UK-based gaming developer Gaming Realms posted revenue of £11 million ($14.41 million) for the first half of 2018, 27% lower than the same period last year, according to a release.

The developer of the ‘Slingo’ line of games announced an improved adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for the period, of £400,000 ($524,000), which was £1.5 million ($2 million) higher than last year’s first-half loss.

The company noted that licensing revenue increased 175% to £600,000 ($786,000), while social publishing revenue decreased 48% to £2.1 million ($2.8 million), with an 88% reduction in marketing spend, to £200,000 ($262,000).

CEO Patrick Southon said, “We believe that licensing our platform and content to leading brands and gaming operators will deliver high margin revenues, and we have been very pleased with the results of our efforts over the first half of 2018.”

Andrea Domingo, the chairman and CEO of state regulator Philippine Gaming and Amusement Corporation (PAGCOR), is envisioning more casinos operating in the Entertainment City complex in Metro Manila, according to Inside Asian Gaming.

Such a plan might take a while, as PAGCOR itself placed a five-year moratorium on new gaming licenses for Manila-based casinos back in March 2017, upon the request of existing operators in the area.

Moreover, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the agency last August to stop issuing new casino licenses, with no timeframe given for when applications will once more be accepted.

“I really think there should be a critical mass in Entertainment City making the area more contiguous and each IR [integrated resort] more accessible. I really believe that,” Domingo told the news outlet.

Tax revenue in Singapore increased by 6.8% year-on-year in the latest fiscal year. According to a report by the Island Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS), the tax revenue increased to $50.2 billion for the year, driven primarily by economic growth that was better than anticipated. However, the country didn’t get any help from gamblers – tax revenue on gambling was $1.99 billion, the same that it was last year.

Betting taxes in the country are calculated on the taxes associated with wagers, casinos and private lotteries. Singapore offers a small selection of gambling opportunities, including the Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa, as well as sports betting through Singapore Pools.

The results aren’t too surprising, given the tourist numbers from this year. Singapore received more tourists in the first quarter of the year than it did last year, with tourists dropping around $1.1 billion into the local economy. This was an increase of 6% year-on-year; however, they spent 0.5% less than the same period last year, only opening the wallet to turn over $4.9 billion.

Since 2016, both casinos have seen greater instability with their finances. There have been slight recoveries, but the venues continue to see a decline in VIP numbers. In the last quarter of 2017, Marina Bay recorded a 4% drop in VIP turnover and a drop of almost 3% in mass-market table revenue. RWS reported similar returns – Its net profits in the second quarter of 2018 increased, but its EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) fell by 8% year-on-year. Gaming revenue also fell by about the same amount over the same period last year.

Silver Heritage Group has wrapped up the retail component of its shares offering. The event was anything but the huge success the company had anticipated, bringing in only about a quarter of the revenue it had hoped to garner. The casino operator had been looking for US$4.03 million, but only collected $1.05 million.

The company announced the results to the Australian Securities Exchange this past Wednesday. It indicated that it had received applications from qualified shareholders to sell 73.2 million shares and that another 8.9 million shares were offered through the Top-Up Facility, bringing in an additional $129,731.

The good news is that Silver Heritage has been able to raise almost all of the capital it had hoped to collect. Because the share offering was underwritten in its entirety, 177.6 additional shares have been allocated to the underwriter, bringing the total amount collected to $3.74 million.

The offering follows an institutional share offering presented by the company earlier this month. That offering attracted $5.4 million, which is to be spent on the company’s Tiger Palace Resort Bhairahawa in Nepal.

Vietnam is a favorite destination with tourists, thanks in large part to its biodiversity. It has over 15,980 species of flora, 840 species of birds and 310 mammals. It is also becoming a popular destination for another type of mammal – the poker player. Two of the world’s most famous poker tournament organizers are gearing up to offer some major festivals using the Vietnamese landscape as a backdrop.

The World Poker Tour (WPT) is now on hand at the Pro Poker Club in Ho Chi Minh City. Highlighting the festival is the WPT Vietnam Main Event, which gets underway today and wraps up on October 2. The buy-in is 22 million Vietnamese dong, or about $942, and offers a guaranteed prize pool of 8 billion dong, or about $342,884. With a little luck, the field will swell and push the prize pool even higher.

The WPT Vietnam festival commenced this past Wednesday with its Welcome WPT Vietnam tournament. The Main Event will certainly be a big draw, but a High Roller tournament scheduled to begin on Monday could be just as exciting. It features a buy-in of 44 million dong – about $1,885 – and the prize pool will be determined once all the buy-ins are collected.

There will also be some action along the Vietnamese coast. Da Nang is preparing for the Asia Poker Tour (APT) to come into town on October 5 to lead 11 tournaments and the CoinPoker Super High Roller. The games will wrap up on October 11.

The Card Player Poker Tour (CPPT) team can’t seem to slow down. It has been busy hopping around the US and is now making its way to sunny Florida. The CPPT will be at Derby Lane in Saint Petersburg for the casino’s Pokerfest Series, which offers ten separate events and $320,000 in guaranteed prize money.

The series gets underway today with a mega stack NLHE tournament featuring a buy-in of just $150. There will be four starting flights and those fortunate enough to make it to the money will divide the $50,000 guarantee. The festival will close on October 7 after finding a winner in the $250 buy-in mega stack that offers a guarantee of $10,000.

Mixed in with the other tournaments will be a $350 buy-in black chip bounty that has $10,000 up for grabs, scheduled to begin on October 1. A $350 monster stack will kick off a day later and has $20,000 to be handed out, followed by a Pot-Limit Omaha tournament with a $10,000 guaranteed prize pool that gets rolling on October 4.

There will also be a $250 LIPS (Ladies International Poker Series) tournament with $5,000 to be awarded beginning September 30. On October 2, the $250 $5,000 guaranteed senior’s tournament will kick off.

According to a report in the Times of India, several of the top lottery distributors in the country have been busted for trying to evade paying taxes. The three operators – Martin Group, Sugal & Damani Group and Essel Group – have been targeted for attempting to evade paying the Goods and Services Tax (GST) associated with their sales efforts.

Times of India reports that the Central GST Commissioner in Ludhiana has launched cases against E-Cool Gaming Solutions Pvt. Ltd and Pan India Network Limited of the Essel Group, Future Gaming and Hotel Services Pvt. Ltd. of the Martin Group and M/s Skill Lotto of Sugal & Damani.

The cases were registered by Punjab’s central tax department in response to the firms not paying the correct GST rate. They also reportedly didn’t file GST returns and collected payments from customers without making the appropriate deposits to the treasury.

Future Gaming is accused of failing to pay the 28% GST rate, opting instead to pay only 12%. It didn’t make required GST deposits it had collected from customers, nor did it file its required GST returns. Future Gaming is reportedly on the hook for the equivalent of about $839,000.

After compiling feedback from players, PokerStars has released the schedule and format for the $25,000 PokerStars’ Player’s No-Limit Hold’em Championship, and the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. 

The last pair of wheels I owned was 20-years ago. A red mini-metro that cost a grand from a second-hand car lot. It did the job until it vanished. I parked in a multi-storey while I had my hair bleached blonde ahead of a Robbie Williams concert, and when I returned it had left me.

So I thought.

Several weeks later, the cops called me.

The live poker scene in France is as dead as Roy Orbison after officials applied enough pressure to see the last Parisian ‘gaming circle’ Cercle Clichy-Montmartre close this week. 

In March 2017, Jeremy Saderne beat 1,399 entrants in the €550 buy-in Winamax Poker Tour (WiPT) Main Event at Cercle Clichy-Montmartre for $105,579.

Fast forward.

September 2018.

North Korea is denying media reports that it was hosting an illegal casino in its embassy in Moscow.

Earlier this month, Russia media reported on a series of raids on 15 underground gambling dens in the Moscow region. Russian investigators believe the illegal operation had been around since May 2016, generating profits of hundreds of millions of rubles each month.

These illegal operations were reportedly connected to licensed sports betting operator Panorama, which operates the GreenBet, UnionBet and Winline brands. Over 100 individuals were arrested, including Anton Bazhanov, a reputed high-ranking member of the local “criminal community.” Kommersant reported that Bazhanov offered to put up RUB10m (US$153k) bail but was ordered held in custody for two months while his case progresses.

On Wednesday, the Tass news agency quoted a law enforcement source saying that one of the underground casinos was located “on the premises of the North Korean embassy” and that it catered to a VIP clientele of diplomats and lawyers.