Atlantic City casino revenue suffered a dip in May but defenders say the damn Julian calendar is to blame.

Numbers released on Tuesday by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement showed AC’s eight casinos earning brick-and-mortar gaming revenue of $203.3m, a 2.5% decline from the same month last year. However, counting the $16.5m earned by the state’s licensed online gambling operators last month, the overall gaming revenue decline shrinks to a mere 0.6%.

Furthermore, the month of May had the standard four Fridays and four Saturdays, whereas that freakshow May 2015 had five of each, and everybody knows that there are more tumbleweeds rolling through AC’s casinos than people on weekdays, so apples v. oranges, people.

Anyway, the revenue decline was purely the fault of AC’s slot machines, which declined 4.9% to $149.3m, while table game revenue rose 4.5% to just under $54m. For the year-to-date, brick-and-mortar revenue is up 1.6% to $954.2m.

The New York state senate has approved an online poker bill for the first time, although poker’s chief proponent in the state Assembly declared earlier in the day that he isn’t likely to move a companion measure in the legislature’s dying days.

Late on Tuesday, following a truly interminable debate between S-5302 sponsor Sen. John Bonacic (pictured left) and online gambling opponent Sen. Liz Krueger (on the right), the full senate voted 53-5 in favor on the bill’s passage. Bonacic’s victory was that much sweeter given that Tuesday was his birthday.

While the unprecedented nature of the senate’s approval is laudatory, Assemblyman Gary Pretlow, who chairs the Assembly’s racing and wagering committee, poured cold water on the issue even before the senate began its debate. The Buffalo News quoted Pretlaw saying that the online poker push in the Assembly was “dead.”

The state is also wrestling with the issue of whether to legalize daily fantasy sports, an issue that has significantly more juice than poker, and the legislature is set to adjourn on Thursday, so it appears online poker is simply a bill too far.

The New York state senate has approved an online poker bill for the first time, although poker’s chief proponent in the state Assembly declared earlier in the day that he isn’t likely to move a companion measure in the legislature’s dying days.

Late on Tuesday, following a truly interminable debate between S-5302 sponsor Sen. John Bonacic (pictured left) and online gambling opponent Sen. Liz Krueger (on the right), the full senate voted 53-5 in favor on the bill’s passage. Bonacic’s victory was that much sweeter given that Tuesday was his birthday.

While the unprecedented nature of the senate’s approval is laudatory, Assemblyman Gary Pretlow, who chairs the Assembly’s racing and wagering committee, poured cold water on the issue even before the senate began its debate. The Buffalo News quoted Pretlaw saying that the online poker push in the Assembly was “dead.”

The state is also wrestling with the issue of whether to legalize daily fantasy sports, an issue that has significantly more juice than poker, and the legislature is set to adjourn on Thursday, so it appears online poker is simply a bill too far.

Israel’s push to authorize its first brick-and-mortar casinos isn’t sitting well with the government’s coalition partners, who also have a bone to pick with slot machines and horse racing.

In February, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu authorized his Minister of Tourism Yariv Levin to study the possibility of building up to four casinos in the coastal city of Eilat. Last week, Levin met with other officials to discuss the nitty gritty of casino operation, including limitations on local residents’ use of the planned casino(s).

Those plans were publicly slammed on Monday by Moshe Kahlon (pictured), Netanyahu’s Minister of Finance. Kahlon used to belong to Netanyahu’s Likud party, but now leads the centrist Kulanu political party, which holds 10 seats in Netanyahu’s 61-seat governing coalition in Israel’s 120-seat Knesset, so it’s complicated.

An angry Kahlon told a press conference that Israel “does not need casinos. It needs to provide education, values and jobs – not a casino.” While Kahlon has long been known to oppose casino authorization, this is the first time he has publicly expressed these views.

Israel’s push to authorize its first brick-and-mortar casinos isn’t sitting well with the government’s coalition partners, who also have a bone to pick with slot machines and horse racing.

In February, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu authorized his Minister of Tourism Yariv Levin to study the possibility of building up to four casinos in the coastal city of Eilat. Last week, Levin met with other officials to discuss the nitty gritty of casino operation, including limitations on local residents’ use of the planned casino(s).

Those plans were publicly slammed on Monday by Moshe Kahlon (pictured), Netanyahu’s Minister of Finance. Kahlon used to belong to Netanyahu’s Likud party, but now leads the centrist Kulanu political party, which holds 10 seats in Netanyahu’s 61-seat governing coalition in Israel’s 120-seat Knesset, so it’s complicated.

An angry Kahlon told a press conference that Israel “does not need casinos. It needs to provide education, values and jobs – not a casino.” While Kahlon has long been known to oppose casino authorization, this is the first time he has publicly expressed these views.

Casinos in the Primorye gaming zone in Russia’s far east offered updates on their development during a recent visit by a federal politician, who may not have liked what he heard.

On Tuesday, Primorye Gov. Vladimir Miklushevsky took Russia’s Far Eastern Federal District representative Yuri Trutnev on a tour of the gaming zone just outside Vladivostok to get progress reports on the four casino projects in varying states of development.

Tigre de Cristal is currently the zone’s only operational casino, having officially opened its doors last October. G1 Entertainment, Tigre de Cristal’s Lawrence Ho-controlled operator, said construction on phase two would start in the spring of 2017, later than the late-2016 timeline announced in March.

Cambodian casino operator NagaCorp is also warning of possible delays in getting its Primorye casino up and running. Originally targeting a “not later than 2018” opening, company VP Hau Chang Ping said Tuesday that the property was now committing only to opening by the end of 2018.

Casinos in the Primorye gaming zone in Russia’s far east offered updates on their development during a recent visit by a federal politician, who may not have liked what he heard.

On Tuesday, Primorye Gov. Vladimir Miklushevsky took Russia’s Far Eastern Federal District representative Yuri Trutnev on a tour of the gaming zone just outside Vladivostok to get progress reports on the four casino projects in varying states of development.

Tigre de Cristal is currently the zone’s only operational casino, having officially opened its doors last October. G1 Entertainment, Tigre de Cristal’s Lawrence Ho-controlled operator, said construction on phase two would start in the spring of 2017, later than the late-2016 timeline announced in March.

Cambodian casino operator NagaCorp is also warning of possible delays in getting its Primorye casino up and running. Originally targeting a “not later than 2018” opening, company VP Hau Chang Ping said Tuesday that the property was now committing only to opening by the end of 2018.

New Jersey’s regulated online gambling market snapped its four-month streak of new revenue records in May while PokerStars NJ failed to maintain its initial momentum as the summer doldrums officially took hold.

Figures released Tuesday by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) showed the state’s licensed online operators reported total revenue of $16.5m in the month of May. That’s 32.6% more than the same month last year but $500k less than the sites reported in April 2016.

May’s year-on-year gains were evenly split between poker ($2.57m, +33.3%) and casino ($13.98m, +32.5%), while the casino vertical was responsible for virtually all of the month-to-month decline. For the year-to-date, New Jersey’s online revenue is up 30% to $78.4m.

Resorts Digital Gaming, whose operations include Amaya Gaming’s PokerStars brand, saw Stars come up short in attempting to maintain its initial momentum since launching in late March. While PokerStars still led all online poker operators with $1.15m, that figure was about $30k less than April’s number, and Resorts’ overall revenue slipped from $3.5m in April to just under $3m in May.

New Jersey’s regulated online gambling market snapped its four-month streak of new revenue records in May while PokerStars NJ failed to maintain its initial momentum as the summer doldrums officially took hold.

Figures released Tuesday by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) showed the state’s licensed online operators reported total revenue of $16.5m in the month of May. That’s 32.6% more than the same month last year but $500k less than the sites reported in April 2016.

May’s year-on-year gains were evenly split between poker ($2.57m, +33.3%) and casino ($13.98m, +32.5%), while the casino vertical was responsible for virtually all of the month-to-month decline. For the year-to-date, New Jersey’s online revenue is up 30% to $78.4m.

Resorts Digital Gaming, whose operations include Amaya Gaming’s PokerStars brand, saw Stars come up short in attempting to maintain its initial momentum since launching in late March. While PokerStars still led all online poker operators with $1.15m, that figure was about $30k less than April’s number, and Resorts’ overall revenue slipped from $3.5m in April to just under $3m in May.

A US federal appeals court has upheld the concept of net neutrality, dealing a major blow to broadband providers who wished to establish a tiered system of internet access.

On Tuesday, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit handed down its ruling (viewable in full here) upholding the Federal Communications Commission’s 2015 Open Internet Order classifying internet service providers as a public utility subject to the same type of rules as other essential communications services, such as the telephone.

Providers like AT&T and industry associations had filed their lawsuit based on their desire to offer higher traffic speeds to deep-pocketed customers, while relegating less wealthy website operators to the internet’s slow lane. The ISPs also claimed the right to block access to sites they found disagreeable.

Supporters of net neutrality argued that equal access to high-speed internet was integral to the ability of small startup firms to catch on with consumers, and that today’s internet giants like Facebook and Google wouldn’t have been able to attain such heights had they faced such obstacles.