Monthly Archives: February 2017

Leicester city fc take on ultimate football machine in betstars face-off challenge

Foxes’ Official Betting Partner BetStars pits Premier League Champions against a robot in host of football trials 

 ONCHAN, Isle of Man – February 20, 2017 – Leicester City’s Premier League title winning team have put their skills to the test against the ultimate football machine – a robot constructed by a team of sporting experts – in the latest BetStars Face-Off challenge. Captured on camera by BetStars, an Amaya Inc. (NASDAQ: AYA; TSX: AYA) brand, the full video is now available to watch here.

The Face-Off challenges, from online betting site and the Foxes’ official betting partner BetStars, takes champions from the comfort of their sporting field into challenging situations where their skills and discipline are put to the test.

In the latest video, Leicester City heroes Christian Fuchs and Shinji Okazaki stepped up to take on the robot in a series of  events, testing power and accuracy, and providing the perfect preparation for the English champions as they face La Liga side Sevilla in the club’s first ever European knockout match. A teaser video was released asking fans to #Callit and fans can now see whether their prediction was right in the full video released today.

Vegas casinos wrote off fewer bad gambling debts in 2016

Casinos on the Las Vegas Strip had one of their best years in recent memory in terms of writing off uncollectable gambling debts, according to 2016 figures.

David Schwartz, a longtime number cruncher at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas’ Center for Gaming Research, filed a report last month examining credit issued to gamblers by Nevada casinos, using data culled from the Nevada Gaming Abstract, dipping as far back as 1980.

Nevada casinos don’t directly reveal their credit activity but the Abstract’s casino expenses section does contain a column indicating ‘bad debt’ provisions, which Schwartz says offers insights into how well casinos are managing their credit risks.

In fiscal 2016, Strip casinos – which bear the overwhelming bulk of the state’s bad debt expenses – reported writing off bad debts of nearly $110.2m. While that sounds massive, it’s actually the second-lowest total in the past 10 years and pales in comparison to some of the bad debt provisions Strip casinos made in the 1990s.

Jackpot.com licensed by the MGA to provide its Secondary Lottery offering

FEBRUARY 2017 – Lmatrix Ltd, the company which runs Jackpot.com, recognized as a world leader in the online lottery market, has become the first operator in the lottery field to receive a remote gaming license to accept bets on lotteries from the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA).  The license is the third that the Jackpot.com Group has received in the six months it has operated since its launch in August 2016, after receiving its Remote Operating License from the UK Gambling Commission, and its Remote Gambling License from the Republic of Ireland National Excise License Office.   The MGA License will enable Jackpot.com to continue the momentum generated since its launch through expansion into other markets.

Jackpot.com enables customers from various markets to instantly take part in the excitement of the world’s biggest jackpots.  With customers from over 50 countries, the user-friendly platform is available on all devices (PC, smartphones, tablets), and includes a wide variety of the most popular draws including US Powerball, Euromillions, US Megamillions, Eurojackpot, German 6aus49, and more.  By allowing customers to bet on lottery results, and insuring payments of prizes through a unique insurance model, Jackpot.com’s innovative offering is positioned to disrupt the lottery world.

Yariv Ron, co-founder of Jackpot.com, “We are very excited to be the first operator to receive the Secondary Lottery License from the Malta Gaming Authority, in line with our long-term strategy to continue expanding our business.  We plan to work closely with the MGA to continue to expand the range of this offering, while increasing our presence in Malta as we grow”.

Joseph Cuschieri, Executive Chairman at the MGA, “The MGA is pleased to issue its first, secondary lottery licence to LMatrix, upon the successful completion of a very rigorous application process, which gave the Authority the necessary reassurances to proceed with its licence approval.””

Keselowski co-Favored to win 2017 Daytona 500 along with Earnhardt Jr.

Will this finally be the year that Brad Keselowski breaks through and wins his first Daytona 500? Oddsmakers are certainly giving him a solid shot at winning this Sunday’s race, installing him as a +600 co-favorite with two-time winner Dale Earnhardt Jr., who crashed last year and ended up finishing 36th.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

Keselowski placed 20th in 2016 for Team Penske, leading for one lap before giving way to eventual winner Denny Hamlin, who beat Martin Truex Jr. by 0.01 seconds in the closest finish ever at Daytona International Speedway.

Earnhardt led the race for 15 laps early on following the lead of Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott, who became the youngest pole-sitter in Daytona 500 history at the age of 20 years old.

Champions League Review: Goals galore as Atletico and Man City book wins

Atletico Madrid and Man City take two goal leads into their second legs after two cricket scores against Bayer Leverkusen and Monaco respectively.

Atletico Madrid remains on course to reach a third Champions League Final in the past four years after beating Bayer Leverkusen by 4-2 at the BayArena.

Last season’s runners-up went into the match as the +145 favourites to win the tie and opened the scoring with a peach of a goal from Saul Niguez who curled a left-foot shot past the Leverkusen keeper to score his fifth goal of the season.

The Frenchman Kevin Gameiro was a royal pain in the ass for the Germans all night, and it was his break, turn and set up that allowed Antoine Griezmann to send the Spaniards into the break with a two-goal lead scoring his 14th Champions League goal in the 25th minute.

Aldemir & Colman pick up Triton titles; Seidel Closer to #1 Money Spot

Koray Aldemir and Dan Colman pick up titles at the Triton Super High Roller Series in Manila, and Erik Seidel moves closer to Daniel Negreanu at the top of the All Time Money charts.

The new year has begun with a young German in his 20s, hailing from Vienna, taking down a seven-figure score.

Sound familiar?

Fedor Holz began 2016 by winning the $200,000 Triton Super High Roller for $3.4m and used that result as the nitro-glycerine needed to power on and win $16.4m in all competitions.

David Leyonhjelm tells players ‘get a VPN’ in Aussie online poker row

Liberal Democrat Senator David Leyonhjelm has joined the fight to protect player’s rights to play online poker in Australia by creating an amended bill with a carve-out for online poker and online blackjack.

The Australian Online Poker Alliance (AOPA) has a new ally in the form of Senator David Leyonhjelm as the battle to protect online poker in Australia continues.

Writing on his Facebook Wall, the Liberal Democrats politician, had this to say about the proposed law to ban online poker:

“The Government wants to give authorities greater powers to crack down on playing online poker for money in Australia. I am working hard to have this bill amended so that there is an exception for online poker and blackjack, but if none of this works, I have some simple advice…

Pinnacle exits Poland, Ireland

Online sports betting operator Pinnacle has announced its withdrawal from Poland ahead of that country’s introduction of its new gambling regime.

On Monday, online betting affiliate Sportsbook Review (SBR) informed its readers that Pinnacle (still beloved by many under their old name Pinnacle Sports) had announced it would exit the Polish market as of April 1. The company cited “regulatory changes” as the reason behind the decision.

For anyone hoping this was an early April Fool’s gag, April 1 is also the day the new Polish Gambling Act takes effect. The amended Act, which was approved by parliament last December and signed by President Andrzej Duda on January 5, was sent to the European Commission for approval and the mandatory standstill period expires March 31.

The amended Act broadens the number of gambling products that can be accessed online, adding bingo, casino and poker to the existing sports betting and lottery sites, although these new options will be the sole responsibility of the state-owned Totalizator Sportowy gambling monopoly.

3: Barrels: Incredible live poker feats from Leah, Garcia and Hawkins

3-Barrels of live tournament value after Mike Leah wins the same World Poker Tour $1k event in Fallsview for the third time in four years, Cord Garcia defends his Heartland Poker Tour title in Golden Gates, and Maurice Hawkins wins another World Series of Poker Circuit ring.

 I recently conducted a straw poll of top pros to ask them if there was any science behind poker players winning at the same venue consistently, and apparently, it’s pure luck.

With that in mind, here are three very lucky poker players.

Maurice Hawkins could win an American Poker Award (APA) or two after being shortlisted for the Breakout Player of the Year, and Tournament Performance of the Year categories. Hawkins’ nominations resulted from his record-breaking achievement of winning three World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) Main Events in a calendar year.

Problem gamblers more likely to enter slots “immersive zone”

New research appears to confirm the hypothesis that problem gamblers are more likely to enter a ‘zone’ when sitting at a slot machine.

This month, the Psychology of Addictive Behaviors journal published the results of a new study by the University of British Columbia’s Centre for Gambling Research. The study sought to determine if problem gamblers displayed more “attentional pathology” than subjects with no history of gambling problems.

The study involved two groups: one was composed of UBC undergrads with no history of problem gambling while the other group consisted of individuals for whom slots play was a familiar activity. This latter group included some self-identified problem gamblers.

The subjects were asked to play a real slot machine in the UBC lab. The machine had video panels mounted on each side that displayed moving shapes, including white circles. The subjects were asked to press a button whenever they noticed a white circle morph into a red square to measure their “peripheral target detection.”