Techme101.com

The Star Entertainment Group has been working with Bally’s Corporation to allow the gaming giant to take over the struggling business by the end of November.
After a substantial wait for the red tape of regulatory approvals by the NSW Independent Casino Commission and Queensland’s Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation (OLGR), the move has been greenlit.
We reported that the Australian Securities Exchange had approved for Bally’s to step in and bring their expertise to the faltering financials of the group.

$SGR The Star Entertainment Group is up 16% after securing full regulatory approval from the NSW Independent Casino Commission & Queensland OLGR for its strategic investment deal.
Clears the way for Bally’s Corporation $300M investment.
https://t.co/44Wmp8IApX pic.twitter.com/wPuMPiPcpl
— The Market Bull – Daily Stock News (@TheMarketBullAU) November 21, 2025

The Star Entertainment Group looks to Bally’s as a financial saviour
The deal to bring in Bally’s was approved by The Star Entertainment Group’s shareholders in June 2025, after a challenging year for the brand.
This $300 million investment was seen by many as the first piece of positive news for the Australian betting name amid a suspended license in Sydney and the failure of multiple refinancing deals.
After an Annual General Meeting, The Star released a statement heralding the incoming support from Bally’s.
The release read, “The past financial year has been a tumultuous period for The Star. For most of the year, liquidity was a major challenge, and the Board and management worked hard to implement a range of initiatives to strengthen the Group’s financial position.”
Bally’s to stop financial freefall
Over the past year, the group has attempted to offload some of its gathering financial burdens, including the sale of a 50% stake in the Destination Brisbane Consortium, alongside the sale of buildings, the Treasury Brisbane casino, and the Sydney Event Centre.
This fire-sale of assets was a free-fall move by the group, and it will now start to level out as Bally’s negotiating power and international presence provide much-needed stability and respite.
The statement from the group closed, “Our team has made sound progress over the past 12 months. The road ahead remains very challenging with many critical milestones yet to be achieved but we have a plan, the execution of which requires continued discipline and focus.”
Busy 2025 for Bally’s
Bally’s has been busy across 2025, with deals to take substantial stakes in multiple companies coming to the fore as enhanced regulation and financial strains, such as tax regulations, grip smaller brands.
The biggest of those deals was the $3 billion acquisition of Intralot by Bally’s, which Readwrite reported in October 2025. The 58% stake was bolstered by the issue of €1.136 billion ($1.31 billion) of new shares.
Bally’s also won its Bronx casino bid in the United States after a twisting tale of opposition, with the outgoing Mayor of New York City stepping in to support approval.
The company has also moved to increase its brand exposure with the deal to become English Premier League side Nottingham Forrest’s official shirt sponsor.
Featured image: Bally’s / The Star Entertainment Group
The post Bally’s approved to take control of The Star by the end of this week appeared first on ReadWrite.

Judge Andrew P. Gordon, US District Judge for the District of Nevada, has ruled that contracts by Kalshi cannot be offered in the state.
Despite the ruling, the predictions market has, in turn, submitted an emergency injunction to freeze the decision.
Kalshi and Nevada legal battles deepen
The background to the case, as Readwrite reported, is that Kalshi, one of the largest Designated Contract Market (DCM) providers in America, believes its operations are lawful nationwide under the umbrella of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

“As I mentioned in my Crypto order, had Congress intended to upset the balance between state and federal gaming regulation and turn CFTC-designated markets into nationwide casinos for anyone over the age of 18 with no comparable federal regulator, it surely would have made that intent more explicit. I therefore find that the balance of hardships does not tip sharply in Kalshi’s favor.” – Judge Andrew P. Gordon

Individual states, such as Maryland, New York, and Ohio, to name a few, have taken umbrage at the supposed disregard Kalshi has for the regulated, licensed betting processes in place.
In Nevada specifically, there has been action involving another prediction market, Crypto.com, which was effectively frozen out of offering any services until its lengthy legal woes come to a close.

BREAKING: Nevada federal court dissolves preliminary injunction granted to Kalshi, finds that Kalshi’s interpretation “relies on a strained reading of the already convoluted CEA,” would “upset decades of federalism regarding gaming regulation and is contrary to Congress’ intent.” pic.twitter.com/mNSRLTpO9k
— Daniel Wallach (@WALLACHLEGAL) November 25, 2025

Judge Gordon has been a key part of the tale, initially upholding the decision in Kalshi’s favour earlier this year and then being the party to dissolve Crypto.com’s defence.
That dissolution has led to this November 24, 2025, decision to allow Nevada regulators to take punitive action against Kalshi.
Event contracts are in crisis in Nevada
This set a precedent for those opposed to Kalshi, such as the Nevada Gaming Control Board, who willingly pushed for the same treatment of Crypto.com for all prediction market providers.
This would affect the established licensed betting operators in Sin City, such as DraftKings and Flutter Entertainment. We covered the Nevada Gaming Control Board pulling the licenses of both after they attempted to muscle into the emerging contract game.
“Flutter Entertainment/FanDuel and DraftKings intend to engage in unlawful activities related to sports event contracts. This conduct is incompatible with their ability to participate in Nevada’s gaming industry,” said the Nevada Gaming and Control Board.
Kalshi needs the emergency injunction to survive
Kalshi made multiple arguments against Judge Gordon’s decision in its Emergency Motion for Stay Pending Appeal, including the cost of blocking Nevada residents’ access to its products via geofencing.

“With the PI no longer in effect, however, Kalshi faces a threat of imminent criminal enforcement by Nevada authorities. Accordingly, Kalshi respectfully requests, by this motion, a stay of the Dissolution Order pending appeal.” – Kalshiex, LLC v. Hendrick motion to stay

Nevada regulators had initially explored geofencing as a solution to Kalshi’s limited presence in the state, and the predictions market is front-loading all arguments against it in an attempt to win the emergency injunction.
The decision, says Kalshi, would also contradict the CFTC’s finer details on open national access to federally regulated markets, and the cost of geofencing within a workable timeframe would be prohibitive. The company has already filed a motion to stay, requesting an administrative stay of the Dissolution Order.
The legal ball now passes to the Nevada courts, which will review the emergency injunction and may decide Kalshi’s prediction market’s fate in the gambling-heavy state.
ReadWrite has reached out to the Nevada Gaming Control Board for comment.
Featured image: Kalshi / Canva
The post Nevada judge’s decision halts Kalshi from operating in state appeared first on ReadWrite.

Robin Severance-Lopez, the estranged wife of Marcos Lopez, the former Sheriff at the heart of a casino gambling scheme case, has accepted a plea deal.
This news comes alongside a former associate of Lopez, Krishna Kumar Deokaran, who changed their plea to guilty after charges against them were reduced.
Lopez’s corruption case continues
As we reported, the case into the alleged corruption and gambling ring centred around the office of Lopez, and a rumoured $21.6 million in embezzled funds, has continued to gain momentum.
Severance-Lopez was arrested in the summer of 2025 on a felony charge of conspiracy to use investment proceeds from racketeering.

Robin Severance-Lopez, the estranged wife of the now suspended sheriff of Osceola County, Marcos Lopez, was arrested by @HSITampa on state charges for conspiracy to commit racketeering. Lopez, the now suspended sheriff, was arrested June 5 following an investigation into a… pic.twitter.com/N6525QwBAs
— HSI Tampa (@HSITampa) June 23, 2025

A $400,000 bond was set for Lopez, as state prosecutors had designated her as a key financial facilitator in the case.
Assistant Statewide Prosecutor Colleen Monroe alleged: “She helped to facilitate the movement of illicit money and receipt of illicit payments from other co-conspirators to Lopez, which is believed to have reached at least $600,000 to $700,000.”
Now, Severance-Lopez has accepted a plea deal with the authorities, agreeing to 24 months of probation.
Which means that her custodial sentence will be off the table, but she has acknowledged, says Fox45 Orlando, that she gave false and misleading information on her bail application and to a money laundering charge.
Deokaran changes plea to guilty
Local police held Deokaran for his connection to Marcos Lopez in October 2025, and he was charged with money laundering. He has now pleaded to a lesser part in the money laundering, and his sentence has been deferred.

Alleged gambling ringleader for Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez faces money laundering charge https://t.co/TJyBricoHU
— WFTV Channel 9 (@WFTV) October 28, 2025

Deokaran was seen as a facilitator and was described as part of the two-hundred and fifty page affidavit as the person “who stood at the helm” of the gambling operation allegedly under the protection of former Sheriff Lopez.
In the document, it was recorded that Deokaran paid Lopez protection money in the region of $600,000 and $700,000 since 2020. He also boasted to federal agents of his ability to process millions of dollars per week from illegal casino locations.
Guilty pleas stack up in Lopez case
We reported that Lopez’s actions were found to span multiple jurisdictions and across five separate venues running illegal betting and casino activities. Prosecutors labelled his actions as “an organized criminal conspiracy affecting two or more judicial circuits of the State of Florida.”
Since Lopez’s arrest, several individuals tied to his office have entered guilty pleas. These include Ying “Kate” Zhang, Sharon Fedrick, Sheldon Wetherholt, and Carol Cote, as well as Severance-Lopez and Deokaran.
Featured image: Fox 35 Orlando screenshot via YouTube
The post Robin Severance-Lopez, estranged wife of former Osceola sheriff, accepts plea deal appeared first on ReadWrite.