The Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) has rescinded the power of First Cagayan Leisure and Resort Corp. to approve online gambling license applications that are based in the economic zone.

CEZA's move was a result of Executive Order No. 13 which provided that online licensees must contain all operations within the borders of the economic zones that issued their license. Currently, the business process outsourcing (BPO) operations of many CEZA licensees are in Metro Manila where there is better technical infrastructure and staffing support.

CEZA now holds the exclusive control of “regulatory functions and powers over all gaming operators, land–based and offshore.” In its new policy, CEZA has reportedly stipulated that a $100m upfront payment will be required from companies that want to apply for new online licenses—a move that will likely deter, instead of encourage, license applicants.

According to Secureworks, the Lazarus Group is now circulating a spearphishing scam disguised as a job advert targeting workers in the cryptocurrency industry. The malware is being circulated in a form of a Microsoft Word attachment that reportedly triggers the installation of a “Remote Access Trojan.”

JP Morgan analysts have warned that South Korea's Gambling Industry Reform Plan, which will redesign the revenue cap policy (RCP) with heavier penalties and stricter legal enforcement, will burden Kangwon Land in 2018.

Denmark’s regulatory agency has reported that that online poker revenue totaled a mere DKK 31.7m, down 6.4% year-on-year, in the third quarter of 2017. This marks the fourth straight quarter of sequential declines for online poker in the country.

PNG has acquired Pinnacle’s 16 gaming venues in a $2.8b cash-and-shares deal, while a separate $575m agreement allowed Boyd Gaming to assume control over four Pinnacle casinos. With these deals, PNG has become the biggest regional casino operator in the US.

Jagging - refers to the way in which someone will mark certain cards to win in poker. After marking the card, the player then folds or plays the card to move it out of their hand and on to the other players. The cheater can now see where the marked card is and who is holding it.

Bitcoin news portal CoinGeek will hold its inaugural bComm conference in Hong Kong on May 18, 2018. The conference will be attended by Bitcoin Cash advocates such as Roger Ver, Craig Wright, and Michael Wood, Expedia’s Senior Corporate Counsel, Global Payments & Risk.

Congratulations to MalakiasCF for winning three events at 888Poker! The UK-based online poker player defeated 109 entrants to win the first prize of $33,000 in the $120k GTD Whale. MalakiasCF also won $19,250 and $3,300 in the $100k Mega Deep and $10k GTD Crocodile events, respectively.