Casino visitors in Macau can breathe a lot easier as the Health Bureau of the city has declared that a recent rash of rubella cases is not an outbreak. This, despite the fact that confirmed cases of the disease have continued to increase over the last month.

The issue first came to the attention of the health authorities when it was discovered in early April that 12 employees who worked at the City of Dreams Cotia and StarWorld Hotel had contracted the illness. An extensive series of blood tests was conducted on all employees, and labor officials pushed for the government to impose stricter guidelines on sanitation and disinfecting policies. Despite these precautions, there were two additional cases that were reported by April 24.

The Health Bureau took every step to try to quell any talk of an outbreak occurring at one of the most popular casino resorts within the region. Blood tests provided a number of positive results, especially for those who are pregnant, where 30 of the 32 women who were tested and worked at the casino complex were found to have an immunity to the disease.

Adding to the positive reports was the fact that only four of the individuals who had contracted the disease were actually born in Macau. This seemed to have buoyed the claims of the Health Bureau.

Online gambling operator The Stars Group (TSG) is learning the hard lesson that, unlike pure poker firms, sports betting operators occasionally get taken to the cleaners.

On Wednesday, the Toronto/New York-listed TSG reported overall revenue of US$580.4m in the three months ending March 31, a 47.7% rise over the same period last year. But operating income fell 46% to $61.5m and net earnings fell 62.8% to $27.6m.

TSG blamed the shortfall on a variety of factors, including unfavorable currency exchange rates, negative growth in ‘disrupted’ markets – i.e. grey/black markets that have ramped up payment-blocking measures, like Russia – and a rash of punter-friendly results, particularly at TSG’s UK-facing Sky Betting & Gaming (SBG) business.

Most UK-listed operators that endure occasional margin swings simply cite it as a factor and move on, while the TSG report/call treated the reduction as an event akin to a Deep Impact meteor strike. One almost expected the presentation to feature some Schoolhouse Rock animation in which a talking betting slip explained ‘how a wager becomes revenue’ just so no one missed the idea that luck had most definitely not been a lady to TSG in Q1.

The UK’s gambling regulator has fined four of its online casino licensees a total of £4.5m for slack attention to anti-money laundering (AML), customer due diligence and social responsibility obligations.

On Wednesday, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) announced the latest results of its probe into the online casino sector. Four operators have either been financially penalized or agreed to make a payment in lieu of being fined, including InTouch Games Ltd (£2.2m), Betit Operations Ltd (£1.4m), MT Secure Trade (£700k) and BestBet (£231k.).

The UKGC began its probe of InTouch in April 2018, ultimately concluding that the operator’s AML risk assessment was far from robust, in part due to “a degree of complacency that it was a low-risk business.” InTouch’s own compliance officers expressed little faith in the company’s suspicious activity reports (SAR), and customer due diligence was largely limited to confirming a customer’s identity.

InTouch, which operates the mFortune, PocketWin and Mr Spin casino brands, took little interest in determining its customers’ source of funds. In one case, InTouch took no action after a customer’s spending increased from £200/month to £10k/month. Overall, InTouch was found to have set its financial triggers so high that it excluded most of its customers from reporting requirements.

UK bookmaker William Hill says it’s weathering the new restrictions on its retail gaming operations, thanks to a strong online and US market performance.

On Wednesday, Hills issued a trading statement covering the 17 weeks through April 30, during which it says overall revenue is up 2% compared to the first 17 weeks of 2018. The company maintains that the numbers are more impressive than they look, given the additional regulatory requirements imposed in its core UK market.

Retail revenue was down 7%, as a 2% rise in sports betting revenue wasn’t enough to offset a 15% decline in machine gaming. On April 1, the UK’s new £2 max stake on fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) took effect, and the early indications were that UK betting operators weren’t handling the transition all that well.

Hills CEO Philip Bowcock (pictured) said the impact has been “in line with our expectations” and the company remains “confident in our plan to manage this major change.” That said, the company admitted it would likely be “several months before any meaningful conclusions can be drawn” from this major disruption in its business model.

UK bookmaker William Hill has fallen afoul of the nation’s advertising watchdog for the second week in a row, this time for being too sexy for its own damn good.

On Wednesday, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld a complaint by a user of the dating app Tinder, who took offense at a Hills advert that appeared in March promoting the upcoming Cheltenham racing festival.

The ad included copy evidently styled to appeal to Tinder users, asking: “Stuck in the friend zone? You won’t be for much longer if you use this Cheltenham free bet offer.” The complainant felt the ad was in violation of the UK’s advertising code by linking gambling to sexual success.

Hills’ defense was somewhat half-baked, simultaneously suggesting that, like Tinder users, Hills bettors were prone to ‘shop around’ for the best offer. But in the ASA’s words, “upon reflection, [Hills] agreed that [the ad] had the potential to be interpreted differently.”

Florida’s Seminole Tribe has exercised its nuclear gaming option, choosing to halt casino revenue-sharing payments to the state after legislators failed (again) to reach a deal on revising the local gaming market.

On Tuesday, the Tallahassee Democrat reported that the Seminole leadership had sent a letter to Gov. Ron Desantis stating the tribe’s intention to stop sending the state its share of revenue from gaming operations at the tribe’s six Florida casinos, effectively blowing a nearly $400m hole in the state’s annual budget.

The letter, written by tribal council chairman Marcellus Osceola Jr., emphasized that the tribe and the state “have enjoyed a good relationship and we are hopeful that we will be able to reach an agreement that will strengthen that relationship for many years to come.” Nonetheless, Osceola Jr. believes the state has failed to live up to its end of the bargain, so the payment taps are being turned off.

DeSantis has yet to publicly comment on the tribe’s move but Barry Richard, who acts as outside counsel for the tribe, told Florida Politics that the next move in this game was “the state’s call.” If the state was to stop the “infringement” of what the tribe maintains are its exclusive rights to certain gaming products, “then the tribe is obligated to resume payments” to the state.

Florida’s Seminole Tribe has exercised its nuclear gaming option, choosing to halt casino revenue-sharing payments to the state after legislators failed (again) to reach a deal on revising the local gaming market.

On Tuesday, the Tallahassee Democrat reported that the Seminole leadership had sent a letter to Gov. Ron Desantis stating the tribe’s intention to stop sending the state its share of revenue from gaming operations at the tribe’s six Florida casinos, effectively blowing a nearly $400m hole in the state’s annual budget.

The letter, written by tribal council chairman Marcellus Osceola Jr., emphasized that the tribe and the state “have enjoyed a good relationship and we are hopeful that we will be able to reach an agreement that will strengthen that relationship for many years to come.” Nonetheless, Osceola Jr. believes the state has failed to live up to its end of the bargain, so the payment taps are being turned off.

DeSantis has yet to publicly comment on the tribe’s move but Barry Richard, who acts as outside counsel for the tribe, told Florida Politics that the next move in this game was “the state’s call.” If the state was to stop the “infringement” of what the tribe maintains are its exclusive rights to certain gaming products, “then the tribe is obligated to resume payments” to the state.

The Triton Poker Super High Roller Series has burned through its second Turbo event like a match eating through frail paper pages, and Quek Sechariah Sheng made the perfect Triton debut, beating Peter Jetten, heads-up, for the title. 

Paul Phua and Peter Jetten must be wondering what the secret is. The pair are Triton stalwarts, with the former co-founding the series, and despite making 18 final tables between them, they are yet to don the royal blue baseball cap with the words ‘Triton Champion’ stitched in gold.

Quek Sechariah Sheng wears one, and he’s only played a single Triton event.

The 28-year-old Singaporean has taken down Event #7 Short-Deck Turbo at the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series in Montenegro. Think about that jumper your Grandma’s been knitting, and you’ll get a sense of how long this event lasted.

The Triton Poker Super High Roller Series has burned through its second Turbo event like a match eating through frail paper pages, and Quek Sechariah Sheng made the perfect Triton debut, beating Peter Jetten, heads-up, for the title. 

Paul Phua and Peter Jetten must be wondering what the secret is. The pair are Triton stalwarts, with the former co-founding the series, and despite making 18 final tables between them, they are yet to don the royal blue baseball cap with the words ‘Triton Champion’ stitched in gold.

Quek Sechariah Sheng wears one, and he’s only played a single Triton event.

The 28-year-old Singaporean has taken down Event #7 Short-Deck Turbo at the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series in Montenegro. Think about that jumper your Grandma’s been knitting, and you’ll get a sense of how long this event lasted.