Suncity Group continues on its path to build a more global company. The Macau casino junket company has bought an equity position of Summit Ascent Holdings Ltd, reports GGRAsia.

Previously, Suncity already owned a 3.29% stake in Summit Ascent. No word yet on how much more they’ve bought into the company. They announced, “Suncity Group Holdings has successfully acquired partial stakes of Summit Ascent and will participate in the second phase of Tigre de Cristal Resort and Casino in Russia.”

Summit Ascent operates the Tigre de Cristal casino nearby Russia’s east port city of Vladivostok. The casino is just 31 miles from the city, and is promoted by Primorsky Krai Development Corp, a government-owned tourism company.

Summit Ascent has their corporate headquarters in Hong Kong, immediately next door to Suncity. Being that close, it must have been nice to save on transportation costs and avoid traffic to negotiate the deal.

Illegal Chinese immigrant workers are the bane of the Philippine economy, but please handle them with kid gloves. That’s the mixed messaging coming from the Philippines government, as President Rodrigo Duterte recently discouraged deporting Chinese workers.

Local media reports Duterte commented on the issue on Saturday. “Allow the Chinese here to work. Let them,” he said, after translation. “We have 300,000 Filipinos in China. That’s why I can’t tell them to leave, deport them. What if they make the 300,000 Filipinos there leave?”

These remarks come just days after a task force led by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) arrested 276 foreigners in a raid on an online gambling operation. The operator raided, Manbet, was servicing the UK and China, and so many of the arrested individuals were likely of Chinese origin.

Duterte’s comments add more confusion to the current stance of the Philippines government. As mid-term elections approach in the country, many aspiring senators have criticized the number of undocumented workers in the country. The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) have also stepped up their requirements to discourage companies from hiring undocumented workers.

If there’s a list that any country rather avoid, the one for states with anti-money laundering (AML) and combatting the financing of terrorism (CFT) deficiencies is certainly one of them. Unfortunately for Cambodia, it’s the newest member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) list for just that, as announced by the group on February 22.

The group declared in their latest announcement this segment regarding Cambodia:

“FATF has identified Cambodia as a jurisdiction with strategic AML/CFT deficiencies. The country has developed an action plan with the FATF to address the most serious deficiencies. The FATF welcomed the high level political commitment of Cambodia to its action plan.”

A big factor in the South East Asian country joining the list is the growing number of casinos there. Cambodia has more than 100 brick and mortar operators, and casinos are seen as a high-risk target for money laundering.

Gambling associations in the UK are combining forces to gang up on lawmakers. They are creating a new trade group that would lobby politicians in an effort to have a greater voice in the growing anti-gambling roar that’s enveloping the industry.

The Remote Gambling Association (RGA), a group that represents online betting operators, and the Association of British Bookmakers (ABB) have reportedly set out to merge. This appears to be confirmed by a job posting on the Ellwood Atfield recruitment website, which states that the two organizations have formed “NEWCO.”  NEWCO is described as “the working title for a new industry body representing the gambling sector, replacing the Remote Gambling Association (RGA) and the Association of British Bookmakers (ABB).”

The Guardian reports that a senior industry source acknowledged the merger and stated, “All of the issues on responsible gambling and tax cut across the industry, so it’s time to get lined up a bit better.”

There has been a constant assault against the gambling industry in the UK, with a barrage of new regulations and restrictions making it increasingly difficult for operators to conduct their businesses in anything but a chaotic fashion. The new lobby group is looking for a chairman and a CEO to help lead the organization, which will be “the largest and most prominent organisation representing the gambling industry.”

Kazuo Okada is a free man—for now, at least. After having been arrested in Hong Kong last August on corruption allegations, the embattled casino mogul was free on bond while the case was reviewed. The country’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) imposed certain restrictions on him in conjunction with the case, and has now lifted all of the restrictions.

Aruze Gaming broke the news last week, stating that the man who used to head up the Universal Entertainment empire was “pleased to announce that Hong Kong’s ICAC has released him from bail unconditionally this afternoon,” further stating that “he no longer needs to report to the ICAC and his bail money was returned to him unconditionally.”

Last year, Okada was arrested in Hong Kong after Tiger Resort Asia (TRA), a Universal subsidiary, submitted a complaint accusing him of conspiracy to defraud Okada Holdings. He had reportedly arranged a massive loan from TRA to a separate entity in order to pay for works of art without requesting collateral or charging interest.

TRA submitted a separate lawsuit against Okada in 2017 in relation to the loan, as well as another case that surfaced in 2015. Okada had allegedly issued a bearer check worth around $3 million at the time from a TRA bank account and then withdrew the funds for his own purposes three days later. Okada was removed from the boards of both Universal and TRA in June 2017.

If everything goes according to plan, Churchill Downs could soon own a majority stake in Rivers Casino Des Plaines in Illinois. The gaming giant has its sights on Illinois as the state looks to introduce sports gambling and it’s possible that the company could receive approval to grab Rivers before the end of this week.

Churchill Downs announced last fall that it wanted to purchase a 50.1% stake in the casino, just enough to have a controlling interest. The move was designed to help the Kentucky-based entity gain a larger foothold in Illinois, where it already owns the Arlington International Racecourse in Chicago.

According to the Chicago Daily Herald, the Illinois Gaming Board (IGB) is now investigating Churchill Downs in order to ensure that it meets the state’s requirements. It is looking into issues, such as the company’s financial situation, and conducting criminal background checks on its executives. These investigations are routine processes for any approval given by the IGB.

IGB board members could vote on the deal as early as this Friday, the next time they are scheduled to meet. According to IGB spokesperson Gene O’Shea, the investigation is continuing and may not be completed ahead of this Friday’s meeting.

Virginia has almost reached the finished line to offer legalized casino gambling in the state. The General Assembly approved a gambling bill this past Saturday that would allow casino construction in certain areas in the state and all that’s left is the signature from the governor of Virginia, Ralph Northam.

Northam has already stated that he would approve casino expansion in the state, so, unless someone has been able to get to him to change his mind recently, Virginia could be just days away from seeing the green light given. The governor has previously stated that he would support any legislation that would help to create more jobs and tax revenues for those areas suffering from large deficits.

Substitute Senate Bill (SSB) 1126 made it through the House and Senate with no problems. It would allow the development of casinos in Portsmouth, Danville and Bristol, but those cities would still need to approve the activity. Ultimately, the choice resides in the hands of the cities’ residents. The bill also paves the way for casinos in Norfolk and Richmond, two cities that have been targeted by the Pamunkey Indians for its tribal casino.

Virginia, as have many other states, has repeatedly tried to offer a greater gambling market. However, past attempts have all failed, with none having reached as far as SSB 1126. Before any gambling activity is offered, though, Virginia’s Legislative Audit and Review Commission will need to conduct a study on the social and economic impacts of a casino in the target locations, and present the findings of the study no later than November 1.

The chairman and CEO of Melco Resorts and Entertainment, Lawrence Ho, has a firm grip on the company and just made it even tighter. He now controls 55.8% of Melco’s shares, an increase of 4.2% from what was seen last November. And, he doesn’t appear to be done making his move.

Melco announced last Friday in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that Ho now owns 770,477,237 shares and that it has options to buy another 4,596,981 ordinary shares, as well as 217,140 restricted shares, which are forecast to become vested in 60 days.

54.9% on Ho’s holdings are in companies for which he holds the majority stake, including Melco International Development Ltd and that entity’s subsidiary, Melco Leisure and Entertainment Group Ltd. His interest—both direct and indirect—in Melco International has also increased slightly since last November, from 54.05% to 55.05%.

Last November, Melco announced that it had approved a share repurchase program that sought to take in as much as $500 million shares over three years. In March 2018, the company completed another share repurchase that was completed for a total of $490 million-worth of company stock.

The competition was fierce last week at the 2019 U.S. Poker Open Championship, but David Peters wasn’t worried. He knew he had the skills and the talent for the game and gave everything he had at the tables. It paid off for the Ohio native, as he ended up taking two titles during the series.

Peters took down the $100,000 Main Event this past Saturday after surviving a field that started with 33 entries. Friday saw all but nine eliminated, and Peters was all too happy to be one of those left standing for the weekend action.

Sean Winter, the Poker Open leader going into the Main Event, was one of the first to be eliminated in the final round. He left in eighth place, not long after Nick Schulman, when he tussled with Keith Tilston and lost. Jason Koon exited next, sent to the rail by the tournament’s eventual winner. Justin Bonomo would follow when he got caught up in a race against Ryan Reiss. With the bubble burst, all remaining players knew they’d be taking home a minimum of $264,000.

Chips continued to fly and the lead changed several times throughout the rest of the action. Eventually, Peters found himself in a fight against Tilston and Chris Hunichen, but his 2-1 chip lead against both would prove to be the edge he needed. He took out Tilston, who went home with $528,000, and then Hunichen, who had to settle for $858,000. Peters pocketed a cool $1.32 million to add to the $30.3 million he already had in his bank.

There have been growing concerns that the Macau junket business is shrinking. New tax rules, tougher competition and more debt has already forced out some of the smaller players, while the others are scrambling to improve their earnings. Analysts with Morgan Stanley Asia Ltd. visited Macau last week and walked away confirming that junket operations in the city aren’t growing as fast for the companies there as they are in other locations.

According to the analysts, those junkets that have targeted mostly Chinese VIP players for the Macau casino market are finding that their overseas markets are growing at a faster rate than what they’re experiencing in Asia’s gambling capital. The two analysts, Praveen Choudhary and Jeremy An, explained, “We met concessionaires, junket operators and 20-plus investors on February 21,” adding, “We found the trip to be mildly positive with longer tail [demand] post-Chinese New Year holidays, upcoming spring dinners for junkets, and higher minimum bets.”

The analysts further stated, “For the junket operators we met, overseas business is growing faster than Macau, but not at the expense of Macau. Growth is mainly coming from the Philippines, Vietnam and Cambodia, while [South] Korea and Australia are not doing so well.”

There have been a number of Macau junket investors that have looked to other regional markets. Several are expected to have operations at NagaWorld in Cambodia this year, including Suncity Group and Guangdong Group. Tak Chun Group, a Macau gambling junket investor, announced earlier this month that it would open a VIP gaming club at NagaWorld sometime this month, as well.