It’s been a very busy first third of the season in the English Premier League, but how has each team done? We spoke to The Secret Coach to get the lowdown on the teams in the bottom half of the table in part one of our Premier League End of Year report. Last week, The Secret Coach was all about the positivity of time off and rest periods. This week, there’s no letting up.

The Secret Coach is a professional football coach in English football… who will remain anonymous. The Secret Coach has worked with some of the biggest names in the game, been through the coaching badges and is currently part of the coaching team at an English league side… and that’s all we’re telling you. As ever, this week, The Secret Coach pulls no punches! 

Sheffield United: “Unfortunately, Chris Wilder’s team haven’t evolved or really strengthened this year,” says TSC. “They were a surprise package last season but now everyone knows what to expect and Wilder has not adapted. He lacks firepower to keep them up, which is a shame as they’re such a hard-working team.” 

West Bromwich Albion: “The Baggies of old; some nice football at times but that doesn’t guarantee you a place in the Premier League although that might change under Sam Allardyce! I remember the Mowbray years, when they played some lovely football but went toe to toe with better teams – admirable but not sensible. Same again I feel so far, not enough to compete with the mid-table teams.” 

Donald Trump’s Atlantic City casino failures will soon be but a memory as the crumbling Trump Plaza is slated to be blown up real good just days after Orange Julius is forced to exit the White House. 

On Wednesday, the Associated Press reported that Atlantic City’s municipal government will hold an auction for the right to press the button that lights the fuse that sets off the dynamite that brings down the crumbling remnants of the casino that Don built.

The bidding will get underway this Thursday and will run through January 19, after which the top bidders will participate in a live auction for the right to turn the Plaza to dust. Funds raised will go to the Boys & Girls Club of Atlantic City, and AC Mayor Marty Small hopes the auction will net over $1m. 

The Plaza closed in 2014, a year that saw four AC gaming venues shut their doors after a slower than expected market recovery following the 2008-09 global economic meltdown. It wasn’t until 2016 that the AC market was able to post annual gaming revenue growth.

Finland’s gambling market derives over half its turnover from individuals who either have gambling problems or are at risk of developing problems, while the country is losing faith with its state-run gambling monopoly. 

On Tuesday, the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) released its latest snapshot of the country’s gambling market, which claims that a mere 2.5% of gamblers accounted for half of all gambling spending in 2019. (Read the report here, English abstract starts on page 11.)

The 2.5% figure – which represents around 72k individuals – is a significant shrinkage from the 4.2% of Finns who were responsible for half of all gambling spending in a similar survey in 2007, and less than half the 5.2% figure from 2015. 

THL released the preliminary results of its 2019 survey this spring, which showed problem gambling rates falling 0.3 points to 3% and the at-risk figure falling 4.3 points to 10.7%. But researcher Anne Salonen called it “concerning” that a relative handful of individuals were so demonstrably bucking this trend. 

Australian casino operator Crown Resorts will open its new Crown Sydney venue with booze but without gambling, while its Melbourne venue is facing an earlier than expected license review. 

On Wednesday, Crown announced that it had received an interim liquor license for its new Sydney venue ahead of the property’s plan to open on Monday, December 28. The license allows Crown Sydney to serve hooch at the Crown Towers hotel, as well as the property’s bars and some restaurants, but only until April 30, 2021. 

There will be no alcohol served on Crown Sydney’s gaming floor, because the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority (ILGA) New South Wales has forbid the property from offering gambling. The ILGA is waiting on the February 2021 release of an inquiry’s report into Crown’s shocking record of regulatory non-compliance at its other Aussie properties before making a call on allowing Crown Sydney to conduct gaming.

If you’ve been under a rock for the past few months, Crown’s board, senior management and its largest shareholder James Packer essentially crapped the bed by publicly expressing ignorance and/or disinterest regarding Crown’s willingness to look the other way when regulations interfered with revenue generation. Seriously, it wasn’t pretty. 

Sports betting operator DraftKings is claiming an industry first with the launch of branded gift cards, just in time for last-minute holiday shoppers.

On Wednesday, the Boston-based DraftKings announced a ‘strategic collaboration’ with Atlanta-based InComm Payments on the launch of an “industry-first retail gift card” bearing the DraftKings logo. The cards will be made available through a variety of retailers – including 7-11, Speedway and Dollar General – in denominations of $25 and $50, at least, to start. 

DraftKings president Matt Kalish said the company was “thrilled to provide our customers with another way to fund their accounts and engage with our real money products through this first-of-its-kind offering.” 

InComm senior VP Tim Richardson claimed DraftKings’ “large and passionate” fanbase would jump at the chance to exchange cash for plastic, while offering DraftKings “a significant brand expansion and enhancement opportunity.”