The Netherlands gaming regulator has imposed a €300k penalty on a Dutch-facing subsidiary of online gambling operator Betsson AB for accepting local customers without local approval.

On Friday, the Netherlands’ Kansspelautoreit (KSA) regulatory body announced that it had imposed a €300k penalty on the Stockholm-listed Betsson’s Malta-based subsidiary Corona, which operates the Dutch-facing Oranje and Kroon online casino brands, for accepting action from Dutch punters without the KSA’s say-so.

The KSA’s report on its investigation reveals that the offending activity took place between May 31 and August 8, 2017. The KSA received complaints regarding the sites prior to this period, but the report notes that the probe was in part a response to “the publicity that Betsson itself had sought following the tightening of enforcement regarding games of chance online without a license on 1 June 2017.”

This ‘publicity’ apparently refers to the complaint Betsson filed with the European Commission regarding the KSA’s announcement of a stiffer range of penalties for a wider variety of perceived violations of existing Dutch gambling law. Betsson has pursued multiple avenues of legal recourse against the restrictive Dutch law, albeit with little success.

The Ohio Constitution might have to be amended first to allow for sports gambling, according to state lawmakers.

According to Cleveland.com, Ohio Senate President Larry Obhof said that a sports gambling bill introduced in July would be assigned to a committee only after the midterm elections in November, noting that the bill would not be deliberated on in plenary this year.

“I think there is a pretty serious legal question of, irrespective of the federal court decision this year—whether or not we could even have sports gaming here, if that’s something the legislature could even authorize, even if they wanted to,” Obhof said.

It was only last May that the United States Supreme Court lifted a federal ban on sports betting, allowing states to come up with their regulations on the matter.

“The gambling known as Business looks with austere disfavor on the business called Gambling.”

 — Ambrose Bierce

When the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), it opened the way for the biggest expansion in gambling that this nation will probably ever see.

Yet gambling, especially sports betting, the particular focus of the Supreme Court case of NCAA v Murphy, still occupies a murky and undefined place in society, even in the America of the 21st century.

The social trading and multi-asset brokerage company, eToro, has hit the headlines after cutting sponsorship deals with seven English Premier League clubs and paying for them in cryptocurrency.

I’m feeling a tad Jack Torrance this morning.

A nightmare in circumstance has led me to a Balinese hotel; the love child of Circus Circus and The Timberline Lodge. The type of place that has a sign NOT to flush toilet paper down the toilet.

And, yet, here I am, thinking.

MGM Resorts International has offered a seat on its board to Paul Salem, senior managing director of Providence Equity. It had to purchase another chair for Salem, though, as his addition brought the total number of directors up from 12 to 13, after increasing the number of directors last year from ten to 12.

Salem is reportedly the man that helped Providence, a leading investment firm for the media, education and communications sectors, grow from having $60 million in assets under management to around $170 million. In a statement by MGM Resorts Chairman and CEO Jim Murren, “Mr. Salem is a distinguished leader with over 26 years of experience in the financial services industry. Paul brings invaluable insight in corporate finance and asset management, and his strong track record of value creation has earned him an outstanding reputation within the investment and not-for-profit communities.”

Last year, MGM added two more positions to the board. According to Murren, “These appointments underscore the company’s commitment to proactively enhance its board and ensure that we have an appropriate mix of skills, experience and perspectives to successfully grow our business and drive sustainable value creation.”

Salem became part of the Providence Equity team in 1992. Prior to that, he had been working in the corporate finance, mergers and acquisition division for Morgan Stanley and at Prudential Investment Corp. in its private placement financings and leveraged buyout transactions division.

Mobile gaming giant LeoVegas has announced a significant step forward for its users in Sweden. The company is now tied to the country’s BankID e-identification system, allowing users to register and log in quicker than before. Anything that can be done to allow gamblers to spend less time entering and more time playing is always welcome.

According to a press release from the company, LeoVegas CEO Gustaf Hagman explained, “With BankID we are now offering the best product on the market in Sweden. For new and existing customers we provide a very smooth and simple log-in and registration experience while giving them access to the market’s broadest offering of casino games and sports betting. We also know that fast payments are very important, which is why our customers can see their account balances within minutes of a withdrawal. We are consolidating our position as the leading GameTech company, and I look forward to finding additional markets in which we can launch similar, local e-identification systems.”

The BankID system was created to allow banks, authorities, companies and organizations to verify and sign agreements with individuals over the Internet. It is an electronic form of identification, similar to a driver’s license, passport or other physical form of ID. Any Swedish citizen or permanent resident with a personal identity number can apply for a BankID through his or her bank.

LeoVegas was founded in Sweden in 2011. It is a mobile gaming state-of-the-art company and offers a variety of services, including an online casino, a live casino and sports betting action across several international markets. It was valued last year at more than $1 billion and is traded on the NASDAQ First North Premier list of the Stockholm Stock Exchange under the symbol LEO SDB and services various markets across Europe and the UK.