Remember Google Glass? It’s either the cool idea that you can have a constant digital heads up display to the world, or it creates a dystopian fear amongst your friends and colleagues that you’re always recording what they say to your face. Now both Google and Microsoft are helping enterprises realize both of those dreams.

In an October 14 announcement, Google has revealed that Glass Enterprise Edition 2 is compatible with Google Meet. This allows team members in, let’s say an office, warehouse or datacenter type setting, to see what their colleagues are seeing and guide them through tasks.

It’s not exactly clear how many businesses have partnered with Google to keep pushing Glass technology. When they announced the Enterprise Edition 2, they noted AGCO, Deutsche Post DHL Group, Sutter Health, and H.B. Fuller as customers. That was in 2019, so you’d imagine they would have liked to add a few more partners since then.

Google doesn’t have a monopoly on the space, though. Microsoft’s HoloLense is going for the exact same idea, with a bit of a bulkier piece of hardware:

Remember Google Glass? It’s either the cool idea that you can have a constant digital heads up display to the world, or it creates a dystopian fear amongst your friends and colleagues that you’re always recording what they say to your face. Now both Google and Microsoft are helping enterprises realize both of those dreams.

In an October 14 announcement, Google has revealed that Glass Enterprise Edition 2 is compatible with Google Meet. This allows team members in, let’s say an office, warehouse or datacenter type setting, to see what their colleagues are seeing and guide them through tasks.

It’s not exactly clear how many businesses have partnered with Google to keep pushing Glass technology. When they announced the Enterprise Edition 2, they noted AGCO, Deutsche Post DHL Group, Sutter Health, and H.B. Fuller as customers. That was in 2019, so you’d imagine they would have liked to add a few more partners since then.

Google doesn’t have a monopoly on the space, though. Microsoft’s HoloLense is going for the exact same idea, with a bit of a bulkier piece of hardware:

The sports gambling industry in the US is becoming more crowded every day, thanks to a continued rollout of state initiatives to legalize the activity, as well as sportsbooks grabbing greater pieces of the action. This is great news for sports gambling fans, as competition (not necessity) is the mother of innovation. As operators look to find ways to grab larger chunks of the available consumer base, they’re forced to introduce new deals and products that will attract new customers. BetMGM, the sportsbook created by MBM Resorts and GVC Holdings, thinks it’s on to something with its latest development, Parlay Builder. 

Parlay Builder gives sports bettors the ability to create parlay bets more easily for same-game wagers. It was designed through BetMGM’s existing partnership with Betgenius and can be used to create parlays for NFL and NBA games, as well as all major soccer leagues. Coming in the near future will be support for parlays on MLB and NHL games. 

BetMGM Chief Marketing Officer Matt Provost explains of the initiative, “Parlay Builder gives our pre-game betting offering another dimension; it’s engaging, easy-to-use and extensive, therefore appealing to serious and recreational bettors alike. We’ve witnessed the success of BetBuilder in Europe and anticipate a similar trajectory in the U.S.”

BetBuilder was created by BetGenius in conjunction with Sportscast, a sportsbook software provider. It enables the back-end processes behind the wagers to be automated and, at the same time, allows sportsbooks to configure their platforms to allow virtually any type of bet while enhancing the user experience. In the case of BetMGM’s Parlay Builder, which is now live, the solution is used to give bettors the ability to create and customize their same-game bet selections from over 400 different options, including prop bets for the teams and players in the game. Sports gambling fans will like the fact that BetMGM isn’t charging anything to use the feature.

The knock-on economic effects of Covid-19 are continuing to be felt in Las Vegas, as the Tropicana has now announced massive layoffs. Beginning on October 15, the casino and two of it’s restaurants will start to lay off 828 employees, the company announced in a letter to the state’s Department of Employment.

The layoffs, which Tropicana notes will be permanent, came as a result of their inability to predict how bad Covid-19 would be. “The impact on our business was not reasonably foreseeable until now,” they commented. “We simply could not foresee, that the initial closures of our properties, that were issued by one or two states for a limited period of time, ultimately spread throughout all the states in which we operate and eventually be extended, interrupting almost all business and travel temporarily. These significant drags on our business will likely continue for the foreseeable future.

‘The Trop’ further blamed their inability to guess at when Governor Steve Sisolak would have allowed operations to reopen, as well as the ‘restrictive the new operating conditions’ placed on them when the casino industry came back online.

Gaming and Leisure Properties [GLP], owner of the Tropicana Las Vegas, might have done a better job managing their funds to last through the pandemic without such deep cuts. In March, when stock prices were plummeting, CEO and Chairman Peter Carlino bought up $2 million worth of shares in the company, declaring it’s stock price undervalued. He wasn’t exactly wrong, as the price has nearly doubled since he did that, but that capital sure could have helped 828 people right about now.

Bernard Marantelli is no longer running the show at Colossus Bets, the gambling technology company he founded and led since its creation. The company announced that he has stepped down, reportedly due to his decision to relocate to Spain from the U.K. For now, he will act as a consultant for the company, while Chief Operating Officer (COO) David O’Reilly will take the reins.

Colossus Bets made its first appearance in 2012, introducing a pool betting system and syndicate wagering format that was designed to innovate the pool gambling sector. It has continued to receive a lot of attention across the globe, most recently through a deal with the 2020 Greyhound Grand National. It made its first step into the U.S. gambling market when it signed on with AmWest Entertainment to bring British greyhound racing jackpots offered through SIS to the country. It also connected with bet365, which began using the company’s Cash Out platform for its U.S. expansion efforts. 

The company had already made waves in the U.K. by becoming the first to introduce a £10 million ($13 million) soccer pool, as well as syndicated jackpots, to bookmakers in the U.K. Since then, it continued to add new partners, and struck a deal with Britbet to be the latter’s lead betting systems supplier for the racing group’s 55 racetracks in the country. Now, Colussus Bets is linked up with Bet Construct, Rank Group, Optima, Inspired and more. 

O’Reilly has been the company’s COO since it began, and his knowledge will be invaluable during the transition. However, he’s going to get some support to help him along the way. Eva Karagianni-Goel, who joined Colussus Bets in 2016 as its chief commercial officer, will step up to fill the role of COO, “consolidating her current duties with some new ones to support David in this transition,” according to the company’s announcement. 

As predicted, domestic online gambling appears to be coming to the Philippines, and just as expected, the cocks are leading the way. The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) has started to outline how licensed online cockfighting will work.

As reported by ABS-CBN, there’s a future for online cockfighting so long as everyone gets their licenses before they start. “PAGCOR can issue the proper regulations in order to license and legitimize operations of local online sabong [the local term for cockfighting],” said PAGCOR chief Andrea Domingo. In this way, bettors will be protected and regulated, legitimate and licensed local online sabong operations will be identified and will be allowed to operate, and Government will be able to collect proper fees and taxes.”

“Further, licensed local online sabong operators will only be allowed to livestream cockfights from cockpit arenas duly licensed by the local government units and with the necessary permits,” added Domingo.

While cockfighting has been a gambling tradition in the Philippines, being permitted at licensed locations on Sundays and holidays, Covid-19 has driven most of its action underground due to social gathering restrictions. In July, several arrests were made around cockfighting rings, but police admitted that it was happening right under their noses and there wasn’t much that could be done about it.

As mobile apps and the latest and greatest digital technology are literally taking over our world, three junior NHS doctors brought a vision to fruition with RecoverMe, an app offering support with management of gambling addiction. Set to launch on October 19th, this app represents something new for gambling operators to share with customers who are suffering from (or at risk of suffering from) gambling addiction.

The original inspiration behind RecoverMe actually comes from a place of love and care, an experience the Founders had during their medical training with a gambling addict who was in such despair, he was contemplating taking his own life. 

“He described that his family and friends had deserted him, he was struggling financially and he wasn’t able to hold down a job and this all stemmed from having started gambling at University”, shared RecoverMe Co-Founder and NHS Doctor Minal Jain.

“Having just been to University, I could understand why that had happened- it was couple of pounds on the local football team and then it just spiraled out of control, so what was initially a social habit, became a destructive, addiction and took over his life”, she said.

As mobile apps and the latest and greatest digital technology are literally taking over our world, three junior NHS doctors brought a vision to fruition with RecoverMe, an app offering support with management of gambling addiction. Set to launch on October 19th, this app represents something new for gambling operators to share with customers who are suffering from (or at risk of suffering from) gambling addiction.

The original inspiration behind RecoverMe actually comes from a place of love and care, an experience the Founders had during their medical training with a gambling addict who was in such despair, he was contemplating taking his own life. 

“He described that his family and friends had deserted him, he was struggling financially and he wasn’t able to hold down a job and this all stemmed from having started gambling at University”, shared RecoverMe Co-Founder and NHS Doctor Minal Jain.

“Having just been to University, I could understand why that had happened- it was couple of pounds on the local football team and then it just spiraled out of control, so what was initially a social habit, became a destructive, addiction and took over his life”, she said.

South Korean casino operator Paradise Co Ltd is reportedly having trouble raising the cash it needs to survive the pandemic downturn of the foreigners-only casino market.

On Wednesday, Korean financial news outlets reported that Paradise had been wholly unsuccessful in interesting institutional investors in a bond issue that aimed to raise KRW100b (US$87.3m). Despite offering rates of 2.3-3.3% for three years, investors apparently have doubts that Paradise will still be a going concern in three years’ time.

Those concerns may be justified. Paradise, which operates three small foreigners-only casinos in Seoul, Busan and Jeju Island as well as the Paradise City integrated resort in Incheon, reported a gross profit of KRW20b ($17m) in 2019 but lost nearly $30m in the first half of 2020 due to the pandemic effectively eliminating the in-flow of foreign gamblers.  

This is also the third time in four years that Paradise has gone looking for investors only to find tepid interest. The company’s sagging fortunes, and the uncertainty that South Korea’s COVID-19 problems will be eliminated anytime soon, prompted a Korean credit ratings agency to downgrade Paradise’s rating last week, which likely further eroded investor confidence.

The latest GGPoker Super MILLION$ online event had its usual mix of some of the best players in the world battling it out for what represents an eye-watering top prize to many.

Taking the runner-up spot was Britain’s most successful lie tournament player in history, Stephen Chidwick. The masterful Chidwick is, of course, known for his incredible ability to live-read some of the best in the business, as he proved at the Triton Million in London last year with this phenomenal call:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGHTy8DqTZ4]

There was no chance for that at the online felt, of course, but while Chidwick would ultimately miss out on the top prize, he did finish as runner-up in the 137-entry field, which saw just nine players make last night’s final table.

There have been a plethora of poker shows that came into being during the summer of 2020, and plenty of them were on PokerGO, the streaming service arm of Poker Central. One of the best was called Run it Back with Remko, and while the concept couldn’t be simpler, the content was solid gold.

Think of your favourite poker show. If it’s not High Stakes Poker, then it’s probably because you haven’t seen enough of it. From the action to the chat and right back through the analysis of what made plays so successful back when the show was first broadcast, the show runs like you’re watching the show with your best mate, which is exactly the vibe the affable Rinkema is going for.

High Stakes Poker featured plenty of plays that nowadays look odd, sticking out among the GTO and push-fold charts that are more definably of these times, but there’s no shortage of charm to the old footage. 

Just like the European Poker Tour’s EPT Retro programme, where Joe Stapleton and James Hartigan looked back at the EPT events that came before their commentary careers on the tour, Rinkema wasn’t part of the initial commentary teams he is commenting on and provides some neat observations on the ‘retro’ style of the past, from the clobber to the control players have at the table. There’s a lot of juice to be wrung from the fruit, however, and Rinkema doesn’t go after the low-hanging stuff, reaching for the high stuff and hoping others keep up. 

Gambling tech firm International Game Technology (IGT) has worked out a deal to allow its B2B sports betting partners the right to use NBA intellectual property without signing a direct deal with the league.

On Wednesday, IGT announced that it had signed a ‘multi-year’ deal with the National Basketball Association that will make the company the first B2B sports betting platform in the United States to offer regional casinos and sportsbooks the right to use NBA official data, trademarks and logos through partnerships with IGT.

The NBA has been among the busier North American professional sports bodies in signing official betting partnerships with high-profile gaming operators, including (deep breath) DraftKings, FanDuel, Mexico’s Codere, Australia’s Tabcorp Holdings and BetEeasy, Uruguay’s SuperMatch, the Kindred Group’s Unibet brand, Baltic gaming operator Olympic Entertainment Group and William Hill.

Smaller casino operators or racetracks, who lack the above companies’ marketing budgets but are looking to add sports betting to their product mix, now have a more economical option. By striking deals with IGT, they can not only utilize the company’s PlaySports B2B betting services but also the right to liberally incorporate NBA iconography – as well as offering in-play betting markets based on official NBA real-time data – into the mix.

China’s proposed new extraterritorial gambling punishments spell further trouble for Asia’s junket operators, whose business was already on the decline.

This week, China’s state-run media reported plans by the Chinese Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress to amend the nation’s gambling laws to criminalize the “organizing and soliciting by casinos abroad,” with as-yet-unspecified punishments for individuals or entities that attempt to lure mainland gamblers.  

While the consensus is that this amendment wouldn’t apply to casinos in Macau, a special administrative region of China, it would undoubtedly apply to casino or online gambling operators based in the Philippines, South Korea, Vietnam, Australia and other regional gaming hotbeds.

That would put further pressure on the region’s junket operators, many of which spent the past few years redirecting their VIP gambling customers to casinos outside Macau that offered more favorable gaming tax rates, which meant greater commissions for junkets.

MGM Resorts’ Massachusetts casino added over $640m in value to the state economy in its first year of operations, but it’s anyone’s guess what the future holds in a COVID-19 environment.

A University of Massachusetts study released Wednesday shows the MGM Springfield casino in the state’s southwest corner had a payroll that averaged 2,538 jobs in 2019, the property’s first full year of operations following its September 2018 launch.

The individuals working those jobs collected combined pay of $85.2m, while the casino and its visitors created an additional 3,740 jobs beyond its walls, bringing the total personal income supported by MGM Springfield to nearly $357m.

All told, MGM Springfield’s first full year resulted in $974.2m in new economic output, of which $640.1m was value added. The casino spent $110m with local vendors and made $101.5m in payments to the state while its customers generated $66.3m in new off-site spending.

Detroit’s commercial casinos enjoyed a modest gaming revenue rise in September despite lingering pandemic restrictions, while praying for the swift arrival of online gambling options.

Figures released Wednesday by the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) show Detroit’s three commercial casino operators generated combined revenue of $87.9m in September, 26.8% better than August’s total but down 21.7% from September 2019’s result.

However, considering Detroit’s casinos are still operating at only 15% of their maximum capacity, being down only slightly more than one-fifth year-on-year is impressive. For the year-to-date, the city’s gaming revenue is off 58% from the first nine months of 2019.

MGM Resorts’ MGM Grand Detroit reported revenue of $36.1m in September, down 22.3% year-on-year. MotorCity dropped 17.3% to $32.2m while Penn National Gaming’s Greektown took the biggest hit, falling 27.2% to $19.6m.

UK online gambling activity slowed in August, poking holes in the media narrative of crazed punters filling their pandemic void by gambling away the mortgage payment.

Figures released Wednesday by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) show every single gaming vertical reported active player declines in the month of August compared to July’s figures. The regulator attributed the decline to a variety of factors, including the loosening of pandemic restrictions opening up a wider variety of options for consumers’ discretionary spending.

The seasonal break in English Premier League football action contributed to a 10% decline in ‘real event’ sports betting active customers, while the total number of ‘real event’ wagers fell 12% from July to August. Betting revenue suffered an even bigger decline, falling 21% from July.

Online slots, the perpetual boogeyman of the UK anti-gambling media, reported active players falling 2% from July to August, while total number of slots bets fell 1% and the number of online slots sessions lasting over one hour fell 7%.

Last week, Chance Kornuth was at the end of a pretty disastrous starting period in the Galfond Challenge on Run It Once. Losing €280,000 overall, the Chip Leader Coaching owner was looking at a long climb back up the mountain to even be able to talk about breaking even.

Just a couple of days back at the felt, Kornuth has wiped out over half the arrears he was in, and sat at just €117,000 in the red, will attack the next portion of the contest with renewed vigour.

The chart of Chance Kornuth’s route to being €117,000 down to Galfond at the present moment can be tracked back via this handy page on the Galfond Challenge official website, and as you can see, Kornuth has hardly been in profit since the match kicked off.

That may or may not be about to change, of course, but Kornuth has recovered where many in this spot would struggle to.