Spanish gaming giant Codere took a serious profit hit in Q1 despite strong growth in Spain and Italy.

Figures released Friday show Codere’s operating revenue falling 5.4% year-on-year to €383.3m in the three months ending March 31. Earnings fell 12.6% to €56m, operating profit dipped 22.2% to €27.9m while net income slumped 70.3% to just €800k.

Codere blamed much of the negative trajectory on the dramatic depreciation of many Latin American currencies versus the US dollar during the period. (The same currency fluctuations provided much of the gains reported Thursday by The Stars Group, which primarily deals in US dollars.)

Codere’s mainstay operations in Argentina took the biggest revenue hit, falling nearly one-fifth to €122.7m. To illustrate the number that the currency fluctuations did on Codere in Q1, Argentine market revenue actually improved 16.7% to €177.7m in constant currency (CC) terms.

Italy’s regulated sports betting market suffered a bit of a setback in April, but don’t blame online operators.

Figures published Friday by Italian gaming news outlet Agimeg show total sports betting turnover of €955m in the month of April, down nearly 5% from the same month last year. Betting revenue was also negative, falling 2% year-on-year to €146.5m.

The declines weren’t online betting operators’ fault, as online betting revenue improved 3.7% to €58.7m, while retail betting revenue slipped 8.1% to €87.8m. For the first four months of the year, online betting revenue is up 47.6% to €221m while retail revenue is up 45.6% to €310.5m.

Virtual betting – wagering on the outcome of digitally simulated sports – continues to be a major force in Italy, with turnover of over €139.3m and revenue of €20.5m in April. Compare that to wagering on horseraces, which managed turnover of just €35.3m and revenue of €8.4m.

Gambling operators have threatened to pull their businesses out of Malta amid reports that a mafia group has infiltrated the sector.

The Times of Malta reported that Malta-based operators are exerting extra pressure on Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) to weed out the gambling firms that are connected to Cosa Nostra kingpin Matteo Denaro and clean up the industry from unwanted and dodgy business.

Citing unnamed sources, news outlet said “a number of companies” would leave Malta if the MGA “failed to clean up the sector.” The operators have expressed concern about MGA’s lack of cooperation in terms of freezing the assets of gambling firms with alleged links to the Italian mafia.

According to the Investigative Reporting Project Italy (IRPI), the Italian courts have already made an urgent request to the Attorney General in Malta to freeze Centurionbet’s assets after authorities found a connection between the Malta-licensed company and Francesco Martiradonna, son of a convicted mafia boss.

A bill seeking to legalize sports betting in Connecticut—provided the U.S. Supreme Court lifts the federal ban on the game—has been knocked out cold in the state capitol, The Hartford-Courant reported.

HB 5307, seeking to permit and regulate sports wagering in the state, was one of the nine major bills that were killed when the Connecticut 2018 legislative session ended on May 9, despite garnering an overwhelming support from gambling operators and state regulators.

The sports betting bill showed much promise when it was introduced in March along with other measures seeking to legalize fantasy sports, casino expansion and online gambling.

Lawmakers have previously expressed their support to the bill since they believe that Connecticut must put “everything in place” in the event that the Supreme Court decides to lift the federal ban on sports betting. Proponents of the sports betting bill estimated that Connecticut could cash in $6.5 million in the first year of legalized state wagering operations before growing to $9.1 million.

Net profit of casino operator Genting Singapore Plc accelerated by almost 20 percent in the first quarter of 2018 as high rollers return to Singapore.

In its filing with the Singapore Stock Exchange, Genting Singapore said its net profit for the first three months of the year was at SGD217.2 million (US$162.3 million), up 19.9 percent from SGD181.1 million (US$129 million) in the same period in 2017.

Excluding the SGD96.3 million ($68.69 million) one-off gain from the disposal of the group’s investment in South Korea in Q1 2017, Genting’s net profit jump in Q1 2018 was 91 percent.

Revenue of Genting Singapore, which operates Singapore casino complex Resorts World Sentosa (RWS), rose 15.1 percent to SGD675.1 million ($505.54 million) in the three months ending March 2018, while

Wynn Resorts Development LLC (WRD) President Chris Gordon calls it “a string of negative events.” Others call it a fiasco that could destroy the company. Either way, the sexual misconduct allegations, lawsuits and infighting on the board won’t keep the company from trying to snag a gambling license in Japan.

At the Japan Gaming Congress (JGC) held in Tokyo this week, Gordon told GGRAsia that the company had been “very well received” by Japanese authorities. Of course, the Japanese are known for their high level of tact and show of respect, so Gordon’s comments are not exactly revealing.

WRD is a subsidiary of Wynn Resorts, which is the parent company of Macau-based Wynn Macau Ltd. Since January, Wynn Resorts has been facing a number of negative actions that began with the sexual misconduct allegations against its former CEO, Steve Wynn. Since then, several board members have been the targets of lawsuits that forced their resignations, and the company has had to respond to the allegations that have threatened its ability to continue to operate in the U.S. and overseas.

Gordon told GGRAsia, “I think all the issues that are going on should be methodically resolved. I think we should listen to any of the outcome of any of the [regulatory] reports and take any action required.” He closed by saying, “We think the company has an incredibly bright future.”

Aquis Entertainment hopes to increase revenue at its Casino Canberra in Australia by targeting VIPs. The company’s owner, Hong Kong developer Tong Fung, has said that the move will be the catalyst to shore up hemorrhaging seen by the casino since 2017.

In announcing the shift to VIP gaming, Fung said, “A changeover in business development staff recently will assist in bringing new VIP players to Casino Canberra to provide the critical mass needed to manage the volatility and generate additional revenue. Mining of the existing database will also be a focus for the next year to solidify the efforts of the past several years spent buildings its size and quality.”

Fung also indicated that the company will move forward with a redevelopment plan estimated to cost around US$248.5 million and which includes two new luxury hotels and shopping and dining outlets. That plan was initially discussed in 2015, but the casino hasn’t moved on it since. The redevelopment, at the time, hinged on the company receiving approval to offer 500 slot machines. However, in 2016, regulators capped the amount to 200 and Casino Canberra is not authorized to operate any slot machines.

Due to the reduction in more gaming, which meant no increase in revenue, Aquis began to drag its feet on the redevelopment plans. Last month, regulators gave the company an ultimatum to have a decision by May 14.

Las Vegas is always a popular summer destination for gamblers, and 2018 won’t be any different. This year, the Golden Nugget is putting up over $1.7 million in guarantees in events that will be sure to draw large fields. Eighty four tournaments are on the plate, running from May 29 through July 3.

The 2018 Golden Nugget Grand Poker Series (GPS) will offer a variety of options, including NLHE, mixed-game and non-hold’em tournaments. There will also be Omaha eight-or-better, Pot-Limit Omaha, HORSE, and no-limit deuce-to-seven single draw events, all designed to offer a wide-ranging selection to appeal to virtually everyone’s tastes.

The GPS has been growing in popularity each year. In 2015, 7,525 players descended on the Downtown Vegas casino for the series and in 2016 the field almost doubled to 14,137. In 2017, 23,968 players showed up to participate in a total of 57 different events. With the prize pool being increased for this summer’s action, the turnout should be even greater.

In June, there will be a $150 buy-in event almost every day, with a $20,000 guarantee on tap for each tournament. A $150,000 guarantee tournament will run from May 31 through June 2, with a low buy-in of only $150. The same event last year drew 2,563 players, swelling the prize pool to more than $281,000.

In this week’s Calling the Clock we bring you up to speed with Phil Galfond saying no to HUDs, PokerStars rolling out the 10th-anniversary SCOOP, and much more. 

I’m going to begin my weekly round-up with the mighty PokerStars. partypoker has been giving them a bit of a kicking in the live tournament stakes of late, but when it comes to putting on a humdinger of an online festival, nobody comes close to putting on a show that dazzles like the Stars.

PokerStars is celebrating a decade of Spring Championships of Online Poker (SCOOP) by guaranteeing over $110 million in prize money, making partypoker’s $40m guaranteed POWERFEST seem positively Lilliputian in stature.

One of the early winners was Niall “Firaldo87” Farrell who took down Event 3 (H): $2,100 NLHE Progressive KO. The most successful Scottish poker player of all time, outlasted 577 entrants, bringing home $118,054 in bounties, and $101,854 for first. Farrall beat the Mexican maestro JC Alvarado in heads-up action.

Casinos in the Indian state of Goa are discovering that justice is something of a moving target.

On Wednesday, Indian media reported that Goa’s state government had shut down the Casino Strikes operation in the Grand Hyatt hotel in the town of Brambolim due to the casino operator’s failure to pay its new license fee by the government’s May 8 deadline.

In March, the government announced steep increases in license fees for the state’s shipboard and land-based casinos. Two land-based casinos shut down rather than pay the fees, while others tried to convince the government to let them offer live table games (like those available on the floating casinos) to help soften the financial impact of the fees.

The government rejected these deal-making attempts and demanded the fees be paid by May 1, later extending that deadline to May 8. When Casino Strikes operator, Goan Hotels & Realty Pvt Ltd, failed to pay up by this extended deadline, the government shut down its casino, the state’s biggest land-based operation.