3:Barrels of pure value including news that partypoker has temporarily pulled out of the market in the Czech Republic, a Czech launch date for PokerStars, and a cheap advertising trick.

It’s a case of better late than never for partypoker after they pulled the plug on their real money offerings in the Czech Republic.

The news emerged via the Czech Republich poker news site Poker-Arena and was conveyed to readers of the English language by CasinoNewsDaily.

According to the reports, partypoker players attempting to log onto the site from within the Czech Republic are being greeted with a notice explaining that the site is closed for business. Players aren’t able to deposit funds, but they can withdraw in normal fashion.

The fallout from the People’s Bank of China’s (PBoC) crackdown on domestic digital currency exchanges continues, and this time BTC China has announced that it will stop cryptocurrency withdrawals for one month.

On Thursday, the Shanghai-based bitcoin exchange said on its website that the hold will be extended to March 15—marking the third time BTC China has extended the ongoing bitcoin and litecoin withdrawal on its platform.

Considered to be one of China’s “Big 3” exchanges, BTC China announced early this month that it will subject all bitcoin withdrawals to a 72-hour review as it upgrades its internal systems. Days later, the 72-hour delay was upped to 10 days.

This time, BTC China said it plans to continue the audit of its system.

Essel Group has teamed up with Canada-based B2B gaming software provider Mojo Games to roll out its second poker website, mercurypoker.com.

Mercurypoker, which will join the India Poker Network (IPN), is a joint venture between Essel Group—via its subsidiary Mercury Gaming Solutions—and Mojo Games, the Canadian company said in a statement. The Joint Venture is a 50/50 split in ownership and profits for the network, in which Mojo Games supplies iGaming technology, ecommerce, back office and marketing support.

As the first network partner, Mercury Gaming Solutions will be a direct-to-consumer site and the joint venture expects to launch Baadshah Gaming, a subsidiary of Casino Pride, soon. The partners also plan to build a nationwide network of poker players by launching new B2B partners all sharing in the India network’s pool of players. Public records identified Pranav Bathija as the promoter of Mercury Gaming Solutions and the owner of the mercurypoker.com domain name, according to GLaws.in’s Jay Sayta. Bathija, according to the report, is a close business associate of Amit Goenka, the son of Essel Group Chairman Subhash Chandra.

Bathija, however, stressed that “Mercury Poker is an entirely different business entity” that “is not related to Essel Group at all.”

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised its economic growth forecast for Macau in 2017 despite a still fragile gambling industry.

In its 53-page report released on Wednesday, the international monetary lender has revised its outlook for Macau upwards, from 0.2 percent to 2.8 percent on the back of large financial reserve that will serve a buffer against economic headwinds.

Data from the IMF shows that Macau’s foreign exchange reserves were roughly US$19 billion after 15 years of double-digit current account surpluses. Its net assets reached 280% of GDP at the end of 2015.

“Real output is expected to contract for a third consecutive year in 2016. However, external demand has begun to recover with gaming revenues posting six consecutive months of positive annual growth. In 2017, a low base will help increase growth above 2 percent despite continued weak domestic demand,” the IMF said. “Further out, Macau… is well-positioned to record sustainable growth in the mid-single digits. In addition to its still highly valuable gaming monopoly within China, Macau… is an established tourist destination with significant geographic proximity to – and cultural affinity with – mainland China. Moreover, Macao SAR is now investing aggressively in non-gaming tourism and financial services.”

Casino operator Melco Crown Entertainment (MCE) posted a 13% revenue gain in the final quarter of 2016, adding to the momentum behind the overall Macau market’s recovery.

MCE reported revenue of $1.192b in the three months ending December 31, up 13% from Q4 2015. Operating income totaled $116m versus a loss of $17.8m the year before – a period weighed down by opening costs of MCE’s Studio City resort in Macau – while net income totaled $43.3m versus a loss of $12.3m.

Studio City’s performance to date had been underwhelming but MCE CEO Lawrence Ho credited the property with goosing Q4’s numbers. Studio City’s net revenue nearly doubled year-on-year to $246m –the property was only open for two-thirds of Q4 2015 – and its mass market revenue was up 10% from Q3 2016.

Studio City began life as a purely mass-focused venue, but its sluggish start prompted MCE to add a VIP component that got underway in November. VIP turnover hit $1.3b in Q4 but win was spectacularly unlucky at 1.4%, less than half the theoretical 2.85% rate.

In this week’s Calling the Clock, Lee Davy brings you news of a brand new game from PokerStars, a right royal cock up with the registration process at the Super High Roller Bowl, and much more.

We begin this week’s odyssey into the heart of poker’s biggest news stories with a peek behind the American poker curtain and the news that New York Senator John Bonacic’s online poker bill galloped through the Racing, Gaming and Wagering Committee by an 11-0 vote. The bill’s next stop on its route to inevitable failure is the Senate Finance Committee.

New York wasn’t the only state poring over political poker paperwork this week. A new bill (HB.799) was introduced by Floridian Republican Elizabeth Porter, that if passed, would allow establishments in the Sunshine State to host charity tournaments with buy-ins less than $200 and a host of other stipulations.

Nevadians don’t have to deal with such trivialities. You can do what the hell you like in that state. And this week there was a lot of poker stories coming out of Las Vegas.

Lee Davy continues his Lessons in Life column with a look at a chapter called ‘Become a Student’ from the Ryan Holiday classic: Ego is The Enemy.

Ego.

Everyone has Got One as Sonya Aurora Madden once sang, and they don’t get much bigger than those resting in the minds of a large slice of the poker community.

Like most sporting arenas, Ego is rife. People strut like peacocks. Expensive man bags, Gucci loafers, and Grandfather clock size wrist candy. The big I Am stare downs. The mouthing off. The back to front baseball caps and Chips style shades.

Organisers for the third Super High Roller Bowl have increased the field size to 56 players after registration balls-up.

The organisation of the Super High Roller Bowl (SHRB) has been shambolic, hardly befitting of an event many call the High Roller World Championship.

After two successful events had pulled in a combined prize pool of $36.5m, I don’t think anyone doubted the game would become a mainstay. A team comprising of ARIA Resort & Casino, Poker Central and POKER Productions peeps announced the third tournament on Jan 16, 2017.

The press release explained that the event would be a rake free $300,000 buy-in rake with a player cap of 50. The projected prize pool was $15m with an estimated $5m for the winner. It also stipulated it was an ‘open event’ with ‘ARIA reserving 15 seats for non-professional high rollers, including one celebrity.’

Casino operator MGM Resorts’ stock took a pounding on Thursday after the company posted lower than expected earnings due to softness at its Las Vegas properties.

MGM released its Q4 and FY16 numbers on Thursday, and the company’s domestic resorts showed revenue up 17% to $1.8b in the three months ending December 31. However, revenue was up only 2% on a ‘same store’ basis, i.e. excluding contributions from the new National Harbor casino in Maryland and the fact that MGM now owns 100% of Atlantic City’s Borgata.

Domestic casino revenue was up 3% while room revenue gained 4% on a same store basis. MGM blamed the sluggish domestic growth in part on a lower number of convention-goers sleeping it off in an MGM hotel room. Adjusted property earnings were up 1% to $493m on a same store basis, well below analysts’ forecasts of $543m.

The MGM China operations in Macau reported flat revenue of $500m in Q4. Main floor table games were down 2% but VIP table revenue rose 7%. However, the VIP gains were due to MGM getting lucky, posting a win rate of 3.7% compared to 3% in Q4 2015. Actual VIP turnover was down 16% year-on-year.

Live dealer online casino technology outfit Evolution Gaming saw its revenue rise by more than one-half in 2016 as customers demanded greater choice from online gambling operators.

Figures released Thursday show Evolution’s revenue rising 53% to €34.3m in the three months ending December 31, while earnings rose 39% to €13m and profit gained over 30% to €9m.

For the year as a whole, revenue was up 51% to €115.5m, earnings rose 44% to €44.6m and profit soared 58.5% to €31.7m. Evolution’s phenomenal growth was reflected in its payroll, which grew from 1,922 warm bodies at the end of 2015 to 3,402 as of December 31, 2016.

Evolution CEO Martin Carlesund celebrated a very successful year, which happened to mark the company’s tenth anniversary. The year saw Evolution launch new dedicated live dealer environments for a number of clients, including 888 Holdings, Virgin Games and GVC’s Bwin brand, and opened the Romanian regulated market’s first live casino.

Online casino technology supplier NetEnt saw revenue and earnings rise more than one-quarter in 2016 and the company plans to spend big to ensure growth continues in 2017.

Figures released Thursday show the Stockholm-listed NetEnt’s revenue rising 24% to SEK 400m (US $45.1m) in the three months ending December 31, while operating profit rose 28% to SEK 156m and after-tax profits jumped nearly 30% to SEK 150m.

For 2016 as a whole, revenue rose 28.5% to a record SEK 1.45b, operating profit was up one-third to SEK 536m and profits jumped 35% to SEK 504m.

NetEnt inked a total of 45 new customer agreements in 2016 (another record), of which 34 new customers’ casinos launched during the year. But NetEnt still has 31 signed customers whose NetEnt products have yet to launch, positioning the company for future growth in 2017.

Casino operator Imperial Pacific International Holdings (IPI) says its permanent Saipan gaming venue will have a “soft opening” on March 31, although gaming regulators aren’t entirely convinced.

On Thursday, IPI execs met with members of Saipan’s House Committee on Gaming and the Commonwealth Casino Commission (CCC) to update them on the company’s progress on its permanent resort casino, the Imperial Pacific Resort Hotel Saipan. CCC members toured the construction site earlier this week and came away “very impressed.”

The Marianas Variety quoted IPI senior VP of operations Donnie Browne saying construction on the ground floor of the building that will house the new casino is 47% complete and that the casino would ‘soft open’ on March 31, while the adjoining hotel would follow in August.

IPI currently operates a temporary (and phenomenally successful) casino, Best Sunshine Live, out of the T-Galleria shopping mall. The property’s lease expires in April, leaving little wiggle room if IPI’s construction schedule hits a snag.