Australia-listed wagering company TopBetta Holdings Ltd. (TBH) is buying data feed and bookmaker comparison website DynamicOdds Pty. Ltd. as part of its bid to expand its business globally.

TBH announced before the Australian Securities Exchange on Thursday that it entered into “a binding, conditional heads of agreement” to acquire 100 percent shares of DynamicOdds and the associated licensing owned by C.D.K. Limited.

DynamicOdds has been a key data supplier for Australia’s Principal Racing Authorities (PRAs) since 2016. The firm also offers an odds comparison site, as well as a subscription service that allows users to place bets with bookmakers.

According to the agreement, TBH must issue to Dynamic IT Group Pty. Ltd. 10 million unquoted options over the bookmaker’s shares, which is pegged at AUD0.20 (US$0.15) per option within two years from the date of issue.

Valve, the developer of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, sent a cease & desist to the peer-to-peer skin trading platform OPSkins via Twitter, and OPSkins respond that they’re not going anywhere.

A while back I watched a movie called Ready Player One, where humans spent their waking hours existing in a virtual reality called the Oasis. It was a good movie, and I came away wondering how long it would be before it represented actual life.

Unless a third world war prevents us from passing through the Great Filter, our advancement in technology will continue, meaning virtual and augmented reality will become more and more seamless with the way we exist.

Poker players.

Toronto-listed gambling firm The Stars Group is reviving the Sportingbet brand in Australia months after acquiring a majority stake in Australian online sports betting operator CrownBet.

Australian Financial Review reported that CrownBet has asked the Australian Securities Exchange in a filing this week to reserve the “Sportingbet Pty. Ltd.” name, a move that many gaming observers said signaled the start of the company’s rebranding plans.

Sportingbet had been a popular sport betting brand name in Australia before the British bookmaker William Hill acquired it in 2013 to penetrate the once lucrative Australian gambling market. However, William Hill replaced the Sportingbet brand, as well as the Centre and TomWaterhouse.com brands, when it introduced global brand names in the land down under.

Hills’ Aussie division had FY2017 turnover of A$2.55 billion (US$1.98 billion), revenue of A$201 million (US$156.17 million), and an operating profit of just under A$30 million (US$23.31 million).

Mississippi is about to get a taste of sports betting action, thanks to The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, which is rolling out the game in the coming weeks.

The Clarion Ledger reported that the Choctaw Tribal Council has approved betting at the Silver Star Hotel and Casino, Golden Moon Hotel and Casino, and Bok Homa Casino on May 31, making them the first casinos in the state to offer the game. The Choctaws may also go down in U.S. history as the first Native American Tribe to offer sports betting should things go smoothly as planned, according to the tribe’s officials.

Unlike in other states, the Choctaws doesn’t need the approval of the state Gaming Commission to offer sports betting in their gambling facilities. Sonny Johnson, who oversees the Choctaws’ casinos, said the Choctaws has hurdled all regulatory issues that may prevent them from launching sports betting in Mississippi.

The tribe said for the past six months, it has been preparing for the possibility that the ban on sports betting will be lifted. Fortunately, majority of the U.S. Supreme Court magistrates have ruled to repeal the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) of 1992 for being unconstitutional.

The iGaming industry notoriously does not like change and 2018 has brought on plenty of changes thus far, including the conference schedule.  Today I wanted to discuss why I think the changes Clarion has made to their iGaming conference schedule, in particular the debut of “iGB Live!”, was a smart move and how attending this event will benefit your industry knowledge and networking goals.

I came up with the idea for this week’s column as I was browsing the iGB Live! website with a colleague – upon first glance its felt almost overwhelming with all the changes, so I wanted to break it down for you.  In actuality, the session structure has been simplified from the previous iGaming Super Shows and the choices are less intimidating to navigate once you familiarize yourself with the new website layout.

For those of you who don’t know, iGB Live! is a combination of the iGaming Super Show, EiG and the Amsterdam Affiliate Conference (AAC), officially crowning iGB Live! as the largest gathering for iGaming professionals of the year.  2018 has already brought on changes and surprises, such as the implementation of the dreaded GDPR, the repeal of PASPA and the explosion of blockchain technology and ICOs.

Enter iGB Live!, an opportunity to learn about and discuss everything that’s going on in our world while having some fun at the same time.  Its true the event’s dates in mid-July might fall in the middle of your vacation, but I assure you Amsterdam, the location of iGB Live!, is piquing at this time of year.  Perhaps you should consider taking a pre or post event mini-vacation there!?

New Jersey gaming regulators have approved temporary sports betting regulations just one day before Governor Phil Murphy is set to take the state’s first legal wager.

On Wednesday, New Jersey’s Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) published the newly approved temporary regulations (viewable here) governing sports betting activity by the state’s gaming licensees. Regulators now have 270 days in which to craft the permanent regs.

First up, money. The cost of a sports betting license isn’t yet set in stone, but an initial license will cost a minimum of $100k. The full amount will be determined after considering “the costs for renewal, enforcement and gambling addiction.” Applicants need to ante up an additional retainer of $250k to cover the DGE’s sports betting oversight startup costs.

Land-based wagering at Atlantic City casinos will be taxed at 8.5%, while online wagering will face a 13% rate. Both rates are subject to an additional 1.25% tax to help fund AC tourism and marketing programs.

New Jersey gaming regulators have approved temporary sports betting regulations just one day before Governor Phil Murphy is set to take the state’s first legal wager.

On Wednesday, New Jersey’s Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) published the newly approved temporary regulations (viewable here) governing sports betting activity by the state’s gaming licensees. Regulators now have 270 days in which to craft the permanent regs.

First up, money. The cost of a sports betting license isn’t yet set in stone, but an initial license will cost a minimum of $100k. The full amount will be determined after considering “the costs for renewal, enforcement and gambling addiction.” Applicants need to ante up an additional retainer of $250k to cover the DGE’s sports betting oversight startup costs.

Land-based wagering at Atlantic City casinos will be taxed at 8.5%, while online wagering will face a 13% rate. Both rates are subject to an additional 1.25% tax to help fund AC tourism and marketing programs.

According to the history books, in the old Wild West of the US, a poker player who was caught trying to steal or cheat usually ended up taking a permanent dirt nap. Fortunately, we’ve advanced substantially since then, but some still think that they can game the system. It was seen when Leon Tsoukernik claimed to be “drunk and tired” to get out of paying a gambling debt owed to Matt Kirk last year and in countless other cases. However, using the “I was just kidding” excuse is probably the weakest attempt to get out of a bet.

During a cash game at the Bicycle casino in Los Angeles, poker pro Ryan Feldman found himself in a hand against “Armenian Mike” and several other players. The action started off smoothly enough and, by the time the river card was shown, Feldman and “Mike” were the only two left in the hand. Mike, who was holding A-10, made a ridiculous shove all-in with $10,300 against a pot only worth $900 and, after thinking about it for a few second, Feldman called. This is when things got interesting.

Feldman was holding K-7.  The board had produced two Kings and a 7 to give him the boat, and he easily took the pot. At this point, Mike began to try to weasel his way out of the bet, saying that he had only been joking about going all-in. Any poker player – even beginners – know that once a play is called, it stands.

A ten-minute argument ensued at the table that involved virtually all the players, with Mike repeatedly trying to welch on his bet. Joey Ingram later posted on Twitter about the bizarre incident, adding “Here is video of the worst angle I’ve ever seen last night on @LiveAtTheBike. Ryan checks, Mike bets 10k on river, gets SNAP CALLED and says it is a JOKE. Floor rules that Ryan gets to decide what to do and Mike cries for 10 mins.”

According to a revenue report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, Kerala is overrun with fake lottery tickets. The report indicated that, between 2011 and 2017, the district lottery offices in the state collected a total of 348,699 tickets, indicating a lax attitude on the part of Kerala government officials to properly monitor the industry. It further stated that the government hasn’t taken enough measures to prevent the scams.

Kerala officials responding by saying that they were investigating cases regarding the production of fake lottery tickets, adding that “inquiry in the cases is progressing and penal provisions could be initiated only on completion of the inquiry.” The CAG countered by saying that the investigation wasn’t enough, and that the state needed to be more proactive in the supervision of lotteries, in accordance with Lottery (Regulation) Rules established in 2010.

Lotteries have been a touchy subject in India for some time and Kerala isn’t the first state to come under fire for its practices. In June of last year the CAG revealed discrepancies in the Mizoram government’s handling of state lotteries. It said that the government never collected all of the proceeds allowing, instead, the distributors to deposit a “minimum guaranteed revenue.” The CAG also accused Mizoram of accepting all lottery schemes as presented by the distributors without making any changes.

In April of this year, the Kerala High Court shot down a proposal submitted by tax agents that would have required lottery agents and distributors to provide the agency with the personal details of lottery winners. The court ruled that the government doesn’t maintain the authority to enforce the rule.

Anima, an animal rights group in Macau, is taking aim at the Macau Canidrome. The greyhound racetrack has announced plans to relocate the greyhounds to the Jockey Club temporarily, but Anima has balked at the idea.

Macau Canidrome is currently looking for a permanent home for the 600 canines. It presented its Jockey Club proposal to the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM) last Friday, but the animal rights group has argued that the conditions and lack of space at the Jockey Club make the location unsuitable for the animals.

Albano Martins, the head of the activist group, said, “The Jockey Club has no capacity or even quality for those animals to be there,” said Martins. “There are two stables completely destroyed. They need to be rebuilt. They need to do fences, to close many of these areas. And I don’t believe that any of them (stables) can have more than 40 animals each. I don’t believe. So even if they have 50, all together (it’s) one hundred animals there.”

The racetrack also asked for an extension of three months, which was supposedly needed to give the dogs time to pass through a quarantine period and customs clearing process. However, the IACM immediately rejected the request, adding that it would facilitate the processes for the company.

If, like me, you’re stuck figuring out what to buy your father on Father’s Day then be stuck no more. Daniel Negreanu has created a 33+ online video training course on Masterclass that will teach your old man how to lose every penny of his retirement fund.

“To the best father in the world.”

“Have a great day.”

“I love you beyond measure.”