However, regulator l’Autorité de la Concurrence (the Competition Authority) insisted there must be a clear separation between FDJ’s commercial activities and its monopolistic business. That means FDJ, a former state-owned corporation, won’t be permitted to cross-sell Kindred’s products to its lottery and sports betting customers.

Failure to do so would give FDJ an unfair advantage over rival commercial operators, the regulator concluded.

Monopoly Money

Kindred, formerly Unibet Group, owns some of Europe’s best-known online casino and sports betting brands, including Unibet and 32Red.

FDJ, the largest gambling operator in France, was privatized in 2018 when the French government sold off 50% of its ownership. In November 2023, the company acquired Ireland’s national lottery operator, Premier Lotteries Ireland, making it the second-largest lottery operator in Europe and the fourth-largest globally.

In October last year, FDJ completed its acquisition of online horserace betting site ZEturf, the only segment of the gambling market it had not yet entered. ZEturf is also subject to separation from the company’s monopolistic brands.

That followed a complaint by ZEturf that PMU’s co-mingling of the two channels helped it gain an unfair advantage over other operators offering horse racing pools.

‘Gaming Champion’

Following news of the Kindred takeover bid in January, FDJ Chair Stéphane Pallez said the deal would create a “European gaming champion.”

In a somewhat scathing note, Regulus Partners suggested Kindred’s real attraction was that “it allows excess cash flow generated from a privatized state monopoly to be pumped into a ready-made competitive platform which the sclerotic, statist FDJ failed organically to create.”

The post $2.7B Kindred Group Takeover by French Lottery Giant FDJ Approved — With Caveat appeared first on Casino.org.

The agency is engaged in a court battle with New York-based startup Kalshi, which offers election betting via event contracts, a type of derivative that allows users to speculate on the “yes or no” outcome of a specific event.

But what has all of this to do with Mitt Romney?

Rogue Trader

In the leadup to the 2012 election, an unknown trader plunked down millions on Romney on online trading exchange Intrade, which also offered events contracts on the election, and which has since been closed down by the CFTC.

This trader accounted for more than one-third of all bets placed on Romney to win, and about one-fifth of all bets placed on Obama to lose.

These positions were accumulated by placing large bids for Romney and large offers for Obama that effectively created a firewall, preventing prices from moving in response to incoming information,” according to a 2015 academic paper examining the incident.

The paper’s authors concluded that financial gain seemed to be an unlikely motivation for the trader. More plausibly, it was an attempt to “manipulate beliefs about the odds of victory in an attempt to boost fundraising, campaign morale, and turnout,” they suggested.

Kid Rock Hoax

In a filing Monday, the CFTC warned that election “manipulation has happened and is likely to recur.” The agency also cited a fake poll published in 2017 by the apparently fake organization, Delphi Analytica, that suggested musician Kid Rock was leading the US Senate race in Michigan.

“The district court’s order has been construed by Kalshi and others as open season for election gambling,” warned the CFTC. “An explosion in election gambling on US futures exchanges will harm the public interest.”

The post $7M Mitt Romney Bet Highlights Dangers of US Election Wagers, CFTC Warns appeared first on Casino.org.

The Malaysian Islamic Party (Parti Islam SeMalaysia – PAS) already controls four of Malaysia’s 13 states, and since the 2022 elections, holds 43 of the 222 seats in the federal parliament, the most of any individual party.

PAS’ ultimate goal is to replace Malaysia’s democratic system with Shariah law.

Anything that can harm society, we must together support its destruction,” said Andansura Rabu, PAS’ deputy commissioner for Pahang, at the party’s annual gathering over the weekend, as reported by The Straits Times. “This isn’t a matter of religion, it’s a social issue.”

“Gambling is harmful, so we have to close it,” he added. “But it must be in accordance with the laws and Constitution.

Complex System

Malaysia is an ethnically diverse country with a complex political system consisting of a federal constitutional elective monarchy comprising 13 states and three federal territories.

PAS’ electoral base is centered around the conservative northeastern and northwestern rural and coastal areas of Peninsula Malaysia, which is the lower half of the country’s western peninsula. Peninsula Malaysia contains 11 of the 13 states and includes the federal capital, Kuala Lumpur.

Genting Highlands, a hilltop location on the peak of Mount Ulu Kali in the Titiwangsa Mountains, is situated at the southwest tip of Pahang. It was chosen as a resort destination for its proximity to Kuala Lumpur, which is an hour’s drive away.

However, even if PAS were to win control of Pahang in the next general election, which must be held before 2028, it wouldn’t necessarily be able to shutter the casino at Resorts World. That’s because casino and gaming permits are decided upon by the federal government.

Green Wave

Genting shares plunged in the aftermath of the 2022 election when PAS shocked Malaysia’s establishment by winning the most seats, a political phenomenon known as “the Green Wave” for the party’s colors.

Resorts World Genting is a vast entertainment complex that contributes more than US$1 billion annually to Malaysia’s economy.

The post Resorts World Genting Threatened With Shutdown by Malaysia Islamic Party appeared first on Casino.org.

The complaint, filed last week by veterinarian Christine Tuma, claims track officials knowingly allowed unfit horses to run because they wanted to boost wagering revenues. This would help to raise money for a planned casino at the 133-year-old track, the suit asserts.

These actions led to the deaths of at least 21 horses between 2022, claims the lawsuit, which also names the Illinois Racing Board (IRB).

“Beginning on or before March of 2022, the RICO Defendants formed an enterprise, whose criminal activities were intended to enrich themselves, maintain their powerful positions, and generate funds for the construction of a casino at the racetrack,” it said.

Powers Stripped

Tuma, a former IRB board member, claims that she was stripped of her powers to disqualify sick horses in the fall of 2022 by Illinois Racing Board state veterinarian Dawn Folker-Calderon. That’s after a policy was introduced requiring a second veterinary opinion to be sought whenever Tuma declared a horse too sick to run.

If the two opinions did not concur, Calderon would have the final say. In this way, more than 80 of Tuma’s diagnoses were overruled, per the lawsuit.

Tuma also claims Hawthorne and IRB employees transmitted false information about the health of horses to federal and state regulators in Illinois and Kentucky.

Tuma was let go three months after she sent a whistleblower letter outlining her allegations to the IRB and Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority. She was told this was to save costs but claims retaliation.

Tuma alleges the defendants are guilty of civil conspiracy, retaliatory termination, and violations of the Illinois Whistleblower Act, and as such her complaint meets the bar for a RICO suit.

Casino on Hold

Illinois passed legislation in 2019 that gave racetracks the right to apply for casino licenses. Later that year, the state granted Hawthorne preliminary approval to move forward, and it began demolition work on its grandstand. However, the project is currently stalled.

The Chicago Tribune reported in May that the track’s owners have been unable to get loans to build the casino and owe contractors $6.7 million.

Meanwhile, track officials said they would “vigorously contest” Tuma’s lawsuit in a statement last week.

Besides defaming Hawthorne, the oldest family-owned race course in North America with an unmatched record of safety and integrity, Tuma is using the legal system to settle professional disagreements with other, more experienced and accomplished veterinarians at the track and the Illinois Racing Board,” a spokesperson said.

“These professionals have dedicated their careers at Hawthorne and the racing board to performing with the highest degree of professionalism,” they added.

The post Hawthorne Race Course Denies Running Sick Horses to Boost Betting Numbers appeared first on Casino.org.

Farrugia was found guilty in May of unlawfully disclosing information he had obtained by virtue of his office and revealing professional secrets. That was for tipping off casino owner Yorgen Fenech in September 2019 that an anti-money laundering investigation was about to be conducted at a rival casino.

Two months later, Fenech, one of Malta’s richest men, was arrested as he tried to flee the island on his yacht. He was charged with complicity in the murder of anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia who was killed in a car bomb attack in 2017.

Fenech, who at the time owned the Portomaso Casino in the resort town Saint Julian’s, is currently awaiting trial for the murder.

Incriminating Texts

Analysis of Fenech’s phone after his arrest revealed conversations with Farrugia concerning rival casino operators that incriminated the regulator.

In texts exchanged between the two men on September 23, 2019, Fenech expressed his dissatisfaction with a recent money laundering review of the Portomaso Casino, which he said had tarnished the business’ reputation.

Farrugia responded by saying he would delay the release of the accompanying compliance report until a forthcoming investigation of Casino Malta, owned by Fenech’s business rival, Eden Leisure Group, was completed.

As MGA chief, Farrugia was charged with overseeing one of the world’s foremost online gaming hubs. He resigned quietly in October 2022, shortly after police questioned him about his conversations with Fenech.

The Times of Malta?has suggested the charges against Farrugia were initially hushed up to avoid tarnishing the reputation of the gaming industry.

Widespread Corruption

Prosecutors believe Caruana Galizia was murdered because she was looking into a government contract to build a power station, which she believed had been corruptly awarded by the Maltese government to Fenech’s company,?Electroglas.

She had discovered that a Dubai-registered company mentioned in the Panama Papers leak, 17 Black, planned to make a payment of $2 million to two offshore shell companies. These were owned by Keith Schembri, the former aide of then-Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, and Konrad Mizzi, the former Energy Minister.

Journalists who took up the investigation after Caruana Galizia’s death discovered that 17 Black was controlled by Fenech.

A so-called middleman, Melvin Theuma, named Fenech as the mastermind behind the killing. Fenech claims Schembri was the orchestrator.

The scandal caused a political meltdown in Malta, laying bare the corruption endemic in the island’s politics and business sector and leading to Muscat’s resignation as prime minister.

The post Ex-MGA Chief Conviction Upheld for Tipping Off Casino Owner Murder Suspect appeared first on Casino.org.

Jacqueline Witt is charged with four misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty and one felony count of tampering with evidence after she dumped the body of three-and-a-half-year-old French bulldog, Charlie, on the side of the road in September 2023.

Witt is the mother of Josephine Ragland, 28, a “dog trainer” in whose care the Hanson family left Charlie.

The family wanted someone to teach their dog some basic commands and they found Ragland’s small private trainer business, Everything Animals, on Thumbtack, the home services directory app.

Using the false name “Lilly,” Ragland picked Charlie up on September 1 for a two-week boarding program. For the next two weeks, she reassured the Hansons by sending a steady stream of images and short videos of their dog, which was probably already dead.

Heatstroke

Detectives later determined that Charlie had died just three to five days into his stay. The dog had been kept in a crate and given no food or water. Charlie most likely died of heatstroke, according to police.

On the day she was to return Charlie, Ragland texted Hanson claiming her car had broken down and the dog had somehow escaped and been hit by another vehicle. She said she had buried Charlie in her backyard.

Police found Charlie’s body in Norwich, Conn., more than 35 minutes from Ragland’s home, where it had been dumped by Witt. ?

In police interviews, Ragland eventually admitted that she had gone on a casino bender for several days after picking up the dog.

She was charged with larceny in Massachusetts, where the Hansons live, and is scheduled to go to trial in November. She also faces larceny charges in California over the death of another dog in that state.

California Case

Scott, a seven-year-old German Shepherd, was signed up for one of Ragland’s two-week training courses in December 2022.

Scott’s owner, Carolina Bruchilari, said that on the day Ragland was supposed to return her dog, she turned up with a completely different German Shepherd. The substitute animal was aggressive and clearly didn’t recognize the Bruchilari family.

Hanson, a well-known poker player and coach with more than $1 million in tournament winnings, said that Ragland’s business had five-star reviews on Thumbtack, despite numerous dog owners getting stung by her training scam. He wants to publicize the discrepancy so that others might be spared the pain of losing a pet.

Witt is due in court on September 19.

The post Connecticut Woman Arrested Over Death of Famous Poker Player’s Dog appeared first on Casino.org.

During a tearful press conference in Seoul on Wednesday, former Chinese Super League player Son Jun-ho described how he was detained by Chinese authorities in May 2023 as he tried to leave the country. The defensive midfielder, who played three of South Korea’s four matches at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, wasn’t able to return to his home country until March of this year.

Son was held on “suspicion of accepting bribes by non-state employees” and claimed he was coerced into making a confession.

Threats to Family

“The Chinese police presented ridiculous charges,” he said, as reported and translated by the Associated French Press. “They threatened that if I didn’t admit to the charges, my wife would be arrested through the foreign ministry and brought to the same detention center to be investigated with me.”

Son claims he wasn’t given access to Korean translators or a lawyer and was told that if he admitted guilt, he would be released quickly and reunited with his family.

Overwhelmed with fear and concern for my family, I had no choice but to admit to charges I didn’t even understand, just to return to my family quickly,” Son said, wiping away tears.

He called for Chinese authorities to release audio tapes of the interviews, which he says would prove the confession was coerced.

Scapegoating Fears

Chinese authorities have blamed widespread corruption in soccer for the country’s failure to make its mark on the world stage.

In 2015, President Xi Jinping stated his ambition to revive the fortunes of the men’s national team, which hadn’t qualified for a World Cup since 2002. But despite the billions that have poured into the game since Xi’s proclamation, if anything, the team has deteriorated.

Li Tie was one of just a few Chinese players to make it in the English Premier League, and later, managed the Chinese national team. He was sacked in 2021 after failing to qualify for another World Cup. A year later he was arrested for bribery.

This week’s CFA sanctions come just one week after one of China’s most humiliating defeats in the history of its soccer team, a 7-0 drubbing by Japan, one of its biggest sporting and geopolitical rivals.

The post South Korea’s Son Jun-ho Claims Chinese Police Coerced Match-Fixing Confession appeared first on Casino.org.

Among the group are former Chinese internationals Jin Jingdao, Guo Tianyu, and Gu Chao. Current South Korea international Son Jun-ho, who played in China for Shandong Taishan in the Chinese Super League, is also on the list.

The sanctions were announced Tuesday at a press briefing in Dalian by the top official from the Ministry of Public Security, Zhang Xiaopeng, and reported by Xinhua, the state-owned news agency.

Draining the Swamp

Zhang said the bans were the culmination of a two-year investigation that uncovered widespread online gambling, match-fixing, and bribery in Chinese soccer. Some 120 matches were implicated in the investigation, which involved 128 criminal suspects and 41 teams.

In addition to the 43 life bans, 17 others, including Cameroonian forward Donovan Ewolo, now playing in Saudi Arabia, were banned for five years.

Son ‘Bewildered’

Son, 32, was arrested as he attempted to leave China in May 2023. He was detained in the country until March of this year on unspecified bribery charges.

“His actions seriously violated sports ethics and sportsmanship, causing significant negative social impact,” the CFA said.

Son’s agent, Park Dae-yeon, told South Korean news agency Yonhap Tuesday that he and his client were “bewildered” by the “ridiculous” charges.

Corruption has long been endemic in Chinese soccer. Earlier this year, former CFA president Chen Xuyuan was sentenced to life in prison for accepting millions in bribes.

China’s Failed Soccer Project

Chinese President Xi Jinping is said to be a big fan of the game and pledged in 2015 to turn China into a soccer superpower that would one day lift the World Cup. But despite pouring billions into the sport, there is nothing to suggest China is the sleeping giant of world soccer.

If anything, the country’s prospects for achieving soccer glory are getting worse.

A recent documentary that aired on state television claimed corruption is holding Chinese soccer back and may have spurred authorities to purge the game of undesirable elements.

Just hours after Tuesday’s sanctions were announced, China was beaten at home by Saudi Arabia. The national team currently sits at the bottom of its World Cup qualifying group.

The post China Soccer Purges 60 Players, Officials in Corruption and Gambling Probe appeared first on Casino.org.

Young, 38, is a career criminal who had just helped herself to $1,500 worth of scratch-off tickets from a convenience store in Lakeland, Fla., according to Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd.

She didn’t win the lottery, but she did win a trip to the county jail,” quipped Judd in a morning briefing on Facebook.

August 4 security footage from the Circle K store on Old Kathleen Road in Lakeland shows a figure with a full face covering reaching over the counter to steal 48 lottery tickets.

Brazen Behavior

Had Young been more discreet, she might have gotten away with her crime. Instead, she began cashing the tickets almost immediately at local stores, including six in one outlet alone. In all, Young collected $470 in prizes.

Meanwhile, the Florida Lottery was able to provide the Sheriff’s Office with the location and times of where the stolen tickets had been redeemed.

Investigators discovered that a vehicle associated with Young was seen in the area at the time of the theft, and later, around stores where tickets had been cashed in.

Young admitted to the crime during an interview with law enforcement at her home on August 22, the Sheriff’s Office said. She was subsequently charged with unarmed burglary, obtaining property by fraud, grand theft, and violation of probation.

Long Rap Sheet

According to Judd, Young has a long criminal history, including involvement in an armed robbery in South Carolina. Since moving to Florida around 2007, she has been arrested 22 times on charges ranging from grand theft to drug possession to aggravated assault.

In February, Young was released from state prison on felony probation for trafficking in stolen property, said Judd, who also described her as “not a bad-looking lady.”

“Looks can be deceiving … She’s a bad girl,” he added.

The post Florida Woman with Nine Straight Lottery Prizes Wins Trip to County Jail appeared first on Casino.org.

On Tuesday, Sam Hou Fai received a record 96% of the nominations to become the sole candidate for the chief executive position from a 400-strong pro-Beijing election panel. The nomination period for the SAR’s leadership election ended last Thursday.

Current leader Ho Iat Seng announced in August that he would not seek a third term as chief executive, citing poor health.

Sam, 62, stepped down as president of the Court of Final Appeal, Macau’s highest court, ahead of his announcement in late August that he would run for office. He will now stand unopposed in the October election, rendering the voting process somewhat meaningless for Macau’s citizens.

Concerns for Casino Sector?

A native of Zhongshan, Guangdong Province, in mainland China, Sam will be the first Macau chief executive to have been born outside the gambling hub. He will also be the first to hail from the legal profession as opposed to the business sector.

The panel’s emphatic support for Sam reflects his willingness to toe the party line. Certainly, his views on the gaming industry echo those of the central government in Beijing, which has long pressed for the diversification of Macau’s economy.

Beijing blames the industry for facilitating money laundering and capital flight from the mainland. The government is currently cracking down on illegal money exchanges that allow mainland gamblers to circumvent tight controls on the movement of money.

“For a period of time, the tourism and gaming industry developed in a disorderly manner and expanded wildly,” Sam said at a press briefing last month. “Having one dominant industry is not beneficial for Macau’s long-term development and has had a very negative impact.

“Macau’s long-term development is only possible with the country’s support,” he added, alluding to heightened cooperation with Beijing.

Pro-Beijing

Macau has its own financial system and a degree of political autonomy as an SAR under China’s one country, two systems policy. However, despite its capitalism, it has been far less resistant to the creeping influence of Beijing than has Hong Kong, its fellow SAR and neighbor across the Pearl River Delta.

That’s probably due to its population makeup. More than half of Macau’s 686,607 citizens have immigrated from the mainland in the past few decades. In contrast, most of Hong Kong’s population was born and raised in a liberal, free-market democracy.

The post Former Judge Sam Hou Fai to Stand Unopposed for Macau Leadership appeared first on Casino.org.

These messages concerned 17 games and purported to offer information on how they were to be manipulated. There was evidence that whoever was selling the information had succeeded in finding buyers, with transactions made in Bitcoin, according to The Morgenpost.

Police in the western states of Hesse and Saarland?have confirmed that they are investigating suspicious matches played within their respective jurisdictions. Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) said it was involved as a central coordinator.

Bizarre Goals

The Morgenpost didn’t publish the messages or identify the games out of respect for the ongoing investigations. However, it reported that some included bizarre goals and controversial refereeing decisions. One game contained only own goals.

A spokesperson for the German Football Association (DFB) said the organization hasn’t seen concrete evidence of manipulated games, but is coordinating with authorities. The DFB is also monitoring the situation with its integrity partner, Genius Sports, the spokesperson said.

Low Pay

Match-fixing is far more common within the lower leagues of sports because they are less well scrutinized, and the players are poorer, and so theoretically, more corruptible.

3. Liga, the third tier, is the lowest professional league in Germany, although its players are still well-remunerated. Less so are players in 4. Liga, which is semi-professional. The fifth regional tiers (Oberliga) are amateur leagues in which players aren’t paid at all.

Betting on amateur games is illegal in Germany, although offshore websites have been known to offer markets on these games.

Last week, Oberliga Hamburg reported two incidents where data scouts were discovered at games illegally relaying live information to offshore betting platforms.

The Hoyzer Scandal

German soccer’s last major match-fixing scandal occurred in 2005 when referee Robert Hoyzer confessed to fixing and betting on games. Hoyzer, who mainly oversaw matches in Germany’s second tier, admitted he had accepted bribes from a gambling syndicate with links to organized crime.

The rogue ref was banned for life from having anything to do with the sport and was later sentenced to two years and five months in prison.

The post German Soccer Officials Probe Claims that Match-Fixing Info Was Sold on Dark Web appeared first on Casino.org.

Dr Yew Choy Wong ran up an AU$43.2 million (US$29 million) debt during a week-long baccarat binge at the casino between June and August 2018 after gaining access to an AU$40 million check-cashing facility.

Wong is a former director of Celton Manx, the Isle of Man-based online betting operator that owns SBOBET, the first Asian-facing sportsbook to sponsor an English Premier League team.

Dealer ‘Mistakes’

Wong denied authorizing the casino to use the check to collect the debt and claimed the check-cashing agreement was blank when he signed it. He also claimed he shouldn’t have to pay his losses because the dealers kept making mistakes, which he complained about on four occasions.

The casino conceded that three mistakes warranted complaint, and the casino’s chief operating officer, Paul Arbuckle, issued a letter of apology to Wong on July 30, 2018. However, the letter made no mention of wiping Wong’s gambling debt.

The Star initially sued Wong in Singapore, unsuccessfully, because that nation’s Civil Law Act prohibits the government from assisting foreign companies to recoup debts related to overseas gambling.

Wong argued the Singapore ruling should stand and that Star’s efforts to pursue him in Australia constituted “unjustified oppression.”

In April 2021, the Queensland Supreme Court?permitted the case to proceed, describing it as a “relatively straightforward” claim that should be determined on its merits.

In her ruling Monday, Justice Melanie Hindman said the Star had clearly stated its claim for debt recovery, while Wong had “not made out any pleaded defense to that claim.”

Star’s Financial Woes

The suit against Wong is one of Australia’s largest-ever debt recovery cases, which may be of some comfort for casino operator Star Entertainment. Barely two weeks after the company opened its AU$3.6 billion (US$2.4 billion) project at Queens Wharf in Brisbane, it finds itself in financial disarray and has turned to the government of Queensland for short-term tax relief.

Star reportedly needs a cash injection of AU$300M (US$201M) to keep Queen’s Wharf operational.

The company said Monday it would sell its leasehold interest in the Brisbane Treasury Building, the site of its former Brisbane casino, for AU$67.5 million (US$44.9 million).

The post Star Gold Coast Can Recoup $38.7M Debt from Billionaire Ex-Betting Exec appeared first on Casino.org.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which regulates the exchange, had previously ordered Kalshi not to offer this product on the grounds that betting on elections is illegal in the US.

Kalshi?sued the CFTC?last year, arguing that it had overreached its authority when it blocked the contracts.

What’s an Event Contcrat?

An event contract is a type of derivative that allows users to speculate on the outcome of a specific event, whether that be monetary policy, the Oscars, or which party will win control of Congress. They’re usually formatted for putting money on “yes” or “no” outcomes before expiring.

In addition to providing economic hedging benefits, political event contracts harness the power of free markets to produce high-quality predictive data. In countries where fixed-odds betting on political events is permitted, sportsbooks have regularly proved to be more accurate predictors of election results than polls.

The CFTC Strikes Back

Judge Jia Cobb didn’t give her reasons for siding with Kalshi, which she said she would lay out in a forthcoming opinion.

“Election markets are now legal in the United States for the first time in 100 years. Americans will finally be able to trade the election on a US-regulated market,” the startup’s CEO and co-founder, Tarek Mansour, said in a statement.

Hours later on Friday, the CFTC filed an emergency motion asking the judge to stay the decision for two weeks. The regulator said in the motion that it was in “the unenviable position of finding out that it has lost but without any explanation or reasoning.”

At a time when distrust in elections is at an all-time high, even a short listing of Plaintiff’s contracts, and/or similar election contracts on other DCMs, could harm public perception of election integrity and undermine confidence in elections,” CFTC lawyers wrote.

In a filing Sunday, Kalshi called the motion “meritless” and said granting it would cause “irreparable harm” to the company. Kalshi had “staked its future” on the litigation and on being able to participate in the forthcoming election markets, the company added.

“The Commission lost, fair and square, on the law,” Kalshi said in its Sunday filing. “It should not be allowed to snatch a procedural victory from the jaws of defeat by running out the clock.”

The post Kalshi Can Offer Event Contracts on US Election, Rules Federal Judge appeared first on Casino.org.

Xaviar Michael Babudar, 30, was a familiar sight at Chiefs games where he was often picked up by TV cameras because of his gray wolf costume. He had an online following under the social media handle “@Chiefsaholic.”

He was also a troubled individual who had a difficult upbringing and lived a nomadic existence around the Kansas City metropolitan area, according to federal prosecutors.

His crime spree began in March 2022 when he robbed a Great Western Bank in Clive, Iowa. On Dec. 16, 2022, he was arrested while fleeing on a bicycle from a robbery at Tulsa Teachers Credit Union in Tulsa, Okla.

On the Run

Babudar was released on bond in February 2023. He was ordered to remain in Oklahoma and wear a GPS monitor on his ankle.

Shortly after, he won $100K from bets placed in June 2022 on his beloved Kansas City Chiefs winning the Super Bowl. He sawed off his ankle bracelet, withdrew the money, and took off.

Babudar remained at large for almost four months, robbing banks in Sparks, Nev., and El Dorado Hills, Calif., as he went. He was arrested on July 7, 2023, in Lincoln, Calif.

All in all, Babudar stole $847,725 from 11 banks and financial institutions, most of which remains unrecovered.

From April to December 2022, he bought more than $1 million in chips from casinos in Missouri, Kansas, and Illinois, redeeming a similar amount through the casinos, a pattern indicative of money laundering, according to prosecutors.

‘Addiction to Fame’

In a court filing, Babudar’s attorney, Matthew Merryman, argued the robberies were driven by his client’s gambling addiction.

“It’s not an addiction to gambling. It’s not an addiction to the Chiefs,” Patrick Daly, senior litigation counsel at the US Attorney’s Office, countered. “It’s an addiction to fame.”

In a post-sentencing statement, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Kansas City Field Office Stephen Cyrus agreed with that sentiment.

Babudar terrorized bank employees throughout his multistate crime spree, while relishing his celebrity status,” Cyrus said. “Today’s sentencing speaks to the severity of his actions and the significant law enforcement assistance and resources utilized across multiple states to hold him accountable for his violent and criminal behavior.”

Babudar was ordered to pay $532,675 in restitution to financial institutions he robbed and give up an autographed painting of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes that was seized by the FBI.

The post KC Chiefs Superfan Gets 17.5 Years in Prison for 11 Bank Robberies appeared first on Casino.org.

Bulger, the former leader of the Irish Mob in Boston, was bludgeoned to death in October 2018 with a lock attached to a belt by Fotios “Freddy” Geas, according to prosecutors, although Geas claims he used his fist.

The 89-year-old Bulger was wheelchair-bound and in frail health when he was attacked just hours after being transferred to USP Hazelton, W.V. His eyes were nearly gouged out and his tongue almost cut off.

But he was also a long-time FBI informant. Bulger’s cooperation with the feds helped to put many of his competitors in prison, while allowing him to his run his operations with impunity for many years. It also earned him a lot of enemies.

Who is Fotios Geas?

Geas is reputedly an associate of the Genovese crime family who could not become a made man because he has Greek ethnicity, not Italian. He operated as an enforcer for the family out of Springfield, Mass., often working with his brother, Ty Geas.

The Genovese family is allied with the Patriarca Crime Family, also known as the New England Mafia, which was severely weakened by Bulger’s FBI cooperation.

Initially charged with murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in relation to Bulger’s death, Geas ultimately pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and assault resulting in serious bodily injury. His new sentence will be served consecutively with his existing life sentence.

Fellow inmate Paul J. DeCologero, who acted as a lookout during the attack, was sentenced to more than four years in prison in August on an assault charge. A third prisoner, Sean McKinnon, pleaded guilty in June to lying to the FBI in relation to the incident. He was given no additional prison time.

16-Year Fugitive

Bulger famously went on the run in 1994 when his FBI handler, John Connolly, tipped him off that the feds were building a case against him.

The gangster was a fugitive for the next 16 years, until agents traced him to an apartment in Santa Monica where he had been living quietly with his partner, Catherine Greig.

In November 2023, Bulger was sentenced to two terms of life imprisonment for murder racketeering.

The post ‘Whitey’ Bulger Killer Gets Extra 25 Years in Prison appeared first on Casino.org.

The suit stemmed from a?February 2018 AP news story that reported on a police statement made by a woman named Hulina Kuta who alleged sexual misconduct against the former Wyn Resorts chairman and CEO.

At the time, Wynn was facing?several allegations?of sexual misconduct toward female Wynn Resorts workers, which he continues to deny and for which he has never been prosecuted.

Kuta’s allegations turned out to be false, and in March 2020 a lower court judge determined she had defamed Wynn, awarding the billionaire $1 in damages.

‘Outrageous Claims’

Wynn argued the AP story was libelous because some of Kuta’s claims were so outrageous that reporters should have known they weren’t credible. He also accused the news agency of omitting details that would have cast doubt on the veracity of her account.

The article reported Kuta’s false claim that Wynn had raped her in the 1970s and that she gave birth to their daughter in a gas station restroom.

Kuta also said she had been married to Wynn in the 1960s and that she bore him other children, but she couldn’t remember their names.

What’s an Anti-SLAAP Lawsuit?

Anti-SLAPP statutes are designed to prevent powerful public figures from suing in an effort to intimidate or silence critics and to protect news organizations that publish stories in good faith which they believe are in the public interest.

The Supreme Court panel of seven judges wrote in their ruling that Wynn needed to show “clear and convincing evidence to reasonably infer that the publication was made with actual malice.”

The public had an interest in understanding the history of misconduct alleged to have been committed by one of the most recognized figures in Nevada and the article directly relates to that interest,” the panel determined.

Wynn resigned from the company that bears his name in 2018 after the publication of a Wall Street Journal article titled “Dozens of People Recount Pattern of Sexual Misconduct by Las Vegas Mogul Steve Wynn.”

In July,?Wynn?agreed?to pay Nevada gaming regulators $10 million to settle a complaint that these allegations had “harmed Nevada’s reputation and its gaming industry.” Under the settlement, which was not an admission of guilt, Wynn agreed to never again hold a position with a Nevada gaming company.

The post Steve Wynn Defamation Case Vs. Associated Press Nailed by Nevada Supreme Court appeared first on Casino.org.

All nine inspectors under Champion’s control signed an open letter published Wednesday by the MSEA-SEIU Local 1989 public services union. The letter expresses no confidence in Champion, who has been executive director of the Maine Gambling Control Unit since 2016.

“Casino gambling … was a highly contentious issue in Maine in 2003 when it was passed by voters and legalized,” Mark Brunton, president of Local 1989, said in a statement. “One of the concerns was to make sure it was well-regulated to protect the citizens of Maine. That’s the important role that our inspectors play. They need to be on the job whenever the casinos are open.”

‘Undermining the Board’

?The inspectors’ letter claims that Champion “does not respect” the oversight of the Maine Gambling Control Board because it has denied his proposals in the past.

Now, rather than subject himself to the checks and balances of the Board’s oversight function, Milton Champion is circumventing the Board altogether by making unilateral decisions that completely undermine the Board’s ability to oversee gambling matters in Maine.”

The inspectors claim that “many of these decisions make very little sense, are based on false data, and have irreparably harmed the Maine Gambling Control Unit’s ability to regulate casino gambling.”

Additional grievances include Champion’s alleged failure to “correctly pay” his inspectors for services rendered and refusal to discuss all of the above issues.

“We must make it known that Milton Champion has repeatedly shown a lack of respect for our legal rights and processes spelled out in our union contract, has retaliated against us individually and as a group, and has created a deeply dysfunctional and toxic workplace environment,” the letter states.

Champion Blunder

Champion hadn’t responded to a request for comment on the letter from Casino.org at the time of publication. However, Steven Silver, chair of the Maine Gambling Control Board, told The Portland Press Herald that “from a purely operational standpoint, things have been running very smoothly and very profitably under Director Champion.”

Silver also acknowledged he was aware of complaints about a hostile work environment and had concerns over the decision-making that went into the schedule change.

On May 6 of that year, the regulator replied to a poster’s opinion that referring to a group of women as “ladies” was inappropriate.

“In this day and age, I guess ‘bitches’ is better,” he suggested.

Then, just over a week later, he reacted to images of a white nationalist march on the US Capitol with: “At least they are not burning down or looting stores.”

The post Maine Chief Regulator Facing ‘No Confidence’ Revolt by Casino Inspectors appeared first on Casino.org.

Richard Charles Reed was additionally found not guilty of the attempted murder of Paul “King” Jin, an associate of Zhu. Jin was dining with the victim at the Manzo Japanese restaurant in Richmond when Reed opened fire with a 45-calibre Norinco semi-automatic pistol. Jin was injured in the attack but survived.

British Columbia authorities believe Jian was the center of an operation that laundered hundreds of millions of dollars in drug money through the province’s casinos.

Reed was identified as a man seen wearing a striped black and white hoodie circling the restaurant before entering four minutes prior to the shooting. Prosecutors said he had been waiting for the sun to set so he could make his escape under the cover of darkness.

Smoking Gun

When police searched Reed’s apartment, they found the murder weapon under the bed, as well as a loaded magazine with Reed’s fingerprint on it.

Reed had frequent phone contact with three men who were either in the restaurant or in the vicinity at the time of the shooting. Justice Jeanne Watchuk said the men likely aided Reed in committing the killing.

One of these men, Jin Cai, was also having dinner at Manzo and was the only one to leave early, just minutes before the killing. Cai was murdered in his home in Vancouver in June 2021. Another, Jack Qin, organized the meal. He was shot in the face in April 2021 but survived and testified at the trial.

The third man, Gordon Ma, was seen on surveillance video with Reed before the shooting and had frequent phone contact with Jin Cai, before and after the act. His whereabouts are unknown.

Reed’s trial was a judge-only affair. In Canada, when there is deemed to be substantial risk of jury intimidation or tampering, juries can be dispensed with altogether.

Silver International

In 2017, Zhu was the subject of a case that was billed as Canada’s all-time biggest money laundering prosecution. He was accused of washing hundreds of millions of dollars of criminal proceeds through Vancouver-area casinos via his currency exchange company,?Silver International.

Prosecutors in the case contended that Silver was a front for an underground bank with links to drug cartels.

The case collapsed?when prosecutors inadvertently divulged the name of an important government witness during a standard evidence disclosure. The judge stayed the case after deciding that its continuation would place the witness at “high risk of death.”

Reed will be sentenced

The post British Columbia Man Convicted of Murdering Notorious Casino Money Launderer appeared first on Casino.org.

Guo was the Mayor of Bamban, a sleepy town in Tarlac province where she allegedly had interests in an online casino that also operated as a front for human trafficking and internet scams. She is believed to have left the Philippines by speedboat on or around July 14 after slipping past border checkpoints.

Guo was apprehended on Tuesday night in the Indonesian city of Tangerang, west of Jakarta, Philippine authorities said.

Photographs taken of her arrest show Guo wearing light pink pajamas and a white shirt. She is currently in custody in Indonesia and it’s unclear whether she will be extradited to the Philippines.

Who is Alice Guo?

Guo’s case has gripped the nation since police raided the Bamban compound in March to find hundreds of trafficked workers, as well as luxury villas and a network of underground tunnels. They also found Guo’s car and documents showing the land on which the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) complex was built was partially owned by the mayor.

Investigations into Guo’s background provided further intrigue. She claimed to be a natural-born Philippine citizen, the “love child” of a Chinese father and a Filipina maid, who had grown up “hidden” and friendless on a pig farm until she decided to run for mayor in 2022.

All of her social media accounts were registered that year. Residents of Bamban say no one in the town knew her before that.

Guo’s wealth was inconsistent with that of a small-town mayor, and her bank accounts showed mysterious transactions to individuals and business entities in China.

All this led to accusations that Guo is a Chinese asset, which she denied.

Final Straw

The case proved to be the final straw for the POGO industry, which was long criticized for links to organized crime. On July 23, just over a week after Guo’s disappearance, Philippine President Bongbong Marcos ordered the industry to be dismantled.

Marcos said on Facebook Wednesday that Guo’s arrest was “a warning to those who attempt to evade justice.”

“Such is an exercise in futility. The arm of the law is long, and it will reach you,” he wrote.

Marcos previously warned that “heads will roll” after learning of Guo’s flight from the country.

The post Fugitive Philippine Mayor in Trafficking, Spying Storm Arrested in Indonesia appeared first on Casino.org.

Jason Penrod is the owner of Family Elder Law, which closed its three branches without warning in Lake Wales, Fla., Lakeland, Fla., and Sebring, Fla. in July, The Ledger reports.

“I would gamble until I exhausted our family’s savings, my law firm’s profits; all the while avoiding reality and any type of feeling (which is the only way I can explain not fearing the consequences of my irrational and immoral behavior),” Penrod allegedly wrote in the letter, a copy of which was filed in court. “And then, once I received more money, I would gamble and lose those monies.”

‘Traumatic Stress’

Penrod was hired in 2014 to draft a living trust for a client named David D. Anderson, who died in 2021. Penrod was a designated successor trustee. Anderson’s children, Charles Anderson and Sherry Prevoznik, the plaintiffs in the case, were sole beneficiaries.

Charles Anderson met with Penrod in June to discuss winding down the administration of the trust, at which point Penrod passed Anderson the confessional letter he had written, the lawsuit states.

In it, he admits that from October 2023 to January 2024, he transferred money from the trust into his personal account until it was depleted, according to the complaint.

He viewed these transactions as temporary loans that he would pay back with interest, he claimed. But he soon began to realize he would not be able to repay the money and “hit rock bottom,” understanding that he would lose his license to practice law and go to prison, according to the letter filed in court.

Shot at Redemption

Penrod has filed a petition with the Florida Supreme Court asking it to grant “disciplinary revocation.” If granted, this would terminate his privilege to practice law while allowing him to retain the option of later applying for readmission to the Florida Bar to resume his legal career.

It would also mean that the Florida Bar’s disciplinary action against him would be dismissed, but it would not, of course, protect him from any criminal prosecution.

He said chose this route because he believes his ability to work in the future is the only shot he has to repay the money.

“I humbly ask that you allow me to continue to work and pay you back,” Penrod wrote in the letter. “This is obviously self-serving, since it keeps me from going to prison and allows me to be with my family. And while I know God’s grace is real, as I wouldn’t be here were it not, I cannot control […] whether you forgive me.”

The post Lawsuit Claims Attorney Stole $1.8M from Client’s Trust Fund, Gambled Money Away at Hard Rock Tampa appeared first on Casino.org.

The company spent the weekend in talks with stakeholder groups, lenders, and regulators in an effort to raise funding – to no avail, reports the Australian Financial Review (AFR).

Star has asked the government of Queensland for tax relief, and those negotiations are ongoing. The New South Wales (NSW) government has already refused to offer any such bailout because it would be used to support the company’s Queen’s Wharf project in Queensland.

Suspended from ASX

The news comes a day after Star was suspended from the ASX for missing the deadline to file its full-year financial results.

The report by the New South Wales Independent Casino Commission (NICC) concluded the operator had failed to sufficiently address the “governance and cultural concerns” raised by a 2022 inquiry that found it unfit for licensing.

Criminal Gangs

Star’s Sydney license has been suspended since 2022 when the inquiry concluded it had allowed itself to be used by criminal gangs to launder money in private high-roller junket rooms.

Despite the license suspension, gaming at the Star Sydney has remained operational. In a statement last week, the NICC said it was “contemplating [the new report’s] findings, including four compliance breaches,” adding that it would respond in due course.

Too Big to Fail

Queensland Premier Steven Miles said Wednesday his administration would do everything it could to keep Queens Wharf open.

This is a fantastic asset for our city. It is a big job generator. It is a major attraction to our city and state,” he said. “It is an important platform for Brisbane 2032 and everything that we’re going to do in our city over the next decade or so.”

Miles added that any bailout would still require Star to pay all of its taxes and license fees, but they would be deferred.

The post Star Entertainment in Disarray, Begs for Bailout appeared first on Casino.org.

Han’s mother, identified by authorities only as a woman in her 50s with the family name Shin, has been charged with operating illegal gambling houses at 12 separate locations from 2021 to late last month.

Shin employed operators who acted as proxies, according to prosecutors. Gamblers who visited the venues were given access to a website controlled by Shin where they could purchase credits to participate in games like baccarat, prosecutors said.

Han Statement

Han released a statement via her agent, 9ato Entertainment, emphasizing that she was estranged from her mother and had no connection to her illegal gambling empire.

“The report from yesterday (September 2) concerns Han So Hee’s mother’s personal and independent actions,” read the statement. “Han So Hee was devastated upon learning about it through the news.

We want to reiterate that this incident relates entirely to her mother’s independent actions and has nothing to do with the actress,” Han’s agency added.

Han moved out of her family home to live with her grandmother in Seoul after her parents’ divorce when she was five years old. She later supported herself through college by modelling and then acting.

She became an A-list celebrity in South Korea after starring in ‘The World of the Married,’ the highest-rated television series in Korean cable TV history.

Currently, Han plays the female lead in ‘Gyeongseong Creature,’ a widely popular historical television epic with added horror elements depicting events surrounding the Japanese occupation of Seoul in 1945.

Multiple Frauds

It’s not the first time Han has had problems with her estranged mother. In 2020, she wrote on her blog that she had recently paid Shin’s debts out of a sense of filial duty.

She did so again two years later, when her mother was involved in multiple fraud cases. These included Shin opening a bank account in Han’s name to borrow money.

I feel nothing but remorse, as my mistaken belief that repaying the debts would solve everything only led to more victims,” Han wrote at the time.

While South Korea has many foreigner-only casinos, gambling is illegal for its citizens with one exception – at the state-owned Kangwon Land Casino. In fact, Kangwon Land is the only place in the world where South Koreans can gamble, because they can theoretically be prosecuted at home for gambling abroad.

The post South Korean Starlet’s Mom Charged with Running Illegal Gambling Empire appeared first on Casino.org.

The company told shareholders on Friday that it would halt trading and publish its full-year results later in the day. That’s while it “considered the implications” of a damning report by New South Wales (NSW) regulators that found it was still unsuitable to hold a gaming license for its flagship Star Sydney property.

The report by the New South Wales Independent Casino Commission (NICC) concluded the operator had not sufficiently addressed the “governance and cultural concerns” highlighted in a 2022 inquiry that initially found it unfit for licensing.

It has only very recently turned its attention to dealing with challenges that should have been prioritized earlier,” NICC chief commissioner Philip Crawford said.

“It was unclear whether The Star could feasibly operate under less supervision, when it was exhibiting past behaviors with its license still suspended,” he added.

Secret VIP Room

The 2022 inquiry determined that The Star Sydney had failed to protect itself from being used by criminal gangs to launder money in private high-roller junket rooms.

Star allowed Macau-based junket operator Suncity to secretly operate an unbranded VIP room, referred to as “Salon 95.” This was despite Australian authorities having identified Suncity as having links to organized crime.

Salon 95 continued to operate even after then-Star CEO Matt Bekier told regulators his company had severed business links to Suncity.

The casino also allowed Chinese high rollers to withdraw a total of $900 million for gambling using China UnionPay (CUP) credit cards while disguising these transactions as “hotel expenses” to avoid breaching CUP’s no-gambling transaction rules. Star subsequently lied to CUP and the National Australia Bank in an effort to conceal the deceit.

Crown Passes Test

Star’s competitor, Crown Resorts, faced similar accusations of cultural shortcomings and was also found unsuitable for licensing in NSW following a 2021 inquiry. But last April, the NICC determined that the company had successfully addressed its failings.

The report, published last Thursday, came just two days after Star opened its AU$3.8 billion (US$2.5 billion) Queens Wharf in Brisbane, Queensland. It also runs The Star Gold Coast in Queensland.

The post Star Entertainment Kicked Off ASX Over Missing Financial Results appeared first on Casino.org.

The Alabama Attorney General’s Office has now charged five men with stealing the machines after they were found last week in Jay’s Charity Bingo in the city of Lipscomb, more than 80 miles north of Selma.

The terminals disappeared from the backroom of Selma Charity Bingo after the Attorney General’s Office conducted a raid last month and served a temporary restraining order on the business. The machines remained at the Selma venue while authorities waited to obtain a seizure order.

Brazen Theft

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall told AL.com his agents knew they had found the missing machines when they raided the business in Lipscomb because they still had the evidence stickers on them.

“The brazen nature of stealing something that has an evidence sticker on it just shows you how far some of these people will go,” Marshall marveled.

Marshall said his office received a report from Dallas County’s Sheriff’s Department, which covers Selma, that the machines were missing. It’s unclear how they were traced to Jay’s Charity Bingo.

The businesses are not believed to be connected. It’s likely the thieves realized the machines would be locked up in the shuttered Selma Charity Bingo because they had read about the temporary restraining order in the news.

The vehicle in which we shut these businesses down was through a civil order enjoining the business from operating while we prove through litigation that those in fact are gambling machines,” Marshall told AL.com. “In essence, it’s not the historic go in and raid and seize the machines and carry them off,” he said.

Court records show that Charles Allen Robinson, 52, Charles Vanderford Jr., 61, Eric Daniel Hurt, 39, Michael Ray, 56, and William Patrick Humphries are all charged with third-degree burglary in the case.

Marshall said it was ironic that the suspects are facing a felony charge while the owners of Selma Charity Bingo will only be charged with a misdemeanor.

Legal Battles

The legality of electronic bingo machines was the cause of years of legal disputes in Alabama. Operators said the machines conformed to the state’s bingo laws while aping the look and feel of Vegas-style slots.

The matter was settled in October 2022, when the state’s Supreme Court determined that only traditional bingo games were legal.

Marshall, who had long seen the machines as “a?menace to public health, morals, safety, and welfare,” began enforcing the prohibition shortly after. Multiple gaming halls offering illegal gambling were shut down on the same day as Selma Charity Bingo.

The post Seized Illegal Alabama Gaming Machines Vanish, Resurface in New Bingo Hall appeared first on Casino.org.

The tribes claim the card clubs offer games that violate their own exclusivity on house-banked casino games. But they have previously lacked the legal recourse to challenge the clubs. That’s because, generally speaking, state courts lack jurisdiction over tribes, which are sovereign nations. And meanwhile, federal courts prefer not to interfere with California’s internal gaming laws.

The Senate approved the Tribal Nations Access to Justice Act by a resounding 32-2 on the final day of the legislative session. The bill authorizes the tribes to seek limited declaratory and relief action to determine whether the card clubs’ games violate their rights. They cannot claim monetary damages.

California Games

California Nations Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA) Chairman James Siva described the legislation’s passage in a statement as “a new day in California history in regard to the civil rights of this state’s tribal nations.”

For over a decade, California tribes have engaged in considerable efforts to defend our exclusive gaming rights guaranteed in the California Constitution,” Siva added. “The Tribal Nations Access to Justice Act gives tribes access to justice that has been denied not only in this case, but throughout California history.”

At the heart of the matter are so-called “California games” offered by the state’s cardrooms. These are versions of popular casino table games that circumvent the ban on house banked games by taking a rake from each hand while allowing players to play in a rotating dealer position — just like in a regular poker cash game.

But the cardrooms also hire state-licensed third parties to “shill” in the dealer spot because players don’t always want to act as the dealer. The tribes argue that these companies, known as TPPPs, are a de facto “bank.”

Jobs on Line, Say Cardrooms

Cardroom advocacy group the California Gaming Association (CGA) has said the bill could cost the industry around 32,000 jobs. That’s because an unfavorable court ruling stemming from the bill would force many of the clubs to downsize or shut down.

“This bill will only throw government budgets into uncertainty and make a mockery of our judicial system,” according to an August 20 statement by the CGA editorial board. “Weaponizing the legislative process so that one special interest group can try to drive out perceived competition is silly on its face.”

The post California Legislature Passes Bill to Let Tribes Sue Cardrooms appeared first on Casino.org.

The casino is suing Dr. Yew Choy Wong for an AU$43 million (US$30 million) gambling debt, which it says he ran up during a weeklong gambling spree six years ago.

Wong arrived at the Gold Coast venue in July 2018 on one of the casino’s private jets to play a baccarat tournament, according to the complaint. When he left on August 2, he was $43 million in the hole.

Blank Check

The Star claims Wong was given access to a $40 million check-cashing facility on the day he arrived. He authorized the casino to use a blank check he had given to sister casino, Star Sydney, a year earlier to pay the debt on his departure, per the lawsuit. The check bounced.

Wong claims the credit agreement was blank when he signed it and denies authorizing the casino to use the check to collect the debt.

The defendant says he decided to stop gambling on July 28 after becoming infuriated by dealer mistakes, but VIP hosts persuaded him to continue.

The high roller claims he made it clear that he would not pay further losses if the mistakes continued, which they did, he says.

Wong testified Wednesday that he instructed his private banker to ensure the check would bounce because it was too old.

‘Unjustified Oppression’

The Star initially sued Wong in Singapore but was unsuccessful because the country’s Civil Law Act prohibits the government from assisting foreign companies seeking to recoup debts related to overseas gambling.

Wong argued the Singapore ruling should stand, adding that Star’s efforts to pursue him through the Australian courts system constituted “unjustified oppression.”

Wong is a former director of Isle of Man-based Celton Manx, which owns SBOBET, the first Asian-facing sportsbook to sponsor an English Premier League team.

A spokesperson for Celton Manx told?Casino.org?that Wong resigned from the position in March 2019 soon after the company became aware of the dispute.

The post Singapore High Roller Denies Lying About $30M Debt appeared first on Casino.org.

Alice Leal Guo fled the Philippines by speedboat on July 18 after repeatedly failing to turn up to a Senate committee hearing examining her case.

The agency said this week it believes Guo is taking a circuitous route to the Golden Triangle, a semi-lawless area spanning the intersecting borders of Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar, which is under the influence of triads, drug cartels, and trafficking syndicates.

Shocking Discovery

The?Guo?case became a national sensation after police raided a POGO (Philippine Online Gambling Operator) complex in her town of Bamban in the northern province of Tarlac last February.

Inside, they found hundreds of trafficked workers, Guo’s car, and documents showing the land on which the POGO complex was built was partially owned by the mayor.

Residents of Bamban say that no one knew Guo before she ran for mayor in 2022, which is also when all of her social media accounts were registered.

Meanwhile, investigators have discovered that large sums of money were deposited in Guo’s bank accounts, which were then transferred to other individuals and business entities in China.

The mystery surrounding Guo’s identity has led to speculation that she is a Chinese asset, which she has denied.

Fujian Clan

The PAOCC claims Guo is connected to the so-called “Fujian Clan,” a network of Chinese nationals that?washed at least US$2.2 billion — largely the proceeds of illegal online gambling — through Singapore’s banking system.

“We are confident that she is trying to get into the Golden Triangle,” said Winston Casio, spokesperson of the PAOCC, who added that the Guo family also has business interests in Cambodia, another hotbed of triad scam centers.

“They are part of a big criminal organization. The Fujian Gang, to which the Guos belong. is part of the Golden Triangle Triad,” he claimed.

Guo’s escape from the Philippines has angered President “Bongbong” Marcos. Speaking of those who must have aided her flight, he warned that “heads will roll” over the “corruption that undermines our justice system and erodes public trust.”

The post Fugitive Philippine Mayor Headed to Lawless Drug Region, Authorities Say appeared first on Casino.org.

Sam Hou Fai, 62, stepped down as president of the Court of Final Appeal ahead of his announcement this week. He is expected to be the only candidate to be approved to run for office by a pro-Beijing election panel.

Macau has its own financial system and a degree of political autonomy as a Special Administrative Region (SAR) under China’s one country, two systems policy. However, candidates for the chief executive role are chosen by the Beijing-approved 400-strong panel comprised of politicians and businessmen. This renders ordinary citizens’ right to vote for their leader almost meaningless.

‘Wild’ Expansion

Sam’s views on the gaming industry echo Beijing’s policies, which have long sought diversification of the SAR’s economy. The central government is currently engaged in a crackdown on money laundering and capital flight from the mainland, which has moved from targeting the casino junket industry to illegal money-exchange businesses.

For a period of time, the tourism and gaming industry developed in a disorderly manner and expanded wildly,” Sam said at a press briefing Wednesday, as translated by Bloomberg. “Having one dominant industry is not beneficial for Macau’s long-term development and has had a very negative impact.”

The casino industry’s dominance has strained the resources of society such as manpower, and narrowed the career choices of young people, Sam claimed. As such, the city’s economic and political development faced “unavoidable” challenges, and Macau needs to “reform and innovate.”

“Macau’s long-term development is only possible with the country’s support,” Sam added, referring essentially to heightened cooperation with Beijing.

Casino Stock Impact

Shares in Macau casino operators fell slightly on the news. Sands China Ltd. was down 2.8% Wednesday, while MGM China dropped 2.5%.

His predecessor, Ho Iat Seng, announced last month that he would not seek a third term as chief executive, citing poor health.

The post Macau Judge and Casino Critic Likely to be Gambling Hub’s Next Leader appeared first on Casino.org.

None of those investigated will be charged with misconduct in public office, the Met said. However, it’s still possible that they could still be charged under the Gambling Act for cheating at gambling.

The Gambling Commission is still examining the actions of numerous senior Conservatives accused of placing bets on the timing of the election based on information known only by a select few. The wagers were allegedly placed just days before the “snap” election was announced by then-prime minister Rishi Sunak.

Conservative Downfall

The scandal was one of the factors that contributed to the Conservative Party’s landslide defeat in the election. A survey by thinktank Demos found the incident had further eroded voters’ trust in the party’s ability to govern.

Among those accused was?Craig Williams, who at the time, was Sunak’s chief aide. Williams has admitted placing a ￡100 bet on a July election at odds of 5/1.

Also in the frame is Tony Lee, the Conservative Party’s director of campaigns. Williams, along with Lee’s wife, Laura Saunders, were standing in the election as prospective MPs but withdrew in the wake of the scandal.

Embarrassingly for the Met, “at least seven” of its own officers, including one who was part of Sunak’s protection detail, were also investigated for insider election betting. Their cases are being examined by the Met’s directorate of professional standards and the Gambling Commission.

High Bar Not Met

Misconduct in public office is a serious offense that has a maximum prison sentence of life. But after reviewing the case of the senior Conservatives, the Crown Prosecution determined that the “high bar for misconduct in public office to be proven was not met.”

It has therefore been agreed between the Met and the Gambling Commission that the more appropriate criminal offences to progress with would be those under the Gambling Act.” a Met spokesperson said. “While our involvement in the criminal investigation now ceases, it’s important that is not misinterpreted as an all-clear for those whose cases were looked at.”

UK Gambling Law prohibits “cheating at gambling,” but doesn’t define what this might involve. It is unclear therefore whether insider betting constitutes cheating in the eyes of the law.

The post UK Police Drop Probe Into Conservative Party Insider Betting appeared first on Casino.org.

From now on, requests from vendors for large quantities of processing equipment will be referred to the Texas Lottery’s executive director for closer investigation, especially when those vendors have no previous record of selling large numbers of tickets.

State Sen. Tan Parker (R-Flower Mound) said that the integrity of the lottery was “lost in the process” as a result of the jackpot win.

Jackpot Exploited

After 93 rollovers, the April 22, 2023 lottery draw was one of those rare occasions when the game becomes mathematically exploitable. The jackpot stood at $95 million, which meant that buying up every possible combination of numbers – or 25.8 million tickets at a dollar a ticket – would all but guarantee not only the jackpot but most of the other prizes as well. And that’s exactly what the mysterious syndicate did.

Because the prize was $57.8 million after taxes, the syndicate knew it was looking at a likely $22 million profit from the jackpot alone.

Even if it were unlucky enough to share the first prize with another winner, it would still make a profit of around $3 million. That’s before you consider the additional prizes, which it would be more likely to share with other winners.

A three-way split would have been a disaster, but that was an unlikely outcome and a risk worth taking for the syndicate.

The real problem was logistical. How do you go about buying 25.8 million tickets for a draw that typically only sells one to two million tickets per week? According to the state legislature, it was all way too easy.

Lottery ‘Collaborated’ in Scheme

All of the tickets bought up by the syndicate were processed at just four outlets, three of which had sold no tickets at all in the months leading up to the draw, according to an investigation by The Houston Chronicle.

That meant each outlet needed to order enough equipment from the Texas Lottery to process millions of tickets in the three days between the draws. The state agency was only too happy to oblige.

State Rep. Matt Shaheen (R-Plano) accused the agency of “collaborating” with a “group of sophisticated players.”

“A significant percentage of lottery sales in Texas is to lower-income individuals, and I think they were taken advantage of,” he said, as reported by The Chronicle.

The post Texas Lottery Implements Rule-Change After System Gamed for $95M Jackpot Win appeared first on Casino.org.

The filing by Selena Stronach also sought records of payments made by the group to settle any such claims, stating it was likely that misconduct “occurred in the corporate environment and included the misuse of corporate assets.”

In dismissing the motion last Wednesday, Justice Peter Osborne found there was “simply no evidence” in the record that the requested documents existed.

Sexual Assault Charges

In June, family patriarch Frank Stronach was charged with rape, attempted rape, indecent assault, forcible confinement, and sexual assault in relation to a series of alleged attacks on women occurring from 1977 to February this year, which he denies.

Its assets include California’s Santa Anita Racetrack, Gulfstream Park in Florida, and the Pimlico Racecourse in Maryland, as well as training centers and simulcast operations across the country.

Bitter Family Feud

Selena Stronach’s filing was part of a separate 2019 civil lawsuit that accuses Belinda Stronach, the company’s current CEO, chair, and president, among others, of corporate mismanagement. Belinda is Frank’s daughter and Selena’s aunt.

In 2018, Frank Stronach, who no longer has anything to do with the running of the company, filed a similar lawsuit against his daughter and other family members. It was settled in 2020, with Stronach being awarded a stallion and breeding business.

I appreciate the court’s thoughtful consideration of the matter and recognition that the criminal proceedings against my father are entirely unrelated to the now five-year-old civil litigation brought forward by my niece, Selena Stronach,” Belinda Stronach said in a statement.

“I look forward to proceeding with the civil trial as scheduled in the actions of Selena and my brother, Andrew Stronach, and to resolving this difficult chapter,” she added.

‘Fishing Expedition’

In court last week, Mark Gelowitz accused Selena Stronach of being on a “fishing expedition,” adding that her motion was merely trying to embarrass his clients.

Selena Stronach’s lawyer, Matthew Gottlieb, claimed that the Stronach Group’s failure to categorically deny the existence of misconduct settlements suggested they existed.

Osborne denied Gottileb’s request to cross-examine the defendants.

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King Gaming’s plan to build a multimillion-dollar HQ with office and residential space, plus two eateries and a landscaped park, was described by local media as the “largest ever single private investment on the Isle of Man.”

But in April, King Gaming’s gambling license was suspended by the island’s regulator, the Gambling Supervision Commission. That’s after police raided the company’s offices and arrested ten staff members as part of an investigation into fraud, money laundering, and immigration violations.

At the same time, the regulator suspended the license of Dalimine Ltd., King’s B2B arm. Then the Isle of Man Financial Services Authority ordered cryptocurrency firm, Soteria Solutions, to cease operations because it shared directors and officers with King and was registered at the same address.

‘Scam Kingpin’ Named

Now, the BBC has revealed that this web of associated companies also included Manx Internet Commerce (MIC), a scam factory targeting Chinese citizens that existed on the island between January 2022 and January 2023.

MIC initially operated out of a room in the Seaview Hotel in Douglas, the Manx capital, before moving to former bank offices on the east side of town.

In late 2013, six people who worked for MIC in Douglas were convicted in China of conducting investment scams on Chinese citizens, having been charged with fraud on their return to their homeland, the BBC reports.

Liang is Chinese born but travels on a Dominican passport. He was not among those prosecuted in China in late 2013, and its unclear whether he was one of those arrested by Manx authorities in April.

“Pig-butchering” refers to a long-term fraud in which the victim is befriended over the internet and gradually lured into making increasing payments into a fraudulent investment scheme, typically using cryptocurrency.

‘Killing Pig Plate’

Originating in China, where it’s called “Sha Zhu Pan,” literally translated as “killing pig plate,” there has been an explosion of these types of scam centers across Southeast Asia since 2016, particularly in countries such as the Philippines and Cambodia.

However, it’s uncommon to find such Chinese-facing operations in the West. The Isle of Man is a British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea with an independent government.

But in recent years, it has also attracted Asian-facing online gambling companies. These operators are lured by the “white-label” system, which allows them to piggyback onto a third-party’s UK gambling license.

In turn, this enables them to sponsor English Premier League soccer teams, an advertising springboard to the Chinese market, where promoting gambling is strictly illegal.

But the emergence of a scam center on the Isle of Man may force the island’s authorities to ask themselves some difficult questions about their licensing regime.

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Three horses died and many more were injured when the category EF-3 tornado hit on May 25, Memorial Day weekend.

But now, the reels are spinning again on the newly carpeted gaming floor and the track will be ready to go when the racing season starts on September 9.

‘Back to Work’

On Wednesday, Cherokee officials, casino employees, and the Claremore Chamber of Commerce all attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the reopening.

“Finishing this project, even in the short period of time, means the workforce that we maintained during this downtime means they can get back to work,” Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. told 2 News Oklahoma.

It means the economic impact that we have through Will Rogers Downs in the community and the Cherokee Nation will continue. So, it’s a very proud day. I am glad to see it,” he added.

Hoskin said that during the downtime, the tribe was able to move all employees to other businesses. The tribe owns 10 casinos on its 7,000 square-mile reservation in northeastern Oklahoma.

“We made sure that people continued to get a paycheck, and that’s the most important thing,” Hoskin said. “Having them back in what is their work home, it is a real family here, it is real special to them.”

Speedy Recovery

The local horse racing industry praised the speed at which the Nation worked to get the track back up and running, a feat that required significant manpower, according to Hoskins.

“I think we had major concern initially,” Krissy Bamberg, executive director of the Oklahoma Quarter Horse Racing Association, told News on 6 Oklahoma. “When you looked at the damage, there was no way you could really fathom that they would have it back so soon.”

“This is the livelihood for our guys,” she added. “Most of our guys are Oklahomans and want to stay in Oklahoma. So, without Will Rogers running this time of year, they have to go to other states like Louisiana and Texas.”

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The complaint, filed Wednesday in London’s High Court by 20 institutional shareholders, demands $150 million in damages. It claims that Entain failed to properly inform investors of an investigation by the UK tax agency, HMRC, into bribery and corruption at the Turkish subsidiary, Headlong.

Ultimately, Entain would pay one of the biggest fines in UK corporate history, ￡600 million (US$760 million) to resolve the case. Shares in the company have almost halved since May 2023 when it warned shareholders of the impending penalty.

Shady Networks

Entain, then known as GVC Holdings, offloaded Headlong for free in December 2017 ahead of its proposed takeover of British legacy betting group Ladbrokes-Coral.

Online gambling is illegal in Turkey, and the company wanted to rid itself of black-market ops that might give regulators a reason to nix the Ladbrokes deal.

HMRC accused Entain of failing to stop Headlong employees from engaging in bribery. The unit was so poorly overseen that some of its employees were defrauding the parent company by siphoning off money.

Entain, which now owns half of BetMGM, could have been prosecuted under the UK Bribery Act but prosecutors ultimately decided against this because it could have resulted in the company losing licenses across the world, potentially putting thousands of jobs at risk.

Internal Unrest

Should the case proceed to trial, a judge will need to determine the degree to which the Turkish investigation caused Entain’s stock market downturn. There have been many other factors that have damaged its share price over the past few years, including a series of misfiring acquisitions.

Andrew Williams, a partner at Fox Williams, the law firm that filed the complaint, said he hoped the lawsuit would “offer institutional investors the opportunity to recover substantial losses, but more importantly, serve to improve transparency and governance within the UK’s gambling sector, reminding public companies that they need to take their disclosure obligations seriously.”

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In a letter to US Interior Secretary Deb Haaland this week, Newsom argued that the casinos, proposed by the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians for Solano County and the Koi Nation for Sonoma County, are “proceeding in a manner that would sidestep the State [and] ignore the concerns of tribal governments and other local communities.”

The Scotts Valley Band has been seeking approval for its proposed $700 million casino resort near Vallejo since 2016. Meanwhile, the Koi Nation announced its plans for a $600 million project near Windsor in September 2021.

Controversial Projects

Both tribes have applied to the Department of the Interior (DOI) to have the land earmarked for the casinos taken into trust. This is the process by which the federal government partially removes land from the jurisdiction of the state and converts it to sovereign land, a prerequisite for tribal gaming.

Ultimately, while the DOI may consider Newsom’s stance on the applications, the governor will have no final say in the decision.

Both projects are controversial because they are opposed by some local residents, as well as by other tribes in the region. Casino opponents have accused the tribes of “reservation shopping,” suggesting they have?sought land far from their original reservations to maximize future casino profits.

Some Native Americans find the term offensive and believe it fundamentally misunderstands the nature of tribal reservations.

The Koi Nation’s links to the land have been disputed by the?Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, which owns and operates the Graton Resort & Casino in Rohnert Park, about 11 air miles from the proposed site.

‘Land Appropriation’

Meanwhile, on Thursday, Cache Creek Casino operator the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, the Kletsel Dehe Wintun Nation, and local government officials held a press conference in West Sacramento calling for the DOI to reject the Scotts Valley casino project.

Neither the Koi Nation nor the Scotts Valley Band already owns a casino.

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The case of Alice Guo became a national sensation after police raided a POGO (Philippine Online Gambling Operator) complex in her town of Bamban in the northern province of Tarlac last February. The business, Zun Yuan Technology, was suspected of involvement in crypto scams, human trafficking, and cybercrime.

Inside, they found hundreds of trafficked workers. They also found Guo’s car. Police also discovered that the land on which the POGO complex was built was partially owned by Guo.

Further investigation into Guo’s background prompted concerns about national security. She claimed to be a natural-born Philippine citizen, the love child of a Chinese father and a Filipina maid. She said she grew up “hidden” and friendless on a pig farm.

Just Who is Alice Guo?

But her wealth, which she previously flaunted, was inconsistent with that of a small-town mayor in a Philippine backwater. Her birth certificate was registered when she was 17 years old, and her fingerprints matched those of a Chinese national named Guo Hua Ping who entered the country as a teenager.

All of this has led to accusations that she is a Chinese asset, which she has denied. The allegations come at a time of increased tension between Manila and Beijing over disputed territories in the South China Sea.

Last month, a warrant was issued for Guo’s arrest after she twice failed to appear at a Senate hearing to answer questions about her citizenship and the inconsistencies surrounding her birth and upbringing.

According to the Philippines’ Bureau of Immigration and the country’s Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), Guo flew to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on July 18. Three days later, she hopped on a flight to Singapore. On August 18, she traveled to Batam, Indonesia, via ferry, according to PAOCC.

‘Heads Will Roll’

Her flight raises questions about how a fugitive from justice was able to travel through border checkpoints and whether she was aided in her escape.

President “Bongbong” Marcos announced Wednesday that “heads will roll” as a result of the incident, which he said had “laid bare” the corruption in the judicial system.

The POGOs, composed largely of Chinese nationals, thrived under former president Rodrigo Duterte, who was willing to license and tax the sector as long as it didn’t take bets from Philippine citizens.

More than 4,000 POGO-linked crimes, including kidnapping and murder, were reported from January 2017 to 2023, according to Philippine police.

Last month, President Marcos ordered the industry to be dismantled.

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Judge Michele Pitman of the Circuit Court of Cook County’s Sixth Municipal District sentenced Vera Liddell, 68, to nine years in prison for felony theft after her guilty plea last Friday.

Liddell embarked on her crazy fraud spree in July 2020 at the height of the pandemic when students were learning remotely and weren’t permitted to be physically present at school.

During this time, the school district continued to provide meals for underprivileged students, which could be picked up by their families.

Scheme Takes Wings

From July that year through February 2022, Liddell placed hundreds of unauthorized orders for chicken wings with Gordon Food Service, the school district’s supplier, according to court documents. Believing these were legitimate orders, Gordon Foods billed the district, which paid the invoices.

But the chickens came home to roost when a 2022 audit revealed that the food service department had already maxed out its budget for the entire year by $300K, and it was only January.

Investigators analyzed security video which showed that Liddel used the school district’s cargo vans to pick up the produce. It’s unclear where it went after that.

NFL’s Chris Jones Intervenes

Liddell’s lawyer, Patrick O’Byrne, told People last week that his client was a churchgoing woman with no previous criminal record.

“She’s just a little sweetheart that’s got a gambling problem,” O’Byrne said: “She feels beyond terrible about this. This is totally uncharacteristic of her. It was the disease taking over.”

Things got even weirder when NFL star Chris Jones appeared to offer to repay the $1.5 million if it would get Liddel out of prison.

I’ll pay for the wings that she stole to get her free,” he tweeted on the X platform.

O’Byrne told People that Jones’ people had been in contact, adding that he hoped “everything works out so that we can get her out.”

It’s unclear how much impact the Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackles’ offer, if serious, could have on Liddell’s predicament since she’s already been sentenced.

The post Gambler Gets Nine Years for Stealing $1.5M Worth of Chicken Wings appeared first on Casino.org.

Last week, Ashcroft rejected a proposed ballot measure by the group, the Osage River and Gaming Convention (ORGC), because it didn’t have enough valid signatures.

The group claimed it submitted more than 320K signatures — more than enough to meet the ballot threshold — which requires the support of 8% of legal voters in each of two-thirds of the state’s eight congressional districts. Ashcroft said the campaign fell short by 2,031 signatures in the 2nd Congressional District.

‘Mistakes Happen’

In its complaint, the ORGC implies that the Secretary of State’s Office may have been mistaken and claims to have identified more than 2,500 valid signatures, which it says were wrongly rejected.

“Verifying every signature on multiple initiative petitions this summer has been a very long process for election officials and we realize mistakes happen,” the ORGC said in a statement.

ORGC has always been confident their initiative petition contained a sufficient number of valid signatures from legal voters to qualify for placement on the November 5, 2024 general election ballot and are now asking the Court to do so,” the statement continued.

Signatures can be rejected for numerous reasons, such as because the signee isn’t actually registered to vote, they entered false information, or they signed the petition more than once.

Bankrolled by Bally’s

The ORGC, which is bankrolled by Bally’s and local property developer Gary Pruitt, would ask the electorate whether Missouri’s constitution should be amended to expand casino gaming. Currently, it only permits casinos on the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. The proposal would create one casino license for the Lake of the Ozarks.

If it ever gets off the ground, the proposed project will create 500 construction jobs and 700 permanent jobs once it opens, according to the ORGC. Tax revenues from the casino would go to early childhood literacy programs in public schools.

Eyes On the Ozarks

The ORGC isn’t the only entity with its eyes on a casino in the popular tourist destination. The Osage Nation, which owns seven casinos in Oklahoma, has applied to the Department of the Interior to have land in the area taken into trust for the purpose of building the state’s first tribal gaming facility.

To approve the application for a casino so far from the tribe’s official reservation, the Interior Department will have to agree that the tribe has ancestral ties to the region.

The Osage Nation’s historical lands once encompassed most of what is now Missouri, and the tribe gave its name to the nearby Osage River. Nevertheless, the application could take years to process.

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The workers, Tamar Ansian, Makhare Patashuri, and Luka Nadiradze, adopted the extreme form of protest on August 12, according to JAMNews, a news outlet covering Eastern Europe’s Caucasus region. The trio have said they won’t eat until the demands of striking workers are met.

More than 4,000 Evolution Georgia employees – around half the workforce – began striking on July 12. Evolution is a B2B casino software provider that specializes in live casino streams. Many of the disgruntled workers are game presenters or croupiers who deal games from behind TV cameras in studios located at the Tbilisi offices.

Difficult Conditions

Employees claim they work for little money in poor working conditions, according to Evo Union, the trade union that organized the strike. They have reported dirty, unhygienic tables and mosquito infestations that have left some employees with severe skin conditions, infections, and allergies. Workers must sit upright for hours in uncomfortable chairs under bright lights and in poor air conditioning, according to the union.

These workers can earn additional monthly bonuses of US$110 to US$145, but bonuses are often lost if they end a shift early because they are unwell, which happens often because of the long hours and allegedly unsanitary conditions. The average hourly wage in Tbilisi is around US$5.50.

The last straw for workers appears to have been the leaking of Facebook conversations between Evolution managers in which some employees were mocked in an overtly racist and sexist manner.

List of Demands

The union has a long list of demands, which includes pay hikes, annual inflation adjustments, more breaks during shifts, a safer working environment, better health benefits, and the right to menstrual leave. It also wants Evolution to incorporate a system that enables players to tip dealers.

Evolution has called the strike “illegal” and warned that it will be forced to “make operational adjustments, including larger-scale layoffs of employees to reduce our presence in Georgia” if the situation is not resolved.

“We have spent six years investing in the country, offering first-time employment to many Georgians, and the situation is highly regrettable both for Evolution as well as for the many working employees who will be affected by these actions,” the company said in an August 1 Facebook post.

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The Boston-based betting giant’s largesse came just three days after the PAC, Winning for Missouri Education (WME), succeeded in getting an initiative on the November 5 ballot.

The proposed measure will ask voters whether they want to approve a constitutional amendment to legalize both land-based and online sports betting.

Under the proposal, the first $5 million a year in state taxes from sports betting would go toward efforts to combat problem gambling, while the rest would be funneled into public education.

Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft (R) announced Tuesday that the signature-gathering campaign had met the threshold to qualify for the ballot, with some 171,592 validated signees.

Will Missouri Vote for Sports Betting?

Will Missourians back sports betting on November 5? The polls are all over the place. A study by Saint Louis University and YouGov found that 60% of respondents are in favor, while another one in June by Emerson College put the figure at just 38%.

Campaign spokesman Jack Cardetti told The St Louis Post-Dispatch that DraftKings’ sudden cash injection would be used for educating Missourians about the initiative.

Now that we are officially on the ballot, we’ll be over the next two and a half months talking to Missourians across the state about why it makes sense to set up a legal sports betting framework that helps public education,” Cardetti said.

If approved by voters, the measure would authorize the Missouri Gaming Commission (MGC) to issue sports betting licenses to the state’s 13 riverboat casinos. Professional sports stadiums and arenas would also be eligible to apply for a license. Additionally, up to two online operators would be permitted to apply.

Pro Sports on Board

It’s clearly enough to have whet DraftKings’ appetite. It’s estimated that a future Missouri sports betting market could be worth $290 million annually. Based on that figure, the blanket 10% tax proposed by the amendment would generate $29 million for state coffers in addition to $11.75 million in licensing fees.

“On behalf of all six of Missouri’s professional sports teams, I would like to thank everyone who signed a petition to get this on the ballot. A vote for Amendment 2 in November is the right thing to do for both Missouri public schools and our favorite sports teams,” said Cardinals President Bill DeWitt III in a statement.

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