Nassim Taleb is the world’s most recognized expert on randomness. Gambling isn’t random, so the whole term “game of chance” is misleading. There are statistical probabilities with gambling that casinos insure against, and gamblers can insure against them too if they’re smart enough. If the house didn’t always win statistically, there would be no gaming sector.

Real randomness cannot be insured against. Taleb gives several examples in his book “The Black Swan” of uninsurable randomness hitting a casino and nearly bankrupting it. First, a tiger attacks Roy of Siegfried and Roy, destroying the casino’s main attraction. Second, a construction worker for the casino is injured on the job, and when he doesn’t get a good settlement he tries to blow up the entire building with explosives. Three, an accountant puts all the casino’s tax returns in a box under his desk for years instead of filing them with the IRS, and four, the CEO’s daughter is kidnapped so he steals company funds to ransom her.

When true randomness hits, it is a good tell of the company’s overall health in relation to its stock price. Wynn was just hit with a Black Swan when one of its junkets ran off with as much as $258M, about 35% of last year’s earnings. WYNN shares fell 10% in 3 days, but quickly recovered to pre-heist news levels. Yes, that quick recovery has evaporated as well, but the fact that it at least happened is evidence that bottom pickers are trying to time an entry here, and a bottom is getting closer. Wynn, after all, has lost a dizzying 75% of its value since March 2014 highs of $246 a share. If this heist had happened back in 2014, the stocks reaction to the heist would have been much more severe.

In fact, we can see all of Macau as hit by a random Black Swan, one that makes the Wynn theft look like a drop in the bucket. The Macau bull market until March last year was fueled by two things: Chinese money printing and a government looking the other way. The Chinese money printing stopped, or at least significantly slowed down bringing on the bust, though that is not random and can be seen as it happens with a decent buffer to prepare. The random event was that the Chinese government decided to choke off Macau at the same time. You cannot insure against overzealous government regulators. It is a random event.

The explosive popularity of fantasy sports has certainly caught the eye of many political bigwigs. This time, it’s Massachusetts Attorney-General Maura Healey who has initiated a review on the legality of daily fantasy sports site DraftKings.

“The point is this: This is a new industry. It’s something that we’re reviewing, and we’ll learn more about it,” Healey told the State House News Service.

But the attorney-general later explained that it was DraftKings that approached her office and initiated the inquiry.

News site WWLP.com quoted Healey saying the daily fantasy site wanted “to reach out and talk to us about the new industry, so we heard them out, we’re hearing them out on it, and as I said, we’re just looking to learn more.”

Lee Davy brings you a long overdue recap of the major names to have emerged at the business end of the World Championship of Online Poker final tables last week.

We are three quarters through the busiest and most illustrious few weeks in the history of online poker. I am, of course, talking about the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) on PokerStars, and here is a rundown of the biggest news stories, and star names, from Events #21-45.

Mike “Timex” McDonald leads the final table of the $51,000 Super High Roller. The winner will walk away with $851,000, but until that happens the biggest earner in the 2015 WCOOP, thus far, remains Tobi12345.

The German based player took the gargantuan $654,500 first prize in Event #25: $10,300 NLHE (8-Max Optional Re-Entry, High Roller), after beating Andrew “RunThisTable” Lichtenberger in heads-up action. Lichtenberger picked up $484,500 for his runner-up spot. The UK’s Billy “b8chatz” Chattaway was denied a Triple COOP when he finished fourth for $263,500. He won a SCOOP and TCOOP title in 2014.

The founder of Bitcoin Savings & Trust is facing up to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to one count of securities fraud on Monday.

Trendon Shavers, 33, admitted to defrauding investors after raising an estimated $4.5 million worth of bitcoins while operating BS&T, Bloomberg reported.

Shavers’ case is the first criminal securities fraud case related to digital currency in the United States.

Prosecutors said the 33-year-old Texan raised some 764,000 bitcoins from September 2011 to September 2012 after promising investors an interest rate of 7 percent a week or a total of 3,641 percent, according to the news outlet. Shavers, however, used the bitcoins to pay his earlier investors, in addition to paying for his own gambling and spa treatments in Las Vegas.

Maria Ho is set to join Poker Central’s Twitch Channel in a brand new show called “Poker Central Live With Maria Ho.”

Maria Ho has joined the Poker Central team.

The busiest poker player in the business will host a brand new show called “Poker Central Live With Maria Ho.” The show will be aired on Poker Central’s Twitch channel at the end of the month.

The show will consist of Maria Ho playing online poker whilst simultaneously interacting with celebrities and fellow poker pros. It will be interesting to see what online poker platform she will play on. The show will also feature clips from other Poker Central programs with Maria giving her expert opinion on the action.

Lee Davy sits down with the former General Manager of the no-US World Poker Tour business, Neil Barrett, to talk about his appointment as Managing Director UK at Living it Loving it, and the exciting changes due to be rolled out with Bravo Poker.

Former World Poker Tour Chief Neil Barrett Joins Living it Loving it Video

Peixin Liu becomes the Mid States Poker Tour’s most successful ever player after defeating Derek Lesniak, in heads-up action, to capture the second tour title of his career.

Peixin Liu is the most successful player in the history of the Mid States Poker Tour (MSPT).

[Image Credit: PokerNews]

The Minnesotan defeated Derek Lesniak, in heads-up action, to win the $85,498 first prize in the Running Aces Main Event. It was his seventh MSPT cash, his fifth final table and his second title. His first came last year when he won the Canterbury Park event for $106,483 after defeating 432 players. He has now earned $300,509 playing on the MSPT, and that’s more than anyone alive or dead. He is the fifth player to win multiple MSPT titles.