Other poker news goes here.
We are now officially unable to gamble at commercial casinos in the United States. The coronavirus pandemic has either forced them all to shutdown or some level of state, county or local government has forced their closures. The last place to fall was Deadwood, South Dakota, which shuttered its casinos as of noon today. Took… Read more »
And there it is. On Tuesday, Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak ordered all “nonessential businesses” in the state to close to the public for 30 days. Most notably for our interests, that means that all Nevada casinos – Las Vegas Strip and all – have now gone dark. Governor lays it all out Sisolak made no… Read more »
It is a 100 percent, stone-cold, lead pipe lock that the phrase of 2020, whenever that title is handed out, is going to be “social distancing.” There is absolutely not a doubt in my mind. I would bet my entire net worth on it, which fortunately isn’t that much right now after these last couple… Read more »
It was inevitable As the United States finally starts to embrace the seriousness of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), social distancing has become the key tool in fighting the virus. By staying away from each other, by limiting crowds, we can help slow the spread of the coronavirus. To this end, MGM Resorts International announced on… Read more »
Details emerge from December robbery This past December, two men who had just had good nights at the MGM National Harbor casino in Oxon Hill, Maryland, were robbed when they arrived home. The public didn’t know much else about the incident, but through a search warrant, Prince William County police have revealed that serious violence… Read more »
The north end of the Las Vegas Strip, particularly once you get past the Wynn, isn’t the most exciting place for poker players. Things got a little more interesting on Valentine’s Day, though, when the Sahara Las Vegas unveiled its new poker room. It is the first time poker has been offered at the casino… Read more »
The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City launched live online slots on Tuesday morning. It is the time in the history of online gambling that a live version of slots has been offered. Live dealer games at online casinos cropped up during the poker boom (perhaps toward the end of it – I… Read more »
Look, I will be the first to admit that as a parent, I am pretty amazing. I mean, while my wife and daughter were out of town recently, I watched the movies Get Out, Us, and Alien with my son. That’s a damn fine dad right there. But while I would love to take him… Read more »
The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas is no more. On Monday morning, after a weekend-long party, the 25-year old landmark closed. The building is not going anywhere, but when it re-opens in the fall, it will be Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. The giant Stratocaster will be gone, the music theme will be… Read more »
One of the summers I covered the World Series of Poker for this website, I lived with my boss (he no longer owns PND). One of his favorite things to do when we weren’t working was go to the Four Queens in downtown Las Vegas to play blackjack switch. On one of our outings, we… Read more »
PokerStars founder Isai Scheinberg is on United States soil for the first time in a couple decades after turning himself in to federal authorities to face charges stemming from the Black Friday indictments. Writing was on the wall According to Forbes.com, Scheinberg was visiting Switzerland a few months ago when federal prosecutors attempted to have… Read more »
$50 million deal Caesars Entertainment and VICI Properties announced on Wednesday that they have agreed to sell Harrah’s Reno Hotel and Casino an unnamed affiliate of CAI Investments. The sale price is $50 million, with 75 percent going to VICI Properties and 25 percent going to Caesars. Once the transaction is complete, Harrah’s Reno will… Read more »
Two more iconic properties sold MGM Resorts International announced on Tuesday that it has agreed to sell both the MGM Grand Las Vegas casino and the Mandalay Bay. The total value of the deal is approximately $4.6 billion. The sale of MGM Grand is the most heavily-covered part of the deal in MGM’s press release.… Read more »
In a surprising move that has become all too rare in recent years, the Sahara Las Vegas casino announced that it will re-open its poker room. The proclamation came last week via Twitter, a couple days after New Year’s. Tiny, but welcome As can be seen in the tweet, the new Sahara poker room will… Read more »
Card room can’t handle rush on cashier California Attorney General Xavier Becerra issued an emergency shutdown order of the Magnolia House Casino for not having enough money to cover cash outs. Located in Rancho Cordova, just outside Sacramento, the Magnolia House has kept its restaurant open in the meantime. In a press release on Monday,… Read more »
Happy New Year, everybody! If you’re like me, you don’t make New Year’s resolutions. Instead, you enroll at Orangetheory Fitness and then “don’t have time” or “forget” or “aren’t feeling well enough” to go by January 17th. And I am sure glad I didn’t make any resolutions, as one of them would have been, “Write… Read more »
As the decade comes to an end, on era in New Hampshire has just been born. On Monday, legal sports betting went live in the Granite State. Governor Chris Sununu was the first to place a wager, using the DraftKings mobile app. Naturally, considering his constituency, he bet $82 on the New England Patriots to… Read more »
I am a terrible sports bettor. I’ve probably mentioned that before. Fortunately, I live in a state in which there is no sports betting available and I haven’t felt the desire to jump through the hoops required to bet with an offshore book. Thus, I can safely say that I did not contribute to the… Read more »
In the Final Fight and Street Fighter II video games, there is a bonus stage during which you beat up a car. I would imagine this would be great fun in real life, even more so if you inexplicably turned into a panther afterward like at the end of Michael Jackson’s “Black or White” video.… Read more »
Three more poker pros have taken up Phil Galfond on his ultra-high stakes heads-up challenge. Prepared to win or lose a lot of money are “Venividi1993,” whose real name is unknown (to us, at least), Dan “Jungleman” Cates, and Brandon Adams. Though two challengers were previously announced, the three named above only brings the total… Read more »
Former poker pro and founder of the online poker site RunItOnce.eu (RIO), Phil Galfond, has confirmed two opponents for his heads-up challenge. The first is Bill Perkins, while the second is poker pro and coach, Fernando “JNandez87” Habegger. Galfond issued the challenge via the RIO blog last month. He split it into two variations. The… Read more »
Simple scheme didn’t last long 32-year old ex-casino dealer Ming Zhang was sentenced to 18 months in prison last week for leading a cheating scheme that bilked Maryland’s MGM National Harbor out of more than $1 million. He was also hit with three months supervised release after he completes his prison term. Zhang was a… Read more »
Back to its roots The Dusk Till Dawn poker club is one of the UK’s premier poker venues and soon, it will be a poker-only venue. Last week, Dusk Till Dawn owner Rob Yong announced via Twitter that he is removing all casino games and making the club 100 percent poker. In his tweet, Yong… Read more »
The National Football League announced on Friday that Arizona Cardinals cornerback Josh Shaw has been suspended indefinitely for betting on NFL games. The suspension will go through at least next season. On Monday, ESPN reported that not only had Shaw bet on NFL games, but he actually bet on his own team’s games, as well.… Read more »
MGM wants to get lighter MGM continues to look to shed properties, as Bloomberg is reporting that MGM Resorts International and MGM Growth Properties LLC, a real estate investment trust spinoff, are looking for an investor to buy the MGM Grand and Mandalay Bay. Bloomberg’s sources provided little detail and MGM Growth Properties did not… Read more »
