US casino stocks were beaten bloody on Wednesday, the day after Nevada’s governor shut down the state’s entire land-based industry and the COVID-19 coronavirus continues its relentless march across the US of A.

Regional casino operator Penn National Gaming (PNG) took the biggest hit on Wednesday, as its shares closed down over 38% from the day before to $4.52. The shares were trading at over $38 as recently as February 20, following PNG’s blockbuster deal for media property Barstool Sports.

Fast forward to this Tuesday and PNG informed investors that it was borrowing the remaining $430m available under its Revolving Credit Facility “to ensure it maintains ample financial flexibility” to mitigate the effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. PNG stressed that “there are currently no plans to deploy the drawn-down funds,” but give them time.

Rival Caesars Entertainment’s shares fell nearly 31% to $3.52 on Wednesday, down from around $14.66 one month ago. Like PNG, Caesars announced that it had fully drawn the remaining available capacity under its credit facilities, adding another $1.15b to its already prodigious debt load.

Australia’s telecom watchdog is warning local gamblers that promotional come-ons from international online casinos could be a front for spreading malware or stealing personal information.

This week, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) issued a ‘scam alert’ advising gamblers to “be wary of suspicious emails or SMS claiming to be from online gambling websites offering credit or in-game bonuses.”

ACMA member Fiona Cameron said the watchdog had identified a ‘significant’ spike in the number of complaints regarding emails and text messages promoting a variety of online casinos, with the most common complaints citing Roo Casino, Pokie Spins, Bonza Spins and Syndicate Casino as the sources of their discontent.

Cameron said these messages – over 6k cases of which have been identified this year – offered users the chance of obtain free spins and/or upfront credit but warned that these campaigns were nothing more than “a phishing expedition to steal your identity or infect your computer with malicious malware.”

Maryland’s sports betting bill has been approved by legislators, although not before removing all details of who will actually get to offer bets to state residents.

On Wednesday, the final day of the Maryland General Assembly’s current session, the state Senate unanimously approved the SB4 betting bill that was extensively revised by the House of Delegates and approved by a vote of 129-3 on Tuesday night.

Unlike earlier versions of SB4, the revised bill contains no details on who will be allowed to operate a Maryland sportsbook. Previous versions would have allowed sportsbooks at the state’s six casinos, two racetracks, the State Fairgrounds in Timonium and a new stadium proposed by the owner of the NFL’s Washington Redskins, as well as statewide digital wagering.

The Baltimore Sun quoted Del. Nick Mosby saying the operator specifics were expunged over concerns that the bill as written would have “compounded the concentration of wealth” by awarding betting licenses only to “individuals who are already seated around the table.” Putting a finer point on the matter, Mosby said these individuals were largely comprised of ‘rich white men.’

Online gambling operator Kindred Group has been hit with a record fine by Sweden’s gambling regulator for violating rules on bonus offers to customers.

On Wednesday, Sweden’s Spelinspektionen regulatory agency announced that Kindred’s Swedish subsidiary Spooniker Ltd had “offered several different unauthorized bonuses” to local gamblers, prompting the regulator to issue a warning and impose a penalty fee of SEK100m (US$9.7m).

The offending bonus offers were initially flagged by Spelinspektionen in March 2019, but the regulator’s followup checks in May and June uncovered additional bonus violations as well as evidence that Kindred’s gambling brands were offering lottery products not covered under the company’s Swedish license.

Sweden’s regulated online gambling market restricts bonus offers to first-time customers only. Kindred’s alleged shortcomings included free spins for online casino customers, free bingo games, rewards for playing poker and a bingo loyalty program, perks that Kindred viewed as ‘in-game mechanics’ due to their lack of financial incentives.

The evolving situation of the coronavirus lockdown of the Philippines has been fraught with confusion, dropped balls and anxiety. While the initial order to implement a strict home quarantine and suspension of businesses seemed to indicate that Philippine Offshore Gambling Operators (POGOs) had been exempted, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles and the Philippine Amusement and Gambling Corporation (PAGCOR) have now said they must shut down as well.

The first indication that POGOs must completely stop operations came from Nograles late on March 17. He indicated that with the fully fleshed out details of the Enhanced Community Quarantine, POGOs were not exempted from the business shut down.

We reached out to our sources in the POGO industry on March 18 to determine if any order to cease operations had been received. They had indicated that none had come, and current work from home setups were continuing to operate.

The order became slightly more official and clear when PAGCOR also noted that POGO operations should cease on March 18. In their official statement, PAGCOR noted that “the skeletal workforce at POGO operating sites are no longer allowed.”Employees must remain in their places of resident, it went on to add.

As I was slowly making my way out of customer service operations, one of the biggest initiatives we were taking on was increasing automation, with a goal of rolling out chatbots within the next couple of years. The technology was finally getting to the point where a reliable solution could be implemented, and customers might not mind that they weren’t talking to a real live person.

Getting started on automation

In our eyes, the advantages of implementing automation were clear. We could deliver the same level of customer service, handle a higher volume of customer contacts, while reducing costs and reducing front line recruitment and training needs.

But implementing automation, in a company that had no history of automating anything and very little skill to apply to the task, was a daunting proposition. We felt our staff would fight back against the robots, for the fear that they would eventually lose their job.