Cambodian authorities busted one Chinese-led illegal online gambling operation just days after the company set up shop and another before it could get its computers out of their boxes.

Last Saturday, a court in Cambodia’s northwestern Siem Reap province jailed four Chinese nationals for running an illegal online gambling operation in Siem Reap city. The four, including the owner, a man identified only as Mr Jiang, were arrested last Thursday night.

The authorities claimed Jiang ran an ‘online gambling den’ that operated under the name City Impression Entertainment World. Incredibly, corporate records indicate that the company had registered its business in Cambodia on January 17, just one week before the authorities pounced. Call us paranoid, but somebody with inside knowledge appears to have spilled the beans.

Cambodian authorities appear to be getting much better at nabbing Chinese-led online gambling operations before their businesses get too established. On January 15, police in the gambling hub of Poipet arrested 15 Chinese nationals on suspicion of illegal online gambling after local residents reported odd behavior at the villa housing the suspects.

Connecticut’s two tribal gaming operators insist they’re committed to their joint venture casino project, which finally has a brand name, if not a launch date.

This week, the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes offered state legislators an update on their plans to build a $300m joint venture casino near East Windsor on the state’s northern border with Massachusetts. The tribes also revealed that the venue will operate under the Tribal Winds name.

The tribes say their MMCT Venture has spent $14m to date preparing the ground on which Tribal Winds hopes to rise and they say the venue could open within 18-24 months of them getting the okay to commence construction. But ongoing uncertainty regarding federal regulatory approval and other legal challenges continue to plague the project.

The two tribes make no secret of who they blame for their inability to commence work on the project: (a) the federal government’s Department of the Interior, which the tribes accuse of improperly withholding its approval, and (b) commercial casino operator MGM Resorts, who the tribes claim engaged in “heavy lobbying” of the DOI aimed at protecting its new MGM Springfield casino just across the border from East Windsor.

Belgium’s gambling regulator has triumphed in its war against Electronic Arts’ in-game loot boxes.

On Wednesday, the Belgian Gaming Commission (BGC) issued a statement saying videogame publisher Electronic Arts (EA) had agreed to “remove the paying loot boxes in the game FIFA.” The BGC went on to say that EA had committed to complying with Belgian gaming laws from this point forward.

Loot boxes contain virtual goods that can allow players to progress more quickly in their respective games. The boxes are offered to players at various stages of game-play, although the contents of the boxes remain a mystery until after the player has submitted payment.

In April 2018, the BGC declared that the random contents of paid loot boxes met the definition of ‘games of chance’ under Belgium’s Gaming & Betting Act. Last September, the BGC launched a probe into EA’s offering of loot boxes in FIFA 18 and submitted the file to the crown prosecutor’s office in Brussels.

Norway-facing online gambling operators have formed a new industry association to press the government to rethink its restrictive gambling policy.

This month, European online gambling operators Betsson, Cherry AB’s ComeOn brand, Gaming Innovation Group (GiG) and the Kindred Group announced the formation of the Norwegian Industry Association for Online Gambling (NBO).

The new association will urge Norway’s government to abandon its monopolistic stance – which limits local punters to the state-run Norsk Rikstoto (race betting) and Norsk Tipping (sports betting and casino games) – in favor of a liberalized regime that would allow internationally licensed online gambling operators to apply for local licenses.

The NBO, which hopes to enlist other European Union and European Economic Area operators, has named Carl Fredrik Stenstrøm, Rikstoto former commercial director, as its secretary-general. The NBO will be chaired by Kindred’s public affairs manager Rolf Sims, a former Ministry of Culture veteran who helped craft Norway’s gambling policy.

Norway-facing online gambling operators have formed a new industry association to press the government to rethink its restrictive gambling policy.

This month, European online gambling operators Betsson, Cherry AB’s ComeOn brand, Gaming Innovation Group (GiG) and the Kindred Group announced the formation of the Norwegian Industry Association for Online Gambling (NBO).

The new association will urge Norway’s government to abandon its monopolistic stance – which limits local punters to the state-run Norsk Rikstoto (race betting) and Norsk Tipping (sports betting and casino games) – in favor of a liberalized regime that would allow internationally licensed online gambling operators to apply for local licenses.

The NBO, which hopes to enlist other European Union and European Economic Area operators, has named Carl Fredrik Stenstrøm, Rikstoto former commercial director, as its secretary-general. The NBO will be chaired by Kindred’s public affairs manager Rolf Sims, a former Ministry of Culture veteran who helped craft Norway’s gambling policy.

Online sports betting operator Betfair is turning its back on India after being publicly called out for flouting local laws.

Earlier this month, UK-listed Paddy Power Betfair’s Betfair brand sent an email to its Indian clients expressing its regret that it would “stop taking bets on Betfair in India” as of January 28. As of Monday, Indian punters attempting to access Betfair have been told that they reside in “a country that Betfair does not accept bets from.”

Betfair’s email told its Indian customers to withdraw all funds in their online accounts by January 28. The company said it would honor all pending sportsbook and matched Exchange bets placed before that date and any winnings could be collected via customer service. Betfair said it understood that this abrupt notice was “frustrating” and apologized for the inconvenience.

Betfair didn’t offer any reasoning behind its decision but the abrupt skedaddle came not long after the site was cited in a letter sent by the All India Gaming Federation (AIGF) to Prime Minister Narenda Modi. The letter accused nine online gambling websites, including 1xbet, Bet365 and other familiar faces of “luring and accepting bets from Indian citizens” without local authorization.