Haven’t you heard, poker is dead, but the team at Poker.com didn;t get the memo because they’re trying to sell the domain name for $20m and change.

There is a domain name called Cocksuckers.com.

I’m not a fan. I know about it because I was at a party last night and we were thinking about phrases and then typing them into Google to see if a domain name existed. There is even one called MasterBaitOnline.com and it has nothing to do with sex. Fishy, right? Yes it is.

Apart from the odd love letter, and some half-arsed attempts at becoming the next Bob Dylan, by the time Manchester United was winning the Treble in 1999, I had decided to create a personal blog to share my views upon the world. I called it leedavy.co.uk because a modern day samurai of the same name had already bought the .com version.

Russia has approved a new banking law that could help simplify how punters register with Russian-licensed online sports betting sites, although privacy advocates are preaching caution.

On Wednesday, Russia’s Duma approved Law No. 157752-7, which deals with the mechanics of interactive remote authentication and identification of banking customers. The law, which was introduced this spring, requires customers to submit biometric data – face, eye and voice scans, etc. – that will be stored in a centralized database for use in remote transactions.

The growth of Russia’s nascent regulated online sports betting market has been hindered in part by an overly cumbersome registration process, which requires punters to first register online with a bookmaker, then register a second time with a centralized payment hub (known as TSUPIS), then physically present proof of identification at a designated retail outlet.

For an idea of how big an impediment this process this prove, consider that the new Bwin.ru betting site reportedly pre-registered 15k prospective customers prior to its launch last month, but only one-third of these had actually gone through the whole registration process necessary to place a bet with Bwin.ru.

Connecticut’s Foxwoods Resort Casino has become the latest US gaming venue to incorporate ‘stadium’ gambling positions into its offering.

This week, Foxwoods announced that its Rainmaker Casino – one of six gaming venues on the property – had added a new Rainmaker Stadium hybrid electronic gaming set-up, featuring 30 play terminals and three live dealers, allowing players simultaneous access to both blackjack and mini-baccarat games.

The new Rainmaker Stadium set-up comes courtesy of a partnership with the US division of gaming technology provider Novomatic. Connecticut’s other tribal casino, the Mohegan Sun, launched its own 41-seat stadium blackjack set-up last year following a deal with tech provider Shuffle Master.

Foxwoods plans to add a similar stadium set-up at its Fox Tower in 2018 that will feature 24 play terminals and three additional games. The plan is to link up the two systems so that players at either venue can play any of the different games without leaving their seat.

A former deputy premier in the Australian state of New South Wales is under fire for allegedly burying a gambling harm report that took a decidedly dim view of video poker machines (pokies).

In October, NSW Gaming Minister Paul Toole released a gambling harm report by researchers at the University of Sydney, which included a recommendation to eliminate a pokies feature known as “losses disguised as wins,” aka the machines lighting up and playing celebratory music despite the player having won less than the amount wagered.

The report also indicated that pokies players had “elevated Problem Gambling Severity Index scores compared to other products, and report higher frequencies of health-related harms.” Countless studies indicate that only lottery products are more popular than pokies when it comes to Australian gamblers.

The report was submitted to the government in December 2015, but went unreleased for nearly two years, despite the report’s lead author reaching out to the government to express his “frustration” with their foot-dragging.