For as much noise as senators have been about the Philippine Offshore Gambling Operators (POGOs), everyone knew that the person who’s opinion mattered most on the industry’s fate was always going to be President Rodrigo Duterte. For all the accusations lobbed, not much impact has been made, as Duterte still insists the Philippines needs POGOs.

In statements relayed to the media by Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo, Duterte announced he “won’t suspend or stop” POGOs. He based this decision based on feedback from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), who gave the tremendous endorsement of saying POGOs were “okay.”

However, PAGCOR’s advice may have been just a bonus, as the emphasis on why POGOs will be allowed to continue was firmly on the money they bring in. The Philippines “need[s] funds coming from POGO operations,” Panelo wrote, noting P17 billion ($340 million) in revenue in the last 3 years. “We have a lot of projects that are in need of funding,” he concluded

This vote of confidence in the POGO industry comes despite several senators demanding to investigate the industry thoroughly. Senator Risa Hontiveros has gone hard after the recruitment practices of POGOs, investigating possible corruption in the Bureau of Immigration, including bribery and the possible sales of Philippines Passports.

Ainsworth Game Technology (AGT) hopes a new acquisition will help bolster its numbers. The Australia-based company announced today that it is putting the final touches on a deal that will see it pick up U.S.-based MTD Gaming Inc through wholly-owned subsidiary Ainsworth Game Technology, Inc., the arm that controls operations in the U.S. The acquisition is worth a reported $26 million, provided certain criteria are met.

The international gaming equipment manufacturer has already turned over $13 million for the acquisition. The remaining $13 million will be paid in accordance with “the successful delivery of financial targets and contract renewals,” AGT said in a filing (in pdf) with the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). The company indicates that MTD is a “proven supplier of premium” games for both the multi-game and video lottery terminal markets, and that it currently operates in Louisiana, Montana and South Dakota.

The company adds, “All necessary closing conditions have been completed enabling AGT to target these products utilizing the acquired assets throughout selected and established licensed jurisdictions. Initial opportunities for these products will be within restrictive gaming and other specific gaming venues in Nevada, California, Arizona and New Mexico, markets that currently have a combined market size of approximately 42,000 units.”

AGT is pulling funds from existing credit lines and cash reserves in order to cover the initial cost of the purchase, which should help the company put the brakes on a revenue slide. It reported a $2.64-million loss for the last half of 2019, primarily due to weaker sales in several areas. In North America, sales had dropped by 6% and Latin America saw a decline of 8%. In AGT’s own back yard, it managed to increase sales, but revenue dipped slightly.

Macau is just now beginning to feel a little less pressure from the coronavirus. After putting the city on lockdown for a couple of weeks, drastically damaging the chances for a strong 2020 economic year, Macau reportedly is now coronavirus free. It sent its last quarantined patient to China, her country of origin, and the gambling city wants to make sure there’s no relapse. Anyone traveling from specified countries to the city must be put in a temporary quarantine, and this list just got a little longer.

With the return of the Chinese patient, Macau is breathing a sigh of relief. Lei Chin Ion, the city’s Health Bureau director, said in a statement, “We achieved the goal of having no severe cases, no deaths and no infections in [hospitals]. We appreciate all the efforts of our front line personnel and the support from all departments.”

To keep things safe and to allow the recovery process to begin, anyone traveling to Macau from Iran, Italy and South Korea must undergo an eight-hour quarantine period. These three countries were already on the restricted list, but they are now being joined by France, Germany, Japan and Spain. Ion adds, “We assume the situation in Europe will become worse and worse, and we might include all of Europe on the high-risk areas list in coming days.”

Macau isn’t the only place to take additional precautions. Japan has restrictions on all arrivals to the country from Macau, Hong Kong, mainland China and South Korea, but has extended its quarantine period. As of today, those arrivals are looking at a 14-day quarantine, which is in effect for both Japanese passport holders and visitors. The difference with Japan’s requirement is that it allows those affected individuals to remain at home or in their hotel rooms, as opposed to being remanded to a health facility.

Tim Hentschel may get his wish. The CEO of HotelPlanner.com recently stated that he believes Congress should step up and offer economic stimulus solutions as a result of the impact the coronavirus has had on a number of industries, including gaming. He suggested a $2,000 tax break as one possible option, and it appears that the federal government is beginning to consider some type of financial consideration, according to White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow.

Kudlow told several media outlets last week that President Trump is open to a “timely and targeted” financial response to the industries that have been most severely impacted due to the coronavirus. In speaking to Fox Business, he asserted, “What we are looking at…is a timely and targeted micro approach. We want targeted, in a timely fashion, for those areas that have been hit the worst.” What that approach entails remains a mystery at this time.

Any relief, explains Kudlow, would be directed primarily at those employees who are identified as seeing the greatest economic impact from work stoppages that lead to a loss of income. Any stimulus would be allocated to those only in certain geographical areas and only in certain industries. He added that Trump isn’t considering “big, expensive macro cash rebates, helicopter money from the sky” because they never work.

There have been numerous reports that media is hyping coronavirus for its own benefits. However, according to the World Health Organization’s Bruce Aylward, the attention given by the press and by the health community are warranted. The coronavirus and the flu can both lead to death; however, the mortality rate associated with the coronavirus is ten times greater than what is seen with the flu. By not clamping down the way local and federal governments have on tourism, travel, etc., the fallout from the virus could have been much more serious than what has been seen.

With the Virginia General Assembly so close to adjourning for the year, a sports betting bill was passed just in the nick of time. It will now be sent on to Gov. Ralph Northam where he is expected to sign the bill, enacting the measure into law, setting the Washington Redskins up for a move.

It was widely expected that the bill was going to pass. Several state representatives had felt confident heading into the March 6 session that HB 896 would pass, enabling four casinos to be opened in the state, and for sports betting to be legalized in Virginia.

HB 896 passed in the House by a 59-35 vote while the measure passed in the Senate by a 29-10 vote. The new law tasks the Virginia lottery system with regulatory authority and gives them until September 15 to set up rules. “The [Lottery] Director may issue from four to twelve permits at one time and is directed to issue an amount of permits that would maximize tax revenue collected pursuant to the bill.”

However, it took overtime before the bill finally was passed. Extra time was allocated, as lawmakers continued to debate both the House and Senate (SB 384) bills into March 8. Besides allocating the casinos, the bill also allowed for statewide mobile sports betting. This means that mobile sportsbooks like FanDuel and DraftKings would be able to offer sports betting without having a physical location within the state. It also set a tax rate of 15% on all gross revenue from the casinos.

Japan‘s road to building integrated resorts (IR) has been a long one, and the timeline to get casinos up and running could face a significant delay as a result of the coronavirus. COVID-19 has becoming so troublesome that the 2026 deadline to open the first resort-casino looks to be pure fantasy at this point.

This process has been facing a number of challenges. Request for proposals (RFPs) are to be submitted early this year, but there have been some rumblings in the national government to cancel the entire process.

“No one knows what’s going to happen with the coronavirus today,” explained Brendan Bussmann, a partner and director of government affairs for Las Vegas-based Global Market Advisors. “If you and I were to sit down a month and a half ago when this started breaking at the beginning of Chinese New Year and becoming a real story, would you have ever imagined they would have shut down the casinos in Macao for two weeks? We don’t know, and I’ll let the health officials, the WHO (World Health Organization) and the CDC (Centers for Disease Control), predict what may or may not happen with this. But I can see a delay in the process because of this a little bit.”

One factor that may be a clear indicator is if the 2020 Tokyo Olympics are able to get underway on schedule. Should the virus become such a threat that the Olympics are closed down or postponed, this will almost certainly delay the RFP process even further.

With the first confirmed case of the coronavirus in Southern Nevada, Las Vegas is stepping up efforts to try to quell any potential health risk to tourists coming to the city. However, many are skeptical, and this has casino executives concerned that the virus may become a plague on their profits.

Casino operators are already stepping up cleaning efforts along the Strip, including MGM Resorts International, which operates the Bellagio, Mandalay Bay and MGM Grand, as well as several other hotels located on Las Vegas Boulevard. They are installing additional hand sanitizers in high traffic areas and are boosting the frequency of “disinfectant procedures,” according to casino spokesman Brian Ahern.

In a recent report, two employees of the Wynn Hotel-Casino noted that there are twice as many people on the floor disinfecting slot machines now. At the majority of table games, hand sanitizers have now been installed for dealers, who are also required to wash down tables between games. Bartenders are wiping counters every 20-30 minutes.

At the Venetian and Palazzo, staff have been added at every bathroom to sanitize doors, handles, counters, and toilets. They are adding central sanitizers at table games and are shredding decks of cards on a more frequent basis. They are also sanitizing frequently touched areas, such as walls and escalator railings.

Loot boxes have quickly gained a negative focus from gamers, being perceived as “pay to win rewards.” This has become a growing concern for lawmakers for a different reason, as they could also be perceived as a form of gambling targeted at minors. Australia has taken a proactive step to limit access to these loot boxes by setting age restrictions.

The new regulations require that any person purchasing videogame loot boxes will have to show an ID. According to the Office of the eSafety Commissioner, access to these boxes and other simulated gambling elements in computer or video games will be restricted to “adults aged 18 years or over, including through the use of mandatory age verification.”

Australia isn’t the first country to try and legislate against the practice. U.S. Senator Josh Hawley has introduced a bill that would ban the sale of loot boxes to minors, despite taking criticism from gaming industry leaders.

Games industry leaders aren’t a fan. ESA CEO Stanley Pierre-Louis, attacked the U.S. bill. “This legislation is flawed and riddled with inaccuracies,” he said. “It does not reflect how video games work nor how our industry strives to deliver innovative and compelling entertainment experiences to our audiences. The impact of this bill would be far-reaching and ultimately prove harmful to the player experience, not to mention the more than 220,000 Americans employed by the video game industry.”

There was plenty of drama on the penultimate day of the World Poker Tour L.A. Poker Classic as Balakrishna Patur took the chip lead into the final table of the high-profile event on the poker calendar.

[Image credit: World Poker Tour]

In previous years, the LAPC final table would already have happened, but there is a four-week hiatus for players to endure or enjoy this year. The final table will take place in the HyperX Esports Arena at the Luxor Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 2nd, and it’s looking like one of the best televised tables to look forward to in 2020 if the elite players who have made the final half-dozen perform as we’ve all seen them do before.

The chip leader heading into the penultimate day of the tournament was Isaac Baron, and many would have expected the talented poker pro to not only make the final six but head there in the lead, with only five players to bust from the starting 11. That wasn’t the case, however, as Baron himself was the first player to leave the action. After just a couple of hours, Baron had lost the advantage he came into play with and was down to less than 1.2 million chips, all of which went into the middle on a flop of nine-deuce-five, with pocket eights. Scott Hempel had more chips than his rival, however, and held pocket tens. They held across the turn of a queen and river of a seven, and Baron was out in 11th place for just $71,950, far less than the million-dollar top prize he must have imagined he had a great shot at winning.