A new criminal complaint against the former Chief Security Officer of Uber alleges he helped cover up a crime, using Bitcoin to do so. Unfortunately for him, the alleged cover up doesn’t appear to have worked, and the auditable nature of Bitcoin ensured it never would.

Joseph Sullivan, who was CSO for Uber until November 2017, is accused of concealing facts from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) after a 20176 hack, which compromised the data of millions of users and drivers. According to a Press Release from the Department of Justice, “the criminal complaint alleges that Sullivan took deliberate steps to conceal, deflect, and mislead the Federal Trade Commission about the breach.”

Part of those steps includes using Uber’s bounty program to pay off the hackers. While Uber was cooperating with the FTC in an investigation into a 2014 breach, a new 2016 breach led Sullivan to allegedly pay $100,00 in Bitcoin in December of that year. Sullivan then both concealed information about this affair from both the FTC and Uber’s new management team, which took over in 2017.

The hackers have already been prosecuted and plead guilty to their actions in 2019. This new complaint against Sullivan implies that they were inspired to conduct future hacks after they managed to get payment out of Uber.

Just how much Nevada has played a role in spreading Covid-19 has been a topic of great discussion recently. Now after hearing stories of the Wuhan of the Strip and tracking tourists after they spread throughout the country, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has revealed more than 500 Nevadan tourists have tested positive for Covid-19.

To be more specific, atleast 530 visitors to Nevada tested positive for Covid-19 between June 1 and August 15. Their positive results were found either in Nevada, or when they returned home. That’s a nearly 200 persons increase since the last time DHHS released a tally, when only 347 were announced on July 25.

The vast majority of those positive cases tested positive while still in Nevada, with only 11 testing positive once they returned home. However, that count could be higher, as Nevada state officials are only notified of a positive case contact traced to them if the tourists home state bothers to announce it. Arizona, California and Ohio have done that, but the other 46 states may have not.

“My hunch would be that those numbers are low because of reporting issues, not because they’re actually low,” Professor Samuel Scarpino told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Affiliate marketers have continued to play a vital role in getting customers to online gaming sites during the COVID-19 pandemic. Better Collective Tennessee Director Adam has spent over a decade navigating the affiliate market, and he took some time out to share some insights with lead reporter Becky Liggero Fontana.

Smalls has some expertise to call upon when it comes to the state of regulations for affiliates in the U.S. market. The Better Collective Director got his start in the industry with the online poker community site, pocket fives. While there continues to be debate over regulations, Smalls is all for the positive push in that direction. “I think it’s a good thing, I think the regulation of affiliates is something that should be happening. I’ve kind of evolved to this viewpoint.”

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rj84ssKZUx8?feature=oembed]

According to Small, the process of becoming an affiliate was relatively easier back in the boom of the early 2000s. “It’s interesting because the process was very easy to become an affiliate in New Jersey in the beginning,” he said. We didn’t do revenue sharing, we just had to fill out a few forms to become a CPA affiliate. It was an easy process I didn’t need to involve lawyers and I really didn’t spend any money.”

Ainsworth Game Technology has had a difficult time recently, even before COVID-19 came in and screwed everything up. The Australia-based gaming equipment supplier reported a significant drop – 22% in its revenue in the Asian region in October of last year, and the problems have only been exacerbated by the continued threat of the coronavirus. It just provided an update on its financial health during the most recent fiscal year, which concluded on June 30, and things haven’t improved. The numbers are way off from where they should be, which has forced Ainsworth to announce that it has suspended dividend payments.

For the 12-month period, Ainsworth saw a loss of $31.5 million, a stark contrast to the US$7.96 million in profit it reported for the previous fiscal year. Revenue for the company was off by 36.2% year-on-year, making this the catalyst of the decline. In the previous fiscal year, Ainsworth took in $170.82 million, but could only reach $108.92 million this time around. The company acknowledges the role COVID-19 played in the declines, explaining in a filing with the Australian Securities Exchange, “These results were severely impacted by Covid-19, primarily in quarter four, traditionally the strongest period for the group. Customers across all of our major markets suspended their operations from mid-March.”

EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) dropped into the red, reported at $6.56 million. Looking back a year, Ainsworth’s EBITDA had been a solid $32.64 million, driving home the difference in performance between the two periods. As the coronavirus threat lingers in different parts of the world, even as talk of a vaccine is being heard, the recovery process won’t be an easy one.

Ainsworth is confident, however, that it will be able to bounce back, especially as casino operators start to get back into their routines. The company explained in the filing, “Encouragingly, some [casino-operator] customers’ facilities have started to reopen, although the majority of venues have indicated initial reductions in capital expenditure due to travel restrictions imposed and resultant impact” on visitor volumes, which were “well below pre-pandemic levels.” CEO Lawrence Levy chimed in, adding, “While the Covid-19 pandemic hit our industry hard, we moved quickly to protect Ainsworth.”

The hope that the rollout of Japan’s integrated resort (IR) market would begin this year is completely out of the question, and has been for quite some time. The entire process was pushed out further as everyone began to realize how monumental a task it is to introduce regulated casinos, and the appearance of COVID-19 hasn’t helped. With the national Diet being forced to switch gears and focus on more important issues, it hasn’t been able to work on the IR Basic Policy, which would be the first step in the process of ultimately seeing how the landscape develops. This has already had a snowball effect, with cities and prefectures expected to be considered as hosts for the first round of IR launches forced to delay their own regional plans. Now, it appears that even more delays are coming, and the IR submission deadline might be pushed out another six months or even as long as a year, and the reason might not have anything to do with what’s going on inside the country’s borders. The delay could be a result of what’s happening elsewhere – specifically, Macau. 

According to Joji Kokuryo, managing director at Bay City Ventures, the changes to the concession scheme in Macau could impact Japan’s IR market. Kokuryo spoke with the CEO of Inside Asian Gaming (IAG), Andrew W. Scott, last night on what’s going on in Japan, when the subject came up. Macau is expected to conduct a concession renewal process in 2022 for the city’s six casino operators; however, the details are still a little sketchy. Technically speaking, according to how the licensing laws are structured, concessions cannot simply be renewed – new tender processes are required. However, there’s little chance of an established casino operator losing its license.

Kokuryo explained while talking to Scott, “The deadline for the national submission was originally the end of July next year, and at this rate, we are not going to hit that date – it’s not a very viable date considering that there is still no national policy. So, the next logical question is how long is the extension going to be? There has to be logic on that front. A lot of people are saying two years, but let’s think about what’s happening in Macau in two years – the concession retendering. If you have operators that work in both markets (such as MGM, Galaxy and Melco Resorts), it’s part of their whole business plan. If these are the operators the Japanese government wants to bring, then it would be in their best interest to make sure it doesn’t overlap with something that is already a heavy burden on these companies.” He added, “The idea of a two-year extension I would scrap, so realistically I think we are looking at six months or a year for the extension.”

With the concession issues expected to appear in 2022, there isn’t much time for Japan to make a move. However, there is a chance that Macau might need more time, which could impact Japan’s plans, as well. Scott asserted that, as Macau officials continue to be mum on how the concession tender process will work, and with time quickly running out on existing licenses, a delay might be in order. He explained, “Legislatively, Macau could extend the current concessions for up to another five years. If this were to happen it might give Japan some leeway in their process too.”

If New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has a plan to allow the state’s commercial casinos and other businesses to get back to work, he’s not sharing it with anyone. The state could soon set a record for the longest coronavirus-induced shutdown, despite the fact that most reports put the level of contagion at less than 1%. Casino employees have already become frustrated over the continued delays and rallied at the state capitol to voice their opinion earlier this month. Without much coming out of the governor’s office, they’ve been back at it this week, and Cuomo says he’s trying to come up with a solution.

The ongoing closure not only impacts casinos, inarguably one of the biggest moneymakers for the state, but also movie theaters, indoor dining (restaurants can set up tables outside, as long as weather permits) and more. Cuomo calls the current situation “fluid” and told reporters yesterday that the government would “make determinations at the appropriate time.” He added that he currently “calibrating” the schedule for when the businesses that are still shut down or running under odd protocols can return to normal.

Fitness centers and gyms, as well as certain other public facilities, are now back in business. There’s something to be said about being able to work out during high-stress periods, but there’s also something to be said about spreading the state’s wallet too thin, and New York is reaching that point. Not only is the continued shutdown taking funds away from vital education programs, but it is also adding to the state’s gaping budget hole, which already sits at more than $14.5 billion. Cuomo argues that casinos aren’t “essential” businesses, but the thousands of employees who work at the properties would disagree.

Cuomo has an agenda, but he’s not sharing it. In the meantime, despite the continued low reports of COVID-19, he simply tells state residents “not to get complacent, particularly as we move into the fall season,” adding, “COVID-19 is still a real threat, and it’s the actions each of us take — wearing masks, socially distancing and washing our hands — that make the difference in our ability to fight this virus.”

Saipan gambling regulators have filed a complaint against their lone casino licensee Imperial Pacific International (IPI) for once again failing to pay its annual dues.

On Wednesday, Commonwealth Casino Commission (CCC) exec director Andrew Yeom filed a notice of complaint against IPI for failing to pay its $15.5m annual license fee by the August 12 deadline. CCC chair Edward Deleon Guerrero said the notice was served Thursday, giving IPI 15 days to pay up or face the consequences.

IPI famously slow-rolled payment of its license fee last year and the company’s new CEO assured the CCC last month that the company wasn’t about to repeat that mistake. But August 12th came and went without payment, prompting Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Gov. Ralph Torres to warn IPI that this routine was getting old.

Yeom’s complaint says IPI’s failure to honor its commitments means the company is in breach of its license agreement, and asks the CCC to impose a $50k daily penalty on IPI until the license fee is paid.

The global COVID-19 pandemic sent live poker into lockdown virtually overnight. No chips being riffled at the poker tables, no queues for male restrooms around the world in casinos, no pictures posed with trophies at 3am.

Las Vegas, as we reported back in Spring, was turned into a ghost town. That was months ago, however. Since then, casinos have been steadily re-opening around America in particular, despite recent days of COVID-19 deaths still hitting over a thousand deaths in any 24-hour period.

Whether a case of economic pressure, staff protests or just plain greed, casinos have re-opened. We even write about Joey Ingram risking his own life to find out exactly what the experience was like. The crib notes on that are all good; Joey lived, he continues to make those YouTube videos you know and love.

Live poker and COVID-19, however, seem to go together as naturally as Joey Ingram and YouTube thumbnail clicks. The spread of the disease – or perhaps, more accurately, the failure to stop the spread – has been attributed this week to Las Vegas casinos.

NBC has become the latest US broadcaster to take a direct piece of the sports betting action via online sportsbook PointsBet.

On Thursday, NBCUniversal announced that it had reached a deal with Australian betting and online gambling operator PointsBet that will make the bookmaker the official sports betting partner of the broadcaster’s considerable sports assets. (Fine print of the deal viewable in full here.)

The five-year deal, which is subject to shareholder approval by November 28, will provide PointsBet with “year-round, multi-platform media and marketing opportunities” courtesy of NBC’s event portfolio (including via Spanish-language Telemundo). PointsBet will feature prominently in “multiplatform gameday integrations” across eight NBC Sports regional networks, which offer exclusive access to local MLB, NBA and NHL teams.  

PointsBet will also be the exclusive provider of “odds, props and trends” for NBCSN and the Golf Channel, along with their digital properties, as well as the new Peacock streaming service and NBC Sports Podcasts.

What does it take in your mind to win a World Series of Poker bracelet? From an unflinching poker game to superstar hero folds and brilliant bluffs, you might expect that only the very best and most well-known names in the world win one. If that’s your current opinion, be prepared for it to change.

The latest winner of a much-coveted World Series of Poker bracelet, Jim Lefteruk, doesn’t have a single live cash on The Hendon Mob website, and nor has he won a cent on GGPoker until this point, which is impressive in itself given that they’re running deep into the 54 events they’re hosting during this 2020 WSOP Online Series.

The event in question was Event #73 of the WSOP 2020 Online Series. Costing $1,000 to enter, there were 2,202 entries and a prizepool of just over $2 million on the line. Just 314 players ended up in the money after the bubble burst, and there were some big names amongst them, such as Shawn Buchanan, Juha Helppi, Galen Hall, Daniel Dvoress, Danny Tang, Anson Tsang, Joao Vieira, Kevin MacPhee and Timur Margolin.

When the final table was reached, Jim Lefteruk really took over, wielding the axe time and time again, making it almost a done deal by the time heads-up was reached, with the Canadian holding 90% of the chips, and the eventual runner-up Endrit Geci from the U.K. never being able to fight back into contention.

Churchill Downs Inc’s BetAmerica sports betting and online gambling brand has struck technology supplier deals with GAN and Kambi.

On Thursday, CDI announced ‘multi-year’ agreements with GAN and Kambi to handle player account management, casino platform, sports trading and risk management services for its BetAmerica brand. The deal spans both retail and digital sports betting.

GAN announced in June that it had signed a ‘Tier 1’ client which CEO Dermot Smurfit claimed at the time would generate “$300m to $400m” in annual revenue “at maturity” of their relationship. Smurfit also claimed GAN would be “displacing an existing provider” currently serving this mystery client.

That existing provider turns out to be SBTech, which suffered a still undisclosed form of cyberattack in March that knocked several online bookmaking clients, including BetAmerica, offline for three weeks. GAN made its announcement only two months after BetAmerica came back online, so clearly CDI wasted no time looking around for options.