Massachusetts’ sports bettors appear set to get legal wagering sooner rather than later after four separate betting bills were filed this week.

On Thursday, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (pictured) issued a statement saying he was preparing legislation that would allow the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) to issue sports betting permits to the state’s casino licensees, including MGM Springfield, Encore Boston Harbor and Plainridge Park Casino.

In addition to offering in-house wagering at their venues, these casinos would be allowed to partner with third-party firms to conduct online wagering, while the MGC could also issue online-only licenses to non-casino licensees. It’s worth noting that DraftKings, the daily fantasy sports (DFS) site turned sportsbook operator, has its headquarters in Boston.

Baker’s plan would apply a 10% tax on land-based wagering revenue, while online betting would face a 12.5% rate. To ‘level the playing field,’ a new 12.5% tax would be applied to DFS revenue, which currently goes untaxed. Betting operators would pay an initial $100k license fee plus a $500k renewal every five years. Baker’s office estimates sports betting could add $35m in revenue to the state’s fiscal 2020 budget.

UK-listed gambling operator GVC Holdings has pulled its Bwin and PartyPoker brands from Switzerland after apparently failing to reach a deal with a local casino partner.

On January 1, Switzerland’s new online gambling laws took effect, following last summer’s public referendum that saw nearly three-quarters of voters approve the new regime. The law allows Swiss land-based casino operators to offer online casino and poker products for the first time.

The law also requires Swiss internet service providers to block the domains of any international operator who fails to strike a partnership with a local land-based operator. Some companies have already announced such deals, including UK-listed Playtech, which signed with the Swiss Casinos Group last November, while others such as Belgium’s Ardent Group chose to buy their way into the Swiss online market.

Last September, GVC said it was having “discussions” with an unspecified Swiss land-based operator regarding an online tie-up, but assured investors that there would be no great calamity if these talks failed to produce a satisfactory result, as Switzerland represented less than 1% of group revenue.

Poland’s sports bettors may have another online wagering option, while at least one international operator is getting creative in its attempts to evade the country’s digital censors.

This week, a number of Polish gambling affiliates reported that the country’s Ministry of Finance had issued its 15th online sports betting license to a company called Polski Bukmacher, which literally translates as ‘Polish bookmaker.’ The company reportedly plans to operate under the Noblebet.pl and OKbet.pl domains.

However, while the reports claim the new license was issued on January 3, the Ministry’s official list of online betting licensees still shows only 14 names, and neither of the above domains is active. So perhaps take these reports with a grain of salt.

Poland’s online sports betting licensees saw their share of the local online betting market rise eight points to 48% in 2018, according to the Ministry’s preliminary figures.

UK-listed gambling operator GVC Holdings closed out 2018 on a high note as online growth helped overcome UK retail declines.

On Thursday, GVC issued a trading update covering its full-year 2018 performance, during which the company’s pro forma net gaming revenue (NGR) rose by 9% from 2017’s result, while group earnings are expected to come in between £750m-£755m, “ahead of current market consensus.”

The full-year numbers were goosed by a “very strong” online performance, which saw NGR spike 19%, in part due to a 13% rise in online sports betting turnover. That online spike helped offset a poor UK retail performance, which was down 3% from 2017.

The UK retail figures will likely stay broadly negative for some time to come, as the Q4 numbers showed over the counter (OTC) wagers falling 7% and wagering revenue down 10%. Fixed-odds betting terminal revenue was up 3%, but that vertical’s growth will come to a screeching halt starting April 1.