They’ve duked it out at the poker tables, so they must have figured it was time to do the same in the boxing ring. Antonio Esfandiari and Kevin Hart are reportedly preparing to slip on the gloves and trunks in a boxing match that has some real money on the line. They have almost a year to train before the big day, but Esfandiari will probably need every bit of help he can get.

Esfandiari, who has been friends with Hart for several years, confirmed the boxing match with TMZ Sports over the weekend, saying that the two got onto the subject of boxing recently, and things snowballed from there. “Kevin Hart and I were playing the other day, we were hanging out … and somehow boxing comes up. So, we made a bet. And, in March, around March, we are going to box in a ring,” the three-time WSOP bracelet winner said.

According to Esfandiari, his odds have been put at 35-to-1. His longshot chances are lessened by the fact that he spends most of his time punching the cards and not enough time punching the bags. He said that Hart is in much better shape, adding that he’s an athlete or is “fast as hell.”

The Las Vegas resident, who has two WPT titles on top of his WSOP wins, didn’t reveal how much money was on the line for the big match. Given the fact that he is worth around $27 million—sixth on the all-time poker money list—and Hart is worth over twice that much, there’s a good chance that the wager is pretty hefty.

MGM Resorts is reportedly close to inking a deal with GVC Holdings that will see GVC get in on the new sports betting market in the US.  GVC, the parent company of Ladbrokes and Coral, confirmed yesterday that it is in “advanced talks” with MGM to form a new venture that will see both MGM and GVC a significant position in the market.  If everything goes well, the deal will see each company put up $100 million to grab a piece of the expected multibillion-dollar industry.

Both companies would have an equal part in the venture, which would reportedly be based on a 25-year contract.  After ten years, however, either side could potentially buy out the other.  If the deal goes through, GVC will become the primary provider of online gambling and sports gambling services for the casino giant, giving it control over all of the activities across MGM’s entire US portfolio.

After the US Supreme Court reversed the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) in May, states across the country began working on legislation to legalize sports gambling. Given the fact that British bookmakers were already well established in Europe, they were chomping at the bit to get in on the activity in the US.

Even prior to the demise of PASPA, Britain’s top sportsbooks were already vying for position in the US gambling economy.  In states such as New Jersey and Nevada, where sports gambling was already allowed, William Hill and Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) had worked their way in by concentrating on acquiring sportsbooks and horse racing activities.

Several years ago – going all the way back to 2013 – the Genting Group purchased 87 acres on the Las Vegas Strip that belonged to Boyd Gaming. The idea was to build Genting’s Resorts World Las Vegas (RWLV) on the location, which was previously the site of the Stardust casino, but that idea has taken more time than originally anticipated to crystalize. Now, it looks like things might actually be moving forward, and Genting has confirmed last year’s announcement that it expects to have the resort completed sometime during 2020, despite recent concerns that the current US-China trade war could cause delays.

The property was purchased for $350 million. Genting said at the time that it was going to have a resort in place by 2016, but construction delays have resulted in the grand opening being pushed back again and again. In May of last year, Genting announced that the $4-billion resort would be ready by 2020, with many dubious over the timeline.

In recent months, a significant amount of progress toward the resort’s completion has been made. This has allowed Genting a little more reassurance that it will be able to make its 2020 deadline without any more delays. While anything can happen in two years, Genting now feels highly confident about the construction schedule.

Union Gaming (UG) has been monitoring the progress steadily and believes that the delays represent a desire on the part of Genting to build only the most luxurious and financially successful property possible. John DeCree, who heads up UG’s North America Equity/High Yield Research division, said, “I think the pace that we’ve seen Resorts World approach construction is very deliberate. They are understanding the market and really calculating what they need to build and how they need to position that property to be competitive with the Las Vegas Strip, which is historically very competitive with some of the best casino companies in the world.”

Leon Tsoukernik, casino owner and sometimes controversial poker player, decided to give up Vegas for Austria, and it seemed to be the right decision. Although he lost his $50,000 non-refundable deposit for the WSOP’s Big One for One Drop event, his participation in the EM European Poker Championship €25,650 Super High Roller (SHR) tournament brought him first place and a hefty amount of cash.

Tsoukernik, who owns Kings Casino in the Czech Republic, took a short hop to Casino Velden in Austria for the tournament. The event attracted 27 players, resulting in a prize pool of €1,025,000 (US$1.19 million), factoring in the 17 rebuys that were recorded. By the time it was over, Tsoukernik emerged victorious, pocketing €370,000 (US$431,361). He has now amassed over $2.7 million in live action.

Tsoukernik said in a post-tournament interview, “I’m just a fan of this tournament. I have a very positive view on this casino which is an absolute jewel, a pearl, of the possibility how beautiful gaming could be in front of this fantastic lake.”

Probably being distracted by negative publicity surrounding his refusal to make good on a $2-million debt to fellow poker player Matt Kirk, Tsourkernik hasn’t won a major tournament since he took down the EPT Prague SHR a year and a half ago. That win was the second-largest of his career, netting him $782,453. He picked up his biggest pot last year after taking first in the SHR Bowl, for which he was awarded $1.8 million.

Lee Davy brings you up to speed on the weekend’s frolics and frivolities at the Triton Poker Series in Jeju, South Korea, including two million dollar victories for Ivan Leow and David Peters.

While you were busy mowing the lawn, taking the kids to the beach, or whatever else floated your boat this weekend, a cache of crazies with too much skill, money or a bit of both decided to spend it playing poker.

Jeju was the spot for the second Triton Poker Series event of 2018, and we have two tournaments to bring you up to speed on, beginning with a victory for Ivan Leow in the HKD 500,000 (USD 64,000) Short-Deck Ante-Only event.

Day 1 pulled in 44 entrants.

Simon Lam is the newest member of the World Poker Tour Champions Club after topping a 583 entrant Main Event at the Gardens Casino in California to win the $565,055 first prize and a 2018 Mercedes-Benz SLC Roadster.

I like my sisters, Dawn, Sarah and Claire.

Do I like them enough to give them a 2018 Mercedes-Benz SLC Roadster? There’s more chance of me becoming the 2019 Donkey Kong Champion.

Not everyone is as tight as me.

Lee Davy sits down with Kent McLaren, a former scorer for the LA Clippers, and now COO of GAME LLC, for a demonstration on Protection Poker’s Action Clock.

I have a bit of a killer bee in my bonnet when it comes to social hierarchies. Getting the shit beaten out of you for being a different race will do that to a boy. It feels part of me, like a molar, finger or faulty thyroid.

So, when I see smart and savvy poker tour operators using action clocks but only including them in High Roller tournaments, my head starts shaking. From my vantage point, in a coffee shop, somewhere deep within the green, green, grass of home, I can’t fathom why poker operators haven’t rolled it out universally.

So, it was nice to meet Kent McLaren, COO, of GAME LLC, the parent company of Protection Poker, the bright minds behind the Action Clock that you first saw at the World Poker Tour (WPT) Tournament of Champions, three-years ago.