Indian authorities are cracking down on all of the small-time gambling rings they can find. A pair of raids in the last week helped put an end to a couple of gaming operations, arresting both the organizers and the gamblers present, and rescuing a whole bunch of cocks.

On August 20, police arrested three alleged gang members, Gagandeep Singh, Raj Kumar Raju and Sukhwinderpal Singh Sehgal, in Ludhiana, a city in the state of Punjab. Two more members of the gang are still being sought out. In total, rs 2.6 lakh (nearly $3,500) was confiscated.

The gang had fake permission letters indicating they were allowed to run skill games at their farm house. Exactly what gambling activity was being conducted hasn’t been specified, the authorities allege that even when gamblers won, the suspects didn’t really pay out.

Another raid in Hyderabad saw 19 arrested for gambling on rooster fights. Bibinagar police raided a farm where Rs 1.5 lakh ($2,000) was confiscated.

High roller crusher, nice guy, poker legend. What more is there to say about Jason Koon? Well, how about Poker Players Championship winner? It’s the tournament all the professionals want to win, the one with the ultimate in bragging rights, and with a massive $1.8 million up top, Koon will go into the final table this coming Saturday with the chip lead.

The prestige of the mixed game title cannot be underestimated. Whether live in Las Vegas with a $50,000 buy-in or remotely from home this year with a $25,000 entry fee, the Poker Players Championship carries with it a certain caché. Winning a World Series of bracelet of any kind is a great achievement, but winning one at those stakes against the sort of specialists in mixed games that arrive to play for the Chip Reese Trophy is something else.

This year, of course, due to Coronavirus, players are behind computer screens, so the best in the world get to appraise their opponents’ moves by the time it takes them to raise, or the bet-size of that power play instead of looking into the whites of their eyes. That didn’t deter 407 players ponying up the exorbitant high roller entry fee to take part.

With a guarantee of $10 million in the kitty, the entries mean that was raised to just past the initial prizepool, with a massive $10,175,000 to be played for.

In 2016, a bill was introduced in Canada that sought to bring legalized sports gambling to single sporting events. Now, four years later, there are only echoes of that initiative still in place, perhaps because the country has been trying to clean up the mess left after one of the largest casino money-laundering scandals of recent times. However, there was still hope to see progress made this year, and lawmakers were optimistic that Bill C-221 would find its proper place. However, the coronavirus had other plans, and Canada’s Parliament refocused its energy on curbing the pandemic. That began to make lawmakers nervous, and their instincts were correct. The Canadian Parliament has been prorogued by the ruling Liberal Party, despite a number of issues that were ignored due to COVID-19, and there’s virtually no chance of C-221 finding approval this year. 

The Safe & Regulated Sports Act had made it through its first reading and was waiting for its second when the global pandemic disrupted everything. The bill had found more support this year than it had in the past, primarily because it was now being backed by the Canadian Gaming Association (CGA). The group had an epiphany and realized, like many others around the world, that legalizing sportsbooks would allow for a responsible gaming segment that would protect consumers while allowing the country to capitalize on the revenue possibilities. Despite that being the obvious result of legalized sports gambling, many lawmakers and policymakers everywhere still can’t grasp the beauty of its simplicity. 

The CGA, after its wake-up call, was ready to help campaign for change, with its CEO, Paul Burns, explaining in February, “Amending the Criminal Code to legalize single-event sports wagering will provide provinces with the necessary tools to deliver a safe and legal option to Canadians, as well as the power to address important issues such as consumer protection while enabling economic benefits to flow to licensed gaming operators, communities and provincial governments.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his ruling Liberal Party have decided that lawmakers need a break and put Parliament and Commons on vacation until almost the end of September. While some could argue that legislators needed a little downtime because of all the issues they’ve been with, others assert that the decision was made in order to shift attention away from a scandal involving Trudeau. He is said to be immersed in fraud over the misuse of millions of dollars that should have gone to student grant funding, and the prorogue allows that fire to cool off. 

Casinos’ ability to recover from the coronavirus pandemic is mired in continuing issues that plague the consumer landscape everywhere. There are still plenty of people out of work, which reduces the amount of money available for free spending, and state and local governments are still restricting activities once taken for granted. The gambling industry is working to bounce back, but it’s going to take several years for them to return to the same levels they saw before the pandemic. In the meantime, many won’t be able to survive, and there will be a substantial shift in the gaming scene. Rhode Island can be included in the group of states having difficulty because of COVID-19, and its only two commercial gaming venues, both owned by Twin River Worldwide Holdings (TRW), could soon have much lighter payrolls. TRW might have to let as many as 1,300 employees go over the next month.

TRW is behind the Twin River Casino Hotel in Lincoln and the Tiverton Casino Hotel in Tiverton. According to paperwork the company has filed with the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training, COVID-19 is forcing the company to take drastic measures to prevent further losses, and it might have to permanently relieve over 1,000 employees at the Lincoln property and up to 300 at the Tiverton casino. The final decision will be made prior to the end of September, with the employees being cut by September 30.

TRW workers already have too much free time on their hands, having been furloughed as the coronavirus continued to wreak havoc on operations. The second quarter brought substantial losses to the company, which reported a $24-million hit because of the forced casino closures. While the venues have since been able to reopen, they are required to operate with a reduced capacity and for fewer hours each day, putting a strain on the properties’ revenue-generating possibilities. 

TRW CEO George Papanier told analysts on a recent call, “While we have been able to welcome back a large percentage of those affected, there are still a large number of employees affected on furlough while we await the ability to increase capacity and amenities. He explained that the company was proactively identifying areas that could see reductions in expenses, but that more would need to be done as a result of the long-term ramifications of the continued suppression of gaming operations. Papanier asserted, “While we continue to be willing to spend money to capture market share and drive revenue, we don’t expect to simply return to the old way of doing business. We believe many of the efficiencies we have realized are sustainable over the long term and will result in improved profitability for our properties even while increased sanitation and cleaning costs become the norm.”

The people have spoken and they’re done with smoking at Nevada casinos. An online poll and discussion conducted by the Las Vegas Advisor reveals 72% of respondents want to restrict smoking on the casino floor.

The 1523 voters were provided with 13 options to chose from, and a clear majority chose options that would either ban or restrict smoking in casinos. The most popular option, with 23% of the vote, wasto ban smoking inside the casino. The runner up option, with 19% of the vote, was the more cynical choice noting that smoking should be banned, but won’t be for reasons of lost revenue.

7 of the 13 options suggested restricting smoking in some way, either by banning it entirely or by providing some kind of smoking area. The most popular options to allow smoking included leaving it up to the casino to decide (7%), just flat out allowing smoking (6%), and permissible smoking being a reason why Las Vegas is still attractive (5%).

The survey was conducted between August 5 and August 18, and also allowed respondents the chance to leave a comment. One non-smoker said you should give smokers at least one place in America to do their thing. “I think When you go to Vegas, you expect smokers and non smokers to mingle in casino floors, just as you expect kids in circus circus and Excalibur,” they wrote.

86 Connect founder Annie Siara has become an expert on connecting western companies with the highly lucrative Chinese market. She sat down with our Becky Liggero Fontana to offer some advice on how Western companies can make advances in the Chinese market in a post-COVID-19 world.

Siara believes that the Chinese travel industry offers a roadmap to the state of the economic recovery in China. “We are seeing a great recovery in China with the domestic trips that have been taken recently,” she said. “A study showed that the May Labour Day holiday, between the first and fifth of May, 146 trips were made, so that’s a big recovery,” Siara said.

“We are seeing that the Chinese are willing to take international trips but that also depends on what is going on abroad and if they can make those trips sooner rather than later,” she added.

According to Siara, the stereotypical Chinese traveller has evolved from shopping junkets to something more modern. “I think the modern profile of a Chinese traveller is that they are looking for more experiences. They are looking for unique experiences and to immerse themselves in the local culture.”