Virtual sports, mobile games and video lottery provider Inspired Gaming has partnered with High 5 Games (H5G), a US casino games supplier.

Under the agreement, Inspired will distribute a number of High 5 titles across video lottery terminals, online and mobile channels via its remote gaming server Virgo.

“Inspired is committed to supplying its customers with the best content on the market. We identified that High 5 Games had a number of games that complemented our current portfolio, so it made strategic sense to partner together,” said CEO of Inspired Gaming Luke Alvarez.

“It really is a win-win for both parties – it enhances our offering and enables H5G to expand its footprint,” Alvarez added.

“With this new partnership H5G’s content continues to penetrate new markets and territories.” Chief Operating Officer of H5G Med Nadooshan commented on the partnership. “As a leader in the convergence landscape we are wholly focused on giving players full access to our content portfolio in all gaming venues whenever or however they choose.”

NextGen Gaming, the Sydney-based slots development subsidiary of NYX Gaming Group, has also signed a deal to develop new online slot content with land-based games developer Lightning Box Games.

Lightning Box Games will help NextGen to develop a series of games on NextGen’s Game Deployment Module (GDM) platform, which will be launched across NYX’x distribution network, including clients using its Open Games System (OGS) remote games server.

Stanley Ho SJM Holdings Ltd. announced on Friday that it expects Lisboa Palace’s construction to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2017.

SJM Holdings has mentioned the date of completion during its filing, which the company also announced that it is spending about MOP557 million (HK$541 million, US$71.4 million) on a new construction contract with one of its existing contractors Macau-incorporated Iao Lek Engineering Company Ltd.

Iao lek would undertake certain basement excavation, reinforced concrete structure and general builder’s work for the Lisboa Palace project.

Macau casino operator SJM Holdings broke ground on its first property on Cotai in February. The Versailles-themed Lisboa Palace has an estimated cost of approximately $3.9b.

The Lisboa Palace complex will have three hotels—Karl Lagerfeld’s first hotel in Macau as well as the Lisboa Palace Hotel and the Palazzo Versace Macau—with a total of 2,000 hotel rooms, a number of Michelin-starred restaurants, a themed retail mall, a wedding pavilion and a multi-purpose theater for large-scale events. The resort will also provide up to 700 gaming tables and over 1,200 slot machines, which are subject to “obtaining of applicable licenses.”

Construction of the Lisboa Palace remains on schedule but market rivals such the $4 billion construction Wynn Palace announced that the project will most likely not make its planned opening for the Chinese New Year 2016, same with MGM Cotai, which also modify its opening date to fall of 2016 rather than rather than “early 2016” as stated previously.

Meanwhile, Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd. also made an announcement on Friday, during its filing, that one the company’s independent non-executive director James Ross Ancell will not face further action after an investigation held by the UK Environment Agency.

PETER DAVIS TO FACE RAJINDER SINGH MEENA AND ANN OSMAN MEETS ANGELA LEE IN MALAYSIAN WARRIOR SUPERFIGHTS

THANH VU TO FACE GIANNI SUBBA WHILE ANATPONG BUNRAD MEETS SAIFUL MERICAN IN FLYWEIGHT CONTESTS

EV TING CHALLENGES CARY BULLOS AND CHAN ROTHANA BATTLES RAMON GONZALEZ

5 February 2015– Singapore: ONE Championship™, Asia’s largest mixed martial arts organization with a 90% market share, presented by Tune Talk, has added six additional bouts to ONE FC: AGE OF CHAMPIONS. The Malaysian Warrior Superfights will feature Malaysian lightweight Peter Davis as he takes on Indian MMA veteran Rajinder Singh Meena and Malaysian fan favorite Ann Osman as she takes on teen sensation Angela Lee. These bouts will air live on Malaysian free-to-air broadcast station, TV9. Two flyweight bouts will also be on the card. After three bouts as a bantamweight in ONE FC, Thanh Vu will move down to flyweight to take on Malaysia’s Gianni Subba. Saiful Merican will also return to action to take on Thailand’s Anatpong Bunrad. Malaysia’s Ev Ting will also return to take on Cary Bullos and Chan Rothana from Cambodia will face Ramon Gonzalez.

The Malaysian Warrior Superfights will be broadcast live on Malaysia’s free-to-air television station, TV9 which is the second most watched television channel in Malaysia after TV3. Besides, TV9 recently signed a deal to continue its partnership with ONE FC as its official media partner in Malaysia. TV9 is one of the four Free-To-Air (FTA) television stations under Malaysia’s leading media conglomerate, Media Prima Berhad. This will mark the first time that mixed martial arts will be broadcast live across the country.

Tickets for ONE FC: AGE OF CHAMPIONS, presented by Tune Talk, are on sale now at www.AirAsiaRedTix.com. Ticket categories begin with the full Red Carpet and cageside experience for VVIPs at RM388 followed by VIP RM278, Gold RM168, Silver RM108 and Bronze RM58. Early bird promotions for Gold, Silver and Bronze categories are available until 31 January. Prices include ticketing fee.

CEO OF ONE Championship, Victor Cui, stated, “ONE FC: AGE OF CHAMPIONS is set to kick off 2015 with a bang! The ONE FC Flyweight World Championship will be on the line when Adriano Moraes defends his title for the first time against Riku Shibuya. It will also be the first time that Malaysian fans can watch ONE FC live on primetime with two Malaysian Warrior Superfights. Peter Davis is one of the most recognizable sportsmen in the country and he will take on Rajinder Singh Meena on one of these fights while Malaysian fan favorite Ann Osman will take on Hawaiian teenage sensation Angela Lee.”

90 Digital CEO Nick Garner talks about one of the core ideas in Google Quality Rater Guidelines which  is E A T – Expertise / Authoritativeness / Trustworthiness in this edition of CalvinAyre.com’s SEO Tip of the Week.

Short intro to Trust Optimization.

Along with on site optimization and link acquisition, there seems to be a third element to ranking well on Google, it’s called Trust Optimization. Trust Optimization is based on the information we have got from anecdotal evidence on click through rates and rankings along with explicit guidelines from Google stating what they are looking for in a trusted website.

Check out the 1st post in this series so you are orientated on Trust Optimisation.

Foundation ideas for Trust Optimization.

One of the core ideas in Google Quality Rater Guidelines 2014 is E A T –   Expertise / Authoritativeness / Trustworthiness

Google say:

The pending sale of Revel Hotel and Casino to real estate developer Glenn Straub has been put on hold after a federal appeals court ruled in favor of appeals filed by tenants of the establishment who are seeking to block the sale unless their property rights are protected.

U.S. District Court Judge Jerome B. Simandle issued an 11th hour ruling, ordering that claims from the business owners must be heard before a sale can go through, setting up a Monday showdown to determine the fate of the Straub’s pending purchase.  A three-judge panel of the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia reversed a lower court’s decision that allowed a $95.4 million sale to developer Glenn Straub to continue despite an appeal from the former operator of Revel’s nightclub.

The Florida-based developer is in the final stages of purchasing the downtrodden property, but one of the conditions of the sale was him being “free and clear” of any obligations to leases held by tenants, which includes bars, clubs, and restaurants that operated inside Revel.

The emergency hearing on Monday isn’t the only thing that’s threatening the long, drawn out sale. Straub is also under a deadline by the end of the day to close the deal or risk losing his $10 million deposit on the property. It hasn’t been made clear whether the deadline would extend as a result of this latest ruling.

Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Straub was quoted saying “If they can’t close, so be it. It’s business; we’ve done it for 52 years.”

Straub’s attorney Stuart J. Moskovitz even hinted that his client is serious about walking away from the planned purchase, even if it means losing out on the $10 million deposit.

“Everything’s up in the air right now,” Moskovitz said. “There’s these court rulings hanging over everyone’s heads.”

Sportradar Head of Communications Alex Inglot expressed its concerns in tennis, especially at the lower levels, being prone as any sport to threats of match fixing.

Sportradar is known for its meticulous approach to ensuring the integrity of sports betting across a wide number of sports. In its time, the company has learned a great deal about the intricacies of keeping these sports secure from match fixing. But recently, the sports security services company identified one sport it says it has serious concerns over match fixing: tennis.

“There are serious concerns about tennis at various levels,” Inglot said, as quoted by Inside the Games. “I know a number of professional tennis players who say there are certain countries where you go to play tournaments and every single player will be approached to fix a match.

Ingot did parse his comments by saying that not everyone is doing it, but if all players are being approached to throw away a specific match, it wouldn’t be impossible for a few bad apples to take up the fixer’s offer in exchange for compensation.

Recently, eyebrows were raised during a Challenger Tour match between Denys Molchanov and Agustin Velotti when the betting volume for the match turned out to be suspiciously higher than matches of that quality. According to Sportradar, the match between the unranked Velotti and world number 174 Molcharov generated almost $1 million in handle.

Sport radar Managing Director of Strategy and Integrity Andreas Kannich believes that there should be more cooperation between bookmakers, sports federations, and law enforcement authorities to keep the strains of match fixing away from sports.

A few years ago, I wrote a piece here telling everyone to have faith in Tiger Woods, believing that at some point, he’s going to get his game and his mind right and return to that dominant force that laid waste to golf in the last decade.

While I’m not yet prepared to eat my words, I will admit that it’s becoming increasingly lonely in this island. Am I the only left here? Maybe there are others on the other side of the island that still cling to the hope and validation of staying here when everyone else has paddled away, never to return again and regretting spending time here in the first place.

Tiger Woods is a broken golfer. He can’t stay healthy anymore and in those times where he seems to be physically right, his mental and psychological approach to golf appears to be all over the place. How can I still root for somebody who looks like he doesn’t want it anymore?

The short answer I have is the same one I had a few years ago: faith.

Granted, that faith I have is being tested like never before. A missed cut in a tournament called the Waste Management Phoenix Open? A withdrawal at the Farmers Insurance Open after only 11 holes because of back injury? The list of setbacks and botched comebacks have become as long as his list of tournament titles and I’m afraid that the former will run longer when all is said and done.

Some of Woods’ skeptics will point to a number of things to highlight his demise. His golf game is in “shambles” was what Paul Azinger told ESPN. Golf channel analyst Brandel Chamblee voiced similar concerns, saying that Woods is “incapable of doing the most pedestrian requirements at the highest level.”

While I do agree with some of what Chamblee said, I still think that Woods’ game can be salvaged. For one, driving has never been Woods’ problem. He’s still one of the most powerful drivers in the field, routinely going over 300 yards without so much of a problem to his ailing back. It’s everything after the drive that falls apart. His approach shots have been awkward. His putting has been abominable. And worst of all, he doesn’t seem to be there psychologically. It’s like having this wall in front of you that you just can’t seem to break down, no matter how hard you swing at it.

The on-going saga surrounding Japan’s “will-it-or-won’t-it” stance on casino gambling has taken another turn after the Cabinet Secretariat of Japan has tapped the Innovation Group to conduct a comprehensive research study on the proposed legalization of casinos in the country.

The team will be led by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu with the eventual report expected to be used as an important touching point by Japanese legislators as it continues to deliberate and discuss the Integrated Resorts (IR) bill.

The study will be a comprehensive report that will involve a host of different topics and fact-finding items that are expected to be discussed by lawmakers once the bill returns to the table in the next Diet session. Chief among these issues include expert research and advice regarding the implementation of gaming regulations; information about integrated resort development protocol; best practices from similar and competing jurisdictions;  background on successful problem gaming programs; detailed approaches to address anti-money laundering; and a summary of economic and fiscal impacts from similar and competing jurisdictions, most notably Macau, South Korea, Singapore, and the Philippines.

The Innovation Group now has the responsibility to cover all of these important issues before presenting its report to the Japanese government. Innovation International Executive Vice President David Rittvo welcomed the challenge and the chance to work with Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, which he describes as being “in the forefront of providing research for both Tokyo Metropolitan Government and Japanese Diet.”

“The outcome of this research report will help to shape the proposed legislation that we hope will be passed this year,” Innovation Group President Michael Soll added.

Chairman Steven Rittvo also chimed in, saying that the government’s decision to commission this report is a positive sign that the Diet plans to discuss the bill more earnestly than it has before.

“The Japanese government has been considering the implementation of integrated casino resorts for a number of years, and much more intensely over the last year,” Rittvo said. “This present project, however, is a milestone since it is the last major effort sponsored by the cabinet.”

Ognyan Dimov is the Deauville European Poker Tour Main Event champion after defeating the Romanian Dany Parlafes in heads-up action.

[Image Credit: PokerNews and DannyMaxwell]

Ognyan Dimov becomes only the second player from Bulgaria to win a European Poker Tour (EPT) Main Event title, with victory in the €5,300 curtain closer in Deauville.

He defeated Romanian Dany Parlafes, in heads-up action, and his €543,700 first prize catapults him to fifth place in the Bulgarian all-time live tournament earners. The top two – Dimitar Danchev, and Simeon Naydenov – were both on hand to rail their countryman to victory.

The Deauville event is always considered one of the weaker events on the EPT. 592 players took advantage of that assumption, and a €2.8m prize pool was the net outcome of that.

Prior to his win Dimov’s previous best performance, in an EPT Main Event, was an 11th place finish at EPT London earlier in the season. Kevin MacPhee finished that one as runner-up to Sebastian Pauli, and the American would have another great run finishing 11th in this one. It won’t be too long before we see MacPhee adding another major title to his already impressive CV.

MacPhee wasn’t the only bit of quality enjoying a deep run at the Casino Barriere de Deauville. It was great to see Guillaume Darcourt back at the right end of things. The pink hair was gone; his loose-aggressive style remained. Darcourt ending in 19th place.

Josip Simunic wins the €10,300 High Roller, at the European Poker Tour Deauville, after beating the Frenchman Jean-Noel Thorel in heads-up action.

[Image Credit: PokerNews and DannyMaxwell]

It was a victory the Austrian Josip Simunic described as ‘the sickest story’ of his life, and one he surely never envisaged after starting the final day with just three big blinds.

Before this event played out, almost all of Simunic’s previous live tournament results had come in his homeland. His €309,170 first prize was larger that the entirety of his previous six years worth of effort.

“It’s incredible. It’s unbelievable. I don’t know what to say.” A gobsmacked Simunic told PokerNews after his win.

It was another record-breaker for a tour that continues to go from strength to strength. 102-entrants (26-rebuys) created a total prize pool of over €1.2m, and that was a first for a High Roller at the Casino Barriere de Deauville.

The Belgian Triple Crown winner Davidi Kitai had another deep run ending in 12th place. It cements his place as one of the EPT Season 11 Player of the Year front-runners. Kitai also walked away from Deauville with a victory in the €2,150 No-Limit Hold’em Turbo Cash 8-Handed event.

10-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner, Doyle ‘Texas Dolly’ Brunson, is scheduled to undergo the 12th major surgery of his life after a cancerous melanoma was found in his head.

Can you imagine the fear of heading into surgery not knowing if you’ll ever wake up again?

It’s a hypothetical for most. For Doyle ‘Texas Dolly’ Brunson it’s an all too familiar thought. And yet, even as the deck continues to be stacked against him, he remains a giant – brave, brash and oh so very Brunson like.

“Simple or not, this will be my 12th major operation. Gonna play poker now because I always heard u get lucky right before u die #justsaying.” Tweeted Brunson.

And they say Phil Ivey can find an edge in any situation.

The 10-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner, and Poker Hall of Famer, will once again face the knife after a cancerous melanoma was found on his head.

“Got my 3rd melanoma confirmed today. Early stages should be simple operation. Fortunately, it’s on my head and everybody knows I’m hardheaded.” Tweeted Brunson.

Full Tilt is turning back the clock by hosting eight days of pure nostalgia with Full Tilt Classic: a tournament series with over $300,000 in guarantees, a sliding scale of buy-ins to appease everyone, and not a single re-entry, bounty or rebuy in sight.

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there was a card game called Texas Hold’em, with peasants, princes and paupers all playing with the promise of one day becoming king. Those triumphant would receive a crown, born from the ashes of a life or death tournament format known as The Freezeout. 

They were wonderful times. Exhilarating times. Both men and women able to stand shoulder to shoulder – lines of class, gender and race erased. Everyone had a chance. It was what made the game so beautiful. It’s what attracted people in their thousands.

Every great story needs a villain. Someone to spit in James Bond’s Martini and say: ‘shake that little fucker.” The Freezeout format had such a villain. It was known as ‘The Bottom Line.” It sneaked into the very fabric of the poker community. It ate into every tournament. The Freezeout was hunted to near extinction.

But it’s back.

In a nugget of nostalgia, Full Tilt has decided to host an online championship of poker consisting of nothing but Freezeout tournaments. I cannot wait. The thought of eyeballing a tournament lobby and being able to decipher what the hell is going on is getting me wet.

From February 15th-22nd Full Tilt will play host to 16 Freezeout tournaments that will see buy-ins grow from small to big, as the series deepens, culminating in a $100 Main Event on Sunday, February 22nd. A $200,000 guarantee has been slapped on the side of that one.

Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht faces a lifetime behind bars after a Manhattan federal jury found him guilty in connection with his management of one of the most sophisticated criminal marketplaces on the Internet.

I have a 14-year old son. He lives in a cave. Some people used to call them bedrooms. There is a sign on the door that says: “Adults stay out or die!” People who have survived a visit to the cave have told of a land filled with the lost socks of washing machines all over the world; solidified food that now doubles as a stool, and more electronic gadgets than one would find in Scotty’s garden shed.

I often wonder what he’s getting up to?

I wonder if the parents of Ross Ulbricht often thought the same?

The 30-year old Texan – who in 2013 was identified as Dread Pirate Roberts: the creator, and administrator, of Silk Road – has been convicted on seven counts of naughtiness: including drug trafficking, money laundering and a whole host of other cyber crimes. He faces a lifetime behind bars when sentencing is handed out in New York City on 15 May 2015.

Silk Road is the name given to the dark side of the Internet. The place that exists on a site you don’t want to know about (unless your name begins with Don or Tsar) known as the Tor Network. Think dark side of the force and you’ll get the gist.

The court heard how criminals used the network to buy and sell drugs, and transact on a wide range of illegal practices, including hiring hitmen. I’m not talking about the types of hitmen that Vince McMahon hires for his WrestleMania’s, I’m talking about the types that like to put a cap in your ass. The prosecutors even alleged Ulbricht was trying to hire hitmen to assassinate those who were trying to bring him down.

THE AMERICAS

A federal judge recommended tossing key FBI evidence against accused online betting operator Paul Phua; Nevada sportsbooks took in their second-largest Super Bowl betting handle and baseball’s new commissioner asked for a “conversation” about betting with owners; Gary Loveman said he’d step down as Caesars CEO; two states’ online poker bills died while Sheldon Adelson’s anti-online RAWA legislation resurfaced in Congress; GTECH agreed to ramp up Georgia’s online lottery with einstant games; Maryland casinos’ hot streak grew cold; New York gambling sales fell 2% in 2014; British Columbia’s problem gambling rates fell; Lee Davy analyzed the 2015 World Series of Poker schedule and offered his picks for the inaugural GPI American Poker Awards while independent studies found cocaine and porn were bad gambling companions.

EUROPE

Intertain paid £425m for Gamesys’ Jackpotjoy brand; Spain’s online poker revenue fell despite overall market growth; Betsson’s profit rose while Svenska Spel took a tumble; Mr Green decided to fight the Austrian taxman; PokerStars sued former Full Tilt pro Erick Lindgren to collect a $2.5m debt; The Guardian ended its ill-fated relationship with online sports betting; Playtech inked a 20-year extension with Finland’s RAY; Intel Security got its facts wrong; Betway paid £20m for a West Ham jersey sponsorship; Rafi Farber suggested getting out of Greece before its new finance minister caused an international incident; Rebecca Liggero’s cameras scoped out ICE Totally Gaming Days One, Two and Three, the London Affiliate Conference Days One and Two and all the parties (Fire & Ice, London Baby! and LAC) as well as the iGB Affiliate Awards. Bonus feature: Becky’s hints for readjusting to your pathetic, tragically normal life.

ASIA

Macau casino revenue fell for the eighth straight month and Steve Wynn said Beijing’s crackdowns had destabilized people with money; online betting site IBCBet rebranded as MAXBET; China warned international casinos to stop luring their citizens; NagaCorp’s VIP betting revenue took a healthy jump but Cambodia border casinos saw fewer Vietnamese gamblers; James Packer called rival Echo Entertainment lazy and Sri Lanka told Packer to never ever come back; Macau police busted a South Korean online betting ring; New Zealand spent $2.1b on gambling last year; Richard Yong and Phil Ivey cashed large at the Aussie Millions and our cameras took in all the sights at the grand opening of City of Dreams Manila.

Problem gambling rates in Singapore have fallen to a 10-year low. The latest triennial Gambling Participation Survey saw the city-state’s overall problem gambling rate fall from 2.6% in 2011 to 0.7% in 2014.

The survey of 3k adult Singaporeans showed 44% participated in some form of gambling in the previous 12 months, with the most popular form being the 4D lottery at 35%. That was followed by Singapore Pools’ Toto sports betting (27%) and the Singapore Sweep lottery (16%), with social gambling accounting for 10%. To be clear, the latter category represents casual betting with friends, not online social gaming.

Gamblers are also wagering smaller stakes than three years ago, with the average monthly betting total falling from S$212 in 2011 to just $70 last year. The ranks of those betting over $1k was just 0.3%.

The only significant area of concern was the number of probable pathological gamblers, which, while falling from 1.4% in 2011 to 0.2% in 2014, showed that some gamblers were developing problems at a younger age. Among those defined as exhibiting probable pathological gambling behavior, 17% said they’d developed their bad habits before that age of 18, compared to 5% in 2011.

BRITISH COLUMBIA PROBLEM GAMBLING RATE FALLS 28%

Meanwhile, the Canadian province of British Columbia saw its ranks of moderate or high-risk problem gamblers fall from 4.6% in 2008 to 3.3% last year. Of those deemed to have difficulty controlling their gambling, the ranks of problem gamblers fell from 3.7% to 2.6% while the more serious pathological gambling category fell from 0.9% to 0.7%.

The 2014 BC Problem Gambling Prevalence Study (read it here) of 3,058 adults showed 72.5% had engaged in some form of gambling in the previous 12 months, essentially unchanged from 2008. Over half (56.3%) of gamblers said they spent about the same amount as five years ago, while the remainder were evenly split between gambling more and gambling less.

Online gambling operator Betway has given its profile a serious boost after inking a record-setting sponsorship deal with West Ham United. The Malta-based, UK-licensed Betway will pay the English Premier League side £20m over the next three and a half years, a considerable improvement over the £3m annual fee paid by West Ham’s former sponsor Alpari, the foreign exchange broker whose UK office abruptly closed last month.

The deal represents the biggest commercial tie-up in West Ham’s history. In exchange for all that cash, Betway gets its logo on the team’s jerseys and naming rights to the Boleyn Ground’s West Stand. West Ham is set to move to its new home at Queen Elizabeth Oympic Park in 2016.

West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady welcomed Betway as the club prepared for its final season at its historic home, saying the team would we “working closely” with the gambling firm as it prepared for the transition. Betway exec director Bob Dutnall said the firm was chuffed to have inked the deal “at a time when the team are performing so well.”

BODOG AND AYR UNITED TO KICK ASS FOR FIFTH CONSECUTIVE YEAR

A little further north, online gambling operator Bodog has re-upped its sponsorship of Scottish League One side Ayr United FC. This marks the fifth consecutive year the parties have been joined at the hip, making it one of the longest partnerships in Scottish football.

Ayr United are currently battling to avoid relegation after a disappointing season that saw former manager Mark Roberts given the boot in favor of Ian McCall. Bodog brand founder Calvin Ayre said McCall has “brought about a tangible change of mood” at the club, priming it for success in the 2015-16 season. Ayre added, “as we say over here, ‘”let’s kick some ass.’”

Ayr United commercial manager Grame Miller said Bodog’s “passion for the club make them a pleasure to deal with.” Miller added that Bodog, who also serve as official Asian betting partner of EPL side Arsenal, “were delighted to enter into talks earlier than ever before this year as we can now get our new strips ready for the fans to buy at our final home game against Stirling on the 25th April.”

Casinos on Cambodia’s border with Vietnam are seeing fewer gamblers after Vietnamese authorities imposed tougher border crossing rules. Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security said it was responding to increased reports of its citizens being held hostage or even killed after gambling at Cambodian casinos.

Such lurid reports aren’t new. But investigating these cases can prove difficult because, as Ministry official Vu Hoang Kien told Thahn Nien News, the victim’s families are “often too scared to report honestly, if they decided to report to police at all.”

There are 54 casinos and 36 cockfighting pits along Vietnam’s 789-mile border with Cambodia. There are 24 different border gates through which over 1.6m Vietnamese traveled in 2014. Around 234k of these are believed to have made the trip for gambling purposes, while police say others are suspected of loan sharking for Vietnamese clientele while in Cambodia.

Recent “determined actions” to tighten border crossings have staunched the flow somewhat at certain crossings: from 500 people per day to just 100-150 at Tay Ninh and from 1,500 down to 500 per day at My Quy Tay in Long An province. Most of those crossing the border claim to be going for tourism, when all that lies across the border is, in the words of Vietnamnet, “wasteland and the casinos.”

The crackdown has led to a lucrative side business for ‘brokers’ who either guide Vietnamese gamblers across the border via backwoods trails or who pay border guards to look the other way. Kien believes the failure to control the border is the result of poor bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

Or maybe things are going precisely as planned. Back in 2012, Cambodia prime minister Hun Sen told his nation’s parliament that border casino construction had been a “secret strategy” to prevent any potential invasion by Vietnam. “One can remove border markers, but one can’t remove five-story hotels.”

For some time now, Vietnam has been making noise now about lifting its longstanding ban on letting its locals gamble in casinos in their own country. The Grand Ho Tram Strip has bravely offered its facilities for a pilot project but Vietnam continues to stall. Cambodia has suggested it would be forced to follow Vietnam’s lead rather than seeing the current situation reversed, i.e. dealing with media horror stories of kidnap and murder of Cambodian citizens in some other nation’s den of iniquity.

Swedish betting monopoly Svenska Spel is hoping an online casino product will help it arrest its declining revenues. Revenue fell 8% to SEK 2.4b (US $286m) in the three months ending Dec. 31, while profit fell 11.6% to SEK 1.25b. For the year as a whole, revenue fell 8.1% to SEK 8.94b while net income fell 9.6% to SEK 4.76b.

Svenska Spel boss Lennart Käll noted that the company’s overall market share had shrunk four points to 44%, while its online market share dipped one point to 22%. Käll estimates that the market’s online casino turnover topped SEK 2b in 2014, up 18% year-on-year. Svenska Spel has yet to share in this bounty but it has applied to the Swedish government to add online casino to its existing retail betting, casino, lottery and online betting and poker operations.

The company says the total amount spent marketing online casinos in Sweden topped SEK 1b in 2014, the only vertical to attract over 1b in spending, and Käll believes this is creating more problem gamblers. Problem gambling is Svenska Spel’s trump card, in that it believes all operators not named Svenska Spel create problem gamblers while Svenska Spel creates irresistible outbursts of pure unbounded joy and the aroma of freshly baked cookies.

In fact, Svenska Spel says its revenue decline is a result of the responsibility initiative it launched in 2013, including the elimination of certain bonuses and incentives. This newfound commitment to responsibility just happened to coincide with the European Commission formally warning Sweden that its monopoly gambling laws appeared to be flouting European Union internal market rules on the free movement of services.

The Swedish government has defended its preservation of Svenska Spel’s online betting and poker monopoly as a way of keeping a lid on Swedes’ gambling habits, but significant increases in Svenska Spel’s marketing budget in recent years have put significant holes in this theory. In October, the EC formally summoned Sweden to justify its laws before the Court of Justice for the European Union.