Any chance of sports gambling making it to Maryland this year is officially dead. A bill that would have allowed the activity in the state will not be considered before the end of the legislative season, which means Marylanders will now have to wait at least two years before they can legally start making sports wagers in the state.

The president of the Maryland Senate, Thomas V. Mike Miller, Jr. announced on Wednesday that the General Assembly is not going to review legalized sports gambling this year. He added, “Sports betting is going to have to wait until next year.”

Miller, along with Maryland Governor Larry Hogan and House Speaker Michael E. Busch, had started a push for legalized sports gambling in 2018. The hope was to have the activity launch quickly in order to allow Maryland to be able to compete against other states in the area that were also considering sports gambling legislation.

In a hearing conducted by the Senate Committee on Budget and Taxation this past Wednesday to discuss sports gambling, Senator Chris West explained, “This will be a brief hearing, I think, because this bill is a constitutional amendment and it is my understanding that there will be no more constitutional amendments passed this year. So this is kind of a preview of what you’ll see next year.”

Macau saw its tax revenue from gaming increase by almost 14% last year over the previous year’s take and this upward trend has continued as 2019 has gotten underway. According to data provided by the city’s Financial Services Bureau (FSB), direct taxes on the gaming sector were up 4.8% for the first two months of the year compared to the same period last year, reaching $2.43 billion across January and February.

The FSB released its findings this past Wednesday and the revelation shows that tax revenue from gaming accounts for almost 85.7% of the $2.834 billion in tax revenue collected by the city over the two-month period. Gaming operations have their gross gaming revenue taxed at a rate of 35%, but the effective tax rate is 39% due to additional taxes levied on the operations.

When Macau released its budget for 2019, it forecast collecting around $12.149 billion in gaming-related taxes on the year. If it is able to maintain the current rate, it will significantly surpass its forecast by the time the end draws to a close.

For all of 2018, Macau took in $13.21 billion in taxes from gaming operators in the city. This was a significant increase over the previous year and resulted in a 13.6% climb. That allowed the city to report a budget surplus at the end of the year of about $6.66 billion based on what had been forecast. Macau has a tendency to be conservative with its budget forecasts, but the results are still strong indicators of a growing economy in the city.

A bill is currently making its way through Ohio’s legal obstacle course in hopes of bringing sports wagers to the state. Senate Bill (SB) 111 would allow sports gambling in the state’s casinos and racinos, as well as in other venues that offer video lottery terminals. As has been seen in other states, there are still several hurdles to jump before the activity is given the green light.

SB 111 was sponsored by Senators John Eklund and Sean O’Brien. Their bill follows a “placeholder” bill that was filed last year and which was designed to get the ball rolling and explore the possibility of launching sports gambling in the Buckeye State.

Under the bill, in-person and mobile betting could be offered. All gamblers would need to be 21 years old or older and any employee of sports gambling businesses would be prohibited from participating. The servers hosting the activity would need to be located within one of the state’s legal gaming venues, or in a secure facility that is owned or operated by the sportsbook or its management company. The bill doesn’t specifically state that the secure facilities must be located within Ohio’s borders; however, the recent Department of Justice opinion on the Federal Wire Act, which prohibits interstate money transactions related to gambling activity, could force the issue. That might ultimately require the servers to find space somewhere inside the state.

The Ohio Casino Control Commission would be responsible for regulating the activity and any legal gambling operator currently licensed would have to apply for a state-issued certificate to offer a sportsbook. That certificate would require a $10,000 fee and the commission would determine the requirements for an operator to launch its sports gambling operations. In addition to the $10,000 fee, the sportsbooks would also pay a fee of $100,000 every five years to continue their operations.

Penn National Gaming have been given the green light to launch a satellite casino in the Pennsylvania town of Morgantown. The Hollywood Casino Morgantown will be the state’s first satellite casino and is expected to produce as much as $94.3 million for the local economy, but the approval has not been received enthusiastically by locals.

The Caernarvon Township Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the satellite casino in a vote held during a meeting this week. That meeting was attended by a number of local residents, many of which tried to speak out against the planned casino. Despite their objections, the Board was enticed by what the venue is expected to bring. Penn National estimates that the construction of the casino will bring 255 temporary jobs and, after opening, the gambling house will provide 250 permanent positions. As a result, Caernarvon is expected to take in as much as $1.6 million in taxes each year.

About a year and a half ago, Pennsylvania lawmakers approved a gaming expansion bill that would allow additional gaming facilities to be built in the state. Initially, Penn National fought the measure, even suing to try and have the bill overturned. It later decided that it was fighting a losing battle and chose to embrace expansion instead.

The casino operator bid to launch a satellite casino and won after placing an offer worth just over $50 million. It chose York County for its venue and later selected Morgantown for a second satellite. Morgantown is a good choice logistically, as it is only 20 minutes away from the fifth most populated city in the state, Reading, 40 minutes from Lancaster and 30 minutes from Philly Main Line, a heavily populated and upper-class area.

He may be 77 years old, but Kazuo Okada is trying to show that it’s never too late to become hip. The casino mogul, who has spent the past several years trying to regain control of the company from which he was forcefully removed, is now turning to social media in a bid to gain support for his battle. He has launched an account on Twitter and on YouTube and is reportedly ready to give one of his followers a check for 100 million yen ($890,000).

Okada launched his YouTube channel on March 13. In an elaborately-created video on the channel, he ominously asserts, “I’ll be back,” as the theme of The Terminator plays in the background. He is seen holding the check and states that it will ultimately be given to one of his followers. Okada didn’t go into details regarding the scenario surrounding the check, stating only that more details will be released in future videos. As far as money is concerned, this could possibly be the most expensive endeavor created to try to purchase a large fan base.

Okada is now also active on Twitter. He has been providing frequent updates to his new Twitter account, detailing the ongoing saga and soap opera drama as he fights to reclaim his company. In one tweet, he let in on a secret behind the $890,000 check, stating that it will only be awarded if he is able to once again sit on the throne of his former company. He adds, “Please support me so that I can realize my reinstatement!”

Okada was ousted from the Okada Holdings company in 2017 after the board reached the conclusion that he had taken certain liberties with company funds and made several shady deals that were designed to line his own pockets. Since then, there has been a continuous battle between Okada, the company and even his own family. He has also been arrested and has had to appear in court in two separate countries, but has yet to be found guilty of any wrongdoing.

In an expected move, the government of Macau has approved the extension of SJM Holdings and MGM China Holdings gaming concessions until June 26, 2022. This announcement came on March 15, and Macau said this was done to bring the operators in line with the city’s other operators, GGRAsia reports.

For the two-year extension, both SJM and MGM will pay MOP200 million (US$24.7 million) to the government. They will also have to join the city’s “Non-mandatory Central Provident Fund System,” and establish a labor creditor rights protection fund in the upcoming months.

Prior to this approval, the two operators were due to have their licenses expire in March 2020. The autonomous region wants to do “more in-depth studies” and possibly revise laws before having to consider longer extensions, and thus the two-year addition to their licenses.

According to the current laws, licenses holders can have a maximum of five years added to their license; however, once the license expires, they must seek a new international public tender to get a new license.

Who says that casinos are only interested in making money? That may be true of some, but not at Melco, where they announced on March 14 that the resort and entertainment giant had become the first global hospitality an integrated resort (IR) operator to make a commitment to reducing the amount of plastic pollution they produce.

Led by Ellen MacArthur, the initiative is known as the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment. The goal of this initiative is to eliminate plastic waste and pollution across the globe, an idea that executives at Melco were excited to sign onto.

According to the agreement, Melco agrees to remove all single-use plastic bottles from areas used by employees. This is to have completely taken effect by the end of 2020, as the company also intends to expand this policy into guest areas as well.

It has become quite common for resorts and higher-end hotels to leave individual bottles of water in customer’s rooms to provide them with fresh, bottled water. This has become a “luxury” that many patrons have become accustomed to, but clearly, this is a move to take action to protect the future of the earth.