Switzerland’s plans to block the domains of internationally licensed gambling sites will face a voter referendum after opponents successfully gathered enough signatures.

On Thursday, a coalition of Swiss political party youth groups, internet service providers and civil liberty advocates submitted a 60k-signature petition protesting the government’s plan to block international gambling operators from accepting action from Swiss punters.

The government approved new gambling laws last year that will allow Swiss land-based casino operators to offer online gambling services, while ensuring there’s no competition from unauthorized international sites. The land-based operators have long blamed international sites for their falling revenue, despite recent evidence to the contrary.

But Swiss law states that any new law can be challenged by voters if at least 50k voters sign a petition within 100 days of a new law’s passage. The anti-blocking campaign easily exceeded that total by the January 18 deadline. The government must now validate the signatures before setting a referendum date.

Macau police have arrested the prime suspect of this week’s brazen theft of $6.1m in gaming chips from the Wynn Macau casino.

On Friday, Macau’s Judiciary Police (PJ) announced the arrest of the suspected chip thief, a 49-year-old Wynn Macau VIP gambling club croupier surnamed Lei, and Lei’s 70-year-old uncle Ho, a Wynn Macau security guard who police have fingered as Lei’s accomplice.

The two men were arrested on Thursday evening at a park in Taipa and were delivered to the Prosecution Office the following day. Police said only HKD20k of the HKD47.9m worth of stolen chips has been recovered to date, and the suspects have so far kept mum about the whereabouts of the remaining chips.

PJ officials told local reporters that Lei walked out of Wynn Macau at 7am on Tuesday after finishing his shift at a VIP gambling club. Lei reportedly warned the only other colleague on duty at that hour to “stay quiet” before stuffing the chips into a bag, after which Lei casually strolled out the door and made good his escape on a motorcycle.

Australian gambling juggernaut Federal Group is no longer taking the threats to eliminate pokies in pubs and clubs sitting down.

The company, which has been holding the exclusive right to operate casinos, pokies, and keno throughout Tasmania, is now on the offensive as it launches a series of advertisements defending poker machines, ABC News reported.

The advertisements feature 11 real-life staff who are worried about their future should the government decides to remove all pokies in pubs and clubs. Federal Group Managing Director Greg Farrell said the workers participated in the advertisements of their own volition and that no one forced them to act in front of the camera.

“They gave up their holidays to film content for the campaign, providing unscripted responses to questions on their feelings about Tasmania, Federal Group and the future,” Farrell said, according to the news outlet. “There are sensible options for the future of Tasmania’s gaming industry but Labor and the Greens’ policy goes too far.”

Casino operator Delta Corp. faces a bright future ahead after international brokerage Union Gaming forecast casino gaming in the Indian state of Goa will hit the $1 billion mark in the next couple of years.

In its latest note, Union Gaming analyst Grant Govertsen recommended a buy rating for Delta Corp. as it expects the casino operator’s revenue to grow 34 percent this year on the back of improving infrastructure and a greater acceptance of gaming in India.

“Delta is India’s premier gaming operator with dominant position in India’s leading holiday destination, Goa (riverboat casinos), a leading presence in India’s online gaming space, and significant and real (and under-appreciated) opportunities to transform India’s casino gaming market into a regional powerhouse,” Govertsen said.

Union Gaming’s optimism on the Goa’s casino gaming is based on the Indian state’s plan to transition from riverboat to land based. For years now, Goa’s government has been trying to find a new temporary location for its floating casinos, but ‘not in my backyard’ attitudes seemed to prevail wherever the government suggested alternatives.

Macau’s Court of First Appeal handed a guilty verdict against the former operators of Beijing Imperial Palace Hotel for violating the special administrative region’s labor laws.

Macau News Agency reported that the court ordered Macau Hotel Developers Ltd and Greek Mythology (Macau) Entertainment Group Corporation Limited to pay some MOP4.43 million ($550,250.30) in fines as it upheld the class suit of affected Beijing Imperial Palace Hotel workers.

The court said the companies’ violations have something to do with arrears of salaries, overtime payment, and lack of compensation of holidays, including weekends, annual leaves and mandatory holidays.

Out of the total fine, the court ruled that four administrators of the companies must pay MOP2.5 million ($310,525). The magistrates also ordered the defendants to compensate the affected workers accordingly.

New York state’s newest casino Resorts World Catskills is moving up its launch date to coincide with the Chinese Lunar New Year celebration.

On Thursday, Montreign Operating Co LLC, a subsidiary of Empire Resorts Inc, which is itself controlled by Malaysian conglomerate Genting, announced it was moving up the grand opening of Resorts World Catskills from March 1 to February 8 (pending regulatory approval).

The casino has decided it wants to time its opening with the arrival of the Chinese Year of the Dog, which officially gets underway on February 16. The Catskills venue is located 90 miles north of New York City, and the venue evidently hopes to lure many of the Big Apple’s Chinese ex-pat community as well as any high-rolling international guests who may land at JFK.

The property’s Lunar New Year plans include a traditional dragon dance and what Resorts World Catskills CEO Ryan Eller called “red envelope surprises,’ while the 100k-square-foot casino floor will devote at least 30% of its space to Asian-centric table games.

Sports prediction contest operator WinView Games is launching paid-entry versions of its contests across most of the United States.

Last May, WinView Inc. raised $12m in financing to fund the next generation of its free-to-play prediction service. WinView customers form pools in which they compete against each other to see who can more accurately predict a selection of in-play-style prop wagers on NFL, NBA and MLB games, as well as MMA bouts and other sports.

Winners of WinView contests were paid in virtual WinCoins, but these could be redeemed for real cash. WinView’s model was deemed legal because players didn’t pay a fee to enter contests.

At the time of that fundraising round, WinView confirmed it was developing a pay-to-play option. On January 4, WinView launched its first Paid Contests in five US states. Three days later, 31 more states were added to the mix, and the company says it will eventually be available in 41 states.

Lee Davy spends a lazy Thursday afternoon in the cinema watching Aaron Sorkin’s Molly’s Game and explains why he believes it’s the greatest movie about poker that’s not really about poker.

I had a statement prepared.

It wasn’t verbal. The weapons inside my mouth crushed between hard to reach molars. Crisps. It seems the crunch is too much for the woman sitting in front of me.

A couple shuffles in front of her.