The online gambling mega-merger of technology suppliers Evolution Gaming and NetEnt is being probed by the UK’s competition watchdog.

On Tuesday, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced that it was investigating “the anticipated acquisition of NetEnt AB by Evolution Gaming Group AB.” The CMA wants to determine whether the union “may be expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition within any market or markets in the United Kingdom for goods or services.”

The CMA reportedly informed both companies of its probe on Monday and has set a deadline of October 5 for interested parties to comment on the proposed transaction. The CMA plans to issue its ‘phase 1 decision’ by November 16, although it cautioned that this was not a guarantee that any decision will actually be announced on that date.

The CMA has occasionally waded into the online gambling sector’s ongoing consolidation efforts, with mixed results for the parties involved. In March, the CMA found no reason to obstruct Flutter Entertainment’s acquisition of PokerStars parent company The Stars Group, much as it approved TSG’s 2018 acquisition of UK online gambling operator Sky Betting & Gaming.

Just 71 players remain in the 2020 World Championship of Online Poker on PokerStars, with several big names among the top 10 chipcounts after Day 2.

The day began with hundreds of players still in contention to reach the money and these numbers were boosted by the 280 players who traded $5,200 for 20 big blinds and the shot at a million-dollar top prize as registration ran until just five minutes before the cards were shuffled up and dealt on Day 2.

That meant a total number of entries that reached 1,977 including 541 re-entries (1,436 unique players), and while that was 23 entries short of the $10 million guarantee, with registration fees, the tournament had pretty much paid for itself and created a top prize on offer of $1,499,942. 

As you might expect with a dramatically reduced average stack, the eliminations flowed steadily for some time, with a bust-out roughly every 20 seconds from the off. Several big names were high-profile casualties of that initial period, with tournament poker legend Chris Moorman, Damian Salas and Russian poker crusher Artur Martirosian all leaving well before the money bubble burst.

The opening week of the AFL finals campaign commences after a COVID interrupted regular season. The AFL were forced into a hub style format, moving the competition to Queensland in a bid to keep the 2020 AFL season alive during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Minor premiers Port Adelaide have been scheduled to play at home at the Adelaide Oval, while St Kilda have won the right to host the Western Bulldogs in Queensland. AFL bosses had been in negotiations with St Kilda to play in Adelaide, but as they finished above the Bulldogs, they have won the right to play in Queensland.

Saints CEO Matt Finnis was delighted that his side wouldn’t have to travel interstate in the first week of the finals. “We have played a lot of footy at The Gabba this season and, given where we are currently based in Noosa, it was certainly our preference,” he said in a statement.

Below are the fixtures for the opening week of the AFL finals.

The latest World Poker Tour World Online Championship event to be won was the $3,200-entry Turbo Championship and true to form, it was all over in a flash as Bulgarian Dimitar Danchev took down the title, winning $188,316 in the process.  

The Bulgarian has previously won over $4.6 million in live events alone, including the PCA Main Event of 2013, where he took home $1.85 million for bagging the title in what was a dramatic finish, brought to life for poker fans by James Hartigan and Joe ‘Stapes’ Stapleton in their inimitable way.  

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWZ-yBe9ado?feature=oembed]

This being the 11th event of the WPT World Online Championships, there were plenty of players firing bullets in the hope of bagging themselves a headline-grabbing title win. Costing $3,200 to play, there were 433 entries overall, smashing the $1 million guarantee to amass a prizepool of $1,299,000.  

A fresh wave of lockdowns appears inevitable in Europe, and they look like they could be especially severe in the United Kingdom with $13,000 fines for failure to self-isolate. These draconian measures could quickly spread throughout Europe. By most reports, Boris Johnson is about to close the country down again, and this on the verge of a final blowup in Brexit talks and no deal likely becoming inevitable in days. On top of this we have huge multi-trillion dollar scandals erupting out of UK systemically important banks HSBC, Standard Chartered, and Barclays, banks which were already in dire straits before this new bombshell.

Portending an imminent banking crisis, European commercial banks had a horrific day yesterday with the weakest showing the biggest declines on the day. Lloyds, a domestically-focused UK bank, is circling the drain and could be on the verge of being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. Shares hit new all time lows yetserday at $1.17. Break the $1 handle and it could be delisted barring a reverse split. I can’t see how any of this can be interpreted as anything other than Europe coming apart at the seams.

A second lockdown in Europe is going to put the whole online gaming revenue surge angle into sharp focus. There are certainly economic forces directing revenue into online gaming thanks to lockdowns, but what I believe a second lockdown will show is that the surge will ebb as people become substantially poorer in real terms. While there could be another bump in online gaming revenue during this second lockdown, if we do see one I believe it will be a weaker bump than the first.

The biggest problem from an investment standpoint long term though is discerning a workable plan here. Locking down on every spike in cases is simply not workable, full stop. If COVID-19 is just another coronavirus like the common cold, which is a coronavirus, then it is probably here to stay like the common cold and we will keep seeing periodic spikes in cases every few months especially if lockdowns continue to slow or prevent herd immunity. Successive lockdowns means wholesale economic destruction with no end in sight. I simply do not see these conditions as even remotely investible. If gaming stocks keeps rising from here despite all this, I still have no interest in joining asset bubbles and certainly not advising others to do so. That would just be Russian roulette with your savings.

In the fast-moving world of gambling, sometimes you might miss news that could be important to you. To make sure you’re all caught up on gaming industry news, be it online or brick and mortar, we’re rounding up the some of the announcements and partnerships from the last week that you might have missed.

Don’t miss out on all of the latest announcements. Our Press Release section is updated constantly.

Evoplay Entertainment goes global with Casoony partnership

Cutting-edge provider launches social casino suite with fast-growing operator

Macau’s tourism numbers are starting to show some healthy growth. But that’s not making a big enough difference on the bottom line, as analysts have concluded gross gaming revenue (GGR) for mid-September to be “disappointing.”

Macau’s Special Administrative Region (SAR) saw a 207% increase in visitors from July to August 2020. This is largely due to relaxed travel restrictions between the SAR and neighboring Guangdon province.

Daily visitors were approximately 9,000 at the beginning of August as restrictions started to loosen. That number rose to 15,000 when Guangdong travelers were permitted, and has reportedly reached 18,400 on September 16. That number is expected to continue to grow as the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) is due to be reinstanted for all of Mainland China on September 23.

Despite this growth, analysts are still disappointed with GGR. Between September 14 and 20, Macau saw revenue of MOP1.8 billion ($225.5 million). That’s estimated to be a 90% drop from the week prior, and an 80% drop year on year, estimates Sanford Bernstein.

What you might be seeing in the sky isn’t a bird, it isn’t a plane and it certainly isn’t Superman. It’s most likely a drone and, soon, you’ll see more of them buzzing around over head. The idea of using drones to make deliveries of goods has gained traction over the past several years, and a number of pilot programs have already been implemented to test their feasibility. Amazon has been exploring the use of the flying autonomous vehicles to expedite shipping, pizza chains are ready to get in on the fun and Walmart has gotten involved, as well, launching a drone delivery program earlier this month. This latter endeavor is taking off, literally and figuratively, and the retail giant is already making deliveries using drones. This is only the beginning of a new era of commercialism, and everything anyone ever read in sci-fi novels is coming true. 

Walmart announced this past Monday that it is now working with a drone delivery network, Zipline, to launch product deliveries in a first-of-its-kind program around its headquarters in Arkansas. It will begin by offering certain health and wellness products for delivery by drone and plans on adding more products once the program proves viable. When it launches, expected to begin early next year, Walmart’s drone delivery option is limited to just a 50-mile radius around its headquarters, and the products will reportedly arrive at the customer’s doorstep in less than an hour. 

Zipline, according to the Walmart announcement, “began operating in late 2016 in Rwanda primarily focusing on the on-demand delivery of medical supplies. To date, they’ve safely delivered more than 200,000 critical medical products to thousands of health facilities serving more than 20 million people across multiple countries. This uniquely positions them for national-scale operations across the United States.”

With that being the case, and provided the trials go well, it is not inconceivable to envision a massive rollout of product-delivering drones taking place in just a few short years. Amazon and Walmart certainly have the wallets needed to facilitate rapid growth on a large scale and they both have the requisite customer bases to make it easier. Walmart hasn’t said how much it might charge for the delivery service, but, even at $5, it’s a win all the way around. There would be fewer vehicles on the road, cutting emissions substantially, customers get their products quickly and safely and Walmart continues its efforts to become greener. 

You are what you read, and in 2020 it’s never been more important to take advantage of the downtime to improve yourself and learn a few things from the pros. Hundreds of great books come out every year exploring business, leadership and entrepreneurship. From the realities of leadership to the art of negotiation, here are 10 iBooks that are a must-read for any operator, marketer or budding entrepreneur who is looking for an edge and a sage piece of wisdom. 

Never Split the Difference – Chris Voss

Chris Voss is the Obi-Wan Kenobi of business negotiation. The former FBI negotiator faced down kidnappers, bank robbers, violent gang leaders and notorious terrorists. When it comes to negotiation, Voss perfected negotiation into a fine art. Voss shares the nine key negotiation principals that he learnt with the FBI; perfect for affiliates and operators looking to develop their negotiation skills. Now retired from the FBI, Voss teaches the fine art of negotiation to some of the leading business leaders in the U.S. through his Black Swan institute. 

The 4-hour workweek – Tim Ferris