President Trump has had a long and complex relationship with US casinos. He is one of the major casino owners in New Jersey's Atlantic City but that venture hasn't always been as profitable as he might have hoped. 

Now the industry waits and watches to see how Trump's presidency will impact on the casino industry. Will he take action to prop the industry up? Give casinos tax breaks? Support legislation that will allow the casinos to offer online games? Promote the development of casino centers in new areas of the country? 

Gambling has been taking place throughout the course of human history. Anthropologists have found evidence of gambling activities by early man in the form of prehistoric dice games. Archaeologists cite numerous relics that demonstrate that gambling existed in ancient civilizations including Greece, Rome, China, Africa, the Americas and Northern Europe.

There's probably never been a time in history when gambling has changed as dramatically as is seen in the last 20 years. The rise of the Internet has brought gambling to a new era. Bettors can now place their wagers online for games, sporting events and other gambling activities.  

The iGaming industry is experiencing phenomenal growth. In 2009 the online gaming market had an estimated revenue of $20.51 billion. That number has exploded to $41.77 billion in 2017 and is projected to reach $59.79 billion in 2020.   

Of the 2.97 billion people worldwide who have web access, it's estimated that 1.8 billion are gamers. The U.S leads all countries with a total spend of $20.5 billion on games – this includes both digital gaming activities and land-based gambling. Other countries with high numbers of gambling citizens include China, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, Korea, France, Canada, and Italy.  

Will America change its anti-gambling laws anytime soon? That's the question that many people are asking as the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 comes under fire for punishing people who engage in a voluntary act that can only adversely affect themselves.

Constitutional lawyers say that PASPA is unconstitutional. They point out that nothing in Article I, Section 8 of the constitution authorizes Congress to enact laws to prohibit what's viewed as "immoral conduct."  They note that delegitimizing alcohol (Prohibition) could only be effected with an amendment and that constitutionally, gambling stands on the same ground.

Gambling revenue in Macau rose only 5.7% in February, short of analysts' expectations. Despite the disappointment the gambling hub showed a gain for the 19th consecutive month, encouraging new casino building efforts and renovations of older casino sites.

February marks the lunar New Year holiday and it's a time when the Macau casino market typically sees a spike in gambling action. Visitors numbers rose 6.5% in February's national holiday week while revenues in February climbed to 24/3 billion patacas ($3.02 billion U.S.).

While expectations were for revenue growth to be between 7% and 12%, the casinos expressed satisfaction with the smaller-than-expected increase.

The years-long battle to bring casino gambling to Japan has ended and gambling operators are already lining up in their efforts to obtain licenses to open casinos. While plans are in being finalized to decide which Vegas casino operators and other companies will be granted these licenses, a number of Japanese legislators are thinking ahead.

The ruling Liberal Democratic/Komeito coalition government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has suggested that the integrated circuit chip that's found within government-issued My Number identity cards be utilized to limit foreign nationals living in the country and Japanese citizens to ten casino outings per month.

According to this plan, prospective players will be allowed only three visits over any seven consecutive day period and 10 visits per month -- an uninterrupted 28-day period.

Komeito/Liberal Democratic legislators are also proposing that the size of the gaming floor in any new casino be limited to around 161,458 square feet. This area would not be allowed to constitute more than 3% of the total floor space of any casino site.

Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has ruled that the Quebec provincial government Bill 74 violates Canadian Federal Law. The ruling was issued in response to advocates of freedom of Internet access and Internet service providers who protested that Bill 74 would restrict Quebec residents' free access to the Internet and would place undue hardships on Internet providers who were expected to facilitate the Bill's implementation.

Pro-Internet advocates welcomed the ruling. They had raised concerns that Bill 74 constituted censorship and violated the principles of free and open Internet access. In their ruling the CTRC wrote that the website blocking provisions of Québec’s Bill 74 are not compatible with Section 36 of the Telecommunications Ac which guarantees free Internet access to Canadian citizens.

2018 is forecast to be a good and stable year for Vegas casino enterprises. Vegas was in a much more difficult situation 10 years ago when the 2008 recession hit. Today financial consultants are looking at the Vegas turnaround in an effort to learn lessons that can be applied to other regions.

2008 - What Happened?

The recession of 2008 actually started in late 2007. Most analysts believe that the crisis was triggered by banks' lending policies which created too much money too quickly. This pushed up housing prices and led to a dangerous level of speculation on the financial markets.

Allegations regarding money laundering activities have led to the issuance of letters from the UK Gambling Commission to 17 online casino operators. The letters specify the allegations and warn the operators that the Commission will revoke their licenses if action is not forthcoming to prevent money laundering through their sites.

The warnings, which could potentially impact similar land-based Vegas casino UK sites, details the consequences that the casinos could face if they don't improve their anti-money laundering measures. The Gambling Commission acknowledged that the casinos were making efforts to stem the practice but their current policies aren't enough. The Commission called into notice the “serious nature” of its findings which also focus on problem gambling.

Playing Vegas casino games using cybercurrencies is a gamble in itself. Cybercurrencies are new and there's an element of insecurity in using them. Yet some of the world's biggest investors have put their eggs in the cybercurrency basket – maybe not all of their eggs, but a significant portion of the basket. That sends a message to others that those in the financial world who are up-to-date on the trends and options see cybercurrencies as the wave of the future.

What does this mean for the casino industry? For the casinos and for their patrons?