Nordic online gambling operator Betsson AB continues its losing streak in the first three months of 2018 as betting duties and record-high gambling taxes cancelled out its gains for the quarter.

At first glance, Betsson’s financial report for the three months ending March 31, 2018, looked promising. Figures released Wednesday showed that Betsson’s revenue grew 10 percent to SEK1.21 billion ($141.13 million) during the first quarter of 2018 compared to last year’s SEK1.1 billion ($128.3 million).

The Stockholm-listed gaming operator attributed the revenue increase to the strength of its casino segment, which climbed 12 percent to SEK922.8 million ($107.6 million) in the January to March 2018 period from SEK822.9 million ($95.98 million) during the first quarter of 2017.

“The growth was mainly from casino, where we saw continued growth in Western Europe,” Betsson CEO Pontus Lindwall said in a statement.

Billionaire Sheldon Adelson is planning to bet more money in Asia after his gambling facilities in Macau and Singapore have brought more money to casino operator Las Vegas Sands Corp. during the first quarter of 2018.

In a regulatory filing, Sands announced that its net revenue in the three-month period was at $3.58 billion, up 16.7 percent from $3.11 billion in the same period in 2017. The figures exceeded most analysts’ expectations of $3.36 billion. Sands’ reported profit of $1.04 a share also exceeded analysts’ expectation of 85-cent average.

On the other hand, the casino operator’s consolidated adjusted property earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) leaped 30.7 percent to a record of $1.50 billion this year.

The success of Sands during the first quarter of the year lies on the strength of its brick-and-mortar facilities in Macau and Singapore, which have both posted double-digit percentage growth. The firm’s Las Vegas operation also provided additional support to its first quarter revenue.

Catching up on the lives of three of poker’s most colorful players just got a little easier. Documentaries on the players are now on YouTube and, obviously, are available for free. The short programs, titled “Pokerography,” walk the viewers through a condensed version of their lives, providing highlights as well as the paths they took to become who they are today.

The first documentary covers Poker Brat Phil Hellmuth. Known for his tirades that can endure for 20 minutes (or, on occasion, an entire tournament), Hellmuth is one of poker’s most outspoken players. He was one of the pioneers of million-dollar poker winnings, having gotten into the game in the early 1980s and has gone on to earn over $22 million in live action. He has 14 WSOP bracelets and 131 WSOP cash finishes. The documentary covers his life from the time he was a middling student to his success and fame as one of poker’s greatest players.

Hellmuth’s start came after beating Johnny Chan in heads-up action in the 1989 WSOP Main Event. Chan’s the second poker player covered by the Pokerography documentaries, which detailed his rise to fame following his emigration to the U.S. as a young child. Chan was winning so much poker at local games when he was still a teenager that people began refusing to play against him. He won the WSOP Main Event in 1987 and repeated the feat the following year. He probably would have gone on to win his third consecutively title if it weren’t for the Poker Brat.

The third documentary covers Chris Moneymaker, probably the most infamous Texas Hold’em player in history. Many feel that the rise in popularity of Texas Hold’em was influenced by Moneymaker’s WSOP Main Event win in 2003. Moneymaker had earned his entry into the event through a $40 buy-in game at PokerStars, going on to take down the tournament and some established heavy-hitters. The documentary talks about how the 27-year-old, a penniless accountant out of Tennessee, got his start in poker and changed the game forever.

Greece was once a powerhouse among nations. The times changed, and the Mediterranean country has recently found itself scrambling for economic assistance, having more than once been bailed out by the European Union (EU). Recently, the island country decided to take a stand and work on becoming self-sufficient again. The move has proven to be a smart one, as one of the largest gaming operators in the country, OPAP, saw substantial increases in revenue last year.

Legalizing VLTs in the country has resulted in considerable revenues for the state’s coffers. According to reports, the regulated gambling sector brought in €662 million ($805.89 million) in gross gaming revenue taxes in 2017, about €35 million ($42.6 million) higher than 2016. Still, the government work isn’t done—data from Financial Police showed that there are more than 100,000 VLTs still operating illegally in the country.

The government attributed the rise in GGR tax revenue mostly to online gambling service providers, whose contributions grew by €23 million ($28 million) last year. OPAP’s contribution was also up by €16 million ($19.47 million).

The company recently reported its Q4 earnings and recorded revenue of €1 billion ($1.2 billion) from video lotto terminals (VLT). OPAP operates a total of about 10,000 VLTs in the country and recently was granted authorization to expand, which could push those numbers up to around 25,000.

“Lucky Six” is a popular side bet in baccarat found in many casinos around Asia as well as at the Las Vegas Sands in Nevada. The bet pays out any winning banker hand that has a face value of six; if the hand is composed of three cards, the payout is 20 to 1 and 12 to 1 if it’s composed of two cards. Lucky Six has now been approved by Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ), and was announced through Macau’s Official Gazette this week.

A DICJ spokesperson told GGRAsia the decision to revise the baccarat was made “to add a new betting option for the game type, so that there will be more variety in the ways of betting for the patrons.” The DICJ typically introduces new gambling options and games based on requests by casino operators, but didn’t specify whether or not this change came about due to a specific request.

While the betting option is now on the table, it isn’t required to be used by all casinos. The casino operators can choose whether or not they want it to become part of the regular lineup.

Baccarat is Macau’s game of choice. In 2017, it brought in 88.4%—$29 billion—of the city’s gross gaming revenue.  Of this, over half came from high-stakes baccarat. Lucky Six now joins other baccarat betting options, such as Dragon Seven and three progressive jackpot variants. In Dragon 7, a three-card banker hand totaling seven pays 40 to 1 while anything else pays zero.

Horseracing remains Australia’s favorite gambling activity, despite the headline-grabbing rantings of anti-gambling activists regarding the rise of sports betting.

Roy Morgan Research recently released its latest Gambling Currency Report, which showed horseracing accounting for 50.9% of Australia’s total betting market (62.3% if you include harness racing). Sports betting managed only a 25% share, followed by greyhound racing at 12.5% and those aforementioned harness trotters at 11.4%.

Australia’s top two domestic sports leagues led the sports betting brigade, with 7.6% of sports wagers on the National Rugby League, while the Australian Football League claimed a 6.8% share. The catch-all ‘other’ category claimed the remaining 10.7%.

The Report revealed that 10.5% of Aussie adults (over 2m) had made a bet of some kind in the previous three months, with men (13.9%) more likely than women (7.3%) to have answered ‘yes’ to that question.

An LA-based entrepreneur has created the world’s first fan-controlled American football league managed on the Ethereum blockchain, but what does that mean for gambling?

As I watch the worm wriggling in the apple, for that split second – before I realise that the other half is in my mouth – I wonder if God is pissing himself laughing.

I’m not a religious man. I don’t believe in Arks, burning bushes or men that can walk on water. But I could be convinced that I, and the fragments of worm that I’ve just spat onto the kerb, are nothing more than avatars controlled by some spotty super mutant called God.

If that were true, I would be part of the greatest video game ever created.