This past Tuesday, President Trump faced the nation from the Oval Office. While some were intently glued to the TV screen to see if the MAGA chief would declare a national emergency in order to fund his border wall, others were glued for an entirely different reason. They had placed wagers on how often he would stumble or provide misinformation, and they wanted to keep track of their winnings.

According to a report by BuzzFeed News, BookMaker, an online gambling house, opened up the betting markets to see how many “false statements” Trump would utter during his speech. The odds consultant for the site, John Lester, said in an interview with the New York Daily News that BookMaker purposely did not refer to them as “lies” in order to not have to “prove that the President is intentionally misleading the public.”

The over-under was set at just 3.5 – 145 for more than 3.5 lies and +115 for less than that amount. Lester states that the site raked in “over $100,000 in action on this wager in the first twelve hours alone.” In a separate conversation with BuzzFeed, he added, “With all the cable networks agreeing to air the speech, it came down to, how many times is the president willing to exaggerate the truth to accomplish his agenda when he knows the world will be scrutinizing his every word?”

Queue the Washington Post. It reported that Trump uttered 11 “untruths” that included exaggerating a new trade deal with Mexico and asserting that his U.S.-Mexico border wall would help prevent heroin from entering the country. In fact, according to separate studies, 90% of drugs that enter the U.S. are smuggled in through legal ports.

In a filing with the Jasdaq Securities Exchange yesterday, Japan-based gaming company Universal Entertainment Corp. announced that it had begun its shares buyback program. In total, the company looks to purchase 600,000 shares, which account for 0.76% of its outstanding stock, said to be worth approximately $18.53 million. The buyback program does not include any treasure stock.

Universal will continuing buying back the stocks until June 30. The program will allow the company to “execute flexible capital policies that accommodate the reinforcement of the return of profits to shareholders and changes in the environment the company operates in,” according to its filing with the exchange. That was a reiteration of its same announcement on the subject made to Jasdaq in October of last year.

The company added, “Going forward, the company, which views the return of profits to its shareholders as one of its foremost management priorities, will follow up on this second acquisition of treasury stock with the active, ongoing implementation of measures for the return of profits to shareholders based on its financial status and trends in securities markets.”

Universal has been embroiled in a dispute with its founder and former chairman, Kazuo Okada, since 2016. Due to that dispute, investors have become a little rattled over the company’s performance. The buyback program is meant to improve the relationship Universal has with its investors as it attempts to normalize its operations.

There’s a new Governor in Nevada, and he’s making changes. The Nevada Independent reports that freshly sworn in Democratic Governor Steve Sisolak will be appointing Sandra Douglass Morgan as the new chair of the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) when current chairwoman, Republican Becky Harris, finishes her term on January 27.

Morgan was previously the city attorney for North Las Vegas, and was the first African-American city attorney in the state of Nevada. She left that role to work as director of external affairs for AT&T.

In a statement, Governor Sisolak showed confidence in Morgan’s ability to carry out the role for the four year term. He said, “Sandra’s extensive experience and record of leadership shows that she is not only qualified to chair the Nevada Gaming Control Board, but that she will excel at it as well.”

Today, I am proud to appoint Sandra Douglass Morgan as the new chair of the Nevada Gaming Control Board. I have no doubt Sandra will excel in this new role and I look forward to working with her.

Competition will be fierce for the limited integrated resort (IR) slots being made available by Japan. Japanese tourism and hospitality firm Kamori Kanko Co. Ltd thinks it has a great bid in the works for Hokkaido’s Rusutsu Village.

InsideAsiaGaming reports the firm has plans for an IR that would include a casino, entertainment facilities, schools, healthcare centers, commercial and retail precincts and housing.

Kamori Kanko is no stranger to Hokkaido; they already have the Rusutsu Resort Hotel and Convention Centre on the island. The population of the island is relatively small at 3 million residents, but it already carries a reputation as a popular holiday destination.

The president of Kamori Kanko, Hisatake Kamori, was quoted as saying, “Visitors come to Hokkaido for nature and the outdoors, skiing, local cuisine, culture and heritage. A Hokkaido integrated resort needs strong winter activities to support year-round tourism and to provide a unique experience for guests. Without the ski infrastructure, we do not believe an integrated resort can be successful during our cold winters.”

The Makati Regional Trial Court in Metro Manila has sentenced a bank employee, involved in what is known as the Bangladesh bank heist of 2016, to four to seven years in prison.

Judge Cesar Untalan found Maia Santos-Deguito guilty of money laundering, in her capacity as manager of a branch of the bank RCBC, which received about $81 million in stolen funds, which were then channeled into Philippine casinos.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted the decision as saying that Deguito “was able to prepare, beforehand, for these remittances in crystal clear violation of the AMLA [Anti-Money Laundering Act]… Accused Deguito has taken advantage of her position in the bank and her banking knowledge and experience, hence accused Deguito was able to execute and implement these illegal transactions with ease.”

According to news outlet Rappler, the court ruling only indicated that Deguito had knowledge of the transfer of stolen funds—the origin of which has still not been made clear—but not that she herself was a recipient.

Presque Isle Downs & Casino is looking to add sports betting to its offerings soon, with the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) hearing proposals for this next month.

GoErie.com reported Kevin O’Sullivan, general manager of the Erie-based casino and racetrack as saying, “We hope to be on the February docket of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to present our sports wagering format… Right now, we are looking at carving out space on the existing casino floor for a designated space.”

The PGCB, in its latest meeting, approved Churchill Downs Inc. (CDI)’s purchase of Presque Isle Downs, owned by Eldorado Resorts Inc. since 2014, for $178.9 million. The facility contains 1,600 slots, 32 gaming tables, and a poker room.

Plans for the acquisition were first announced last February. The sale is expected to be completed between the two parties by Friday morning.

SJM Holdings’ parent company is being sued for HKD2 billion ($255 million) in unpaid dividends claimed by Michael Hotung, nephew of company founder Stanley Ho and son of Winnie Ho, who passed away last June at the age of 95.

The Macau News Agency, citing a report by Hong Kong-based Headline Daily, said that Hotung’s petition at the Hong Kong High Court sought the payment of dividends due his late mother, for a 7.3% stake in SJM she had held back in 2008, when the company went public.

According to the South China Morning Post, Hotung named among respondents his uncle Stanley and aunt Nanette Ho Yuen-hung. He claimed that the dividends were to be derived from 6,263 shares in Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau (STDM), which owns SJM, shares that Winnie had invested in back in 1962. Hotung is the sole executor of his mother’s will.

Dividends for the STDM shares were said to have been paid from 1962 to 2006. From 2000 to 2006, the yearly issuances ranged between HKD24.18 million ($3.08 million) and HKD77.22 million ($9.85 million), but Hotung claimed that no payments have been made since 2007. He also demanded for the outstanding dividends to be paid with interest.

Our annual dose of London conference madness is coming up quick. ICE London and LAC kick off at the ExCeL on February 4th and the icing on the cake is Fire & Ice, the legendary party on the Wednesday eve of that week. For 18th years straight, the Fire & Ice founding duo, Michael Caselli and Jodie Thind of Lyceum Media, have concocted spectacular, one-off themes and somehow manage to pull off better and better shows, year after year.

“Fire & Ice Rocks will explore the Rock culture of the early to mid 1980s’ Glam Metal scene and how it was influenced in part by the Hollywood Vampires – a group of artists, rock stars and actors who defined the LA Rock Scene from the private drinking room at the Rainbow Bar and Grill in LA”, Caselli revealed.

“To produce Fire & Ice we employee over 50 actors, technicians, musicians and extras to make this night the best party of the year. Every table comes with VIP entrance, a private table area for you and your guests, drinks for the table, and more fun, entertainment and excitement than you can find anywhere else in London”, Thind added.

The amount of work going on behind the scenes to produce the best party of the year for the iGaming industry is remarkable, an undertaking no one can fully understand unless they are directly involved. In true Lyceum Media style, its only the best for every sponsor and guest of Fire & Ice.

Atlantic City’s Ocean Resort Casino (ORC) may be going back on the auction block, despite having only been open for six months.

On Wednesday, Philly.com reported on a lawsuit filed by Joey Morrissey, former manager of an ORC nightclub, against the property’s owner, Colorado developer Bruce Deifik. Morrissey claims he was fired so Deifik could deprive him of a partnership interest Morrisey claims he was owed as part of his management agreement.

According to court documents, Morrissey’s attorneys claim Deifik is “currently seeking to sell the casino to a new buyer and is seeking to eliminate anyone with ownership interest who could thwart the sale.” When the lawsuit was filed in December, Deifik rubbished Morrissey’s claims that the property was for sale.

But there are other signs that something may be afoot. The Press of Atlantic City reported that Deifik had cancelled a planned appearance at a Thursday event hosted by the Greater Atlantic City Chamber, while the company abruptly withdrew an application to the Casino Control Commission for temporary approval of a senior executive.

Lee Davy sits down with Daniel Negreanu to gauge his thoughts on what’s next for the PokerStars Player’s No-Limit Hold’em Championship, what goes into a cracking wedding list and much, much more.

An infectious joyfulness has always sprung forth from Daniel Negreanu. It’s like being in the bathroom with your missus as she cuts her toenails, you know it’s going to hit you too.

Today, he’s different.

It’s difficult to believe, but Negreanu’s infectious joyfulness has reached the status of the common cold.