Author Archives: The Daily Payoff

Best of frenemies – Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi face off for La Liga glory

Battling for the La Liga title is tough enough when you’re a player at Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Sevilla or Barcelona and will do anything you can to prevent your opponents succeeding. But when one of those opponents is a close personal friend who you’ve been on the same team as for years, it’s even more difficult.  

In this most bizarre of full European football seasons, Atletico Madrid and Barcelona are going head-to-head in a fascinating title race where either side could win glory. At the centre of the battle, however, are two best friends in Atletico’s Luis Suarez and Barcelona icon Lionel Messi.  

Playing together in the blue and red over the last six seasons, Suarez and Messi were at the heart of a period of domestic if not European domination for the Catalan club. Torn apart by a new manager at the Nou Camp, Suarez was sold while Messi was told to remain and see out his contract, which finishes this season.  

Which man is likely to go off into the sunset as the top goalscorer in La Liga and which – if either – could lift the La Liga trophy at the end of this campaign? Let’s take a look at the current sportsbetting markets around this fascinating battle.  

Bonomo, Petrangelo and Yan all chase Super MILLION$ victory

The 35th GGPoker Super MILLION$ will see some of the best poker players in the world gather to battle it out for the latest title of winner and over $430,000 as a top prize.

The weekly tournament on GGPoker, which costs $10,300 to enter, features some terrific talent this week, including Justin Bonomo, Nic Petrangelo and David Yan… but who is chip leader heading into the final ? Read on and find out.

It is the Russian player ‘RRomashka’ who goes into play with the chip lead, and it’s a big one too. With 5.2 million chips, the Russian will be hopeful of winning the Super MILLION$ after some consistent performances in the event in recent weeks.

With 213 entries this week, it is American high roller and Upswing Poker coach Nick Petrangelo who will kick off second in chips. He’s a considerable distance behind, however, starting the final with only 3.6 million chips. Petrangelo is marginally ahead of another Russian heading into play, with Artur Martirosian, one of the players of 2020, beginning with 3.2 million.

Kindred Group to Cut Problem Gambling Profits in Bold New Move

Kindred, the company behind Unibet Poker, doesn’t want money from gambling addicts. The revelation comes at a time the UKGC is pushing responsible gambling harder than ever.

Unibet Poker’s parent company, the Kindred Group, wants to eradicate revenue from problem gambling by 2023. (Image: Pipit Global)

In an announcement published on February 7, Kindred Group bosses said they want to cut out all revenue derived from problem gambling by 2023.

As such, its financial reports will now highlight “revenue derived from high-risk players” that display harmful gambling habits.

British Pros Cry Foul amid GGPoker Account Closure Dispute

A social media storm has been raging recently between GGPoker and several UK-based poker pros who believe their accounts have been closed unfairly.

A small number of British players, including Andy Wool (left), are concerned that GGPoker is using UKGC regulations to shut down pros. (Image: Twitter/dawhiteninja)

The dark clouds began gathering last at the end of February when British pro Andy Wool, aka dawhiteninja, posted what he described as a “warning” on Twitter.

In his words, a request to increase his deposit limit resulted in GGPoker permanently closing his account. Other pros, including Phil Galfond, were quick to rally around Wool, but that wasn’t the end of the story.

Betsson 2020 profit up one-quarter on Rest of World acquisitions

Nordic online gambling operator Betsson AB closed out 2020 with a solid showing in the final quarter, resulting in a more than one-quarter rise in annual profit. 

Figures released Tuesday show the Stockholm-listed Betsson generated revenue of SEK1.76b (US$211m) in the three months ending December 31, 37% higher than in Q4 2019. Earnings jumped 40% to SEK410.5m and net income rose 36% to SEK277.8m. 

Online casino remained Betsson’s bread and butter in Q4, as gaming revenue rose one-third to SEK1.28b, although sports betting revenue spiked 47% to SEK459m as a half-point rise in betting margins added fuel to a 23% rise in turnover. 

On a geographic basis, all four regional segments reported solid growth in Q4, with the biggest percentage gain coming from the ‘Rest of World’, which nearly tripled to SEK215.6m. The gains reflect Betsson’s 2019 acquisition of Brazilian race betting operator Suaposta and a 70% stake in Colombia-licensed Colbet, as well as the December launch of its Betsafe brand in Kenya. The RoW gains doubled the segment’s share of Betsson’s overall Q4 revenue to 12%. 

First speakers of RGW 2021: Experts in gambling law, marketing and advertising

On April 27, Moscow InterContinental hotel will host Russian Gaming Week 2021 conference. Event will be organized by Smile-Expo.

Event is intended to consolidate the gambling community in Russia and bring together outstanding experts in different areas of gambling business to discuss current prospects for market development.

Specialists will focus on aspects of legal regulation in the field of gambling, online marketing tools and ways to attract customers.

Introducing the first six speakers of Russian Gaming Week 2021

AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am betting preview

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

After a weekend pit stop in the Phoenix area for the Waste Management Open won Sunday by former world No. 1 Brooks Koepka, the PGA Tour returns to California for this week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, at arguably the most picturesque course in the United States: Pebble Beach Golf Links. Hey, it’s a public course so any hacker can play there, but be prepared to pay up big-time.

There are a couple of changes with this tournament in 2021. Because of the COVID pandemic, no fans will be allowed to attend, the pro-am portion has been eliminated and the tournament will be played over Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill only; Monterey Peninsula Country Club’s Shore course is out of the rotation this year.

So instead of a 54-hole cut, it’s back to a usual 36 holes. Players will split their first two rounds at Pebble and Spyglass Hill (both are par 72s) and then play only Pebble on the weekend. That historic track has hosted six U.S. Opens, last in 2019 and won by Gary Woodland.