When the GUKPT London Main Event kicked off, there wasn’t a huge deal of attention made about the £1,350-entry event. While the British poker stop has always been a popular tour frequented by semi-regulars and semi-professionals as well as dozens of the more hardcore career poker players, the £500,000 guarantee no limit hold’em Main Event was pretty standard fayre.

With 379 entries overall, the Main Event sneaked past its guarantee to rack up a respectable prizepool of £511,650. When the final day’s coverage came around, just 17 players remained, including a couple of names and plenty of recreational hopefuls hunting their first six-figure score. So far, so GUKPT Main Event.

Then it transpired that Victoria Coren-Mitchell was one of those players.

Having first reached the final day, then making the final eight, Coren-Mitchell, the first-ever EPT Main Event two-time winner as well as the wife of comedian and actor David Mitchell took to Twitter to involve the general public in her quest to lift the title.

If the Clark County Education Association (CCEA) had its way, casinos would have to pay higher taxes on the gambling revenue they earn. The group has begun an effort to push for an increase of more than 40%, hoping to push the tax rate from 6.75% to 9.75%. As would be expected, the move is finding a significant amount of resistance from area casinos, both for the idea that they should pay more and for how the CCEA is trying to trick voters into signing off on the measure if it’s added to the 2022 November ballot.

The group reportedly wants to put an entry on the ballot that would allow voters to weigh in on a proposal to raise the tax rate to provide more money for the state’s education fund. However, this, according to the Nevada Resort Association (NRA), isn’t entirely accurate. The money would go to the state’s general fund, from which only a certain amount would be pulled for educational programs. This misleading language, asserts the NRA, is illegal, and the group is now suing the CCEA to try to prevent the measure from being able to move forward.

The ballot entry also has mistakes in its language regarding the timeframe that the new tax would begin to be collected. It states that the higher tax would start funneling into the fund in January of 2023; however, the NRA emphasizes that this isn’t accurate. If voters approve the measure, it would still have to be officially reviewed and greenlighted by the state’s Supreme Court, which could take 38 days – a lot of time, considering the tax would have to be paid on a monthly basis.

The NRA has submitted its lawsuit in Clark County Court, according to The Nevada Independent, and reads, in part, “Whether the proposed Description of Effect is misleading because of intentional concealment or oversight, this Court, through its jurisdiction under NRS 295.061, is ultimately charged with safeguarding the citizens’ right to be provided with an accurate account of a proposed measure.”

There isn’t too much concern that Eldorado Resorts will be greenlighted completely to take over Caesars Entertainment, but there’s always the possibility that some regulatory body will put up a fuss. That won’t happen in Iowa, though, as the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission (IRGC) has unanimously approved the deal. It’s just the latest in continued support for the merger, and follows just a few days after regulators in Louisiana, Pennsylvania and Illinois gave their nod of support. However, as Eldorado looks to take hold of 51% of Caesars, questions remain regarding the post-merger operation of the company’s sportsbooks.

Eldorado has teamed up with William Hill on a 25-year deal to have the latter manage sports gambling operations for the casino operator. Caesars is running its own sportsbooks and, figuring out how to move forward after the merger is a challenge. Casino.org got ahold of Eldorado CEO Tom Reeg recently, who explained, “We’re working on that as we speak. We’ve got to figure that out prior to closing. If we were to just close under the current terms of the agreement, William Hill steps into the Caesars sportsbooks on the same split as we got with them now.”

Casino.org dug in and determined how sportsbooks were being managed inside the two casino giants. William Hill is leading the charge at nine of Eldorado’s properties, while Caesars has its own branded sportsbooks up and running at 29 casinos in the US. These numbers are dynamic, as one, or both, of the companies will most likely have to unload a property or two in order to appease regulators before the deal is consummated.

Executives at the two entities are still hoping to finalize the merger sometime during the second quarter, depending on how enthusiastic the remaining regulators are to sign off on it. Prior to that, Reeg would like to have the issue of the sportsbooks ironed out, but this won’t be an easy task. He adds, “There’s a lot of discussion to be had… there’s a lot of value that’s within Caesars, that’s within us, that’s within William Hill. Could we do something that’s more ambitious than just William Hill is running Caesars’ books? We’re examining that, and this is a logical time to try to figure it out.”

New Hampshire lawmakers, and sportsbooks, are seeing green. The state just officially launched sports gambling last month and, during its first full month of operations, sportsbooks reported a $20.8-million handle as gamblers began to pour on the bets. According to the New Hampshire Lottery, which is providing oversight of the activity, that handle led to sportsbooks being able to report a net profit of $1.2 million, thanks to the 27,000 individuals who jumped at the opportunity to wager on Super Bowl LIV, NBA contests and more.

The Granite State doesn’t have a casino presence, which made it much easier to launch mobile-based sports gambling. It is the second state in the New England region, after Rhode Island, to get in on the sports betting action, and first saw an online sportsbook go live when DraftKings flipped the switch on its operations on December 30 of last year. It’s been all uphill ever since.

In business, timing is everything, and being able to launch sports gambling just ahead of the Super Bowl was a smart business decision. However, contrary to what some may have expected, only 11% of the bets placed in January were for the NFL Championship game. That leaves a lot of other sporting events to carry the weight, which is good news. With the Super Bowl now in the history books, New Hampshire can be confident that other activity, including next month’s NCAA March Madness, will help keep the betting momentum going. New Hampshire’s sports gambling laws allow for college wagers, as long as they don’t target any state teams.

None was happier with the results in the state than Governor Chris Sununu. He, along with other lawmakers, had been a campaigner for the activity and what it meant to the state’s wallet, and said in a statement after the Lottery published the results, “The Patriots may not be playing in this year’s Super Bowl, but that is not stopping New Hampshire from winning big. There is no doubt that New Hampshire is already serving as New England’s go-to destination for sports betting, and we are just getting started.”

All around Alabama, sports gambling is gaining favor.  Louisiana has it, Mississippi has it, Tennessee almost has it and Georgia and Florida could join the group this year, as well.  Right in the middle of all of these sits Alabama, which means that state residents have plenty of opportunities to place wagers on sports in neighboring states, depriving Alabama of the additional revenue.  This is a fact that Alabama Governor Kay Ivey is well aware of, and she has said that she’s willing to explore sports gambling legalization, provided it can prove to be as lucrative for the state as some have asserted.

Lawmakers have been trying to put together a winning sports gambling proposal for a while, but Governor Ivey has remained against the move.  She is loosening up a little bit as other states begin to see excellent returns with their initiatives, but nothing is going to happen this year.  She’s doubtful that the industry would generate $1 billion for the state, as has been claimed by proponents, and wants to conduct a feasibility study to get to the bottom of the issue.

According to the Montgomery Advertiser, Governor Ivey told lawmakers, “Like you, I’m fully aware that the four states which border us all have some form of gambling.  And neither you nor I are naive enough to believe that we’re benefitting in any way when our people cross the state line to bet on a game of chance.”

Governor Ivey is going to stay out of the picture regarding any study or any eventual framework for legalized sports gambling, or any type of gambling expansion.  The state’s constitution requires the issue to be approved by lawmakers and a public vote, so the final decision ultimately rests with them.  However, should any type of gambling expansion be allowed, she knows that she would have to be involved in negotiating any compacts with the state’s tribe, the Poarch Band of Creek Indians.

The gambling point man for Spain’s new government will meet with the head of the local gaming industry association this week to discuss plans for new advertising restrictions.

On Monday, Spanish media reported that Alberto Garzón, Minister of Consumer Affairs in Spain’s new government, would meet later this week with the head of Consejo Empresarial del Juego (CeJuego), which represents Spain’s private gambling operators, to discuss the government’s plans to rein in gambling ads on radio, TV and online.

Garzón (pictured) will reportedly focus on three elements of the new advertising rules, including a blanket ban on gambling ads during kid-friendly hours (likely 6am-10pm), a requirement for sports betting ads to run only during periods of relativity (say, a football match), and a hard cap on the number of gambling ads that can appear in any single break in the action.

Spain’s online gambling operators have already agreed to a new voluntary code of restraint for promoting their products. The code, which kicked in last month, was intended to fend off threats by the previous government to impose the same harsh restrictions on gambling advertising as those imposed on tobacco products.

The Stones Gambling Hall scandal was one of the major stories of 2019. What made it so addictive to the poker fans who pored over each twist and turn was that it conjured up some of the best elements of a boxset to binge on. It had a flawed anti-hero (Mike Postle himself), several characters you didn’t know were good or bad, dealers, tournament directors, commentators and fellow players, along with a merry band of whistleblowers and investigators led by a YouTube sensation and a social media superhero for the Me/Her generation.

Netflix have got to be interested in this one.

The only problem with the story, in narrative terms, however, was that it owed a little more to the Netflix smash-hit Making a Murderer than it did a well-written drama series. The issue being that the ending was muddled, inconclusive and drawn out to such a degree that some of the audience were starting to give up on a satisfying ending ever appearing.

It would seem, however, that after many months of allegedly trying to avoid even receiving the legal summons that had been attempted to have been served on him seven times by the laywer Maurice ‘Mac’ Verstandig, Postle has given in. Postle has replied to the summons and acknowledged its receipt on the 8th January. By doing so, Postle has given himself a deadline to defend the accusations thrown his way.

Sports betting operator FanDuel and gaming technology provider Scientific Games Corp have struck up an online gambling and wagering deal for the US market.

On Monday, Bloomberg News reported that Sci-Games had reached a deal with UK-listed Flutter Entertainment to provide Flutter’s FanDuel brand with an online and mobile sports betting and casino product for the US market, both in states where FanDuel currently operates and other states in which the brand has yet to launch.

On Tuesday, Sci-Games issued an extremely brief statement confirming that it has “expanded its existing partnership with Flutter Entertainment to cover online and mobile sports betting and iGaming content offering with FanDuel in the United States.”

Flutter was making use of Sci-Games’ popular OpenBet sports betting solution long before Sci-Games acquired OpenBet in early 2018. In fact, OpenBet and Flutter (under its former identity Paddy Power Betfair) have teamed up to provide other entities with sports betting capabilities in the past.

The Premier League is officially on its Winter Break, meaning each side will only play once before February 22nd. When will they play? Why are the games split? Will this really help England win the Euros? Let’s debunk some theories and explain exactly what’s going to happen.

For a start, this Winter Break has been longer coming than the one that took up the bulk of Game of Thrones. Whether Sean Bean saw this happening or not, the return of the former Sharpe actor’s beloved Sheffield United to the top table of English football has coincided with a fortnight’s break for most of the English Premier League teams.

Rather than send everyone on hiatus at once, however, the Premier League has decided to stagger the fixtures across the winter break period, the obvious logic being that fans need not miss out totally on Premier League football, but the players still get a rest.

Most Premier League teams are fully behind this move, with Chelsea’s number nine Tammy Abraham just one of the players in favour of a fortnight to recuperate mid-season.