Having missed the Asian casino boom, Caesars Entertainment is betting on non-gaming hotels for international growth.

On Sunday, Caesars announced that it had inked a letter of intent with Dubai-based Meraas Holdings LLC to manage two luxury hotels and a beach club at Meraas’ man-made Bluewaters Island development. The five-star properties will be branded as Caesars Palace Bluewaters Dubai and Caesars Bluewaters Dubai.

The hotels, which are expected to open in Q4 2018, are part of Caesars non-gaming international expansion plans. Caesars hired a new executive team last summer to help guide its non-gaming ambitions and “unlock new growth channels,” according to CEO Mark Frissora.

Dubai is the largest city in the United Arab Emirates, a Muslim country with decidedly harsh views on the issue of gambling. On the plus side, consumption of alcohol by non-Muslims is permitted in licensed venues at upscale hotels, so gamblers attracted by the Caesars Palace signage will at least be able to drown their disappointment at the hotels’ 12 restaurants and bars.

Australian online gaming operator PlayUp has bolstered its down under presence via the acquisition of betting operator ClassicBet and Topbetta’s retail betting business.

On Friday, PlayUp Australia Pty Ltd announced that it had struck a deal to acquire corporate bookmaker Classicbet Pty Ltd, which holds an online and telephone betting license in the state of New South Wales. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but PlayUp claims Classicbet is a “mid-tier” wagering operator that handles annual wagers of around A$200m.

On Monday, PlayUp announced that it was acquiring the retail bookmaking operations of Australian operator TopBetta, which has chosen to shift its focus to growing its Global Tote operation. The deal will cost PlayUp A$6m in cash and 800m of PlayUp’s Ethereum-based PlayChip Utility Token cryptocurrency (more on this later).

The two deals follow last week’s announcement that PlayUp had acquired the DraftStars fantasy sports operation from Australian online betting operator CrownBet, which was itself recently acquired by PokerStars parent company The Stars Group.

Macau casinos reported nearly equal growth in both VIP and mass market gaming in the first quarter of 2018, putting the market on solid footing for further growth this year.

Figures released Monday by Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) show total casino gaming revenue of MOP 76.5b (US$9.46b) in the three months ending March 31. That’s 20.5% higher than the same period last year, and nearly 6% higher than the MOP 72.3b recorded in the fourth quarter of 2017.

VIP gaming revenue was up 21% to just under MOP 43b, representing a 52.6% share of the overall market, roughly on par with Q417’s share. Overall mass market revenue (counting slot machines) was up 19.9% year-on-year to MOP 33.5b.

Union Gaming analyst Grant Govertsen called the figures “good news on dual fronts,” noting that VIP growth “remains strong yet not sky high,” which he said was both more sustainable from a business perspective and less likely to attract unwanted political attention from the inquiring minds in Beijing.

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn has sold his Tropicana Entertainment casino business to regional operator Eldorado Resorts in a deal worth $1.85b.

On Monday, Eldorado announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the casino operations of Tropicana Entertainment Inc. for $640m in cash.

The deal involves seven casino properties in six states: the Tropicana Laughlin and the MontBleu in Nevada, Indiana’s Tropicana Evansville, Louisiana’s Belle of Baton Rouge, Mississippi’s Trop Casino Greenville, Missouri’s Lumière Place and the Tropicana Casino in Atlantic City.

The properties operate a combined 7,900 slots, 265 gaming tables, 5,400 hotel rooms and various dining, retail and entertainment options. The additions will bring Eldorado’s total operations to 27 properties offering 26,800 slots and VLTs, over 800 tables and more than 12,500 hotel rooms.