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Kornuth waved the white flag There was much uncertainty from both Phil Galfond and the poker community as a whole when Galfond embarked on his “Galfond Challenge” a year ago. Once one of the best poker players in the world, Galfond had effectively retired from competitive poker to launch his very own online poker room,… Read more »
Plenty of options More than a year after legalizing online gambling, the state of Michigan is finally, finally set to launch one branch of its industry. On Friday, January 22, online sports betting will go live for people over the age of 21 who are located within the state’s borders. State regulators have authorized nine… Read more »
Don’t put ideas in my head Any online poker or online gambling site worth a lick allows player to set deposit limits. The reason is obvious: deposit limits lower the ceiling on how much a person can gamble and thus help people avoid losing money they can’t afford to lose. It’s a problem gambling prevention… Read more »
Money goes to education Georgia lawmakers are stepping up to the sports betting plate yet again. On Thursday, House Tourism and Economic Development Chairman Ron Stephens filed a bill which would legalize the pastime in the state, putting it under the control of the Georgia Lottery. Though Georgia just went “blue” in the presidential and… Read more »
DAZN made an offer he couldn’t refuse Entain, the parent company of partypoker, announced on Monday that chief executive officer Shay Segev is stepping down from his position. He will stay on for six months or until his replacement is hired before moving to sports streaming platform DAZN as its co-CEO. It sounds like Segev’s… Read more »
Polk dominating The celebrated heads-up “grudge match” between Daniel Negreanu and Doug Polk has reached its halfway point and Polk is light years ahead. With 12,500 in the rearview, Polk has a jaw-dropping $770,254.08 lead on the Poker Hall of Famer. It is now up to Negreanu to ponder what happens next. According to the… Read more »
Maybe shy away from the team that doesn’t have players I don’t bet on sports, mainly because I can’t do so legally from where I live, but also because I’m terrible at it. Therefore, me making fun of the betting public for not knowing anything is extremely hypocritical, but I’ll do it anyway. The public… Read more »
Nine month wait All of Caesars Entertainment’s Las Vegas properties have now reopened, as the last holdout, the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino finally welcomed back guests on Tuesday, December 22 and 10:00am. The casino will be open around the clock, while the hotel will only be open Thursdays through Mondays. Unlike many casinos in… Read more »
I know we’ve all thought it after someone hits a runner-runner draw on us, but none of us (I assume) have never gone as far as a high stakes gambler did two months ago at Genting Casino Bournemouth in southern England. After losing £400,000, 59-year-old Amir Abol Abolghassem, brought a five-liter container of gasoline to… Read more »
Only 100 guests permitted at a time Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has issued a revised COVID-19 order, allowing the state’s casinos to reopen on Monday, December 21. Of the three commercial casinos, all located in Detroit, MotorCity and MGM Grand Detroit have said they will open their doors on Wednesday, December 23. Greektown has not… Read more »
Looked great for Baltimore I didn’t catch much of the Monday Night Football game between the Cleveland Browns and the Baltimore Ravens this week. Neither team interests me, so it wasn’t going to be appointment viewing, anyway, but my son has also discovered the show “Lost” on Hulu, so we watched some of that. I… Read more »
Daily fantasy sports, too DraftKings has announced partnership with the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation for both sports betting and daily fantasy sports in Connecticut. DFS will launch on Sunday, December 13, while sports betting will have to wait until the pastime is actually legalized in the state. State Rep. Sean Scanlon, who will soon be… Read more »
Blindsided Lots of us have lost our jobs at some point in our lives. Heck, it goes without saying in 2020. It’s awful. And when companies merge, even in the most prosperous of times, layoffs are usually expected because of job redundancies. But when it happens, the least we want is to be treated with… Read more »
Quick way to become publicly traded Online payment processing company Paysafe Group has agreed to a merger with the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Foley Trasimene Acquisition Corp. II (FTAC). As a result, Paysafe will become a publicly traded company. The deal values Paysafe at $9 billion. FTAC is led by billionaire Bill Foley, hence… Read more »
Shareholders happy, employees out of work Despite all the problems this year, 2020 has been great for online gambling companies because everyone has spent much more time at home. But while things have been lucrative for companies, hundreds of employees of NetEnt are about to find themselves unemployed. On Tuesday, online gaming company Evolution, which… Read more »
Lawmakers speed up approval I’m not making any promises, but there is as chance – a chance – that online gambling could go live in Michigan this month. Tuesday morning, the state legislature’s Joint Committee on Administrative Rules voted to forego the 15-day period during which it can evaluate the new online gaming regulations, effectively… Read more »
It’s missing something For decades, the very best high rollers in the world of live poker have played in the famed “Bobby’s Room” at the Bellagio. It’s the type of place where a single big blind would destroy me, where the gravity of the star power is enough to pull moons into its orbit. But… Read more »
GNOG close to moving out of its parents’ house The New Jersey Casino Control Commission gave Golden Nugget Online Gaming (GNOG) a double-win on Wednesday, granting it an internet gaming license and approving its merger with Landcadia Holdings II, paving most of its way to becoming a publicly traded company. Though Golden Nugget has an… Read more »
Small but eager crowd The brand new Live! Casino Pittsburgh enjoyed its public grand opening Tuesday morning after celebrating a limited opening with a ribbon cutting ceremony last week. The casino is located in the Westmoreland Mall in Hempfield Township, a suburb east of Pittsburgh. Yes, you read that right, the casino is in a… Read more »
Capacity cut in half again As daily new cases of COVID-19, as well as hospitalizations and deaths resulting from the virus, continue skyrocket around the country, Nevada casinos are facing a new round of restrictions. Beginning a minute after midnight on Tuesday, casinos are required to drop their capacity limits from 50 percent to 25… Read more »
No, Bally’s didn’t buy itself Bally’s Corporation announced on Wednesday that it has completed its acquisition of Bally’s Atlantic City from Caesars Entertainment. The two companies previously agreed to the $25 million (yes, only $25 million) deal in April. If it sounds strange that Bally’s has acquired Bally’s, don’t worry. Bally’s was very recently called… Read more »
Not much fingernail biting needed Every week, I read about massive sports bets people make. I get jealous when they win. I might even get more jealous when they lose, knowing they are in a position to be comfortable losing gigantic sums. But mostly, reading about horrifically wonderful bets is like window shopping to me:… Read more »
Detroit casinos going dark On Sunday, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced new, wide-ranging restrictions to combat the spread of COVID-19, including the closure of the state’s casinos for three weeks. The public health order will go into effect on Wednesday. Three commercial casinos are affected by the shutdown mandate: MGM Grand Detroit, MotorCity Casino, and… Read more »
Last call comes early On Tuesday, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy announced new restrictions on casinos as the state and the country as a whole suffers through a massive new surge in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. Per Executive Order No. 194, casinos will not be permitted to serve food or drinks from 10:00pm to… Read more »
Brick-and-mortar limits tax potential Last Tuesday, the attention of the world was on the U.S. presidential race (and still is, frankly), but in addition to president and other legislative races, residents of six states had the opportunity to cast their votes for or against gambling expansion measures. One such state was Louisiana, which saw 55… Read more »
