It was a somber week at the On Deck office (of one). Roger Federer was my bet to win the Australian Open and he got bounced out early. I hadn’t even had the time to process that when Kobe Bryant reportedly suffered yet another season-ending injury. Then just when it couldn’t get any worse, Josh Gordon, my fantasy hero from 2013, will reportedly get a one-year suspension after testing positive for, wait for it, alcohol. Alcohol! I didn’t even know you could get busted for testing positive for alcohol!

I know what you’re thinking. No opinions on Deflategate? Don’t worry, I do have an opinion but I’m saving it for a separate piece. That one deserves its own 800 words.

Anyway, let’s start with Federer, who I (foolishly) backed ahead of the Australian Open. I probably drank too much of that 1,000th match win Kool Aid, so shame on me, right? Who knew that little known Andreas Seppi would boot out the current world number 2 player in the third round of the Aussie Open. I certainly didn’t see it coming, but it did seem like Roger was out of his game throughout that third round match. Chalk it up to age or just having a bad day at the court, but c’mon Roger! You shouldn’t be losing to Seppi in any match, let alone a third round match in the year’s first Grand Slam!

As usual, Federer was gracious in defeat, even referring to the Seppi draw as one he “quietly feared.” You don’t normally read into these sorts of things, especially considering that Federer has a spotless record against Seppi (10-0 before their Aussie clash) and that his past performances at the tournament usually meant that you already had him booked at a seat in the semi-finals, a spot he found himself in every year since 2003.

But it wasn’t meant to be, which is probably the most apt way to describe Federer’s early exit in the tournament. Now, is it possible to get my stakes back?

Federer may have had a rough weekend, but at least he’s still healthy enough to play. The same, unfortunately, cannot be said for one Kobe Bryant, who, according to reports, will likely miss the rest of the NBA season after tearing his rotator cuff. Kobe actually had the injury earlier in the pre-season, but gamely played through it even if his Lakers have languished in mediocrity for the entire year. It’s possible that his early action slowly aggravated the injury, but one thing we do know is that it’s going to be another tough road back for the Black Mamba. Hopefully, he recovers from this latest setback and returns stronger than ever.

It’s tough to ask, especially after suffering through two season-ending injuries in the past two seasons. But if anybody’s up to it, it’s Kobe Bryant. I’ve never been a fan of Kobe until the past few years, but you have to appreciate what he’s done to the game of basketball and ending his career like this isn’t the proper send-off we should have for the future first-ballot

Gaming machines manufacturer Interblock has taken steps to change its leadership after hiring John Connelly, former executive committee member of Bally Technologies, to become its next global chief executive officer. Connelly’s background in the US and international gaming industries will serve him well as he assumes the role of overseeing the company’s business endeavors in North America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region.

Connelly’s tenure in Bally began in 2004 and in the decade since, he has held a variety of roles within the company, including time spent as vice president of international business and more recently, as senior vice president of business development and interactive. On top of his roles at Bally, Connelly also had senior roles at GTECH and Automated Wagering International, which is now part of Scientific Games.

“I am honored to be given this opportunity to join such a dynamic and ambitious organization, with a clear and focused mission to provide the casino sector with the necessary products to remain competitive,” Connelly said in a statement.

Interblock owner and chairman Joc Pececnik also commented on the hiring of Connelly, lauding the new CEO’s “vision, focus, and experience” in the industry and expressing his confidence that Connelly’s leadership would help achieve Interblock’s expectations in the future.

Meanwhile, UK independent machine operator the IOA Group went through its own management reshuffling after John Powell stepped down from his chairman role within the company after serving in that capacity for the last 15 years. Taking Powell’s place will be Paul Langham, who already has 40 years of experience in the industry. Langham is the current  managing director of operating firm Town & County Leisure.

“I’m honored to be leading the IOA, an organization which continues to raise the bar in machine operating and is a standard bearer for professionalism and dedication,” Langham said in a statement.

“Having worked alongside John Powell for more years than we both probably care to remember, I know only too well the amount of time and insight he has dedicated to the IOA and it is fair to say that the vast majority of the success we have enjoyed over the last decade-and-a-half can be traced back to what he has brought to the table.”

UK online sportsbook Titanbet has signed off on a sponsorship deal that would make the online gambling site the official sponsor of the Kingmaker Novices’ Chase at Warwick Racecourse in February 2015.

Titanbet will also have its name attached to a number of other races on the card as the firm builds up its brand ahead of the highly awaited Cheltenham Festival this coming March 2015.

Titanbet struck the deal in part because of its ongoing attempts to further ingratiate itself in the UK market. “It’s a prestigious race at an important stage in the calendar and we’re delighted that it marks our biggest racing sponsorship to date,” Titanbet spokesman Russell Yershon said. “We hope it will be the first of many similar deals that help us build the profile of Titanbet.co.uk among horseracing fans.”

The Jockey Club’s region sponsorship manager for the south west region, Carey Buckler, echoed those sentiments, calling the deal with Titanbet an important step towards fostering a positive working relationship with the betting firm.

“I am delighted that Titanbet.co.uk have taken their first major National Hunt race sponsorship at Warwick,” Buckler added. “The Titanbet.co.uk Kingmaker Novices’ Chase is one of the leading trials for the Racing Post Arkle and I am sure that this year’s renewal will be just as competitive.”

Moving to the world of football, the Estonian Football Association (EJL) has renewed its partnership with  Sportradar. With the extension, the EJL will continue to benefit from Sportradar’s industry-leading sports data collections system as it continues to monitor global betting patterns through the country’s leagues and cup competitions.

The World Poker Tour has announced plans to return to the UK with its highly successful National series heading to Stratford and Newcastle.

World Poker Tour (WPT) President Adam Pliska once told me that his brand ‘is about you being comfortable enough to jump on the train at anytime.

It was a metaphorical expression used to define the wide variety of buy-ins the WPT offers, and the National part of that train is planned to stop in the UK three times during the first half of 2015.

The WPT, partypoker and the Aspers Casino chain have partnered up to bring UK poker players, of all shapes and sizes, three lovely little treats. The first event will be held in Aspers Westfield Stratford City Feb 12-15 with the star attraction being a £600 Accumulator style Main Event carrying a £100,000 guarantee.

Last year, top UK pro Laurence Houghton broke his live tournament duck by capturing the title, in this event, after beating Arvin Ravindram, in heads-up action. Riverman pocketing over £20k as he cut his way through a final table that included the former WPT Dublin runner-up Chaz Chattha.

This year there will be three starting flights. Each day, you will exchange £200 for 20k in chips, with blinds increasing at 30-minute increments. Players can get involved in as many of the flights as they want (spending £200, £400 or £600), and can combine chip stacks accrued in total play to take forward to Day 2. The final table will play out on Sun, Feb 15.

“There were over 2,500 entries in last season’s partypoker WPT National UK. It proves what we set out to achieve, bringing more people into the game at various levels of buy-ins”, commented John Scanlon, Poker Manager at Aspers Casino Westfield Stratford City.

An Aussie Millions update with Sean O’Reilly, Jonas Mackoff, Ryan Dodge and Alex Trevallion picking up victories as the series reaches the point where the top dogs start setting up their kennels.

There are no places to hide in and around the dirty green baize: no white poodles, no ninjas, and no sharks. It’s the place where stars are revealed, and the Aussie Millions has just seen one shining brighter than most.

The name of Alex Trevallion is not a familiar one, but after he topped a field of impressive names in the $25,000 Challenge, that may well change.

104 players entered the event, and after 30-players commenced the final day of action (19 from Day 1 and 11 late entrants), it was Trevallion who headed into the final table with the chip lead.

He would need it as well.

Pratyush Buddiga, Stephen Chidwick, Steve O’ Dwyer, and Tobias Reinkemeier, just four of the big names that made it through to the final phase. It was going to be tough, but according to the PokerAsiaPacific blog, Trevallion always seemed confident.

This confidence comes from an impressive online career that sees him regularly beating people up at the $25/50 tables. But this was different gravy. He would never have experienced anything quite like this before.

Eric Hollreiser, Head of Corporate Communications, for PokerStars and Full Tilt, has issued a statement apologizing to New Jersey online poker players who were led to believe real-money gaming was available at Full Tilt after a bug produced a statement to that effect on their mobile app.

Eric Hollreiser, Head of Corporate Communications, for both PokerStars and Full Tilt, has issued a statement apologizing for the impromptu case of premature Full Tilt elation that placed New Jersey online poker players in a ditzy last week.

Excitement levels hit Megadeath type decibel levels after a poker player named Dennis Lopez logged on to Full Tilt’s free-play dot-net site, on his mobile device, to be greeted by a message from the online gambling giant welcoming him to a version of the game: ‘fully licensed by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, offering real-money gameplay on a fully regulated online gaming platform.’

For the sake of clarity, I feel it’s only fair to point out that the news story here, isn’t the fact that people do actually play free-play online poker, but that Full Tilt were informing players that they were legal and live when they weren’t.

An excited Lopez wasn’t able to download the requisite software, but that didn’t stop a screenshot of his mobile phone, resplendent with message, being sent to all and sundry in the online poker world.

Step forward Mr. Hollreiser to set the record straight.

In e-mail received from Hollreiser the blame for the slip was laid squarely as the feet of a bug that was fed up at being snug in its particular rug.

Ice Totally Gaming, which has been the launchpad for many of gaming’s landmark products and services, will take place on February 3rd-5th at Excel, London.

Every sector is present, whether it’s be it betting, bingo, casino, lottery, mobile, online, social or street gaming, and whichever of these you belong to, you will find products and content to drive your business forward in 2015.

This year, for the first time ever, we’ll be seeing a dedicated space at ICE for start-up pitches, hosted by Clarion and organized by GamCrowd.com. Pitch ICE 2015 is a unique opportunity for entrepreneurs to showcase their ideas in front of attendees and potential investors.

The final line-up of entrants has been announced and will take place at Stand N7-460. See the shortlist here.

“This is a unique opportunity for start-up gambling businesses to get their idea off the ground in front of key industry decision-makers and potential investors at ICE Totally Gaming,” said GamCrowd CEO, Chris North. “The response to Pitch ICE has been incredible. As delegates will see, the program is diverse, with concepts that could have an impact on many different areas of the gambling industry. We believe there are numerous stand-out ideas that have the potential to be very successful.”

ICE’s show-floor seminars are free to attend and can give you up-to-the-minute industry information and engaging debates around what the gaming industry is talking about.

ICE Totally Gaming is the one of highlight of the gaming industry’s calendar. Make sure you are there, to see and to be seen

The fifth annual London, Baby will again be held on the first night of ICE Totally Gaming in London, Feb 3 at Café de Paris in London’s Piccadilly.

Organized by Sports Betting Community (SBC) and the iGaming Super Show, London Baby will be one of the biggest networking events around the ICE Totally Gaming show with an estimated 1,000 industry professionals expected to attend.

Formerly known as ICE ICE Baby and rebranded as London Baby will be one of the biggest networking events around ICE with an estimated 1,000 industry professionals expected to attend, providing sports betting and iGaming professionals the chance to network in a fun and relaxed environment, away from the show floor at ExCeL.

“We are proud to be associated with London Baby! which is well recognised as one of the best events around ICE Totally Gaming for sports betting and iGaming professionals. London Baby! has provided the perfect platform for us to highlight our new improved platform OptimaMGS, powered by MarginMaker to the key people in the industry,” said Jacob Curciel, CEO of Optima MGS—this year’s London Baby’s Headline sponsor

Shona O’Donnell, Head of Operations at iGaming Business and organizer of the iGaming Super Show, also commented, “I am looking forward to this year’s event so much as it is in such a wonderful venue. Café de Paris will provide the perfect backdrop for people to socialize and network, with the perfect balance between business and fun.”

Other firms supporting the event are; Ali Quantum Gaming, EveryMatrix, EvoPlay, iforium, Magnet Gaming, Oddslife, Realex Payments, Sure International, Vermantia and XB Net.

The event is free to attend plus the bar is totally OPEN, Baby! Click here to register.

In less than two weeks away, Fire & Ice 2015 takes all it has learned to make its 14th year its most memorable yet. From the freak sideshow to the Royal Court, from the streets of London to the grandest ballroom. This year’s performances are daring, dangerous and decadent as the cream of iGaming society mingle in the opulence of the Victorian ball.

Fire & Ice 2015,  one of the most anticipated event in the iGaming social calendar, will be held on the 4th of February at the Troxy 490 Commercial Road, E1 0HX, London with 2,000 of the who’s who in attendance throughout the night.

Fire & Ice—produced by iGaming PR and events specialists Lyceum Media and sponsored by Asia online gaming company, Dafabet, and technology provider for online gaming solutions, Play’n GO—is held between the London Affiliate Conference (LAC) and ICE Totally Gaming.

Other sponsors of Fire & Ice: Reign of Queen Vic, includes: CalvinAyre.com, Bally Interactive, EveryMatrix Affiliate REPUBLIK, Bluff Europe, Callcredit Information Group, CORE Gaming, Dafabet, Gamesys, Gaming Realms, iGamingBusiness Executive Conference, iGamingCalendar, iGaming Capital, Income Access Group, Magnet Gaming, Openlot, Picante Gaming/GGL, Plain Gaming, Scientific Games, Secure Trading, Sure International, VegasKings.com, WPT Europe.

The party is free for all igaming execs to attend. Doors will be open for general admission at 9:00 p.m.with the Stage Show commencing at 10pm

Companies wishing to entertain their VIPs to the best show in iGaming, should visit www.fireandiceparty.com for further details.

Visit http://www.lyceummedia.com/fireandice/2015/ for more details.

In a week, the 9th London Affiliate Conference will be held from January 31st to February 3rd at Olympia National, London at Hammersmith Road.

This year sees a number of new features including an Acquisition zone—a dedicated area for service providers involved in the entire marketing mix from email service providers and tech companies, through to performance marketing and creative agencies. LAC 2015 will be co-located with the Financial Partners Expo, for affiliates and introducing brokers within the retail finance sector.

LAC 2015 is expecting to top the 3400 attendees last year, giving plenty of opportunities to network with affiliates, affiliates managers, operators, and speakers.

The event is set to bring you discussion panels and presentations with industry’s expert speakers such as Adam Grunwerg (ARG Media Ltd.), Andrew Daniels (Degree 53), Bastian Grimm (Grimm Digital), Chris Morton (Binary Options Pty Ltd.), Dave Naylor (Bronco Ltd.) and more.

The iGB Affiliate Awards will again be held during LAC on the 1st of February at Stamford Bridge on the 1st February 2015. Players Choice Finalists for iGB Affiliate Awards has been released after months of voting and debate. Check the shortlist here.

This four day event offers its attendees a wide selection of stimulating conferences, exhibitions and networking events. Free admission for all affiliates and introducing brokers! Click here to register.

About London Affiliate Conference

THE AMERICAS

A new California online poker bill offered hope for PokerStars while a new Nevada bill may threaten poker staking; Full Tilt’s premature digital ejaculation disappointed New Jersey poker players while the new WSOP.com/888Poker tandem surpassed PartyPoker New Jersey’s liquidity; a judge said Caesars Entertainment’s controversial asset transfers violated federal law and Caesars’ Linq property closed its poker room; Amaya Gaming poached OLG’s digital chief; Ladbrokes’ Sportium JV entered the Mexican online gambling market; Hawaii proposed duty-free slots at airports; fantasy sports operators DraftKings and FanDuel revealed their earnings reports; the American Gaming Association said sports betting bans don’t work; a judge okayed Glenn Straub’s purchase of Atlantic City’s Revel casino; Bluff Magazine switched to an all-digital format and Lee Davy threw popcorn at Mark Wahlberg’s The Gambler.

EUROPE

William Hill profit fell in Q4 but rose in 2014; UK internet service providers imposed porn and gambling filters; Russia threatened to payment-block online gambling sites; the Senet Group launched its new responsible gambling campaign; Global Reviews caught William Hill poaching Ladbrokes’ digital customers; Sky Betting & Gaming launched its new social casino; Stanleybet lost its Italian betting license dispute; Greece’s likely next prime minister warned that the sale of OPAP was “not a done event;” Olympic Entertainment signed on to manage Malta’s largest casino; Boylesports boosted its Irish retail presence; WSOP bracelet winner Darren Woods was sentenced to 15 months in prison; World Poker Tour president Adam Pilska believes your job sucks donkeys compared to his; futurist Martin Kruse analyzed the impact on online gambling of Big Data and Augmented Reality; Compact Global’s Chris Searle told Rebecca Liggero how to improve her public image; Robbie Davies told affiliates how to maximize their time at the London Affiliate Conference and ICE Totally Gaming wants startups to make them an offer they can’t refuse.

ASIA

Galaxy Entertainment vowed to spend another $7b expanding Galaxy Macau; David Group revealed its plan to hibernate’ until Macau’s VIPs return while Gold Moon Group closed another VIP room; China ordered online lotteries to go offline by March 1; South Korea vowed to issue two more casino licenses in 2015; Vietnam busted an online gambling ring linked to 12Bet.com; Sands China CEO Ed Tracy called it quits; City Of Dreams was forced to halt expansion work after a worker died; Japanese lawmakers geared up for another casino push in 2015: Nepal gave a casino license to Silver Heritage and Stamford Law’s Wai-Ming Yap analyzed Singapore’s new online gambling prohibition.

Online gambling sites will be blocked by default in the UK as internet service providers heed Prime Minister David Cameron’s latest ‘think of the children’ plea. In July 2013, Cameron announced his proposal to require all internet customers to opt-in if they wished to access a variety of ‘adult’ online material, including sites featuring gambling, pornography and violent content.

Sky was the first of the UK’s four major ISPs to make the move, announcing this week that it would roll out its new Sky Broadband Shield filter within the next 10 days. All Sky broadband customers will have to log in and alter their settings in order to continue accessing their favorite gambling and wanking sites. A Sky PR flack called the move “the right and simplest solution to a problem we all know is out there.”

Within days, TalkTalk had joined Sky among the guardians of the porno galaxy, pledging to impose its HomeSafe filters in February. Like Sky, TalkTalk’s product requires users to actively disable the filters, which will be switched on by default for all new subscribers.

There are now just two major ISPs – BT and Virgin Media – who have yet to go Orwell on their customers. BT is surveying its customers as to whether they want automatic filtering while Virgin has so far left it up to subscribers to switch on its custom filtering tools. So far, the voluntary take-up rate by Virgin subscribers has been under 10%, in keeping with a July 2014 report from Ofcom that found just 13% of new ISP subscribers had taken advantage of optional filters.

Critics have already seized on the fact that the filters are blocking a whole lot more categories of supposedly objectionable content than advertised, including sites related to alcohol, tobacco, drugs and anorexia. Transparency advocates Open Rights Group said last year that the websites of 54 registered charities had been blocked, apparently based on a wrong keyword or two.

The Ofcom report found that existing filters blocked 19% of the top 100k most-visited websites, while porn is believed to account for only 4% of sites. Some URLs related to the counties of Sussex or Essex had even found themselves blocked due to the presence of the dreaded ‘sex’ suffix. (Finally! A way to avoid the horror that is TOWIE.)

Vicki Shotbolt, CEO of social enterprise project the ParentZone, called filters “at best a distraction from the most important way to look after your family online,” i.e. having open and frank dialogues with your kids. But that kind of personal responsibility wouldn’t give Cameron anything to crow about come the next general election, would it?

Online sports betting operators in the UK and Ireland found themselves under the microscope of corporate research and data specialist Global Reviews in 2014.

Global Reviews analyzed three different areas of betting companies’ digital performance: digital sales effectiveness (DSE), which ranks how well companies convert customers online; mobile sales effectiveness (MSE), which analyzes mobile conversion; and digital marketing effectiveness (DME), which measures how well companies attract online customers. Full details of methodology are exhaustingly detailed in the webinar video at the bottom of this page.

DIGITAL MARKETING EFFECTIVENESS

In one study, using a sample size of 200 punters in June 2014, Global Review found that over 90% of participants used search engines to find a new betting provider but 89% of participants began their quest via a search engine. Of these, 62% went directly from search engine to a betting website, underscoring the importance of strong brand identity.

Around 65% of punters claimed they had an initial brand preference before beginning their search, a preference that was usually based on having used this brand in the past. Some 68% of punters in the study said they were already current customers of at least one sports betting provider.

The prime factor that drove ‘shortlisting’ of potential betting companies was familiarity with the brand (14%) followed closely by their results having come up via a search engine (12%). Having a site that looks ‘easy to use’ scored 11%, the same number that shortlisted the site for having ‘good prices/offers’.

Global Reviews found that while Ladbrokes and William Hill scored roughly the same in terms of unprompted brand awareness, Hills performed much better at the conversion from brand recall to ‘preferred’ betting site. Betfair started from a much lower base of brand awareness than Hills or Lads, but scored best in terms of conversion.

Slot machines are coming to Hawaii‘s airports if a local politician gets her way. State Rep. Cindy Evans has introduced a bill to allow passengers flying out of Hawaii the option of spinning a few reels after their planes are delayed.

HB 91 authorizes “the implementation of amusement concessions to provide slot machines at state airports for departing passengers.” Basically, duty-free slots. To play, you have to provide evidence that you’re over 21 years of age and scheduled to fly beyond US borders within the next 12 hours.

Interested operators have to apply for an ‘amusement concession’ license for an as yet undetermined fee. The state gets an 86% chunk of net revenue – gross revenue minus taxes, winnings, salaries, airport fees and rent – or a minimal annual guarantee, whichever’s bigger. The state’s cut would go into an airport improvement fund.

The bill expressly does not authorize online gambling, electronic bingo or other forms of gambling. Slots it is and these slots will be limited to secure areas of the airport. No slots can be visible to airport passers-by and operators aren’t allowed to advertise their wares in Hawaii by any means. Presumably the designated area will be labeled as such on airport maps.

If passed (doubtful), the act would take effect on July 1. Hawaii and Utah are the last bastions of non-gambling in the United States but Evans said this was a “very unique and different” way to help the state’s aging airports, an “out of the box” proposal.

The Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) has already said it won’t support any gambling measure. The HTA issued a statement saying gambling “would not enhance our destination brand, but rather dilute it and distract from” the state’s traditional charms.

Evans has voted against previous gambling proposals but said this plan mainly targeted departing tourists and was therefore “not about gambling in Hawaii.” Evans told HawaiiNewsNow her bill would allow visitors to Hawaii “in their last few hours, spend their money in Hawaii and leave their money in Hawaii.”

Casino operator Galaxy Entertainment Group says Phase 2 of its Galaxy Macau resort will officially open to the public on May 27. At a Hong Kong press conference on Friday, Galaxy chairman Lui Che Woo (pictured) also vowed to spend another $7.4b developing Phases 3 and 4, representing a total outlay of $12.9b in Galaxy Macau.

Phase 2’s launch will coincide with the reopening of the Grand Waldo Entertainment Center across the street. Galaxy acquired the Waldo property in May 2013 for $419m. Rechristened Broadway at Galaxy Macau, the property aims to recreate New York’s theater district and will be connected to Galaxy Macau by an air-conditioned ‘sky bridge.’

Lui Che Woo noted that Galaxy owned the biggest plot of land on Macau’s Cotai strip, giving it definite advantages over other operators. Phase 2’s launch will still leave half of Galaxy’s land bank untouched and ready for future development.

Galaxy deputy chairman (and son of the boss) Francis Lui said Phase 2 had the capacity to host up to 500 gaming tables and 1k slots, although the company is still talking to the government about the number of tables the property will be allotted. The former Waldo venue hosted 45 tables, but how many the new Broadway venue will boast is equally unknown.

Macau has long insisted it will stick to its plan to cap table growth at 3% per year until 2022, when the last of Macau’s six casino concessionaires’ licenses expire. The official number of tables in operation in Q4 2014 was 5,711, of which 3% is just 171. And Melco Crown Entertainment will want a few hundred new tables of its own when it opens its new Studio City resort later this year.

However, Macau officials have occasionally suggested the 3% cap had a little flexibility, particularly for operators who devote a significant portion of their new properties to non-gaming elements. Galaxy’s new venues have non-gaming in spades, including a 3k-seat theater, 120 bars and restaurants plus 1.5k new hotel rooms. Lui Che Woo said the goal was to make things “more diverse, from entertainment, leisure, culture and art … to meet the requests from [Beijing] and Macau.”

Galaxy CFO Robert Drake told the press that the company was “quite confident we will get a sufficient amount of tables to generate the returns we have been forecasting.” The new properties will require Galaxy to add an additional 8k employees in 2015.

Online gambling was a hot topic in Vietnam this week as Ho Chi Minh City police shut down an illegal gambling ring linked to online betting operator 12Bet. On Friday, police detained 10 people, including To Cong Hung, the owner of the Vietnamese version of gay lifestyle magazine Attitude.

Police say the ring operated a website that connected local gamblers with the Philippine-based 12Bet. Hung reportedly ran the website, while his sister and other agents controlled bank accounts through which money was collected from and distributed to gamblers. Police had monitored the site for months, during which time the operators handled over VND 1t (US $46.8m) in wagers.

Friday also saw police commence legal proceedings against 36 individuals arrested in July as part of the 2014 FIFA World Cup betting crackdown. This ring was linked to another Philippines-based site, M88.com, considered one of the predominant sites catering to Vietnamese punters. Before police swooped in, the site handled over VND 1.4t in wagers.

Also on Friday, police in Ba Ria Vung Tau province deported six South Korean nationals for operating an illegal betting site out of a rented villa in Vung Tau City. The operation catered not to locals but to gamblers in South Korea, who set up around 4k accounts with the site and wagered over KRW 20b ($18.6m) before police moved in on Wednesday.

Thanh Nien News reported that local police detected signs of illegality in the villa then took their findings to South Korean police, who confirmed the interaction with local gamblers. The arrested individuals claimed they had been dispatched to Vietnam by another Korean named Choi Hojun. Vietnam deported 33 other South Koreans for much the same activity last July.