Monthly Archives: October 2016

Tube Terror Suspect Loves Poker; Dan Bilzerian on Larry King

Photo credit: The Guardian

Scotland Yard has a young 19-year old poker player in custody in connection with the controlled explosion that took place on a London Underground tube train on Thursday, and Dan Bilzerian appears on Larry King to field questions on his questionable lifestyle.

On Thursday, a counter-terrorism unit in London carried out a controlled explosion after an explosive device was found on a tube train travelling along the Jubilee Line near the O2 Arena.

On Friday, police tasered a young man outside the London Metropolitan University, believed to be the primary suspect, although Scotland Yard has not revealed his identity.

Laos lottery officials deny the fix is in

Lottery officials in Laos have been forced to publicly deny that their product is fixed following a wave of complaints.

On Monday, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported on a growing sentiment among Laotian lottery players that the winning numbers were being manipulated by lottery operators to avoid paying out large sums.

The allegedly nefarious tactics include a spate of winning numbers that Laotians deem unlucky, and thus most players were unlikely to have selected these numbers when making their purchases. Three consecutive drawings last month ended in the number 67, which Laotians associate with bad luck, apparently because the animal-based lottery sheet links that number with turtles.

Ahead of the October 14 draw, players reported lottery machines rejecting requests for three-digit numbers ending in 09, a number Laotians view as lucky because the same sheet links those digits with the buffalo. That day’s jackpot ended up going to tickets bearing the number 509.

Leon.ru becomes Russia’s fifth officially approved online sports betting site

Russia has another legal online sports betting option following the launch of Leon.ru.

This week brought word that Russian bookmaker Leon, which operates over 300 retail betting points of sale, had begun accepting online wagers via its Leon.ru site. The site operates under Federal Tax Service License #20, which was issued to Leon’s previous corporate identity, Euromir.

Leon is the fifth online betting site to open with the blessing of Russia’s government, following Liga Stavok, 888.ru, Winline and 1xStavka (1xBet). However, those other four operators all belong to the First Self-Regulatory Organization (SRO) of Russian Bookmakers, while Leon belongs to the rival Bookmakers SRO.

The Bookmakers SRO was thrown into a tizzy last week following reports that its chairman Nikolai Oganezov was stepping down. This week, Oganezov (pictured, right) told Betting Business Russia that he’d left to join the hospitality industry after receiving “an offer I could not refuse.” The Bookmakers SRO plans to elect a new chairman in November.

Donaco International to branch out into online gambling in Cambodia

Casino operator Donaco International says it plans to branch out into online gambling through its flagship Cambodian casino property.

On Monday, the Australian-listed Donaco filed its annual report for shareholders, which included a note from CEO Joey Lim that Donaco’s Star Vegas casino in Poipet “owns an online gaming license which has yet to be utilized.”

While Lim was short on specifics, he would say that Donaco is “currently exploring the alternatives for the utilization of this license and expect some progress to occur” on this front in the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, 2017.

Donaco isn’t entirely unfamiliar with online gambling, having acquired Australian interactive wagering outfit Two Way Ltd back in 2012. Two Way’s chief product was an online odds comparison site known as Way2Bet. Donaco also used to operate a television wagering service called Tab Active, but sold its online business to Aussie wagering operator Tabcorp Holdings in 2014.

Damon Smith, Accused of Planting Bomb on London Underground, Profiled as Loner and Poker Player

London Tube bomber Damon Smith has been described as a largely secluded poker player following his arrest on October 20. Poker and terrorism aren’t often linked together in the same […]

The post Damon Smith, Accused of Planting Bomb on London Underground, Profiled as Loner and Poker Player appeared first on .

Baha Mar buyer turns out to be holding company owned by main creditor

The Baha Mar resort casino in the Bahamas has been sold to a Hong Kong-based offshoot of the property’s primary lender.

In August, the Bahamian government announced that the stalled $3.5b Baha Mar project had been sold to an unidentified buyer. The announcement prompted wide speculation as to the buyer’s identity but last week, Prime Minister Perry Christie’s office issued a statement revealing the buyer as Perfect Luck Holdings Ltd.

Perfect Luck turns out to be a special purpose vehicle (SPV) set up by Baha Mar’s primary creditor, the Export-Import Bank of China (EXIM). The bank reportedly opted to sell Baha Mar to Perfect Luck after none of the bidders came close to ensuring EXIM would recoup the full $2.45b it has contributed toward the project. The sale may also allow EXIM to temporarily offload its Baha Mar losses onto another company’s balance sheet until the ultimate sale concludes.

Christie said his office was prompted to release the statement based on “extraordinary statements” made by Baha Mar’s original developer, Sarkis Izmirlian’s Baha Mar Ltd, which filed for bankruptcy protection in June 2015.