Earlier briefs · page 24
- Melco's City of Dreams evaluating Philippine online entryMelco Resorts actively evaluating online gaming through City of Dreams Manila is the most strategically significant Philippine iGaming development this week. A Melco online product would arrive with an existing premium player database, a recognized brand, and the physical footprint to cross-sell, which is a combination that pure-play online operators cannot replicate cheaply.…Market · Philippines
- Star Entertainment narrows loss but revenue stays flatStar Entertainment cutting its net loss to AUD307 million in FY26, a 28% improvement, while revenue stays flat is a cost discipline story, not a recovery story. Management citing July revenue growth as evidence the worst is behind it is a claim that needs one more quarter of data before it is credible: Star has been in regulatory and compliance difficulty long enough that a single month of momentum does not reset the structural picture.…Market · Australia
- Metaplanet moves 4,800 BTC to Coinbase; read the signal carefullyMetaplanet transferring more than 29% of its Bitcoin holdings to Coinbase Prime in a single move is the kind of custodial action that precedes either a large institutional sale or a structured financing event, and the scale rules out routine portfolio housekeeping. For Philippine operators and treasury teams watching Asian corporate Bitcoin behavior as a sentiment indicator, a Japanese firm of Metaplanet's profile moving this volume is a signal that institutional holders are repositioning, not holding through volatility.…Market · Japan
- CiG iDEA Summit in Manila on September 14: attend or brief your teamThe Complete iGaming iDEA Summit on September 14 at IAG EXPO in Manila is the most relevant near-term industry gathering for this readership, arriving at a moment when market consolidation, the PAGCOR license freeze, and the entry of Melco and IEC into online are all live topics. Lower urgency than the above items, but worth flagging: if you are not attending, have someone in the room who can report back on how operators and suppliers are reading the current market contraction in real time.Product · Philippines
- Metaplanet's Bitcoin Transfers Looked Alarming, the CEO Already Answered WhyMetaplanet moved thousands of BTC into institutional custody in a single week, and on-chain trackers assumed the worst. The company's CEO already confirmed these are custodial adjustments, not a sale, and the economics back him up: selling now would realize a loss against a strategy built for the long term. Here's the more interesting explanation for what's actually happening.Crypto
- Star Entertainment Narrows Its Loss, But the Growth Is Concentrated in Slots, Not TablesStar Entertainment narrowed its loss 28% on real financial restructuring, new ownership, fresh equity, debt relief. But the July growth management is pointing to is coming from slots, not tables, where mandatory carded play is still suppressing revenue. Here's the third confirmed data point on what that policy actually costs, and why it hits premium players hardest.iGaming
- IEC posts 61% gaming revenue rise, online launch imminentInternational Entertainment Corp growing gaming revenue 61% year-on-year at Manila Bay's LaVie casino while simultaneously preparing to launch an online gaming business is the most consequential Philippine operator move this week. The widened US$62 million net loss is a cost-structure story, not a demand story: revenue is clearly responding to the LaVie expansion, and online is the next lever.…Market · Philippines
- AI advantage play on baccarat side bets is an Asian casino problem nowAI-backed teams exploiting baccarat side-bet vulnerabilities is no longer a theoretical threat: a study is documenting it as a growing operational problem for Asian casinos. Side bets were added to baccarat floors precisely because they carry higher house edge, so losing that edge to organized AI-assisted play hits a high-margin revenue line directly.…Market
- Bureau of Immigration arrests POGO-linked Chinese national2 billion tax case, and ongoing Hongsheng recovery proceedings, it confirms the enforcement apparatus is running multiple parallel tracks simultaneously, not winding down. Individuals with any traceable POGO-era employment, ownership, or vendor relationship remain active targets, not historical footnotes.…Regulatory · Philippines
- US$3.8B Korean gambling racket ran through Philippines undetected8 billion illegal gambling scheme out of the Philippines, apparently undetected at scale, is the most damaging story for Philippine regulatory credibility this week. 8 billion moves through a jurisdiction only when enforcement is either absent or compromised at multiple levels.…Regulatory · Philippines