Saipan casino operator Imperial Pacific International Holdings (IPI) is suing a Las Vegas gambler over an unpaid casino marker.

On Wednesday, the Saipan Tribune reported that IPI had filed a lawsuit against Las Vegas resident Patrick Sun for unpaid gambling-related loans totaling $747k. The company has requested a jury trial and is seeking payment of the principal plus interest (24% per annum), costs and fees.

According to the lawsuit, Sun visited IPI’s temporary casino Best Sunshine Live in June 2017, originally establishing a $1m line of credit at the casino before requesting and receiving an increase to $2m. Sun left Saipan on June 9, 2017 still owing the casino $447k.

Sun returned to Saipan in early July 2017, just days before IPI’s new permanent gaming venue was to open, and borrowed an additional $300k from the company. Sun returned home on July 5, with his total outstanding sum now $747k, and ultimately defaulted on both loans.

Macau casino operator SJM Holdings started 2018 off on the right foot, posting profits more than one-quarter higher than the year before.

Figures released Wednesday show the Hong Kong-listed SJM’s gaming revenue rising 6.7% year-on-year to HK$8.4b (US$1.07b) in the three months ending March 31. Adjusted earnings improved 17% to HK$987m while profit shot up 25.8% to HK$730m, mainly due to a surge in mass market gaming at SJM’s self-promoted casinos.

The mass market table games segment, which is traditionally more profitable than the junket-led VIP segment, reported revenue rising 9.5% to HK$5.74b. SJM’s average number of mass tables in Q1 rose by 42 to 1,417. Slots revenue was up 14.6% to HK$294m, with the average number of slots in action during Q1 rising by 151 to 2,700.

The VIP segment reported rolling chip turnover rising nearly 13% but VIP win rate slipped 0.39 points to 2.74%, pushing VIP revenue down 1.1% to HK$4.88b. SJM’s average number of VIP tables in Q1 fell by 31 to 284.

Online bookmaker Pinnacle has rethought its plan to enter the UK’s regulated online gambling market.

On Tuesday, Pinnacle’s official Twitter feed announced that the company had “withdrawn our license application to the UK Gambling Commission.” The company said that while it remained “eager to serve the UK betting market, the decision has been made that now is not the right time.”

The company went on to say that it recognized the disappointment it was bringing to potential UK customers but assured punters that “Pinnacle remains committed to bringing its low margins, high limits and unique winners welcome policy to the UK market when the time is right.”

Pinnacle’s UK license application had been listed as ‘pending’ on the UKGC website for some time now, and the specific cause for the delay remains unknown. The company had previously expressed optimism regarding a 2017 launch for its UK-facing site, but it now appears that Pinnacle didn’t expect any regulatory breakthroughs anytime soon.

UK-listed gambling operator Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) is expressing regret for having taken bettors to the cleaners in Q4 2017, leaving them with nothing to wager during Q1 2018.

On Wednesday, PPB released a trading update covering the first three months of the year, during which revenue fell 2% year-on-year to £408m, underlying earnings (factoring out one-offs) fell 8% to £102m and underlying operating profit slipped 12% to £80m.

Retail sports betting stakes at Paddy Power betting shops were down 9% to £415m while online sports handle fell 10% to £1.28b.

PPB claimed that the sports segment suffered from “very strong gross win margins in Q4 2017,” and this affliction “was compounded by bookmaker friendly results in January and February,” apparently leaving punters with zero discretionary income at their disposal. A raft of weather-related racing cancellations didn’t help.

Connecticut lawmakers and the tribal operators of Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun are at loggerheads over who will be in charge of sports betting operations once it is legalized in the state.

The Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes argued that they have the exclusive right over the conduct of sports betting in the state as provided under the tribes’ current agreement with Connecticut, according to the Hartford Courant report.

They also reminded lawmakers of the legal opinion penned by Attorney General George Jepsen, which cautioned legislators to “carefully consider a number of factors before legalizing sports wagering.”

Jepsen opined that the tribes will argue “that a state law permitting sports wagering in Connecticut may violate the exclusivity provisions” of their tribal gaming compacts.

Hong Kong-listed casino investor Landing International Development Ltd. has secured the much-needed approval of a local council for the development of its “integrated leisure and entertainment resort” in the Philippine state capital.

In a regulatory filing, Landing announced the Paranaque City Council has granted their request “to develop and operate an integrated resort” in Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation’s (PAGCOR) Entertainment City.

Securing the city council’s approval, however, was just the beginning of a very long and tedious process of getting a provisional license from PAGCOR.

Casino operators wanting to put up an integrated resort in the Philippines would have to first secure a provisional license from the state regulator before it can be granted with a Notice to Commence Casino Operations, and then, eventually, a regular casino gaming license.

Gambling software development company Playtech has gone the extra mile—more than 3,900 miles to be exact—for residents of Antigua and Barbuda, who are still suffering from the havoc caused by Hurricane Irma.

Nigel Pigott, general manager of the Isle of Man-based gambling company, visited Antigua and Barbuda last week to personally hand over a check for $25,000 donation to Lady Sandra Williams at the Government House.

The money will go towards a Halo Foundation initiative, called “Project Home,” whose goal is to supply furniture and equipment in homes across Barbuda that have been destroyed in the wake of Hurricane Irma.

“It is our civic and moral duty to help each other as much as we reasonably can, especially when it comes to losses that affect so many aspects of livelihood,” Pigott said in a statement coursed through the Halo Foundation.