Ukraine’s gambling expansion plans failed to clear their first legislative hurdle, and the government is retaliating by shutting down land-based slots operators.

On Thursday, 213 members of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada legislative chamber voted in favor of Bill 2285-d, which aims to dramatically expand the country’s list of legal gambling options, including land-based casinos and online casino, poker and sports betting. But the vote fell 13 votes short of a majority.

The rejection wasn’t fatal, as a second vote secured enough votes (243) to send the bill back to committee for further tweaking after which it will be sent back to the Rada for another first reading vote.

Ukraine’s gambling expansion plans were first introduced in October but have undergone significant revision after six additional gambling bills were filed in November. These bills have since been consolidated under a single bill and include some dramatically hiked license fees.

Michigan’s governor has signed her state’s sports betting and online gambling legislation, delivering an early Christmas present to the state’s gamblers.

On Friday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer put her Jane Hancock on the gambling expansion legislation the state’s elected representatives approved earlier this month. The bills allow the state’s commercial and tribal casino operators to offer both online and land-based sports betting, as well as online casino and poker products.

While Whitmer had previously signalled her willingness to sign the legislation, the state’s gamblers remember all too well the last-minute veto imposed on December 28, 2018 by former Gov. Rick Snyder, who waited until legislators had gone home for the holidays before rejecting the online gambling bills that legislators had approved earlier that month. But Whitmer ensured there’d be no governor grinchiness this year.

In a statement released Friday, Whitmer called the gambling expansion bills “a real bipartisan win for our state.” Whitmer added that her “top priority in signing this legislation was protecting and investing in the School Aid fund.”

Sweden’s gambling regulator is closing out the year by seeking the ability to impose stiffer fines on companies that violate anti-money laundering (AML) regulations.

On Friday, Sweden’s Spelinspektionen regulatory body said it had asked the Ministry of Finance to rewrite rules regarding the maximum penalty it’s allowed to impose on AML laggards. Spelinspektionen said the current maximum penalty of €1m is too low and it needs to be able to impose penalties that are “effective, proportionate and dissuasive.”

Spelinspektionen noted that many of its online gambling licensees “turn over large amounts and have a strong financial position.” Sweden’s largest licensees reported turnover of hundreds of millions of euros during the first nine months of 2019, which in Spelinspektionen’s view makes a €1m penalty “not sufficiently noticeable.”

Spelinspektionen wants to harmonize the AML penalty rules with those for violating the Gaming Act, i.e. a maximum fine of 10% of a licensee’s turnover in the previous fiscal year.

Nevada gambling regulators insist they have every right to impose penalties on disgraced casino icon Steve Wynn, even if he’s no longer involved in the state’s gaming industry.

On Thursday, the Nevada Gaming Commission (NGC) unanimously ruled that it had the necessary jurisdiction to impose sanctions on Wynn Resorts founder Steve Wynn, who was forced to resign from the company last spring following a seemingly endless parade of sexual harassment allegations involving the company’s female staff.

Steve divested himself of his considerable holding in Wynn Resorts shortly after his resignation, which in Steve’s mind effectively ended his ties to Nevada’s gaming industry. As such, Steve’s attorneys have pushed back on Nevada regulators efforts to declare Steve ‘unsuitable’ to hold a state gaming license and fine him up to $500k for bringing Nevada’s gaming industry into disrepute.

Not so, according to the NGC, which on Thursday emphatically stated that it had the authority to punish Steve for besmirching the state’s good name. Commissioner John Moran said the NGC “have the power to look at acts and conduct that is alleged, no matter who leaves and at what point.”

It was probably fun while it lasted, but a group of individuals in New York and New Jersey are now going to have to answer to a judge for running an illegal sports gambling operation. In total, six men from Staten Island and New Jersey were busted for the online gambling scheme that included operations from a sportsbook out of Costa Rica and which reportedly netted them $11 million in just eight months.

Four of the individuals are out of New York, with the other two calling New Jersey home. They had allegedly set up a sophisticated online sports gambling company that drew in customers from these two states, and which sometimes utilized the Costa Rica-based gameday365.ag, as well as a similar site, playbig365. Taking bets either online or over the phone, they reportedly began their entrepreneurial endeavor in September of last year before it was dismantled this past April. Both sites are now out of commission, as well, but it isn’t clear if their departure from the digital world is due to the bust, or to some other cause.

All six were arraigned in court on December 18, answering to charges of illegal gambling and money laundering. Eric Gonzalez, Brooklyn’s District Attorney, asserted in a statement, “Illegal gambling is not a victimless crime, but an unlawful conduct that is often connected to loansharking, money laundering and to organized crime. These defendants are charged with allegedly running lucrative gambling operations that took in millions of dollars in bets. We have now shut down their enterprises and will seek to hold them accountable.”

40-year-old Ross Branca from New Jersey was reportedly the ringleader and was known as a “Master Agent” of the group. He oversaw three operators, who managed their own sets of customers, and is looking at charges of illegal gambling and money laundering. The latter charge comes from his efforts to hide $100,000 in proceeds from the operation.

The gambling space in Oklahoma could get ugly very quickly. Gaming compacts provided to native Indian tribes in the state are set to expire on January 1 of next year and, if you ask Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt, an extension is required to be signed. However, if you ask the tribes, the current compacts automatically roll over, keeping the same revenue-sharing specifications in place. Governor Stitt is ready to drop the hammer on the tribes if they don’t play according to his rules, and the tribes could use their collective power and federal connections to try to get him to acquiesce to their demands. Either scenario most likely won’t see an expeditious solution, and it’s possible the tribes could follow the path laid out by their brethren in New York and Florida – refuse to turn over revenue to the state.

Governor Stitt isn’t happy with the way the revenue-sharing structure current stands and wants the state to have a bigger piece of the pie. The tribes now pay between 4-6% of their revenue to Oklahoma, depending on the size of the gambling property, and 10% on certain games. If it were up to the governor, they would be paying at least 25%.

Last year, the tribes gave around $138.6 million to the state, but Governor Stitt looks at the $2.3 billion they took in revenue and feels like the state is getting the raw end of the deal. He wants the tribes to come to the table and sign a formal extension, while the tribes assert that there’s no reason to do so. If they refuse, according to the governor, they’ll be breaking the law.

Governor Stitt said at a news conference this week, “To protect all the hard-working Oklahomans and the tribal members who are employed at more than 100 casinos across our great state, I am announcing today that the state of Oklahoma will be requesting tribal leaders to join me in signing an extension to the gaming compact. The language in this extension will allow each side who signs the extension to retain their legal position… The state will make a generous offer with this extension and not ask for anything in return.”

The casino acquisition game in Las Vegas is stronger than ever. It’s difficult at times to keep up with which property is owned by whom and who is about to take over the deed. In one of the more recent moves, MGM Resorts International has been getting rid of a handful of its properties to various takers and the Nevada Gaming Commission (NGC) has just approved the latest. Congratulations, Phil Ruffin, you’re going to be the proud owner of the soon-to-be-former MGM property Circus Circus.

The never-ending list of casino acquisitions and mergers probably feels like a circus to some, but the billionaire owner of the Treasure Island hotel and casino (among many other ventures) sees Circus Circus more as an additional anchor for his portfolio. The NGC approved the deal yesterday, which had first been announced this past October, paving the way for $825 million to be directed into MGM’s pockets.

That’s the amount MGM and Ruffin agreed on for the purchase of the Vegas Strip venue, and Ruffin will now hand over $662.5 million in cash to consummate the deal. On top of that, MGM is floating a note worth $162.5 million, which will be due in 2024. Not bad, considering the property cost $15 million to build in 1968. By today’s standards, that amount would be worth around $110.8 million.

MGM hasn’t been taking advantage of all that Circus Circus had to offer, an oversight Ruffin plans on correcting. On the second floor of the venue sits a massive 20,000-square-foot space that now sits abandoned. Ruffin told the Nevada Gaming Control Board last month that it’s time to put the space to good use, and that it might make a good place for a bingo hall.