Life is finally – albeit slowly – being breathed into the MGM Springfield casino resort in Springfield, Massachusetts. Like virtually every casino in the US, as well as in other parts of the world, the gambling facility turned off the lights and sent everyone home in March because of the coronavirus. Also like every other casino, it has been anxiously awaiting the day that it could flip the switch back on and resume operations. That day has arrived, but things definitely aren’t returning to normal. MGM Springfield is ready to only bring back one-third of its staff for the casino and the attached hotel is not going to open anytime soon.

The gambling venue will open as of Monday, but without many of its restaurants and with a major reduction in the number of slot machines and table games being offered. As a result, sending a call out to the entire pre-COVID-19 workforce would be a financial mistake, and MGM Springfield executive will gradually add more personnel as needed. The only department that is running at 100% is the cleaning department, necessary in order to adhere to established coronavirus health policies. This means, at least for the near-term, the staffing level of just over 2,000 prior to the coronavirus pandemic will be reduced to approximately 600.

The company’s VP of Human Resources, Marikate Murren, told media outlet MassLive, “We’ve been in touch with our team members throughout this because they’ve been going through a difficult time. Our intent, based on the Massachusetts gaming commission [sic] and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is to bring them back as they allow us to have additional capacity here and to open additional outlets. That is the intent to bring back as many people as we can.”

The recovery plan implemented by Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker prohibits large gatherings, which have been a primary segment of MGM Springfield’s hotel clientele since it opened. As a result, and with the prospect of not being able to establish a necessary revenue level to make operations viable, the hotel will remain closed until further notice. To open it now, according to the hotel’s VP of Hospitality, Abe Berry, would be foolish. 

Nothing last forever, despite how many times people will try to hang on to the past. Whether it be because tastes change, economies change or priorities change, everything is always in a certain state of flux. Throw in a major world pandemic and things get really out of whack. After Macau was hit with the coronavirus and forced to briefly shut down, there are going to be a number of changes seen in the gambling hub for various reasons, and the Casino Lisboa is undergoing the process now. Macau Golden Group (MGG), a veteran junket investor in the city, is pulling the plug on three VIP gaming rooms that operate at the Hotel Lisboa-based casino.

There hasn’t been a lot of publicity about the pending changes, other than a small blurb in a Chinese media outlet that caught the eye of GGRAsia, which was able to confirm the news with someone close to MGG. The VIP rooms at Casino Lisboa – Golden Hall, Golden Club and Grand Hall – are some of the oldest in the city and date back to when junkets and Macau began working in tandem early on in the Stanley Ho era. With the closing of the high-roller gambling options, Casino Lisboa will no longer have any options strictly for VIPs, and it isn’t clear if they will make a return. 

The closure is a result of the fallout caused by the coronavirus, which has caused gross gaming revenue in Macau to fall to almost zero a couple of times this year. There have already been a number of VIP rooms that had to be stripped out of the gambling scene in the city because of COVID-19, and more will probably meet the same fate. Macau is going to launch a more dedicated effort to expand away from being known as a gambling hub, and priorities are going to change across the city.

MGG has a longstanding partnership with SJM Holdings, which has control of several venues in Macau and expects to open the Grand Lisboa Palace in Cotai later this year. The casino operator hasn’t weighed in on the status of any VIP rooms or on the timetable for the Grand Lisboa in light of COVID-19, but it isn’t difficult to imagine the two entities continuing to work together. MGG still has five rooms open for VIPS, all of which are located at SJM’s Hotel Grand Lisboa in downtown Macau.

When it comes to sports gambling integrity, there is no shortage of ways gamers will try to game the system. Tools have been introduced over the years to help monitor the industry and try to pinpoint suspicious activity, but everyone knows that it would be impossible to catch all of the fraud and scams that go on. One of the tools involved in the fight is the Global Lottery Management System (GLMS), which has been running for the past couple of years and has uncovered more than a few possible violators. It’s still hard at work, as shown by the most recent numbers, but the first half of 2020 saw a decrease in flags, most likely due to the absence of sports because of the coronavirus. 

According to the GLMS mid-term report, there was a 38% year-on-year drop in the number of questionable sports gambling alerts in the first half of this year. For the first six months of 2019, the GLMS topped out at 432, but this number decreased to 269 for the same period this year. 37 of the alerts were red, which indicates possible match-fixing confirmed by a reliable source; 64 were yellow and 126 were green. The latter identifies minor issues related to how lines are published, and which don’t affect the outcome of the match. Gambling Insider didn’t specify where the balance of the alerts (there were more) went. 

Breaking down the results by geographic region, Europe won the prize for seeing the most alerts. The continent’s sports activity accounted for 178 flags, although there’s no indication of the breakdown between red, yellow and green. Behind Europe in a far-distant second place was Asia, then North America.

Soccer was the sport where the majority of the problems were found, taking 197 of the 269 alerts. Basketball, ice hockey and tennis followed sequentially after soccer. Of the total number of alerts, 199 came in before the particular game got underway, eight flags popped up mid-game due to line changes and 62 alerts went live after the games had completed. 

Rick Heidner had a plan. The man behind Gold Rush Gaming, a video-gaming terminal (VGT) company, in Illinois envisioned a racino in Tinley Park and dutifully set out to get the necessary permissions. The Illinois Racing Board (IRB) initially said yes last September, but everything unraveled a month later when he was identified as possibly being associated with a federal case related to the mob and political corruption. Since then, he has tried to clear his name and put everything on track, but hasn’t had much success. Heidner has now received a brief reprieve that could open doors for him; however, he hasn’t yet been completely released from the watchful eye of federal investigators. Still, he might be able to try to move forward with his plans, as long as he can get Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker on his side.

The Chicago Sun-Times has been following the ongoing drama regularly ever since former Illinois Senator Martin Sandoval came under fire for his connections to mob boss Rocco Suspenzi. A raid conducted by the FBI on Sandoval’s home and office uncovered supposed documents that linked Suspenzi and Heidner, as well as a few others, to some questionable deals, which led the IRB and Pritzker to cancel Heidner’s plans. However, Heidner is not being investigated by the feds, which should allow him to breathe a sigh of relief.

John Lausch, a U.S. Attorney operating out of Chicago, Illinois, sent a letter to Heidner’s lawyers at the end of last month, explaining that their client was “not a target” of any investigation. He added, “In the context of a criminal investigation, a ‘target’ is a person who is linked by substantial evidence to the commission of a crime and who, in the prosecutor’s judgment, is likely to be charged.” Lausch cautioned, however, that things could change, explaining, “At this time, your client is not a target of this investigation. Of course, this representation is based on the information known to this office as of the date of this letter and could change.”

Sandoval proved to be an embarrassment to the U.S. political scene, pleading guilty earlier this year to having accepted bribes in exchange for favors. He has been cooperating with investigators as the case continues in hopes of having his possible prison sentence of 10-12 years reduced, asserting that he’s “ashamed” of what he did. More than likely, he’s only ashamed that he managed to get caught.

A dramatic midweek set of fixtures produced five-goal thrillers, thrashings for sides in the bottom half of the table and excitement for fans around the world. Some thumping victories and crushing defeats helped some clubs get out of trouble while others were put right back in the mire.

While there were big wins for Manchester City (5-0 at home to Newcastle) and Liverpool (3-1 away to Brighton), other wins gave sides a lifeline in their battle against the drop or fight for a Champions League spot.

Arsenal 1-1 Leicester 

A close game at The Emirates saw the spoils shared as 10-man Arsenal were reined in by Leicester City. The Foxes fell a goal behind when Bukayo Saka’s slick through ball led to his 12th assist of the season in all competitions as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang slotted home the opener.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

The NASCAR Cup Series makes its lone visit of the season to the Bluegrass State on Sunday afternoon for the Quaker State 400. Kentucky Speedway, located in Sparta, is a 1.5-mile asphalt tri-oval so there will be 267 laps – 400.5 miles, to be exact. The banking in Turns 1 and 2 at the Speedway is 17 degrees, while in Turns 3 and 4 it’s 14 degrees.

Since 2015, whenever a driver wins at Kentucky Speedway, he receives a Crosley jukebox. Crosley is located in Louisville, which is about 60 miles from Sparta.

“Trap” games definitely exist in the NFL, NBA and NHL, and this could be a “trap” race in a way for the drivers. They raced at one of the marquee tracks in the world last Sunday at Indianapolis and this Wednesday the All-Star race is being held at Charlotte. Then again, it’s not like NASCAR drivers take a week off like PGA Tour guys do.

China’s version of Twitter is altering its terms of service in a bid to minimize users’ ability to promote unauthorized gambling websites.

On Wednesday, Chinese social media giant Sina Weibo announced plans to implement “an external chain whitelist mechanism” intended to “block malicious activities” that some users were promoting via the microblogging app.

The change, which will be launched early next month, involves limiting access to the platform’s free URL shortening service, which allows users to hide the ultimate destination of the external links they include in their messages.

Come August, the link-shortening service will remain free for “government, news and certified enterprise websites.” Other websites will need to apply for inclusion in Weibo’s whitelist, and the company claimed that messages promoting websites not accepted for this whitelist will “no longer support jumping.”

The UK gambling regulator is seeking public input on how to redesign online slots to ensure greater protections for vulnerable consumers.

On Thursday, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) opened a consultation on online slots game design with the aim of reducing the intensity of online play and improving the information available to slots players. The consultation, which will run through September 3, can be accessed here.

The UKGC’s interest in online slot design is due to the product being responsible for the bulk of online gambling revenue, “played by relatively few but with a high average spend.” Slots also include certain features “which can combine to significantly increase intensity of play,” posting a “relatively high risk” for fueling problem gambling behavior.

The UKGC recently published the results of its consultations with various ‘working groups’ on several aspects of consumer protection, including a game design group led by Scientific Gaming Corporation and Playtech that also featured input from so-called ‘Experts by Experience,’ aka those who’ve “suffered a wide range of gambling harms.”

Online gambling operator BetMGM has become the third wagering firm to strike a partnership with the National Football League’s Denver Broncos.

On Thursday, the Broncos announced the signing of a “multi-year sports betting partnership” with BetMGM, the brand name of the Roar Digital online gambling joint venture from UK-licensed gambling firm GVC Holdings and casino operator MGM Resorts.

In addition to the usual branding opportunities and the creation of ‘fan experiences’ via the Broncos digital properties and at Empower Field at Mile High, BetMGM will also create a free-to-play mobile prediction game that will allow users to win non-cash prizes.

Roar Digital will also be allowed to open a BetMGM Lounge at Empower Field, in which fans over 21 years of age can partake in alcoholic beverages and receive “live odds and betting assistance.” So no on-site sportsbook but lots of guidance on how to load the BetMGM betting app.