UK National Lottery operator Camelot has launched a strategic review following annual sales declines in its marquee product.

On Wednesday, Camelot announced that National Lottery ticket sales in the 12 months ending March 31 totaled £6.92b, the fourth-best result since 1994 but an 8.8% decline from the sales total in Camelot’s 2015-16 financial year.

Camelot’s decline was broad-based, with retail sales down £606.6m to £5.4b, while digital (interactive and subscription) sales were off £63.3m to £1.52b. Mobile sales were an outlier, rising £23.8m to a record £619.3m.

As a result, Camelot has launched a strategic review of its National Lottery operations, with a focus on coming up with a plan to boost sales, studying its investments in technology and systems, the current business structure and long-term succession. Camelot says it will offer an update on this review when it turns in its fiscal H1 results later this year.

UK authorities are celebrating their apparent success in convincing online gambling operators not to advertise on digital file-sharing sites.

On Tuesday, the City of London Police’s Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) claimed that its research indicated that there had been an 87% decline over the past 12 months in the number of UK-licensed gambling operators placing ads on “illegal sites that infringe copyright” of films, TV shows, books, music and games.

Last July, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) informed its licensees that it was implementing a new licensing condition that required operators to “take responsibility for preventing digital adverts advertising their brand from appearing on websites providing access to unauthorized content.” This new restriction, which applies not only to operators’ direct advertising but also that undertaken by third party affiliates, took effect last October.

The UKGC’s edict came after years of heavy advertising by online gambling operators on sites like Kim Dotcom’s now defunct MegaUpload cloud-storage site. Before MegaUpload was shut down by US authorities in 2012, the site was deriving roughly 1/8 of its advertising revenue just from the PartyGaming brand then owned by Bwin.party digital entertainment.

On September 7, for the first time, the Swedish capital will host a large conference dedicated to blockchain technology and cryptocurrency – Blockchain & Bitcoin Conference Stockholm.

The event is a part of Blockchain & Bitcoin Conference, which is the first and the largest network of crypto conferences in Europe. Organizer is Smile-Expo that holds similar events in the Czech Republic, Estonia, Russia and Ukraine.

Key topics include implementation of blockchain technology in business, legal regulation of cryptocurrencies (practices of various jurisdictions), increase of living standards using new technologies, development of smart contracts in the decentralized economy.

Special attention will be paid to the blockchain development in FinTech. Participants will analyze already existing blockchain-based projects in the banking sector: there will be a lot of analytics and discussions.

Revel’s past has come to haunt developer Glenn Straub.

The Press of Atlantic City reported that a Superior Court judge ordered Straub’s Polo North Country Club last week to pay $62,641 for Revel casino’s unpaid 2015 Casino Reinvestment Development Authority special improvement district (SID) fees.

Straub needs to pay the lien within 90 days “or face the prospect of having to pay legal fees associated with the case.

Straub purchased the bankrupt Revel casino hotel in 2015, about six months after the financially struggling property closed its doors for the second time in two years, and subsequently rebranded it as TEN.

One embattled bitcoin exchange is poised to reap the benefits of bitcoin’s recent advance towards record territory.

Mt. Gox was once the world’s largest bitcoin exchange platform, until it filed for bankruptcy in February 2014 after it claimed to have lost more than 800,000 of its clients’ and own bitcoins, which are worth more than $450 million at the time.

Court-appointed trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi previously said he holds a stash of bitcoins that are valuable now to pay off Mt. Gox’s creditors, thanks to the digital currency’s latest price surge. On Wednesday afternoon, bitcoin traded at $2,758.03 per coin on the Bitcoin.com platform, which means that the 202,185 bitcoins that Kobayashi has in his care are now worth more than $557 million.

Of course, Mt. Gox’s solution to insolvency hasn’t escaped the notice of its creditors, many of whom have called on former CEO Mark Karpeles and Kobayashi to shed light on the matter.

Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy and the federal government see eye-to-eye when it comes to authorizing the state’s first casino off tribal land.

NBC Connecticut reported that the Federal government is likely to give its blessing to the multi-billion casino project of Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes in East Windsor after Department of the Interior was seen speaking at an event held at the Mohegan Sun Casino.

This is bad news for MGM who is set to open its multi-billion gambling facility in Springfield, which is just a short drive away from East Windsor.

Tribal Chairman Kevin Brown claimed that Malloy and the federal government are on the same boat when it comes to a third casino in Connecticut.

Macau casino operator SJM Holdings has appointed a new executive director after Dr. Rui Jose da Cunha retired from the board early this week.

Daisy Ho, a daughter of SJM Holdings’ founder Stanley Ho by his second consort, will replace da Cunha as executive director, effective June 13, the Hong Kong-listed casino company announced on Tuesday.

Ho has been the deputy managing director and chief financial officer of Shun Tak Holdings Limited—the transportation and property outfit started by her father—since 1999.  The younger Ho, who owns 8.4 percent stake in Shun Tak, is also a member of the executive committee, remuneration committee and nomination committee of Shun Tak and a director of a number of its subsidiaries.

The casino operator said Ho’s appointment as executive director doesn’t have a fixed term, but it will be subject to the arrangements of retirement by rotation and re-election at the annual grand meeting of the company. She will receive an annual director’s fee of HK$0.50 million on pro-rate basis in 2017.

John Monnette used the power of love to win his third World Series of Poker gold bracelet after taking down Event #22: $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship with his wife on the rail, Ralph Perry leads the MILLIONAIRE MAKER, and Maurice Hawkins is doing the same in the Marathon.

As John Monnette’s wife moved through the Rio rail like a female fox cuts effortlessly through the forest, he knew the title was his. Granted, he came into the final table of Event #22: $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship with the chip lead, but it wasn’t a sure thing until he saw the most important person in his life cheering him on.

Monnette is WSOP aristocracy. I don’t know much about Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS), but I know enough about Monnette to want him on my team. He is a Jack of All Trades Master of Them All. His previous two bracelet wins had come in Seven Card Stud (2012) and 8-Game (2011), but none of them was in front of his wife.

“She’s been awesome for me,” Monnette told PokerNews reporters after his third bracelet win. “All of them are special, but it was super cool with her being here. She’s always been supportive of me in everything I do. She’s always rooted for me, and there’s been some disappointment. She deals with me being gone thirteen hours a day, and coming home angry, but luckily, I’m not so angry anymore.”

In this interview with CalvinAyre.com’s Stephanie Raquel, analyst Grant Govertsen of Union Gaming gives his insight on Macau’s recovery.

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Despite reports that it won’t likely come up for debate until next year, Japan’s second casino legislation is steadily taking shape.

On Wednesday, Asia Gaming Brief reported that the Experts’ Committee has approved several new proposals for the Integrated Resorts (IR) Implementation Bill, including the creation of a “Casino Management Board” as an external bureau of the Cabinet Office.

Another proposal, also approved by the committee, is that “there would be only a single, tightly secured casino,” with a total floor space not exceeding 3 percent of each integrated resort’s total area. The casinos will be allowed to offer slot machines, card games and roulette, among others, but betting on sports events and online gaming will be banned.

A separate group of ministers has been tasked with the Promotion of Countermeasures on Addictions of Gambling, but the Experts’ Committee also included several measures to address the potential harms that the introduction of gambling could inflict on this already addiction-prone population. The proposals include requiring Japanese nationals to buy their casino chips with cash as well banning ATMs and the use of credit cards within the casino facilities.