Australian casino operator Crown Resorts is reportedly losing its CEO as the fallout from the damaging report into its regulatory shortcomings continues to spread. 

On Thursday, Australian media reported that Crown CEO Ken Barton had agreed to resign ‘in the coming days’ following a meeting with chair Helen Coonan. Barton has been under pressure to walk the plank since Tuesday’s release of a devastating regulatory report that found Crown unsuitable to hold a gaming license at its Crown Sydney venue in New South Wales. 

Barton’s disastrous appearance last September before the NSW Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority (ILGA) inquiry left him with few options. Amongst other failings, the ILGA report found that Barton paid little attention to internal reports of suspect transactions in financial accounts set up to help VIP gamblers funnel money to Crown casinos.

ILGA commissioner Patricia Bergin concluded that Barton’s actions “demonstrated a serious lack of judgment” and his issues “will not be cured by the appointment of people expert in the field who report to him.” The report also concluded that Barton was too obsequious in his dealings with James Packer, Crown’s single largest shareholder (the report recommended Packer’s current 36% stake be reduced and capped at just 10%). 

If you’re a modern poker fan, we could excuse you for knowing nothing of the man called Larry Flynt, but for those of a certain age, Flynt comes to symbolize an era of poker that is etched in the very fabric of the game.  

With the late Larry Flynt’s controversial life often drawing headlines, we ask today whether his passing will have a positive effect on the game of poker.  

Often, referencing the inglorious beginnings of an industry can bring up unsavoury characters. Trading gold is the reserve of the mega-rich and upper classes today, but that wasn’t the case in the middle of the Gold Rush as nefarious characters panned, shot and hustled for the very future of their families.  

If anyone was a hustler, it was Larry Flynt, so it was perhaps fitting that his adult magazine was called The Hustler, a publication that at first courted controversy then caught like wildfire, selling millions of copies as America woke up to progressive freedoms that today seem quaint or ludicrous when viewed through a retrospective lens.  

Despite a massive increase in sports gambling activity, fueled primarily by the addition of legal states in the U.S., there hasn’t been an increase in sports integrity issues. This is the succinct takeaway from a recent report by the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA), which indicates the figures have remained relatively unchanged over the past several years. Last year saw a bump in the number of complaints, but nothing that would indicate match-fixing in sports is running rampant.

The IBIA indicates that there were 270 suspicious gambling reports lodged last year. They came from 43 countries and 15 sports, with 68 of the complaints found in the first quarter. This is a significant jump -48% – from the 183 that were reported a year earlier; however, taking into account the total number of sports contests that were played around the world, the figure is still extremely low. 

Soccer activity saw the biggest increase in complaints last year, increasing by 25% to 61. Tennis, which has a history of match-fixing, saw even more, with 98. Of those related to tennis, 39 were addressed by the International Tennis Integrity Agency since they didn’t involve any major competitions. Of all of the investigations launched by the IBIA, only 12 players or teams received criminal or sports sanctions due to suspicious gambling activity. 

The CEO of the IBIA, Khalid Ali, explains that COVID-19 may have played a role in the uptick, asserting, “2020 was a turbulent year for many sectors including the betting industry, which had to adjust its market offering due to the global sports lockdown. As a result, IBIA focused its integrity monitoring activity to take account of new sports tournaments and competitions that emerged.”

5Dimes, the former Costa Rica-based sportsbook, is now headquartered in the Isle of Man. Following the kidnapping and murder of the company’s founder, William “Tony” Creighton, in 2019, 5Dimes wasn’t ready to give up and began looking for ways to enter the nascent U.S. market. It made a deal with U.S. authorities to help it in its quest, and just received a license in the Isle of Man. That approval gives it a foundation upon which it can build out its global footprint and marks a huge step forward to possibly entering the U.S. market.

The Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission signed off on 5Dimes’ license application this month, paving the way for the sportsbook to offer online sports gambling and casino products to the local market. It doesn’t give it direct access to the U.S. market, but allows it to begin to establish itself as a global player that might eventually be able to appeal to regulators in the U.S. once it demonstrates that it conforms to their standards. As a member of the World Trade Organization and part of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development White List, the Isle of Man is a great launching point for 5Dimes.

Laura Varela, Creighton’s widow and member of the 5Dimes Board of Directors, said about the new Isle of Man license, “This licensure is an exciting milestone for the 5Dimes brand. The Isle of Man is a Tier-1 jurisdiction, known for its advanced approach to gambling and e-gaming legislation and its exceptional reputation in the international gaming community. The Isle of Man sets high standards for its gaming operators and players, and we look forward to upholding the same level of principles and innovation with the launch of 5Dimes.”

5Dimes is now going to set up shop in the Isle of Man, planting a management and operations team there to oversee the company’s launch. Its establishment as a legitimate operator among other global sportsbooks was made possible because of the deal it worked out with U.S. authorities, which included a payment of $46.8 million to the Department of Justice. That money came from both the company’s proceeds, as well as Varela.

While 2020 was undeniably a bad year, MGM Resorts managed to just barely beat expectations with their Q4 financial report. Huge declines were bolstered by a few bright points of optimism for the future.

Overall, MGM reported a 53% decline in revenue for the quarter, still seeing the effects of Covid-19 at all of their brick-and-mortar locations. Revenue was down to $1.5 billion, dropping from $3.2 billion for the prior year’s last quarter.

Overall, that resulted in an operating loss of $364 million, down from the income of $3 billion in 2019.

The company noted optimistically at the top of their report that it’s recovery will be led by local casinos, rather than vacation destinations like Las Vegas or Macau. But Bill Hornbuckle, Chief Executive Officer and President, talked up BetMGM as the real excitement driving the company to recovery. “BetMGM gained significant market share throughout 2020 while successfully launching in seven new states. We expect to be in 20 markets by the end of the year, and are very pleased with the January launches in Iowa, Michigan, and Virginia.”

It’s probably not too much of a coincidence that Senet, Australia’s advisory group on gambling laws, regulations and compliance, has introduced a new solution on the heels of a damning report on Crown Resorts. The once-giant casino operator is now facing serious issues across the country and has been barred, for now, from operating a casino at its newest resort in New South Wales (NSW). That’s only the beginning, however, and Senet plans on helping the country’s gambling industry clean up its act through its new compliance accreditation program, designed to combat gambling-related harm and potential money laundering.

The Senet Assure and Senet Assure Premium accreditation comes about as a method to give operators more incentive to provide more diligence to their operations. It is essentially a badge of approval by Senet that “will only be awarded to operators who can demonstrate the highest level of vigilance,” according to Paul Newson, a regulatory and gambling specialist with Senet. He adds that the accreditation will be awarded be a demonstration of the company’s commitment to adhere to a responsible gaming culture.

The new accreditation program doesn’t come as a direct response to the Crown affair, but the drama surrounding the casino operator for the past several years most likely played a role in how the new program was formulated. Senet is also responding to concerns raised by the NSW Crime Commission, which recently predicted that Australia could see an increase in financial crime. The commission asserts that money-laundering activity in the country might spread to new areas as criminals look to exploit new targets.

Newson adds of Senet’s new endeavor, “Our team has developed this accreditation based on our deep knowledge of the complexities and challenges in 2021 facing gambling operators committed to responsible gambling outcomes and staying a step ahead of criminal activity. The accreditation is a way for industry leaders to demonstrate they are meeting the highest standards of accountability and exceeding best practice in protecting their customers and their staff in cultivating a workplace culture of compliance and social responsibility.”