Online bookmaker Betway has joined the European Sports Security Association (ESSA), the global integrity body for the regulated betting industry.

ESSA, a non-profit organization, monitors irregular betting patterns and possible instances of event manipulation. Betway is now a full participant in the reporting system, which is geared towards identifying any such betting behavior.

ESSA has invested in cutting-edge technology to ensure its reporting systems are world-leading, providing operators and their customers with an effective, flexible and robust integrity platform, playing a vital role as the regulated betting sector’s representative body at national and transnational match-fixing policy deliberations.

“We’re delighted to have joined ESSA, the industry standard for betting integrity,” said Betway CEO Richard Akitt. “ESSA provides the market leaders in regulated sports wagering with an effective, globally-recognized cross-border platform and it was a common sense move for us to align with other stakeholders to combat the threat of irregular and illegal betting activity.”

Paddy Power has delivered another controversial stunt on the eve of the General Election informing them that they will soon be “fired”.

The bookmaker parked a truck with the message “You’re getting sacked in the morning” outside of the Houses of Parliament on Thursday, just hours before the country goes to the polls.

Odds on MP getting sacked in the morning are political heavyweights such as Danny Alexander at 1/12, Jim Murphy at 10/11 and Douglas Alexander 2/5.

Matching a chant birthed in the stands of football grounds across the UK, Paddy Power said: “Sacked in the morning, you’re getting sacked in the morning, sacked in the mooorning, you’re getting sacked in the morning.”

Pinnacle Entertainment confirmed Monday that it is in talks to sell its real estate assets to Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc.

Pinnacle also said in a statement that it is looking into maximizing value for shareholders though no assurances could be made that the talks would produce a transaction.

“We are impressed with the results they continue to achieve,” said Peter Carlino, chief executive officer and chairman of Gaming and Leisure. “They have been very cordial and professional in our dealings with them and are a team that we would very much like to partner with not only on this transaction but on future opportunities as well.”

In March, casino property owner Gaming and Leisure Properties announced that it offered to buy Pinnacle’s real estate assets at $4.1 billion, including debt. At the time, Pinnacle said it would review the offer.

Bitcoin gambling site Primedice shifts its focus to Russia and China, after its decision to block US and Australia-based customers.

Last week, the company announced that it had stopped serving US and Australia-based customers due to regulatory uncertainty in both countries.

Primedice is now seeking to grow its second and third largest client bases.

“The company was not expecting to come across legal issues in neither Russia nor China,” said Primedice spokesperson. “We’ve had to give up nearly 50% of our client base but with such an uncertain legal landscape surrounding bitcoin gambling [in the US] we feel this is better off in the long run.”

As an online gambling industry professional, I’ve been attending big poker tournaments around the world for the past ten years of my life. Seeing as I’m not a person who plays poker for a living, my business objectives at tournaments are to mix with and interview interesting pros, mingle with celebs and perhaps participate in a more casual event or two.

The charity tournaments taking place around these big poker events have always been an ideal opportunity for me to meet my business objectives and are simply a lot of fun for everyone.

Big poker tournaments can be intense, especially for the pros, but charity tournaments provide an opportunity for these pros to relax, enjoy themselves and contribute to a good cause.  Such tournaments also provide an opportunity for the recreationals to rub shoulders with their poker heroes, perhaps a celeb or two and actually have a chance at winning some extravagent prizes.

This past weekend I was in the South of France visiting Charles Gillespie and Roberto Savio of Adge, during which time Savio’s wife Natasha Frost-Savio hosted the Poker for Pink Monaco charity tournament alongside the EPT Main Event.

90 Digital CEO Nick Garner explains that there is no such thing as trust rank in this edition of CalvinAyre.com’s SEO Tip of the Week.

A refresher on theme for this series of articles.

Because link acquisition is becoming less and less important these days, there is another factor which is filling the vacuum: engagement rank. Engagement rank is the part of the Google algorithm which affects search results through user engagement. To improve user engagement, there is a process and it’s called trust optimisation. Along with on-site optimisation, link acquisition, there is now trust optimisation which helps you improve your engagement rank. On to the article!

TrustRank is one of those urban myths which has persisted for years amongst the SEO community. Many people still believe TrustRank is a PageRank derivative which affects rankings.

What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, unless you’re a Pentagon employee using a government credit card to gamble and hire prostitutes.

On Wednesday, Politico reported that a Defense Department audit had flagged numerous instances of civilian and military personnel using government credit cards to gamble in Las Vegas and Atlantic City. The audit also found charges related to “other adult activities” but, sadly, a Pentagon official declined to offer specifics.

The Pentagon is attempting to keep the outrage machine in low gear by pointing out that John Q. Taxpayer isn’t necessarily on the hook for this debauchery on the government dime. Government-issued credit cards require staffers to pay the bills themselves and then file for reimbursement. The Pentagon theorized that many of the offending personnel might have used the gov’t cards to keep the charges from appearing on their personal credit card statement.

The audit isn’t expected to produce a list of names for public shaming but the individuals who engaged in this petty subterfuge will get a stern talking-to. Their respective agencies will also remind staff of the illegality of certain credit card activities and the pitfalls of bad public relations.

Gaming and lottery technology supplier Scientific Games Corp. and Penn National Gaming, Inc. signed an agreement whereby Penn National will deploy the Scientific Games SG Universe product suite at four Penn National properties.

The agreement marks Penn National’s entry into social gaming, expanding player access to Scientific Games’ Play4Fun social casino platform and its Mobile Concierge next-generation marketing capabilities.

Penn National Gaming is expected to launch the Mobile Concierge and Play4Fun Network products at Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races in the coming months, with the three additional Penn National properties expected to come online shortly thereafter.

“The launch of social gaming is an important strategic initiative for Penn National that we expect will enhance loyalty and retention of our customers, drive casino visitation and build engagement with our brands both on and off premises,” said Penn National Gaming Senior VP Chris Sheffield. “In our review of the available solutions, Scientific Games’ Play4Fun had distinct advantages that enable us to offer their slot content that our players enjoy on our casino floors in a mobile social casino experience.”

This is a guest contribution by Wink Bingo & Winkly Magazine’s Marketing Manager Eitan Gorodetsky. If you would like to submit a contribution please contact Bill Beatty for submission details. Thank you.

The Peter Andre Fund and Wink Bingo are embarking on a partnership set to benefit both brands, and to support the vital work of Cancer Research UK. Much has been made of the recent announcement that for the first time in history half of people diagnosed with cancer will survive the disease – television adverts have been legion, and not many days go by without some form of mention in the national press.

The resultant public reaction has been an increased appetite for activism and awareness which benefits cancer charities. The challenge facing Wink Bingo is to take this passion and use it to engage new and existing players in a fun, charitable process which benefits all parties.

In this week’s confessions series Lee Davy talks about the constant evolution of information, and how the next logical step for writers of poker may be to host their own Twitch channel.

How do you earn a living writing about poker?

It’s a common question. Delivered, mostly by people who don’t even know that poker exists outside of their Grandparents kitchen.

My responses have varied over the years. I’ve become more experienced, and the world has changed. If I were answering that question today, I would advise people to start watching Twitch.