Spain’s online gambling market reported double-digit growth in the first quarter of 2020, with all gaming verticals reporting strong year-on-year improvements.

Figures released Friday by Spain’s Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ) regulatory body show locally licensed online operators generated revenue of just under €218m in the three months ending March 31, up 12.5% from the same period last year and 17.6% better than the final quarter of 2019, which suffered a rare example of negative growth.

Sports betting remained the dominant vertical with revenue of €110.6m in Q1, up 8.6% year-on-year and nearly one-quarter higher than Q419. In-play betting revenue increased 4% to €61.3m despite in-play turnover falling 18.5% year-on-year. Pre-match wagering mirrored this pattern, with revenue rising 13.1% to €46.3m despite turnover falling 10%.

Casino revenue was up 8.3% year-on-year to €77.6m, thanks to strong growth in slots (€43.2m, +15.7%), live roulette ( €18.4m, +35.6%) and traditional roulette (€10.7m, +16.7%). On the flip side, blackjack revenue was down 17.1% to €5.3m while baccarat was off nearly 80% to just €614k.

A Chicago butcher, previously accused of being involved with unlicensed sports bookmaking, is now being accused of even more. 63-year-old Dominic Poeta, who previously had to fight a civil case over the matter, now faces federal criminal charges.

According to charged filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, Poeta stands accused of “unlawfully operated a business that provided sports betting and wagering services, both domestically and abroad.” On top of that, they also accuse that he filed false federal income tax returns, showing $81,609 in income from his Highwood meat and Italian food market, but nothing from his sports betting operation.

When asked for comment, the Chicago Tribune noted that Poeta was disappointed the story got in the news in the first place, but otherwise said “I’m sorry; I don’t have any comment on that.”

If punished to the fullest extent of the law, Poeta faces up to five years in prison for his activities. The Chicago Sun Times noted separately that with the two-page document known as an information filed by prosecutors, it’s expected that Poeta will plead guilty to the charges.

The demands of an HR team are never easy, and the Covid-19 pandemic made it that much harder. So many firms in the gambling industry had to manage the transition to working from home, and some did it better than others. On the affiliate side, Catena Media has successfully got everyone working remotely, and they did it pretty quickly. Our Becky Liggero Fontana caught up with Fiona Ewins Brown, Chief HR Officer of Catena Media, to see how they did it.

The challenge of shifting to remote work isn’t the same for every operation or country. “We have offices around the world in a few different locations, so each country has been a little bit different in terms of obviously how the local governments have actually been handling things, so we’ve needed to follow a little bit of their guidelines,” Ewins Brown said. “The first office that we had that started working from home was our Italian office. They’re based in Rome, obviously that happened now, very, very early on, Italy was impacted very quickly so that was an easy decision to make that they all started working from home.”

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But Catena Media was set up very well for a quick transition. “As a company we are lucky that we’re in a situation where we were able to make a decision in all of the locations pretty much from one minute to the next that people could work from home,” she said. “We have the tech setup, and we have the capabilities that we can do everything remotely. So that really helped us. And I know that a lot of game operators that have customer service teams or live studios or any of those types of things, and that was a bit more of a challenge, but as an affiliate, we didn’t have that problem.”

While the coronavirus is not completely in the rear-view mirror, the lifting of restrictions across the U.S. makes it easier for people to hit the open road and relieve some of the pent-up stress that has accumulated. Travel + Leisure (T&L) magazine has just published a list of the top destinations in the country for those that are ready to take a little trip, ranking the locations based on feedback provided by the magazine’s readers. If a little summer travel is going to be in the plans, these destinations might make good targets, but it has to be mentioned that some states have implemented travel restrictions for those coming from other states. Reviewing travel policies before setting out on a journey is advised.

The annual list was prepared based on a survey conducted through March 3, which was ahead of the massive appearance of COVID-19 in the U.S. The magazine adds, “Travel + Leisure readers have a soft spot for Southern cities. Sure, they enjoy high-octane New York and amiable Chicago, but when it comes to naming the U.S. cities they most adored this year, travelers turned to smaller — though no less vibrant — towns on the lower half of the map.”

Coming in first is Charleston, South Carolina, which was awarded its position because of its “history, architecture, culture, pleasant weather, gracious locals, and even proximity to the beach.” The food there was also a factor, with one reader stating, “I’ve never had a bad meal in Charleston.” 

The Big Easy – also known as New Orleans, Louisiana – came in second. With its eclectic lifestyle and famous Bourbon Street, there is always something new to see. However, T&L advises visitors to make sure they step off Bourbon Street, as well, in order to appreciate the city’s numerous parks, statues and residential quarters.