Morris Bailey, the owner of Atlantic City’s Resorts Casino Hotel, says New Jersey gaming regulators are close to approving PokerStars’ online gambling license application.

Bailey (pictured) made the comments on Thursday at the launch of his property’s new iGaming Lounge, which he claims is the first such digitally-dedicated environment in an AC casino. The Lounge, located just off the casino floor, aims to help educate technophobic gamblers of how online gambling works and to enable gamblers to sign up for Resorts’s new online casino site.

Thursday marked the official launch of ResortsCasino.com. The SNG Interactive-powered casino site earned $154k in March, its first full month of operations since taking its first wager in late February.

The online site has yet to launch a poker vertical because its online poker partner PokerStars has yet to receive a transactional waiver from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE). There are plenty of theories as to what has delayed the DGE from making a decision regarding Stars’ future, many of them centering around Gov. Chris Christie’s alleged unwillingness to piss off certain anti-online casino bosses who might retaliate by refusing to fund Christie’s presidential aspirations.

Online gaming software company Microgaming awards €5.4 million ($5.7 million), one of its biggest mobile jackpot prizes last week.

The breakthrough moment arrived to a player identified as Mark A, who was playing on RoyalVegasCasino.com when Micograming’s Mega Moolah progressive slots jackpot rang on his mobile device.

“We’ve been watching the progressive ticker grow substantially over the last few weeks; anticipation was building as to when it was going to strike,” Microgaming head of casino John Quinn said. “Once again the jackpot was hit via a mobile device; it really is a sign of today’s industry and how prevalent mobile is.”

“One of our senior VIP executive hosts had the pleasure of phoning Mark to confirm the win and to congratulate him; to say he was elated is an understatement.”a spokesperson from Royal Vegas said. “Everyone here at Royal Vegas would like to congratulate Mark on this mammoth and historic win.

Sportsbook software provider OpenBet posts a new record,  handling 19,300,000 total sports bets on the Grand National race across all channels.

OpenBet, which processes transactions for the likes of William Hill, Ladbrokes, Coral and Paddy Power handled 45,000 bets-per-minute and 54 million account transactions on April 11, an increase of 24% from last year’s Aintree showpiece.

The bets placed on mobile devices during the 2015 Grand National also saw an increase, with an average of 63% of all remote bets being made via the channel; compared to 54% in 2014.

CEO Jeremy Thompson-Hill said that the power and reliability of the OpenBet platform meant that it was able to accommodate the surge in activity and support its growing partner eco-system without any downtime.

The second day of iGaming North America 2015 was a success with plenty of networking, full sessions, excellent speakers and more than enough food.

This morning we were treated to keynote speaker Joel Comm, a New York Times best selling author, reality TV show host and internet marketing expert.  Comm shared his simple four steps to success when it comes to securing a new paying customer:

1)Like me

2)Know me

SiGMA15 is organizing an opportunity for the gaming industry to meet fellow c-level executives with a “drinks after work” concept on April 17 at Tapaz, St. Julian’s—right after work, before drive time, and before the weekend.

This is where details of SiGMA2015 will be unveiled—the conference topics, the new attractions being included for 2015 as well as the various exhibition and sponsorship opportunities. The event will include short, keynote speeches by the MGA COO Heathcliff Farrugia as well as Parliamentary Secretary for iGaming Jose Herrera.

Delegates can also pick up a hard copy of the second publication of SiGMAgazine.

Here’s the schedule:

Developer Belle Corp. has expressed interest in bidding for new casino licenses once the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) decides to further expand the market.

Belle CFO Manuel Gana made the disclosure to ABS-CBN News, saying that the real estate arm of parent company SM Group would be aggressive in pursuing new licenses if the opportunity presents itself.

“We’re interested in bidding for any casinos outside Metro Manila, but Pagcor hasn’t made that decision yet,” Gana added.

PAGCOR is on record saying that no licenses will be offered until all four projects in Entertainment City are completed. Two more projects—Tiger Resorts’ Manila Bay Resorts and Travellers International’s Resorts World Bayshore—are still under development with completion tentatively set for 2018.

Chinese real estate developer Landing International Development Ltd. plans to open a fund-raising exercise for the company’s future financing needs.

In a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Landing says it has officially begun preliminary discussions with financial institutions and shareholders on the possible move. The company clarified that the discussions are still in their initial stages and are subject to further negotiations.

Landing posted a loss of around $43 million in 2014. The amount was largely attributed to expansion costs incurred through Genting Jeju, its newly acquired resort and casino business in South Korea with 50-50 partner Genting Singapore. Landing and Genting have invested close to $2.2 billion on the project

Over in Vietnam, the country’s Ministry of Construction has asked Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung to approve a relocation of the planned integrated resort and casino on Phu Quoc island.

New York bookie Joseph Ruff has been sentenced to 41 months in prison for his illegal sports betting activity.

The 32-year-old Ruff, who was arrested by federal authorities last June, pled guilty in December to charges of illegal gambling, money laundering conspiracy and extortion. The credit betting ring took wagers via password-protected websites while processing $76m in betting handle via FedEx, bank deposits or in person at the Marina Restaurant and Bar in Charlotte.

On Wednesday, Chief US District Judge Frank Geraci Jr. handed Ruff 41 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Ruff also agreed to forfeit over $1.3m of his ill-gotten gains. Tough, but better than Ruff’s brother Mark, who received a nine-year sentence earlier this year. Charges against the brothers’ accomplice Paul Borrell are pending.

Ruff’s case made headlines after word leaked that National Hockey League player Thomas Vanek was among Ruff’s clients. Vanek wasn’t a particularly good sports bettor, at one point endorsing a $230k New York Islanders paycheck to partially cover his gambling debts. There’s no evidence that Vanek ever bet on NHL games with Ruff, so we’re sure this next item is completely coincidental.

The Pennsylvania House Gaming Oversight Committee has urged congress to oppose the Restoration of America’s Wire Act, by passing HR140 ahead of crucial iGaming talks set to take place on Thursday of this week.

The state of Pennsylvania is not prepared to stand idle in the battlefield as Jason Chaffetz and Sheldon Adelson pelt them with hypocritical rhetoric. The men and women of the House Gaming Oversight Committee have their shields raised, have dipped their arrows in tar, and are preparing to fire.

In late February, Representative John D. Payne, penned a house resolution designed to urge the Congress of the United States to place HR 707 (Restoration of America’s Wire Act (RAWA)) in the trash, along with any other pieces of legislation demanding States right to rule their own roost is taken away from them.

Today it’s online gambling, tomorrow who knows?

Daniel ‘danshreddies’ O’Callaghan joins Team PKR after becoming the first player in history to make back-to-back final tables of PKR Live Main Events.

27-year old Daniel O’Callaghan has been signed to represent PKR Team Pro after winning the 2015 PKR Live London Main Event for £19,000. The Hartlepool native, who plays under the pseudonym danshreddies, became the first player to make back-to-back PKR Live Main Event final tables in late March. His signing has been made public in the past few days.

O’Callaghan defeated 280 players at the PKR Live Main Event at Aspers casino in Stratford. In 2014, he was runner-up to Jeff Kimber in the same event. He has now earned over $50,000 in live tournament earnings, with those two PKR Live Main Event finishes resulting in his two best scores.

PKR has not signed him because of his live tournament prowess. That’s not the way they do business. What I love about PKR is how they look after their own. O’Callaghan has been a loyal servant at PKR since 2008. He has earned over $150,000 in online tournament winnings, and is a regular contributor to their PKR strategy section. He also has his own Twitch channel.

Multiple World Series of Poker gold ring winner Chan Pelton puts his World Series ban behind him to pick up the win at the Card Player Poker Tour Main Event in Choctaw, and Jason Mirza takes down the Mid-Stakes Poker Tour in Potawatomi.

It was a little over a year ago that Chan Pelton went from hero to zero, after being found guilty of removing a T25, 000 chip from his stack, when heads-up for his third World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) gold ring, in a side event at the WSOPC stop at the Palm Beach Kennel Club (PBKC).

It was an act that would prove very costly to Pelton. He would go on to win that event, but both the WSOP and PBKC came down heavy on the young man. His victory was revoked, his seat at the WSOP National Championships removed, his prize money handed to someone else, and worse of all, he was banned from the PBKC and all Caesars properties indefinitely.

With the WSOPC beyond his reach, Pelton continued to earn a living playing on the Card Player Poker Tour (CPPT). He has cashed in eight events, since being found guilty of that rule breach, including six final tables and a solitary victory in the recent event at Choctaw, Durant.

What’s new and exciting about GiGse this year is the “Open Space” concept that will be applied to some of the session blocks, a first for the online gambling industry.

Open Space allows for the attendees to shape the discussion around a central theme on the day and encourages active participation from everyone in the room.  “Thought leaders” have been assigned to each Open Space session to manage the topics covered and to lead smaller group discussions.

For the upcoming GiGse, Clarion has organized a conference schedule featuring a mixture of old-fashioned presentations and panels with the addition of these blocks of time each day dedicated to Open Space style discussion.

Seeing as I have yet to experience the wonders of Open Space, I’ll leave it to you to decide which ones to attend and I will focus my top five recommendations on the available panels and presentations at the event.

Lee Davy continues his confessions series by delving into the difficulty of writing about the passing of a member of the poker community.

Death has been on my mind a lot recently. I’m 40, and as I age so does everyone else. For many years I avoided the Grim Reaper. My Mum turned 60 this weekend, and my Dad is only 63. They are mere pups in my eras demographic of parents.

Both my mother and father are not exactly pillars of health. Until very recently, both have smoked for many years, spent enough hours in the pub to make me worry about their alcohol consumption, lead very sedentary lifestyles, and eat a lot of the wrong things.

By contrast I am the complete opposite. I don’t drink, smoke, lead an active lifestyle, and am a vegan. I also coach people to change their lifestyle habits, so they can give themselves the best chance of having a long and healthy lifestyle. But try as I might I cannot influence my parents one iota.

South Korean casino operator Grand Korea Leisure (GKL) is exploring the idea of opening a new casino on Yeongjong Island but has denied reports it is planning a joint venture with US tribal casino operator Mohegan Sun.

Earlier this week, the Korean Economic Daily reported GKL would team with Mohegan Sun on a KRW 1t (US $912m) casino resort project near the Incheon Free Economic Zone (FEZ). The pairing would have represented the Connecticut-based casino operator’s first foray into the Asian market, but alas, GKL says there’s no truth to the reports – at least, not yet.

On Wednesday, GKL released a statement saying it was conducting a “feasibility study and many other kinds of research” regarding the Yeongjong project “but nothing has been decided, including any business partners or investors.” GKL confirmed that Mohegan Sun representatives had visited GKL’s offices but said this was nothing more than a courtesy call.

True or not, GKL’s Incheon project was said to involve 250 gaming tables, 1,500 electronic gaming machines, 1k hotel rooms and a 20k-seat concert arena. GKL currently operates three small foreigner-only casinos in South Korea under the Seven Luck brand and is known to be looking at expansion opportunities. The publicly traded GKL is an affiliate of the Korea Tourism Organization, a state-run tourism agency.

Struggling casino operator Caesars Entertainment is close to a deal with federal authorities regarding the company’s anti-money laundering (AML) lapses.

In October 2013, Caesars announced it was under investigation over potential money laundering activities at its Caesars Palace property in Las Vegas. This February, Caesars announced it had gone outside the company to hire a new AML compliance watchdog to help keep Caesars on the straight and narrow.

On Wednesday, Reuters reported that the US Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) was close to slapping Caesars with a civil penalty. The specifics haven’t been revealed, but it appears that no Caesars exec will be getting the boot, despite a source calling the AML lapses “very serious.”. A parallel investigation by the US Department of Justice will reportedly not result in further sanctions on Caesars.

Details on what sparked the AML investigation have never been spelled out but Reuters’ sources said the feds were alerted by Caesars’ failure to properly police sportsbook activity and to prevent illegal betting rings from placing wagers.