More online gambling operators are shifting their operations to tax-friendly Spanish enclaves as the UK’s Brexit debacle threatens European Union market access.

On Thursday, Gaming Intelligence’s Spanish-language site reported that UK betting operator Betfred had shifted its digital operations from Gibraltar to Ceuta, a Spanish autonomous city on the northern coast of Morocco.

The report of Betfred’s move, which was confirmed by local government officials, also named Spanish operator Suertia and Italian operator Mondobet as having also committed to shifting their digital ops to Ceuta.

An additional four unnamed companies are reportedly preparing to announce their own Ceuta plans in short order. In order to qualify for Ceuta’s favorable online regime, operators need to establish their tax base in the enclave, as well as shift at least half their digital staff to the city.

China’s lottery sales shot up by one-fifth in 2018 as the FIFA World Cup drove sports lottery sales to their newly dominant position.

On Friday, China’s Ministry of Finance issued its official lottery sales tally for December 2018, which saw overall sales rise 8.4% to RMB43b (US$6.4b). The gains were entirely due to the sports lottery, which reported sales rising 17.8% to RMB 22.4b, while the formerly dominant welfare lottery reported sales of RMB20.6b, a year-on-year decline of 0.2%.

For the year as a whole, overall sales rose 19.9% to RMB511.5b ($75.8b), the third straight year of annual growth and a new market record. Sports lottery sales shot up nearly 37% to RMB287b while the welfare lottery sales hit RMB224.5b, a far more modest 3.5% annual improvement. By comparison, 2017’s overall sales were up only 8% from 2016.

The sports lottery was once a poor cousin to its welfare counterpart but the sports product assumed the dominant position for the first time last April. The sports lottery’s dominance was assured by last summer’s World Cup action and it maintained that dominance through the rest of 2018, although December’s margin of victory was smaller than some previous months.

China’s lottery sales shot up by one-fifth in 2018 as the FIFA World Cup drove sports lottery sales to their newly dominant position.

On Friday, China’s Ministry of Finance issued its official lottery sales tally for December 2018, which saw overall sales rise 8.4% to RMB43b (US$6.4b). The gains were entirely due to the sports lottery, which reported sales rising 17.8% to RMB 22.4b, while the formerly dominant welfare lottery reported sales of RMB20.6b, a year-on-year decline of 0.2%.

For the year as a whole, overall sales rose 19.9% to RMB511.5b ($75.8b), the third straight year of annual growth and a new market record. Sports lottery sales shot up nearly 37% to RMB287b while the welfare lottery sales hit RMB224.5b, a far more modest 3.5% annual improvement. By comparison, 2017’s overall sales were up only 8% from 2016.

The sports lottery was once a poor cousin to its welfare counterpart but the sports product assumed the dominant position for the first time last April. The sports lottery’s dominance was assured by last summer’s World Cup action and it maintained that dominance through the rest of 2018, although December’s margin of victory was smaller than some previous months.

Chinese gamblers are the bread and butter of gaming revenue right now, and Okada Manila has came up with a new strategy to pull them in. Universal Entertainment Corp, operator of the casino, has signed a letter of intent with the Chinese travel agency CTS Shanghai Zohngqiao International Travel Service Co Ltd to offer package tours.

GGRAsia reports Universal made the announcement at the Jasdaq Securities Exchange on January 24. Universal said, “The company and CTS Shanghai Zhongqiao International Travel Service Co. Ltd will commence the discussion on efforts to plan and develop sightseeing tour packages for attracting tourists to the Philippines in the Chinese market.”

The state-operated travel agency is one of the three largest in the People’s Republic of China. It actually consists of 100 smaller agencies and vocational schools, and arranges travel domestically as well as internationally. They cater to budget and mid-market travelers.

Okada Manila will be hoping that however much money they have, they’ll spend some of it in their resort. They hope that this deal “would serve to expand tourism business in the Republic of the Philippines, attract tourists from overseas to the Okada Manila integrated resort operated by the company group in Manila, the Philippines, and so forth.”

The Macau casino concession refreshment process has a new twist to take into account. GGRAsia reports that the Judiciary Police will pay close attention to the potential risks to the city from the gaming industry.

As per a report from the police, the number of casino crimes in 2018 had increased from the previous year. The statement went on to say, “The Judiciary Police will closely follow up the potential impact on public security from changes in the gaming industry.”

It remains unclear how refreshing the concessionaire’s licenses might further affect crime, however, logically, denying the licenses could theoretically reduce crime in the surrounding areas of the casinos.

The report documents 5,014 cases of suspected gaming-related crime in 2018, a 6.4% increase from 4,714 cases in 2017. Any crime committed inside or near a casino qualified for the total. The report goes on to note that crimes directly tied to gambling decreased from 554 cases to 308, largely in thanks to a crackdown on loan-shark activities.

Sports gambling in the U.S. capital is pushing forward. Washington, D.C. is home to all the major political activity in the country and also the source of the recent controversial move by the Department of Justice to reverse its opinion on the Federal Wire Act. Despite strong divisions on Capitol Hill regarding the legitimacy of gambling, DC officials are ready to move forward with their own plans for sports bets.

This past Wednesday, DC City Mayor Muriel Bowser approved the Sports Wagering Lottery Amendment Act, which paves the way for sports gambling in the city. However, there are still a number of obstacles that have to be overcome before it is made law.

DC is not a state, at least not by the same definition that covers New York, California, etc. As such, the U.S. Congress has to ratify any bill before it becomes law. Given the state of sports gambling in the nation’s capital, this approval will most likely not come easily. While Congress often does not deny bills that have been approved by the DC Council, it’s a brave new world and the country is seeing that anything goes when it comes to politics.

Congress, which previously shut down DC’s attempts to legalize marijuana and to provide safe access to reproductive care, has 60 days to respond to the DC bill. If it remains silent, the bill automatically will become law.

Casinos in Macau might need to be considering investing in their own permanent sources of electricity. This past Saturday, both the Ponte 16 and the Golden Dragon suffered extended power outages, resulting in a certain amount of lost income. Now, it appears that venues operated by Sands China also suffered from a loss of power on Sunday. However, power wasn’t stabilized until this past Wednesday.

According to a report by GGRAsia, four gaming venues in Cotai operated by Sands China saw “over 90 gaming machines” were suspended from operation due to “unstable power,” according to the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ, for its acronym in Portuguese). The media outlet adds that it attempted to contact Sands China for more information, but had not received a response before press time.

The unstable power affected games at the Casino Venetian, Casino Sands Cota Central, Casino Plaza and Casino Parisian Macao. The DICJ told GGRAsia in an email, “Over 90 gaming machines at the four [Cotai] casinos run by Venetian Macau, SA have been suspended since 10am on January 20 due to unstable power.”

As was the case with both outages at Ponte 16 and Golden Dragon, the local power company, CEM, said that it had not noted any power issues on Sunday at the four venues. It added that Sands China had not contacted the firm to seek help with unstable power problems.

Last week in Singapore, a husband and wife team accused of running an illegal gambling operation learned their fate. The couple, who were tagged for “unexplained wealth … disproportionate to their known sources of income,” will have to pay over SGD$1.3 million (US$826,000) in restitution for leading a non-licensed betting service that involved the 4-D lottery.

According to a report by The Strait Times, following an investigation led by the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), it was determined that 60-year-old Heng Ee Howe had been involved in the illegal activity for as long as 15 years along with his wife, 55-year-old Tin Suh Chyong. The alleged activity had run from June 1, 2010 to June 3, 2015.

Heng had been collecting illegal 4-D bets on behalf of other individuals. He would then consolidate the bets and send them to gambling runners in Malaysia. He received commissions based on a percentage of the total amount of bets that were collected, as well the winnings of the gamblers.

Last year, Heng was sent to prison for three months and ordered to pay a fine of $360,000. His wife spent two weeks behind bars and had to pay $100,000 in fines. The couple’s bank accounts were frozen and an embargo placed on the condominium they owned in order to prevent any assets from being liquidated.