China is warning the country’s telecom networks to ensure students involved in remote learning aren’t exposed to online gambling and porn promos.

On Monday, the Internet Security Bureau of China’s Ministry of Public Security issued a notice via its official WeChat account to warn telecom firms that it was launching a four-month “special rectification of the network environment for online classes in primary and secondary schools.”

The message noted that students’ increasing use of online education during the pandemic is being ruined by pop-up ads promoting “illegal and harmful information” such as pornography and gambling. Members of the public are being asked to report any incidents in which their kids are exposed to “vulgar and harmful information.”

The Ministry in increasingly enlisting the public to help combating online gambling. In June, the Ministry launched a public snitch line for online gambling tips, while some provincial authorities are promising to pay for tips that result in prosecutions.

Russia’s Tigre de Cristal casino lost $11.5m in the first half of 2020 as COVID-19 kept its doors locked and its tables empty.  

On Monday, Summit Ascent Holdings reported that the Tigre de Cristal casino in Russia’s far east Primorye gaming zone generated revenue in the six months ending June 30 of just HK$96m (US$12.4m), down 62.6% from the year before. The casino booked an earnings loss of HK$22.1m and a net loss of HK$89m versus a HK$55.4m profit in H1 2019.

Tigre de Cristal shut its doors in late-March as COVID-19 began to spread across Russia. The property didn’t reopen until mid-July, and international travel restrictions have put a lid on the geographically isolated casino’s traditional mix of customers from China, South Korea and Japan, leaving it entirely reliant on local mass market customers.

Tigre de Cristal booked total gaming revenue of HK$92.3m in H1, of which the locals-focused slots segment claimed the largest slice (HK$41.2m, -54.4%). Mass market tables fell 56.7% to HK$33.5m while VIP table revenue slid nearly three-quarters to HK$17.5m. Hotel operations fell even harder, down 82% to just HK$3.7m.  

British poker superstar and former WSOP bracelet winner Stephen Chidwick was one of the biggest names to survive across Day 1e and Day 1f of the WSOP 2020 Online Series Main Event.

With Day 1e of Event #77, the WSOP Main Event on GGPoker, having a total of 83 players, just 16 would find a seat into Day 2 by surviving until the end of the 15 levels, each lasting half an hour. The chip leader after that time was Vlad Martynenko, who racked up an incredible 819,099 chips.

That’s not just the chip lead in the Day 1e flight, but the chip lead overall, as the impressive Martynenko put himself in pole position to win the lion’s share of the $25 million guaranteed prizepool.

In the chipcounts, Martynenko was followed by Chris Brewer, who himself bagged up a virtual total of 557,457 chips. Stephen Chidwick, who won a WSOP bracelet in Event #45 of the 2019 World Series of Poker, also made the cut, albeit with a slightly lower total of 117,696 chips.

Atlantic City casinos suffered a combined loss of $112m in the second quarter of 2020, with the Golden Nugget the only casino to post a positive result.

Figures released Monday by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) show AC’s nine casinos (and two online-only operators) generated combined net revenue of $121.4m in the three months ending June 30, nearly 85% below the second quarter of 2019. That’s a worse performance than the overall US market, which suffered an 78.8% year-on-year decline according to the American Gaming Association.

AC’s casinos were ordered to close in mid-March and weren’t allowed to reopen until July (and even then, only at 25% capacity). The closure meant that the Q2’s revenue was generated entirely via online casino, poker and sports betting sites.

The Borgata casino led Q2’s revenue chart with a mere $30.9m, followed by the Golden Nugget (whose online site offers only casino products) with $25.7m while Caesars Interactive Entertainment (CIE) ranked third with $19m.

Portugal’s online gambling market enjoyed a surge of activity in Q2 as punters looked to alleviate pandemic lockdown boredom.   

Figures released Monday by the Serviço Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos do Turismo de Portugal (SRIJ) regulatory body show online gambling licensees generated revenue of just under €139m in the first half of 2020, 44.2% higher than the same period last year.

Portugal’s online market started the year off on a strong note, setting a new revenue high of €69.8m in Q1 despite the March suspension of major sports due to COVID-19. But the SRIJ claims the market experienced “significant and atypical variations” in gambling turnover in April and May as pandemic boredom set in.

Sports betting turnover totaled €90.7m in Q2, down from €149m in Q1, as turnover slumped to just €7.7m in April before recovering its pre-pandemic form in June. Betting revenue was €20.7m, only around 60% of Q1’s total.