Tech-giant Apple missed its targets in its war against gambling-related apps.

BBC reported that app developers were fuming mad over the removal of their apps in the App Store, which they said had nothing to do with gambling. Some of the apps that were removed by Apple include a Polish magazine, a GIF-sharing service, and a platform for sending clips of Xbox games to friends.

Wojtek Peitrusiewicz, co-owner and writer of Poland-based iMagazine, took to social networking site Twitter on Thursday to complain that their magazine app was taken off the App Store 24 hours after the approval of its 3.0 update. Peitrusiewicz said he received a note from Apple explaining that the removal of iMagazine from the App Store was made “in order to reduce fraudulent activity” and “to comply with government requests to address illegal online gambling activity.”

“As a result, this app has been removed from the App Store. While you can no longer distribute gambling apps from this account, you may continue to submit and distribute other types of apps to the App Store,” Apple’s letter to Peitrusiewicz read.

A native tribe in the US, the Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel, had hoped it would be able to offer an online poker and bingo site but wasn’t ready for the battle that would ensue. The California tribe has been fighting over the launch of its Desert Rose online bingo site with federal regulators for years, but a court has now decided that the site will have to go.

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld a decision by a lower district court, which had sided with California in trying to force the tribe out of the picture. The chances of the tribe winning the fight were never good, but the case is still considered key to providing additional clarity to gambling laws across the US.

Indian tribes in the US are governed by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, as well as state and federal gambling laws. According to the Iipay when the case first hit the courts in 2014, “Tribes are considered sovereign nations in the United States and inter-tribal gaming employing the Internet has been legal for several years. Class II gaming, such as poker, have been exclusively regulated by tribes in California since 1999. Absent a specific state prohibition on this type of gambling activity, which does not currently exist in California, tribes are free to engage in this activity as long as the activity is regulated by the tribe as described in the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.”

Unfortunately, the courts didn’t see it that way. Ninth Circuit Court Judge Carlos T. Bea said, “The panel held that Iipay Nation’s operation of Desert Rose Casino violated the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (“UIGEA”). The panel held that the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act protected gaming activity conducted on Indian lands, but the patrons’ act of placing a bet or wager on a game of Desert Rose Casino while located in California, violated the UIGEA, and was not protected by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

Mohegan Gaming and Entertainment, also known as Mohegan Sun, saw a slight dip in revenue during the third financial quarter, which ended in June. The company’s EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) dropped by 1.2% year-on-year, coming in at $88.2 million. It blames the drop on smaller group revenue and an increase in slot machine taxes in Pennsylvania. It also said that its revenue had fallen by 1.5% to $344.9 million.

The Connecticut-based company indicated that its gaming revenue fell by only half a percent to $295.4 million while its gross slot machine revenue dropped by 0.9% to $203.6 million. Revenue from table games also fell, reported at $91.6 million for a decline of 3.8% year-on-year. Non-gaming revenue saw the biggest drop, falling by 10.2% to $74.1 million.

The company blamed the net revenue decline on a reduction of non-gaming revenue and increased spending on promotions for its Pennsylvania-based Mohegan Sun Pocono. Third-quarter operating expenses were consistent to the previous year’s numbers.

According to the company’s CEO, Mario Kontomerkos, “Overall fiscal third-quarter results were generally in line with prior-year performance, driven by effective operational cost containment initiatives leading to an impressive margin performance at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut.

The operator of the Okada Manila casino, Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment (TRLEI), has announced that it will be going public next year. Tiger Resort, which is a subsidiary of Universal Entertainment Group, will be listed in an effort to “accelerate its growth and raise its name recognition,” according to a statement in its earnings report released yesterday. Additional details will be provided once they are finalized.

Okada Manila, in Manila’s Entertainment City district, has faced a number of launch delays, which could have precipitated the decision to take the company public. Universal has attempted to justify the delays, saying that it plans on an expansion of Okada Manila’s attractions and amenities with extreme priority.

Universal explained of Okada Manila, “In the third quarter, operations will begin at a Chinese restaurant called Yu Lei, which has a restaurant in Hong Kong that received a Michelin star. In addition, work will continue on the expansion of hotel guest rooms and the shopping area.

“To increase earnings from the mass market, there will be more non-gaming facilities and services that match customers’ needs. In the VIP casino, operations are benefiting from the full-scale operations of current junkets. In addition, Okada Manila plans to start initiatives to attract an even larger number of VIPs from other countries. Plans include strengthening the international marketing, opening sales offices in strategic countries, and adding and enhancing amenities that position Okada Manila as an integrated resort.

The partypokerLIVE-hosted Triton Poker High Roller series is now in Sochi, Russia, and has already found a winner. Part of the partypokerLIVE MILLIONS Russia festival, the series’ $50,000 High Roller tournament wrapped up with Aymon Hata taking the top prize of $756,000.

The tournament attracted a field of just 47 players, with the top six finalists finishing in the money. With nine players at the final table, action was tense but consistent.

Bartlomiej Machon was the first to go, only about an hour after the final table action had begun. It took several hours for the next player to hit the rail, but Timothy Adams was finally eliminated in eight place. Ivan Leow, who was the chip leader when the final nine players sat down at the table, got into a rut and was never able to recover and he was the next to hit the lockers. His unlucky streak was punctuated by a KK fall to the AJ held by Hata after an Ace came on the flop, and an ill-timed bluff against Philip Gruissem – Gruissem was sitting on pocket rockets.  Adding insult to injury, Leow busted after his A-10 faced the Q-Q of Patrik Antonius, but wasn’t able to find a match.

Down to six players, Hata picked up a key hand against Gruissem when he flopped a King to match his A-K hand.  Gruissem, who was holding Q-Q, didn’t pair up and Hata improved his stack while Gruissem saw his drop to only ten big blinds.  He would bust shortly after to Antonius, taking $118,125 with him.

It’s taken a couple of years, but Phil Galfond’s Run It Once online poker portal is finally making progress. After a number of delays that he has said were due to it being a much more difficult proposition than he anticipated, the poker pro is making the final tweaks to the site and needs a little help. He released the latest update on the site last week, discussing table caps and inviting users to decide which way to go.

A lot of poker rooms have a limit on how many tables a player can play at once, while some have unlimited multi-tabling. Galfond feels that there needs to be a limit, and is vacillating between six and four.

He explained in his post, “The primary purpose of a table cap is to improve average game quality. More often than not, those who play 8-24 tables are professionals, and those who play one table are more likely non-pros, which means that the ratio of pros to recreational players at each table is much greater than the ratio of pro to recreational active accounts.

“The fewer tables each pro can play, the fewer seats per table will be occupied by pros, and this will positively affect win and loss rates for everyone.”

It’s now official – gambling advertising in Italy is no more. The country’s parliament passed a bill banning all gambling advertising by a close 155-125 vote this past Tuesday. Going forward, no gambling products can be advertised on the TV, radio or Internet.

Not only is gambling advertising now outlawed, so are sports sponsorships. Of course, in typically “we’re better than you” government fashion, the national lottery – operated by the government – is exempt from the new legislation.

The decision comes after a push by Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister and head of the Populist 5 Star movement, Luigi Di Maio. He first submitted his advertising ban “Dignity Decree” in June and, after the bill passed, said, “This is the first decree for decades that hasn’t been dictated by lobbies and vested interests. Finally ordinary people have scored a point.”

The ban technically goes into effect on January 1 next year. However, any company that has a current contract that isn’t set to expire until after that date will be given an extension until June 30.

Despite a number of missteps last year, Crown Resorts, the largest casino operator in Australia, managed to see an increase in profits. According to a filing with the Australian Stock Exchange, the company indicated that its annual profit had increased by 12.7%. The news pleased shareholders and the company’s stock price jumped to a three-year high.

At the end of the fiscal year on June 30, the company net profit was $287.4 million. This was a substantial increase over the $253.12 million reported in the prior period, and was a direct result of an increase in VIP gambling. That segment increased by 54.5% over the course of the year. John Alexander, the company’s executive chairman, explained, “VIP program play turnover in Australia of $51.5 billion was a pleasing outcome.”

The profit news is welcome, given the decision by the company’s owner, James Packer, to step down from the board in March. Packer, who owns 47% of Crown, unexpectedly resigned over “mental health” concerns.

Several whistleblowers had come forward during the year to admit that the company was engaged in machine-fixing activities at its Melbourne casino. Specifically, the casino removed certain buttons on slot machines that resulted in a reduction in the odds of players winning.