The box office is set to rebound in 2021 with everyone’s favorite R-rated superhero set to make a return. Ryan Reynolds is pulling on the spandex for Deadpool 3 and we have the odds on the Marvel characters set to make a cameo appearance.

Tom Holland’s Spiderman is the favorite to make an appearance with Reynolds in the Deadpool sequel. The last time that we saw Holland’s Spiderman, he had survived battling supervillains in Europe. With Tony Stark out of the picture, Reynold’s Deadpool could be the mentor to fill the void for Peter Parker.

Nicky Fury is another who would be at home in the Deadpool Universe. Samuel L. Jackson has battled snakes on a plane, so there would be no reason to think he wouldn’t be out of place in the Deadpool universe.

If you are a comic book geek familiar with the Marvel folklore, then a cameo from Thanos wouldn’t be a complete surprise. Tony Stark wiped out Thanos with a snap of his fingers, but a superhero recovery in a new film franchise wouldn’t be completely out of place. In the comic book version of the story, both Deadpool and Thanos are both in love with the same woman.

The Americas

Las Vegas Sands Casino titan Sheldon Adelson passed away at the age of 87. Adelson died following complications from his ongoing battle with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma; New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has begun to the warm to the idea of mobile sports betting. Cuomo has been presented with two bills in the chamber that outline guidelines for mobile sportsbooks in New York; Brazil sports betting regulations will be ready for the market launch in 2022. Government minister Waldir Eustáquio Marques Jr. said the government will have the regulations finalised for release in July; Veterans group in Indiana have been thrown a lifeline thanks to a bill that would allow video gaming terminals in veteran establishment. The machines would be strictly managed as they look to overcome funding shortfalls; FuboTV has announced their purchase of online sportsbook Vigtory. The streaming service has plans to tap into the lucrative U.S. sports betting market;

Europe

Israeli-based mobile games developer Playtika have announced plans to push forward with their Initial Public Offering (IPO). The group is tipped to raise $1.67 billion from the impending sale of 69,500,000 shares; Gaming operator Entain (formerly known as GVC Holdings) is losing its CEO amidst a takeover attempt from MGM Entertainment. Entain announced that CEO Shay Segev had announced his intention to take on a new position as co-CEO with sports streaming platform DAZN; Betfair is re-evaluating its Italian operations after the government introduced a new tax. The new tax affects all sports gambling verticals and will force Betfair to examine what they can offer Italian customers; U.K. greyhound races continue to face further restrictions after a new wave of COVID cases. The Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) is promising to keep racing alive, even if behind closed doors. Greek sportsbook operator Kaizen Gaming has continued its expansion plans. The Greek company has tapped former Better Collective executive Claus Jannson, who is now the Head of Affiliate Marketing Media Buying for Kairzen. Poland state run gambling operator Totalizator Sportowy is intent on acquiring local operator Casinos Poland. Local media reports that Totalizator Sport is looking to require a majority stake in the operator, that operate eight land-based casinos in the country.

Have you ever wondered what it would take for you to quit your job and play poker for a living instead? Of course you have – we all have. But the reality of going pro might be very different to how you imagine. We decided to investigate this by speaking to a player who has done exactly that very recently.

Andy Wool is a British poker professional and goes by the online moniker of ‘dawhiteninja’. A year ago, he was approached by Patrick Leonard, who saw Wool playing $20 MTTS (multi-table tournaments) and saw his potential. Convincing him to quit his job and go pro, Wool was then thrust into the world of playing online poker not for a money-making hobby on the side but his living. With two young boys and a devoted wife relying on his income, how did Wool get on?

This week, he came 6th in a $530-entry PokerStars Blowout Series for $150,000 in what was a life-changing moment in his poker career. We started our chat with Andy asking what it felt like and turn such a moderate buy-in into a six-figure result of that magnitude.

“It was literally a dream run, which sounds a bit weird considering I finished in 6th place!” Wool says. “What might come as a bit of a surprise is yes, it was a hugely exciting run and one that I’ll never forget – including some incredibly fortunate river cards – but it also came with a lot of other emotions that I was trying my best to handle. I was trying not to get too far in front of myself or too dependent on a “This is it” moment or any kind of ‘it’s now or never’ mentality.” 

The latest games in the English Premier League gave some sides vital three points while others were left quite literally pointless. Who succumbed to pressure and which teams rode it out to rise to the summit? Let’s dig into the action and find out.

Burnley 0-1 Manchester United 

A vital three points was gained at Turf Moor by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Red Devils, who are now three points clear of Liverpool going into a vital showdown at Anfield this Sunday.

United were, in truth, far better than their less glamourous North-West rivals for most of the 90 minutes and deserved to win by more than Paul Pogba sublime volley 15 minutes from time. The Clarets played their part in a dramatic game, however, and could well have snatched a draw in the latter stages where United had to perform a rearguard defence of the points they worked so hard to earn.

Russia’s online sports betting operators have started off 2021 in much the same way they ended 2020: under attack.

On Monday, Russia’s government published the gambling regulation signed into law by President Vladimir Putin on December 30. The publication officially starts the 270-day countdown for the arrival of a new Unified Gambling Regulator, which will now officially assume oversight of Russia’s gambling market on October 9.  

The new law also calls for a 1.5% tax on all online wagers, with the collected funds aimed at helping to fund Russian sports bodies. The tax will be deducted by the at-present-entirely-theoretical centralized payment processing hub that will replace the two existing hubs currently operated by Russia’s two rival bookmaker self-regulatory organizations (which are themselves both slated for dissolution).

To ensure no online wagers are processed by other means, Russia has been firing shots across the bow at local firms. This week, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation ordered the Sberbank-owned YuMoney payment service (formerly known as Yandex.Money) to suspend all transactions between Russian citizens and foreign-based companies. The move follows an audit of YuMoney’s activities by the Central Bank.

Poland’s state-run gambling operator Totalizator Sportowy (TS) is looking to expand into land-based casino operations by acquiring local operator Casinos Poland.

On Wednesday, Polish media reported that TS, which has a monopoly on Polish lottery, land-based slots halls and online casino operations, was looking to acquire a majority stake in Casinos Poland, which operates eight land-based gaming venues in the country.

Colorado-based Century Casinos currently holds a two-thirds stake in Casinos Poland, and a TS spokesperson confirmed that TS was looking to acquire these shares from Century. The spokesperson played coy with the details, but said the process was “at the stage of due diligence and work on transaction documentation (including a sales contract).”

TS has submitted an application to Poland’s Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) to ensure the state voices no objections to TS expanding into the land-based casino market. The company already operates a slots hall monopoly with hundreds of venues across Poland.

The latest PokerStars Blowout Series event has seen a litany of high rollers turn up to battle for the biggest prizes and it was Joao Vieira who grabbed the victory for a bumper top prize of $123,068.

First to leave the final table was Canadian superpower Timothy Adams. He was dealt king-queen off-suit and called himself all-in when Niklas Astedt pushed on the turn of a board showing a king on the flop and sevens on flop and turn, but Astedt had pocket aces and held through the river to bust his illustrious opponent.

That pot gave Astedt a commanding lead over everyone except ‘milennial’, who had 7.1 million to Astedt’s 7.3 million. It would be Mark Radoja who would bust next, all-in with the same hand that downed Adams, king-queen off-suit and was called by Bert Stevens ace-queen which hit an ace on the flop and the turn to win through the board with ease.

Stevens looked to be pushing back up the leaderboard from a middle-ranking stack, but that was a false dawn, as some time later he went in 5th place, his 3rd-of-pot bet on a double-diamond flop including a three with king-three of diamonds being raised by Vieira. Stevens moved all-in and Vieira called quickly with ace-nine, the nine being in diamonds and the ace mkain gtop pair on that flop. Two dead cards to have the crucial pot to Vieira and confirm Stevens’ exit.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

The first UFC event of the New Year is Saturday from the organization’s Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, and the headline bout of the Fight Night card is a featherweight matchup between former champion Max Holloway and Calvin Kattar, both Americans.

The main card starts at 3 p.m. ET and will be televised, interestingly, in the United States by over-the-air network ABC as well as simultaneously on ESPN+. One name for the card is UFC on ABC 1 as it’s the first time a UFC event will be broadcast on ABC, which, like ESPN, is owned by Disney.

The 29-year-old Holloway (21-6), ranked No. 1 in the division, won the interim UFC featherweight title at UFC 206 over Anthony Pettis and then unified the belt with a third-round TKO victory over featherweight legend Jose Aldo at UFC 212. “Blessed” won a rematch with Aldo at UFC 218 by TKO and successfully defended the belt again at UFC 231 with a victory over Brian Ortega.

Online gambling operator 888 Holdings closed out 2020 by shattering revenue records while spending some of that revenue on a major advertising push to Spain’s online gamblers.

On Thursday, the UK-listed 888 issued a trading update in which the company said it finished 2020 on a high note, posting new all-time monthly records for both revenue and active customer numbers in the month of December. 888 investors largely shrugged, pushing the stock down 1.3% by Thursday’s close.

The news builds on the company’s previous market update in the first week of December, in which 888 projected its full-year revenue to be 45% ahead of 2019’s US$560.3m. 888 said Thursday that its FY20 revenue and earnings are now forecast to come in “moderately ahead of its prior expectations.”

888 said that while the current year had started with “good momentum,” it was “mindful of possible headwinds” in certain markets. Said jurisdictions likely include Germany, which is mulling harsh new taxes ahead of its regulated online gambling market launch this summer, as well as Spain, which will start enforcing its draconian new advertising and sponsorship rules this spring.

Kaizen Gaming, the online gaming and sportsbook operator, is bringing in some fresh talent to help with its continued expansion efforts. The Greece-based company is looking to leave its mark on the global gaming industry and has begun working on new deals to help it establish a larger footprint, which it feels can be better accomplished by relying on a long-time gaming executive. Claus Jansson, a former executive of Better Collective, is now wearing a Kaizen hat as its new Head of Affiliate Marketing Media Buying.

Jansson will primarily focus on developing the company’s expansion both at home and overseas. Kaizen is dedicated to getting its Betano and Stoiximan brands in front of more consumers, and the new executive is going to be key to that growth. He’s ready for the challenge, saying in a statement, “Kaizen Gaming is among the industry leaders, having achieved many great things and received accolades and awards over the past years. It is my firm belief that Kaizen Gaming will become even greater, at an international level and I am excited to be part of this process.”

With Better Collective, Jansson was most recently the Head of Commercial after having spent four years as the Head of Sales with the company. He has also served as a consultant for Betfair’s online gaming operations and for Denmark’s Ekstra Bladet. Jansson adds, ‘It’s a great honor for me to be part of one of the most prominent and fast growing GameTech companies in Europe.”

Kaizen already has a well-established presence in Greece and Cyprus through Stoiximan. It introduced the Betano brand, which has allowed the company to extend its reach to Brazil, Germany, Portugal and Romania. The company is backed by Greece’s gambling powerhouse, OPAP, which owns 36.75% of Kaizen and another 84.48% of the company’s Greek and Cypriot operations. 

The latest fun and inventive innovation has hit the GGPoker screens as Flip ‘n’ Go tournaments are now available in the poker brand’s lobby.

With a reputation for bringing players and fans some of the biggest competitions on offer in the poker industry, GGPoker has brought events such as the Super MILLION$ and the World Series of Poker 2020 Online Series to the world in the past few months, and with many huge festivals to come in 2021, there may be bigger games on offer than to Flip ‘n’ Go.

They do sound like a lot of fun, however.

Here’s how they work. Flip n Go’s are two-phased tournaments. The first phase is flip-happy, with players able to buy up to ten extra entries at the registration stage. They can therefore sit down to begin play with ten times the chances that anyone registering just one entry would do.

Arizona continues to feel the pinch from COVID-19 and it doesn’t look like things are going to get better quickly. Like other states, it needs to figure out how to cover budget shortfalls and, also like other states, could benefit from sports gambling. That’s the essential takeaway from recent comments made by Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, who is trying to get momentum building in the state to quickly make changes that will pave the way for in-state sportsbooks to set up shop.

This isn’t the first time the sports gambling topic has come up in Arizona and a measure to find support has failed the past couple of years. One problem, according to Ducey, is that existing laws prohibit sports gambling and these would have to be reversed before any progress can be made. He presented a letter to the Arizona Legislature yesterday, in which he explained that he’s now laying the groundwork to make that possible.

In his letter, Ducey explained that he has worked out new compacts with the state’s native Indian tribes to give them exclusive rights to casino-style gambling in the state. The compacts are ending their 20-year run and will need to be renegotiated, which could give Arizona some extra pull to tip things in the state’s favor. Historically, in all states with tribal compacts, the tribes have been reluctant to allow sports gambling or have demanded they be given virtual control over the activity.

However, Arizona is ready to take a stab at making changes to bring the state up to date. C.J. Karamargin, the press aide for the governor, told Capitol Media Services, “Our goal is to bring Arizona gaming into the 21st century. A lot has changed since the first compacts were signed, back when cell phones weren’t the thing they are now. The world looks a lot different today and our proposal is intended to reflect the way people live their lives today.”

As America prepares for the transfer of power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden, the possibility that online poker could be returning to the United States is a tantalising one.

With the death of Sheldon Adelson, another block to the return of online gambling – something Adelson was bitterly opposed to – has arisen. Indiana could be the next state to truly push for the return of online gambling and therefore poker to The Hoosier State.

It’s been widely reported that Senator Jon Ford, a Republican member from Terre Haute, has introduced the bill that if passed would legalise all forms of online casino gambling. With 14 state casinos, the online casinos would be able to offer all the usual games that are open to punters in the traditional casinos across Indiana. 

Of course, it’s not that simple and won’t happen overnight. Opposition is expected and a second license would be needed, too. If operators can bring their casino product – and poker would be a fascinating addition in this area of the States – to players in a new state so early into Biden term of office, it would be a real statement that the ‘United States of Online Poker’ could yet fully return to offering a reputable product to players nationwide. Even going state by state, there are more areas opening up such as New Jersey and Nevada that with Indiana in the acceptable states who could offer a multitude of games to their population.

Melco Resorts & Entertainment has taken it on the chin like almost all other casino operators around the world. The COVID-19 crisis has continued to deliver blow after blow to the global gaming industry, not willing to relent even when it’s down. Fortunately, things are expected to begin to improve this year once the vaccine starts to be distributed on a large scale, and Melco began to see some recovery as 2020 drew to a close. Still, it wants some additional financial support to ensure it can get past what will hopefully be the final coronavirus onslaught and is preparing to issue new senior notes to pick up some additional cash.

In the third quarter of ’20, Melco saw a substantial slide across all of its casino operations, with only Cyprus and Manila providing any real support. It reported negative earnings of almost $77 million, compared to positive revenue of $418 million a year earlier, and was able to rebound slightly from the previous quarter. The last three months of the year continued to provide movement in the right direction for its gross gaming revenue (GGR), at least in Macau, with October and November performing better than expected. According to a filing by Melco arm Melco Resorts Finance Ltd. (MRF) yesterday, the company indicated that its GGR for the two months had “increased by approximately 94 percent” quarter over quarter.

The dollar figure for the growth wasn’t provided, but it’s possible to get an idea of what it could have been. Melco’s City of Dreams Macau, its primary property in the city, saw just over $787 million in operating revenue in the third quarter of 2019, which dropped to just $91.4 million last year. Non-gaming revenue for that quarter came in at $18 million, which was $86 million less than it was a year earlier. 

The fact that Melco is trending upward is a good sign, but the continued lag in activity spanning more than a year puts it in a precarious situation. The company is ready to offer new senior notes in order to shore up its finances, looking for $250 million in aggregate principal, with the notes priced at 103.25% of that principal, plus accrued interest from December 4 of last year. The notes would be due in 2029 and offer an interest rate of 5.375%.