The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently decided to change its position of the Federal Wire Act. Whereas it previously said that the act was only applicable to online sports gambling, it now asserts that its previous opinion had been misinterpreted and that all forms of online gambling fall under the auspices of the act. How or why it took eight years for the DOJ to issue this correction is anyone’s guess, but industry experts are pointing out that federal prosecutors are going to have a difficult time shutting down online gambling operations if they try to use the Wire Act in their prosecution.

The DOJ would first need to update its prosecution manual to include its new opinion. In speaking with Casino.org, a former supervisor for the DOJ’s Criminal Division, and current attorney at the O’Melveny & Myers law firm, each pointed out that, without inclusion of the opinion, prosecutors would not have a case. The attorney, Laurel Loomis Rimon, stated, “Revised guidance can certainly be provided within 90 days.” However, the DOJ has already stated that it will allow a 90-day grace period to allow for any public discussion on the matter.

Rimon also stated that the DOJ’s Organized Crime and Gang Section (OCGS) could “simply hold prosecutors from bringing the charges for a longer period if there is a feeling that 90 days is really not enough time to allow reasonable efforts to come into compliance with the law in any particular case.”

The OCGS is part of the department’s Criminal Division and was created in 2010 when the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section merged with the Gang Unit and the National Gang Targeting Enforcement & Coordination Center. The group is tasked with combating all types of organized crime.

ICE London 2019 is only a few weeks away, and there’s a lot to be excited about. With a free registration, there’s plenty to soak in.

Taking place from February 5 to 7, 2019, a free entry to ICE can get you access to the ExCel in London, UK, and open the doors to countless networking opportunities. There’s plenty to see with your visitor’s badge too.

The “Consumer Protection Zone” (CPZ) exhibit will be offer several free seminars throughout the entire conference, and will demonstrate a “Responsible Player Journey,” the story from game development, to release, and even to self-exclusion and blocking.

The free “Diversity & Inclusion Day” seminar will run from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on February 6 in the South Gallery. It will focus on the challenges of creating a more diverse industry, and the benefits of inclusion.

MGM Resorts International has a new director on its board. Keith Meister, the managing partner and chief investment officer of Corvex Management LP, has been tapped to fill a seat on the board, effective as of today. Corvex owns approximately 3% of MGM’s shares.

In a written statement from yesterday, MGM’s chairman and CEO, Jim Murren, stated, “[We] are aligned on our strategy to increase free cash flow, continue to pursue an asset-light model, drive margin improvement and position the company for long-term future growth. Keith’s strong track record of helping companies maximize value for shareholders as well as his experience in real estate and gaming will be invaluable.”

Meister was previously a director of Yum! Brands Inc, a fast-food company, as well as ADT Corp., The Williams Companies, Ralcorp Holdings, Inc. and American Casino and Entertainment Properties LLC. He also served as a director in Motorola Inc. and its subsidiary, Motorola Mobility, Inc.

The executive becomes the 13th member of MGM’s board. Four independent directors have been appointed since 2017 and a total of 11 independent directors now sit around the MGM table.

After starting the year with a softened outlook, a couple of casino operators in Macau have just received a boost. Analysts with the Sanford C. Bernstein brokerage have revised their ratings for both Galaxy Entertainment Group and Sands China, basing their new position on the companies’ current valuations and forecasts capacity expansion.

Gross gaming revenue (GGR) in Macau is expected to slow considerably over the next 12 months. It grew 18% from 2017 to 2018, but is now predicted to only increase 3% over the next year. Despite this contraction, Bernstein said in its “Gaming 2019 Outlook” today that the overall picture for the casino industry in Macau remains positive.

According to the analysts, Vitaly Umansky, Eunice Lee and Kelsey Zhu, “On a longer-term fundamental view, Galaxy now looks relatively inexpensive, especially factoring in Phase 3 and 4 developments of Galaxy Macau.

“Galaxy continues to improve its Mass operations at Galaxy Macau and StarWorld while maintaining a leadership position in VIP. While the VIP segment is most at risk of considerable slowdown over the next 6 to 12 months, over the medium term, the key value driver is operating leverage improvement and improving business mix, which will enhance margins.

Macau is winning over its guests, and leaving them wanting more. GGRAsia is reporting Macau’s Statistics and Census Service has released a report indicating that approximately 7.53 million visitors to the gambling hub in 2018 were repeat visitors in the calendar year.

Overall, Macau recorded 32.2 million tourist arrivals for the first 11 months of 2018. Of that number, only 10.2 million visited once and felt it was enough, with the majority of the entries coming from repeat tourists. In other words, those who enjoy Macau like it a lot.

Of the 7.53 million unique repeat visitors, approximately 62 percent visited the city as many as three times in that time period.

Leonardo Dioko, director of Macau’s IFT Tourism Research Centre, noted that the majority of these repeat visitors were from Mainland China, the Unites States, and other nearby countries. The 5.4 million repeat visitors from neighboring Mainland China could be thanked in part to the new Hong Kong-Zuhai-Macau bridge.

Affiliates have the chance to get expert knowledge on the gaming affiliate business, all for free, at the London Affiliate Conference 2019.

It will be held from Wednesday, February 6 to Saturday, February 9, at the ExCeL in London, UK, with lots of chances to party and engage in one-on-one discussions with fellow affiliates.

The bulk of talks are on the second and third days. Nick Pateman and Tom Wade, co-founders of SickOdds.com, will discuss the eSports affiliate industry, where they will share ideas on the fans, how they differ from other bettors, and what strategies to implement to engage them better.

GameSoft COO Monica Rangel and ApostaOnline.com Director Pedro Lucas will give their insights on the Latin American affiliate market, specifically challenges in marketing, payment solutions, and other aspects. Among the things they’ll reveal are the Latin American jurisdictions with the fewest barriers to entry, what the popular games are and where, as well as content that engages Latin American customers.

Lee Davy spends 20-minutes with the PokerStars Ambassador, Jake Cody, to talk about his hometown of Rochdale, his inner conflict on being more outspoken, and more.

When I Google the word Rochdale, I learn that the outdoor market will no longer open on a Friday. The Operations Director in Rochdale’s Development Agency said it’s down to low trading numbers.

I imagine Jake Cody pretending he’s a 5,000 lb white rhinoceros, running around that market, with a thorn from a rosebush stuck to his nose with spit. Who would have thought back then, watching his mother picking up trainers he didn’t want to wear that he would make millions of dollars playing cards.

[Image credit: Neil Stoddart]

Massachusetts’ newest casino is a crime magnet, at least, according to local police reports.

On Thursday, Boston’s local ABC television affiliate WCVB reported that MGM Resorts’ new MGM Springfield casino in the state’s southwest corner experienced nearly twice as much crime in its first four months of operation than the state’s other major gaming venue – Penn National Gaming’s Plainridge Park Casino – dealt with all last year.

According to the report, Massachusetts State Police recorded 208 incidents and 120 arrests inside MGM Springfield between September and December 2018. The incidents included 16 larcenies and robberies, five assaults and two sexual offenses. Meanwhile, police responded to just 115 incidents at Plainridge Park throughout all of 2018.

Crime was also on the rise outside MGM Springfield. There were 22 crimes reported in the area surrounding the casino in the three months prior to its August opening, and 115 crimes in the five months following its opening.

The World Poker Tour has called ‘time’ on the Gardens Poker Championships in California, with Frank Stepuchin leading a final table that resumes live from the HyperX Esports Arena at the Luxor Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas in March.

The World Poker Tour (WPT) Gardens Poker Championship is over, for now. The final six players now have an anxious wait until March 12 when they reconvene to find out who will win the $548,825 first prize when the bright lights of the HyperX Esports Arena at the Luxor Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, attempt to puff up their faces like a blister.

It seemed like an odd choice to hold a $10,000 WPT Championship event with PokerStars dragging most of the high rolling oil rockers to the Bahamas for a blitz of high stakes action including the softest $25,000 in the history of the game.

There was no begging bowl.

The world’s most gifted poker player, Libratus, is ditching the deck to join the US Army, after its daddy, Tuomas Sandholm, signed a two-year deal with the Pentagon worth $10m.

Poker is war.

You sit at a table with other human beings with the sole purpose of taking everything that they have in front of them, in their pockets, and the pockets of their nearby friends. So focused are you on sliding your gun into their mouths you will even loan them money, and then do everything in your power to take that too.

Poker is war, and one of its brightest proponents is joining the army.

The final report from the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure as the $10,300 Main Event throws up two different storylines, as Chino Rheem dominates the final table to win the $1.5m first prize, and a Canadian Buddhist donates the entirety of his $671,240 purse to charity.

[Image credit: Carlos Monti]

I would love to sit down with Chino Rheem, stab him with sodium thiopental, shove a lit cigarette in his mouth, and a voice recorder switched ‘on.’ The poker circus took a hammer to the 38-year-old from Los Angeles a long time ago. There are pieces of him all over the place.

Card Player.