Italy‘s online gambling market was basically flat in 2014, despite the addition of new sports betting options.

The fifth annual study of Italy’s regulated online gambling market by the Milan Polytechnic says total revenue in 2014 came to €728m, up just 0.4% from the year before. The government’s share of this bounty rose 1% to €167m. Mobile wagering accounted for 14% of total revenue, twice the figure from 2013.

Sports betting rose 11% to €214m thanks to the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the introduction of exchange betting and the ongoing expansion of other sports wagering options. The relaxation of restrictions on in-play wagers in the last quarter of 2014 is credited with boosting the year’s sports betting revenue by nearly €23m.

Online slots rose 27% to €147m while casino table games fell 10% to €110m. Online poker revenue fell 20% to €178m, the third consecutive year of declines, as cash games fell 21% to €108m and tournament revenue was down 18% to just under €70m. Other verticals ranked as follows: bingo (€27.1m), virtual betting (€10m), horseracing (€9.9m), skill games (€9.3m) and online lotteries (€5.5m)

Romania’s national lottery is bracing for a potential scandal that could ensnare a local subsidiary of Greek gaming technology firm Intralot.

On Wednesday, Reuters reported that Romanian prosecutors had launched an investigation of Loteria Romana CNLR and Intralot subsidiary Lotrom SA. The investigation is focusing on the use of 6,264 slot machines prosecutors believe were operating without license or authorization between 2006 and 2014.

Prosecutors have suggested the illegal slots could have deprived the state of 463.4m lei (US $111m) in tax revenue during that time span, although they cautioned that the sum was a “preliminary” number. Prosecutors have yet to publicly reveal the names of any individuals deemed to be persons of interest in the investigation.

Prosecutors claimed to have frozen the bank accounts of the two companies under investigation. Neither company has made a public statement on the investigation but Loteria Romania told Reuters its financial accounts hadn’t been blocked.

Major League Baseball (MLB) won’t let its players participate in daily fantasy sports (DFS) contests involving baseball if those contests involve the chance to win a prize.

One week after MLB significantly expanded its relationship with DFS operator DraftKings, ESPN reported that the league had reached a deal with its players’ association to restrict players’ DFS activities. Players will still be allowed to participate in DFS baseball contests provided there’s no chance to win something of value. There are also no restrictions on participating in non-baseball DFS contests and players retain the right to enter into endorsement deals with DFS baseball sites.

At this week’s IMG World Congress in Los Angeles, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred attempted to split hairs by saying that, while he doesn’t view DFS as gambling, players who enter DFS baseball contests for prizes will be subject to discipline under Rule 21, which deals with gambling issues.

Specifically, Rule 21 threatens players with a one-year ‘ineligible’ status for betting on any baseball game in which they’re not involved and a ‘permanently ineligible’ designation for betting on any game in which they’re directly involved. That latter designation is what’s keeping former Cincinnati Reds great Pete Rose out of the Hall of Fame.

Louisiana representative Joe Lopinto has filed a bill, for the upcoming legislative session, that would legalize playing real-money fantasy football in the state.

As more and more US states open themselves up to daily fantasy sports sites that offer play-for-cash fantasy sports, Lopinto hopes that the state can join in on the fun soon. But doing so would require an amendment to the state’s current laws.

Lopinto told WWTL in Louisiana that the bills isn’t looking to create a major overhaul of the state’s gambling laws, but simply seek clarification that fantasy sports is not a form of gambling, but is actually a game of skill.

“We’re not betting on the outcome of a game or a point spread. Fantasy Football is a game of skill,” said Lopinto.

Australia’s Federal Trade Minister Andrew Robb is putting the full-court pressure on the development of the multi-billion-dollar Aquis project, saying it needs to be accelerated “by whatever means.”

Speaking with ABC Australia after meeting with tourism leaders in Cairns, Robb said that approval from the Queensland government needs to be obtained as soon as possible. Robb suggested that shouldn’t be difficult since the project has already cleared approvals from the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).

Robb added that Aquis’ backer Tony Fung‘s ambition of turning the region into a prime tourist destination is starting to take shape.

“He’s making huge investments into convention centers there,” said the trade minister. “It’s going to be of enormous benefit, thousands of jobs and lots of opportunity and it will be a magnet for other investment.”

Jordan Spieth put himself in pole position at the 2015 Masters with a scintillating first round and in the process, he’s just given sportsbooks a lot of reasons to be concerned.

The fourth-ranked golfer in the world had everything go his way in the first round of the tournament, crushing Augusta on his way to posting an 8-under par score in the first 18 holes of the tourney. The 21-year old did set a record, becoming the youngest golfer to lead the prestigious major after the first round. While all of that is great for Spite’s narrative heading into the final three rounds of the event, sportsbooks who opened his chances at 10/1 odds are now pacing uncomfortably at the looming possibility that they could be in for a huge loss should Spieth end up winning the tournament.

First of all, taking bets in golf is always a risky proposition for sportsbooks. The odds on the golfers are like futures props in professional sports leagues, except that instead of having full seasons to adjust and modify odds, sportsbooks have three days to do it. It’s not uncommon for long shots to rise up the field and become favorites after a successful first round of a tournament. Sometimes, the odds evolve slowly as a golfer slowly moves up the ranks in the first three rounds of a tournament, putting himself in contention to win the tournament in the final round. Remember Webb Simpson? He won the 2012 US Open as a 50/1 long shot at the start of the tournament. Entering the final round, sportsbooks were still offering odds as high as 28/1.

Spite actually opened as one of the favorites so at least oddsmakers had the foresight to keep his odds in check. But what books didn’t expect was the rush of bets they took in on Spieth in the days leading up to the Masters. Of all the golfers with posted odds, Spieth was the most bet-on contender leading up the tournament. More bettors took a shot on the rising star than those who put money on tourney favorite Rory McIlroy, who finished seven shots back at 1-under par after the first round.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi yesterday denied reports that Wei Seng “Paul Phua” has been convicted in Malaysia.

“According to police records, Paul Phua Wei Seng does not have past criminal record,” Zahid said in a written parliamentary response to Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo.

In January, independent news outfit Malaysiakini reported that Phua was arrested in Sarawak Malaysia in 2004 and convicted for his involvement in an illegal betting scheme during the European Championship soccer tournament and was slapped with a hefty fine and left the country soon after his conviction.

The report also said that Phua was even barred from re-entering the country during the World Cup in 2008.

Lee Davy gets you up to speed with a week that saw the poker community lose one of its founding members, Dave ‘Devilfish’ Ulliot; David Baazov debut at number one in the 2015 BLUFF Power 20; Alex Dreyfus revealing more details surrounding the Global Poker League, and much more.

We start this weeks round up with news of sadness.

Dave ‘Devilfish’ Ulliot passed away, at the age of 61, after losing his battle against bowel and liver cancer. His wife Anpaktita and his eight children survive him.

The media coverage of his passing shows what most poker insiders have known for decades. Devilfish was a true star. Very few poker players have the character to transcend poker. The knuckle-duster wearing entertainer was one of them to the very end.

A retired New York City police sergeant has been convicted for acting as a dealer at illegal poker games on Staten Island.

On Thursday, 55-year-old Ralph Mastrantonio (pictured left) was convicted in a Brooklyn federal courthouse on charges of illegal gambling and conspiracy for his work at a poker den dubbed Fifth Street. The floating operation was professionally run, with printed game schedules and branded ‘Fifth Street’ poker chips.

Police sent an undercover detective equipped with a hidden video camera to document the goings-on, then shut down the operation in June 2011. Police arrested 15 individuals, most of whom eventually reached plea deals with federal prosecutors that resulted in probationary sentences.

The Queen’s District Attorney caught wind of the game after getting a tip that Richard Palase, a New York City police detective, was associating with organized crime figures at the games. Palase pled guilty to illegal gambling on Feb. 11 and is awaiting sentencing.

Macau’s casino revenue crisis is providing opportunities for casino entrepreneurs on the Chinese mainland, leading to the recent arrest of an all-female gang of would-be casino bosses.

According to Shanghai media outlet ThePaper.cn, police in Jinhua City in Zhejiang province raided an illegal gambling den late last month after receiving a tipoff from neighbors. Inside the private residence, police found 34 people, all of them female, most of them over 40 years old. Seven of the 34 were arrested and charged with organizing illegal gambling, while the other 27 were released after receiving “appropriate administrative penalties.”

Police confiscated around RMB 150k (US $24k) in cash from the gaming tables during their raid. The women getting their gamble on were not only of a certain age but also a certain demographic, judging by the fleet of BMW, Porsche and other luxury automobiles parked on the street outside the gambling den.

The authorities believe the gambling den first opened its doors in December. When asked why they’d embarked on their life of crime, the seven ringleaders said they were looking for some way of livening up their privileged but desperately dull lives.

Social and mobile gaming companies are ever more dependent on so-called ‘whales,’ who make up a tiny fraction of the overall player base but can account for two-thirds of gaming revenue.

San Francisco-based mobile marketing automation firm Swrve recently released its 2015 Mobile Monetization Report, which crunched the data of 20m free-play mobile gamers across 40 different game titles during the month of January.

The data shows that just 2.3% of all players made an in-app purchase with real-money, or what gaming firms refer to as ‘bookings.’ Even more staggering, a mere 0.23% of players accounted for 64% of bookings revenue.

Social gaming’s reliance on ‘whales’ has long been recognized, but Swrve’s data is even more startling than the 2012 Macquarie Securities report which showed 0.5% of Zynga players accounted for 70% or more of the company’s non-advertising revenue.

A US-based investment group and a Macau casino junket operator want to build two new resort casinos in the Philippines.

Sino-American Gaming Investment Group, which is controlled by Denver-based Riskwise Group, has teamed with Macau VIP gaming promoter Macau Resources Group, which operates a VIP room at Galaxy Macau, on a pair of casinos in the Philippines. The companies plan to spend up to $1b on the two properties, one of which would be built on the island province of Cebu and the other near a proposed airport on the island of Napayawan in Masbate province.

Sino-American Gaming managing director Michael Foxman told Reuters that the group would enlist hotel chain Banyan Tree to assist the development. Project backers are also looking to recruit the Marriott hotel group and an unidentified Las Vegas company to provide ‘entertainment.’

Francis Hernando, VP of gaming licensing at national regulator PAGCOR, acknowledged receiving letters of intent from the companies but offered no assurance that the plans would receive regulatory approval. PAGCOR has its hands full overseeing the growth of its Entertainment City resort casino hub in Manila. There are currently two Entertainment City casinos already taking bets – Bloomberry Resorts’ Solaire Resort Casino and Melco Crown Entertainment’s City of Dreams Manila – with two more set to open in the next few years.

Former sports betting tout Adam Meyer is back in jail after breaching the terms of his bail agreement.

Meyer, who headed up the Real Money Sports prediction service, was arrested in December and charged with federal extortion, fraud and weapons charges. Meyer stands accused of extorting over $25m from Wisconsin businessman Gary Sadoff, who claims Meyer threatened him with a pistol unless he gave Meyer more money.

Meyer was released on $1m bail after pleading not guilty in January but promptly failed four court-ordered drug tests. Meyer was subsequently ordered to enroll in an in-patient drug rehabilitation program but Meyer was ejected from this program last month after he was caught using a cellphone he’d smuggled into the facility. According to Gregory Haanstad, Assistant US Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Meyer also violated his bail conditions by visiting a Hard Rock casino in Florida, where Meyer lives.

At a Thursday bail hearing, the 43-year-old Meyer denied having visited the casino and claimed he hadn’t failed a drug test in six weeks. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported that Meyer claimed he needed the cell phone to offer emotional support to his 18-year-old daughter and that he’d since been re-admitted to the treatment facility.

Amaya Gaming has sold its Chartwell and Cryptologic software divisions to NYX Gaming Group for C$150m (US $119m), capping off the Canadian gaming firm’s strategy of ridding itself of its B2B operations.

On Thursday, Amaya announced it had reached a deal with NYX to sell 100% of the shares in Amaya’s software operations, which boast around 300 game titles. The two software outfits reported revenue of $17.4m and an earnings loss of $7.8m in the 12 months ending Dec. 31, 2014. The new expanded NYX game library will now consist of around 650 titles.

The deal contains a plan to enter into a six-year preferred supplier licensing agreement via which NYX will provide certain casino gaming content to Amaya’s PokerStars and Full Tilt websites. Amaya has committed to paying NYX a minimum of $12m per year in each of the first three years of the deal.

The software sale is expected to close before the end of Q3 2015. As with its previous B2B dispositions, Amaya intends to use the proceeds to either pay down debt or repurchase its own shares. Amaya sold its Cadillac Jack gaming device operation to American Gaming Systems last week, shortly after announcing plans to spin off its Diamond Game Enterprises lottery business via an initial public offering.