Aussie gaming operator Crown Resorts is facing a class-action lawsuit by investors who say they were damaged by Crown’s alleged breaches of anti-money laundering laws. Meanwhile, James Packer’s firm has been given the OK to open its Sydney resort—without a planned VIP casino.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga (l.), who succeeded Shinzo Abe in September, is as interested as his predecessor in the introduction of integrated resorts in the country. The IR plan was delayed by Covid-19.

The administration of President-elect Joe Biden will include the first Native American cabinet secretary. New Mexico Congresswoman Deb Haaland has been named to lead the Interior Department, which oversees, among other things, the U.S. relations with Indian Country. Haaland previously directed the gaming enterprise of her tribe, the Pueblo of Laguna.

The newest addition to Macau’s Cotai resort district, and one of its most elaborately-themed, opens its first phase to the public on January 22. From there, it’s on to Chinese New Year.

New Jersey established a new national record in sports betting handle in November, topping $931 million. But it was just one of several states to set records last month. Mississippi, Iowa and Indiana all hit new highs.

A coalition of about 20 California gaming tribes have gathered enough signatures to qualify a ballot measure legalizing sports betting on the 2022 ballot. The measure would allow retail sales by tribal casinos and racetracks.

Casinos and other entertainment venues will be closed for over a month from December 15 to January 19, by order of the Netherland Prime Minister Mark Rutte (l.). It’s the third and most extensive lockdown of casinos after the first two failed to reduce the number of Covid cases. Other European casinos were also impacted.

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (l.) last week said the state would allow high schools, theaters, bowling alleys, casinos and some other venues to reopen from the pandemic lockdown but the ban on indoor dining has been extended.

Hard Rock International has tapped iGaming and sports betting veterans, including Rafi Ashkenazi (l.), former head of The Stars Group, to head Hard Rock Digital, as the operator launches online gaming sites and sports books at all its Seminole Hard Rock properties.

Richard Schuetz (l.) reflects on the many different roles he’s played in his life. The gaming veteran has worked on every side of the industry to become an expert and serious consultant.

With sports betting, the Covid crisis and challenges to the election process, few gaming observers have focused on what an administration led by Joe Biden would mean. Here’s are a few hints.

This week, the GGB Podcast sits down the Joe Pappano, the newly appointed CEO of Sightline, on the rapidly changing world of cashless transactions.

Legal troubles continue for Saipan’s sole casino operator as the local chamber of commerce and island lawmakers demand past-due payroll (workers protest at left) and tax payments. Meanwhile, Imperial Pacific International CEO Donald Browne has been held in contempt for noncompliance with court orders.

South Korean gaming operator Paradise Co. announced last week that it would close its Seoul casino, Paradise Walkerhill, for seven days as the country battles a new surge in Covid-19 infections. Other casinos in the country including locals property Kangwon Land (l.) had already closed.

The territory’s economy plummeted by more than 50 percent in 2020. That’s the biggest fall of 30 Asian-Pacific countries and cities surveyed by an agency of the United Nations.

Some 500 attendees were expected for live performances last week at Marina Bay Sands. It was the Singapore resort’s first event on such a scale since the pandemic hit. MBS Senior VP Paul Town called it a “great step.”

The United States Treasury Department has accused casino investor Wan Kuok Koi (l.) of bribery and corruption as the boss of a Chinese triad called 14K. The U.S. has officially sanctioned Koi.

Gaming operators in the Catalan region of Spain are very unhappy about the government’s decision to reopen shopping centers but keep casinos closed. They say it shows “contempt” for 8,000 gaming employees.

Casinos and bingo halls in Saskatchewan, Canada will close again this week on orders by the province’s chief medical health officer.

Uruguay is seeking bidders to invest in renovating the Hotel Casino Carmelo (l.) into a five-star hotel casino. It hopes to help revive a tourism industry damaged by the pandemic.

West Virginia’s five casinos have been granted full iGaming licenses by the West Virginia Lottery. Each paid $250,000 for a five-year license. Previously Mardi Gras, Wheeling Island, Mountaineer, Hollywood Casino at Charles Town and the Greenbrier Resort operated on 270-day interim licenses.

The Michigan Gaming Control Board expects online sportsbooks and online gaming to go live in mid-January.

A problem gambling help group in Delaware says the pandemic and subsequent shutdowns of casinos has worsened problem gambling online in the state.

IGT PlayDigital has launched its online gaming solution, including the IGT PlayRGS remote game server and IGT PlayCasino content, with Veikkaus Oy, Finland’s state lottery operator.

Everi Holdings has supplied what is the 777th game to be offered online by the iGaming site operated by Golden Nugget in New Jersey, one of the top online casinos in the market.

BLOX has partnered with online casino supplier Evolution to add the Evolution Live Casino games including blackjack, roulette, poker and game shows to the BLOX platform.

Passing a sports betting bill appears to be unlikely in Kentucky until 2021 or even 2022, said state Rep. Adam Koenig (l.). The state Supreme Court’s ruling against a particular type of historical horseracing machine used throughout the state moved legalizing sports betting to the back burner.

Fifteen gaming platform providers received provisional licenses to offer online sports betting in Michigan, perhaps as soon as mid-January. Provisional license holders still have to pass independent platform testing and meeting other regulatory requirements, according to Richard S. Kalm (l.) of the Michigan Gaming Control Board.

With tribal gaming compacts essentially considered renewed, Oklahoma tribes and legislators may turn their attention to legalizing sports betting. But Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association Chairman Matthew Morgan (l.) said most tribal leaders are not in a hurry over sports wagering.

The approval of single-game sports betting in Canada was left at the altar as the House of Commons took on another law instead of debating betting. The House adjourned until late January when bipartisan support expects to bring the proposal to long sought passage.

DraftKings CEO Jason Robins (l.) said with no new states launching sports betting in 2021, the company still expects to grow 40 percent. But New York and Connecticut could join the club in addition to other states which bodes well for DraftKings.

On its first day under the new name Entain, the former GVC Holdings PLC became the first global sports betting and gaming operator to gain licensing in Latin America.

FanDuel Group has launched the OpenSports global sportsbook platform from Scientific Games in West Virginia, marking the state’s first online sportsbook launch.

Nevada is battling record numbers of new Covid infections. The state’s per capita rate of virus-related hospitalizations is the highest in the country. But gaming is too important to jobs and the economy to shut down, says Governor Steve Sisolak (l.).

Maryland’s Prince George’s County responded to a record number of new Covid-19 tests by banning indoor dining at bars and restaurants, and by limiting capacity at MGM National Harbor (l.) casino to 50 percent.

Chris Cylke (l.), the senior VP of government relations for the American Gaming Association said that prospects are “better than ever” for the Internal Revenue Service to raise the reporting threshold for slot wins for the first time since 1977.

When the Georgia legislature convenes in January, lawmakers will consider legalizing sports betting, horseracing and casinos. Rep. Ron Stephens (l.) says it’s time the state gives Georgians what they want.

Penn National Gaming will acquire Hollywood Casino Perryville in Maryland from Gaming and Leisure Properties, its affiliated real estate investment trust, for $31.1 million.

The Eldorado, a slots-only locals venue, is one of three casinos in Boyd’s Southern Nevada portfolio that never reopened after the pandemic lockdown ended. Now it’s going to the company’s Henderson rival, DeSimone Gaming, owner of the Railroad Pass, for an undisclosed sum.

The derelict Trump Plaza in Atlantic City (l.) will be imploded in January after years of neglect. Bidders can vie to press the button that will make the former Boardwalk casino come crashing down.

Three sports betting bills pre-filed by Missouri state senators are virtually identical except for license-holder taxes and fees. State Senator Denny Hoskins (l.) also pre-filed a bill to legalize and regulate VLTs.

MGM Springfield, one of Massachusetts’s three casinos, in November suffered the worst month of operations in terms of sales since it opened in August 2018. It came after profits had started to climb again in the summer.

Foxwoods Resort Casino and the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut saw slot machine revenue fall steeply in November. They reached levels not seen for 30 years.

The site of Ray Wooldridge’s Big Play Entertainment Center in Biloxi, Mississippi does not meet state standards for casino locations. Wooldridge, a former owner of the New Orleans Hornets National Basketball Association team, has been angling for approval for the site since 2008.

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ two Harrah’s casinos in North Carolina are on track to open sportsbooks in time for March Madness. Governor Roy Cooper signed an amended compact which was forwarded to the U.S. Department of the Interior for approval.

Southern California tribal casinos remain open for business, despite tightened health and safety restrictions affecting almost all non-tribal businesses in the state.

The state of Indiana and the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, owners of the Four Winds Casino in South Bend, are on the verge of finalizing a gaming compact. Indiana Gaming Commission Executive Director Sara Tait said negotiations “are in a very late stage.”

Wallace Cheves, developer of the Catawba Nation’s Two Kings Casino Resort in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, is seeking to have two parcels surrounding the project site rezoned for single and multifamily housing. A public hearing will be held Tuesday, December 22.

The BIA has approved putting 40 acres into trust for the Tule River Indian Tribe. This will allow the Central California tribe to relocate its Eagle Mountain Casino to Porterville.

The BlueWater Resort & Casino, operated by Colorado River Indian Tribes, is reopening, very, very slowly from its March shutdown. The phased reopening began in September and is still ongoing.

The change in gambling patterns caused by pandemic prompted Pala Casino (l.), in Southern California, to convert a poker room into an Asian Gaming Room. It offers games such as pai gow poker and baccarat.

Lotto purchases in New Zealand, especially online sales, skyrocketed beginning in the first two months of the pandemic, when the country was put into an almost complete lockdown. The only way to buy Lotto tickets was online—and such sales doubled.

Melco Resorts and Entertainment has announced that Kevin Benning is now senior vice president and property general manager of its Studio City casino resort in Macau, replacing Geoff Andres (l.), who will move to Benning’s former position as Manila COO.

BMM Testlabs has named former Aristocrat Technologies executive Navin Goel (l.) as the company’s new chief operations officer, charged with leading the company through its next growth phase.

FSB, a leading sports betting and iGaming supplier has appointed Ian Freeman as chief revenue officer. Freeman has iGaming experience with IGT and Kambi.

Rymax has named Alysa McKenna, a 15-year marketing and communications veteran, to the position of senior director of marketing and communications.

Scientific Games debuted its new Kascada slot cabinet showcasing the game Coin Combo at the Green Valley Ranch casino, with a live-streamed event hosted by The Slot Cats YouTube channel.

JCM Global has installed the CPS X Edge counting/sorting machine at Coyote Valley Casino in Redwood Valley, California, replacing a competitor’s cash-handling system.

Paddy Power has become the first U.K. bookmaker to partner to offer Spotlight Sports’ statistical insights and tipping content throughout retail shops.

AGS recently received a provisional iGaming supplier license from the Michigan Gaming Control Board. That means when iGaming launches in the state—expected in January—players will be able to access the same content online as offered in land-based casinos.

Wynn Las Vegas has launched Wynn Rewards, its new player loyalty club, supplanting the former Red Card loyalty program with current Red Card members automatically enrolled in the new club.

Global gaming operator Melco Resorts & Entertainment has announced it has installed a system called Winnow Vision to help reduce food waste. The system is powered by artificial intelligence technologies.

Organizers of the Phil-Asian Gaming Expo (PAGE) have announced that the trade show will be held at Manila’s SMX Convention Centre July 29-31, 2021. The 2020 edition of PAGE was canceled due to Covid-19.