Monthly Archives: May 2015

666Bet says it needs to raise more money to refund customer balances

Troubled UK online gambling operator 666Bet has acknowledged it needs to raise additional funds in order to refund its customers’ balances, according to a statement released to the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC).

666Bet’s owner, the Alderney-registered Metro Play Limited, had its UK operating license suspended in March due to a £21m money laundering and VAT fraud investigation that ensnared 666Bet director Paul Bell. Since then, both 666Bet and Metro Play customers have been trying to withdraw their account balances. The sites finally began making payments in May via online payment processor Skrill but gave customers a May 24 deadline for making withdrawal requests.

On Friday, the UKGC posted a statement to its website updating customers on the payout process. The UKGC said it understood that “some customers have experienced difficulties in making withdrawal requests and a number of customers have not yet been paid.” The UKGC added that customers “have been unable to make contact with Metro Play as customer support resource, which the Commission was informed would become available, has not yet been provided.”

The UKGC said it had been “informed by Metro Play’s chairman and major shareholder that he plans to make additional funds available to enable payments to customers.” Players who have yet to have their withdrawals processed will be contacted and offered “an alternative payment method to Skrill (most likely a bank transfer).”

Covers.com sale offers opportunity to make betED players whole

Canadian online sports betting affiliate Covers.com has been acquired by Gracenote, a subsidiary of US media powerhouse Tribune Media.

Gracenote announced on Thursday that it had acquired the Halifax-based Covers.com, along with Covers offshoot SportsDirect Inc. and the Netherlands-based Infostrada Sports. The trio will operate under the banner of Gracenote Sports, Gracenote’s new sports data service, which aims to provide data on global sports leagues and events to broadcasters, sports federations and event organizers.

The deal is a reflection of both the growth of the data-hungry daily fantasy sports industry and the increased momentum behind the push for legal sports bets in the United States. The Chicago-based Tribune is a media giant whose holdings include superstation WGN and 38 other television stations across the US.

Gracenote said the total price tag of its three acquisitions would be US $54m. Assuming at least half of that went to the Halifax crew, perhaps now is a good time to remind everyone of Covers.com’s role in the collapse of online sportsbook betED.

Psychiatrist: Colorado shooter 'knew what he was doing'

This screenshot made from a pdf released by the Colorado Judicial Department on Wed., May 27, 2015, shows a portion of Aurora shooter James Holmes’ notebook, after it was presented as evidence in the Holmes… . FILE – In this Dec. 8, 2014, file photo, George Brauchler, left, district attorney of Arapahoe County, Colo., walks to a hearing in Centennial, Colo., in the murder trial of Aurora movie theater shooter James Holmes.

WSOP 2015 Day Three: First Bracelet Awarded, Colossus Kicks Off Without a Hitch

It’s WSOP 2015 Day Three, and World Series of Poker management is already showing it knows what it’s doing when it comes to organizing the most massive event in Series history. But before we take a look at Day One Flight A (and its cousins Flights B,C, and D) of Colossus, here’s the rundown on […]

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World's Unluckiest Thief Grabs Sunglasses, Leaves $1 Million Lottery Ticket

A thief in Seattle may have thought they hit the jackpot when they stole a pair of sunglasses from a parked vehicle, but neglected to grab the car’s most valuable item: a winning lottery ticket, local news station WTVC reports. The lucky couple who own the car had long ago left the ticket in their vehicle, not realizing that – though it wasn’t the $350 million jackpot winner – it was worth a cool $1 million.