won election to the Senate in 1987, made the announcement in a video released early Friday morning. The 75-year-old Reid said his decision had “nothing to do” with the fall he suffered earlier this year in which he broke several ribs, facial bones and temporarily left him without the sight of his right eye. However, the downtime had given him the opportunity to reassess his situation and his conclusion was it’s time to hang up his spurs.

American Gaming Association CEO Geoff Freeman issued a statement calling Reid a “tireless supporter of gaming who solidified Nevada and the industry’s significance across the country.” Freeman said Reid had been “a visionary for what could be possible” and his “leadership and dedication will be missed.”

It remains to be seen what impact Reid’s decision will have on the likelihood of passage of the Restoration of America’s Wire Act (RAWA), the Sheldon Adelson-backed federal legislation that would ban most forms of online gambling except horseracing, fantasy sports and the types of closed-loop on-premise mobile gambling available in some US brick-and-mortar casinos.