Other poker news goes here.
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 »
The legal, regulated sports betting industry in New Jersey has been great for Atlantic City casinos and the state, but Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small, Sr. is not satisfied. His city does not receive direct tax dollars from sports betting and he wants that to change. The Press of Atlantic City reported on Tuesday that… Read more »
You know the joke about “Florida Man?” Well, if there was ever a Florida Man, 21-year-old Michael Psilakis is that person, because he is perhaps the dumbest shit ever to (allegedly) commit a murder. Psilakis was arrested on November 2nd by Pasco County Sheriff’s deputies and charged with first-degree murder for allegedly killing a man… Read more »
Poker Hall of Famer Bobby Baldwin was named Chief Executive Officer of Drew Las Vegas, a new casino that is currently under construction on the Las Vegas Strip. At the same time, he was also named Vice Chairman of Witkoff, the real estate firm that is developing the property. A long history for a casino… Read more »
When I was sixteen-years old, shortly after I got my driver’s license, I had a bizarre minor accident. I was pulling into a parking space at a strip mall to get my haircut when suddenly, my car sped up, jumped the curb, and hit the shopping center’s façade. To this day, I don’t know what… Read more »
Despite making a living in the gambling industry for nearly a decade and a half, I am not much of a gambler. I covered the World Series of Poker in person for a couple years and rarely actually played poker. I played some video poker on occasion when I took a break and would go… Read more »
The Major League Baseball World Series starts tonight, with the Houston Astros as the favorites against the Washington Nationals. On Sunday, the line for the Series at the Caesars sportsbook opened with Houston at -235 to win it all, making the Astros the biggest favorite at the outset of the World Series since the Boston… Read more »
MGM Resorts International announced on Tuesday that it has sold two of its Las Vegas Strip casinos: Circus Circus and Bellagio. The combined sales price of the two properties is $5.075 billion. Circus Circus The agreement to sell Circus Circus, one of the mainstays of the north end of the Strip, was rumored to have… Read more »
Interneting is a skill. When trying to find specific information or a helpful resource, you have to know how to phrase your query text. No matter how great we are at the Google box, though, once in a while we get an odd search result. That said, I don’t think I have ever ended up… Read more »
Two Caesars casinos in Iowa have run afoul of state regulators. Last week, the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission handed out fines to both Harrah’s Council Bluffs and Horseshoe Council Bluffs for failing to stop two people who were underage from gambling. The casinos were assessed fines totaling $50,000. Almost old enough, but not quite… Read more »
It can be fun to own a part of history. I, for instance, own a couple seats from Milwaukee County Stadium, the former home of the Milwaukee Brewers. Now, not much history was made in that stadium, but I spent many a day in my childhood there, so they mean something to me. My wife… Read more »
When I was in middle school, my family went on a random road trip to South Dakota. Not exactly the kind of trip that makes a kid scream, “VACATION!” but it was actually pretty cool. Mount Rushmore, the Badlands, Wall Drug, a quick jaunt to Devil’s Tower in Wyoming, and Deadwood. Deadwood was an old,… Read more »
The long-closed Atlantic Club Casino has finally been sold. Florida-based TJM Properties confirmed on Tuesday that it has sold the shuttered property to Colosseo Atlantic City Inc., an investment and construction firm based out of New York. Financial details were not disclosed. The Atlantic Club was one of the first casinos in Atlantic City, opening… Read more »
I screwed up my taxes once. It was in the early days of my poker writing career, when I was new to this whole independent contractor life. Like a responsible future retired person, I socked away money in a retirement account. As I was self-employed, my investment vehicle of choice was a SEP-IRA. I was… Read more »
I rarely get lucky. I’m not talking about “getting lucky,” you sicko. I’m saying I’m not the luckiest guy in the world. I wouldn’t say I’m particularly unlucky, but put it this way: I’m not a big lottery player. I remember three distinct occasions when I or my family did not get lucky. First was… Read more »
JACK Entertainment announced on Friday that it has completed the sale of its JACK Cincinnati Casino for $745 million. It is a two-part sale: VICI Properties acquired a JACK subsidiary that owns the land and real estate assets of the casino and Hard Rock International will take over the operations of the property. Buy and… Read more »
Caesars Entertainment Corporation announced on Monday morning the news that the poker world has long known (or thought) was coming: it has sold the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, home of the World Series of Poker. The buyer is an unnamed company “controlled by a principal of Imperial Companies.” The total sales… Read more »
Virgin Hotels, as the name would imply, is a hotel company, and a small one at that, with only three properties currently open. It is not a gaming company. As such, it could probably use some assistance when Virgin Hotels Las Vegas opens late next year. On Tuesday, Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment (MGE) announced that… Read more »
Bloomberg is reporting that Blackstone Group, Inc. is pursuing the acquisition of both the Bellagio and MGM Grand Las Vegas from MGM Resorts International. The financial media outlet’s sources say the two companies are talking, but no details are known yet and things could always fall apart. Bloomberg analysts estimate that the Bellagio could sell… Read more »
The Press of Atlantic City reported on Tuesday that casino employment numbers in the New Jersey gambling hub are down this summer compared to last. The opening of two casinos last June were cited as a major reason for the dip. Counting both full- and part-time workers, Atlantic City casinos employed 29,298 people in June,… Read more »
