Monthly Archives: June 2015

NHL board approves expansion process

National Hockey League’s board of governors has given the green light to open the league’s expansion process.

National Hockey League (NHL) commissioner Gary Bettman announced the decision during the league’s annual awards ceremony on Wednesday.

NHL will now examine bids from interested markets, including Las Vegas, Seattle, Quebec and a second team in Toronto, as well as from Milwaukee, Kansas City and Portland.

“We will, probably starting in early July, accept formal applications from entities, people that are interested in pursuing an expansion team,” said Bettman after the meeting. “We will then go through a formal vetting process.”

Lindsey Graham introduces Senate version of Restoration of America’s Wire Act

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has introduced a Senate version of the anti-online gambling Restoration of America’s Wire Act (RAWA) that includes carveouts for state lotteries and brick-and-mortar casinos’ on-premise mobile gaming.

The four-page bill (read it here) differs only slightly from the House of Representatives’ version introduced in February by Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT). The aforementioned carveouts are intended to reduce opposition to RAWA’s passage, particularly from state lotteries, which have angrily protested this legislative assault on state’s rights. Graham had hinted earlier this year that he would address the lotteries’ concerns in the Senate version.

However, while Graham’s RAWA would allow lotteries to conduct retail sales via self-service lottery terminals, it wouldn’t permit operations like those currently being offered by the Michigan Lottery, which sells not just online draw-tickets but also online scratch tickets, which are a pretty good facsimile of slot machines. An industry lobbyist told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the bill “takes care of our X, Y, Z concerns but not our A, B, C concerns.”

Also, while the new carveout for on-premise casino mobile games will benefit many casino operators, it also helps Las Vegas Sands, whose boss Sheldon Adelson – a major GOP sugar daddy – is the chief engine behind RAWA. The hypocrisy of Adelson’s online antipathy while promoting Sands’ on-premise mobile games has not gone unnoticed.

Pro Files: Jason “J-Merc” Mercier

Jason “J-Merc” Mercier, a member of Team PokerStars Pro, is an American professional poker player who has won three World Series of Poker bracelets and a European Poker Tour title. In this episode of Pro Files, Calvinayre.com takes us through Jason Mercier’s poker career and his personal life.

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DA Davidson Upgrades Stantec To Buy On Growth Record, Consolidation Strategy

In a report published Wednesday, DA Davidson analyst John B Rogers upgraded the rating on Stantec Inc. , while raising the price target from $29 to $35, based on expectations of the company’s “exceptional” growth record to be sustained going forward. “Stantec has delivered the best returns in the industry among major engineering firms over both the long and short-term.

Confessions of a Poker Writer: WSOP Diaries – The Lottery of Life

Lee Davy continues his World Series of Poker diaries with a bit of discussion surrounding Father’s Day.

“Just to keep you posted butt, I’ve had a little luck on the lottery!!! Give me a text. Hope u and Liza are well butt, we could be seeing you soon.”

That text came from an old friend from the Valleys this week. For the non-Welsh readers, the word ‘Butt,’ or ‘Butty Boy,’ is slang for ‘Pal’ or ‘Mate’. It’s not to be confused with the word ‘Batty Boy’ which means something different entirely.

My instinctive response was to say: “Jammy bastard…why don’t I ever win the lottery?” Then I realize that I don’t play the Lottery. I text back asking if he is the man who won the £93m Euro Millions jackpot?

California online poker hearing offers little hope of stakeholder compromise

California legislators held yet another hearing on Wednesday regarding proposals to legalize online poker, but the state’s stubborn stakeholders failed to demonstrate any serious desire to resolve their differences.

The California State Assembly’s Governmental Organization Committee hearing – titled The Legality of Internet Poker: How Prepared Is California to Regulate It – was a marathon affair, so without further ado, here’s how it went.

PANEL ONE

How did Internet gaming evolve and what might the future hold from a legal, regulatory, economic, and operational standpoint?

Patrick Leonard: Coping With Tilt

Lee Davy shares his tilt loaded Extended Levels experience, and asks Patrick Leonard for some advice on how to prevent a reoccurrence in the future.

In this short interview I speak to Britain’s Patrick Leonard about a period of tilt that I experienced in the Extended Levels tournament, and how it affected my subsequent play in the next hour.

Leonard, a former PocketFives world number one, playing as pads1161, proceeds to give me some great advice on how to remove ego from the situation, and to use hypnotherapy and guided meditation to cure my ills.

It was a wonderful piece of advice, from a wonderful young man, and a wonderful poker player. I would go on to make Day 2 before busting 100 off the money. Leonard would go much deeper, finishing in 22nd place after pocket queens cracked his pocket kings. I was eliminated when pocket sevens cracked my pocket kings.

WSOP Day #28: Jon Andlovec Wins the Super Seniors Event, Barny Boatman Looking for 2nd Bracelet in Extended Levels, and Matt Ashton Looking For His 2nd Poker Players Championship Title

Lee Davy brings you all the news, minus the views, on the 28th day of the 46th Annual World Series of Poker, including a Super Seniors victory for Jon Andlovec, and a few Brits looking for their second piece of gold.

70-year old Jon Andlovec came to the 46th Annual World Series of Poker (WSOP) in the hope that he would get lucky, and earn enough money to be able to contribute to his daughter’s wedding. He has done much more than that. He returns home with $262, 220. That’s a lot of confetti.

Jon Andlovec outlasted 1,532 other players in Event #43: $1,000 Super Seniors No-Limit Hold’em. It was the first time the WSOP had held the 65+ event, and it’s proven to be a great success. Jack Effel had to make a few tweaks to the structure, namely giving the players more breaks to relieve those dodgy bladders, but in the main the players enjoyed the experience. There wasn’t a hoodie in sight.

171 places were paid a portion of the $1.3m prize pool, and the vast amount went to Andlovec. Incredibly, this was his fourth WSOP cash of his life, and all of them had been final table appearances. He defeated two-time bracelet winner, Rod Pardey, in heads-up action to end the three day experience as the victor.