The shuttered ‘cashless casinos’ in the Chinese island province of Hainan could be making a comeback following a recent court ruling.

About four or five years ago, resort operators on the island of Hainan launched so-called ‘cashless casinos,’ which resembled a standard casino gaming floor except all of the table winnings were paid in credits that could only be redeemed for non-gaming amenities at those same resorts.

The local authorities were quick to crack down on these cashless casinos, despite operator claims that they were part of a government-approved pilot program that would ultimately lead to real-money casinos on Hainan.

In February, the Intermediate People’s Court of Hainan overturned a lower court’s ruling stemming from the cashless casino fiasco that resulted in jail time for four staff members of the Mangrove Tree Resort. The court found that “the facts of the original judgment were unclear and the evidence was insufficient” and sent the case back to the lower court for retrial.

Austrian gambling operator Novomatic Group enjoyed record sales in 2017 on the strength of its gaming operations division.

Figures released last week show Novomatic’s overall revenue hit a record €2.53b in 2017, 11% higher than 2016’s result. Earnings were flat at €586.8m but operating income fell by more than one-quarter to €209.8m and after-tax profit slumped nearly 61% to €61.4m.

The operating income decline was attributed to increased gaming taxes in Italy and betting terminal fees in Austria, exchange rate fluctuations and a host of one-offs, including preliminary work for the legally required conversion of all gaming devices in Germany this year, plus the “deterioration in the earnings position” of the Novomatic Lottery Solutions Group.

The gaming machine division reported revenue rising nearly one-fifth to €1.59b, while the gaming technology segment slipped 1% to €937m. Novomatic CEO Harald Neumann credited Spain as “a growth driver,” with sales up 50% year-on-year, while Italy, the UK and Central & Eastern European markets also performed well.

Lottery betting operator Lottoland is hoping to salvage its Australian operations by claiming its chief down under antagonist lied to the federal government.

On Tuesday, Lottoland Australia CEO Luke Brill called on the Australian government to review its proposed legislation banning online lottery betting, citing evidence that the group representing lottery newsagents “misled the public about its membership numbers.”

Late last year, the Australian Lottery and Newsagents Association (ALNA) teamed with local lottery operator Tatts Group in a campaign designed to prohibit Lottoland from offering betting markets on lottery outcomes. Lottoland submitted to its state regulator’s demands to halt wagering on domestic lotteries, but the federal government introduced legislation last month that would also ban betting on international lottery draws.

On Tuesday, Lottoland’s Brill claimed that documents obtained from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission reveal that the ALNA’s parent company was “facing financial ruin” and had misled the government into thinking the ALNA “represented the views of 4,000 newsagents nationally,” when the group “has in fact only 707 paid members – about 80% less than claimed.”

Macau casinos posted stronger than expected gaming revenue growth in April, traditionally the weakest of the year’s first four months.

Figures released Tuesday by Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) show that the special administrative region’s casino operators generated gaming revenue of MOP25.7b (US$3.2b) in April, a 27.6% improvement over the same month last year.

The strong April result exceeded analysts’ expectations, despite having one fewer Saturday than April 2017. April’s revenue also extends Macau’s monthly revenue growth streak to 21 months, and brings the year-to-date total to MOP102.2b, up 22.2% from the same period in 2017.

Union Gaming analyst Grant Govertsen said April’s strong performance was the result of solid gains in both the VIP and mass market gaming segments, and April’s average daily revenue of MOP858m was on par with results seen during the most recent Lunar New Year and Golden Week holiday periods. Accordingly, Union Gaming bumped up its Q2 revenue growth forecast by two percentage points to 22%.

Viewed from the outside, Steve Wynn’s ex-wife Elaine Wynn’s crusade against some of Wynn’s Board of Directors seems petty at first glance. Just more aftermath from a nasty divorce involving billionaires, where the wounds keep festering and never seem to heal. But Ms. Wynn may have a point to her battle other than the fury of a woman scorned, and shareholders may end up agreeing with her. Yes, maybe there is some revenge element in her actions, but that doesn’t look like the crux of it. And even now, two weeks before the shareholder meeting when a vote on the Board will take place, it seems she has already started to sway the decision-making process.

On April 27th, Ms. Wynn filed a definitive proxy statement with the SEC urging shareholders to oust Legacy Director John Hagenbuch from Wynn’s board, hinting that she would like to see others ousted as well. On the same day that proxy statement went out, Wynn CEO Matt Maddox told the press that he wants to change the name of Wynn’s new Boston project from Wynn Boston Harbor to Encore Boston Harbor. While mainstream media seems to be touting the vapid point that the company is trying to “clean its image” from Wynn’s now disgraced reputation, it really has very little to do with that. That’s a valid explanation for kindergarteners. “People say he did a bad thing so they don’t want to use his name anymore, children, so people aren’t reminded of the bad things they say he did. Now go on and play!”

It has much more to do with Ms. Wynn’s legitimate point that Wynn management suggested the possibility of divesting from Wynn Boston Harbor shortly after the announcement of a Massachusetts Gaming Commission investigation into the Board’s handling of the allegations against their former boss.

In Ms. Wynn’s own words: