A Swedish court has dealt a blow to local media outlets’ ability to reap advertising revenue from internationally licensed online gambling sites.

On Monday, Sweden’s Lotteriinspektionen regulatory body celebrated a ruling by the Court of Appeal in Jönköping that upheld a lower court ruling that online gambling advertising in websites run by media outlets Aftonbladet and Expressen didn’t fall within the boundaries of freedom of expression.

The case originated in September 2013 after Lotteriinspektionen went after the two media outlets over their websites’ publication of links to international gambling sites. The newspapers challenged the ruling – and the SEK45k (US$4,940) fine the regulator sought to impose for every day the sites continued to display the links – based on their assertion that clickable links don’t constitute advertising.

The Court of Appeal ruling states that the sites’ links to international gambling operators were of a “pronounced commercial nature” and thus ineligible for protection under freedom of expression laws. The Court further ruled that the advertising restrictions detailed in Sweden’s 1994 Gambling Act didn’t contravene European Union law.

China has officially put online lottery sales in the deep freeze, at least for the foreseeable future, following changes to lottery rules.

On Monday, China’s Ministry of Finance issued updated rules on lottery operations that redefine the term “illegal lottery” to include “welfare lottery tickets and sports lottery tickets sold by the Internet without authorization.” The changes will officially take effect on October 1.

The document, titled Amendments to the Regulations on the Administration of Lottery Regulations, follows a joint communiqué issued last month by 12 Chinese ministries and commissions “resolutely prohibiting the unauthorized use of the Internet to sell lottery tickets.”

Online lottery sales were suspended on a ‘temporary’ basis in March 2015 after a national audit uncovered rampant corruption at provincial lottery administration centers, including the failure to report all online sales to Beijing.

MGM is in overall good shape with healthy finances, but it may be setting the bar too high for itself. It’s a company in flux, and will likely look very different in the 2020s than the 2010s. Looking to divest itself of Nevada real estate and concentrating on Macau, regional casinos, sportsbook and possibly Japan means that the trading patterns and price action that have accompanied it since the financial crisis are unlikely to hold up over the next decade. We could see a more volatile stock price going forward. MGM looks like it is trying to become a growth stock. Resolve will be tested as the company changes form.

The Nevada real estate crash of 2008 caught MGM by complete surprise, and its moves and plans have signaled that it won’t be caught this time. From 2003 to 2007 MGM was high on the real estate boom, but paid the price. Now on its list of priorities is to divest even further from the real estate market after the MGP spinoff, and execute what it calls an “asset-light” strategy. It’s looking specifically to dilute its interest in properties at MGM Springfield, Bellagio, Circus Circus, and MGM Grand. Smart moves, as Nevada continues to be a rickety, fiscally irresponsible state with a rainy day reserves fund of less than 4 days. An asset-light approach is the safe way to navigate Nevada, and will also free up company resources to concentrate on other initiatives. If you’re not the landlord, you can leave the management headaches up to somebody else.

The good news is that operating expenses are likely to fall next quarter and revenue to rise. First, MGM Springfield finally opened up at the end of August. Diversifying away from Las Vegas is a good sign, but then again Massachusetts is in even worse fiscal shape than Nevada, getting an F from TruthinAccounting last June. Park MGM is just about done with its transformation, which should also bring down expenses and bring up revenues out of that venue. Construction annoys gamers as it does everyone else. MGM Cotai has Golden Week coming up in Macau and will have its VIP operations ready for the event. All of this is exciting news, but it also raises expectations, not a good thing for stock prices.

As for headwinds, Last quarter, MGM China EBTIDA came in $40M below expectations, so further disappointing numbers out of MGM Cotai after all the delays could negatively affect shares. MGM still doesn’t have the Macau reputation of its competitors, plus China continues to be unstable. Emerging markets, of which China is considered one, are dropping like flies, the Yuan is under pressure and just bounced off multiyear lows 3 weeks ago, and money supply in Macau is down 1% on the year. The last time that the Macau money supply was down for such a long period of time was in mid 2014. It looks like it may be turning down again, and this on the back of $200B more in US tariffs set to take effect on September 6th in just two days. Trump is unlikely to back down.

Towards the end of August, poker player and “King of Instagram,” Dan Bilzerian became an Armenian citizen, along with his brother, Adam. Of Armenia descent, and given his preference for being out of the ordinary, it shouldn’t be too surprising that he would not only seek an Armenian passport and enlist in the Armenia Armed Forces. What came next shouldn’t be too surprising, either. Bilzerian is wanted by the police in Azerbaijan for weapons violations.

Subsequent to his being sworn in as a citizen in Armenia, Bilzerian supposedly took off to neighboring Azerbaijan for a little celebration. As he’s prone to do, he published his antics on social media and was seen firing a variety weapons and driving armored vehicles. He posted the photos with a title of “First day as Armenian citizen,” but the activity reportedly actually took place in Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed area between the two countries that is recognized internationally as belonging to Azerbaijan.

Thanks to his antics, the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Azerbaijan is seeking an Interpol arrest warrant and has accused Bilzerian of “illegally acquiring grenades, a gun and other firearms and demonstratively opening fire” within the boundaries of the disputed region.

In normal diplomatic fashion, Bilzerian responded to the allegations, saying, “If these inbred goat fucking Azerbaijani officials get Interpol to arrest me, make sure to smoke my weed.” Perhaps, instead of throwing models off of rooftops, he should have allocated that time to reading, “How To Win Friends and Influence People.”

South Korea-listed casino operator Paradise Co. Ltd’s August revenue shrunk by 2% from the same period in 2018, the company said in a filing.

Revenue for last month was KRW51.6 billion ($46.3 million), compared to KRW52.6 billion ($47.2 million) in August 2017. It was also a 17.4% decrease from the previous month of July.

Revenue from January to August of 2018 was KRW410 billion ($368.2 million), 19.7% higher than last year’s revenue for the corresponding period. Of this, table revenue went up 19.9% to KRW381.6 billion ($342.8 million), while machine revenue went up 16.7% to KRW28.4 billion ($25.5 million).

Table drop amount, or the amount of cash exchanged for chips by customers at the table, was KRW3.7 trillion ($3.3 billion), a 13.4% increase from the same period last year. Table drop amount just for the month of August increased 6% year on year, to KRW501 billion ($450 million).

Gaming promoter Starlight Culture Entertainment Group Ltd reported a HKD30.4 million ($3.9 million) net loss for the first six months of 2018, a significant improvement from last year’s HKD240.9-million ($30.7-million) loss for the same period.

In a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the company said, “The decrease in loss of approximately HK$209.2 million [$26.6 million] was mainly attributable to the gain on change in fair value of derivative financial liabilities of approximately HK$36 million [$4.6 million]” during the period, as compared to last year’s HKD152-million ($19.4-million) loss. Apart from this, Starlight also cited “the decrease in impairment losses and increase in reversal of impairment losses of approximately HK$28 million [$3.6 million].”

Starlight said it expected “that income from media and culture business segment and related film licensing and investing income will contribute operating cash flows to the Group in the coming years,” and noted the August release of ‘Crazy Rich Asians,’ which the company is a producer of. “As the first adapted work of the novel series, there is also expectation for it to develop into commercially successful film series where the stories of the two sequels mainly take place in China,” according to Starling.

The company posted a gross profit of HKD793,000 ($101,000) for the first half of 2018, as compared to last year’s first-half gross loss of HKD3.6 million ($459,000). Revenue for the year until the end of June was HKD16.7 million ($2.13 million), 17.2% lower than last year’s HKD20.2 million ($2.6 million) for the corresponding period.

A popular NFL spread betting tournament that runs all season, the Westgate SuperBook SuperContest, could break its own buy-in record. It already set a record last year, and there are already 2,075 entries as of August 30 – 300 more than what was seen on the same day in 2017.

SuperContest players pay a $1,500 buy-in to participate in the challenge that sees each player pick five weekly NFL teams against the spread. A correct selection results in one point being awarded and a half-point is earned for a push. At the end of the season, the winner receives 33% of the pot, which, if things continue the way they have been, could reach $1.5 million. All final 100 winners finish in the money with the second-place finalist picking up around $580,000. Those who finish in the lowest 20 spots still come out ahead, each earning around $2,400.

The event began in 2005 and only recorded 505 players. By last year, the amount had climbed to 2,748. Westgate SuperBook VP Jay Kornegay points out that skill doesn’t always equal wins. He said, “A lot of first-time contestants win the championship. You don’t have to be a highly skilled player. If you put together a good year, you can be a millionaire. It’s life-changing money.”

Participants aren’t required to be Nevada residents or even be in the state. The majority of the players, around 65%, live outside of Nevada and make their picks using proxies, according to Kornegay.

Last Friday, Gaming Technologies Association (GTA) announced that its long-time CEO, Ross Ferrar, would be stepping down as its CEO. Ferrar has served as the CEO for the past 17 years and said that it’s time to move on. He is being replaced by Chris Muir, who has been with the GTA since this past June.

The GTA is a trade organization that represents gaming machine technology suppliers in Australia. It is also the founder and organizer of the Australasian Gaming Expo, a casino industry trade show held annually in Sydney and which celebrated its 29th year last month.

GTA chairman Adrian Halpenny said via a prepared statement, “I would like to thank Ross for his service to the GTA for the past 17 years. He has been a keen and steadfast advocate for the Association and its members and has had a distinguished career in the industry. The GTA will continue to participate as a voice of reason in the public discourse about poker machines and their role as a legitimate entertainment choice enjoyed by millions of Australians.”

Halpenny further stated, “Under Ross’ leadership, the GTA has developed a strong record of advocating for its members in support of a robust and sound regulatory environment and has made an important contribution to the public discussion around our industry.”