Monthly Archives: September 2016

Buddhist monk achieves enlightenment by winning Thai lottery

Buddhists in Thailand are arching their eyebrows after a local monk claimed a six-figure lottery jackpot.

On Friday, local media reported that Phra Prawit Techapalo, a 41-year-old monk at a temple just outside Bangkok, had claimed a THB 6m (US $173k) lottery prize. Phra Prawit claimed the lucky numbers were revealed to him while pondering the texture of a (money?) tree on the monastery grounds.

Phra Prawit said he’d been playing the lottery for years, buying several tickets per month, and that he planned to use his windfall to buy his mother a house, put his kid through school and pay for the funeral of the temple’s abbot, who recently shuffled off this mortal coil.

Phra Prawit’s good fortune has ruffled the feathers of some Buddhists, given that adherents are supposed to have liberated themselves from the tyranny of such earthly desires as rolling around in beds made of money.

Pat Lyons Takes Down WPT Legends of Poker 2016 in L.A.

Day Five of the 2016 WPT Legends of Poker tournament at the Bicycle Club in Los Angeles concluded with the World Poker Tour introducing a new champion in Pat Lyons. The California native crushed the final table en route to a $615,346 payday. Lyons is having the poker month of his life. Less than three […]

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Intertain rebranding as Jackpotjoy; Stride Gaming doubles UK bingo share

Canada’s Intertain Group says it will rebrand as Jackpotjoy once it completes its corporate relocation to the UK.

On Thursday, the Toronto-listed Intertain announced that it would christen its new London-headquartered company as Jackpotjoy PLC, reflecting the name of the company’s popular online bingo brand, which it acquired from Gamesys in 2015.

The change is part of Intertain’s UK Strategic Initiatives, which includes securing a listing on the London Stock Exchange. As most of its business is derived from the UK, Intertain believes UK analysts will be more inclined to talk up the company’s share price, unlike those North American philistines who express grave misgivings about the company’s ability to manage its crushing debt load.

Intertain shareholders will get an opportunity to vote on the plan to break out the U-Hauls at the company’s annual general meeting on Sept. 23. Assuming the vote is favorable, Intertain expects to secure the LSE listing by mid-October (and a passable fake Cockney accent by Christmas).

Phil Galfond Sets Sights on Poker Site with High Standards

It almost sounds like Phil Galfond wants to run for president, with a slogan of being “fair, honest, and transparent.” But the vision really just applies to the high stakes pro’s vision for a new poker site he discussed this week on his blog Run It Once. Galfond, who lives in Maryland and has almost […]

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Canada telecom regulator rejects Quebec plan to IP-block gambling sites

Canada’s national telecom regulator says Quebec’s plan to block unauthorized online gambling sites is illegal.

Late Thursday, the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) released a statement commenting on the application filed in July by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) asking the regulator to formally repudiate Quebec’s IP-blocking plans.

In May, the Quebec legislature approved Bill 74, the omnibus legislation that would compel internet service providers (ISP) to block online gambling sites not specifically approved by the Loto-Quebec gambling monopoly to operate in the province.

Bill 74 sparked countless op-eds arguing that Quebec’s plan was unconstitutional, as telecom issues are considered to be under the federal government’s jurisdiction. Associations representing telecom firms launched a lawsuit in the Superior Court of Quebec arguing that they would be forced to bear the entire financial burden of blocking unauthorized sites.

What Online Poker Can Learn From FIFA17’s The Journey

Lee Davy takes a look at FIFA17’s The Journey and implores an online poker site to step up and deliver a similar experience for recreational poker players.

Poker produces moments of pure ecstasy and pulsating pangs of pain. It can be exciting. It can be boring. It can make you laugh. It can make you cry. It can turn you on. It can switch you off. It is one of the greatest games in the world, but it doesn’t possess the most important elements that all great games possess.

It doesn’t contain the internal organs of a good story.

But what if we could change that?

B2B GameDay to launch white-label DFS platform in Europe

To allow companies to reduce their marketing expenses, business-to-business Daily Fantasy Sports company GameDay Studios Ltd. and gaming company Uptown Inc. will roll out a white label network platform in Europe.

Gavin Dunne, co-founder of GameDay Studios, pointed out that white label network platform Manager Duel, which will be launched on September 10, will not be a just another FanDuel or DraftKings since it aims to let users from different white label partners and companies to play together in the same tournaments and share revenue.

The concept, according to Dunne, revolves around GameDay working with sportsbook operators, land based operators, media groups and large database companies to offer them new revenue earning opportunities through DFS.

Uptown, which is a specialist in customer acquisition for the gambling and other industries, on the other hand will provide a minimum of 3000 paying customers per month to launch the GameDay network platform.  Dunne said Uptown will be the first of a number of partners added to the network.