South Korea’s largest casino operator Paradise Co. Ltd suffered yet another multi-million losses in the second quarter of the year despite the opening of its newest casino resort Paradise City.

In a disclosure to the Korean Composite Stock Price Index, the casino operator announced incurred an operating loss of KRW27.3 billion (US$24.24 million) in April to July 2017 period against KRW32.8 billion (US$29.31 million) a year earlier.

Total revenue of Paradise Co. from sales plummets 26 percent to KRW139.9 billion (US$124.3 million) in the second quarter, with casino sales tumbling to 31.1 percent to KRW114.9 billion (US$102.05 million) in April to June 2017 period.

The company attributed the dismal performance of their gaming segments to weak VIP luck during the reporting period, as well as a decline in the number of Chinese VIP customers, as a result of a diplomatic row between South Korea and China.

Canadian regulator has suspended the trading of Great Canadian Gaming Corp’s (GCGC) stocks ahead of the awarding of the control of gambling operations in Ontario.

GCGC is one of the three remaining gambling operators vying for the control of the Greater Toronto Area’s (GTA) gambling operations. Malaysian-based conglomerate Genting BHD and US-based Caesars Entertainment are also bidding on the multi-billion dollar deal.

The Globe and Mail reported that The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp (OLG). Is set to announce the winning bid on Thursday but the sudden surge of GCGC stocks last week has fueled speculations that the announcement will come at an earlier time.

Data from the Toronto Stock Exchange showed that GCGC’s stock surged five percent in four days last week and closed at CAD25.43 (US$20.06) per share last Thursday.

Australian slot machine manufacturer Aristocrat confirmed that a Russian hacker who claimed to be able to turn casino machines into virtual ATMs tried to extort the company.

The St. Petersburg-based hacker, who went by the name Alex, told tech magazine Wired in a lengthy interview that he made millions of dollars through a venture built on his talent for reverse engineering the pseudorandom number generators (PRNGs), which govern how slot machine games behave.

Alex, who described himself as a mathematician and programmer, has “a legion of field agents” visiting casinos in different countries around the world to record video of the machines on their phones. Four of these agents were convicted of fraud charges in the United States several years ago.

Back in Russia, Alex and the rest of the team would analyze the video to determine when the machine’s odds would favor a payout. Then, they send “timing data” through a custom app on the agent’s phone—a strategy that could earn the team more than $250,000 weekly.

Philippine-listed technology provider PhilWeb Corporation continues to gobble up Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) eGames sites in the country despite the state regulator’s position against these gaming parlors.

In Monday’s regulatory filing, PhilWeb informed the Philippine Stock Exchange that the company, through its subsidiary BigGame, Inc. purchased e-Games sites from I-3 Gamers, Inc. in exchange for 225,000 PhilWeb shares.

PhilWeb priced the shares at P9.31 apiece, putting the transaction at P2.09 million.

This is the fourth time that PhilWeb acquired PAGCOR eGames parlors as it awaits the nod of the state regulator for it to be able to operate again.

This is a guest contribution by Chris Hickman is the Founder and CEO at Adficient. If you would like to submit a contribution please contact Bill Beatty for submission details. Thank you.

Advertising any sort of gambling site online is a tough sell. Google makes casinos and online gambling sites jump through numerous hoops to get listed depending on the eligibility. This makes some online gaming operators turn to Search Engine Optimization as the primary method of driving targeted interest based traffic, users and players.This is easier said than done, but it can be done.

Back in 2014, we were approached by a long-running online bingo and slots company that had dropped down the rankings over the years. They wanted to get back on Google, fix their SEO to receive at least the market share they had back in the days. Frankly, the SEO profile of this site was a mess. It took considerable time, resources, and of course, coffee to fix the underlying problems, but since things are back to normal it’s possible to optimize it further and perform better in search engines competing and winning against competitors.

We want to share some of the things we did so you can assess whether or not your online gambling site might need some SEO tweaks.

Macau authorities arrested 10 people allegedly involved in an illegal proxy betting ring, local media reported.

According to Macau TDM, the arrested people were nabbed in casino VIP club in Macau’s ZAPE district and a residential unit in Nape. The suspects were accused of helping gamblers in mainland China bet in Macau casinos through a mobile application.

The group, which has been operating since the end of 2016, has received at least HK$6.3 million (US$805,291) in their proxy betting business, Macau authorities was quoted by the news outlet saying.

News of the arrests came almost two months after authorities broke up a similar online proxy betting ring in the special administrative region.

The dollar index is in dangerous territory and bitcoin may be sniffing it out. The 14-day relative strength index (RSI) for the index is oversold for the first time in at least 5 years. The 50 day moving average is starting to slope downward for the first time since the 2014 oil crash. The only good news for dollar bulls is that it just bounced off the 200 day moving average, just half a point above three-year support levels at 91.88.

The dollar is flirting with its last major support level post the late 2014/early 2015 advance. If and when that level breaks, the next support level is around 86, and after that 80.

Meanwhile, the dreaded bitcoin fork was much ado about nothing. The dollar price of bitcoin didn’t flinch throughout the whole ordeal. When it was clear the system wouldn’t implode, price spiked again to $3,400, a more than 25% rise pre fork. Now imagine what would happen to the dollar price of bitcoin if the dollar index plunges through its last support.

I see very little chance of the dollar rising from here. With the US economy at full employment, the Trump administration going all out tariffs blazing and slapping sanctions left and right, there are going to be more dollars for less goods pretty soon.

James Packer’s Crown Resorts is pulling out all the stops to expand the growth of its digital business, currently the lone bright spot for the Australian casino operator.

On Friday, The Australian reported that Crown Resorts will introduce a line-up of “skill-based” electronic games via its Chill Gaming joint venture.

Chill Gaming, a joint venture between Crown and New Gaming Pty Ltd, is working on “a new generation of arcade-style gambling machines that determine payouts on player ability as well as chance,” according to the report.

New Gaming Pty Ltd is owned by the founders of electronic gaming machines developer and manufacturer Wymac Gaming Solutions.