Online gambling operator 888 Holdings saw its shares jump by nearly one-third after announcing that its casino and poker products appeared to be enjoying a coronavirus-related spike.

On Monday, the UK-listed 888 announced that it would delay the release of its preliminary 2019 financial results based on a request from the Financial Conduct Authority. On Tuesday, 888 released a ‘COVID-19 Trading Update’ that offered a rosy snapshot of its performance in the year-to-date.

888 said the strong momentum it enjoyed at the close of 2019 had continued into the current year, with trading through March 18 up 18% from the comparable prior year period. While the company said its casino and sports verticals were both up around 24% year-on-year, it noted that the recent cancellations of major sporting events would negatively impact betting revenue going forward. Sports accounted for 16% of 888’s 2019 revenue.

888 added that it was seeing “evidence of increased customer activity” in its casino and poker verticals “that might, in part, compensate for the sports betting disruption for a period of time.” However, the company noted that “a prolonged period of global macro-economic uncertainty” caused by the coronavirus pandemic could negatively impact customer spending in the non-betting verticals.

Latvia’s gambling regulator is asking the government whether a new coronavirus-related ban on gambling activity applies to locally licensed online gambling operators.

This weekend, Latvia’s government issued an edict intended to limit further spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, which the government identified as a “national threat.” The measures included a ban on all activity at casinos, bingo & slots halls and betting shops, which were ordered to cease activity until at least April 14, after which the situation would be reassessed.

As originally written, the shutdown legislation contained a carveout for “interactive gambling, number lotteries and instant lotteries.” But local media reported that several politicians argued that, with citizens quarantined in their homes, the possibility for overindulging in online gambling loomed large. And thus a second vote was held, with the vote going 37-22 in favor of adding online gambling to the banned activities list, while the original carveout remained in the final legislation.

On Tuesday, the Lotteries and Gambling Supervisory Inspection of Latvia (IAUI) issued an update indicating that it has asked the government for a definitive statement on whether the gambling ban applied to the country’s 14 interactive gambling licensees. As of Tuesday, Latvia’s online operators show no outward signs that they’ve halted any aspect of their operations.

To be a viable betting product, the world of esports needs to maintain an unimpeachable level of integrity. Through a Bitcoin SV (BSV) powered platform, Kronoverse is seeking to create an entire ecosystem of games that the esports community can enjoy, and that operators and regulators alike recognize for its ability to trace game activity, and prove fair play. That platform is proving its worth, as the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) has granted membership to Kronoverse.

Kronoverse announced the exciting news in a March 23 press release. “We’re excited to be a part of ESIC and its mission to be the recognized guardian of the integrity of esports,” said Adam Kling, CEO and founder of Kronoverse. “We fully support ESIC’s work with esports stakeholders keep high-level gaming safe, honest, and competitive. We’re fully committed to ESIC’s fight against corruption in any form and will be integrating ESIC’s integrity program into our platform.”

While Kronoverse’s games aren’t available to the general public yet, CryptoFights is promising to be a great esports product. By recording all game actions to the BSV blockchain, the game will provide perfect traceability for regulators to monitor. For the betting public, through the use of smart contracts, Kronoverse can allow for wagering on matches. And for bookies, a wealth of data allows for more precise and varied lines to bet on.

That wealth of data, and proactive approach to proving their integrity, makes Kronoverse a natural addition to ESIC. The commission was established in 2016, and has the responsibility of disrupting, preventing, investigating and prosecuting cheating in the industry. Kronoverse, with its easily auditable action, ability to monitor native-cash tournaments, and strict Know your Customer (KYC) protocols, has everything a regulator could hope to see.

There are many poker books that promise to help the beginner become profitable at the game. These are traditionally the most popular books for the simple reason that they appeal to the most players in the poker world – the recreational players.

Just as there are as many books per player as there are players at each level of poker, there are less books available for players the better they get at the game. This makes sense, but can be frustrating. You might argue that Fedor Holz doesn’t need to get any better at the game, having won millions and millions of dollars at the game and we’d take your point, but still.

The number of poker books to bring the intermediate player up to the level of a professional one is lower than it should be, however. So it’s a good idea when a book comes along that appeals to virtually every level of player, which can be done by showing rank amateurs what they can reach for, allowing intermediate level players how to still improve their games and showing elite players the patterns into which intermediate players will still fall.

Small Stakes No-Limit Hold’em by poker author Ed Miller, professional player Sunny Mehta and practical theorist Matt Flynn was published in 2010 and continues to lead good poker players down a path to more profit to this day.

Just like that, the game has changed. The black swan has arrived. It turned out to be a cold. Literally. Certainly a pretty bad one, but just a cold nonetheless. COVID-19 has caused a total immune overreaction from governments across the world, who responded by completely shutting down their economies, now suffering from a self-inflicted tetanus lockjaw. The problem is, the value of all of government currency is based on economic production, and now governments are all about to dump tsunamis of extra currency on a stalled global economy that will accomplish nothing but push up consumer prices, almost directly. We may as well take a magic marker and add three zeros to every bank note. There’s not much practical difference between doing that and the policies being proposed now.

The hard truth is that the only solution to this problem is to let every single firm that cannot handle this, go bankrupt as fast as possible. The economy needs to clear all the dead weight built up since 2008, and really since 1971, as soon as possible and we can rebuild from there. That means a severe restructuring of the entire world’s production structure, pretty much, and it will cause dislocations, pain, and riots. Sound bad? It is, but all of this will happen anyway when currencies are debauched to the point of near worthlessness, except in that case the dislocations will be much worse because money as people currently understand it will stop functioning.

National currencies can still be saved, but only if governments are willing to let all the bad debt be liquidated, which includes their own. Just like when you get a new credit card after you declare bankruptcy, your credit line is very small and you can only spend what you make, this is what governments the world over will have to accept.

But they won’t. They absolutely will not. It simply won’t happen. Governments will never admit to their own bald bankruptcy, and they will keep inflating their currencies to infinity, let paper money die, and we’ll have the dislocations, pain, and rioting anyway. This is what we are now facing. This is what every company in decent financial shape must understand now, or even the best companies with the most conservative, healthy finances may not make it through what is about to come.

As with the entire global business industry, gaming stock prices have plummeted because of the coronavirus. The casino ecosystem is at a virtual standstill due to the pandemic, and financial losses are projected to reach tens of billions of dollars, if not more. With trading already having been halted more than once recently due to extreme market weakness, the situation does have a bright side. It makes for a perfect buying opportunity and the chairman and CEO of Gaming and Leisure Properties (GLP), a casino-centric real estate investment trust, has taken full advantage of the downturn. Peter Carlino just picked up 80,000 shares in the company, currently worth about $2 million.

On February 21, GLP was trading at a six-month high of $50.30. Since then, it plunged to a low of $15.14 on March 18, recovering to $19.74 as of yesterday. Carlino, a former Penn National Gaming executive who helped facilitate the launch of GLP from the company in 2012, made his recent stake acquisitions from March 13 to March 16 as the share price continued to drop.

The purchases were confirmed by filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). They were, according to Carlino, designed to bolster investor confidence in the company – not, of course, because it was a perfect money-making exercise. When the stock recovers, which it eventually will, Carlino stands to almost triple his investment if the price returns to pre-coronavirus levels.

The way Carlino spins it sounds more entertaining, though. The last time he purchased company stock was just over two years ago, and he said in a statement about his latest acquisition, “I am purchasing GLPI shares because they are deeply undervalued and do not reflect the Company’s strong balance sheet, liquidity, growing free cash flow and EBITDA [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization], its 14%+ dividend yield or its strong competitive position in the gaming REIT industry.”

Hardly anything is going right for Kazuo Okada lately. The former CEO of Universal Entertainment has lost case after case, but he keeps fighting. Now, after losing a $54 million arbitration award to Bartlit Beck LLP, Okada is urging an Illinois federal court to give him a second chance.

Law360 reports Okada lost the arbitration by default, as he didn’t show up for the hearing. Okada says the panel was “fundamentally unfair,” as he was unable to attend an October 28, 2019 hearing due to health problems keeping him from travelling. He tried to communicate his medical diagnosis to the court, but somehow it was miscommunicated, and the hearing went on without him, resulting in the December 20 award of $54 million.

Okada’s opposition brief seeks to vacate the tribunal’s Dec. 20 award under the New York Convention and the Federal Arbitration Act and to remand the parties’ dispute for further proceedings before a new panel chosen under the arbitration rules of the International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution, or CPR.

The panel made it very clear though that they understood Okada’s condition, and they insisted he show up regardless. “At no point was it conveyed that anything other than the in-person participation of Okada would be acceptable to the panel,” the brief said. “Rather, the panel’s initial response was simply that it would certainly go forward with the hearing ‘with or without Mr. Okada.’ At no point following this initial communication did the panel waiver from this position — even after Okada disclosed his medical condition and inability to travel.”

The partypoker Powerfest has been a hugely popular series, and two of the most successful players to take to the virtual felt have been Team partypoker pros. Both German high roller Fedor Holz and Finnish sensation Joni Jouhkimainen have enjoyed winning weeks, with Jouhkimainen winning a title in the process.

Holz the Hero in Event #70

Costing $5,200 to take part, Event #70’s Super High Roller version took place on 22nd March and had 308 entries, amassing a prizepool of $1,342,535. With just 40 players paid, the bubble would burst and leave anyone still alive in the event with a return of $10,410, almost double the entry fee.

Joni Jouhkimainen wasn’t able to make the money in this event and was in illustrious company in that result, with other Team partypoker pros such as Welsh wizard Roberto Romanello also falling slightly short of the money.

On March 23, casino operator NagaCorp Ltd announced through their 2019 annual report that they still intend to open their far east Russian casino, but it’ll only be ready in 2021. This news comes on the heels of news that the company showed a sizable profit increase in 2019.

According to Tim McNally, chairman of the Hong Kong-listed firm, “We anticipate that our Vladivostok project will open in summer 2021.” The casino will be located in the Primorye Integrated Entertainment Zone in Primorsky Krai, near the Russian Pacific port of Vladivostok.

Originally, the estimated opening date for the Russian venture was set for the end of 2020, but the project has had some delays, and the current pandemic may also be playing a factor. McNally explained that “Based on the current state of development, our gaming, and resort development project in Vladivostok, Russia remains broadly on schedule.”

While delays have occurred, McNally has been quick to point out that progress is being made and the proper supervision is being taken to ensure the new deadline is met. “Certain key personnel have been appointed to monitor various aspects of the progress of the project. The group believes that its strategy to diversify its business geographically and expand into new casino markets will drive revenue growth in the long term.”

A new partnership between KamaGames and Hard Rock International promises to bring high quality, 3D games to the operator’s mobile offering. The two companies announced their new app, Hard Rock Blackjack, on March 24.

Hard Rock Blackjack will offer high caliber, 3D versions of classic casino games, featuring blackjack of course, but also roulette, craps, baccarat and video poker. It also offers a social poker game based on the Pokerist Texas Poker model, currently the third largest social poker game in the world, as well as Set Poker and Split Bet poker.

As KamaGames focuses quite a bit on recreating the social aspect of the casino, Hard Rock Blackjack will offer a range of competitive poker tournaments, like Sit’n’Gos, Shootuts and multi-table tournaments (MTTs). It also has party modes and poker game variations to help build a sense of community. Players can interact with each other using a built in instant messenger, emojis and share gifts.

Hard Rock’s Kresimir Spajic, Senior Vice President of Online Gaming & Sports Betting, said the new offering would be “a perfect expansion of our free-to-play games portfolio and a major draw for both current and new Hard Rock customers.” He sees it as the next step Hard Rock’s efforts to stay in touch with their customer base. “The exciting table games, multiplayer functionality and availability in 28 different languages will empower us to stay regularly connected with our guests in a new and creative way between visits to our Cafes, Hotels and Casinos around the world.”

The coronavirus pandemic has claimed its latest victims in the casino industry. Nepal is going to soon feel the squeeze as its economy shrinks more due to the closing of two casinos in the country operated by Silver Heritage Group. The company announced (in pdf) yesterday that it will shut down its gambling houses in Nepal “until further notice,” or until the COVID-19 virus stops being a public threat.

Going forward, the Tiger Palace Resort Bhairahawa and The Millionaires Club & Casino, Kathmandu are taking a break. The decision comes following an order by the country’s Home Ministry of the Government, in which it detailed different measures that should help prevent the virus from spreading further. Among these measures was a ban on gatherings of 25 or more people, making it virtually impossible to keep casinos in operation.

In addition, there is a ban on international travel to and from the country, further limiting Silver Heritage’s options. That has forced the company to close the Tiger Palace Resort’s hotel, and will lead to further economic losses for the casino operator.

Silver Heritage has experienced several issues in Nepal over the past couple of years, all of which have led to a decrease in revenue. It has received a couple of injunctions over construction issues at Tiger Palace, and has been remiss at handling its fiduciary responsibilities appropriately. The company thought it was going to be able to get rid of its Nepalese problems by selling the properties last year, but a potential buyer backed out at the last minute.

There isn’t much that could be considered positive about the coronavirus, but perhaps there is a way to see a silver lining in the ominously dark cloud. As COVID-19 is forcing virtually the entire world to step on the breaks, it is also giving companies an opportunity to dedicate time and resources to the exploration of its internal operations and to determine if any changes are needed. International Game Technology (IGT), a global supplier of equipment and tech for the gaming industry, is taking advantage of the situation to do just that, and has made an announcement about some movement at the top of the corporate ladder.

IGT released a statement yesterday, explaining that it has picked up a new executive VP and chief financial officer. Massimiliano (Max) Chiara will be joining the company starting April 6, making the shift from CNH Industrial NV, a global holding company. He has also served as a consultant for PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory and has held roles with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV.

IGT CEO Marco Sala is confident that Chiara’s experience and knowledge will be valuable assets to the company, and is looking forward to bringing him into the group. He explained in the announcement, “We are excited to have Max join the IGT team, both as a member of my senior leadership team and as a board member. His broad and deep background in all facets of global finance and operations, in addition to his high standards of excellence, will be tremendous assets to our organization.”

Chiara’s appointment isn’t the only change the company is making. It also announced that Beatrice H. Bassey was appointed by the board of directors to be an independent director, a role she assumed on March 20. Bassey currently works for Atlas Mara Ltd., a financial services group based out of Africa, as its Group General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer and Corporate Secretary, and also sits on the boards of Union Bank of Nigeria PLC, African Banking Corporation of Botswana Ltd., and Banque Populaire du Rwanda.