Daniel Negreanu provides his views on Poker Hall of Fame tweaks including separating the non-poker players from the players, improving the criteria, and abolishing the 10 point voting system.

As the mayhem surrounding the Poker Hall of Fame (PHOF) quietens to a hush, at least one prominent member of our little bubble has a few things to say about next year and beyond.

Carlos Mortensen and Todd Brunson are the lucky legends in waiting. As per usual, nobody is batting an eyelid over their inclusion. It’s as rare as an AK47 £5 note to find someone complaining about who got in; all the noise comes from the process that led up to that point.

Does it work?

Was the decision to ban the professional poker players from the One Drop a success? Lee Davy takes a look at the decision to change the entry rules of the most expensive buy-in poker tournament in the world to see if it was the right play.

The world of poker reached a new level of insanity when in 2012 the Cirque du Soleil founder, Guy Laliberte, convinced the powers to be at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) that 48 people would pay €1m to compete in a poker tournament, as well as donating €111,111 to the One Drop Foundation.

I have spoken to Seth Palansky about the meetings leading up the decision to give the event the green light several times, and his view is always the same.

“I didn’t think we would fill one table.”

Loading the player…

jwplayer(‘camediasplayer’).setup({

Loading the player…

jwplayer(‘camediasplayer’).setup({

Australian gambling operators Tabcorp Holdings and Tatts Group have confirmed plans to form a betting behemoth with combined annual revenue of over AUD 5b (US $3.8b).

After suspending trading in their respective shares on Tuesday, the two companies issued statements on Wednesday saying each of their respective boards had unanimously recommended sealing the deal, which combines Tabcorp’s wagering strength with Tatts’ leading lottery operations.

The deal, which expects to be complete by mid-2017, will be implemented via a Tatts Scheme of Arrangement that will see Tatts shareholders receive 0.8 Tabcorp shares plus 42.5¢ cash for each Tatts share. The price represents an 18.4% premium to the one-month average price of Tatts shares. Tatts shareholders will control 58% of the enlarged entity, with Tabcorp’s shareholders holding the remaining 42%.

The new entity’s board will be comprised of Tabcorp’s current board of directors and current Tabcorp chair Paula Dwyer will remain chair of the enlarged entity. Current Tabcorp CEO David Attenborough will continue as CEO of the new company. Tatts chairman Harry Boon will join the new board as non-executive director.

Australian gambling operators Tabcorp Holdings and Tatts Group have confirmed plans to form a betting behemoth with combined annual revenue of over AUD 5b (US $3.8b).

After suspending trading in their respective shares on Tuesday, the two companies issued statements on Wednesday saying each of their respective boards had unanimously recommended sealing the deal, which combines Tabcorp’s wagering strength with Tatts’ leading lottery operations.

The deal, which expects to be complete by mid-2017, will be implemented via a Tatts Scheme of Arrangement that will see Tatts shareholders receive 0.8 Tabcorp shares plus 42.5¢ cash for each Tatts share. The price represents an 18.4% premium to the one-month average price of Tatts shares. Tatts shareholders will control 58% of the enlarged entity, with Tabcorp’s shareholders holding the remaining 42%.

The new entity’s board will be comprised of Tabcorp’s current board of directors and current Tabcorp chair Paula Dwyer will remain chair of the enlarged entity. Current Tabcorp CEO David Attenborough will continue as CEO of the new company. Tatts chairman Harry Boon will join the new board as non-executive director.

eSports developer Valve Corporation has essentially told Washington state gaming regulators to prove that its facilitating ‘skin betting’ via its online marketplace or else stop grandstanding already.

Two weeks ago, the Washington State Gambling Commission (WSGC) issued a statement saying it had warned Valve to “immediately stop allowing the transfer of virtual weapons known as ‘skins’ for gambling activities through the company’s Steam Platform.”

In a letter first obtained by Techraptor, the Bellevue, Washington-based Valve – the folks behind the popular Counter Strike: Global Offensive eSports title – responded to the WSGC by saying it has explained “on multiple occasions” that Valve “is not engaged in gambling or the promotion of gambling, and we do not ‘facilitate’ gambling.”

Valve says there is “no factual or legal support” for the WSGC’s accusations, and says it was “surprised and disappointed” that the WSGC “chose to publicly accuse Valve of illegal activity and threaten our employees with criminal charges.”

UK-listed betting operator Ladbrokes says it enjoyed a strong showing by its digital division, thanks to a near doubling in its Australian revenue.

http://calvinayre.com/tag/ladbrokes/

On Tuesday, Ladbrokes issued a trading update covering the three months ending Sept. 30, in which overall revenue improved 12%, despite “two very painful, loss-making meetings” at this year’s Glorious Goodwood and the Ebor meeting in York.

Digital revenue jumped 48.2%, spurred by a nearly one-third rise at the Ladbrokes.com site and Lads’ betting exchanges. Online sportsbook revenue surged 48% and mobile stakes rose nearly one-third, representing 79% of all digital stakes. Online gaming improved nearly 24%, the 8th straight quarter of year-on-year growth.

Canadian online gambling operator Amaya Gaming says it expects to report a 10% rise in Q3 revenue despite the waning influence of its PokerStars brand’s core poker product.

On Tuesday, Amaya issued preliminary results for the three months ending September 30, saying it expects revenue to come in between $263m to $273m (all figures in US dollars), up from $247m in Q3 2015. Final figures will be released on November 14.

Amaya expects roughly 73% of Q3 revenue to come from poker, with 24% coming from its combined sportsbook and casino operations. This compares to 81% poker and 15% sports/casino in Q3 2015. The most recent figures suggest PokerStars’ core poker revenue suffered declines of roughly 1% year-on-year and 8% sequentially.

In more positive news, Amaya says its quarterly real-money active unique (QAU) customer ranks improved 5% to 2.4m. Around 2.3m of these played online poker in Q3, up 3% year-on-year. Amaya’s online casino QAUs totaled 490k while sportsbook reported 230k.

Betting giants William Hill and Amaya Gaming have abandoned talks on a potential merger following public objections by Hills’ largest shareholder.

On Tuesday, Hills issued a statement saying it had decided that it “will not pursue” further discussions with Amaya “after canvassing views from a number of William Hill’s major shareholders.” Hills said it had informed Amaya of its decision and “wishes Amaya well for the future.”

Amaya issued its own statement offering Hills similar well-wishes while claiming that Amaya’s board had concluded that “remaining an independent company is in the best interest of Amaya’s shareholders at this time,” which is the most diplomatic way of saying no one else is currently interested in shacking up with Amaya.

Amaya also announced that it had “been informed” that former CEO David Baazov “continues to be interested in acquiring all outstanding shares of Amaya.” This runs contrary to media reports earlier this month that claimed Baazov had abandoned his plans to acquire and privatize the parent company of PokerStars.