Kindred Futures and the startup tech company Lucky VR will produce an experimental virtual reality poker game during Unibet Open Copenhagen using esports stars as guinea pigs.

PKR pioneered 3D software for online poker.

PKR is dead.

You have to be brave to be the first to try something new, and this week it’s the turn of Unibet after Kindred Futures partnered with the startup software developer Lucky VR to experiment with a virtual reality (VR) poker game.

PokerStars create all sorts of online poker records with the 2017 Spring Championships of Online Poker, and Kevin Martin wins Big Brother at the second time of asking.

If Mike Sexton and John Duthie intend on making partypoker the world’s largest online poker room, then they have a humdinger of a scrap on their hands.

Partypoker LIVE may well be the trendiest live tournament in the world, right now. But PokerStars reminded everyone that they are a monster when it comes to hosting online festivals with a record-breaking Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP).

The low, medium, high tiered festival amassed $93.8m in prizes, nearly doubling the $55m guarantee, and surpassing the $91m record created last year.

Luigi Shehadeh & Catalin Pop take the top prizes in the €1,100 Main Event and €2,200 High Roller in an exceptional 888Live event in the Casino Barcelona.

With PokerStars and partypoker currently butting heads on the live tournament scene, it’s easy to forget that the second largest online poker room this side of my bag of carrot batons are also making significant headway in the live arena.

888Poker has vowed to take back the game, and they are not content with focusing on online poker. The team understands that the two formats are symbiotic, and with 888Local Live and now 888Live we see some outstanding progress.

It was a bold move to slap a €500,000 guarantee on their €1,100 buy-in Main Event at the Casino Barcelona, but it turned out to be an inspired decision. 609 entrants waltzed past the thongs and bare chested ladies on the beach to take a seat in 888’s most ambitious live event to date, and it was a marked success.

Atlantic City casinos reported a surge in operating profit in the first quarter of 2017, adding weight to theories that the market has ‘right-sized’ after years of turmoil.

Figures released this week by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) show Atlantic City casinos’ total gross operating profit rose 30.4% year-on-year to $139.4m in the three months ending March 31. Revenue rose 8.6% to $816.7m, thanks to an 11% rise in gaming revenue, while room revenue was up 4.2% as occupancy improved 7.3 points to 81.1%.

As ever, the Borgata bogarted the profits, claiming $61.4m, a gain of nearly 29%. The next closest competitor was Harrah’s at $23.8m, and it was going in the opposite direction, netting 11.3% less than last year. The biggest gainer was Resorts Casino Hotel, which reported a profit of $4m, up from just $500k last year.

Of the two operators that break out their online gambling business as a separate entity, Caesars Interactive Entertainment New Jersey saw its profit fall 6.6% to $2.3m, while Resorts Digital reported a $570k profit from a $1.1m loss a year ago.

Macau’s neighbors are playing their cards right as the world’s largest gambling hub looks to diversify its entertainment offerings.

The Chinese territory’s economy has been highly reliant on gambling, which accounts for more than 80 percent of Macau’s annual revenues—that is until mainland Chinese authorities announced a crackdown on corruption, causing the city state’s revenues to plummet to five-year lows.

Now, China’s Sin City is recovering and working hard to become the tourism and leisure destination that Beijing wants it to become, which begs the question: where will its gamblers go?

“The gambling appetite in Asia is still humongous,” said Praveen Choudhary, managing director of Morgan Stanley, during the recently held Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Asia conference in Macau.

France’s regulated online gambling market set a new sports betting record in the first quarter of 2017, while poker reported a rare revenue increase.

Figures released Wednesday by French gaming regulator ARJEL show online sports betting turnover in the three months ending March 31 rising 23% year-on-year to €633m, handily beating the previous record of €585m in Q2 2016, a period that included both the Euro 2016 football tournament and the Rio Olympic Games.

Sports betting revenue also set a new record at €94m, 16% more than in Q1 2016. ARJEL credited the sports betting gains to a significant rise in the number of registered bettors, whose ranks swelled by one-quarter to 341k. Also, the return to players (after bonuses) rose to 87.1%, which is above the 85% annual limit that ARJEL requires operators to observe, but definitely helped bettors recycle their winnings.

Football, tennis and basketball continue to dominate the sports betting scene, capturing 89% of all wagers. While football (+18%, €348m) and basketball (+19%, €81.6m) posted solid turnover gains, tennis surged 41% to €129.5m, half of which was made via in-play wagers.

Pennsylvania’s state senate has approved its new gambling expansion bill, but an uncertain future awaits in the state’s other legislative chamber.

As expected, Pennsylvania senators approved their version of HB 271 on Wednesday with minimal revisions and by a significant margin (38-12). The vote was noteworthy for being the first time the senate has approved any measure that contained authorization for intrastate online gambling and daily fantasy sports.

The bill now moves to the state House, which has typically been far more amenable to online gambling legislation. However, the House is also more fond of other gambling expansion proposals, including the controversial subject of authorizing tens of thousands of new video gaming terminals (VGT) at state bars, clubs and other small venues with liquor licenses.

Even if the House were to rubber-stamp their approval of the Senate package, there’s the not-insignificant matter of the 54% tax on online casino revenue contained in the Senate bill. The rate is probably three times greater than what online operators would consider workable, and that’s before factoring in the $5m upfront license fee – and $5m more if you also want to offer online poker – that won’t be credited against future tax obligations.

Eastern European casino operator Olympic Entertainment Group (OEG) may have to close seven slots halls in its number one market after Latvian officials voted to ban gambling in certain areas.

On Tuesday, the Riga City Council in Latvia’s capital voted to ban all gambling halls in Riga’s historic center district, except those located in four- and five-star hotels. The vote followed a Supreme Court ruling supporting the council’s objections to a gambling operator’s desire to open a new venue in Riga’s old district.

The ban affects 41 gaming venues, each of which will require the council to prepare separate draft resolutions of closure. Once such orders are issued, the affected gambling halls will have five years to wrap up their affairs and cease operations.

Latvian Gaming Business Association advisor Arnis Verzemnieks claimed the city’s business district would suffer as a result of the closures due to reduced visitor traffic. Verzemnieks also complained that gaming operators were increasingly unable to make any long-term plans due to the unpredictable regulatory environment.