Casinos in the US are having a difficult time crawling out from under the COVID-19 rock. States began to relax shutdown measures this past summer when they believed they had figured out how to keep the coronavirus from spreading, but spikes started appearing everywhere that forced a lot of commercial activity once again to be halted. Casinos in several states reduced their hours of operations in an effort to avoid a complete shutdown, but the recent decision by Michigan to force its Detroit gambling properties to take a complete break may have been a prelude of what’s to come. Illinois has now followed suit, and casinos in the state will have to halt operations beginning this Friday.

According to the latest figures, Illinois has seen 12,601 new daily confirmed and probably COVID-19 cases, a trend that has been seen for the past 12 days. The state has reported a total of just under 600,000 since the coronavirus pandemic began, and the recent return of the virus is forcing Governor J.B. Pritzker to take action. Casinos, gaming centers and indoor sports centers will close for two weeks starting this Friday, with evaluations taken at the end of the period to determine whether or not to keep the measures in place. Gatherings at locations such as meeting rooms, party rooms, country clubs, etc., are also forbidden – just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday on November 26.

Following the 14-day period, changes could be seen only if a region sees a seven-day average COVID—19 positivity rate of under 12% for three consecutive days. COVID-19-related hospitalizations for seven out of the previous ten days will also need to be on the downturn, and hospitals will also need to have at least 20% availability in their intensive care units and hospital beds for three consecutive days. If any of the three requirements isn’t met, the new policies will remain intact.

If Pritzker’s prediction is correct, the chances of seeing the shutdown reversed are pretty slim. During his daily coronavirus briefing yesterday, he said, “We will continue to see a rise in both hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 for weeks ahead because of the infections that have already happened. But we can change our longer-term outcome. We can save potentially thousands of lives in the next few months if we make changes right now to stop this in its tracks.”

Without even wanting to get into all the standard cynical and sarcastic comments that surround Capitol Hill and how things are perceived by the people, a decision by Washington, DC leaders to give Intralot almost complete control of the district’s sports gambling activity is continuously proven to have been flawed. The gaming company has had its share of controversies, both in DC and around the world, but the DC Council felt it was the best choice when Intralot was approved as the sole provider for DC’s online sports gambling app. However, that decision could come back to haunt the district, as well as Intralot. 

DC gave Intralot control, knowing that the company may have fudged certain details about its activity to win over the Council. All attempts at trying to convince council members to see the errors of their decision fell on deaf ears and not even a lawsuit could change their minds. Perhaps the fact that the sports gambling app, GambetDC, is failing miserably will finally get them to open their eyes. 

While online sportsbooks everywhere are running circles around retail alternatives, DC is the exception. Intralot provides GambetDC, while William Hill U.S. is behind the physical sportsbook located at Capital One Arena. In September, William Hill saw around $12 million in action, compared to the roughly $3.1 million wagered through the app. GambetDC may have been able to see some improvements in the months leading up to September, but they weren’t enough to keep the Council from lowering its budget expectations from the app from $28 million to $12 million. 

September was just the beginning, too. In October, William Hill’s total handle from its Capital One sportsbook ops came in at right around $14.35 million, up 17.8% from the previous month. For the same period, Gambet reported a total handle of $4.17 million. The difference is staggering and reflects trouble seen since this past summer. Colorado and DC launched their sports gambling markets at around the same time, yet Colorado saw a total handle of $63 million from May and June – over $60 million more than what had been reported in DC for the same period. 

The Philippines have taken a major step towards legalized, online wagering for cockfighting, and making sure they get their taxes for it as well. The House Committee on Ways and Means have approved, at least in principle, a measure imposing taxes on what’s locally called sabong.

The measure specifically seeks to create transparency around cockfighting broadcast online, so that the government can figure out how much tax its owed. “The operations of online betting on sabong are authorized by local ordinances,” said chairman Joey Salceda. “Because of the digital shift, there are now electronic betting operations on such games. But the electronic aspect of it is a gray area, even though the airwaves is national property.”

“Because of this ambiguity, we are unable to levy national taxes on these activities. By clarifying this gray area in my proposal, we hope to raise multiples more in revenues than the BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue) collection from cockpits of P13.7 million ($280,000) in 2019,” he added.

The measure seeks to impose a tax regime on “Offsite Betting Activities on Locally Licensed Games,” but will not aply to “games and activities specifically authorized by law to be performed by the government gaming authorities, such as the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) and the Philippine Charity and Sweepstakes office (PCSO).” A new 5% tax would be imposed on gross revenue, in addition to local taxes and regulatory fees.

Aristocrat Leisure, the live and digital gaming equipment supplier out of Australia, released its end-of-year report for fiscal year 2020 today, and the results are mixed. The company states that it has delivered “strong full year performance and cash flows” but, at the same time, was forced to report a decline in profits. When all the numbers were crunched and the final total revealed, Aristocrat’s normalized profit for the year had dropped by 46.7% over the prior year’s results.

Aristocrat recorded post-tax profit of around US$347.1 million; however, its reported profit was entered as a little more than $1 billion, thanks, in part, to $804.98 million in a deferred tax asset. That represents a 97.2% year-on-year increase, which was shored up by improvements in its Class III premium and Class II electronic machine segments. These gained 5.9% and 0.3%, respectively, in the year, and Aristocrat adds that it saw “continued penetration” in existing markets as it continues to deliver “leading hardware configurations and high-performing game titles” to its clients.

Group revenue, on the other hand, saw a slight drop from FY 2019 to FY 2020. Aristocrat lost 5.9% over the period, showing total group operating revenue of just over $3.02 billion. Pre-EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) group earnings stumbled, as well, with the company taking a 31.8% hit. That figure came in at $797.6 million, producing an EBITDA margin of 26.3%, down from the 36.3% it saw a year earlier.

Shareholders received a little bit of good news with the filing, though. Aristocrat plans on giving them a little holiday bonus and confirmed that it will pay an end-of-year dividend. The company didn’t pay an interim dividend this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but is ready to hand out some rewards now. Investors shouldn’t expect anywhere close to the $0.41-per-share they received in 2019, though, as Aristocrat only plans on paying $0.073 this time around. Overall, that’s a hefty sum that amounts to an expense of $46.78 million, made possible through the company’s “effective COVID-19 response,” as well as its continuing improved performance.

Financial regulators getting comfortable with digital currencies will likely go a long way toward gambling regulators adopting them too. That means, Hong Kong’s securities regulator putting out new blanket regulations for the medium of exchange is an important step towards a digital currency future.

The Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission have announced that all digital currencies, regardless of whether they are considered securities are not, will have to meet certain regulations. This changes a previous opt-in policy for currencies that were not designated as securities, and is regarded as a fix to a loophole.

By choosing not to opt-in to regulations, some digital currency purveyors could argue that their token was not a security and work outside the rules. That opened up a huge grey area where some coins could be used for potentially nefarious purposes but claim they had nothing holding them back, and prevented legitimate businesses from seriously investing in the digital currency revolution.

SFC chief executive Ashley Alder explained it at a recent conference, “This is a significant limitation, as under the current legislative framework, if a platform operator is really determined to operate completely off the regulatory radar, it can do so simply by ensuring that its traded crypto assets are not within the legal definition of a security.”

There’s a piece of land on the outskirts of Las Vegas that is begging to be converted into a casino resort. It’s been begging for more than 12 years, but has never been able to find anyone to hear its cries. That could be changing, though, as the property’s current owners, Red Rock Resorts, is reportedly now seriously considering expanding the limits of Las Vegas to include the Las Vegas Valley tract of land, according to a report by the Las Vegas Review-Journal (LVRJ). 

Red Rock, the parent company of Station Casinos, purchased the property in 2000 and there had been plans to see the site become the home of a resort in 2008. However, that was the same year the real estate bubble popped in the U.S., and almost any type of major construction development was put on hold. Then, nine years later, the company was ready to move forward and boasted of a new 1,000-room hotel and casino to be constructed on the site. However, once again, the plans had to be put on hold. 

That is changing now, however, and J.P. Morgan got wind of Red Rock’s intentions of getting the project off the ground. It isn’t clear if the new venue will stick with the same idea that was sought in 2017, which included a casino spanning 120,000 square feet, but the casino operator is apparently anxious to get something going. It sees the location as an ideal spot for a resort, with no other large casino within five miles of the proposed property. 

Like all casinos everywhere, money might ultimately be an issue when the official plans are put in motion. Red Rock has been forced to find ways to reduce expenses because of COVID-19, an exercise that proved successful when the company reported net income of $72 million for the third quarter of the year. However, at the same time, it will also need to continue to keep its belt tightened, as it plans on keeping several Vegas casinos – Texas Station, Fiesta Henderson, Fiesta Rancho, and the Palms – closed until sometime next year. A recent announcement that Station was looking to sell its land in Reno was viewed as a fire sale, but the company later recanted and decided to stick around the city a little longer.

Crown Resorts is finding itself in a losing battle, and it might need a miracle to recover. After being targeted for the past several years for not living up to its legal and moral responsibilities, all hopes of launching gaming operations at its new $2.2-billion casino in Sydney, Australia, next month have now been crushed. Facing an extensive inquiry into how it managed to allow war criminals to gamble at its casinos and how duffle bags of large sums of money could be exchanged for chips with no questions asked, Crown has already been deemed “unsuitable” for a gaming license pending a final ruling. Now, Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority (ILGA) Chairman Philip Crawford has decided that he is “not comfortable” allowing the casino operator to take on more gambling responsibility at the new Crown Sydney next month. 

Suspecting that trouble was right around the corner, Crown just cut ties with all junket operators in an attempt to appease gambling regulators in Australia. However, it was too little, way too late, and the company will now have to wait to see what happens with the still-ongoing inquiry. At the center of the long-running investigation, Crown has been accused of turning a blind eye to real and perceived money laundering, which has now been confirmed by the company’s lawyers. They admitted that two bank accounts controlled by Crown were used to launder money gained through criminal activity, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. 

In denying Crown’s request to introduce gaming to the new property in Barangaroo, a decision that was made during an emergency meeting by the ILGA today, Crawford explained that he was disappointed that Crown didn’t proactively volunteer to put off the venue’s opening in light of the ongoing investigation and added that there were too many question marks surrounding the company’s activities. He explained, “We’re talking about – potentially – drugs, we’re talking about child sexual exploitation, we’re talking about people trafficking and we’re talking about financing terrorism.”

As a result, Crown will have to remain in a holding pattern until next February. That’s the deadline for Commissioner Patricia Bergin to provide her final decision on Crown’s fate and, if her comments during this week’s meeting are any indication, the future doesn’t look very bright for the long-standing, and once respected, casino operator. She showed a great deal of concern over the company’s ability to engage in above-board operations on several levels, and the fact that Crown’s legal team tried to come clean about the alleged money laundering, after having a year to own up to its shortcomings, incensed her even more. The lack of proper legal guidance was of “very serious concern” and is “the face of an inquiry – the seriousness of it cannot be understated,” stated Bergin. She added, “It is a most serious development.”

The gambling industry continues to wrestle with problem gambling, being put in a position to solve an issue there is yet a solution for. Psychotherapist Jason Shiers believes we’ve been looking at it all wrong, and offered a different approach to our Becky Liggero Fontana.

“There’s always room for ingenuity and innovation in this particular thing, the current results have to suggest that it’s worth a look at something new,” Shiers said. “It feels a little bit like we’re spending more money on the same things that aren’t currently working. By working, I don’t mean that they’re not effective in anyone’s life and they’re not making a difference, I mean they’re not really sort of making a huge dent in the problem gambling.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrFQPU7yezw&feature=youtu.beVideo can’t be loaded because JavaScript is disabled: Jason Shiers has a different way of looking at problem gambling (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrFQPU7yezw&feature=youtu.be)

If we start looking at the root cause, we might find something that works. “A lot of the current way of looking at things is focused on the symptoms,” Shiers said. “There’s diagnosis, there’s illness and the psychiatric help, and the psychological help, talking therapies, undoing the struggles of the past or giving strategies and techniques to deal with problem gambling, and why do people actually make those decisions to spend money that they don’t have. “

Sports betting operator SportPesa’s aborted return to the Kenyan gambling market just got a whole lot messier after the country’s financial watchdog opened a probe into major international financial transfers.  

On Monday, Kenyan media reported that the country’s Financial Reporting Centre (FRC) had opened a probe to determine whether there is any “criminality” in the Ksh30b (US$278m) that SportPesa reportedly transferred from local accounts to international banks over the past three years.  

Allegations of impropriety in the fund transfers were made earlier this month by Paul Wanderi Ndung’u, a shareholder in SportPesa’s Kenya-based parent company Pevans East Africa Ltd.

Ndung’u accused SportPesa CEO Ronald Karauri and the company’s Bulgarian investors of transferring profits generated in Kenya to subsidiaries in other countries to avoid (a) paying local taxes and (b) sharing these profits with Pevans shareholders like Ndung’u.

Lithuania’s local gambling market suffered only a modest revenue hit this year thanks to online gambling growth, although land-based slots halls remain the local favorite despite the fact that they keep shutting their doors.

Lithuania’s Gaming Control Authority (GCA) recently released statistics showing the local gambling market generated revenue of €75.6m in the nine months ending September 30, a 6.5% year-on-year decline, which isn’t bad considering the country’s retail gambling operators were forced to shut down from mid-March to mid-May due to COVID-19 (foreshadowing alert).

That shutdown allowed Lithuania’s six (down from seven at the end of Q2) online gambling licensees to claim the majority share (50.8%) of the 9M revenue pie, as online revenue rose nearly 38% from the same period last year while retail revenue was down nearly 30%.

Online’s new market-leading status appears set to continue after Lithuania ordered a second retail shutdown to combat rising COVID-19 infection rates. Slots halls, betting shops and bingo parlors were all ordered closed from November 7 through November 29 while online gambling sites were told to carry on as usual.