Japan-listed gambling conglomerate Universal Entertainment Corp. remains bullish about the prospects of its integrated resort in the Philippines as it expects the country’s gaming market to grow this year.

In its latest financial information, Universal announced its plans to upgrade and expand its casino, hotel, entertainment, food and beverage, along with other aspects of its operations to differentiate Okada Manila from its competitors.

The casino operator believes that Okada Manila may still attract larger number of people from China, South Korea, and other Asian countries and generate substantial sales and earnings. With that in mind, Universal said “adding more guest rooms is the highest priority of Okada Manila.”

“The plans also include expansion of the gaming area, including the addition of a casino exclusively for VIP guests, opening more restaurants and enlarging the shopping mall in order to attract an even larger number of guests,” Universal said.

Online gambling titans The Stars Group (TSG) reported double-digit Q1 revenue growth, but the gains were largely due to dramatic currency exchange fluctuations.

Figures released Thursday by the Toronto-listed TSG show overall revenue growing 24% to US$393m in the three months ending March 31. Adjusted earnings rose 16% to $175m while actual net earnings improved 13% to $74.3m.

Poker revenue rose 12.4% to just under $246m, although the growth was only 2.3% once you factor out those currency fluctuations. Real-money online poker active customer ranks declined 5.5% to 2.09m during the quarter, in part due to TSG’s flagship PokerStars brand withdrawing from the regulated markets of Australia and Colombia last year.

The poker vertical got a boost from the launch of cross-border liquidity in France and Spain, and TSG announced that its Portuguese-licensed site is expected to join this European Union liquidity pool this month. But TSG now expects Italy, the fourth member of the EU pool deal signed last summer, won’t join the pool party this year.

Game developer Electronic Arts (EA) has received yet another red card from European gambling regulators due to the loot boxes in its popular football video game FIFA 18.

State regulators have called out the attention of EA previously over the loot boxes offered by its other game, Overwatch, which are considered by gambling watchdogs as unauthorized form of gambling. Now, state regulators have turned their attention to EA’s popular football video game FIFA 18 after parents and players complained the game’s loot crates and how it reminded them of the tricks used in casinos that lure them to place more money on the items.

With his back to the wall, EA CEO Andrew Wilson decided to fight back and “push forward” against the critics of the game developer’s loot boxes.

A defiant Wilson told The Sun that the loot boxes would be in EA’s future video games even if it meant that the company would face a possible £1.4 million ($1.89 million) fine in the future. He also contended that loot boxes were not gambling, saying that the game developer worked closely with “all the industry associations” to ensure that games like FIFA Ultimate Team are gambling-free.

The fate of daily fantasy sports (DFS) in Louisiana now lies in the hands of the state electorate.

The Times-Picayune reported that the Louisiana Senate has approved House Bill 484 (HB 484) on Wednesday, which would allow voters to decide whether to allow fantasy sports games in their respective parishes or community.

In a 21-15 vote, the Senate approved the statewide vote scheduled for November 6 and returned the measure back to the House.

Although the state already allows fantasy games to be played among friends and peer groups, Louisiana has yet to decide to regulate professional DFS. HB 484, authored by Rep. Kirk Talbot, is aimed at regulating the games offered by the likes of DFS giants FanDuel and DraftKings.

South Korean casino operator Paradise Co. Ltd. extended its financial losing streak in the first quarter of 2018 with net income plunging 61.6 percent.

Latest figures from Paradise Co. showed that its net for the first three months of 2018 dropped to KRW3.10 billion (US$2.88 million) from KRW5.01 billion ($4.68 million) in the same period last year.

This was the fifth consecutive time that the casino operator’s net income dropped since the first quarter of 2017. Paradise’s net income result also came as a surprise especially after its casino sales jumped 19.9 percent to KRW149.37 billion ($140.40 million) in the three months ending March 2018.

Paradise reported an operating profit of approximately KRW4.81 billion ($4.49 million) during the first quarter of the year versus an operating loss of KRW7.70 billion in the first three months of 2017.

A day doesn’t pass without eager sports betting fans perusing the periodicals for some indication of where the U.S. Supreme Court stands on the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA). The legislation has been challenged numerous times, most notably by the state of New Jersey, which has now racked up more than $8.5 million in legal fees to try and have the bill overturned. And, the number keeps climbing.

The New Jersey Division of Law presented state financial records to the Press of Atlantic City, showing that the Garden State has now spent just under $8.6 million fighting the federal government over PASPA. Two law firms in particular, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher and Gibbons PC, have billed the state for $7 million and $1.577 million, respectively, between 2012 and 2017.

The fees are being covered by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement and the Racing Commission. Both groups receive funding from state taxes and fees paid by casinos in Atlantic City, but no indication was given regarding the breakdown of percentages.

There are currently around 20 states that hope to soon be able to offer legalized sports gambling if PASPA is thrown out. With all of the money being invested by New Jersey, those states should give a good-faith donation to the cause. The odds of that happening are worse than the odds of Saudi Arabia winning the World Cup this year.

PokerStars is engaged in a “pattern of fraudulent and unlawful conduct.” This from Gordon Vayo, an American poker pro and runner-up at the 2016 WSOP main event. Vayo has launched a lawsuit against the world’s leading online poker portal, claiming that it illegally stopped him from collecting winnings from a high-stakes tournament in May of last year.

According to the lawsuit, “[A]fter a U.S. citizen or resident wins a significant amount of money on [PokerStars], Defendant conducts a sham investigation into the user’s activities and the location of the user’s access of the site, placing the onus on the player to retroactively prove that it is ‘inconceivable’ that his or her play could have originated from within the U.S., in order to gin up a pretext to deny payment. In this way Defendant takes the money of Plaintiff and other users of the PokerStars.com site with impunity, while depriving the same users of their largest winnings if and when they occur.”

Vayo, a Las Vegas resident, calls Canada home part-time in order to play on the site. He argues that he has been approved by PokerStars to play on the site even though he isn’t a permanent Canadian resident. He had played regularly on the site for several years, including his big win at a 2017 SCOOP tourney, in which he picked up almost $700,000. He initially left his earnings in his account on the site for a couple of months while he continued to play.

When Vayo tried to cash out in July, PokerStars froze his account and asked for proof that he was in Canada when he participated in the tourney. Vayo confirmed that he was, but also admitted to using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) at the time for “other Internet activity.” PokerStars refused to believe the VPN story and denied his request to cash out.

If you have a few extra dollars in your wallet, there’s a great deal on a few gaming pubs and a casino available. The Zagame family out of Melbourne, Australia, has decided to sell all of its gaming operations, including the Grand Hotel and Casino resort that it owns in Vanuatu. Everything must go, and the asking price is just US$223 million.

All of the businesses are owned by Robert and Victor Zagame, son of Victor Zagame, Sr. The elder Victor started the company in 1971 with the Albion Charles Hotel in Northcote and passed away in October at the age of 77. Currently, the family owns the Reservoir Hotel, Boronia Hotel, Caufield Club, Ballarat Club and the Berwich Springs Hotel, Victoria’s fourth-ranked gambling venue. Together, they pull in around US$70 million and offer 480 gaming machines.

The Grand Hotel, which overlooks the Port Vila Harbor, was first put up for sale in April 2017. At the time, it was expected to sell for around US$18.6 million, but couldn’t find a new owner. The resort offers 15 gaming tables, a VIP top-floor gaming room, 136 slot machines, four bars, a spa and conference rooms.

The younger Victor Zagame was quoted by The Sydney Morning Herald saying, “Our venues are exceptionally well presented, our staff are leaders in the industry, and our product is second to none. These successful businesses are well placed to continue to deliver substantial growth.” Indeed, the company has grown very well over the past 50 years and has received several awards in recent times, including Best Gaming Venue (Boronia, 2015), Overall Hotel of the Year (Berwick, 2016) and Best Hotel Group Operation in 2016.

I love to shoot Skype Video interviews for my Becky’s Affiliated columns and I do it all from the comfort of my very own home. Recently I’ve had a number of CalvinAyre.com readers asking for advice on how to film the best quality Skype video interview, so I decided to dedicate this week’s column to revealing my top tips on how to film them for your audience.

Seeing as video content is blowing up these days, knowing how to produce the best quality Skype video interview is not only essential, its also super easy and requires minimal investment. I also find Skype video is a wonderful way to engage interviewees who might be camera shy, as having a “guided video chat” is much less intimidating than having a professional camera pointed at your face.

So without further ado, here it goes…

Purchase and download Skype Call Recorder 

StakeKings, the world’s largest sports crowdfunding marketplace, joins forces with RotoGrinders to launch fantasy sports staking, and Lee Davy sits down with StakeKings founder, Tyler Hancock to get the lowdown.

The car is due for an MOT. The dashboard resembles the spaceship in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The screech of the windscreen wipers is about to lead to a murderous road rage style rampage. The tires are as deflated as my life when I think about driving to the garage.

Can I trust them? Do they care about quality? Will they treat me like a Demigod? Will they hang those nauseous Christmas tree air fresheners on the rearview mirror?

I don’t have time for that.

Lee Davy sits down with the Chief Marketing Officer of Luckbox, Vadim Soloveychik, to talk about his newest employer Luckbox, an esports betting platform wanting to do things the right way. 

As a kid, the term “Luckbox” didn’t exist. We used the scummier sounding “Jammy Bastard.” Only when I found poker did I learn the more eloquent way of describing someone always ended up with the money.

So what’s it doing in the esports world?

Thank a bunch of former PokerStars higher-ups, who gathered grey matter to come up with a new startup ready to shake up the burgeoning esports betting market. All they needed was a name. Jammy Bastard didn’t make the cut. Luckbox would do nicely.

Finland’s state gambling monopoly Veikkaus reported a slight dip in sales during the first quarter of 2018, partly due to the introduction of new responsible gambling tools.

Figures released this week show Veikkaus generating sales of €805.6m in the three months ending March 31, down 1% from the same period last year. On the plus side, net revenue improved 2% to €256m.

Veikkaus comprises three previously standalone gaming operations – lotteries and sports betting, slot machines and horseracing – that were amalgamated under the Veikkaus banner at the start of last year.

Traditional lottery and keno sales were up 4.2% to €303.5m, while slots revenue (land-based and online) rose 6.7% to €207m.