New Jersey’s Attorney General has filed suit to determine the link between casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and the US Department of Justice’s new opinion on the scope of the Wire Act.

On Tuesday, NJ AG Gurbir Grewal filed suit accusing the DOJ of illegally refusing the state’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, which were submitted in February. Grewal (pictured right) seeks to clarify Adelson’s role in the DOJ’s issuance of a new opinion that dramatically expanded the scope of the 1961 Wire Act, which prohibits the transmission of illegal sports betting information across state lines.

Adelson (pictured left), the boss of casino operator Las Vegas Sands, is a fierce opponent of all things online gambling, which Grewal’s lawsuit notes has become “an important part of New Jersey’s economy” since the 2013 launch of the state’s online market. Grewal says New Jersey residents deserve to know “whether this federal crackdown is the result of a lobbying campaign by a single individual seeking to protect his personal business interests.”

Adelson has bankrolled the reliably hyperbolic Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling (CSIG), whose public representatives include former law enforcement officials and Washington pols, including former Senator Blanche Lincoln.

Maryland’s casino operators reported a modest revenue gain in April but failed to match their record-setting pace in March.

Figures released this week by the Maryland Lottery and Gaming agency show the state’s six casinos generated gaming revenue of $145.2m in April, a 1.2% rise over the same month last year, albeit well back of the record $163.3m performance set this March.

April’s gains were entirely due to slot machines, which improved by $4m to nearly $94.3m. Table game revenue was down around $2.3m to just under $51m.

Four individual properties were in positive territory in April, led by (as always) MGM Resorts’ National Harbor casino, which reported revenue of $60.8m, a 5.3% year-on-year improvement but well back of March’s $62.8m and even further off the property’s record showing of $73.4m in October 2018.

Casino operator Caesars Entertainment has apparently bowed out of Greece’s Hellinikon license derby, which to virtually no one’s surprise is facing further delays.

On Tuesday, Greek media outlet Ekathimerini reported that the competition for the 30-year license for an integrated resort casino on the site of Athens’ old airport would likely face further delays due to the government’s inability to solidify its zoning plans on time.

The consultation period for the project’s environmental impact study doesn’t conclude until next Tuesday (14), after which the government’s joint ministerial decision on the project’s zoning plan still needs to be completed. The current deadline for interested casino applicants to file their binding offers is May 31 – which was itself a delay from April 22 – but the expectation is now that this will be pushed back once again, this time until the end of June.

The perpetual delays in launching the €8b Hellinikon project tender appear to have reduced the number of interested parties from four to three. Caesars, which was among the first companies to declare its Greek intentions, is reportedly rethinking its interest in the project.

Nordic online gambling operator Betsson AB managed solid gains in both revenue and profit in Q1 despite the much-publicized challenges of Sweden’s newly regulated online market.

Betsson announced Tuesday that its revenue in the three months ending March 31 totaled SEK1.33b (US$138.7m), up 10% from the same period last year (+8% organic growth), with all geographic markets showing year-on-year growth. Operating income was up 21% to SEK255.2m while net income rose 22% to SEK229.3m.

Sports betting turnover was up 10% to SEK6.35b, while betting revenue grew 13% to SEK297.8m. Mobile channels accounted for 80% of betting revenue, up 11 points year-on-year. Online casino revenue rose 10% to just over SEK1b, with two-thirds of that coming via mobile channels. Active customer ranks improved 13% to nearly 687k.

The Nordic markets remain Betsson’s bread-and-butter, although its SEK580.6m revenue contribution was up only 2% year-on-year (and down 1% organically). Western European markets fared much better, rising 10% to SEK430.8m, while the Central & Eastern Europe and Central Asia segment grew 15% to SEK248.2m.

Three bizarre tales from the world of poker including a change of direction for Daniel ‘Jungleman’ Cates, the former World Heavyweight Boxing Champ, David Haye, breaking his duck, and Hellmuth and Esfandiari in taser war.

Daniel Cates is expanding his brand after the Jungleman posted a photograph of a deep meditation surrounded by 15-naked ladies, followed by a soft-porn video of him playing poker with said naked ladies.

Here is the photo.

partypoker has announced plans to bring the $20m GTD Online MILLIONS in line with the live tour creating a series of yet unknown side events, and a $10k buy-in.

If online poker is bread and butter, then live tournament poker must be those cubed cheese, pineapples and silverskin onions on a stick. That’s why it was crucial that partypoker was able to get the chopping board and bread knife out when they created the most significant online prize pool in history. To prove it’s no fluke, they’re going to give it another shot.

partypoker has provided the dates of the 2019 MILLIONS Online adventure and a few other pieces of information to boot. The online poker giants will once again guarantee $20m in prize money, but the buy-in will increase to $10,300 bringing it in line with the live 2019 MILLIONS schedule.

And that’s not the only change.

Casino operator Melco Resorts & Entertainment (MRE) eked out a modest revenue gain in Q1 thanks to a serious run of VIP gaming luck.

Unaudited figures released Tuesday show MRE’s revenue hitting $1.36b in the three months ending March 31, around 4% higher than the same period last year. However, operating income fell 15% to $188m and net income tumbled by one-quarter to $117.4m.

MRE CEO Lawrence Ho credited the company’s performance as “solid” given the ongoing “volatility” in Macau’s VIP gambling market. Macau’s VIP market slipped to below 49% of Macau casino gaming revenue in Q1, the first time the VIP segment has taken a back seat to its mass market rival.

Oddly enough, MRE’s Macau properties all reported VIP turnover declines while posting improved VIP win rates, all of which were above the expected range. City of Dreams saw VIP turnover fall 8% to $10.2m in Q1, but win rate rose 0.4 points to an above-average 3.4%. Altira Macau’s VIP turnover was off nearly 11% to $5b while win shot up 0.8 points to 3.8%.