Jason Mercier has defeated Ryan Franklin, in heads-up action, to take his third Spring Championships of Online Poker title, in less than a week, winning Event #20: $2,100 (H) No-Limit Hold’em (4-Max).

Jason Mercier is running riot at the Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP). The Team PokerStars Pro has switched himself off from the outside world, and it’s paying dividends with three SCOOP titles in less than a week.

His latest triumph comes in Event #20: $2,100 (H) No-Limit Hold’em (4-Max) where he bested a field of 398 players to take down the first prize of $178,457, after securing a deal with the runner-up Ryan “HITTHEPANDA’ Franklin. Mercier’s previous two victories came in Event #5: $2,100 (H) Fixed-Limit Badugi, and Event #8: $2,100 (H) No-Limit Draw, but this was a much bigger prize.

The victory was made even sweeter as Calvin ‘cal42688’ Anderson also made the final table. Earlier, in the festival, Anderson became the most successful SCOOP player of all-time when he bagged his sixth success. Mercier needs to win three more to catch up. Anderson finished in third.

Nicolas Levi on Ranking Hero’s New Hero Score Rankings Video

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Did you get yours?

By now, invitations have gone out to the select few individuals fortunate enough to have been invited to the CalvinAyre.com Fifth Anniversary shindig on May 23. The get-together is a dual celebration for site founder Calvin Ayre (pictured), who, assuming he survives the evening, turns 54 years old two days later.

Everyone who received an invitation and had the intestinal fortitude to RSVP will have already been informed of the secret location in Vancouver where this exclusive bash is going down. For the rest of you, a few intrepid CalvinAyre.com staffers will endeavor to remain sober just long enough to scribble down a few details and capture some video footage so that everyone else can get a hint of what they were missing.

A couple days before our festivities kick off, late night television icon David Letterman is set to air his final show. In tribute to Dave’s inimitable brand of humor, we present a version of his signature Top Ten list.

Online gambling operator Mansion Group has been issued a new UK gambling license.

Last September, word spread that Mansion was pulling out of the UK market as the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) prepared to implement its new licensing regime, including the much-loathed 15% online point of consumption tax (POCT). Mansion quickly clarified that the withdrawal applied only to its poker vertical, and that it had applied for a new UKGC license.

On Monday, Mansion Europe Holdings Ltd. announced that it has received the UKGC’s seal of approval. Mansion Group CEO Sagi Lahav, who took over from Guy Gussarsky last month, called the new UK license “an important milestone in our strategy of acquiring gaming licenses in key markets.”

Lahav said Mansion “welcomed the additional security and transparency that this gives our players” despite the “additional challenges that regulation poses.” Last September, Mansion laid off a large number of staff at its Gibraltar HQ and shifted some of its operations to Bulgaria to prepare itself for the financial impact of the new POCT.

Police in the Australian state of Queensland have launched raids against several ‘boiler room’ operations linked to Vanuatu-based online bookmaker Betjack.

Last September, Betjack was in the mainstream Aussie news after word spread that a significant number of its customers – including some high-rollers owed six-figure sums – were finding it nigh on impossible to collect their winnings. The total outstanding sum owed to Bejack punters is believed to be in the millions of dollars.

Earlier this month, police raided three locations on the Gold Coast described as ‘boiler room’ operations, which materialize out of nowhere, operate for a short time, then shut just as abruptly before rematerializing somewhere else. The Age reported that police seized computers and banking records belonging to Betjack via these raids.

Police have so far laid charges against only one of these Betjack-associated operators. John Robert Hanneman, who is believed to have operated the Betjack site from January 2008 to April 2012, stands accused of defrauding 19 punters out of $450k. Police said betting sites linked to Hanneman – including International Sports Online – had generated $4m in profits by 2012.

Bwin.party digital entertainment saw its shares leap on Monday after Canada’s Amaya Gaming officially joined the hunt to acquire the struggling UK-listed online gambling operator.

Speculation had already connected Amaya – owner of PokerStars and Full Tilt – to a potential Bwin.party acquisition last November. On Monday, multiple media sources reported that Amaya had teamed with UK-listed online gambling operator GVC Holdings, which on Friday had confirmed its interest in a reverse takeover of Bwin.party.

Amaya and GVC are reportedly setting up a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to conduct the acquisition, which would be a €1.5b cash and shares offer (the shares being newly issued GVC stock). Amaya and GVC are believed to have begun discussing the potential of a joint bid after each company made individual offers for Bwin.party.

The Telegraph reported that GVC would act as majority owner of the SPV but Amaya would have the option of taking immediate control of Bwin.party’s flailing PartyPoker division. GVC management would be tasked with restructuring Bwin.party’s remaining assets – a process expected to take around two years – after which Amaya may also snap up Bwin.party’s sportsbook.