The 2015 Aussie Millions is underway with Vic Spadavecchia and Daniel Rudd taking the honors in the first two events.

The 2015 Aussie Millions is well underway and a hometown hero and bashful Brit have taken the first two titles.

[Image Credit: Pokerasiapacific]

Event #1: $1,150 No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE) attracted 1,211 players and the final table bowed to the pressure of the home nation. In the end it would come down between an Aussie and an American, for the title, and the lesser-experienced Australian would take the honors.

The star attraction was Andrew Hinrichsen. The World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner, and former Aussie Millions side event winner, had all the experience, but the American Derek Wolters had previous with a 2014 side event final table appearance, finishing fourth. This time it would be Hinrichsen taking fourth, and Wolters would nearly go all the way.

Spadavecchia held a 9.5m v 3.5m chip lead, at the start of heads-up, and the first all-in of that battle would be the last: Vic Spadavecchia raised to 520,000, on the button, Derek Wolters moved all-in for 2.5m, and Spadavecchia made the call. Wolters was in front with [As] [4d]; Spadavecchia held [Qh] [3h] and a queen on the flop gave the Australian his first title of any particular note.

Event #1 Final Table Results

Three things that are absolutely certain in life: death, taxes and Paddy Power becoming controversial.

The last of these three things was in full display once again when the Irish bookmaker decided to throw a horse into the FIFA presidency. No, it didn’t throw an actual horse into the proceedings, although that still wouldn’t come as a surprise since we’re dealing with Paddy Power here.

What it did, though, might be a little more controversial, if not downright amusing.

In an attempt to “gain transparency” in the dealings of football’s governing body, Paddy Power took it upon itself to pay former Tottenham Spurs player David Ginola close to $380,000 to run for FIFA president. You better believe it because it’s absolutely true.

“This campaign is all about transparency and we are paying David £250,000 (nearly $380,000) for the campaign and for being here today,” a Paddy Power spokesman told Reuters late last week.

“It is his full-time job now and, hopefully, will be for the next four months.”

If you’re not familiar on who Ginola is, here’s his background as a former football player. Ginola is former French international who played professional football from 1985 to 2002 for a handful of clubs, including Paris St. Germain (PSG), Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle, Aston Villa, and Everton. Since his retirement, he focused on a handful of other endeavors, including acting and modeling, most prominently being featured as a model for L’Oreal’s line of shampoos.

The sports betting industry may still be reeling from a hellacious weekend in the NFL, but that doesn’t mean we can’t look ahead to what’s in store for this week.

Two important sporting events from opposite ends of the world are scheduled to commence action, beginning with the 2015 Australian Open.

As many of you know, Novak Djokovic is the odds-on favorite to win the men’s title at 5/6 odds while Serena Williams has been penciled in as the favorite to win the women’s title at 5/2 odds. But suppose you’re not as confident as you should be on the two favorites. Who among the rest of the field have legitimate shots to win the tournament.

Over on the men’s side, Roger Federer sits second at 5/1 odds. After him, it’s Andy Murray at 7/1 odds, Rafael Nadal at 8/1, Stan Wawrinka at 10.1, and Kei Nishikori at 12/1. The spread fall precipitously after these six players, all the way to 30/1 for Grigor Dimitrov, Milos Raonic, and Tomas Berdych. David Ferrer looks interesting at 60/1, although how much of a chance he really has could depend on the bracket he finds himself in.

Meanwhile, Maria Sharapova is the closest threat to Williams for the women’s title at 9/2 odds. She’s then followed by Simona Halep at 13/2, Petra Kvitova at 9/1, and Engenie Bouchard at 10/1. Other notable players with double-digit odds, include Victoria Azarenka at 12/1, Caroline Wozniacki and Ana Ivanovic at 15/1, Agnieszka Radwanska at 20/1, and Venus Williams and Garbine Muguruza at 30/1 apiece.

Moving to the world of motorsports, the Daytona 500 isn’t getting nearly the same amount of betting attention as it used to. But with a two-week gap between the NFL Conference title games and Super Bowl XLIX, this year might be the time to get acclimated to the odds leading up to the Daytona 500 on February 22, 2015. With so many “favorites” getting, you know, favorable odds, you might cash in if you play your bets right.

At the moment, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is a short favorite with odds as low as 9/2 all the way up to 12/1. His list of competitors also demand some kind of attention, including Jimmie Johnson at 5/1 odds and as high as 12/1 odds. Matt Kenneth also has a decent chance. He’s being offered at 8/1 odds with some books opening him at the same 12/1 number as Junior and Kenneth. Then there’s Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, and Jeff Gordon. All three can also be bought at 12/1 odds at the right sportsbook.

The NFC Championship game was some kind of something else, wasn’t it? I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a game with a team having been shut out for two-and-half quarters roar to life and come back the way the Seattle Seahawks did to take that game from the Green Bay Packers. Incredible. It was arguably one of the most exciting finishes to any playoff game we’ve seen in a while. Some part of me still wonders how in God’s name did Green Bay choke that game away. Granted, miscues from their defense and special teams were largely responsible. But still, how the hell did they lose that game? It was like the football equivalent of the San Antonio Spurs choking away Game 6 of the NBA Finals to the Miami Heat.

You know what else was eerily similar between both games? Seahawks fans actually left before the comeback began! Sorry, fellas. You missed out on an epic finish. Too bad.

You know it was looking bad for the Seahawks when live betting odds on that game had them as high as 10/1 to win the game after Russell Wilson threw his fourth interception with a little over five minutes left in the game. If you picked that time to lay some wood on the Seahawks, then congratulations; you’re a certified betting savant.

Even those who put money on Seattle must’ve thought the game was in the books, leading me to wonder how many rushed to the trash can to retrieve those crumpled tickets they had thrown away earlier.

Unfortunately, the AFC Championship game wasn’t as exciting, but we did still see a whole lot of trickery from the New England Patriots. In the end, they probably didn’t have to do it after walloping the Indianapolis Colts, 45-7, to set up Super Bowl XLIX against the Seahawks.

It wasn’t at all surprising that New England is now being offered as the -1 favorites after the line actually opened with Seattle being -2.5 faves. But that spread was released before the Patriots bum-rushed the Colts. As soon as the AFC title game was getting out of hand, sportsbooks immediately flipped the tables to put New England as the short faves.

The good thing is that you don’t have to rush out of the house to bet on the game because Super Bowl XLIX is still two weeks away. What you should do is absorb as much about the game as you can. Be educated and when you feel the time is right, put money down on the game and the myriad of novelty bets that will undoubtedly be offered ahead of the game.

London, England.

Casino Kings, a brand new online casino house, has launched in London.

The site, casinokings.com, is a dedicated online casino offering that intends to compete in the iGaming marketplace through a diverse portfolio of online and mobile casino and slots games.

The site features over 240 online slot and casino titles released by some of the gaming world’s most popular developers. The games featured include releases from developing giants Microgaming, Thunderkick and NextGen Gaming, with many titles available across the site’s desktop and mobile platforms.

The popularity of online slots and casino games has exploded since the advent of mobile gaming. Casino Kings aims to take advantage of this continuing boom in the UK’s online gaming industry by offering mobile content that has mass appeal. The latest gaming releases take advantage of the superior graphics technology offered by today’s smartphones, making even the best games playable wherever the player may be.

Nathan Howes, Marketing Manager at Casino Kings, cites this accessibility as a key foundation for the site’s success.

“When we created Casino Kings we did so with a vision to give every 21st century gamer the power and the tools to play the best games available online wherever they were and whenever they wanted. This means ensuring top gaming titles from industry-leading developers are available not only on desktop but also across our mobile platform,” says Howes.

WPT President Adam Pliska: It’s The Best Job in the World Video

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Former World Series of Poker bracelet winner Darren Woods has been sentenced to 15-months behind bars for his online poker crimes.

A former World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner has been sentenced to 15-months behind bars, and ordered to pay back £1 million to the organizations, and players, that he duped during his crimes, after being found guilty of fraud by representation, in connection to online poker scams, at Sheffield Crown Court last week.

Darren Woods, 29, pleaded guilty to nine counts of fraud by false representation, after originally being charged, and maintaining his innocence, on 13 separate charges, and although 15-months is nowhere near the maximum sentence of 10-years, it’s still a victory for online poker.

The investigation into Woods behavior started in late 2011, when the Humberside Police’s Economic Crime Unit slapped a restraint order on him, and froze all of his assets. Woods, a one time 888Poker sponsored player, and Limit Hold’em coach on PokerStrategy, was in hot water after allegedly multi-accounting and creating bogus accounts to profit from affiliate payments.

Judge Paul Watson QC also ordered Woods to pay back £1m to those he had wronged, or else expect his jail sentence to be extended by a further six-years. Reports in the Grimsby Telegraph state £911,217 had been restrained, and Woods was ordered to pay £287,673 in compensation to an unnamed Gibraltar based gaming company, which would be used to pay back players that Woods had defrauded on their site. Police believe Woods made far more than the one million he is being asked to return.

Prosecutor Andrew West told the court: “At the moment, he has assets well in excess of £1.4 million.”

There is nothing, in either court reports of the Grimsby Telegraph reports that show any remorse coming from Woods, and the latter even ran with the headline: “Jailed Healing Poker Millionaire Darren Woods Insists: I’m Not the Criminal, I’m the Victim.”

BLUFF have decided that the February issue of their print magazine will be their last, as they roll out a 100% digital format in the forthcoming months.

BLUFF’s print magazine is heading the way of the Dodo. It’s a shame. Sadly, it’s progress. It’s inevitable, and a sign of the times. Technology is a wonderful thing, but a physical copy of a magazine is something else. The touch, the feel, the ability to roll it up and use it as a devastating weapon.

On Sunday, I went to the local casino to play in the £35 Freezeout event. There were copies of BLUFF magazine strewn all over the place. Everyone was reading a copy. It was their way in. A perfect way to stay current whilst drinking a cup of cold tea, talking nonsense, and folding their hands.

After February that will be all gone. But as Lance Bradley, Vice President of Content, explains – the view needs to change to one of excitement.

“The way our readership enjoys our content has changed and this really allows us to reach more of our target audience where the numbers show they’re reading us – via mobile devices and online.

“We will still produce the same features. We looked at Grantland as a content delivery model that would appeal to our readers and we believe that we can eventually become that for poker, producing more long-form and fun content than ever.”

It’s a sensible approach. People are using mobiles and tablet’s to read the news, and costs will reduce considerably, thus helping people stay employed for longer. I’m all for that.

The World Poker Tour announce plans to return to the Austrian capital of Vienna in the Spring of Season XIII.

The World Poker Tour (WPT) has announced plans to host a festival of European poker, as part of the Season XIII festivities, and the Austrian capital of Vienna has been selected as the host venue.

The event will be sponsored by partypoker, and the Austrian Festival of poker will be spread across 14-days Mar 12-17, with the WPT returning to their familiar Austrian casino partner: The Montesino Casino.

“World Poker Tour Vienna 2015 will be one of the biggest events ever held at the Montesino Poker Club with combined estimated prize pools up to €2,500,000. As well as hosting such a prestigious and renowned poker brand, what is extra special about this festival is the wide variety of buy-ins offering huge prizepools,” commented Karl Novak, CEO of the Montesino Vienna.

The wide variety of buy-ins that Novak refers to is thus:

€3,300 Main Event

€6,000 High Roller

South Korea plans to issue two more large-scale casino licenses in 2015 as part of a broader plan to boost the nation’s tourism industry. On Sunday, the Korea Herald reported that the ministries of Finance, Land and Tourism had come up with a plan they hope will attract KRW 8.5t (US $7.9b) in new investment.

Deputy minister of tourism Park Min-gwon said restrictions on building new integrated resorts with casinos “will be lifted so they can be built even inside free economic zones by both local and foreign investors.”

The government believes each of these new casinos will require at least KRW 1t ($925m) of new investment with development commencing as early as 2016. The government is also willing to provide KRW 1t of loans at low interest to enable the construction of 5k new hotel rooms by 2017. Last week, the government approved foreigner-only casinos on domestic cruise ships over 20k tons.

South Korea already has three large IR projects in the works. Two of these – the Paradise City joint venture of Paradise Group and Sega Sammy Holdings and the Caesars Entertainment/Lippo Group JV – have been earmarked for Yeongjongdo Island near the Incheon free economic zone. The Genting Singapore/Landing International Development JV plans to take root on Jeju island. Of these three, only Paradise City has so far put shovels in the ground.

Chow Tai Fook Enterprises has proposed its own $1b project in Incheon and Las Vegas Sands continues to make noise about building an “iconic” resort deep in the heart of the country’s capital Seoul. However, Sands has insisted that it won’t spend a penny until the country lifts its ban on locals entering casinos and on Sunday the government repeated its insistence that the new casinos will be accessible by foreign tourists only.

Further south, Vietnam’s government has taken another step toward authorizing a casino project on the island of Phu Quoc. In September, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung recognized the island as a second-tier urban area and the PM has now told the Ministry of Planning and the provincial People’s Committee to develop and submit the necessary casino regulations for his approval. Phu Quoc is located off the country’s southern coast, close to both Cambodia and Thailand.

THE AMERICAS

Caesars Entertainment finally bit the bullet and filed for bankruptcy despite a last minute intervention by angry junior creditors; Amaya Gaming said it was considering ditching its entire B2B business; New Jersey’s regulated online gambling market showed signs of life in December; Atlantic City revenue fell for the eighth straight year while Pennsylvania fell two years in a row; Penn National Gaming hired Betfred alum Chris Sheffield to steer its new online gambling course; California’s probe into alleged skimming at Casino M8trix worried online poker backers; New York’s gaming regulators reopened the tender for a Southern Tier casino; a Montreal police sergeant was accused of illegal bookmaking; New Jersey said daily fantasy sports was a greater threat to integrity than sports betting; Washington and Mississippi got new online gambling bills; the American Gaming Association welcomed increased federal scrutiny of Nevada sportsbooks while the sportsbooks lobbied for the right to offer Olympic wagers and CanAffco.com’s Gian Perroni discussed Break Out Gaming’s virtual currency plans.

EUROPE & AFRICA

PokerStars said its new sportsbook would launch before the end of Q1, allowed a glimpse at its data security practices and handed a Russian player $1m via Stars’ Spin & Go; the Czech Republic said it would impose a point of consumption tax on international online operators; South Africa’s gov’t said online gambling must remain a banned activity; Belgium banned operators from using live dealer studios based outside the country; GVC Holdings reported its sixth consecutive quarter of growth; Bwin.party shut down its social betting app while it negotiates a sale; Ladbrokes launched a new affiliate website and Laurent Malka told affiliates how to simplify traffic management; 13 operators expressed interest in a Cyprus casino license; Merkur Gaming appointed a new CEO; the UK’s point of consumption tax caused William Hill to scrap a race sponsorship and SBOBet’s Bill Mummery explained why the company walked away from the UK market.

ASIA

High-rollers’ share of Macau’s 2014 gaming revenue hit new lows and the David Group junket drastically downsized but good things are forecast for 2016 thanks to China’s growing mass market; Stanley Ho’s nephew was accused of running a major prostitution ring out of a Macau hotel; Melco Crown Entertainment unveiled its new Martin Scorsese commercials starring Leo Dicaprio and Robert De Niro; Thai police were accused of extorting money from a ring of South Korean online bookmakers; South Korea approved casino cruises; Koh Puis Investment Group pimped a new Cambodian casino project; Rafi Farber approved of Genting’s investments in the Philippines and Betcoin Tech’s Oron Barber and Ellon Arad discussed Bitcoin’s potential in Asia.

Eilers Research has released its Q4 social casino market share results, in which Caesars Interactive Entertainment (CIE) continues to enjoy its reputation as top dog. CIE held 21.2% of the social casino market, up slightly from its Q3 share. IGT’s DoubleDown Casino maintained its runner-up spot with 10.5%, while former titans Zynga managed to hold on to third place with 8.4%.

Churchill Downs Inc earned fourth place with 6.6% thanks to its recent acquisition of Big Fish Games. Sony (Bash/GSN) placed fifth with 6.5%, followed by Scientific Games and Boyaa (tied with 4.7% each), Tencent (4.3%), Playstudios (2.6%) and Aristocrat (2.5%), while the nameless hordes of ‘other’ firms accounted for the remaining 28.2%.

DIWIP RELEASE BEST CASINO SLOTS, EXTEND IMPERUS ACQUISITION DEADLINE

Social casino studio Diwip has yet to carve out its own distinct slice of the revenue pie but it hopes its recently launched Best Casino Slots for iOS will help. Diwip is primarily known for Facebook games but is hoping to mimic Zynga’s pullback from irrelevancy by putting more of an emphasis on mobile, including its previous mobile titles Slots Club and Best Casino Bingo. Diwip says an Android version of Best Casino Slots is in the pipeline.

Meanwhile, the acquisition of Diwip by Canadian firm Imperus Technologies still hasn’t closed. The deadline for sealing the $100m deal was recently extended to Jan. 30 after the firms “mutually agreed” that more time was needed. However, should the two parties fail to consummate their fiscal love by the end of the month, Diwip will be entitled to a $1.5m breakup fee.

OPENWAGER AND WIN2DAY TEAM UP ON SPINTOPIA

San Francisco-headquartered developer OpenWager Inc. has teamed with Austrian online casino outfit win2day to launch Spintopia, a social casino app for Android, iOS and Facebook Canvas. The ‘magical theme park’ app features a variety of win2day’s top-performing slots titles, with more games to be added in the future.

The latest prognosis for Macau casinos is dire in the short term, much more healthy in the long run. Speaking at this week’s Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Asia 2015 press conference at Melco Crown Entertainment’s City of Dreams resort, CLSA analyst Aaron Fischer said he expects Macau’s Q1 gaming revenue will be “among the worst months on record.”

Fischer expects Q1 revenue to fall 29%, with February being particularly grim given comparisons with February 2014, which enjoyed a 40% revenue surge. Fischer expects a further 20% fall in Q2 before things start to pick up in H2 as new properties by Melco Crown and Galaxy Entertainment Group open up. That said, the damage will have already been done, leaving 2015’s annual take down around 9%.

However, Fischer says 2016 will be “a fantastic year” thanks to more new venues opening. Fischer believes 2016 will likely enjoy a 22% year-on-year revenue boost over 2015 but Fischer cautioned that anyone expecting a return to the “glory days” of 40-50% annual growth would be sorely disappointed.

While casino operators will cheer a return to growth, Fischer says the upcoming casino concession renewal process could bring an increase in gaming revenue tax. Macau already has the region’s highest tax rate at 39%, but this may swell to 43%. If there’s any consolation, the first of these concession renewals doesn’t come due until 2020.

Fischer doesn’t expect any problems with the six current concessionaires getting their licenses renewed. Fischer said he’s heard rumors that Macau might issue a seventh concession to Macau Legend, which currently operates under a “service agreement” with concessionaire SJM Holdings, but Fischer nonetheless expects Macau regulators to maintain the status quo.

Fischer also suggested that there was “no chance at all” for any of the new Asian gaming jurisdictions to rival Macau’s market dominance, with the possible exception of Japan. Fischer referred to Japan as the “holy grail of opportunity” for casino operators, although he probably didn’t intend to imply that Japan’s likelihood of passing casino legislation was on par with the Monty Python knights’ chances of ever finding that mythical chalice.

MINISTRY OF PUBLIC SECURITY IN TOWN TO TALK UNIONPAY TRANSFERS

The Czech Republic wants to impose a point of consumption tax on international online gambling operators serving Czech punters. The Ministry of Finance is done looking under the sofa cushions and car seats so it’s asking internationally licensed gambling operators to turn out their pockets — 20% of revenue to start, maybe 30% later. The government justified the move as a way to reclaim the annual CZK 1b (US $41.4m) in tax revenue it believes these operators need to be anteing up.

For once, government projections may have some basis in reality. A bottleneck of online firms use the same WorldPay payment processor, giving the government a pretty good idea of how much money the operators take in versus how much they pay out. Local media outlet Hospodářské Noviny quoted Deputy Finance Minister Ondřej Závodský saying the government might not be able to “block these illegal movements” but that didn’t mean they couldn’t “monitor them in detail.”

The Czechs are in the process of overhauling their gambling sector, as recommended/urged/ordered by European Commission watchdogs. The government hopes to enact a new gambling regime – covering everything from online gambling to slot machines to lotteries – by early 2016. The changes include significant tax rate increases, replacing the existing 20% rate across all gambling types with a new variable rate ranging as high as 40% on live slot machine revenue.

International operators aren’t currently eligible to obtain Czech gaming licenses because they lack a physical presence in the country. The new regime that would expunge this requirement is still a year away but the government figures, why wait? The operators have cash, the government has needs… Let’s party!

Martin Lyčka, general counsel for UK-listed online betting operator Betfair, told Hospodářské Noviny that if the government made good on its vow, it was “likely” that companies like Betfair might choose to cash their Czechs and walk away. That would leave the market mostly to a few Czech-licensed online firms, including Fortuna and Tipsport.

It’s not just online firms taking it on the chin. Shortly before Christmas, the Czech city of Brno approved a blanket ban on gaming machines to take effect in 2015. The ban, which garnered the support of two-thirds of the city council, followed a vote last January that banned gaming machines in 23 city districts. That cut the number of gaming machines in the city from over 4,000 to around 1,500 and now the rest need to go. Brno is the Republic’s second-largest city and the largest to banish gaming machines since an April 2013 Constitutional Court ruling gave municipalities that power.

The newly renovated casino at South Korea’s Hyatt Regency Jeju Hotel will have its official grand opening on Sunday (18). The hotel is run by Hong Kong-listed property developer Landing International Development Ltd while the casino is owned by Grand Express Korea Co. Ltd., the 50/50 joint venture of Landing and the Hong Kong subsidiary of Malaysian conglomerate Genting Bhd.

The casino, which will operate under the Genting Jeju brand, will feature 26 baccarat tables, one blackjack table, one Tai Sai table, one roulette table and 16 electronic gaming machines. Landing says the casino “opens a new phase of the Group’s presence and participation in the Korean casino industry.” In December, Landing paid $112m to acquire control of the Alpensia casino at the Holiday Inn Resort in Pyeongchang in Gangwon-do province.

The $117m renovation of the Hyatt property was announced in November, marking the second project Landing has embarked upon in the Jeju region with a Genting subsidiary. Landing and Genting Singapore are still awaiting the regulatory nod to proceed with their proposed $2.2b Resorts World Jeju integrated resort, although the partners are optimistic their shovels will break ground sometime in Q2.

SOUTH KOREA CRUISE SHIP CASINOS ARE GO

Meanwhile, South Korean politicians have approved legislation to permit domestic cruise ship operators to offer casino gambling on board their vessels. On Monday, the National Assembly approved a bill that will allow casinos on ships weighing more than 20k tons, bringing closure to an issue that has been languishing in the Assembly since July 2013. As with 16 of South Korea’s 17 casinos, cruise ship gaming will only be accessible by foreign tourists.

The New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) opposition party had been against the bill over fears of gambling expansion. The Korea Herald reported that the NPAD’s support was finally secured after the ruling Saenuri Party agreed to approve legislation authorizing damage payments to the families of the victims killed in last April’s Sewol ferry tragecy.

High-rolling gamblers accounted for just 60.5% of Macau casinos’ overall gaming revenue in 2014, down from 73% in 2013. Figures released on Friday by Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) showed VIP revenue of MOP 212.54b in 2014, down 11% from the previous year. Macau reported an overall revenue decline of 2.6% in 2014, the first annual decline since the special administrative region began releasing financial data in 2002.

Were it not for respectable showings in H1 2014, the VIP decline would have been much worse. Figures for the fourth quarter show VIP revenue down 29%, mirroring December’s record-setting 30.4% overall revenue decline. Macau’s seven-months-and-counting revenue slide is primarily the result of VIPs giving Macau a wide berth so as not to get caught in the headlights of China’s crackdown on corruption.

On the plus side, Macau’s mass-market sector (including slots) saw its revenue rise 13.7% in 2014, despite a 16.2% revenue decline in Q4. Slots revenue all on its own nudged up a mere 0.4% to MOP 14.4b in 2014, just 4% of the overall revenue pie.

The number of gaming tables in action in Q4 was 5,711, down 39 units from Q4 2013. The ranks of active slots fell by 88 to 13,018 machines.

Revenue from ‘live multi-game’ tables – which seat dozens of mass-market gamblers and utilize live dealers and electronic bet settlement – earned MOP 2.26b in 2014, which seems a pittance but represents a 51.7% gain over 2013’s total.

Macau’s greyhound and horseracing revenue experienced a downturn in 2014, falling 18.5% and 16% respectively. The 2014 FIFA World Cup helped boost Macau Slot‘s football sports lottery sales up over 29% to MOP 598m while basketball sales fell 8% to MOP 138m despite a nearly 15% rise in betting turnover.

Regional casino operator Penn National Gaming has decided to get into the online gambling business. The company, which operates 26 facilities in 16 US states and one Canadian province, has appointed Chris Sheffield (pictured) to the newly created position of Senior Vice President Managing Director I-Gaming.

Sheffield, a former managing director of digital at UK bookies Betfred, will help Penn prepare for “the launch of online gaming initiatives across its portfolio.” Sheffield joined Betfred in March 2011 following a seven-year stint as CEO of Million-2-1 Limited, a mobile gaming outfit Sheffield founded and which was acquired by gaming device maker International Game Technology in June 2008.

Sheffield will report directly to Penn CEO Timothy Wilmott, who praised Sheffield’s “technical background, extensive executive and operational management experience and broad knowledge of the online and mobile gaming world.” Wilmott put no timeline on when Penn’s online efforts might appear, saying only that the company would make its move into the digital realm “over the coming years.”

Of the 16 US states in which Penn operates, only two – Nevada and New Jersey – currently allow some form of regulated online gambling. Of the other states in which Penn has a presence, Pennsylvania and Illinois have done the most flirting with the notion of instituting some kind of regulated online gambling regime, but neither state has yet to move a bill past the informational hearing stage.

Penn is set to release its annual revenue report card on Jan. 29. In its Q3 results, the company reported revenue of $645.9m and adjusted earnings of $65.7m for the three months ending Sept. 30.

The American Gaming Association (AGA) says it welcomes plans by the US Treasury Department’s financial watchdog to more closely monitor transactions at Nevada sportsbooks. Shortly before Christmas, Reuters reported that the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) would require sportsbooks to report transactions that raised certain ‘red flags.’

In a Dec. 24 letter to AGA CEO Geoff Freeman, FinCEN Policy Division Associate Director Jamel El-Hindi made it clear that that the focus was on so-called ‘messenger’ bets, in which a bettor places a wager with a sportsbook on behalf of a third party. El-Hindi claimed such bets were “facilitating criminal activity and posing a money laundering risk to the US financial system.”

El-Hindi said FinCEN believed casinos were “under the impression that unless specifically directed to do so, a casino never has to ask a patron whether he or she is betting on his or her own behalf or on behalf of another party.” FinCEN had reached out to the AGA ‘to correct any such misperception.”

In response, Freeman released a statement saying the AGA “welcomes continued guidance from FinCEN to guard against attempts to use casinos for money laundering and illicit financing.” Freeman said AGA casinos “routinely look for suspicious bets at sports books,” with the possible exception of all those times that they didn’t.

MONTREAL COP PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO BOOKMAKING

On Friday, Montreal police Sgt. André Thibodeau appeared in court to address the 11 charges he’s facing as a result of Thursday’s takedown of a Mafia-linked illegal sports betting operation. Thibodeau, a 25-year veteran of the force who has been suspended without pay, pled not guilty to charges of bookmaking, breach of trust, obstruction of justice, gangsterism and knowingly making people commit (directly or indirectly) a criminal offence.

ADAM MEYER’S ‘VICTIM A’ UNVEILED

California Assemblyman Mike Gatto has offered a few amendments to his AB 9 online poker legislation. Gatto has proposed making it a felony to offer online poker to California residents without a state-issued license and suggested the scrapping of a requirement for in-person account registrations at state casinos and card clubs.

This latter requirement, originally intended to offer smaller establishments the opportunity to participate in the state’s regulated online poker market and also as a way of ensuring no underage individuals could open accounts, was widely criticized from the start as both unwieldy and unnecessary.

Gatto told CaliforniaOnlinePoker.com that he’d decided to make in-person registration “an option rather than a requirement.” Gatto said the change came following discussions with security experts and the poker community. Gatto acknowledged that technology currently in operation in states like New Jersey had proven more than capable of verifying the identity of registrants.

ALLEGED CORRUPTION IN CASINO M8TRIX PROBE WORRIES POKER PROPONENTS

Meanwhile, the ongoing probe into alleged profit skimming at the Casino M8trix card club may make California’s passage of online poker legislation even more of an uphill climb. Last spring, the Bureau of Gambling Control (BGC) accused M8trix owners Eric Swallow and Peter and Jeanine Lunardi of cooking the books to make it appear that the San Jose gaming joint wasn’t making any money, depriving the state of tax revenue while diverting tens of millions of dollars into the owners’ pockets.

In December, state Attorney General Kamala Harris formally accused Bob Lytle – the former head of the BGC who subsequently took a job as M8trix’s compliance officer – of receiving confidential information on the BGC’s M8trix investigation from a BGC agent. (Harris didn’t identify the agent but tribal gaming writer Dave Palermo identified him as James Parker.) Prior to leaving the BGC, Lytle also allegedly pressured agents to scale back investigations into M8trix.

Harris claimed Lytle’s receipt of this confidential info had “potentially compromised the effectiveness and undermined the integrity” of the BGC’s investigation. Harris wants to fine Lytle and revoke his ability to serve as a key employee and partner in two Sacramento card clubs, the Tavern at Stones Gambling Hall and Saloon at Stones Gambling Hall. Lytle told Gambling Compliance that he’s looking forward to a hearing on the matter in order to prove that he “didn’t do anything wrong.”