Lawrence Ho’s oft-delayed casino in Russia’s Primorye region has been given a new August opening date.

In a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Monday, the Ho-controlled Summit Ascent Holdings Ltd. said its First Gambling Company of the East (FGCE) subsidiary would complete physical construction of the Russian project’s first phase by June 30. A six- to eight-week government inspection process will then commence and doors will open to the public no later than August 28.

FGCE’s project is still officially referred to as ‘Phase 1 Casino Resort’ but will operate under the decidedly more elegant banner of Tigre de Cristal. The crystal tiger will boast 119 hotel rooms, 25 VIP gaming tables, 40 mass market tables (15 baccarat, 25 other games) and 800 slot machines.

FGCE says all key management positions relating to casino, hotel and food and beverage outlets have been filled and nearly 200 dealers are currently undergoing casino boot camp. FGCE anticipates having around 700 staff working when phase one opens, rising to 1,100 when the venue is “fully ramped up.”

The unfinished $3.5b Baha Mar Casino & Hotel in the Bahamas has indirectly confirmed that it won’t open for at least another four months.

Three of the properties’ five hotels have pushed back their start date for online room reservations until Sept. 6, while a fourth isn’t showing availability until Oct. 1. The fifth hotel, the pre-existing Melia Nassau Beach property, remains open while it undergoes conversion.

A spokesperson for developer Baha Mar Ltd. told TravelWeekly that the hotel had not been “delayed indefinitely. We are just still in discussions with our contractor, so we have not announced an exact grand opening date.” Meanwhile, travel websites are filling up with angry comments from would-be Baha Mar guests who are having difficulty getting refunds for their cancelled bookings.

The troubled Baha Mar project was supposed to open last December, and financial squabbles between Baha Mar and its Chinese bankers/contractors led to last week’s rumors that (a) Baha Mar Ltd. was out of money and (b) Malaysian casino operator Genting had been asked to take a majority stake in the project.

Online gambling participation in the UK has increased by around 50% over the past six years, according to a new report by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC).

In a followup to its recent gambling participation survey, the UKGC issued a secondary analysis of data compiled by DataBuild Research & Solutions. According to the Trends in Gambling Behavior 2008-20014, remote gambling participation was 15.4% in December 2014 compared to 9.7% in December 2008, while the overall gambling participation rate dipped slightly over the same period.

The gains are most noticeable among male gamblers, whose online participation rose from 11.7% in December 2008 to 18% last December. Female online gamblers rose from 7.8% to 12.8% over the same period. The likelihood of participation in online sports betting is 106.8% higher for men than women, while men were 24.9% more likely to participate in other forms of online gambling.

Interestingly, men tend to gamble more online as the economy worsens. A 1% decrease in the UK’s gross domestic product was associated with a 4.6% increase in male online gambling participation. Meanwhile, a 1% increase in the ranks of the unemployed resulted in a near-equal decline in female online gambling while no such correlation was observed in male online gamblers.

Chinese online lottery operator 500.com stock soared nearly one-third on Tuesday despite a disappointing Q1 earnings report and the resignation of its CEO.

500.com, which was one of only two lottery operators approved to offer online sales in China as part of a now-shelved pilot program, reported total sales were up 23.8% year-on-year to RMB 1.3b (US $210.6m) and revenue up 10% to RMB 98.8m ($15.9m) in the three months ending March 31.

However, 500.com reported a net loss of RMB 52m for the quarter, partly due to a RMB 30.3m bad debt provision and increased share-based compensation expenses. Cost of services expenses were up 46% year-on-year while sales and marketing expenses rose 118%.

Compared to Q4 2014’s numbers, total sales were down 25.7% and revenue was off 32.4%, reflecting the ‘temporary’ suspension of online sales that Beijing imposed on all its provincial lottery administration centers in late February. 500.com noted that it is “currently not generating any revenue” due to the suspension and expects “zero” sales in Q2, assuming the suspension isn’t lifted.

Online sports betting technology supplier Kambi Sports Solutions is under investigation by Philippine authorities over alleged illegal gambling activity.

On Tuesday, the Sweden/Malta/London-based Kambi revealed that its local subsidiary Kambi Philippines Inc., which provides back office functions for its online sportsbook product, had been notified that it is “the subject of an investigation by the Philippines National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) into allegations relating to the carrying out of illegal gambling activities in the Philippines.”

Kambi says it is “confident that there are no activities occurring in its Philippines operation which are contrary to law.” To ensure no service disruption for its B2B customers – including 888 Holdings, 32Red and Unibet – Kambi has “immediately implemented business continuity measures in accordance with its internal Group policies to ensure cover for the services provided by its Manila operation.”

Manila has become a hub for online gambling firms looking to take advantage of the Philippines’ thriving business process outsourcing (BPO) industry. But operators and suppliers that base their Asian-facing operations in Manila must agree to abide by certain rules, including a prohibition on accepting online wagers from gamblers residing in the Philippines.