Poker TV network Poker Central has announced plans to host a $1m winner takes all event that will see poker players and celebrities compete in the Super High Roller Celebrity Shootout.

Poker Central continues to fuel the fires simmering underneath their forthcoming 24/7 Poker TV network by adding a little surprise to the already planned $500,000 buy-in Super High Roller Bowl at the ARIA Resort and Casino this summer.

The Poker Central team has announced plans to host the Super High Roller Celebrity Shootout. The new event will take place June 27th & 28th, at the ARIA Resort and Casino, and it will be winner takes all for a million bucks.

The format is simple. A group of celebrities will compete in a Sit n Go, with the winner going through to the final, and a selection of the most popular pro poker players will do likewise. The heads-up contest will be a best of three event, and the winner will receive $1m in prize money. Despite the website putting added weight on the charitable work all of the players participating therein, there is no official word that the money will go anywhere else other than the pockets of the winner.

UK gambling firms Ladbrokes and Gala Coral Group have confirmed they are in discussions regarding a potential merger.

News of the talks was broken on Monday by the Racing Post and subsequently confirmed by Ladbrokes CEO Jim Mullen, who released a statement saying a merger “could create a combined business with significant scale and has the potential to generate substantial cost synergies, creating value for both companies’ shareholders.”

Mullen is believed to be the presumptive CEO of the proposed combined entity. However, the discussions are believed to be in the early days and a source told the Financial Times that price and future corporate structure remained sticking points. Mullen said his company’s board of directors “has not yet concluded whether a transaction is strategically attractive and can be delivered to shareholders on appropriate terms.”

This isn’t the first time these companies have been down this road. In 1998, before private equity groups Candover, Cinven and Permira took control of Gala Coral from the Bass brewing company, a proposed £363m Ladbrokes takeover of Coral was blocked by then trade and industry secretary Peter Mandelson over concerns that the UK market would end up a virtual duopoly controlled by the enlarged Ladbrokes and rivals William Hill.

Hungary has offered amendments to its proposed online gambling legislation that would reduce the number of online casino licensees and eliminate the state’s monopoly on sports betting.

Earlier this month, Hungary sent the European Commission some proposed amendments to its Gambling Act to ‘liberalize’ the country’s online gambling market. That plan called for online sports betting to be the sole province of the state-run Szerencsejáték Zrt, while the state’s seven brick-and-mortar casino operators would be eligible to apply for online casino and poker licenses.

Fast forward to last week, when a member of the majority governing party proposed new amendments. These amendments would restrict the number of online casino licensees to two, meaning five casinos would miss out on the online party. Furthermore, those two lucky licensees would also be allowed to offer online sports betting. Whichever system ultimately prevails, the changes would take effect on September 1.

However, DLA Piper attorneys were skeptical that the proposed amendments would meet with parliamentary approval, as the proposal is “a very poorly drafted piece of legislation, being unclear and containing several contradictions and incoherence.” On Monday, Parliament began discussing the proposed amendments at its plenary meeting, which will continue through Tuesday.

UK-listed bookies William Hill have struck a deal with Mastercard to offer customers a prepaid card that lets them access their account balances wherever debit or credit cards are accepted.

Hills has already rolled out the Priority Access card for its VIP customers, who can use the system to access their winnings immediately after bets are settled, rather than waiting the traditional three to five working days for online settlement. Customers can also use the card to pay for goods using funds directly from their Hills account.

Hills director of innovation and customer experience Jamie Hart told eGaming Review that the idea behind the card was to cut out the middleman and to offer punters the same instant access to their winnings that they’d get at a retail window. “No need to wait before you celebrate.”

Hart said current users of the card were making fewer withdrawals and betting more often, so Hills plans to expand the card program by offering it to up to 100k of its frequent customers before the new footie season kicks off.