US casino operators continue to drop hints regarding their tentative plans to reopen as the COVID-19 pandemic shows early signs of slowing transmission rates.

This week, Las Vegas Sands’ Venetian Resort Las Vegas unveiled plans to ensure customer safety once the venue gets the signal from Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak to relaunch operations. The Venetian Clean Commitment makes it clear that casino visitors will encounter a very different experience from the one they were used to before the state’s casinos were closed in mid-March.

The Commitment involves 800 separate initiatives that ensure the property’s hygiene and sanitation practices “meet or exceed regulatory requirements and the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control.”

Guests and staff will be subjected to “discreet and non-invasive” temperature checks via thermal cameras at all entry points. Guests are welcome to wear personal protective equipment (gloves, masks) but masks that cover the full face aren’t allowed (sorry, would-be robbers).

Prominent online gambling operators have released their first ‘pan-European’ code for advertising, but the UK market is demonstrating that nothing they do will ever be enough for anti-gambling campaigners.

On Tuesday, the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) released what it called the “first Pan-European Code of Conduct for responsible advertising for online gambling.” EGBA boss Maarten Haijer hailed the Code’s promotion of “high standards for minor protection and socially responsible advertising content.”

The Code may be the first of its kind in geographic terms but its text is typical of most responsible gambling codes, although we did like the prohibition on portraying “adolescent, juvenile or loutish behavior.” The EGBA said the new Code would complement its more short-term directives for responsible advertising during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Parties to the agreement include EGBA members Bet365, Betsson, GVC Holdings, Kindred Group and William Hill, and the EGBA urges other operators and national gambling associations to both sign up for and promote the Code. It is the EGBA’s “intention to ensure that compliance with the Code is monitored and enforced by an independent third party.”

This year’s Madrid Open being cancelled was a consequence of the Coronavirus, as all tournaments were from April onwards. It is already starting to look unlikely that any professional tennis tournaments will take place before the end of the year, with the Australian Open won by Novak Djokovic possibly the only Grand Salm to take place in 2020.

It’s a great thing, then, that the Virtual Madrid Open is taking place this week. Over the course of the next few days, vital funds for tennis professionals at the grass roots level who might be struggling with no appearance fees will be supported by funds raised by some of the best players in the world.

The opening two matches in the group shared by former world number ones Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray saw both Grand Slam champions win through, but in quite different ways.

Andy Murray took Benoit Paire in their group stage match, with hilarious results. Each tie is won by the first player to win three games, as long as they win by two games. If not, they’ll advance to a tie-break at 3-3 in games to see who wins 4-3. Murray, who won his game 3-1, can be heard barking at his on-screen carbon copy about exactly where he thinks he’s heading on the tennis court.

Regulations have become a hot topic during the COVID-19 topic, as lawmakers and action groups argue that operators may only take advantage of the situation, while the iGaming industry tries to show its best side. At the second day of the SBC Digital Summit, Moderator Andy Danson, a partner at Bird & Bird, lead a panel with Martin Lycka, Director of Regulatory Affairs at GVC Holdings, David Williams, Director of Regulatory Affairs of the Rank Group, Avigail Nir, COO of Mansion Casino, and from the regulatory side, Yanica Sant, Head of EU Affairs & Policy at the Malta Gaming Authority, looking at how the constantly evolving situation is shaping up.

Williams noted right off the bat that, contrary to the popular public narrative, there hasn’t been an explosion of betting. Nir and Lycka concurred on this point, with even the regulator noting that things are much more manageable than expected. “What we’re expecting was a much more dramatic change in player behavior than what we’re seeing,” Sant said.

Unfortunately though, regulators in some countries have been pushed to act out of anxiety, and Lycka railed on the idea of implementing arbitrary affordability limits, like in the U.K. He argued that these limits don’t make much sense, and it’s hard for a government to assess what a customer can afford, especially right now when spending habits are changing.

But the topic that dominated the discussion was the recent announcement by the U.K’s Gambling Commission (UKGC) that several operators have voluntarily agreed to cease TV and radio advertising. One audience member asked if this was an admission that gambling may be a problem by the groups involved.

Nagacorp right now is one of the more dangerous casino stocks in the world to invest in. It’s especially dangerous as opposed to others because the company is specifically very confident it will sail through the current COVID-19 depression that it is throwing caution to the wind.

The last time we covered this stock here was in October 2015. Since then, and despite a 36% fall from pre-COVID-19 highs, the stock is up an amazing 70%. If you have any profits, I’d suggest locking them in now. I have always been wary of Nagacorp and companies with similar business models. In my last coverage I was cautiously optimistic and said that investors considering investing in this casino should do so only as an income investment with a time horizon of 2020. Well, 2020 is here, the gains are huge, and now it’s time to move on. I am no longer cautiously optimistic here.

This is a company that has the potential to fall quickly. I do not know if it will for sure, but the risk is too big and I don’t trust the optimism in its recent press releases that essentially say that everything will be just fine.

Nagacorp is very reliant on its government monopoly, so much so that management believes COVID-19 will do very little to harm operations even short term. Nagacorp believes it can be as spendthrift as it wants to be because the thinking at the highest levels is that no matter what it does and no matter what happens, it can rely on its monopoly to bail it out of any trouble. This can make its business decisions especially careless when real problems do show up.

After a successful first day at the SBC Digital Summit, Day 2 kicked off with an Industry keynote, care of Green Jade Games Chairman and Creative Director Jesper Kärrbrink. He kicked off the day by talking about leadership in C-times, otherwise known as the time of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He began by noting that 99.9% of us have never lived through something like this. While it’s a pandemic, he also noted that it was an infodemic, with so much unknown still. “The big question we are all asking ourselves now is, where are we heading,” he said.

After noting the first wave of this crisis is about health, and the second will be about governments and banks saving the economy, he then asked how iGaming fits into all of this. We’re lucky, he noted, because we are a young industry, we have young employees, and “we have very few people in the risk group.” He also noted that, as digital entertainment, the iGaming industry, outside of sportsbooks, is in the right position to grab at the opportunity presenting itself.

“We are actually doing extremely well,” he noted. Comparing the industry’s situation to the hotel sector, he noted that they are at a point beyond crisis, with less than 10% occupancy. Travel, restaurant, and retail industries have been crushed. He then cited the statement of other iGaming firms, noting they have had nearly no significant impact.

Taking on the biggest poker brands is nothing new in poker. In fact, it’s virtually a yearly declaration by whoever comes into the shark pool next, hoping to swim hard and survive.

“The fastest-growing poker tour on the planet” is common. Players who join a new brand speak of “making poker fun again” a lot, too.

The crib notes on that early bluster is that by default any new site has zero players, so it will naturally grow faster than any other poker brand once it starts getting players. Oh, and poker has always been fun, no matter what Kevin Hart tells you.

What it always comes down to with a new poker brand is how quickly they are prepared to back up the hype with big guarantees and prizepools that offer players a realistic alternative to what and where they already play.

It’s not easy for anyone in lockdown, but for gregarious stand-up comedians, this quarantine period feels like a tough gig.

We spoke to Joe ‘Stapes’ Stapleton, currently relaxing on the back of recording exclusive new commentaries on classic European Poker Tour coverage as part of the revolutionary ‘EPT Retro’ series for PokerStars.

How will the regularly quick-witted comedian and poker commentator deal with our posers, however? Let’s find out.

If you were to be shot at dawn, what would be your last meal/drink?

Keeping the day’s theme of leadership in the iGaming industry, the first couple of panels of day 2 of the SBC Digital Summit focused quite a bit on how CEOs are being leaders while their teams are all working remotely, but they also looked to the two verticals that might keep some operations alive.

First up, Moderator Ivan Filletti, COO of Gaming Malta, asked how the panelists continue to lead. The best advice would be to “Cut the crap” began Alex Tomic, CEO of Alea. We spend more time talking about ourselves, he said, but we really need to recreate the human link lost from this office. He believes that remote meetings lend themselves to a bit of tunnel vision, cutting down on both innovation but also empathy. There’s a need to ask people how they are doing, and if they are well.

Ariel Reem, CEO of Genesis Group, pointed out that there’s an element of education involved. Many employees don’t know how to work remotely, and this has all been a process of learning how to work differently. But after a couple of weeks of adapting, it’s about planning ahead, and anticipating this situation might last a while.

Casino sees new players, but not a lot of new money

The raid of a POGO operation has spurred a new wave of critiques from Filipino lawmakers. As President Rodrigo Duterte’s office steps aside to allow the Bureau of Immigration to decide what to do with 44 Chinese POGO workers, new calls for investigation, and a potential ban on all POGO operations, have arisen.

As we’ve previously reported, an April 24 raid of a house in Parañaque City nabbed 44 Chinese nationals, as well as 9 Filipinos, who were allegedly running an illegal POGO out of a home. It’s unclear if the operation was ever licensed by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, but it was certainly operating in defiance of Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) laws, meant to protect against COVID-19.

The President’s office has declared the fate of the 44 Chinese nationals will rest entirely with the Bureau of Immigration. “That will be addressed by the (Bureau of) Immigration and Deportation… I know POGO operations are prohibited and if there reasons to do so, I’m sure the (immigration bureau) will make the right decision,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque said in a Monday press briefing.

Congressman Carlos Zarate believes this may not be the only undercover POGO operation in defiance of ECQ laws. “With this bulk of evidence, it’s either this group is part of a criminal syndicate in China or part of covert operations to subvert our laws and sovereignty,” Zarate said.

While he’s not completely out of trouble yet, Ronaldinho is at least out of prison. The Brazilian soccer phenom and his brother, Roberto Assis, were arrested last month as they tried to enter Paraguay using fake passports, and the Bollon d’Or winner has repeatedly claimed his innocence, asserting that he had no idea the documents were false. Now that he’s been released from prison, Ronaldinho has been able to provide more details about the drama and has conducted his first interview as a semi-free man.

[Image credit: Wikimedia Commons]

Ronaldinho and Assis were on their way to Paraguay in order to take part in several publicity events when they attempted to cross the border into the country with their alternative passports. Upon discovering “irregularities” with the documents, police arrested the two on March 7 and sent them off to jail. After serving 32 days of a six-month sentence, they were allowed to leave the confines of the prison on April 9, but are being forced to remain on house arrest at a nearby hotel until they have their day in court.

Completely caught off-guard by the status of the passports, Ronaldinho never expected to be involved in an embarrassing situation like this. He participated in an interview with ABC Color after his release from prison, explaining, “We were totally surprised to learn that the documents were not legal. Since then, our intention has been to collaborate with the justice system to clarify the facts. From that moment until today, we have explained everything and facilitated everything that has been requested of us.”

Pretty soon, the world will start on its global path of recovery following the coronavirus pandemic. There are already certain areas, like Macau and China, that are picking up the pieces, but others are being forced to wait a little longer as the virus refuses to relinquish its grip. During this forced hiatus, the gaming industry has been hit especially hard, with land-based casinos and sportsbooks finding their revenues in a freefall with no parachute and no reserve. However, the online gaming segment has been able to face the challenges a little better, and some online operators have seen an uptick in their activity, and this could prove to be extremely beneficial to a particular online gaming software company next month. U.K.-based GAN Ltd. has announced that it is moving forward with its plans to offer an initial public offering (IPO) on a U.S.-based exchange.

GAN had hoped to have all the pieces of the puzzle in place for a public offering before the end of this month, but has pushed back its timeframe slightly. It now hopes to launch publicly the first week of May, possibly targeting a spot on the NASDAQ exchange using, of course, the ticker GAN. If everything goes well, the company hopes its IPO generates as much as $34.5 million.

Under most circumstances, looking to attract that much investment money may seem a little unrealistic as investors have tightened their belt while facing the coronavirus pandemic. The gaming industry as a whole has seen its average stock price plummet by more than 70%. However, there are a couple of factors GAN has working for it: online gaming hasn’t suffered nearly as much as other segments and the post-COVID-19 world is going to see a greater push for more legalized gaming and sports gambling.

This is going to be especially true in the U.S., where sports gambling had begun to receive a lot of support in the past two years. Additionally, a growing number of states have started discussing the possible of either introducing or expanding gambling operations as they see the potential for revenue, and these conversations will only be sped up because of the coronavirus.