The tug-of-war to make daily fantasy sports (DFS) legal in the Prairie State is apparently far from over due to some last minute legislative maneuvering on Thursday.

Voting 32-22, the Illinois Senate has passed HB3655 which approves fantasy sports regulations and, in effect, would legalize DFS offerings in the state. The Senate, in allowing DFS in Illinois, has tasked the Illinois Gaming Board to oversee the contests. The measure also forbids anyone under 21 from participating in the DFS.

But soon after DFS received its approval from the state Senate, Chicago Democratic Sen. Antonio Munoz – a known supporter of the HB3655 – surprisingly filed a motion to reconsider, which put the measure in limbo.

The Associated Press reported that Munoz did not offer any explanation why he decided to ask the Senate to reconsider its decision, especially now that there is a little over a week left in the 2016 legislative session.

And so it begins.

The World eSports Association has been the hot topic of discussion lately, but the newly-formed regulatory body has been hit with criticisms as players, industry veterans and even several media outfits raised their concern about its capability to raise the profile of professional competitive gaming.

Now, IGN has reported that one of the association’s member teams is reportedly leaving WESA, barely a week after it was formed.

Sources told IGN’s Kevin Knocke that FaZE Clan organization is willing to pay $50,000 in penalties “due to early demands of exclusivity by ESL.” ESL, which founded WESA, is one of the biggest eSports organizations currently out there.

It won’t be long before residents in Taiwan’s outlying island of Penghu will have to decide on whether they will allow casinos in their hometowns, local media outlets have reported.

This was after the group pushing for the legalization organization gathered more than enough signatures to trigger a local referendum on the casino issue.

Chen Meng, head of the Alliance Promoting Internationalization of Penghu, was quoted by Focus Taiwan, Chen Meng saying the group had already gathered more than 5,000 signatures of eligible voters in the country—surpassing the minimum threshold of 4,113 signatures, or about 5 percent of the total eligible voters, required for a referendum.

Chen said they only need to reach their goal of 6,000 signatures before the group will submit them to the election commission for a review. The commission is expected to hold at least 100 public briefings before it prepares for a referendum.

The Philippine Senate’s investigation into the $81 million stolen from Bangladeshi central bank accounts and funneled through local casino operators came to an abrupt stop after two of the senators leading the inquiry lost their re-election campaigns.

Lawmakers announced on Thursday that they wrapping up the inquiry despite the progress they have made into the investigation, which saw casino junket operator Kam Sin “Kim” Wong turn in some PHP450 million (US$9.54 million) several weeks ago.

Committee chairman Teofisto D. Guingona III, who lost his senate seat in the recently held elections, told local reports that the lawmakers only needed “to draft its recommended changes to the laws covering bank deposits,” particularly the country’s anti-money laundering law, bank secrecy law, and the foreign currency deposits law.

The committee is expected to draft its report in the coming days, which Guingona said will be forwarded to the new set of lawmakers when the next congressional session opens.

The Philippine Senate’s investigation into the $81 million stolen from Bangladeshi central bank accounts and funneled through local casino operators came to an abrupt stop after two of the senators leading the inquiry lost their re-election campaigns.

Lawmakers announced on Thursday that they wrapping up the inquiry despite the progress they have made into the investigation, which saw casino junket operator Kam Sin “Kim” Wong turn in some PHP450 million (US$9.54 million) several weeks ago.

Committee chairman Teofisto D. Guingona III, who lost his senate seat in the recently held elections, told local reports that the lawmakers only needed “to draft its recommended changes to the laws covering bank deposits,” particularly the country’s anti-money laundering law, bank secrecy law, and the foreign currency deposits law.

The committee is expected to draft its report in the coming days, which Guingona said will be forwarded to the new set of lawmakers when the next congressional session opens.

South Africa gaming and leisure giant Sun International Ltd. has agreed to pay R675 million ($42.8 million) to fellow hotel and casino operator Peermont Global after talks to acquire the closely held company breaks down.

Bloomberg reported that both gaming firms abandoned the deal after South Africa’s Competition Commission objected Sun’s plan to buy Peermont for R9.4 billion ($595.76 million).

Sun International has 26 resorts across Africa and the Americas, where it has a complex near Santiago and a casino in Panama. Peermont is owned by a private equity group led by the Mineworkers Investment Company and has 16 hotels across South Africa, Botswana and Malawi.

The gaming and leisure giant has earlier agreed to pay Peermont some R900 million ($57.15 million) if the deal breaks down and a new complex at Menlyn Maine, in the South African capital of Pretoria, has started operations. On Wednesday, Sun said it has already reached a settlement with Peermont in order to save the project, which is already at an advanced stage of construction.

This is a guest contribution by Julie Anderson is a writer for VegasMaster magazine. If you would like to submit a contribution please contact Bill Beatty for submission details. Thank you.

Virtual reality (VR) is likely to play a big part in online casino evolution. Although some in the industry feel that it is too soon to bet on VR casinos, others feel that it is only a matter of time before this style of gambling, which will no doubt alter the dynamics of casino games themselves, will become mainstream.

Immersive gaming like virtual reality may very well be what helps the industry to appeal to Millennials, who are not as entertained by traditional casino entertainment as previous generations. Today’s gamers demand a more interactive experience and get their thrills from games like World of Warcraft, Halo, and Grand Theft Auto. 3D slots, video poker, and sitting at card tables simply don’t come close to delivering this type of action these gamers crave.

This is one of the reasons why both land-based and online casinos are seeing a decline in visitors. In fact, what many big-name casinos in Las Vegas are noticing more often is that while the number of visitors coming to Sin City is on the rise, the majority of these visitors are there for the restaurants and to enjoy other activities like nightclubs and shows.

In this week’s Calling the Clock poker gets closer to the world of eSports and Twitch after PokerStars signs a deal to sponsor Team Liquid, the Global Poker League to host Playoffs in TwitchCon, and much more.

Who is the next generation of poker players?

Our children, of course

Where do they hangout?

In this week’s Calling the Clock poker gets closer to the world of eSports and Twitch after PokerStars signs a deal to sponsor Team Liquid, the Global Poker League to host Playoffs in TwitchCon, and much more.

Who is the next generation of poker players?

Our children, of course

Where do they hangout?

PokerStars has entered into a sponsorship agreement with eSports outfit Team Liquid that will see the eSports stars introduce the PokerStars brand to their live stream audience on Twitch; Canadian Kevin Martin joins PokerStars Pro Online; and the world’s largest ever Spring Championships of Online Poker just got even bigger.

PokerStars are an official sponsor of eSports outfit Team Liquid.

The pair has struck a deal that will see various members of Team Liquid introduce the PokerStars brand during their live streams on Twitch. It’s the perfect opportunity for Stars to cross-pollinate their suite of games to eSports fans who might never have played the game before.

Three members of Team Liquid will wear the Stars patch. The first is Janne ‘Savjz’ Mikkonen from Finland. Savjz represents Team Liquid in professional Hearthstone tournaments and has previous poker experience.

More than five years after the Black Friday indictments, Full Tilt Poker co-founder Howard Lederer has publicly apologized to players victimized by the site’s inglorious implosion.

On Thursday, one day after Full Tilt owner Amaya Gaming merged the site with its main PokerStars brand, a statement by Lederer was posted to Daniel Negreanu’s Full Contact Poker journal. Negreanu, who was among Lederer’s most vociferous critics following FTP’s demise, said his posting of the statement was “neither an endorsement or a condemnation.”

FTP’s bank accounts were frozen by the US Department of Justice on April 15, 2011, leading to the embarrassing disclosure that FTP principals had been treating customer deposits like their own personal piggy bank. Were it not for a fiscal bailout by then-PokerStars owners Isai and Mark Scheinberg, FTP’s players could still be waiting for their money.

Lederer’s statement says he takes “full responsibility for Full Tilt’s failure to protect player deposits leading up to Black Friday.” While claiming that he was “no longer overseeing day to day operations” after “stepping away” from FTP in 2008, Lederer admits that his “inattention in the two years leading up to Black Friday imperiled players’ deposits.”

The Global Poker League is about to branch further into the bedrooms of eSports and video game lovers after announcing plans to host their Playoffs in San Diego as part of TwitchCon 2016.

So when will we see a Team Liquid franchise in the Global Poker League (GPL)?

Soon.

Queen bee Alex Dreyfus and his drones have announced the location of the inaugural GPL Playoffs and what a location it is.