Nevada sportsbooks set a new betting handle record for the month of April while overall casino revenue fell shy of the $1b mark for the first time this year.

Figures released Thursday by the Nevada Gaming Control Board show statewide gaming win of $953.7m in April, up nearly 7.6% from the same month last year. Las Vegas Strip casinos reported revenue up 5% to $499.5m, while Downtown casinos surged 15.6% to $60.5m.

April’s gains were largely thanks to slot machines, which gained 10% to $658.9m, while total games & tables revenue nudged up 2.4% to $294.8m. Blackjack led the table tallies with $94.1m (+8%) while baccarat slumped 17.7% to $65.1m. Roulette had a solid month, rising nearly 69% to $31m, but craps lived down to its name, dipping 3.7% to $29.9m.

Nevada’s sportsbook operators reported revenue up 8.1% to $16.3m, marking the 57th straight month the books have beaten the punters. The number would have been far higher had football bettors not cashed in $3.9m worth of outstanding tickets. Overall betting handle hit $316m, the best April result since 2015’s $292m.

Spain’s regulated online gambling market reported significant year-on-year revenue growth in Q1, as poker benefited from its new shared liquidity pool.

Figures released Thursday by Spain’s Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ) regulatory body show total online revenue of €163.3m, up a healthy 28% from the same period last year but a 5.7% decline from Q417’s total.

Sports betting claimed slightly over half (€81.7m) of overall Q1 revenue, up 15.9% year-on-year but down 21.1% sequentially. In-play betting accounted for 62.5% of sports revenue and 67% of betting handle, while pre-game fixed-odds betting claimed 34.9% of revenue and 30.2% of handle.

Online casino revenue surged 51% year-on-year to €56.6m, with online slots claiming over half (52.7%) of the casino total. Live roulette claimed the second largest share chunk at 21.1%, followed by conventional roulette (15.2%) and blackjack (11.8%).

Bookmaker PaddyPower Betfair (PPB) has started returning £500 million (US$667.4 million) to shareholders via a stock buyback as it seeks to reduce the company’s share capital.

PPB plans to implement the share buyback program in tranches that will run over the next 12 to 18 months, the company said in a statement. The maximum number of ordinary shares to be repurchased under the share buyback program will reach 12,692,692.

For the first tranche, PPB intends to give back £200 million ($267 million) in the next three months, subject to market conditions. The Dublin-based wagering firm said ordinary shares may be repurchased on both the London Stock Exchange and the Irish Stock Exchange, trading as Euronext Dublin.

PPB has tapped international investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to repurchase the shares on its behalf.

Revenue of Greek gaming operator Intralot S.A. grew by as much 4.3 percent in the first three months of 2018, with sports betting fueling the company’s financial growth.

In a regulatory filing, the Athens-listed company announced that its consolidated revenue was at €280.7 million ($327.25 million) for the three months ending March 2018, higher than the €269 million ($313.7 million) it reported in the same period last year.

Gross gaming revenue also grew by 2.5 percent to €141.5 million ($165.02 million) in Q1 2018 from 138.1 million during the previous year, with sports betting being the largest contributor to its top line, followed by lottery games, according to Intralot.

Financial records showed that Intralot’s sports betting arm posted an 11.9 percent growth while its lottery division contributed 29.7 percent to the company’s turnover. Meanwhile, technology contracts and VLTs accounted for 6.2 percent and 2.8 percent of the group’s turnover. Finally, racing constituted the 2.4 percent of Intralot’s total revenues in Q1 2018.

The State of Iowa has found an unlikely ally in its quest to block the Ponca Tribe from opening a casino in Carter Lake.

According to Omaha World-Herald, the state of Nebraska has joined Iowa in its federal lawsuit seeking to stop the development of a casino on five acres of land in Carter Lake, which is owned by the Ponca Tribe.

Nebraska named the National Indian Gaming Commission and the U.S. Department of the Interior, which administers the Bureau of Indian Affairs, as its defendants.

The two states have different reasons why they wanted to stop the Ponca Tribe from constructing a casino. Nebraska, where casino gambling remains illegal, fears that the opening of Ponca casino will result in the rise of problem gamblers in its own backyard. Iowa, on the other hand, is concerned that the opening of the tribal casino will result in less tax revenue collection from non-Indian gambling outlets in the state.

Last May 21, International Game Technology Plc (IGT) reported first-quarter revenue of $1.21 billion, a 5% increase year-on-year. It also reported a 65% increase of operating income, reaching $197 million for the same period. Despite the significant gains, just barely a week later, the company saw its stock value slide 16.2% from a May 14 high of $30.59 to $25.64. That fall came following reports of political uncertainty in Italy—where IGT has a substantial footprint—and, now, analysts with Deutsch Bank Securities Inc. (DBS) say that the market overreacted.

In a report, a copy of which was obtained by GGRAsia, DBS analysts Carlo Santarelli and Danny Valoy called the decline “overdone,” noting that the drop in stock price was unnecessary. The pair said, “We attribute the weakness to the following, in no specific order: 1) the secondary offering of 13.2 million [IGT] shares; 2) concerns around the euro; 3) concerns around Italian regulation given government uncertainty; and 4) a more trading-oriented shareholder base.”

The analysts further explained, “For every EUR0.01 move [softening] in the euro, relative to the U.S. dollar, IGT’s annual EBITDA is impacted by US$9 million. This is purely a translation impact and has no impact on cash/cash flow. Further, we would note that roughly half of IGT’s debt is denominated in euros, and as such, the face value of debt declines by approximately US$35 million for every EUR0.01 the euro moves lower.”

There has been political turmoil brewing in Italy for the past several years, stemming from the financial crisis from 2007 to 2009. Talks of a possible exit from the European Union (EU) have begun to surface, and have had an impact on the markets throughout the EU and the United States. However, the country’s interim prime minister, Carlos Cottarelli, has begun working diligently with legislators to avoid having the issue turn into a larger ordeal.

This week, the Udenna Development Corporation (UDEVCO) began work on ‘The New Center,’ a new central business district in Clark Global City in the Philippines’ Clark Freeport Zone (CFZ). It’s part of a 10-year plan that will see UDEVCO inject more than $5 billion into the area, including the construction of a casino and an entertainment complex, according to local media reports.

Udenna’s Chairman and CEO, Dennis Uy, said of the investment, “We are developing what will become the Philippines’ new center of business, life and innovation,” adding that the group had just acquired 177 hectares (437 acres) in the CFZ. He further stated, “Clark Global City will offer a global business destination and spur economic transformation outside of Metro Manila, complementing the government’s efforts to spread growth across the country.”

Clark Global City will be the home of top-grade office buildings, academic and sports centers, upscale retail markets and a hotel and casino. There will also be a large entertainment complex with the possibility of another casino being added by a different Udenna subsidiary.

The development, due to its location inside the CFZ, is perfect to offer an ideal economic, regulatory and operating environment. It offers direct access to Clark International Airport, located 10 minutes away. A new terminal at the airport is currently being built and, when complete, will provide a direct link to the road that leads to the development.

Erik Seidel is one of the most successful (albeit quiet) players in poker. He has eight WSOP bracelets, a WPT title and an EPT title. Over the long career, the New Yorker has accumulated more than $34.5 million in live action and was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2010. He recently traveled to Las Vegas for the Super High Roller Bowl (SHRB), but was sent to the rail early in the tournament. Since he was in Vegas with nothing else to do, he decided he wanted to see the first game of NHL’s Stanley Cup championship between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Washington Capitals, and set out to score a couple of hard-to-find tickets. His wish was answered, but they came with a strange twist—he had to dress as Elvis Presley.

On May 27, Seidel posted on Twitter, “Looking for 2 Golden Knights [tickets] for [tomorrow]…” The following morning, he returned to Twitter, saying that his request had been answered. He didn’t specify the supplier, but tweeted, “Got offered Golden Knights tickets on the glass, but I’d have to dress as Elvis.  I love this town.”

In photos published on Twitter, the 58-year-old Seidel was seen in costume, along with about 11 other Elvis impersonators. He didn’t have the famous Elvis sunglasses or sideburns, but he did wear a rhinestone white jumpsuit often associated with “The King.” All of the impersonators were wearing the same jumpsuit—many with the sideburns and glasses—and they all had the Golden Knights logo emblazoned on the back.

Elvis is in the building pic.twitter.com/GJKOhyfpTP

Justin Bonomo has won back-to-back Super High Roller Bowl events after adding the Las Vegas title to the one he won in China after beating Daniel Negreanu in heads-up action.

Justin Bonomo is the winner of the Super High Roller Bowl (SHRB) capping off a remarkable 2018 that has seen him win close to $14m in live tournaments with the World Series of Poker (WSOP) flashing a thigh around a bedroom door just a few miles from here.

Bonomo’s consistency in the most significant events in the world is second to none, but only recently has he managed to cross the finishing line with more accuracy including back-to-back SHRB victories after winning SHRB China a few months ago for close to $5m.

His win sees him move to #3 in the All-Time Money Earned charts in the Hendon Mob with close to $32m, leapfrogging Daniel Colman and Antonio Esfandiari, two of the three people to earn more in a calendar year than Bonomo (both won the One Drop). The other player who has received more is Fedor Holz who won $16m in 2016, a target that’s well within the sights of the American.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsc_dtnr_2U]

When I learned Calvin was going to be in London on May 25th, his 57th birthday, I told him I’d help organize a casual celebration with friends. First person I called was Michael Caselli and we threw around some ideas, next person I called was Jodie Thind for more ideas and the three of us then met in person to get the ball rolling.

Around the same time, I stopped by my boyfriend’s restaurant Tziganos and a regular customer was there to change her reservation. I couldn’t help but notice her American accent, so we got chatting (as us Americans sometimes tend to do) and was straight away drawn to her positive energy.

During our brief conversation I learned Julie Girgenti has her own luxury events planning company Exceptional Events, she and I randomly have a mutual iGaming industry friend (Lee-Ann Johnstone) and she is interested in learning more about the cryptocurrency world.  We agreed to meet up for a drink the following weekend to continue our discussion.