Arkansas voters may not get a chance to decide whether they want new land-based casinos after an anti-gambling group filed a legal challenge of a November ballot question.

Last week, the Arkansas Secretary of State approved a petition brought by pro-casino group Driving Arkansas Forward (DAF) that will ask voters whether they want to amend the state constitution to authorize two new casinos while expanding gaming options at two existing slots-only racetracks.

On Monday, a rival group known as Ensuring Arkansas’ Future (EAF) filed a lawsuit with the state Supreme Court seeking the purging of Issue 4 from the November election ballot due to the question’s allegedly ambiguous and misleading language.

The EAF consists of several faith-based groups, including the Arkansas Faith & Ethics Council (AFEC), the Families First Foundation and the Family Council Action Committee. AFEC executive director Larry Page told his supporters that, as written, the Issue 4 question forces voters to “speculate on what the amendment provides and what it will do.”

Maryland’s six casinos reported an overall modest gaming revenue increase in August, while the state’s biggest casino dealt with a case of insider cheating.

Figures released by the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Agency showed the state’s casino operators generated combined gaming revenue of $146.3m in August, a 6.4% improvement over the same month last year, although a minor reduction from July 2018’s $146.5m.

Five of the six casinos reported year-on-year revenue gains, with the biggest gain coming via Ocean Downs Casino, which shot up 19% to $8.27m thanks to last December’s addition of the properties first table games. Ocean Downs’ 18 tables contributed over $912k to August’s result.

August’s lone decliner was Horseshoe Casino Baltimore, which reported gaming revenue falling 3.7% year-on-year to $21m. The Horseshoe is a joint operation of Caesars Entertainment and JACK Entertainment, and the latter entity was recently rumored to be putting its casino operations up for sale.

Swedish online gambling operator Betsson AB is challenging the €300k fine imposed on its Dutch-facing subsidiary by the local gambling regulator.

On Monday, Betsson announced that its Corona Ltd subsidiary had appealed the €300k penalty imposed last month by the Netherlands’ Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) regulatory body for Corona’s Malta-licensed Oranje and Kroon online casino sites serving local punters without the KSA’s approval.

Betsson’s statement claims that Corona “maintains its prior position that its operations comply with applicable laws and regulations in the absence of an EU-compliant gambling legislation in the Netherlands.” Should the appeal fail, Corona will “refer the matter on appeal to a court of law to defend its rights.”

The KSA levied the penalty after determining that the Corona brands had violated several of its edicts, including failing to bar Dutch punters and suggesting that these customers utilize the “most popular payment method in Holland,’ aka e-commerce outfit iDEAL.

UK authorities have charged a convicted rapist with fraud for his involvement in a bogus UK National Lottery claim.

On Tuesday, UK media outlets reported that Hertfordshire Police had charged 53-year-old Edward Putman with fraud by false representation for submitting a claim on a £2.5m National Lottery jackpot in 2009. Putman has been released on bail ahead of a court appearance scheduled for October 16.

In 2009, National Lottery operator Camelot received a claim on the £2.5m jackpot from Putman, who presented a ticket on which the barcode had been destroyed. But Camelot decided to pay out the prize “based on the evidence available” at the time.

In 2015, Putman was arrested on suspicion of fraud after evidence surfaced that he’d colluded with a Camelot insider to claim the prize. However, the investigation was dropped after Hertfordshire police felt they didn’t have enough evidence to proceed.