As momentum builds behind Ukraine government’s initiatives to overturn ban against gambling, a conference seeks to open up dialogue between the country’s lawmakers and industry experts.

A two-day event Game On: Bringing Gambling Back to Ukraine will be held on October 13-14 at the Hilton Hotel Kyiv.

The organizer of the conference, businessman Glyn Thomas, said that the country could potentially have one of the top casino industries in the world.

“Ukraine has the opportunity with this event to get it right, so it could actually be one of the best gambling industries in the world,” said Thomas. “Not only by virtue of starting afresh—it also has a background of IT companies that are involved in the gaming industry. A lot of software suppliers are based here already because of the renowned skill of the workforce.”

Philippine casino operator Bloomberry is re-opening its casino in Jeju Island in Korea under the new management of Jeju Sun Hotel & Casino this month.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Bloomberry said it has 96.23% shareholdings in Jeju Sun Hotel & Casino, 10% held directly and 86.23% held through its subsidiary Solaire Korea Co. Ltd.

The newly-renovated Jeju Sun Hotel & Casino will  feature 208 hotel rooms, a 2,125-square-meter casino floor, a number of dining options, including both traditional South Korean and international cuisine, a bar and lounge, an event center, as well as a number of other leisure and entertainment options.

The foreigner only casino will offer gambling customers “premium gaming facilities” with blackjack, baccarat, Sic Bo, roulette, and other games being included. In addition, the gambling venue will feature the latest slot machines and electronic games available in the South Korean market in order to provide visitors with the best possible experience.

The former chief executive of Mt. Gox bitcoin exchange is in deep legal trouble. Last week, Japanese prosecutors filed embezzlement charges against French-born Mark Karpeles in connection with the disappearance of about $2.7 million in virtual currency.

Last month, 30-year-old Karpeles was arrested in Tokyo on charges of unlawfully extracting and using privabte electromagnetic records. Karpeles remains in custody, but he can petition the court for release pending trial, according to Agence France Presse.

Karpeles was first taken into police custody over allegations that he manipulated transaction records in Mt Gox’s trading system to inflate the balance of an account under his name.

“He created a false information that $1 million had been transferred into the account, when in fact it had not been,” police said at the time of his arrest.

Despite a decade of financial losses, Macau Jockey Club won a two-year extension to run horse-racing operation until 2017.

The Macau Secretary for Economy and Finance Lionel Leong Vai Tac confirmed to reporters in Beijing that the government has extended the horse-betting concession for Macau Horse Racing Co. Ltd., which runs Macau Jockey Club, for two more years.

Similar to the previous contract, Macau Horse Racing will pay MOP15 million annually to the government for the exclusive right to run the horseracing betting business in the territory starting September 1.

Macau Horse Racing Co. Ltd. has held the monopoly for horseracing betting since 1978 and the last contract, renewed in 2005, expired on August 31.

Australian promoter Andrew McManus, along with four others, were allegedly to be part of a criminal network that laundered up to $5m cocaine proceeds through Sydney and Las Vegas casinos.

In a joint sting of FBI and New South Wales (NSW) Police, McManus was arrested in Melbourne Airport on Thursday, following the arrest of drug kingpin Craig Haeusler, Kings Cross solicitor Michael Croke , Auburn pastry shop owner Zeki Atilgan and US businessman Owen Hanson Jr.

McManus, whose resume includes tours by Whitney Houston, Aerosmith, Fleetwood Mac, Kiss and Mötley Crüe, has been under the microscope since police confiscated a black suitcase filled with AUD700,000 ($493,000) from former cage-fighter Sean Carolan at a Sydney’s Hilton hotel in 2011.

Carolan told the police he didn’t know what was in the bag and was just minding it for Hanson, who had been gambling at the casino and didn’t want to lose any more money. McManus later claimed the cash was to repay Hanson, who he claimed had paid the money as a deposit for a tour of Australia by the American band ZZ Top.

Authorities in Italy netted €25 million in frozen assets following an extensive crackdown on an alleged mafia organization involved in online gambling.

Reggio Calabria police recently launched “Operation Gambling,” in which they revealed a far-reaching network of remote gambling companies supposedly used for the money laundering operations of the ‘Ndrangheta organized crime group, Malta Today reported.

Part of the network was allegedly headquartered in Malta, where police arrested six Italian nationals last July. But as the investigation continues, authorities learned that there are also mafia-linked companies in Panama, Romania, Canary Islands and the Netherlands Antilles.

Investigators said the companies and trust were set up to manage the organization’s illegal online betting business.

Gambling companies have come under fire for releasing provocative advertisements that critics say are degrading to women.

Last February, SportsBet released a commercial that parodied Fifty Shades of Grey, in which they showed a woman in bed with a greyhound. The betting company was accused of encouraging bestiality following the release.

This, according to Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation chief executive Serge Sardo, is proof that advertising standards have reached “new lows” with a style that is “crossing the line between sexist to outright misogynistic.”

“These tactics are a disturbing reflection on how far some gambling companies will go to sell their products,” Sardo told The Sydney Morning Herald, noting that the ad could influence the way men treat women.

PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker room, could be up and running in New Jersey, by the end of the month, according to a comment made by an SVP Equity Analyst present in a meeting with various Amaya Gaming bigwigs.

PokerStars could be up and running in New Jersey by the end of the month.

That’s the latest wet finger in the air forecast – gleaned from OnlinePokerReport.com scribe Chris Grove – quoting SVP Equity Analyst Chad Benyon, saying he believed that ‘A NJ license could be a major catalyst” for the company “in the next 20 days.” His comments were made in a note following a meeting containing the likes of Amaya CEO David Baazov and Interim Rational Group CEO Michael Hazel.

If this forecast comes true then it will be in line with New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (NJDGE) initial estimate offered after they suspended their review of Stars license bid in the Winter of 2013.