On Tuesday evening, September 27th, 2017, 17 outstanding individuals and one employer in the iGaming industry were crowed “Idols of the Year” at iGaming Idol 2017.  The event took place at Malta’s finest hotel, The Hilton Malta, where 400 guests in black tie crossed the red carpet and mingled during a welcome cocktail reception.

Following several glasses of champagne, guests were seated at their tables for a three-course meal while enjoying a presentation delivered by one of the event’s charity partners, Step Up for Parkinson’s.

Over dessert, Michael Caselli and I delivered a total of 18 awards with the help of the event’s sponsors, a swift and entertaining experience for everyone, with an extra-special thank you to the larger-than-life personality of my esteemed colleague on stage.

The most impressive observation of this year’s edition of iGaming Idol was the enormous growth it has experienced since last year, a direct result of the organizers’ dedication to the event and what it means to the industry.  Next year we hope to see an expansion of iGaming talent recognized from Malta and beyond and an influx of guests from around the globe.

Canada’s national financial watchdog is taking a closer look into reports of shoddy anti-money laundering compliance at British Columbia casinos.

Last week, the newly elected BC government released a bombshell report detailing a pattern of sketchy transactions at the River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond. The report had been kept under wraps for over a year by the previous Liberal government.

The report claimed River Rock staff were relatively nonplussed by the fact that “high roller Asian VIP clients” with “no known source of funds” were routinely buying-in with huge volumes of cash. River Rock reportedly accepted over $13.5m in $20 bills in just one month, including one gambler who bought $490k worth of chips with over 22,000 $20 bills.

This week, the federal Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre (FINTRAC) announced that it is “reviewing the report, on which it was not consulted, to determine whether any action on its part is appropriate.”

The future of gaming floor dealers is looking decidedly grim as Jackpot Blitz electronic poker tables continue to gain more traction in the gambling media.

Maggots.

I think the flies must lay their eggs in the dog poo. The dog poo goes into the bin. The sun heats it up like a much larger, and smellier petri dish, and out they come, wriggling in that horror movie kind of way.

But they are mere tourists.

After 3,000 residents protested about excessive tourism in the streets of Palma, Mallorca, Lee Davy ponders where next for a poker writer looking for somewhere to live.

You can’t see a single grain of sand.

Umbrellas, that’s all you see, protecting the anaemic looking skin of the British and the Germans. A few hundred breaking rank to run into the sea.

Splash.

eSports betting platform Unikrn has raised $15 million in a pre-sale participated by some big name investors, including Mark Cuban.

The Seattle-based company launched its initial coin offering (ICO) pre-sale last Friday for its UnikoinGold tokens, which are exclusive for its skill-based betting platform. The digital currency is designed as a decentralized token on the Ethereum platform, which means that it can be bought, sold and traded on digital currency exchanges that deal with Ethereum.

Friday pre-sale was limited to big blockchain groups, which Unikrn founder Rahul Sood said they “felt would work to build commercial opportunities for the UnikoinGold ecosystem,” according to GeekWire. This was followed by a “crowdsale” on Saturday, and Unikrn said it plans to open the token sale region by region gradually.

Also among those who participated in the ICO were ethereum co-founder Anthony Diiorio, Blockchain Capital and Pantera Capital as well as Draper’s Dragon Fund, a joint venture between Draper Fisher Jurvetson and DragonVenture.

The final night of the second week of Champions League group action saw Chelsea shock Atletico Madrid, Paris St Germain humble Bayern Munich, and Man Utd spank CSKA Moscow.

The last time Paris St Germain faced one of Europe’s big boys they suffered a right kick-in, 6-1 to Barcelona. But the Parisians are a different outfit these days. The summer signings of Neymar Jr and Kylian Mbappé turning them into a potential European superpower.

The bookies think so, making them the second favourites behind Real Madrid, and they now top a tough group by three points after humbling the five-time European Champions, Bayern Munich, at the Parc des Princes.

Fans were still picking blue fluff out of their belly buttons by the time the first ball hit the back of a net. Neymar setting up his Brazilian buddy Dani Alvez to score in under two minutes.

Three short tales rolled up into a 600-word masterpiece including a rare sighting of Phil Ivey, a prediction from Phil Hellmuth, and a spot of charitable jiggery-pokery from Jamie Gold.

It’s not easy to keep up with Phil Ivey.

The former king of poker ditched his Twitter account when his IveyLeague empire hit the dirt with a harrowing humming hail of hard luck stories.

He doesn’t use Facebook.

US race betting operators expect a surge in betting handle thanks to new rules for how punters’ winnings are taxed.

On Monday, the US Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced new rules for pari-mutuel wagering proceeds. The IRS will now consider a bettor’s entire investment in a single pari-mutuel pool, rather than only the amount wagered on the correct result, when determining the amount to be reported or withheld for tax purposes.

Basically, punters who place multiple wagers on a single pool will now have the full value of their stake applied to their winning wagers for tax purposes. For on-site betting, all wagers placed in a single pool must be made on the same tote ticket. Pool bets placed via advance deposit wagering (ADW) sites will enjoy the same tax benefits without any changes to their current wagering methods.

The reporting thresholds remain the same as before: 300:1 and a $600 payout. But the IRS will now calculate that 300:1 ratio differently. Churchill Downs Inc’s ADW site TwinSpires.com offered the following example of how the system will benefit bettors: