The Greek half of Cyprus is proceeding with plans to launch a regulated online sports betting market.

On Thursday, Ioanna Fiakkou, president of the Cyprus National Betting Authority (NBA), announced that the NBA would begin accepting online betting applications as of October 3.

By November 3, any gambling site that failed to submit an application within that one-month window will have its domain added to the country’s online blacklist.

In 2012, Cyprus passed new gambling legislation that officially banned online casino, poker and exchange betting, while giving Greek gaming firm OPAP an effective monopoly over other online products. The following year, the European Commission included Cyprus in a list of European Union member states whose gambling legislation was considered legally sketchy under the EU’s internal market rules on the free movement of services.

UK National Lottery operator Camelot has been fined £300k for “putting public confidence at risk.”

On Thursday, the UK Gambling Commission announced the six-figure penalty, which it imposed after Camelot published inaccurate Lotto Millionaire Raffle results on the National Lottery website on October 10, 2015. The UKGC said the incorrect winning numbers were online for an hour, during which they were viewed by over 100k visitors.

The UKGC’s investigation into the cockup determined that Camelot had violated its license obligations in two important respects: (a) players were misled, and (b) they were misled due to Camelot’s failure to observe proper processes and procedures.

The UKGC investigated two similar incidents involving Camelot publishing incorrect information in November and December 2015 but declined to impose penalties in these instances due to their “low impact.”

After being left for dead, the prospects of Japan passing a casino legislation is back on the table, and now with a 50-50 chance of succeeding.

Japanese media outlets reported that for the first time since 1989, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party has gained outright majority in both houses of the legislature after an independent legislator in the House of Councillors decided to join the LDP, effectively giving the party the 50% plus one majority it needed.

Having an outright majority allows LDP to push through with any legislation it wants even without relying on help from either its coalition partner, the Komeito party, or any of Japan’s other political parties.

So what does this mean for the long-stalled gaming legislation? Well, the so-called IR bill can now be passed easily—in theory, that is. There’s still the issue of how Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ranks gambling on the government’s priority ladder.

China’s largest e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd. is expanding its business footprint in cyberspace as it made a $150 million investment in the International e-Sports Federation.

IeSF announced that it entered “an exclusive strategic partnership” with the Jack Ma-led company, through its sports subsidiary Alisports. The IeSF – a governing body of eSports with 47 country member signatories – said that both parties shared a same vision on future eSports goals.

The Alibaba-IeSF partnership aims to establish a tournament where all amateur eSports players and professional eSports players can participate. The two organizations will also push for the recognition of eSports as sports, including securing participation in the Olympic Games.

IeSF said both organizations plan to create a unique intellectual property rights.

Will Macau finally see the light at the end of the tunnel after three years of suffering from economic contraction?

Macau Chief Executive Fernando Chui has made a bold prediction that former Portuguese enclave’s economy will rebound to growth in 2017 after a 25-month long gaming revenue drop, as its casino industry diversifies into mass market.

Gross domestic product in Macau plunged by 20.3 percent in 2015 from the 0.9 percent drop the year before, as the world’s largest gambling hub was hurt by China’s anti-corruption campaign that scared off high-rollers.

Chui, however, expressed optimism that the casino industry’s shift to attract recreational gamblers and tourists will buoy Macau’s ailing economy to growth by next year.