It’s called the World Series of Poker, but for a long time, the game of poker’s biggest celebration was almost entirely an all-American affair. America has a deeply layered history with poker and card games in general.

This fact – along with the fact that we’ve been eating Reese’s Pieces since way before Thanksgiving and Hallowe’en – has left us longing for some inspirational words about poker from the United States.

Let’s take a deep dive into a box meal full of the very best American poker quotes of all-time from some of the very best to ever play or speak about the game.

“If there weren’t luck involved, I would win every time.”

US sports betting states continue to report solid growth despite ongoing pandemic restrictions, proving once and forever that where there’s a will, there’s a wager.

Last week, the Indiana Gaming Commission reported that the state’s licensed sportsbooks handled a record $251.4m in November, a decent premium on October’s $231m and the third straight month of record activity. Mobile betting accounted for 85% of that sum, only slightly higher than October’s digital share.

Indiana’s betting revenue was also in record-setting mode with $25.3m in November, $4.2m better than October. Archrivals DraftKings and FanDuel combined for nearly two-thirds of the state’s November handle, with DraftKings’ $95.2m nearly 50% higher than FanDuel’s $64.2m. 

In Iowa, the Iowa Racing & Gaming Commission’s betting licensees set a new monthly handle record with $87.2m in November, up from $82m in October. Digital channels accounted for around $62.4m (71.5%) of November’s handle. Iowa’s betting revenue headed in the other direction, falling about $1.1m from October to $8.1m. 

Over the course of any football season, there will be ups and downs for every supporter of every team. No team wins every week, so the highs and lows must be negotiated with equal heart and resilience.

That is, possibly, unless you’re a Leeds United fan.

The latest in our Sports on Screen series focuses on the previous two seasons in the history of Leeds United Football Club, the 2018/19 season and last year’s COVID-interrupted 2019/20 campaign.

Broadcast on Amazon Prime across two seasons, the series is an incredible look at what it’s really like to be inside the dressing room, boardroom, manager’s office and fan’s homes – all narrated by Academy Award winner and celebrity Whites fan, Gladiator himself, Russell Crowe.

Casino operator Hard Rock International (HRI) has launched a new iGaming and sports betting joint venture with a trio of former The Stars Group (TSG) execs.  

On Monday, HRI announced the launch of Hard Rock Digital (HRD), which will serve as “the exclusive Hard Rock and Seminole Gaming (SGA) vehicle for interactive gaming and sports betting, globally.” HRD will be “fully capitalized by SGA, HRI and its partners, providing full financial backing for this new joint venture.” 

Speaking of those partners, they include TSG’s ex-CEO Rafi Ashkenazi, who stepped down from his former company in March following its acquisition by UK giant Flutter Entertainment. Ashkenazi (pictured) will serve as HRD’s executive chairman starting sometime next year following a ‘garden leave’ period from his former role.  

Also joining HRD is former TSG legal eagle Marlon Goldstein, who will serve as the JV’s CEO, while Matt Primeaux, who formerly headed up TSG’s US-facing operations, who will serve as HRD’s president. All three former TSG luminaries will also serve as executive managing directors. 

Atlantic City casinos managed to hold their November losses to single-digit territory, but only because their online casino and sports betting operations are shouldering more of the load.

On Monday, the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement reported that AC’s nine casinos generated combined brick-and-mortar slots and table game revenue of nearly $146.6m in November, a 34.6% fall from November 2019 and 21.2% below October 2020’s total. 

However, thanks to the $114.3m brought in by the state’s sportsbooks and online casinos last month, November’s overall revenue figure was down only 9.6% year-on-year to $260.9m.  

November’s brick-and-mortar losses were broad-based, with slots down 35% to $101.8m while tables dipped one-third to $44.7m. For the year-to-date, brick-and-mortar slots & tables are down nearly 45% to $1.365b, setting the market up for its first year of negative growth since 2015 once December’s stats are in the books.

New Jersey’s online gambling market failed to set another revenue record in November but its sports betting operators obliterated the nation’s previous high-water handle total.

Figures released Monday by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) show the state’s licensed online casino/poker operators generated combined revenue of $91.8m in November, a nearly 87% rise from the same month last year but a modest step back from October 2020’s record $93.5m. 

Online casino games brought in $89.4m, up 87.7% year-on-year, while online poker continued its modest resurgence with $2.4m, up more than three-fifths. For the year-to-date, overall online revenue stands at $870.9m, twice the sum generated in the first 11 months of 2019. 

The Golden Nugget maintained its online casino dominance in November with revenue of $26m (+37.5%), while positions two and three were respectively maintained by the Borgata casino’s digital partners ($23.4m, +185%) and Resorts Digital Gaming ($21m, +90.8%). 

Sweden’s online gambling operators are pushing back against a government report that advocates for a raft of new restrictions on their locally licensed sites.

On Monday, Sweden’s Ministry of Finance issued a voluminous Gambling Market Inquiry report (English summary starts on page 27), which was commissioned in 2018, ahead of the 2019 launch of the country’s regulated online gambling market. Special investigator Anna-Lena Sörenson, a former Swedish MP, was tasked with overseeing the inquiry.  

Sörenson said the report was a “complex assignment” requiring “difficult trade-offs” between protecting consumers and ensuring “appropriate” regulation of online gambling. But the lobby group representing Sweden’s online licensees has already criticized the report as focusing too much on tying the hands of local operators while doing far less to deter internationally licensed sites. 

The report does recommend a B2B licensing system that would prohibit gambling software firms from offering their products via locally licensed sites if they also allow such products to appear on international sites targeting Swedish customers without local permission. 

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

The NBA preseason is already underway with the regular season tipping off December 22. Keep in mind that teams are scheduled to play only 72 regular-season games with the late start and the league not wanting to go deep into the summer again – plus to finish the NBA Finals before the 2021 Summer Olympics begin in Tokyo.

There are surely going to be games postponed/canceled this season due to the coronavirus. That’s just a fact in a sport that plays every day unlike the NFL. Thus, the NBA has not released the full season schedule yet but the first half where all 30 clubs will play either 37 or 38 games, including between 17 and 20 home games. The first half ends on March 4, 2021, and the second half will run from March 11-May 16. That schedule will be released near the end of the first half.

It’s going to be a challenge to project win totals with some games being called off and star players surely missing games due to COVID-19 protocols.

India’s largest casino operator Delta Corp says it’s won approval to build the first land-based integrated resort in the state of Goa. 

On Saturday, Delta informed investors that it had received in-principle approval from the Goa Investment Promotion and Facilitation Board to set up an integrated resort in the city of Pernem in the northern portion of the state. Delta humble-bragged that the venue is “expected to be the one of its kind in the country.” 

The resort plans to feature hotels, a convention center, a multiplex cinema, retail shopping, a water park and, yes, an ‘electronic casino.’ The electronic qualifier is necessary due to Goa’s existing gambling regulations restricting live casino table games to the state’s six floating casinos. 

Delta offered no timeline for when it might proceed with developing its new land-based offering, nor when the facility might open to the public. Delta’s Goa operations currently consist of three shipboard casinos and one land-based venue at its five-star Deltin Suites hotel.  

India’s largest casino operator Delta Corp says it’s won approval to build the first land-based integrated resort in the state of Goa. 

On Saturday, Delta informed investors that it had received in-principle approval from the Goa Investment Promotion and Facilitation Board to set up an integrated resort in the city of Pernem in the northern portion of the state. Delta humble-bragged that the venue is “expected to be the one of its kind in the country.” 

The resort plans to feature hotels, a convention center, a multiplex cinema, retail shopping, a water park and, yes, an ‘electronic casino.’ The electronic qualifier is necessary due to Goa’s existing gambling regulations restricting live casino table games to the state’s six floating casinos. 

Delta offered no timeline for when it might proceed with developing its new land-based offering, nor when the facility might open to the public. Delta’s Goa operations currently consist of three shipboard casinos and one land-based venue at its five-star Deltin Suites hotel.  

Many of the poker idols in this series have been those who have battled across the poker ages to succeed, people like Doyle Brunson, Erik Seidel and Johnny Chan. Those names have all become legends, but modern legends deserve just the same respect and the man who has won more money in professional poker tournaments than any other chiefly so.  

Image Credit: www.upswingpoker.com

Bryn Kenney is a bona fide poker legend, having cashed for over $56.4 million at the live felt – that’s more money than any other poker player in history. But what more is there to him? Where did the Long Beach native come from to dominate the poker world?  

Let’s step back in time to get to know a poker idol who is at the top of the tree right here and now too – Bryn Kenney.  

It might be looked back on as a crucial weekend in the destiny of the 2020/21 Premier League title. With the so-called big names such as Liverpool, both Manchester clubs, Chelsea and Tottenham dropping points, other less-fancied sides picked up vital wins in the race for the EPL title.  

Leicester 3-0 Brighton & Hove Albion 

A dominant display from Brendan Rodgers ferocious Foxes put the East Midlands side firmly back in the title picture. With two goals from James Maddison and another – as well as two assists – from talisman and striker Jamie Vardy, Leicester ran riot in the first half against Graham Potter’s Brighton.  

While Leicester had been in mixed form in recent weeks, others had edged past them in a race for the top spot in the Premier League such as Liverpool and Tottenham. This latest three points for The Foxes, their eight win of the campaign so far, put them just a point behind their more illustrious rivals for the title, and with three great goals, in far better goalscoring form. This midweek will see their two main rivals clash at Anfield so a win against Everton could well put Brendan Rodgers side top ahead of the weekend. With a new training ground almost complete, some great young players and other more experienced heads such as Ricardo Pereira, Caglar Soyuncu and Timothy Castagne returning to the backline, the omens are looking good for another title run-in for Leicester City.  

As November started to draw to a close, there was a small glimmer of hope that capacity restrictions at state casinos would be lifted. However, the exact opposite happened and properties were ordered to limit their traffic flows to just 25% of their normal capacity. If there was hope of December bringing a little holiday spirit to the gambling scene in the state, that has now been dashed by Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak. The 25% capacity is going to remain in place until the middle of January. 

Sisolak announced yesterday that the COVID-19 pandemic is still taking its toll on the state, and that casinos and other public facilities will need to continue with the current restrictions. This means that many public facilities will be forced to keep traffic to below 50 people or a quarter of their normal capacities, whichever figure is the lowest. The renewed order will stay in place until January 15, at which time Sisolak plans on evaluating the situation once again to determine what actions need to be taken. 

The governor may view the restrictions as a gift to the casino industry. He hints at choosing them over a complete lockdown because of the economic losses that would be seen by the operators, as well as the state, but stops short of showing significant empathy for the operators’ bottom lines. He asserted that a complete shutdown would cost Nevada $52 million in gaming revenue in just one month, adding that he’s not too concerned about how the restrictions impact company stock prices. A shutdown, he added, would be devastating to the “hundreds of thousands” of casino employees that could be affected and he is trying to find a happy medium to protect the state from COVID-19 while not placing a massive burden on those workers. 

Since COVID-19 first appeared in Nevada, 186,833 cases have been identified. There is finally a vaccine that is starting to see its way into health centers around the world, and Nevada is waiting for its first shipment. The state is expected to start receiving batches of the vaccine sometime this week, with more following in the first two quarters of next year. However, the effectiveness of the COVID-19-stopping drug will take a while to be realized, and Nevada could continue to suffer in the meantime.

A new year always brings with it the ability to have a fresh start. That is what some lawmakers in Georgia are hoping for after attempts at introducing sports gambling in the state earlier this year fell flat. Last week, the groundwork was laid for increased discussion on the subject beginning in 2021 when lawmakers brought the topic up for debate. There are several bills that would cover everything from sports gambling to casinos, and they will all get more time at the podium after the state’s General Assembly is back in session beginning January 11.

Georgia Representative Ron Stephens is confident that 2021 is going to bring some type of legalized sports gambling to the state. According to the Savannah Morning News, the chair of the House Economic Development and Tourism Committee asserts, “If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen in this next session. The people want it; opinion polls and more importantly public hearings show that. It’s time the legislature give Georgians that opportunity.”

Stephens has been pushing for legalized gambling in Georgia for years, but his efforts continue to find a brick wall. Other lawmakers, in both the House and the Senate, have found ways to keep bills from advancing, despite the economic benefits gambling would bring to the Bible Belt state. The path toward legalization doesn’t face roadblocks just with the lawmakers, either. Should they approve the activity and should it be accepted by Governor Brian Kemp, that would only open the doors for it to be put to a public vote, and that could be where the most resistance is found. 

Still, optimism in the state’s Capitol for approval is growing, even if everyone recognizes the challenges that lie ahead. Another supporter of the legalization of gambling is Representative Calvin Smyre, who explains that legalization “requires heavy lifting, and heavy lifting always requires bipartisanship. I think we have that muscle right now.”

Japan’s plans to introduced integrated resorts (IR) may have gotten off to a bumpy start, but it is now moving forward at a steady, but slow, pace. Any chance of introducing casino gambling in two years is out the window because of delays in creating the IR Basic Policy; however, barring any more unforeseen surprises, Japan could see its first venue within seven or eight years. Two of the leading contenders to host an IR are continuing to make progress with their own regional frameworks and have provided updates on where they now stand.

Nagasaki has a lot of potential as an IR host, due to both its geographic location and local support. There has been no shortage of interest on the part of gaming operators, with at least four having thrown their names in the hat. The latest was Pixel Companyz, which announced a month ago that it would be honored to be considered as a partner by Nagasaki’s government. However, regional leaders want to keep all their options open and would be willing to consider any additional entities that showed interest, as well.

Nagasaki plans on introducing its request-for-proposal framework in January and, when it does, it could see more interest than what is currently on the table. The director of the prefecture’s IR Promotion Division, Takeshi Komiya, said late last week, “There is a possibility that other operators may also take part in the public tender. We are continuing to communicate with operators in order to have as many applications as we can.”

In Yokohama, another contender for an IR, there is a new Implementation Draft Policy that is now available, which outlines the generic framework of how an IR property might operate and what the responsibilities of a casino operator would be. Among the options that are required to be included at the resort are the casino, hotels, an international expo and conference facility, non-gaming options and more. Operators will have to demonstrate how it will prepare for crisis situations, such as that caused by COVID-19, and how they plan on reacting should their financial stability fall apart.

It wasn’t too long ago – only about a month, in fact – that lawyers representing Crown Resorts in Australia acknowledged that it might have been possible that two of the casino operator’s bank accounts were used for criminal activity, even if the company wasn’t aware of it at the time. That came after months of repeated denials of wrongdoing as Crown continues to be investigated for everything from rigging gaming machines to opening its doors to war criminals to illegal junket relationships to money laundering – the list continues. The scandal is taking its toll on Crown’s stock price, which fell from AUD$8.99 ($6.80) to $8.25 ($6.24) in just three days in October. As if Crown didn’t already have enough trouble as it has been denied the opportunity to open a new casino in Sydney this month, it will now have to have a class-action lawsuit over its lack of corporate integrity due to the stock’s failure. 

The Maurice Blackburn Lawyers law firm has submitted the class-action suit, arguing that Crown executives’ alleged lack of a moral compass is directly responsible for the stock’s decline. Crown essentially admitted that the company’s leaders were at fault when Helen Coonan, its chairwoman, acknowledged to a panel investigating the company in New South Wales (NSW) Crown’s “governance and risk management failings.” When lawyers representing the casino operator told the NSW Casino Inquiry that there was a good chance criminals used the properties to launder money, it was a further nail in the coffin. Apparently, according to the ongoing investigation, Crown leaders never went through anti-money-laundering (AML) training prior to this year and, despite having an AML compliance officer on the books until March 2017, the individual charged with the responsibility didn’t know about her duties.

This is the second class-action lawsuit against Crown by the same law firm, with the first having been introduced three years ago. That suit is also tied to a drop in stock and was open for any shareholders who purchased Crown shares between February 2015 and October 16. It was then that Crown found itself in hot water for having allegedly attempted to market gambling services in China after 19 company employees were detained in the country. 

Blackburn attorney Miranda Nagy asserts of Crown’s inability to self-govern as a responsible corporate citizen, “We believe these governance failures have caused real loss to shareholders who would have expected best-practice compliance with anti-money laundering obligations, especially given Crown’s repeated public statements that it took compliance with such laws seriously. Instead, it appears Crown’s systems left the company potentially exposed to criminal activity happening on its premises and through its bank accounts.”

Psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, has been used for medicinal purpose for thousands of years. It might have gotten a bit of a bad rap from those who have turned to it for recreational use, but research is proving what ancient tribes knew for so long: Psilocybin can do a lot to help people.

The Basics

There’s plenty of ways psilocybin can be ingested. You could eat magic mushrooms, but you might find them more pleasurable if mixed into a tea, food, or in a tablet form.

Although experiences can differ a lot between people, the “trip” you get from psilocybin is generally in the form of a hallucination. You might relive past experiences, feel something like a euphoric dream-like state, or have something of a nightmare. Taking it in a controlled setting surrounded with friends is generally recommended.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRwRWgRLfFM&feature=youtu.beVideo can’t be loaded because JavaScript is disabled: Andy McCartney talks innovation and automation: The Long Con (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRwRWgRLfFM&feature=youtu.be)

The gambling industry talks a lot about innovation, but many of the biggest changes we see come from other industries. Automation is going to play a huge role in our future, and to understand how we can embrace that change, our Becky Liggero Fontana sat down with Andy McCartney, co-founder of Whitespace for this week’s episode of The Long Con.

The two discussed how McCartney made his way to where he is now, and what Whitespace’s purpose is. “The reason it’s called Whitespace is a very simple term, it means the unattainable, because we’re constantly looking to find the right answer to solve some of the big problems with some of the biggest companies,” he said.

But if you’re simply focused on innovation, you’re missing where the biggest advances are coming, McCartney said. “Bigger question now is actually collaboration, because large companies no longer can solve problems themselves in the time scales required,” he said. “So a good example would be, outside of the gambling industry, if we took something like autonomous vehicles, that is now an IoT (Internet of Things) effectively on wheels, so it’s no longer a car, so now you have to work with a data company, you have to work with an ISP, you have to then work with an energy company. Suddenly, something that 10 years ago was just about building a car now requires five or six companies all working together to solve.