The long-awaited acquisition of Gaming Partners International Corporation (GPI) by Angel Holdings Good Kaisha finally looks like it is set to be completed. The merger was first reported over five months ago and was waiting on final approval from the shareholders of both companies.

That looks to have finally been achieved, allowing Angel to inform the NASDAQ that the merger will be officially completed as of Wednesday, May 1. This is an important step because GPI’s stock must officially be delisted on the trading platform.

The merger allowed Angel to purchase shares of GPI at $13.75 for each share of the company. With the deal now finally completed, Angel will own 100% of GPI, turning it into a subsidiary of Angel Holdings. The entire deal was for about $110 million.

The deal was looked upon as a no-brainer from the very start. Angel is one of the worldwide leaders in the manufacturing and distribution of cards for card games and the gambling industry across the globe. GPI has long developed casino gaming tables and equipment. This seemed like a match made in heaven as both major pieces of the gambling table industry would be supplied by the same company.

There are still many questions that need to be addressed before Japan reveals the winners of its first integrated resort (IR) licenses. To answer one, the country has revealed details of a “basic plan” that will add protections against gambling problems at pachinko parlors.

Kyodo News reports Japan’s cabinet has approved a plan that will remove cash withdrawal machines from pachinko parlors and government run gambling venues, including horse and keirin cycle tracks. The thinking is likely that if customers have a hard time getting their cash out, they’ll be less likely to play.

On top of that, the plan calls for research into how underage and problem gamblers can be kept out of the establishments through an identification check system. To avoid future problem gamblers, there will also be mandated warnings about addiction in advertising, and restrictions on the size of online bets.

Finally, the plan asks the country’s 47 prefectures and 20 major cities to set up consultation and treatment hubs. They will also be asked to coordinate with private organizations that combat gambling addiction.

If you happen to live in mainland China, the government is looking out for your “best interests.” Not only will they make sure you don’t experience upsetting or unsafe content, but they’ll make sure anything tangentially related to that content is banned as well.

That’s why on April 22, China’s State Administration of Press and Publication announced new guidelines that would ban poker and mahjong games, reports TechCrunch. The ban isn’t against online gambling sites, or illegal gambling dens, but against video games, like Red Dead Redemption 2..

China censors all sorts of media, and the reasons can be all over the place. The 2016 reboot of “Ghostbusters,” or as it was better known in Chinese territories, “Super Power Dare Die Team,” was not allowed a release in the country because the government felt it would not perform well, perhaps because the original 1984 release, known as “Ghost Catcher Dare Die Team,” was banned for promoting superstition.

The reason poker and mahjong related video games have been banned is pretty straightforward: the state is worried that they may become a gateway product to illegal gambling. However, the decision to not approve new games comes a little late. They’re closing the stable door after the horse has bolted.

A native Indian tribe in the United States has found itself in a bit of hot water that could cost it a serious amount of cash. According to an external audit conducted of a casino operated by the St. Croix Chippewa Indians in Wisconsin, $1.5 million in casino revenue may have been misappropriated for personal use, misused or improperly registered. If the audit findings are confirmed, the tribe could be on the hook for as much as $27 million.

A Notice of Violation (NOV) (in pdf) was issued by the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) on April 11. It accused the tribe of 527 infractions against the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, as well as other laws, between 2014 and 2017. Each violation carries a fine of as much as $52,596.

This is just the top of the iceberg for the tribe, though. It will most likely face a federal inquiry now that could be led by law enforcement officials and tax authorities.

Rory Dilweg, a lawyer with Berg Hill Greenleaf Ruscitti out of Colorado, told Casino.org, “This is the longest — 29 pages — NOV, with the most alleged violations — 527 — I have ever seen.” Dilweg is the former chief counsel of Wisconsin’s Oneida Tribe of Indians.

Australia casinos just received a bit of good news from an industry analyst. As the gambling houses continue to compete for Asian high-roller clients, their efforts are paying off and analysts are now optimistic that a recovery could be only a few short months away.

Most of Australia’s casinos have seen a decline in Asian high-roller traffic due to the ongoing trade war between the US and China, which has led to the latter’s slowest growth rate in the past 30 years. Star Entertainment and Crown Resorts have both reported a substantial decline in the high-roller segment, but have also continued to work hard at not losing more ground.

According to analysts with Macquarie Wealth Management, there has been a “U-turn” in the sentiment toward mainland China that the analysts see “flowing into VIP confidence and driving an uptick in volumes.” The analysts add, “We now include a VIP recovery in financial year 2020. While we remain cautious on [second-half 2019] VIP volumes, with our view that Macau VIP bottoms in the June 2019 quarter, we are optimistic and now forecast a recovery.”

The Star saw its turnover from international VIP gamblers drop 33% in the last six months of 2018, coming in at $20.7 billion. The turnover was greatest at its Sydney-based casino, which saw a 49% decline.