The U.S. Supreme Court finally lifted the federal ban on sports betting, much to the delight of gambling fans and operators. Immediately, several U.S. states decided to regulate the game and open the doors of opportunities to many operators from across the globe.

With the repeal of the controversial 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Professional Act, the biggest question that everybody is asking now is “what’s next for the U.S. sports betting industry?”

Panelists in this year’s Betting on Sports Week 2018, which will be held at the Olympia London on Sept. 18-21, are set to answer this question by thoroughly dissecting the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling.

Renowned thought leaders in the gambling industry will also give their insights on what opportunities have opened up, what avenues have closed, and what needs to happen after the U.S. decided to regulate sports gambling in the country.

While no gaming market looks especially safe to invest in an absolute sense right now, the Swedish market looks to have one of the more favorable risk profiles. Here we’ll take a look at NetEnt to make that case.

Nothing particularly exciting is going on with NetEnt at the moment, and its stock price has reflected that over the last two years. Shares have fallen 60% since mid 2016, clinching levels not seen since 2014. Both revenues and earnings have more than doubled since then, so there’s a long term disconnect here. Dividends have also climbed 170% per share. The simple conclusion is that either NetEnt was overvalued then, or it’s undervalued now, but probably some combination of the two.

Back in 2014, NetEnt was a rip-roaring explosive growth company. Now it’s not anymore, for now at least, but that doesn’t mean a 60% fall in shares was warranted. NetEnt isn’t declining overall. It is still comfortably profitable, it has no debt and an overall very healthy balance sheet. It’s just that its major markets look to have matured and it needs a new way forward. This is just the next step in company development it has to confront.

The transition from momentum stock to stable income stock, which NetEnt looks to have crossed, means that speculators stop chasing it higher, and a decline ensues. Exacerbating the decline in this case may be the new Swedish gaming regulatory regime, which is adding an 18% gaming tax in 2019 that NetEnt has warned will affect revenues negatively.

The Mega Millions XIX poker tournament at The Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles attracted a phenomenal field. Over 8,600 entries were recorded, pushing the prize pool up to $1.7 million. By the time the dust settled, a three-way chop saw Danny Wong awarded the first-place win, with DJ Alexander and Tony Chu settling for second and third, respectively. Wong has now accumulated more than $3.6 million in live action and his 12th pot of at least $100,000.

A number of starting flights helped attract 8,500 players.  97 more paid $4,000 for direct entry into Day 2. However, Day 2 only saw a total of 300 players return to the action. Despite holding the chip lead deep into the game, Wong looked to be on his way out, relegated to short stack by the time the final table was set.

Bill Collins led the final table in chips and increased his pile by taking out Dathan Kuppin, who went home in ninth place with $21,410. Wong, with only 10 big blinds, shoved on the 8-6-2 river after scoring top pair with A-8 of diamonds. However, what he didn’t realize was that his opponent, Shant Marshlian, was hiding pocket Kings. Lady Luck was on Wong’s shoulder, though, and awarded him with his fifth diamond on the turn to win with a flush and the ability to start crawling back into the game.

Collins would take out Nicholas Ronyecz next. His A-Q held against Ronyecz’s K-J and the latter hit the rail in eighth with $28,125. Marshlian would soon follow with $35,915 in his pocket after his A-8 fell to Joseph Szegedy’s K-Q after a Q appeared on the turn.

The battle for this year’s Global Poker Index (GPI) Player of the Year (POY) is heating up. Currently in the lead is Stephen Chidwick, who has 3,691 points. However, right on his heels is this year’s winningest poker player, Justin Bonomo. Bonomo currently trails by only 31 points and has every possibility of jumping out in front before the year is up. Not far behind is Jake Schindler, who has 3,569 points and would love the opportunity to pick up a few more good cashes to overtake the lead.

Bonomo is probably best known this year for winning first place and $10 million at the WSOP Big One for One Drop. He is also the top of the leaderboard for the US All-Time Money List, having taken over the lead from Daniel Negreanu due to stellar performances since January. He has now racked up more than $42 million in live-action tournaments -$24.9 million this year alone – stemming from a number of first-place finishes in European and US tournaments since May.

Unfortunately for Bonomo, not all of his wins have awarded him points in the GPI POY race. Not even the monstrous One Drop win would provide him with a boost, as only 27 players participated in the event. According to the rules, tournaments with fewer than 32 players don’t count for the race.

Because of this, Chidwick has been able to maintain his lead. He has won just under $8 million this year, including two seven-figure banks in one week during the partypoker Millions Grand Final this past April.

The president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, cancelled the land lease provided to Landing International for a casino in Manila earlier this month. However, Landing apparently didn’t get the memo. It has stated that the casino is still going to progress and held a groundbreaking ceremony on August 7. After the Philippine Star media outlet published an op-ed piece yesterday regarding construction work at the site, Landing felt it was time to clear the air.

In an email sent to GGRAsia, a representative for the company said, “Other than [putting up] site hoardings and clearing the land, we have not commenced any construction works since our ground breaking on August 7.” This is in contradiction to the op-ed article, which said that construction was at “full steam.” The representative added, “The construction equipment that the news article referred to including the bulldozers, cement mixers, [and] batching [cement-making] plant belong to another adjacent site, which is unrelated to us.”

GGRAsia asked the company for clarification on its schedule for the casino construction. It was given a “no comment at this stage” response, but subsequently added that it plans on keeping the 2022 launch date it has previously publicized.

This has been a contentious ordeal for Landing, as well as for President Duterte. There has been a lot of back-and-forth, with Landing saying that it has not been denied its construction or casino permits, and the government arguing to the contrary.

Mobile casino operator LeoVegas has launched an awareness campaign aimed at pushing back against Italy’s new ban on gambling advertising.

Last Friday, LeoVegas ran a two-page ad (pictured) in Italy’s Corriere dello Sport publication featuring the company’s new campaign hashtag: #GIOCAPERGIOCO (play for fun). A Google translation of the accompanying text reads as follows:

Dear players, we have waited for you, we have desired you and finally we are there. To win in this new season will require passion, sacrifice and commitment. Only by challenging you with honor and dignity, like true lions, victory will be near. Good championship everyone. We are still here by your side!

Italian gaming affiliate Jamma quoted LeoVegas CEO Niklas Lindahl saying the use of the word ‘dignity’ in the ad was no accident, referencing the new Italian government’s so-called Dignity Decree, which was approved this month, and includes a moratorium on all gambling advertising and sponsorships, effective January 1, 2019 (with existing sponsorships grandfathered until June 30).

New Jersey-based Gaming Laboratories International (GLI) is well known in the casino industry. It is one of two companies that is authorized to test and certify gambling technology and products for casinos around the globe, giving it a lot of power. That power, however, was put in check recently in Nevada after gaming authorities in the state slapped it with a six-figure fine. GLI has reportedly agreed to pay the fine and will hand over $125,000 to the Nevada Gaming Commission (NGC).

According to an exclusive report by CDC Gaming Reports, the NGC slapped GLI with the fine after the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) presented a three-count complaint against the company. The complaint was lodged over how GLI had conducted testing and certification of a product being developed by Interblock.

Interblock’s Pulse Arena system, a system that includes wagering terminals linked to a central hub for automated table games and slot machines, is tied to a system created by International Game Technology (IGT). GLI certified the platform in December 2016; however, it allegedly issued its approval before the system was integrated into that of IGT. Emails proved that GLI did not act independently of Interblock and also supplied sample reports from other manufacturers to the company, in violation of Nevada regulations.

Deborah Fuetsch, a member of the GCB, expressed concern over the violation. She said that GLI has always represented itself as an upstanding member of the community, and the discrepancies could shake its foundation.

It looks like the hopes of a floating casino being able to tread water longer in Argentina may be sinking. The casino has been seen as an excellent way to shore up the finances of Buenos Aires as the city’s economy continues to dwindle; however, severe budget cuts are now threatening the operation. The casino could become a victim of the cuts and not see its licensed renewed when it expires in October of next year.

The cuts are expected to strip away over $335 million from the country’s budget next year. By the end of this year, the casino is expected to have provided around $135 million in tax revenue to the coffers in Buenos Aires.

They mayor of Buenos Aires, Rodriguez Larreta, wants to keep the casino open. He believes that the government could either nationalize it or issue a license for the operation of the slot machines while allowing the state to run table games.

Since July 2016, Buenos Aires has had total control over gaming operations within the city. At that time, Larreta said that the government had implemented a gross gaming tax on floating casinos, something that hadn’t been seen in the previous ten years. The government also ordered the payment of back taxes by the casinos, an issue that had been discussed for a number of years. Along with the new requirements, the floating casino was allowed to continue operating until October of next year.

Saipan casino operator Imperial Pacific International (IPI) has bid goodbye to a controversial director while declaring that its payroll problems are history.

On Monday, IPI informed the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that director Cai Lingli had resigned as a director of the company and given up chairing the board’s executive committee. The company said Ms. Cai “wishes to devote additional time to her family and other personal business commitments.”

The statement said Ms. Cai had no disagreement with IPI’s board and there was “no matter in relation to her resignation that needs to be brought to the attention” of IPI shareholders. Ms. Cai’s chair seat will be filled by Ms. Xia Yuki Yu, an IPI director since November 2013.

Ms. Cai was named in an April 2017 Bloomberg report that linked her to a company called Esteem Capital Success Ltd, which funded fact-finding trips to Hong Kong and Macau for Saipan legislators in 2013. The trips were controversial because Esteem wasn’t among the bidders for Saipan’s sole casino license, yet its business address was taken over by IPI’s corporate HQ in 2016.