Online poker players in the Netherlands are off the hook — at least, for the moment — after a court ruled that their winnings aren’t subject to local taxation.

In a judgment issued on December 31 but only released publicly on Monday, the Court of Appeals in Den Bosch ruled that the Dutch tax office (Belastingdienst) had no right to tax winnings earned by local gamblers who played on the Malta-licensed dot-eu site of The Stars Group’s flagship PokerStars brand.

The case, which dates back years, began when Belastingdienst claimed that Dutch poker players were required to pay 29% tax on their PokerStars winnings. Lawyer Pepjin le Heux, who represented around 100 players in the case, told Dutch media that some of the “big boys” caught up in this case were looking at a personal tax obligation of over €500k.

Under European Union rules, gambling winnings derived from EU member states are exempt from taxation, but Belastingdienst claimed that PokerStars’ parent company Rational Group was based on the Isle of Man, which lies outside the EU. Dutch players countered that the PokerStars.eu site on which they played was based in Malta and thus qualified for the exemption.

Casino operator MGM Resorts has tapped Nevada’s former governor to assist the company’s pursuit of a Japanese casino license and US sports betting opportunities.

On Tuesday, MGM announced the hiring of former Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval as its new president of global gaming development. Sandoval is to drive the company’s “global expansion efforts, most importantly in Japan, and focus on state public policy efforts around sports gaming while solidifying the Company’s leadership in the growing sports betting market.”

Sandoval’s appointment means MGM president Bill Hornbuckle will now focus on global casino marketing. MGM CEO Jim Murren praised Sandoval’s “in-depth expertise in gaming, public policy and economic development” while celebrating Hornbuckle’s history of “developing and implementing marketing strategies that excite and entertain in ways that translate to revenue enhancement and value creation.”

Sandoval, whose most recent term in office expired Monday, is returning to the private sector for the first time in two decades. He said his new MGM gig represented “the right professional opportunity to best suit my experience as a former legislator, gaming regulator, Attorney General, federal judge and Governor.”

Nektan, an international gaming technology platform, has seen its second consecutive record quarter. In a press release issued by the company, it announced that Q2 for its latest fiscal year, which will end June 30, 2019, saw a 22% increase in cash wagers year-on-year, helping the company take in revenue of approximately $11 million. Overall, the company has seen total gaming revenue increase 83% year-on-year.

The main source of income for the company is tied to its business-to-consumer (B2C) white label managed casino solutions. This segment saw growth of 31.9% to just under $8 million. Nektan has recently signed new agreements that helped boost this segment, such as those with Shipley Brothers, and has also made improvements to its tech platform, including a new Content Management System and an updated Partner Request Console.

Because of its improved results, the company forecasts that the EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of its European operations will break even by the time the fiscal year draws to a close.

The improved performance should give the company a much-needed boost. It reported last week that it saw wider losses for its previous fiscal year, even though it had enjoyed a 51.5% year-on-year increase on revenue. The company’s CEO, Lucy Buckley, who has only been on the job for about a month, stated, “This record-breaking quarter for the group has not only highlighted that we have made significant enhancements to our technology, but we are becoming a firmly established business that is on track to be profitable in our core European business by the end of this financial year.”

Earlier this week brought news that another payment provider, popular with many online gambling operators, made unpopular changes. Neteller is introducing new fees based on how frequently end users make transactions. Just $5 out of a wallet for every month a user remains inactive.

When getting into online gambling, the customer has come to accept that there’s going to be fees. Payment providers might charge percentage fees on every deposit, or flat fees on withdrawals. Some fees might stay hidden to the end user, because the operator eats the cost to stay attractive to their player base. There’s almost always a fee though, for any kind of financial move you make. Most users will pay more in fees than they’ll ever collect in winnings.

That makes Neteller’s recent change even more dastardly. A fee for doing nothing. Left a few bucks in your wallet because the season’s over? They might be gone to fees now. Took a break in December to spend more time with your loved ones? That’ll be $5 sir.

Ultimately though, the days of third party payment providers bleeding players and operators dry might be coming to an end. Bitcoin was made to the digital currency of that could cut out these middle men, and allow cheap and fast transaction directly between a player and an operator. What’s more, Bitcoin SV (BSV) has been reborn in the original vision of Bitcoin, as described by Satoshi Nakamoto, and it’s ready now to take on the challenge.

Violent outbursts are a rare thing to read in the news coming out of Macau. Things got rough this week for one police officer, who had to fire a warning shot from his gun to scare off three men who had been assaulting him. The motivation for the assault seems almost trivial: the officer asked the men to stop smoking in a non-smoking area.

According to a GGRAsia report, the event happened on January 3, when the police officer asked the three men to vacate a non-smoking area just outside the Galaxy Macau casino resort. The officer only sustained minor injuries, but has been given a temporary desk job so he can have a breather after the fracas. Hailing from mainland China, the three assailants face as much as five years in prison for defending their illegal smoke break.

As a result, Wong Sio Chak, Macau’s Secretary for Security, said policing would be increased around the cities casinos, and pepper spray will be provided to offices as an additional defense against unruly patrons.

It’s a little surprising that of all the crimes Macau has cracked down on in the past year, it’s smoking that would result in fisticuffs. The city has also cracked down on loan shark and money exchange operations, with each set of operations being described as orderly and without any more serious criminal element. Macau’s crackdown on smoking has escalated over time as well, but with only fines served until this incident.

Violent outbursts are a rare thing to read in the news coming out of Macau. Things got rough this week for one police officer, who had to fire a warning shot from his gun to scare off three men who had been assaulting him. The motivation for the assault seems almost trivial: the officer asked the men to stop smoking in a non-smoking area.

According to a GGRAsia report, the event happened on January 3, when the police officer asked the three men to vacate a non-smoking area just outside the Galaxy Macau casino resort. The officer only sustained minor injuries, but has been given a temporary desk job so he can have a breather after the fracas. Hailing from mainland China, the three assailants face as much as five years in prison for defending their illegal smoke break.

As a result, Wong Sio Chak, Macau’s Secretary for Security, said policing would be increased around the cities casinos, and pepper spray will be provided to offices as an additional defense against unruly patrons.

It’s a little surprising that of all the crimes Macau has cracked down on in the past year, it’s smoking that would result in fisticuffs. The city has also cracked down on loan shark and money exchange operations, with each set of operations being described as orderly and without any more serious criminal element. Macau’s crackdown on smoking has escalated over time as well, but with only fines served until this incident.

Violent outbursts are a rare thing to read in the news coming out of Macau. Things got rough this week for one police officer, who had to fire a warning shot from his gun to scare off three men who had been assaulting him. The motivation for the assault seems almost trivial: the officer asked the men to stop smoking in a non-smoking area.

According to a GGRAsia report, the event happened on January 3, when the police officer asked the three men to vacate a non-smoking area just outside the Galaxy Macau casino resort. The officer only sustained minor injuries, but has been given a temporary desk job so he can have a breather after the fracas. Hailing from mainland China, the three assailants face as much as five years in prison for defending their illegal smoke break.

As a result, Wong Sio Chak, Macau’s Secretary for Security, said policing would be increased around the cities casinos, and pepper spray will be provided to offices as an additional defense against unruly patrons.

It’s a little surprising that of all the crimes Macau has cracked down on in the past year, it’s smoking that would result in fisticuffs. The city has also cracked down on loan shark and money exchange operations, with each set of operations being described as orderly and without any more serious criminal element. Macau’s crackdown on smoking has escalated over time as well, but with only fines served until this incident.

Some could argue that Chris Christie, the former governor of New Jersey, is responsible for forcing the U.S. Supreme Court to change the country’s position on sports gambling.  It took several tries, but Christie repeatedly fought to have the courts overturn PASPA, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, a move that has allowed states to begin offering sports wagers and, in some cases, online gambling.  As some lawmakers have been pushing for the federal government to intervene and create federal sports gambling framework, Christie has spoken up and wants the lawmakers on Capitol Hill to keep their hands off the industry.

Last month, two lawmakers, Senators Orrin Hatch and Charles Schumer, respectively from Utah and New York, introduced legislation that would allow the federal government to control sports gambling.  However, this could potentially be damaging to the industry and is a gross overreach of the fed’s power.

During a meeting of the National Council of Legislation from Gaming States (NCLGS) in New Orleans, LA last Friday, Christie emphasized that lawmakers need to not fall for the tricks established by sports leagues that seek integrity fees.  He asserted, “We’re going to reward the people who fought us for seven years with fees that are going to diminish your margins?  They don’t need it, and given [the sports leagues’] conduct over the last seven years, they don’t deserve it.  We do not need a federal solution to this problem.  States have been regulating gambling for decades without incident.”

Ever since the Supreme Court reversed PASPA, a number of states – such as Delaware, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Mississippi – have already introduced sports gambling and several more are actively pursuing their own legislation.  2019 is beginning to shape up to be a great year for the industry.

Some could argue that Chris Christie, the former governor of New Jersey, is responsible for forcing the U.S. Supreme Court to change the country’s position on sports gambling.  It took several tries, but Christie repeatedly fought to have the courts overturn PASPA, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, a move that has allowed states to begin offering sports wagers and, in some cases, online gambling.  As some lawmakers have been pushing for the federal government to intervene and create federal sports gambling framework, Christie has spoken up and wants the lawmakers on Capitol Hill to keep their hands off the industry.

Last month, two lawmakers, Senators Orrin Hatch and Charles Schumer, respectively from Utah and New York, introduced legislation that would allow the federal government to control sports gambling.  However, this could potentially be damaging to the industry and is a gross overreach of the fed’s power.

During a meeting of the National Council of Legislation from Gaming States (NCLGS) in New Orleans, LA last Friday, Christie emphasized that lawmakers need to not fall for the tricks established by sports leagues that seek integrity fees.  He asserted, “We’re going to reward the people who fought us for seven years with fees that are going to diminish your margins?  They don’t need it, and given [the sports leagues’] conduct over the last seven years, they don’t deserve it.  We do not need a federal solution to this problem.  States have been regulating gambling for decades without incident.”

Ever since the Supreme Court reversed PASPA, a number of states – such as Delaware, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Mississippi – have already introduced sports gambling and several more are actively pursuing their own legislation.  2019 is beginning to shape up to be a great year for the industry.