Casino operator MGM Resorts has set a Dec. 8 opening date for its new National Harbor property in Maryland.

On Monday, MGM announced that it was officially accepting room reservations for its new $1.4b National Harbor, Maryland’s sixth and final casino. Nightly rates for the 308-room property start at the low, low price of $399, with suites available starting at $599.

In addition to plenty of gaming options, the property also features a 3k-seat live theater, two nightclubs, 18k-square feet of retail therapy and plenty of dining options, including Bellagio Patisserie, a European-themed pastry shop offering a 26-foot-tall chocolate fountain that will circulate two tons of melted chocolate.

A little further south, MGM is renewing its push to bring legal casino gambling to the state of Georgia. Recent years have seen the state make a couple of runs at passing legislation to amend the state constitution to permit casino operation but these efforts have so far come up short.

Nevada sports betting operator CG Technology (CGT) has reached a $16.5m settlement with federal agencies over its connections to illegal gambling and money laundering operations.

On Monday, the US Attorneys for the Eastern District of New York and the District of Nevada, along with the New York Police Department, the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) and the Internal Revenue Service’s criminal division, announced a joint non-prosecution agreement with CGT over its involvement with an illegal messenger betting service.

The illegality stretches back several years, back when CGT was still known as Cantor Gaming, a sports betting offshoot of Wall Street financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald. Cantor made a splashy arrival in Nevada’s sportsbook market but Robert Capers, US Attorney for the Eastern District, said “this growth came at the expense of compliance with the law.”

Daniel Bogden, the US Attorney for Nevada, added that Cantor had admitted violating federal laws by “accepting messenger betting, out-of-state betting and processing large amounts of monies which were the proceeds of illegal activities.” Capers said Cantor “became a place where at least two large-scale illegal bookmakers could launder their ill-gotten proceeds.”

Nevada sports betting operator CG Technology (CGT) has reached a $16.5m settlement with federal agencies over its connections to illegal gambling and money laundering operations.

On Monday, the US Attorneys for the Eastern District of New York and the District of Nevada, along with the New York Police Department, the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) and the Internal Revenue Service’s criminal division, announced a joint non-prosecution agreement with CGT over its involvement with an illegal messenger betting service.

The illegality stretches back several years, back when CGT was still known as Cantor Gaming, a sports betting offshoot of Wall Street financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald. Cantor made a splashy arrival in Nevada’s sportsbook market but Robert Capers, US Attorney for the Eastern District, said “this growth came at the expense of compliance with the law.”

Daniel Bogden, the US Attorney for Nevada, added that Cantor had admitted violating federal laws by “accepting messenger betting, out-of-state betting and processing large amounts of monies which were the proceeds of illegal activities.” Capers said Cantor “became a place where at least two large-scale illegal bookmakers could launder their ill-gotten proceeds.”

Macau casino junket investor Iao Kun Group Holding Ltd (IKGH) has confirmed that its South Korean casino plans have come to naught.

On Friday, IKGH issued a statement saying it was closing yet another of its Macau casino VIP rooms, leaving the company with just one active room – at Melco Crown’s City of Dreams property – down from five as recently as one month ago.

IKGH said its VIP room at SJM Holdings’ Le Royal Arc Casino (aka L’Arc Macau) was closed Sept. 29 and the related collaborator agreement with Lee Wai Man had been terminated. The company says the closure is expected to produce annual cost savings of around $750k.

IKGH said its current focus is on collecting some of the $159m in outstanding VIP gambling debts it revealed in its H1 earnings results last month. The company says that due to “the lengthening and difficulty of collecting markers receivable,” it will cease offering credit to clients and therefore “expects business volume to be minimal” in the near term.