The Magic Orb

About The Magic Orb

FATF’s warning on illegal and offshore gambling will resonate in Denmark. Last year, Spillemyndigheden secured a court order to block 178 unlicensed gambling sites, the largest such action in the regulator’s history. 

The case highlighted how illegal operators disguise their presence through multiple site variations, a tactic the FATF report also flags as a red flag indicator. 

Denmark’s approach reflects a wider pattern that FATF has tracked for years through its own grey and black listing system. Under this system, jurisdictions with weak AML/CTF controls face increased monitoring or reputational sanction.

About The Magic Orb

While Station has remained steadfast in its opposition to Culinary, the union has made gains elsewhere in recent years. The entire Las Vegas Strip is now unionised, and Culinary used city-wide strikes as leverage in late 2023 and early 2024 to gain new multi-year labour agreements with the city’s major operators, including Wynn, Caesars and MGM.

Other than Station, Las Vegas Sands had been the other largest non-union holdout in Las Vegas for many years. But when the Venetian-Palazzo was sold to Apollo Global Management in 2021, the firm had no issues with Culinary and ratified the property’s first-ever deal with the union in 2024.

The animosity between the sides has become political over the years. Station is owned and operated by the Fertitta family, who have been prominent Republican donors for many years. Culinary is a largely Democratic organisation that typically supports and endorses left-leaning candidates.

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Global operator Bet365 has confirmed plans to cut around 340 jobs in response to increased regulatory and tax-related costs.

The job cuts, which represent approximately 3% of Bet365’s workforce, will be made across the company’s offices in Stoke-on-Trent, Malta and Gibraltar.

Bet365 attributed the job cuts to a “highly competitive trading environment, plus increased regulatory and tax-related costs”.