It’s been an interesting few years for Kazuo Okada, the embattled former CEO of Universal Entertainment. He has been fighting his forced removal from the company on several fronts and has repeatedly dealt with litigious drama from all sides. On top of that, he was ostracized from his closest circle – his wife and children – as the onslaught continued. While he may have gotten a reprieve this week in a Hong Kong court, he hasn’t had the same success in Japan. A judge there has just ruled that there’s no chance in hell Okada will be allowed to retake a seat on Universal’s board of directors.

The latest chapter in the ongoing saga centers on a trust agreement that includes two of Okada’s children, son Tomohiro Okada and daughter Hiromi Okada. Through the agreement, Hiromi had 9.78% of Universal through its parent company, Okada Holdings Limited (OHL), while Tomohiro held 43.48%. Hiromi had relinquished her percentage to Tomohiro in 2017, which gave him majority control of the company and allowed him to give his father the boot.

Hiromi later had a change of heart and made amends with her father, leading to an assertion in court that she had been tricked into giving up her share. In February of last year, a Tokyo court upheld the terms of the agreement, but Hiromi, along with Kazuo, appealed to try to get the decision overturned. That appeal has now been rejected, and the trust agreement will stand, leaving Tomohiro in control.

There’s no chance for another appeal, either. According to the court judge, the trust agreement “remain in effect for 30 years, with Tomohiro Okada given control of OHL. This effectively prevents former Chairman Kazuo Okada from returning to the boards of both OHL and UEC, as well as its subsidiary, Okada Manila, within this period. The Tokyo High Court had also previously rejected another petition by the defendant, making the Tokyo High Court decision final and binding.”

It’s been an interesting few years for Kazuo Okada, the embattled former CEO of Universal Entertainment. He has been fighting his forced removal from the company on several fronts and has repeatedly dealt with litigious drama from all sides. On top of that, he was ostracized from his closest circle – his wife and children – as the onslaught continued. While he may have gotten a reprieve this week in a Hong Kong court, he hasn’t had the same success in Japan. A judge there has just ruled that there’s no chance in hell Okada will be allowed to retake a seat on Universal’s board of directors.

The latest chapter in the ongoing saga centers on a trust agreement that includes two of Okada’s children, son Tomohiro Okada and daughter Hiromi Okada. Through the agreement, Hiromi had 9.78% of Universal through its parent company, Okada Holdings Limited (OHL), while Tomohiro held 43.48%. Hiromi had relinquished her percentage to Tomohiro in 2017, which gave him majority control of the company and allowed him to give his father the boot.

Hiromi later had a change of heart and made amends with her father, leading to an assertion in court that she had been tricked into giving up her share. In February of last year, a Tokyo court upheld the terms of the agreement, but Hiromi, along with Kazuo, appealed to try to get the decision overturned. That appeal has now been rejected, and the trust agreement will stand, leaving Tomohiro in control.

There’s no chance for another appeal, either. According to the court judge, the trust agreement “remain in effect for 30 years, with Tomohiro Okada given control of OHL. This effectively prevents former Chairman Kazuo Okada from returning to the boards of both OHL and UEC, as well as its subsidiary, Okada Manila, within this period. The Tokyo High Court had also previously rejected another petition by the defendant, making the Tokyo High Court decision final and binding.”

Harrah’s New Orleans just got deeper in the hole. It’s bad enough the casino, like so many others, is scrambling financially because of fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, but an appeals court just made matters worse. The casino, which is part of the Caesars Entertainment family, has been fighting a previous ruling that supported the assertion of the Louisiana Department of Revenue (LDR) that it had to pay taxes on hotel rooms that it had comped for various reasons. The appeals court upheld the previous court ruling, and Harrah’s could be on the hook for taxes dating all the way back to 2001.

Harrah’s had tried to argue that a previous agreement made between the casino and Greater New Orleans Hotel & Lodging Association (HLA) superseded the tax obligations. Now entering its tenth year of litigation, the case has continued to cause grief for the casino while the courts continued to agree that the LDR trumps the tourism organization. As a result, the 10% occupancy tax paid by all lodging properties applies to Harrah’s, as well, even if it offers rooms at other venues for free or at a discount to high rollers or for other special purposes.

The 19th Judicial District Court said last year that the LDR was bigger than the HLA, and that Harrah’s needed to be prepared to pay up. The casino and its parent challenged the ruling, leading to the latest decision by the First Circuit Court of Appeal (FCCA) of Louisiana. The three judges that heard the case voted 2-1 to support the previous ruling.

Contemplating a possible denial of the appeal, Caesars and Harrah’s had reportedly set aside $40 million to pay against any claims coming from the LDR. That’s more than likely good news for Eldorado Resorts, given that the recently-completed merger would put it on the hook to cover any outstanding debts such as the tax bill, should any surprises come up. An additional bill for $40-$50 million would make it more difficult for the company to reduce its expenses by $500 million, which is an integral part of the merger.

The recent high-profile hack of Twitter saw many of the platform’s biggest names suddenly posting that users could profit by sending them digital currency. A blockchain forensics firm has revealed that at least some of the funds gained from this scam may have been laundered through gambling sites.

After analyzing the wallet addresses posted by the hacked Twitter accounts, which included former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, as well as Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, CypherTrace determined that a total of 13.1364 BTC ($144 thousand) was sent to the hackers’ accounts.

Of that amount, they were able to trace 0.018 BTC, or roughly $200, to a digital currency gambling site, where they attempted to launder and cash out the funds. However, they also used a technique called a ‘peel chain’ to launder the funds they received, which involves sending the money around to several wallets, before depositing them to casino sites. It’s believed as much as 0.2 BTC ($2,192) was processed in this fashion.

While advocated for BTC often promote its ability to keep users anonymous, nothing could be further from the truth. Law enforcement authorities and firms like CypherTrace can use the inherent auditing powers of the blockchain to follow the money and eventually catch the hackers. But in the meantime, that doesn’t do much for gambling operators who must adhere to stringent anti-money laundering (AML) requirements. And if those funds are frozen, the operator is stuck.

The future of the online gambling industry in Manila is bright, according to LeTou CEO Paul Fox. An industry veteran, Fox has spent the last decade in Asia and has seen the industry undergo massive changes in Asia. Fox took some time out to speak to our very own Becky Liggero Fontana about the development of the online gaming business in Manila.

Paul was quick to share some insight on how the industry in Manila had developed from its infancy into the powerhouse it is today. “I’ve been in Manila for over eleven years now and the industry has changed massively. When I moved out here it was very much in its infancy and it has exploded since then,” he said.

Paul pointed out that government intervention had played a substantial role in the development of the gaming industry in Manila.  “I would say one of the big differences has been that before President Duterte, the industry was administered by what was known as CEZA (Cagayan Economic Zone Authority) and there’s now PAGCOR (Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation). That’s changed a lot of things and the cost of doing business has gone up substantially and there’s a lot more competition in the market and there are far more Chinese nationals in the Philippines now than there were back then.”

For new operators looking to enter the Asian market, Paul shared his experience of developing industry relationships in Manila.  “I was already working in the industry in Europe and we came out to set up a sports and betting hub for trading,” he said. “We did this, so we could get access to low standard live-sport that we couldn’t get access to in Europe. We weren’t actually targeting the Asian market with sporting bet but just being out in Manila when the industry was in its infancy and you get to meet people and develop further.”

Three more big WSOP events are in the books at the 2020 World Series of Poker, with big names and new bracelet winners celebrating epic moments in the Online Series events hosted on the official WSOP.com site.

Event #27 

In Event #27, it was Ian Steinman who was victorious, taking down the 1,940-player event, which cost $400 to enter. With a massive $110,556 top prize, Steinman triumphed at a nine-handed final table featuring players such as Cody Scherer, Lokesh Garg and his heads-up opponent, Satoshi Tanaka. 

The 2016 WSOP.com Online Player of the Year, Steinman won a WSOP circuit event last year and spoke with keenness about sealing a bracelet victory. A year on, and in strange circumstances amid a global pandemic, he’s done it. 

Popular poker streamer Parker ‘tonkaaaa’ Talbot has made money from his classic ‘Team Never Lucky’ merchandise. After winning the latest PokerStars Stadium Series event for $261,489, Talbot might never lay claim to his catchphrase ever again.

One of the most popular players to stream his poker action, Talbot has long had a huge and devoted following. This result was his biggest-ever online score and cements his already stellar reputation as one of the best in the business, not just in terms of playing the game but entertaining thousands while the does it.

With 768 players putting up the $2,100-entry into the event, the top prize of $261,489 reflected the vast total prizepool, with $1.5 million guaranteed meaning that 87 players made the money. Some of those included the popular British player Max Silver, Thomas Boivin and Simon Pedersen.

On the final table, Talbot took control immediately, busting the Russian player ‘LeslieGroves’ after Talbot’s pocket queens had no problem holding against his opponent’s ace-ten. A queen on the flop led to the Russian’s tournament demise.

Saipan casino operator Imperial Pacific International (IPI) has been warned to pay its annual license fee on time this year, although the company can’t even afford to refund gamblers’ deposits.

This week, IPI’s former contractor Pacific Rim Land Development asked a US federal court to allow it to claim the roughly $688k it claims is sitting in the casino cage at IPI’s Imperial Palace Resort. In April, Pacific Rim won a $5.6m judgment against IPI for unpaid construction work on the Resort.

Trouble is, IPI is dead broke and Pacific Rim is only one of many aggrieved former contractors seeking payment for work done. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) legislators also claim IPI is $37m behind in payments to the Community Benefit Fund, payments that IPI is required to make as a condition of its license.

On Wednesday, the Marianas Variety quoted IPI attorney Michael Dotts telling the court that the company couldn’t release the cash in the casino cage to Pacific Rim because it belongs to gambling customers, not the company.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

After spending two weeks at its Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, the UFC returns to its home base of Las Vegas Saturday night with a Fight Night card headlined by a middleweight bout between Americans Derek Brunson and Edmen Shahbazyan.

The 36-year-old Brunson (20-7) is ranked No. 8 among middleweights, a division currently owned by Israel Adesanya – he will fight No. 2 Paulo Costa later this year. Before Adesanya was the champion, he beat Brunson at UFC 230 by first-round TKO (knees and punches). Brunson also has lost to the likes of Anderson Silva, Yoel Romero and Robert Whittaker, so he clearly isn’t afraid of facing the top competition.

Brunson does enter on a two-fight winning streak, last in the Octagon in August 2019 and beating Ian Heinisch by unanimous decision. The majority of his victories, 55 percent, are by KO or TKO. So are most of his losses (71 percent). He is a +255 underdog Saturday.