Atlantic City casinos got locked into a revenue holding pattern in June that only online gambling could break.

On Wednesday, the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) reported that Atlantic City’s seven casino operators generated brick-and-mortar gaming revenue of $197,488,784 in June, down less than $5k from the same month last year.

However, June 2016 included contributions of over $17.3m from the since-shuttered Trump Taj Mahal property. Absent the impact of the Taj Mahal, the seven current casinos enjoyed a 9.6% year-on-year revenue gain. Throw in the $20.2m generated by the casinos’ online gambling operations and June’s total gaming win was up 10.8% to $217.7m.

Regardless, June’s figures were eerily similar to the same month last year, with slots revenue up just under $20k to $143m while table games were down $25k to $54.5m. For the year-to-date, the seven current casinos’ brick-and-mortar win is up 1.5% to $1.17b, primarily due to table games, which are up 5% to $347.6m.

New Jersey’s regulated online gambling market enjoyed its fourth straight month of revenue over $20m despite online poker sinking to a new all-time low.

Figures released Wednesday by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) show the state’s licensed online gambling operators reported revenue of $20.2m in June, up 23.4% from the same month last year but down $900k from May 2017.

June’s result extends (albeit just barely) the state’s $20m+ revenue hot streak that began with the still-record $21.7m set in March. The feat was entirely attributable to the casino vertical, which saw revenue rise 23.4% year-on-year to $18.5m, although this was down nearly $500k from May 2017.

But it was the poker vertical that truly stunk out the joint, falling nearly 12% year-on-year to $1.73m, a new record low for the market since the first state-licensed sites launched in November 2013. Poker has traditionally suffered a seasonal summer swoon but it seems the state’s players felt an even stronger call of the wild this year that lured them away from their computers.

The government is at the losing end of the multi-million lease deal that the state-run Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) entered with a private developer in connection with the Army Navy Club casino conversion project.

This was the findings of the Philippine Commission on Audit (COA) as it disallowed the PHP234 million (U$4.6 million) disbursement made by the PAGCOR, according to a report of The Manila Bulletin.

It would be recalled that PAGCOR and Vanderwood Management Corporation inked a PHP3.2 billion (US$63.16 million) deal in 2016 but PAGCOR chair Andrea Domingo approved the use of PHP234 million as advanced payments for the Army and Navy Club rental.

COA, however, pointed out that the disbursement of the PHP234 million was irregular since “there was no leased premises to speak of.” Citing Executive Order No. 201, the state auditor scolded PAGCOR’s Bids and Awards Committee for entering into a lease contract with a sub-lessee.

Digital currencies like bitcoin are nothing new, but what is new is their uptake in iGaming.

Online gambling conferences around the world have been weaving sessions that tackle cryptocurrency into their agendas for several years already. At the iGaming Super Show, the topic of bitcoin is once again being tackled—but this time, it’s to help affiliates map out their strategies involving the digital currency.

On Thursday, digital currency experts including Cryptopay Managing Director Eric Benz, Jamworx CEO Marc Kenigsberg, Dao project manager Aleksandra Fetisova, and RunCPA.com CEO and co-founder Evan Maslennikov will hold a panel on the topic of bitcoin.

The session will cover in detail the benefits of bitcoin to affiliates and their business, such as: What should affiliates take into consideration if they want to accept cryptocurrencies? And what are the potential risks?

Macau police have broken up a loan sharking ring that they thought they’d already broken up earlier this year. Twice.

This week, Macau’s Judiciary Police (PJ) announced the arrests of 15 mainland Chinese individuals suspected of involvement in a loan sharking operation that targeted gamblers at local casinos. Raids on the gang’s office in Macau turned up 15 IOUs involving a total of RMB 7m (US $1m).

This particular gang of loan sharks is proving tough to kill. Speaking to local reporters at a press conference, a PJ spokesperson said the 12 men and three women belonged to the same loan sharking operation that resulted in the arrests of 21 individuals in March and June of this year.

While one of the 15 individuals arrested this week is believed to have been responsible for recruiting and overseeing the gang’s new members, the identity and whereabouts of the gang’s kingpin is proving more elusive. The PJ says it’s cooperating with its counterparts on the mainland to track down and arrest the rest of the operation’s membership.

Absolute Poker co-founder Scott Tom has agreed to forfeit $300k as part of his Black Friday plea deal with US federal prosecutors.

In February, Scott Tom returned to US shores to face multiple felony charges filed nearly six years earlier by the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York as part of the April 15, 2011 ‘Black Friday’ online poker indictments of Absolute Poker, Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars.

On May 31, Tom reached a deal with prosecutors that saw him plead guilty to a single misdemeanor of being an accessory after the fact in the transmission of gambling information. Tom is scheduled to be sentenced on September 28 by US Magistrate Judge Barbara C. Moses.

Documents viewed by CalvinAyre.com indicate that Tom’s plea deal requires him to forfeit $300k, “representing the amount of proceeds traceable to the offense” to which Tom pled guilty. The charge encompassed Tom’s illegal gambling activity between October 2007 and “in or about 2009.”

UK-listed online gambling operator 888 Holdings is the latest operator to trim its payroll as part of a self-described “streamlining” process.

Last week, Israeli media outlets reported that 888 was in the process of laying off ‘several dozen’ of its local staffers, part of the company’s plan to achieve “a reduction in the number of personnel in a number of sites around the world.” The layoffs, along with other ‘efficiency’ measures, are expected to be completed by the end of the month.

888’s global workforce numbers around 1,300, most of which are based out of the company’s offices in Herzliya, a noted tech-hub in the Tel Aviv district. 888’s staff reduction follows hot on the heels of rival betting operator William Hill’s decision to close its Tel Aviv office, resulting in the redundancies of over 200 employees.

The soaring value of the Israeli shekel versus the British pound has been cited as a factor in both companies’ cost-cutting moves, along with the increased cost of operations in many regulated markets. 888 recently joined the flood of operators exiting Poland following the launch of that country’s strictly regulated, punitively taxed online gambling market. 888 also announced its withdrawal from Australia earlier this year.

Instead of requiring bitcoin company Coinbase to submit all of its records, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service is now scaling down its investigation to only include transactions worth $20,000 or more.

The Recorder first reported IRS’s plan to modify its summons, quoting a lawyer from the Department of Justice Tax Division who told a court judge last week that the tax agency is planning to scale down “its request for information from San Francisco-based bitcoin exchange.”

A court filing, titled “Notice of Narrowed Request for Enforcement,” hashed out the new scope of IRS’s request for the Coinbase accounts, stating: “the United States seeks information for users with at least the equivalent of $20,000 in any one transaction type (buy, sell, send, or receive) in any one year during the 2013-15 period.”

The amended summons requests are now limited to name, address, tax identification number, date of birth, account opening records, copies of passport or driver’s license, all wallet addresses as well as the customer’s public keys for all of his or her accounts, wallets or vaults.

Rising Philippine casino operator Udenna Development Corp. targets to break ground the country’s first-ever integrated resort outside Manila in the coming weeks.

BusinessWorld reported that Udenna is set to complete the funding requirements of Lapu-Lapu Leisure Mactan, making it possible for the Dennis Uy-led to break ground before the end of July or August.

Uy announced that local financial institution China Bank has agreed to give a debt component to the project. He said that the bank is “very supportive” that an agreement between the two parties will be inked soon.

While he’s open to forge a partnership with foreign groups, Uy contends that Filipinos can do it on their own.

Australia-based slot machine maker Aristocrat Leisure is on the hunt for a new financial chief financial officer after its current executive, Toni Korsanos, decided not to relocate to Las Vegas.

In a filing to the Australian Securities Exchange, the company said Korsanos will the CFO role will be moving from Sydney to Aristocrat’s Las Vegas operations starting March 2018.

“This move is occurring in the context of the relocation of Chief Executive Officer Trevor Croker to North America later this calendar year,” Aristocrat said, noting that relocating the CFO role “will help ensure continuation” of the partnership between the two executive positions “consistent with the interests of the business.”

Korsanos, however, opted out of the relocation plans, citing “family reasons at this time,” the company stated. This, in turn, prompted Aristocrat to start “a comprehensive global search” for Korsanos’ successor.