A gang reportedly tied to the Chinese Triad, the country’s mafia, wants to take over a Cambodian city. A video has surfaced that allegedly shows members of the gang discussing its plans for Sihanoukville, a casino town in Cambodia. The video is being taken seriously and an investigation has been launched by Cambodian authorities and the Chinese Embassy.

According to a report by the South China Morning Post, the video shows 20 men, all shirtless and some with tattoos, except for the man doing all of the talking. Speaking in Mandarin, the apparent leader launches into a tirade about “Kampong Som,” another name for Sihanoukville. He asserts, “Kampong Som, in the next three years, whether it will be safe or chaotic, is under my control.”

The video started making its rounds this past Sunday, beginning with Facebook and working its way out from there. The Chinese Embassy posted a response to the video on its website, stating that it would be cooperating with local law enforcement to try and track down the individuals, all of whom are suspected of living in the central Chinese city of Chongqing.

There has been a lot of investment from China’s wealthy in Sihanoukville lately. Those investments have been forged by a plan to turn the laidback city into a Chinese gambling hub and there are now over 70 casinos and resorts in the city – 100 in the province. Given that locals cannot gamble due to Cambodian law, the area residents are feeling overwhelmed and now part of a minority. Most cannot even get a job in the casinos, as they don’t speak the required Mandarin necessary to work in the casinos.

We’re already halfway into May, but the final picture of how Macau’s gaming revenue will shape up still isn’t very clear. Some analysts predict zero growth, while others say there could be a moderate increase. Generally speaking, though, it looks like the slowdown that began this past January is going to continue, at least for a little while longer.

The Sanford C. Bernstein brokerage published its updated forecast this past Tuesday, asserting that the gross gaming revenue (GGR) for Macau will increase between 2-4% year-on-year. Nomura’s Instinet stockbroking arm, on the other hand, believes that there will be no growth. They both agreed on one point, though -VIP and mass-gaming segments have improved over last month.

Vitaly Umansky, Eunice Lee and Kelsey Zhu with Bernstein are optimistic about long-term VIP growth in Macau. They explain, “Potential high-end GGR stabilisation and renewed strength may come from a recovering credit cycle in China, which may support VIP recovery in the second half. The recent heightened tension in U.S.-China trade relations, however, casts uncertainty over the GGR recovery. If the trade war sustains over an extended period, it will likely pose a headwind to China’s economy and gaming spend from China’s high-net-worth individuals in Macau.”

The analysts added that the channel checks are showing that the GGR for Macau casinos was, on average, about $95.9 million each day from May 6 to May 13. This was a slight dip that was expected after the holiday period at the beginning of the month that attracted many visitors from mainland China, the city’s main feeder market.

Imagine what could be done with $65,750 per day in salary. The vast majority of the world’s population can only dream, but there are some executives out there making that, and more. A new report by the Las Vegas Review-Journal explorers the salaries of the CEOs of some of the top gaming companies in the US and, across the board, all of them saw a decrease in their compensation last year. Regardless, it’s still impossible to feel bad for someone who makes more money in a day than most make all year.

No one should be surprised that the individual making $65,750 a day is Las Vegas Sands’ founder and CEO Sheldon Adelson. He has a net worth of around $36.9 billion, according to Forbes, and his paycheck, as well as his wallet, give him ample cash to throw around to various “charitable” causes, such as getting the Department of Justice to sing a different tune about the Federal Wire Act and online gambling.

Last year, Adelson earned $5 million as his base salary, $1 million in awards, $5.5 million in “other compensation” and $12.5 million as part of a non-incentive equity plan. He made $26 million a year earlier. By way of comparison, Adelson’s salary is about $24,000 more than what he pays his average employee for an entire year’s-worth of labor.

Mark Frissora, who is about to bid adieu to Caesars Entertainment, earned $13.2 million. It would take the company’s average employee 360 years to earn that much. He’ll earn a going-away package to soften his exit, as well, but his 2018 compensation reflects a drop of around $10 million from the previous year.

Paradise Co. Ltd. is on a roller coaster – whether or not it is enjoying the ride is a different story. The operator of a foreigner-only casino in South Korea saw its revenue decline in March – the first time in months – before rebounding in April to the positive side. The ups and downs didn’t do much for the company’s bottom line and it has now revealed its first-quarter earnings, showing mostly red.

According to a filing with the Korea Exchange from Tuesday, Paradise Co. showed a net loss attributable to shareholders of around $6.35 million for the quarter. In the same period last year, the company had been able to report a net profit of almost $2.6 million.

The reason for the net loss was due, in part, to a change in how Paradise handles its accounting. The company indicates that it adopted new accounting standards and that this ultimately led to more financial expenses in the quarter.

Paradise pointed out that its revenue increased for the quarter, jumping 12.4% year-on-year to just over $169.24 million. In the first quarter of 2018, that figure was just $150.61 million. The revenue included a 6.4% year-on-year drop in casino sales, which came in at just $72.72 million.

New Hampshire most likely won’t see more casino action, but sports gambling could be coming soon. After lawmakers pulled out their pencils and erasers to make some changes to a sports gambling bill earlier this month, things are moving forward and the light at the end of the tunnel continues to shine more brightly.

The Senate put the subject to a voice vote yesterday and the “ayes” have it. The state’s governor, Chris Sununu, is in favor of the bill, which will see the New Hampshire State Lottery Commission (NHSLC) manage the activity. The bill already made it past a House vote, but has to return to the chamber in order to address the changes introduced by the Senate.

The author of the bill, Representative Timothy Lang, asserts, “I anticipate the House will concur with the Senate and it will pass. If it does go to a committee of conference, I expect they will work it out, but I honestly believe they will just concur on the House floor and be done.”

When the bill went before the Senate’s Ways and Means Committee, that group suggest that the number of mobile operators be capped at five. The suggestion was accepted and turned into an amendment to the bill, which helped it to be approved by the Senate. Lang adds, “The cap of five clearly defines that it’s not a monopolistic venture.”

A round-up of the best bits of the Asian Poker Tour stop in the Philippines and a reminder of what’s to come.

Poker in Asia doesn’t need a wheelchair; it’s doing rather well, thank you. Ok, there are a few pieces of paper that need ‘I’s’ dotting and ‘t’s’ crossing, before hoping they end up beneath the quill of a poker-loving government official or two, but none of those issues is present in the Philippines.

April 24 – May 5 the Asian Poker Tour (APT) visited the archipelagic country. The Resorts World Manila, Pasay City, Philippines played host, and there were two events worthy of a finger-tap or two.

The PHP 55,000 (US$1,050) APT Philippines Main Event attracted 503-entrants, and Christopher Mateo took the title and $83,842 first prize. It was a raw final table except for the presence of a two-time World Poker Tour (WPT) Main Event Champion.

UFC 237 was last Saturday in Brazil and the card was stacked with Brazilian fighters. One wonders if former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos took offense to being left off that card in his native land.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

Dos Anjos, who is from Rio, instead headlines this Saturday’s UFC Fight Night event from Rochester, New York, the UFC’s first-ever trip to that city. Dos Anjos is a -120 favorite for a welterweight non-title fight against Kevin Lee (-110).

Lee (17-4), a 26-year-old from Michigan, had spent his entire career at lightweight. “The Motown Phenom” got an interim title shot against Tony Ferguson at UFC 216 but lost by third-round submission (triangle choke). It was Lee’s first loss by submission. He bounced back with a TKO victory over Edson Barboza but enters off a December 2018 unanimous decision loss to Al Iaquinta. Lee is ranked as the No. 7 lightweight but is obviously not yet ranked as a welterweight. The slight majority of his wins (47 percent) are by submission.

An opinion piece inspired by an interview with Las Vegas cash game resident, and VLOG star, Marle Cordeiro, focusing on the lessons poker can learn from Brené Brown’s Braving the Wilderness.

The word “Stripper,” bayonets a neuron.

I’m in the ‘Red Room’ as we’ve christened it. It’s a restaurant for VIPs in the Maestral Resort and Casino in Budva, Montenegro. Marle Cordeiro, host of the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series in Montenegro, sits opposite me, dictaphone amongst knives, forks and wine glasses; window ajar allowing the acrid stench of expensive cigar smoke to leak into the world; the Adriatic Coast beating up the shore.

“Stripper?”

The Canadian province of British Columbia will conduct a formal inquiry into money laundering activity following recent revelations of funny money flowing throwing BC casinos.

On Wednesday, BC Premier John Horgan publicly announced that BC Supreme Court Justice Austin Cullen would lead an inquiry into rampant money laundering activity in the province’s gaming industry, but Cullen will also examine other corporate sectors, including real estate, luxury goods and financial services.

BC’s gaming industry was the subject of a scathing report released last year by former RCMP deputy commissioner Peter German, who recommended the province establish a truly independent regulatory entity to deter people from carrying hockey bags full of $20 bills into casinos. Last week, German released two new reports into other BC business sectors with equally damning conclusions.

BC Attorney General David Eby said the province was “done with asking nicely” for cooperation by individuals and entities at the heart of the money laundering activity. Eby said Cullen had been granted “significant” powers to compel witnesses to provide evidence. The federal government’s organized crime watchdogs will cooperate with BC’s inquiry, which will release an interim report within 18 months and a final report by May 2021.

The PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker rumbles into Day 4 with victories for former Sunday Million winners, Turbo Series Main Event winners, and stalwarts of old.

France’s regulated online gambling market was all positives in the first quarter of 2019, with the notable exception of (what else) poker cash games.

Figures released this week by France’s gambling regulatory body ARJEL show locally licensed online operators generated combined revenue of €357m in the three months ending March 31, a 27% improvement over the same period last year. Active player accounts rose by one-fifth to 2.2m, while deposits were up one-quarter to €658m.

The numbers were driven by sports betting, which reported total wagers of €1.27b, up 51% year-on-year, 20% higher than in Q4 2018 and a new quarterly record since the market’s liberalization in 2010. In fact, Q1’s handle was more than the market generated in all of 2014. Wagering revenue was up 51% to €222m, another all-time record, as the number of weekly active bettors spiked 42% to 655k.

Football remains the dominant wagering sport, capturing nearly €717m of Q1’s online handle, which is 54% higher than Q1 2018’s total. Interestingly, while France’s Ligue 1 remains the most popular football betting product at €119.6m (+48%), Premier League wagers shot up 111% to €73.3m, good enough for second place. Tennis ranked second on the overall handle chart with €250m (+53%), while basketball ranked third with €177m (+42%).