Canadian gaming and lottery software outfit Contagious Gaming says its proposed acquisition of UK pools betting operator Sportech could create “a global leader” in regulated sports and race betting.

On Friday, the Liverpool-based Sportech revealed that it had received a cash-and-shares offer from the Toronto-based Contagious regarding a potential acquisition. No specifics were offered beyond the total consideration coming at a premium to Sportech’s Thursday closing share price of 62.6p.

Late Monday night, Contagious offered its first public statement on the deal, confirming the accuracy of Sportech’s release. Contagious said that it believes the proposed union could create “a combined, technology-focused sports wagering company and a global leader in regulated pari-mutuel wagering.”

Contagious also offered its rationale for making an offer, including the opportunity to become the “largest pure play sports focused gaming company” on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

China has arrested over 15k individuals as part of its new program to ‘clean the internet’ of criminal activity.

On Tuesday, Chinese police announced the detentions, which they said were the result of crimes that “jeopardized internet security.” Police declined to specify over what time period these individuals had been clapped in irons but a statement on the Ministry of Public Security’s website suggested the bulk of the arrests were made in recent months.

The Ministry said police had investigated 66k websites, exposing 7,400 cases of ‘cybercrime.’ In addition to sites providing “illegal and harmful information,” police were focusing their efforts on sited promoting pornography, explosives, firearms and gambling.

The timing of Tuesday’s announcement appears at least partly intended to stifle online criticism of the government’s response to last week’s chemical warehouse explosion in Tianjin. China’s ‘great firewall’ is renowned for its army of online sentries keeping watch over things upon which the government frowns, particularly information spread via China’s popular social networks.

UK-listed online gambling operator GVC Holdings is being sued by a Canadian company over an aborted joint venture.

On Tuesday, the Times reported that 37 Entertainment (37E), a Montreal-based sports and entertainment consultancy run by sports writer Doug Honegger (pictured), had filed a petition seeking “declaratory judgment” in the London Court of International Arbitration over a failed bid to launch two Sportingbet-branded websites targeting Canadian punters.

According to the petition, 37E claims the parties had reached an understanding last year regarding the launch of the two sites; one to target the province of Quebec while the other dealt with the rest of Canada. 37E would handle marketing, GVC would provide all gambling services and the two parties would share equally in the proceeds, which 37E claims GVC had estimated to be in the “hundreds of millions of dollars.”

No final contract was ever signed, but 37E claims that the parties had agreed on “all essential terms” and GVC had provided an “overwhelming number of written and verbal commitments” that the deal would go forward. 37E claims GVC went as far as to provide 37E with trading reports, financial statements and internal info regarding GVC’s Canadian-facing business.

Daniel Colman is in a great position to defend his Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open title after making the final nine as the hosts are once again forced to pay an expensive overlay.

Daniel Colman has once again underlined his ability to navigate his way through huge tournament fields by making the final table of the $5m Guaranteed Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open (SHRPO). Colman will start the final table third in chips; the experienced Randy Pfeifer starts as the chip leader with Paul Volpe also in contention.

The $5,250 buy-in event has fallen short of its guarantee for the second consecutive year, casting doubts over the future of the event. The 2014 $10m Guaranteed SHRPO was a disaster as organizers had to make up the difference of $2.5m – the largest overlay in tournament history.

This year the organizers cut the guarantee by 50%, replaced the re-entry format with a Freezeout, and only 907 turned up to compete in the event. The $4,398,950 prize pool forced organizers to plunge deep into their pockets for a second year with a $601,050 overlay.