Political and economic developments in mainland China will cause the deceleration of the VIP gambling industry in Macau in the second half of the year, international brokerage Sanford Bernstein said.

While VIP gambling strength is seen to continue in the first half of the year, analysts Vitaly Umansky, Zhen Gong and Cathy Huang said that some factors could derail this growth. These include instituted cooling measures on Chinese real estate; credit tightening in China; intensified focus on regulatory environment in Macau; and continued focus on capital outflows in China. The brokerage firm estimated that Macau’s VIP gambling growth could slow to 8%.

Olympic gold medal winner Fatima Moreira de Melo shared with CalvinAyre.com’s Lee Davy the lessons she gained after trading her hockey gear for a poker bracelet, including her outlook on fulfillment and growing old.

The professional asset trading platform is set to reopen a Bitcoin Cash (BCH)-Segwit1X (BTC) Orderbook on January 17, at 9 a.m. PST. GDAX will open the market with a ‘post-only’ mode for half an hour before transitioning to ‘limit-only’ only mode, then to a ‘full trading’ mode.

The London Stock Exchange-listed company is reviewing its Australian business after the government tightened its regulations on the gambling industry. The company said that the prohibition of offering “free bets” or lines of credit to customers and the looming imposition of 15% point of consumption tax (POCT) will affect their profits.

New plans that are detrimental to online gambling operators—which include an advertisement ban during live sports broadcasts and after 10 pm—are set to take effect on January 18 during the expiration of the mandatory three-month standstill period.

A 42-year-old woman is dead after a fire broke out on a boat taking gamblers to the floating Tropical Breeze Casino in Florida over the weekend. The cause of the fire, which injured at least 15 passengers, is still under investigation. 

The Tinian Entertainment owner flew in some investors from Hong Kong to inspect the shuttered Tinian Dynasty Hotel & Casino and to convince them of the potential of the island’s resort industry. Chen said that he is hoping to reopen the 435-room hotel and casino “as soon as possible.”

Deep Linking—This means allowing a publisher to hyperlink directly to a specific product or service webpage on the advertiser’s website. It cuts the step of going to the publisher’s website first.

The aggregator has signed a deal with gaming developer InBet Games. In its statement, Slotegrator lauded InBet Games’ “professionalism, credibility and responsible approach to work.” InBet Games has more than 100 licensed projects and has been operating in 42 countries.

Congratulations to Maria Lampropulos for winning the 2018 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event! The 36-year-old player from Argentina beat 582 players to pocket $1,081,100. She was also the first female player to win the PCA Main Event.