German online betting operator Bet-at-home said increased marketing around the Euro 2016 tournament provided a double-digit boost to its 2016 revenue numbers.

On Monday, Betclic Everest Group’s German-facing subsidiary Bet-at-home reported its 2016 betting and gaming revenue rising 14% to €138.7m, while earnings improved by 3.5% to €34.1m despite double-digit rises in betting fees and gambling levies.

The company’s marketing costs rose more than one-fifth last year, encompassing TV spots, online media, poster campaigns and an “extensive” bonus program, particularly in Q3 during the final phase of the European Championship. The company also has pricey sponsorship deals with Bundesliga football sides Hertha BSC and FC Schalke 04.

The company says the extra promotional spending was worth it, as betting turnover rose 21.4% to over €2.9b. The company also celebrated the extra 300k registered customers it acquired last year, bringing its total to 4.6m and creating the right environment for “sustainable development” going forward.

Lee Davy talks to Cate Hall about her social media skirmishes, the good and bad aspects of taking the contrarian view, and much more.

I don’t know what to make of Cate Hall.

On the one hand, Cate is good for poker, stirring things up in her filterless way. But sometimes, I wonder if she was having a fondle behind the bike sheds during the lesson on choosing your battles.

Cate Hall on Twitter battles, the contrarian view, and much more Audio

Cambodian authorities have detained four Chinese nationals accused of a kidnapping and extortion plot involving gamblers who’d rung up debts at a local casino.

On Monday, Cambodia Daily reported that National Military Police had arrested Ding Chunyaun, the owner of an unidentified casino in Poipet City, along with three accomplices for the kidnapping of three Chinese gamblers who’d run up a $1.22m debt at the casino.

One of the gamblers, identified as 51-year-old Chinese businessman Zhun Xiao Liang, owed the casino $770k, while the two other gamblers owed $300k and $150k. When they proved unable to honor their debts, Chunyuan ordered his accomplices to kidnap the trio in January.

Police said Chunyuan and his “mafia group” illegally detained the three gamblers in an apartment near the casino. Liang’s wife was reportedly sent mobile phone messages, including pictures of her husband, along with demands that she send money to make good on Liang’s gambling debts. Police didn’t specify whether Liang’s wife complied with the kidnappers’ demands.

Maryland Live has regained its former status as the state’s top casino revenue earner one month after losing its crown to MGM Resorts’ new upstart property.

Figures released Monday by the Maryland Lottery and Gaming agency show the state’s six casino operators had another record month in February, generating gaming revenue of $128.7m.

The figure is $2.5m higher than the state reported in January, the first full month of operations at MGM’s new National Harbor casino. However, subtracting National Harbor’s contributions, the five casinos that were open in February 2016 saw their collective haul decline 11.1% year-on-year.

In the years since it opened, Maryland Live had been the state’s unquestioned cock of the walk, handily fending off challenges from new entrants like Caesars Entertainment’s Horseshoe Casino Baltimore, which opened in August 2014.

PokerStars continue to experiment with their new live product with the announcement of a new PokerStars Championships in Sochi, Russia, and a low buy in MEGASTACK event debuts in London’s Hippodrome Casino.

The next 12-months are going to be critical to the Sochi Casino & Resort after PokerStars announced plans to take their Championship Tour into that part of the world.

The news comes a fortnight after rivals partypoker announced plans to host a Millions National Event in the same gaff, only PokerStars are planning something much bigger.

Instead, of testing the waters with a PokerStars Festival, the world’s largest online poker room is going all-in with an 11-day PokerStars Championship Series including a $2.6m GTD Main Event, making it the largest prize pool for a live tournament in Russia’s history.

The longstanding relationship between the government of the Republic of Cyprus and betting operator OPAP is rapidly coming apart at the seams.

On Monday, the Cyprus Mail reported that Cypriot attorney-general Costas Clerides had ordered a police investigation into OPAP after the Greek lottery and betting operator declined to hand over its financial records for a government audit unless the state treasurer agreed to sign a confidentiality agreement.

The House finance committee was told that the treasurer sought the advice of the attorney-general’s office, which advised her not to sign the confidentiality agreement. OPAP then refused to turn over their books, leaving the attorney-general no option but to launch its investigation.

Late last year, the Cypriot government introduced legislation aimed at revising its agreement with OPAP, which has been operating in Cyprus since 1969 under an bilateral agreement with Greece. But following the Greek government’s 2013 privatization of OPAP, Cyprus decided its arrangement with OPAP needed updating, particularly in terms of the government’s share of OPAP’s Cyprus revenue.

A Texas legislator is attempting to break the state’s longstanding ban on casino gambling.

Last week, Texas State Rep. Joe Deshotel filed HB 2741, which aims to award “not more than nine casino gaming operator licenses” to deserving candidates, who will be taxed at 18% of gross gaming revenue. The bill would require a voter referendum on modifying the state constitution to permit commercial casino gambling.

The nine licenses would be distributed as follows: one license each in Galveston, Jefferson and Nueces counties; three licenses in Bexar and Harris counties, each of which must go to an existing pari-mutuel racing licensee, with no county receiving than two licenses; and one license in each of three first-tier coastal or second-tier coastal counties, with these also reserved for pari-mutuel licensees.

While its aims are honorable, Deshotel’s bill is unlikely to make much headway in the notoriously gambling-phobic state, as evidenced by its attorney general’s hardnosed campaign against daily fantasy sports operators.

The UK government is threatening to restrict third-party betting on EuroMillions lottery draws, posing a significant challenge to the operations of bet-on-lottery operator Lottoland.

On Monday, the UK Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) announced an open consultation on ‘Prohibiting Third Party Betting on Non-UK EuroMillions Draws.” The consultation, which closes May 2, follows public comments last month by Sports Minister Tracy Crouch that such third-party bets are “contrary to the spirit and intention” of UK rules against betting on National Lottery results.

Section 95 of the Gambling Act 2005 prohibits UK-licensed gambling operators from offering bets on lotteries that form part of the National Lottery. EuroMillions is a partnership of lottery operators in multiple European countries, and while it’s technically a different draw in each country, it is the same draw.

While conceding that there is “no evidence” to support the claim that third-party betting currently harms returns to good causes, the UK government is proposing the imposition of a new license condition to prohibit UK-licensed operators from offering bets on EuroMillions games in other countries.

Anti-gambling advocates are making a last ditch attempt to block a proposal that will pave the way for the construction of a tribal casino resort in Springfield, Connecticut.

The Boston Herald reported that members of the Coalition Against Casino Expansion in Connecticut is organizing a meeting at East Windsor High School to discuss the “social and economic costs” of casinos.

Former Republican U.S. Rep. Robert Steele, author of “The Curse: Big-Time Gambling’s Seduction of A Small New England Town” is expected to give a presentation during the meeting, that will come ahead of a Thursday hearing on casino expansion bill.

Connecticut state lawmakers are set to decide whether or not the state will let Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes open a proposed casino.