Areas of Expertise
3073 stories by Philip Conneller
Ponca Tribe Scores Casino Victory Against Iowa, Nebraska in Federal Appeals Court
A federal appeals court has upheld the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska’s legal right to have built its Prairie Flower Casino in Carter Lake, Iowa. The tribe opened the casino in November 2018, despite facing legal challenges that sought to derail the project...
Hong Kong Billionaire Tony Fung Quits Aquis Board Over ‘Conflict of Interest’
Billionaire Tony Fung has retired as chairman and non-executive director of Canberra-based Aquis Entertainment, stressing the need for the board to be independent of its major shareholder. Fung holds just under 90 percent of Aquis, which owns Casino Canberra in the Australian...
Arizona Tribe Sues State Over ‘Illegal’ Sports Betting, Official Licensees Out Today
A small Arizona tribe is suing Governor Doug Ducey (R). The tribe argues that Pheonix lawmakers violated the state constitution when they legalized sports betting last April. The Yavapai Prescott Indian Tribe (YPIT) claims the passage of Arizona’s sports betting legislation was...
Hong Kong Customs Bust Macau-Bound Money Laundering Gang on Sea Bridge
Hong Kong authorities have disrupted a money laundering operation that planned to move bulk cash to Macau casinos through the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (HZMB). It’s the first known instance of the bridge being used as a conduit for money laundering. It opened...
UK Betting Shops Ace ‘Secret Bettor’ Age Verification Test
UK betting shops outperformed supermarkets and convenience stores in secret shopper tests this week, researchers said this week. These tests examined how often clerks verified the ages of gambles. Ninety percent of betting outlets demanded proof of age when visited by teenagers asking...
London’s Les Ambassadeurs Casino Fails to Freeze Chinese Billionaire’s Assets
A high-end private members casino that was the scene of Sean Connery’s famous chemin de fer session in Dr No cannot freeze the assets of one of China’s richest men. Les Ambassadeurs in London’s affluent Park Lane asked the Court of Appeal...
Foxwoods to Get $2M from $1.6B Insurance Policy for Pandemic Losses, Court Rules
Foxwoods Resorts Casino can recover just $2 million in coronavirus-related losses from its insurer, Factory Mutual, a Connecticut superior court has court ruled. That’s just a fraction of the $76 million the casino’s owner, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, had sought. The...
Massachusetts Lottery Frequent-Winner Family Accused of $21M Fraud
Three Massachusetts residents have been charged with numerous counts of fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion for their roles in what prosecutors allege was a ticket-cashing scheme on a grand scale. Over eight years, Ali Jaafar and his sons, Mohamed and Yousef,...
Caesars Raises Questions For Staging QAnon ‘Great Awakening’ in Las Vegas
Caesars Entertainment’s decision to host an event organized by the controversial far-right QAnon movement has been met with consternation by some experts on terrorism and extremist ideology. The event, dubbed the “Patriot Double Down,” will be held at Caesars Forum convention space...
UK Betting Shops More Likely Located in Poorest Areas, Study Finds
Betting shops in the UK are ten times more likely to be found in deprived communities than affluent areas. That’s according to a new study by the University of Bristol that highlights the disproportion between the amenities available in poor areas and...