The case surrounding the kidnapping and murder of the founder of the Costa Rica-based 5Dimes sportsbook, William Sean Creighton, continues to move forward. This past January, an investigation led to the discovery of several individuals who had been involved in the kidnapping-for-Bitcoin saga, some of whom were located in Costa Rica and three of whom were in Spain. Those three have now been shipped off to Costa Rica in order to answer for their crimes.

According to reports by Costa Rica’s Ministry of Justice, the national police organization (OIJ, for its Spanish acronym) has successfully extradited the leader of the scheme and two accomplices to the Central American nation. In total, 12 people had been arrested for their involvement, including several police officers who were allowed to remain free while awaiting trial.

In September 2018, the 33-year-old founder of 5Dimes, known by many as “5Dimes Tony,” was kidnapped and initially held for ransom of anywhere from $750,000 to $1 million in Bitcoin Core (BTC). Even though his wife was able to arrange for the payment to be made, 5Dimes Tony was not released and his body was found a month later.

The kidnapping was reportedly orchestrated by 25-year-old Costa Rican Morales Vega, who subsequently fled to Spain after law enforcement started to close in. He, along with his 45-year-old mother and 24-year old wife were arrested by Spain’s Civil Guard this past January in Zaragoza and held pending their extradition.

The month-to-month results of Okada Manila are starting to look really strong, but in 2018, they were still a year of investment. As a result, Okada has announced that they ended 2018 with an operational loss of JPY6.21 billion ($55.6 million).

That wasn’t due to any lack of revenue though. They brought in JPY48.94 billion ($44 million) for the year, the operator Universal Entertainment Corp revealed to Jasdaq on April 26. They also announced adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of approximately JPY4.09 billion ($37 million) for the year, and it increased throughout.

“Okada Manila… increased net sales by the expansion of facilities such as hotel rooms and restaurants as well as by the grand opening of the VIP casino areas, addition of junkets and implementation of a mass market casino marketing programme,” they wrote.

Hotel bookings were high, with 98.3% occupancy for the year. Gross gaming revenue (GGR) wasn’t shabby either, with $522 million brought in by the casino.

UK-based Ladbrokes is coming under fire by a growing number of gamblers and this has the potential to spill over into channels. The sportsbook is being accused of manipulating the sports gambling industry by coercing certain gamblers to bet more while making it virtually impossible for others to place a bet. If any rigging took place, gambling regulators will have a field day with the company, especially in light of the attention the industry is currently receiving.

According to a report by the Daily Record, Ladbrokes successfully profiled gamblers and shut down the accounts of those bettors who proved to be proficient at the activity. At the same time, the company was profiling less skilled gamblers and targeted them in order to convince them to bet more. The Sunday Mail asserts that it was able to get its hands on inside documents that conclusively proves what was going on behind closed doors.

The Scottish media outlet asserts that Ladbrokes has been conducting “client risk” assessments in order to create profiles on accounts use a “stake factor band.” VIP or HVC clients (HVC possible referring to High Value Customer) have been encouraged to wager up to five times the amount they initially intended, coerced by Ladbrokes use of promotional free bets, complimentary tickets and special odds. In some instances, customers have even been given cash-back offers after incurring significant losses in order to keep them gambling.

At the opposite end, those who were winning saw their wager options and amounts severely limited.

Maine could be on the path of legalized sports gambling, ready to join a growing number of states that are looking to grab a piece of an industry reportedly worth over $150 billion each year. The question isn’t so much whether or not the state should embrace the activity but, rather, how it should embrace it.

Last Friday, state lawmakers met with representatives from Maine’s two casinos and its off-track gambling parlors to discuss how to proceed with sports gambling. There are currently five bills on the subject being circulated around the state’s Congress and clarification is needed on how to govern the industry.

The publicity director for Scarborough Downs, Michael Sweeney, asserts that legalized sports gambling will bring additional revenue to the state, as well as businesses like Scarborough Downs. He told lawmakers, “This is an opportunity for industries that are home-grown, locally based, small mom-and-pop businesses to grow and thrive.”

The good news for Maine is that creating a legal sports gambling framework shouldn’t be too difficult. The state already has its two casinos – Hollywood Casino in Bangor and Oxford Casino in Oxford – and a number of other gambling options that are currently regulated by state officials. Adding sports gambling would not require a completely new legal framework.

The Choctaw Casino & Resort in Durant, Oklahoma is getting a major facelift. The venue, which is owned and operated by the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, started a major expansion plan last Thursday that will ultimately see over 1,000 new hotel rooms and additional amenities when the upgrade is complete by the second quarter of 2021. The project is expected to cost the tribe around $500 million by the time everything is finished.

The tribe first announced the expansion last fall, an upgrade to a resort that first opened its doors in 2006. It was then called the Choctaw Casino and only offered a casino that measured 100,000 square feet. Four years later, the Choctaw added a 12-story hotel tower, dubbed the Grand Tower, as part of the continued growth of the project.

Seven years ago, the Choctaw Nation renovated and reopened the Choctaw Inn and the Choctaw Lodge in Durant, as well. In 2015, the tribe expanded its offerings in the city, adding a new hotel tower and spa, the Grand Theater and a family entertainment center called The District.

The new expansion project at the Choctaw Casino & Resort will be the fourth major project the venue has seen. Construction is being led by a subsidiary of the Tutor Perini general contracting firm and will see the resort ultimately be able to offer 1,600 hotel rooms, an expanded casino floor, new pools, more retail, dining and entertainment options and a new parking garage.

Donaco International Ltd., the Australia-listed casino operator, had a good first quarter this year. In a filing with the Australian Securities Exchange (ASE) last Friday, the company said that its net revenue increased to US$17.2 million in the period, an increase of about 7.2% over the same quarter last year when it took in around $$16.86 million.

The company, which primarily operates casinos across Asia, added that its EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) dropped 1.9% from $7.7 million to $7.63 million. The first annual calendar quarter represents the company’s third fiscal quarter and Donaco said about the performance, “The result was driven by higher group revenues and tighter management of corporate costs.”

Donaco operates the Star Vegas Resort and Club in the Cambodian city of Poipet, which is popular with gamblers from Thailand. It also operates Vietnam’s Aristo International Hotel, a venue that attracts mainly Chinese mainlanders. Neither Thailand nor mainland China have legal casinos.

For the quarter, Star Vegas saw its net revenue increase to $13.74 million from $13.69 million a year ago. At the same time, though, its EBITDA dropped from $8.29 million to $6.19 million.

Last week, MGM Resorts announced that it would be letting go a large number of management personnel in an effort to reach the goal of the company’s CEO, Jim Murren, to reduce overhead. The casino giant said that 254 managerial positions would be eliminated, but it now appears as though it may have been trying to cover up the truth. The layoffs include low-level employees, as well, in what is now being described as a “bloodbath” of cuts.

According to a report by the Nevada Current, entry-level workers were included in the recent layoffs, with one terminated employee, who didn’t want to be identified, remarking, “It was a bloodbath. I waited six hours to find out I’d been fired. They walked around pointing people out. Everyone was crying. Some of those laid off didn’t even bother cleaning out their desks.”

The individual added, “I can’t speak for the whole company but in my department of 42 people there are 15 left. One vice-president accepted voluntary severance. Three directors and five managers were terminated. The rest were all communications and events specialists and video team specialists.”

Another unidentified employee, who was part of the Social Customer Care Team, stated, “My team was the first to go. My entire team of four specialists was let go. Our entire adjacent team of four Social Resolution specialists and managers was let go. I know of two social media strategists from the Engagement team who were let go. I also know of at least three administrative people who were let go, including a front desk worker.”

partypoker launch their first Pot-Limit Omaha Series, relaunch the $1m GTD Big Game for the third time, and Fedor Holz shares his secret to success in a new blog post.

If you’re a farmer, think of Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) as having piranha’s in your pond instead of sticklebacks, a lion for a sheepdog, and warthogs instead of pigs.

It’s a pendulum that swings backwards and forwards with such ferocity it could take your head clean off. It can transform little tiddlers into sharks, and sharks into little tiddlers. It’s a Blue Nile diamond. A Dodge Tomahawk. Lewis Hamilton. Usain Bolt. Crack cocaine.

Starting Sunday, April 28 and running through to May 5, partypoker – a keen supporter of all things Hold’em – tries something a little different when they host the first-ever Omaha Series.

The first heavyweight contest of PokerStars’ European Poker Tour in Monte Carlo is over, and Sylvain Loosli has booked his fifth win after overcoming a field of 70-entrants.

Poker’s ivy tendrils have spread to the Monte Carlo Bay Resort and Casino, and every Tarzan and Jane is currently swinging into the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) hoping for a performance worthy of the crescendo of crashing cymbals and a trumpeting fanfare.

The first to experience such a thing is Sylvain Loosli.

The Winamax Pro has taken down the first heavyweight contest of the festival – €10,300 No-Limit Hold’em, after defeating the unknown entity Georgios Kitsios in heads-up action.