Greece just got a slight reprieve. After announcing a third delay in the licensing process for a new Hellinikon casino resort, it looked like the country might be losing ground against Melco Resorts and Entertainment and the City of Dreams Mediterranean (CODM) resort being built on the island of Cyprus. However, Greece could now try to catch up if it hopes its new venue can compete with that of Melco, as the completion of the Cypriot resort has been delayed.

According to the Cypriot media outlet In-Cyprus, Melco has had to delay the opening of the resort to the end of 2021, several months after the previously scheduled summer opening. The project was expected to be completed within 24 months, an ambitious goal that is apparently beyond the realm of possibility due to the amount of work required.

There have been changes to the design of the resort, including the expansion of certain infrastructure, an increase in the number of guest rooms and gaming space and changes to the resort’s layout. All of these impact the completion timeline, which was already stretched when the project first broke ground.

CODM was initially priced at about €550 million ($612.4 million) when it was first laid out. The changes and modifications made have reportedly bumped the price up, but the exact figure isn’t known.

If there’s one tip that tech entrepreneur Calvin Ayre has to give about investing in Bitcoin, it’s that to build not hold.

In an interview with BNN Bloomberg, which took place on the first day of the CoinGeek Toronto scaling conference, the Ayre Media founder talked about what drew him to cryptocurrency and why he’s supporting Bitcoin SV (BSV), the original Bitcoin invented by Dr. Craig Wright—the individual behind the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto.

Massive on-chain scaling is one of the key features that set BSV apart from other cryptocurrencies. BSV, after all, is designed to have real utility.

“The main difference of course is that this is the original model that was originally created by Craig and all other ones are variations that have branched off in some direction. But the main difference from a functional perspective is that BSV massively scales on chain and the rest don’t, so it works and the others are dysfunctional. They’re kind of hobbies, if you will. This one is designed for enterprise applications,” Ayre said.

If one horse dies at a racetrack, it could be considered just an unfortunate situation. If two die at the same track, there is cause for concern, but not enough to raise any red flags. However, if 26 die within a five-month period, something is seriously wrong. That’s exactly what has happened at the Santa Anita Park horserace track in California and now lawmakers are getting involved. If a U.S. senator has his way, horseracing could be temporarily halted at the track while a thorough investigation is conducted.

A third horse died this past Saturday after being pulled from a race. Kochees was a gelding just 3 years old, and his death marked the third in nine days. His jockey backed out of a race on Saturday after finding an injury and the horse had to be put down the next day after surgery was unsuccessful.

In a statement regarding the growing list of tragedies, Senator Dianne Feinstein said, “How many more horses must die before concrete steps are taken to address what is clearly an acute problem? I once again call for an immediate moratorium on racing at Santa Anita. We need a thorough investigation of practices and conditions at the track before any more races are held.”

Track officials had already imposed a three-week suspension following a string of deaths prior to the latest occurrences. The spate of deaths has not been linked to a particular person or activity, but some believe that the state’s wettest winter in the past ten years could be making the dirt track too soft, leading to injuries and, ultimately, death.

Macau seemed to be pretty set on the idea of establishing a tourist tax when they surveyed their people about how proceeds from it should be spent. We’re now finding out a bit more about the idea, and learning that not everyone might be on board with the idea.

According to a press release on the Macao Government Tourism Office website, Macau’s Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Alexis Tam Chon Weng, held a meeting of the Tourist Development Committee (CDT) to specifically discuss how Macau can go forward while its tourist capacity is stretched to the limit. The Tourist tax, as a means to specifically reduce the number of tourists, was a hot topic.

Several committee members of the CDT expressed worries that a tourist tax wouldn’t help the region. Instead, they proposed an appointment system, where tourists would be required to reserve their spot to visit certain landmarks in the city, thus avoiding a crush of people causing congestion in neighborhoods that are unable to handle it.

Another anonymous member suggested the committee needed to create short and long term plans to solve this problem, with task forces created to analyze problems and find solutions.

The Tiger Palace Casino Resort looks like it is gaining plenty of attention from potential buyers. The Kathmandu Post reports four Nepali companies are considering buying the casino, with bids of up to $33 million.

Image Credit: Flickr (Pictures of Money)

According to their sources, the Chaudhary Group, IME Group, Vishal Group, and a Nepali based in Malaysia are all competing to purchase the resort that’s been put up for sale by Australian operator Silver Heritage Group.

Despite opening to rave reviews, and having a second phase on the way with an additional 400 guest rooms, the Tiger Palace Resort hasn’t lived up to Silver Heritage’s expectations. They’ve had to suffer bad partnerships and underwhelming revenues, leading to an overall loss that left the company frustrated.

If you’re hoping that more liberal marijuana laws might mean you can light a joint inside at a Las Vegas blackjack table anytime soon, we’ve got bad news for you. A recent panel at the International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking at Caesar’s Palace agreed that marijuana won’t be welcome for some time to come.

The Las Vegas Sun reports that due to federal laws still regulating marijuana as an illegal recreational drug, it won’t be seen in casinos. “The relationship with marijuana has been a concern for our gambling operators because the Gaming Control Board enforces a policy of strict regulation,” noted Jennifer Roberts, associated director for UNLV’s International Center for Gaming regulation. “That has impacted how we look at the cannabis industry in Nevada. There are some legal issues there.”

Nevada voted to make marijuana legal in 2017, meaning state law enforcement won’t throw you in jail if they catch you smoking the funny stuff where it’s allowed to be. But because the feds still don’t approve, regulators and casinos want to stay clear of it.

“Gambling operators (in Nevada) are licensed with the requirement that they have to comply with all state, federal and local laws,” Roberts added. “If they were to allow customers to come in and possess and use a controlled substance, that puts them at legal risk. That’s the mindset. I’m not saying it’s an accurate mindset, but that’s what we’re faced with in the gaming world.”

Casino operator Melco Resorts & Entertainment (MRE) has bitten off a nearly one-fifth chunk of Aussie rival Crown Resorts and aims to bite off more as the opportunity arises.

On Thursday, MRE’s parent company Melco International Development informed the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that MRE had acquired a 19.99% stake in Crown for total consideration of AU$ 1,759,550,000 (US$1.216b).

Payment will be made in cash in two equal tranches, the first due in early June, the second no later than September 30. MRE plans to finance the deal through “internal and external sources of funding.” MRE also plans to pursue representation on Crown’s board and “welcomes the opportunity to increase its ownership” in Crown should the opportunity arise down the road.

Melco said Crown “shares a similar corporate DNA” with MRE, and the deal does represent a reunion of sorts, as Melco and Crown were joint venture partners in the Macau casino operations of Melco Crown Entertainment (MCE). That partnership ended in May 2017, when Crown boss James Packer sold the final piece of his MRE stake to Melco boss Lawrence Ho (pictured).

Kenya’s gambling operators are facing yet another assault as the government prepares to roll out tougher laws to temper the local population’s enthusiasm for betting.

On Wednesday, Kenyan media published details on the government’s new Gaming Bill 2019, which aims to replace the current Betting, Lotteries and Gaming Act. The bill was released Tuesday by the National Assembly’s Sports, Culture and Tourism committee and will have its first reading in the Assembly next week.

Among the proposed bill’s 170 clauses is a requirement for Kenyan-licensed betting firms to post a Ksh100m (US$1m) deposit as a hedge against a company going into default or failing to pay out winning as promised.

Betting firms currently pay initial license fees of Ksh3m plus an additional Ksh500k per year. The new bill proposes boosting those annual fees to Ksh30m.