The US Embassy in Lebanon has warned staff not to patronize Beirut’s Casino du Liban due to unspecified threats.

On Thursday, the US Embassy in Beirut issued a statement saying that it has “barred any movement of US government staff” to the Casino du Liban in Jounieh “due to ongoing threats to locations” including the nation’s only licensed gambling venue.

As one might expect, the warning avoided mentioning any specific information on why it had issued its statement. The US State Department has long issued a travel warning to US citizens to avoid traveling to Lebanon “because of the threats of terrorism, armed clashes, kidnapping and outbreaks of violence.”

In January 2015, Lebanese security forces confirmed that they had disrupted a planned terror attack at Casino du Liban that was supposed to take place on New Year’s Eve 2014. Terrorists linked to the Al Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front reportedly planned to detonate a car bomb outside the venue’s entrance.

State-run Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) has technical consultancy firm Gaming Laboratories International (GLI) to certify online gaming systems operated by holders of a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) license.

In a statement, GLI said that the company is the first independent test laboratories that PAGCOR has accredited to scrutinize each POGO licensees.

The test to be conducted by GLI will ensure that the online gaming systems of these POGO holders are complaint with the requirements of the Philippines’ national gaming regulator.

“We are honored to be accredited by PAGCOR to test and certify POGO online gaming systems. PAGCOR is the Philippines’ national gaming regulator and, with the establishment of the POGO jurisdiction, regulates the largest number of online gaming operators in the APAC region,” GLI Australia’s Senior Manager Regulation, Compliance and Quality Assurance Phil Harrison said.

The state of Illinois continues to enjoy a robust video gambling business five years after legislators approved the legalization of gaming terminals.

Data from the Illinois Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability shows that Illinois pocketed $300.5 million in tax revenues from 26,873 machines for the 12-month period ending June 30.

State revenue from video gaming totaled $255.2 million from 23,891 terminals the prior fiscal year. Local government revenue from gambling terminals rose to $60.1 million from $51 million the year before.

Of all the cities in Illinois, Springfield has the most video gaming terminals. The city’s machines chalked a little more than $30.1 million in net terminal income from 635 terminals in the year ended June 30.

We at CalvinAyre.com are big believers in giving back to the community and we follow in the footsteps of our Founder, Calvin Ayre of the Calvin Ayre Foundation.  Hurricane Irma tore through Barbuda last week and as a long-time resident of Antigua & Barbuda, Calvin’s Foundation will be matching all donations towards Barbuda’s hurricane relief effort up to $1 million.  Calvin Ayre himself will also be making a separate donation.

Unfortunately, there are so many people in this world who need relief from natural disasters and a life of poverty in general.  Throughout my time in the gambling industry I’ve witnessed so much generosity from my peers in the form of donations, corporate social responsibly programs, charity work and more.  Friend and former iGaming industry professional Julia Wild has taken generosity one step further by deciding to dedicate herself full-time to a charity that is close to her heart, From Houses to Homes (FHTH). 

“Three years ago we moved to Guatemala and some friends had planned a trip around the same time to build a house for an incredibly poor local family. We started doing some fundraisers and raised the money to cover the cost of the house.  As a family, including our four and six year old children, we spent a week building a house for a family that had been living in a shack, a single Mom with eight children. They didn’t have their own rooms with toys overflowing out of their toy chest; they had no video games or a television. Still, they were smiling. They helped us build, they made us laugh and the simplest act of kindness that we gave them brought them such happiness”, shared Wild.

“After a week of building we handed a set of keys over to a Mom who just stood there and cried. She had never had a set of keys before. She cried happy tears (and so did we). It was the first time that we had ever really seen what poverty was”, Wild added.

HongKong-listed casino operator Wynn Macau Ltd. is raising $1.35 billion through the issuance of twin senior notes to professional investors.

In a regulatory filing, Wynn Macau announced that it agreed to issue US$600 million 4.875 percent senior notes due 2024 and US$750 million 5.500 percent senior notes due 2027.

Proceeds from the two notes will be used together with other sources of funds available to repurchase its 2021 notes in full, according to the company.

Deutsche Bank AG, Singapore Branch, was mandated as the sole global coordinator and left lead bookrunner.

At last, we know who is sitting down to compete in the first of eight Poker Masters tournaments, and both Doug Polk and Fedor Holz are willing to give their fans a sweat.

By the time you would have read this, the first of five $50,000 buy-in events, will have reached a final table, as the best minds in poker battle it out to be called the Poker Master, and be presented with a Purple Jacket.

The new concept is the brainchild of Poker Central. Aria, Las Vegas act as host. PokerGO streams action of every single event, live, for $9.99 per month, or $99.99 for an annual subscription. Maria Ho, David Williams and Ali Nejad will keep you interested when the action gets a little dull around the edges.

I have been a little critical of Poker Central for not announcing a line up before now, but with the cards about to fly into the air, the organisers have released a starting line up of 33 players.

The Match Indian Poker League has decided to move the starting date and will make space for a female poker player in every team. Nipun Java joins the Global Poker Index India revolution.

The Match Indian Poker League (Match IPL) will not begin on October 14 & 15 as originally promised.

The eight franchise owners have decided they need more time to promote and market their teams ahead of the two-day event. They made their decision during a closed door discussion with the eight owners, and Viaan Industries, Raj Kundra, who is the main driving force behind the league.

And they need every day.

Australia’s online poker players may have received a reprieve from death row thanks to the efforts of a Liberal Democrat senator.

In August, Australia’s federal government approved the Interactive Gambling Amendment Bill 2016, which clarified national laws to restrict online gambling to sports betting only.

Senator David Leyonhjelm (pictured) led a valiant but ultimately unsuccessful effort to exempt poker from the list of prohibited online activities. Anticipating defeat months before the bill’s passage, he advised the nation’s poker players to “screw the government, get yourself a [virtual private network] and an offshore account and carry on as you were.”

Fast forward to Monday, and Leyonhjelm posted an online notice declaring “Victory for online poker on the cards.” The notice claimed that, following further lobbying, the federal government “has advised that it is ‘favorably disposed’ to reforms that would exempt online poker players from illegal offshore wagering laws.”