To sell Luxbet or not to sell Luxbet – that is the question.

Australian betting Tabcorp is now deliberating whether to dispose their Northern Territory-licensed online betting brand Luxbet for the sake of its harmonious marriage with rival Tatts Group.

Should the company decides to let go of Luxbet, the next question that comes to Tabcorp’s mind is whether to close the business or sell it to an overseas corporate bookmaker.

The Australian Financial Review reported that the Tabcorp management is now weighing the pros and cons of putting Luxbet on the business chopping block. Though Luxbet made an earnings before interest and tax loss of AUD13 million (US$10.3 million), Tabcorp chief executive David Attenborough said it was effectively on “starvation rations.”

Donald Trump’s business dealings have come under fine again after a company linked to the U.S. president has applied for a casino trademark in the world’s largest gaming hub—Macau.

Quoting online documents from the Macau government, the South China Morning Post reported that the special administrative region has given DTTM Operations LLC four trademark approvals last June 7. The trademarks cover “gambling and casino services and facilities,” real estate services, construction and development, as well as hotel property, food and beverage and conference facilities.

Delaware-based DTTM Operations listed the address of Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in New York, according to the report.

Before he was the leader of the free world, Trump was a real estate developer with a sprawling business empire. The Trump Organization used to have a stake in Trump Entertainment Resorts, which used to operate casinos in California, Indiana and Atlantic City but has since been reduced to the struggling Trump Taj Mahal, which was officially acquired for $50 million by Hard Rock International in May.

Seventy-seven alleged members of an online gambling group in Fiji were flown back to China over the weekend, according to media reports.

Chinese state media outlet Xinhua reported that the arrested people were involved in more than 50 cases, targeting victims in mainland China. The group, which had been operating from China, Indonesia and Fiji, pocketed close to $900,000 from their scheme, according to reports.

The report stated that a team of Chinese police, sent to Fiji last July 2, arrested the group last July 18 in a series of raids that saw five dens destroyed. Authorities also confiscated mobile phones, computers, bank cards and other equipment.

There was no mention if there was a formal extradition process for the arrested people.

Greek authorities are looking to cut the number of video lottery terminals (VLTs) that gaming monopoly OPAP operates in the country.

On Friday, ekathimerini.com reported that the Finance Ministry has tabled a bill seeking to slash the number of VLTs to 25,000, so that there will be “a more effective supervision by the authorities” as well as giving residents “smaller exposure to gambling.”

OPAP, Europe’s fourth-biggest betting operator, was given the greenlight last year to roll out 35,000 machines in the country. The company said it will finish the installation of 16,500 terminals by May 2018, while its suppliers—IGT, Inspired Gaming, Scientific Games and Synot Group—will provide the remaining 18,500 machines.

OPAP offers sports betting and lottery products in about 5,750 outlets in Greece and Cyprus via a revenue-sharing scheme with agents. The betting operator has been punting on its new VLT business to become a catalyst for future growth, although the costs of the rollout caused OPAP’s net profit to fall 8.7 percent, reaching €39 million in the first quarter of 2017.

MP Tracey Crouch, the chief of the government review team investigating the potential max buy-in change for Fixed Betting Odds Terminal machines, has called the Daily Mail’s allegations that Chancellor Philip Hammond is blocking any progress as ‘fake news.’ 

The electronic roulette machine in my mate’s local bookies winks at him as he places his bets on the gee-gees.

Frank, is one of a myriad of people shovelling £1.8 billion per year into the mouth’s of these machines, commonly referred to in the press as Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs).

He doesn’t win.

The American Gaming Association has tightened up their Code of Conduct in the wake of a series of high profile crimes relating to gambling addiction and debt.

The American Gaming Association (AGA) has underlined an interesting and instructional roundtable in Las Vegas this week, by amending their Code of Conduct for the first time in four years.

The casino industry’s largest lobby group announced the changes at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas leg of their Responsible Gaming Education Week. Stockton University, outside Atlantic City, put on the buffet lunch for the first pow-wow.

The changes mean mobile and interactive gambling policy join land-based gambling guidelines for the first time. Other significant changes include greater transparency on game odds, payouts, and advertisements, to reduce the likelihood that a punter believes he or she stands a chance of winning any money from a casino. Also, enhanced training for casino employees to become better at spotting potential ‘problem gambling’ scenarios, and education and treatment for those bitten by the bug.

The founder of The Australian Online Poker Alliance (AOPA) has told poker players that a recent inquiry to ascertain the future of online poker in Australia was a success.

Game of Thrones character Jorah Mormont has six months before greyscale hides his flesh forever, and turns his mind to mush. Beyond that point, he becomes a Stone Man, and the same fate awaits online poker in Australia.

In March, the Australian government decided it was time to crackdown on the proliferation of in-play online gambling. The result was The Interactive Gambling Amendment Bill, but the giant net the bill makers cast over the online gambling industry inadvertently dragged online poker into the draft law along with the other starfish.

Poker lover Joseph Del Luca formed The Australian Online Poker Alliance (AOPA) to try and make the politicians see the illogical nature of packing online poker into the same box as online sports betting. Del Luca found support throughout the online poker industry, and within the Senate, as Liberal Democrat, David Leyonhjelm, took the corner of Del Luca, in their fight to allow Australians to make their own mind up about the perils of playing online poker.

As bitcoin continues to make history, it also brings to light a ghost from the cryptocurrency’s not-so-distant past: How secured are the coins on wallets and exchanges?

Several weeks ago, authorities arrested BTC-e owner Alexander Vinnik on allegations of laundering $4 billion in cash through the virtual currency exchange. Vinnik was also linked to the demise of Japan-based Mt. Gox bitcoin exchange, and his arrest brought forth suspicions on whether he is responsible for the 850,000 bitcoin that the now-defunct bitcoin exchange lost.

Bitcoin technology research and development outfit nChain believes that before bitcoin adoption can grow any further, consumers and operators need to be sure that their private keys cannot be stolen.

Fending off future Mt. Gox-type hacks

The price of bitcoin has shot up—again—into record territory, less than a week after the network split that worried some investors.

Bitcoin leaped more than 16 percent and hit a new all-time high of $3,360.87 on Saturday, according to CoinDesk data. By Sunday, the digital currency has settled down to $3,241.05 with a market capitalization of $53.5 billion, according to Bitcoin.com.

This is the first time that bitcoin reached $3,000 since June, when it powered through the $2,000 barrier, which analysts chalked up to several factors, most notably the increased demand from investors in Japan and China.

In an interview with CNBC, BlockTower Capital CIO Ari Paul chalked up the weekend’s gains “to a brief rally” following a “relatively uneventful” split.

Democrat Senator, Ray Lesniak, vows to turn New Jersey into the mecca of Internet gaming, by amending state online gambling laws to open up the possibility of shared liquidity with national and international parties.

What a brilliant show Ozark is.

Watch it.

In one scene, a young man walks into a supermarket to buy a semi-automatic weapon, and then walks out, and hands it to a child.

888Poker inadvertently released a new game called ‘Flopomania’ before removing it, and apologising to players for the ‘technical incident,’ but was it a mistake, or brilliant marketing? 

I blame Doug Polk.

Ever since the One Drop High Roller champ reminded us of infamous Bobby Ewing ‘It was all a dream’ Dallas episode, I have been questioning my sanity.

Am I awake?