It’s time to get out of European gaming stocks, at least for now.

Something is happening in Greece, a wild card that almost nobody understands. Very rarely in history do these things happen, but political mainstreamers don’t see it coming. They are blinded to it, because they are so neck-deep in the muck of the system itself that they can’t see outside of it.

Here I am not referring to SYRIZA, Greece’s new ruling party, per se (whose leader Alexist Tsipras hates “large gambling interests and profiteering rampages”). SYRIZA is the new radical left wing party that just won 149 seats out of 300 in the Hellenic Parliament to renegotiate the Greek bailout. SYRIZA and Tsipras are just like the others, never saying anything of substance besides a few catchphrases, never being specific, never making any sense. Alexis Tripras is a red herring.

I’m talking about the new Greek Finance Minister, a guy named Yanis Varoufakis. I’ve been following this man for three years now, and I never thought he could actually make it to the Finance Minister’s seat. Unlike the other 299 politicians in the Hellenic Parliament, Yanis Varoufakis speaks like a human being. I think he actually is one.

In a nutshell, it’s like this. If just another politician occupied the Greek FinMin seat, eventually he’d be bought off by the Troika, that trifecta of acronyms like ESM and EFSF that hold all the bailout funds, and the proverbial can would be kicked down the road again. But Varoufakis is not just another politician, and that’s what political mainstreamers, as well as Eurozone leaders themselves, just don’t understand. He’s serious. He wants to default, he’s been saying it for years, and he is the only one with the guts and independence to mean what he says and do it.

Before I get into the seriousness of Varoufakis, the relevant advice is to get out of all European gaming stocks over the next week, maximum two weeks. Sell into upticks and go to cash, not all at once if you have heavy positions, but start zeroing out your holdings. Bwin.party has been trending up over 30% since its bottom in August. Ladbrokes is up 6.5% since the start of the year. William Hill is up close to 5%. Paddy Power is up 30% over the last 6 months. Betfair is in a continuing monster uptrend. Regardless of where you entered, if you’re up or down, all these stocks are in some kind of uptrend, whether short term or longer term. There is about to be at least a countertrend dip in the best case scenario, regardless of fundamentals.

To understand what Varoufakis wants to do, I encourage you to listen to this interview he had back in 2012, before he was ever on the political scene. Also take note of the way he talks. It is not politician-talk. He does not want any more bailouts, he has said he will not accept any more Troika funds, and he actually carries his resignation letter in his inside pocket. In his words, from his blog:

Software development company BetConstruct appointed Vahe Baloulian as the new Chief Executive Officer, taking over the responsibilities from company’s former CEO Suren Khachatryan.

Baloulian has begun his terms as CEO of BetConstruct in January. He previously had consulted by BetConstruct on corporate and managerial strategy through independent igaming consultancy eGaming Partners Inc.

BetConstruct’s new CEO will work between the company’s London, Yerevan (Armenia) and new Los Angeles offices, as the technology provider expands its B2B services and competencies throughout the igaming market.

“BetConstruct is a game changer in this industry, I have been working with the company for the last four years as an executive consultant and I am thrilled to join their talented team of people who are bent on making sure that gaming industry continues to innovate and thrive,” said Baloulian.

Baloulian, with more than 15 years of experience in igaming operational management specializing in strategic product development, held senior management roles at 888.com from 1998 to 2004, Red Planet Gaming as a CEO from 2006 to 2011 and California Poker Network CEO from 2009 to 2011.

Meanwhile, Group Operations Director Ian Chuter leaves UK-listed online gaming operator Betfair next week, after more than three years of service.

Chuter led Betfair’s global customer operation team, including fraud, payments, trading, telephone betting, and market operations.

The FIFA presidency is up for grabs on May 29, 2015, and now, three candidates have been officially announced to challenge incumbent president Sepp Blatter for the highest and most important position in all of football.

The three candidates are former Portugal international Luis Figo, Dutch FA president Michael van Praag, and Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein of Jordan. The three were deemed eligible to run for the presidency after their respective bids met the requirements set by the sport’s governing body.

Conspicuous by his absence is former Newcastle United player David Ginola, who made news earlier this month when Irish bookmaker Paddy Power launched a (somewhat) serious campaign to champion Ginola’s attempt to become FIFA president. His inclusion isn’t actually surprising since many believed that he was nothing more than a nuisance candidate put in place to give Paddy Power more mainstream news coverage. On that end, the stunt ended up becoming a huge success so it’s not like Paddy Power is sweating over Ginola’s failed bid.

In any case, Blatter remains the odds-on favorite to win the presidency. Should he do so – he’s a 1/6 favorite – it would become his fifth term as the governing body’s president, extending a run as president that began in 1998. Blatter’s tenure has often times attracted controversy from all sectors of the sport, but the other three candidates appear to be in for a tough task unseating the incumbent this time around.

Former FIFA executive Jerome Champagne was originally touted as the most serious threat to Blatter’s throne, but the Frenchman announced his withdrawal from the race after receiving only three of five required nominations from football associations. With him out of the running, Figo is now considered as Blatter’s closest rival, although his odds fall somewhere in the 12/1 to 16/1 range. Those are still better odds than the ones van Praag and Al-Hussein have, both of whom are around the 20/1 to 25/1 range to topple Blatter’s presidential bid.

If the three candidates have any chance of beating Blatter, they’re going to have to do to their homework and get some votes in Asia, Africa, and South America. The three regions are widely considered Blatt territories and it’s entirely within reason that the current FIFA president could end up sweeping all available votes from associations in those areas.

Figo, van Praag, and Al-Hussein have to do that, and then fight to receive the backing of UEFA, which has 53 of the 209 available votes. These are tasks that are far easier said than done, which is why most see Blatter winning this vote handily and continuing his reign as FIFA president.

Billionaires Lawrence Ho and James Packer promised to bring a world-class integrated resort and casino to the Philippines that would rival any of its kind in the world. On Monday, February 2, 2015, the two men, together with their local partner the SM Group, finally brought that promise to life.

City of Dreams Manila ushers in a new era of gaming and entertainment in PAGCOR’s Entertainment City complex. City of Dreams Manila joins Bloomberry Resorts’ Solaire Hotel and Casino as the first two of the four IRs planned for the area.

As expected, Ho and Packer led the opening festivities, offering Filipinos a brief look at the two foreign casino titans sitting (and standing) side-by-side. During the press conference, Ho divulged to the gathered media that he has always had his eye on Manila as the next logical expansion for Melco Crown, which he and Packer co-own.

“Our vision was always to find greatest locations in Asia for integrated resorts. We’ve been very selective,” Ho said, almost sheepishly. “After Macau, Manila is really the first place we decided to go into.”

Meanwhile, Packer cut a far different aura to Filipinos, many of whom have only seen the man on the Internet. The imposing Packer stood proud and tall, befitting his almost 6’6” stature, but his intimidating aura was immediately stripped of when he offered his thoughts on the resort.

The Australian billionaire said that he hadn’t been as hands-on on the development process as Ho. So like most people, he was blown away by how the resort turned out, admitting that the “property has exceeded my highest expectations.”

“I can see tourism growing hugely in the Philippines. I think you do have more fun in the Philippines,” Packer added to the amusement of the media who couldn’t help but notice the billionaire’s reference to a recent ad campaign by the country’s Department of Tourism.

iGB announced the IGBA Awards 2015 winners, following a glamorous evening held at the Chelsea Football Club in London on February 1st.

iGB Affiliate Awards have always been one of the highlights of London Affiliate Conference. A night full of surprises, with an attendance list that reads as a who’s who of the Affiliate industry. Hosted by the comedian Tom Stade and THePETEBOX, a beatbox artist from the UK opening the event, the best affiliates in iGaming industry gather as one to join the fun and to celebrate the excellence in the iGaming Affiliate Industry.

The big winner is bet365 as it won three awards-Best Affiliate Program (Sports Betting), Best Affiliate Program (Overall), and Players Choice – Best Online Sportsbook.

Winners of Best Manager by category are bwin.party Kriton Kounelakis for Poker, Affiliate Edge Martyn Beacon for casino, Coral Connection’s Anthony Hodgetts for Sports Betting, Quick Think Affiliates’s Gavin Walters for Bingo, Plus500 Nadav Shilo (Financial) and Redbet.com Marius Filip as Best Affiliate Manager (Overall).

“This means a lot. We put down a lot of work. I think this is our third in a row. We are happy, proud and thanks everyone for voting. It has been amazing!” said Bingoport.com winner of Best Bingo Affiliate to CalvinAyre.com.

“This is the first year we’ve been here. We won this award now three times in a row and we are lucky enough to be here to accept the award. So we’re just happy about that,” said PokerNews.com winner of Best Poker Affiliate.

“We have been shortlisted for the Best Sportsbook Affiliate for six to seven years, finally something to take home. Obviously we did not see it coming for the mobile. It’s quite nice and it’s happy for everyone,” said Flashscore.com (Best Mobile Affiliate)