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Land-Based Casinos
+4
Sep 26, 2026
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2 min read
The resort’s request comes as Vietnam expands domestic casino access through a small number of tightly controlled projects rather than broad market liberalisation.
+3
Sep 25, 2026
Casino operators have used Korea’s tourism fund for operating expenses for decades. Allowing the same fund to finance construction and expansion changes something more fundamental: how the state categorises casino investment.
Sep 19, 2026
Eighteen users have been referred to prosecutors, but the larger question is whether event contracts are bets, financial instruments or a product regulators have yet to define.
Sep 8, 2026
Before a new pachislot machine reaches a Japanese gaming hall, its manufacturer must prove that the cabinet, software and payout behaviour comply with one of the industry’s strictest technical regimes.
Sports Betting
Sep 7, 2026
3 min read
Hong Kong approved the legal framework for basketball betting, but stopped short of issuing the licence. A technology platform prepared for the launch will now be repurposed for HKJC’s largest betting vertical.
Aug 22, 2026
4 min read
Twenty-one products from five suppliers entered Macao’s approval register in August. The opportunity is substantial—but every new installation must compete for space in a market whose machine count is no longer expanding.
+2
Aug 18, 2026
Horse betting survived Japan’s prohibition of gambling because racing had already become a national project, a professional sport and an institution the state considered worth preserving.
China
Aug 16, 2026
5 min read
The policy does not open a tender, but it explicitly makes sales systems, terminals, security infrastructure and channel modernisation eligible for funding from the 2027 budget cycle.
Aug 7, 2026
Mainland China prohibits casinos, foreign lotteries and unauthorised online betting. Yet its state lottery market generated approximately US$87 billion in 2025—and a largely invisible technology industry keeps it running.
Aug 6, 2026
The legislation remains in force, but the government has suspended plans to license the Hong Kong Jockey Club after linking prediction markets to a new wave of illegal gambling.
Aug 5, 2026
Another 75 casinos have been paused, suspended, revoked or allowed to expire. Every remaining licence is due to expire at the end of 2026.
Global
Aug 4, 2026
Players can buy chips, play roulette and lose virtual money connected to real purchases. Australia has now become the latest market to switch it off.
Deals & Finance
Jul 29, 2026
The Hong Kong-listed company says its Philippine gaming venture generated HK$45 million in three months. PAGCOR says the platform partner’s accreditation was cancelled during the same month operations began.
Jul 26, 2026
PAGCOR’s proposed restructuring could turn the agency into a pure regulator and eventually place more than 40 Casino Filipino venues on the market.
Jul 20, 2026
South Korea is considering a substantial increase in the contribution paid by its foreigners-only casinos to the country’s Tourism Promotion and Development Fund.
Canada
Jul 18, 2026
Twenty-two approved sites launched on July 13. The real test is whether regulation can move Alberta’s players away from an entrenched unregulated market.
Enforcement
Jul 16, 2026
The law has been on the books since September 2025. In early 2026 it started to bite — and the first targets are the affiliates, streamers and "guaranteed-win" communities that recruit players.
The prison sentences made the headlines. The quieter change — a law on who may lend gaming credit — is what actually stripped the junkets of their power.
Jul 10, 2026
Fifteen companies told Aichi they were interested in its airport-island resort. When the formal window opened, none stepped forward — and the prefecture just extended its deadlines.
Jul 9, 2026
An hour from Shanghai, a Korean island bets its casino industry on Chinese high rollers — the one flow Beijing is trying to shut down.
Jul 7, 2026
Japan's last all-cash gambling industry is finally trying to modernize — and running straight into the government's own war on gambling addiction. The fix may quietly reopen a door regulators spent years closing.
Jun 30, 2026
One year ago this week, a country looked at its own balance of payments and decided it could no longer afford online betting.