Other poker news goes here.
UK-based gaming giants Ladbrokes and Gala Coral Group are discussing a possible merger, according to a report on RacingPost.com. The combined company would become the largest in the UK’s gambling industry. Ladbrokes CEO Jim Mullen confirmed the talks with the Racing Post, saying: Since becoming CEO my focus has been on a more aggressive plan… Read more »
If you want a say in who is elected to the Poker Hall of Fame (HOF), it is time to get on it, as the nomination period for the 2015 Poker Hall of Fame class is now open to the public. Largely the same as the past several years, those interested in shaping the Poker… Read more »
The World Series of Poker is about to begin and later this year, a few people are going to be millions of dollars richer. In 2008, Ivan Demidov was to be one of those skilled and fortunate players, as he finished second to Peter Eastgate in the WSOP Main Event, the first time the world… Read more »
Online gaming firm bwin.party may have had a rough few years financially, but that certainly is not stopping its rivals from lining up to ask for its hand. This week, bwin.party has acknowledged not one, but two takeover bids that would consolidate the top of the online poker market. On Monday, the company announced that… Read more »
This guy HAD to know he was going to get nabbed someday, right? On Thursday, retired New York Police Department sergeant Ralph Mastrantonio was convicted of operating an illegal gambling house on Staten Island. The venue, dubbed “5th Street,” was located in a gym on Arthur Kill Road. According to the New York Daily News… Read more »
The man who had the audacity to not only produce counterfeit poker chips but also use them to get ahead in a tournament has reached a plea deal with the U.S. Attorney’s Office. 43-year old Christian Lusardi reached a plea deal in U.S. District Court that will have him serve five years in prison for… Read more »
Amaya Gaming’s push to become the dominant force in online gaming keeps rolling, as the owner of PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker announced yesterday that it now intends to enter the Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) space this year. In this week’s earnings call, Amaya Gaming CEO David Baazov briefly explained that the company is looking… Read more »
The NCAA men’s basketball tournament is about to reach its end, and while I was extremely disappointed that my highly-ranked Virginia Cavaliers bowed out early, it has still been fun rooting against all the teams I hate (and I have come to realize I loathe a good number of teams – yay sports!). With March… Read more »
You know those movie scenes where a card counter gets escorted into a back room in a casino and physically “convinced” to never step foot on the premises again? Well, that stuff doesn’t happen anymore, but casinos certainly do not like card counters and have been known to show them the door. That is what… Read more »
Tales of casino closures during the past year or so have emanated mostly from Atlantic City, as the east coast gambling hub’s economy has been struggling. But the next landmark casino to become memory will be in Las Vegas: the Riviera. The Las Vegas Review-Journal has reported that the famed gaming venue has not only… Read more »
It’s about damn time. After years of fighting against PokerStars’ inclusion in the regulated United States online poker market, Caesars Entertainment finally relented last week and said it will no longer support “bad actor” clauses in internet gaming legislation. This week, the company took things a step further, announcing that it will be teaming up… Read more »
Shares of online gaming firm 888 Holdings PLC soared Tuesday after the company confirmed that it has been approached by fellow gambling company, William Hill PLC, with a possible purchase offer. 888’s stock price closed at 171.50p after opening at 143p, a jump of 20 percent. 888 issued the following press release in response to… Read more »
It is a little slow on the poker news front this week, so let’s expand outward into other forms of gambling, namely sports betting. I’m not a bettor myself – I really only participate in play money contests and I’m usually terrible even at those – but I do find sports betting interesting. Yesterday, ESPN.com… Read more »
Atlantic City’s Trump Taj Mahal casino is still open…for now. Scheduled to close this past Saturday, December 20th, it remains alive for the time being thanks to a $20 million injection from billionaire investor Carl Icahn. Trump Entertainment’s lawyers said this week that the money might allow the Boardwalk fixture to stay viable for all… Read more »
It’s official: Atlantic City will be losing its fifth casino of 2014. First reported by the USA Today, Trump Entertainment Resorts has filed a revised reorganization plan in bankruptcy court, indicating that its Board of Directors has approved the closure of the Trump Taj Mahal casino on December 12th. It has been known for a… Read more »
For years, the professional sports leagues in the United States, as well as the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), have lived a life of hypocrisy, opposing legalized sports betting at every turn, despite the fact that sports betting has clearly increased interest in their games and increased the size of the leagues’ wallets. Somehow, though,… Read more »
The antiquated law prohibiting all but four states is starting to be turned on its head. On Thursday, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed Senate Bill 2460 into law, legalizing sports betting at the states casinos and racetracks. The confirmation came just a day after the General Assembly approved the bill 73-4. It previously flew… Read more »
Two California poker players have filed a federal lawsuit against the Iowa State Patrol following an incident in April 2013 in which they were stopped on the highway by a state trooper and relieved of their poker bankroll, more than $100,000. As reported by the Des Moines Register, William “Bart” Davis and John Newmerzhycky were… Read more »
Last week, when the auction of Atlantic City’s Revel Casino Hotel was pushed back to September 30th, perturbed Florida real estate developer Glenn Straub said that he didn’t “need that monstrosity of a building.” It’s a good thing he feels that way because it doesn’t look like he is going to get it. In an… Read more »
Nevada had gone on a nice run, but as they say, all good things must come to an end. And so it did for Nevada in August, as the state’s five month gaming revenue winning streak came to an end. That is not to say that Nevada actually lost money from gambling. No, that would… Read more »
The Revel Casino Hotel in Atlantic City was set to be auctioned off on Wednesday, but despite all relevant parties being in attendance, nothing happened. The auction will resume – or start – next Tuesday, September 30th. Closed September 2nd, the Revel received a bid of $90 million on September 10th from real estate developer… Read more »
We have all known this day was coming for quite some time, but is sad nonetheless. At 6:00am this morning, Atlantic City’s Trump Plaza casino closed its doors. The Trump Plaza is the fourth Atlantic City casino to shut down this year. The first was the Atlantic Club casino at the south end of the… Read more »
In an effort to provide a shot in the arm for the state’s foundering casinos and racetracks, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie issued a Law Enforcement Directive Monday lifting the state’s ban on sports betting and assuring said gambling venues that nobody there would have any issues with law enforcement for allowing customers to wager… Read more »
It just keeps getting worse for Atlantic City. The once-popular gambling hub of the east coast has been in a death spiral this year and that spiral is getting deeper and deeper. The latest: Trump Entertainment Resorts has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and is saying that it may have to close the Trump Taj… Read more »
The world of politics is funny. You never know who is going to get in bed with whom or what is finally going to spark momentum on an issue. It took years for online poker’s proponents to make any sort of headway in legislative circles and we still have not made THAT large of a… Read more »
