The sound of phones ringing incessantly inside the Philippine Stock Exchange drown the silent gasp of traders as they watch the share price of gaming technology provider PhilWeb Corp. take a nose dive on August 3.

PhilWeb, which has been managing the eGames network of Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation for the past 14 years, operates a network of 268 eGames cafes with a total of 8,839 gaming terminals nationwide.

It remits PHP14billion ($298 million) to the agency for its share of the revenue from the operations, according to the company.

But things came to an end on that day for PhilWeb chairman Roberto Ongpin after Duterte singled him as an oligarch embedded in government that must be destroyed.

As the number of bitcoin users continue to rise, more and more countries have started looking at regulating digital currency. Yet, despite the breakthroughs in some parts of the world, the situation remains complicated in a lot of regions.

Case in point is Colombia, whose government recently clarified its stance on the digital currency. The good news is that Colombia has no plans to make bitcoin illegal anytime soon. The bad news? The Financial Superintendency of Colombia doesn’t recognize bitcoins as a currency.

Jorge Castano Gutierrez, head of the Financial Superintendency of Colombia, said that under Article 6 of Law 31 of 1992, Colombia’s only monetary unit and unit of account is the peso issued by Banco de la Republica.

“Bitcoin is not a currency of Colombia and, therefore, does not constitute a means of payment or legal tender,” Gutierrez said in a circular published last week.

Philippine casino operator Travellers International Hotel Group Inc. implemented a major overhaul in its gaming facility as it resumes operations on Thursday.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Travellers announced that it has moved the gaming area of Resorts World Manila (RWM) on the ground and third floors as part of an overhaul in its security operations.

The second floor, which was set fire by problem gambler Jesse Javier Carlos when he barged inside the RWM premises, will be used for other non-gaming premises. .

RWM said passed the PAGCOR inspection that recognized how the enhancements and new emergency, safety and security protocols have been fortified since the June 2, 2017 incident.

Max Silver has gone wire-to-wire in Event #53: $3,000 Limit Hold’em Six-Handed to land the UK’s fourth bracelet of the summer, and Chris Bolek wins Event #50: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Bounty.

It was 2011, and I was preparing for hand-for-hand analysis of the €10,400 World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) Main Event in Cannes. There was more prime beef on the final table than an abattoir. Each of them a highly trained mercenary programmed to take shit down.

The roll call looked like this: Elio Fox, Chris Moorman, Moritz Kranich, Brian Roberts, Dermot Blain, Shawn Buchanan, Jake Cody, Patrik Antonius, and Max Silver. As they headed to the table prepared to beheaded each other I caught hold of Silver to ask him how he was feeling.

“I just hope she gets here on time,” he told me as he took his seat.

Bitcoin is here to stay, and it’s already changing the world as we know it.

And if we look beyond all the noise—about price movements and so-called cryptocurrency “craze”—it’s evident that bitcoin is already moving towards even more global and decentralized research and development.

In the Netherlands, a group of researchers, developers and visionaries have gathered in the Bitcoin friendly city of Arnhem for the first time to share knowledge research and showcase multiple implementations for digital currency.

The two-day event, called The Future of Bitcoin Conference 2017, allows people working with the Bitcoin protocol the opportunity to meet face to face, to discuss the future of bitcoin, while exploring the balance between cooperation and competition.

On Thursday, 22nd June, St. Petersburg hosted a large conference dedicated to blockchain and cryptocurrencies – Blockchain & Bitcoin Conference St. Petersburg. The event tickets to which were sold out one week prior to the end of registration featured 18 speakers from Russia and other countries. They focused on blockchain development in banking, regulation issues as well as a popular topic – ICO realization by blockchain startups.

Over half a thousand people took part in a conference and a demo zone.

What were speakers talking about?

Artem Tolkachev, the director at Deloitte CIS, dedicated his presentation to the world practice of technology regulations related to blockchain. He believes that ICO’s popularity will disappear maximum in a year because law doesn’t protect investors and startups raising money have no obligations. Investors need protection from “sheer lunacy” which is, actually, ICO, claims the jurist.

Australia-based casino operator Silver Heritage Group Ltd. announced that it issue entitlements offer to raise new capital for Tiger Palace Resort in Nepal.

Tiger Palace Resort Bhairahawa’s original cost had been estimated at $40 million but construction delays pushed the Nepal casino resort’s price tag to $51.8 million.

In a regulatory filing on Friday, Silver Heritage launched a fully underwritten accelerated renounceable entitlement offer as it seeks more funds for the completion and construction of Tiger Palace and to provide working capital.

Silver Heritage pointed out that the Entitlement Offer is part of the measures that company implemented to ensure that the construction of Tiger Palace is completed in accordance with the revised budget and timeline.

The leader of a conspiracy that netted millions of dollars by fixing lottery drawings in multiple US states has admitted his guilt for the first time.

On Thursday, Eddie Tipton, a former computer information security director for the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), appeared in an Iowa court to plead guilty to a single count of ongoing criminal conduct as part of a plea deal struck with prosecutors.

Tipton told Judge Brad McCall that he “wrote software that included code that allowed me to understand or technically predict winning numbers, and I gave those numbers to other individuals who then won the lottery and shared the winnings with me.”

Starting in 2005, Tipton installed a ‘rootkit’ device on the MUSL’s random number generator that led the machine to deliver pre-programmed numbers on select days of the year. Tipton enlisted the help of his brother Tommy and Tommy’s friend Robert Rhodes to cash millions of dollars’ worth of winning tickets from the rigged draws in five different states.

The leader of a conspiracy that netted millions of dollars by fixing lottery drawings in multiple US states has admitted his guilt for the first time.

On Thursday, Eddie Tipton, a former computer information security director for the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), appeared in an Iowa court to plead guilty to a single count of ongoing criminal conduct as part of a plea deal struck with prosecutors.

Tipton told Judge Brad McCall that he “wrote software that included code that allowed me to understand or technically predict winning numbers, and I gave those numbers to other individuals who then won the lottery and shared the winnings with me.”

Starting in 2005, Tipton installed a ‘rootkit’ device on the MUSL’s random number generator that led the machine to deliver pre-programmed numbers on select days of the year. Tipton enlisted the help of his brother Tommy and Tommy’s friend Robert Rhodes to cash millions of dollars’ worth of winning tickets from the rigged draws in five different states.

The World Poker Tour will induct Mike Sexton and Bruno Fitoussi into the WPT Honours List, and WPT Champions Club member Manuel ‘Noli’ Francisco Passes Away.

Robert Greene, the author of the 48 Laws of Power once wrote that only generous souls attain greatness, and when it comes to poker, I can’t think of two more generous souls than Mike Sexton and Bruno Fitoussi.

At various times in poker’s history, this pair has wielded tremendous power, but they have always used it to improve the game, and it’s for this reason that the World Poker Tour (WPT) is bestowing them with the highest honour within the company.

The pair will be inducted into the WPT Honours List at an intimate dinner for family and friends on Saturday, July 1, 2017, for outstanding contributions to the WPT and the greater poker community.

In this week’s Calling The Clock Chris ‘Jesus’ Ferguson is in contention to win the World Series of Poker Player of the Year; partypoker launch innovative new ‘Button Ante’ concept, and much more.

The World Series of Poker (WSOP) has gone through 51 events like a witch hunt goes through pitchforks, and there could be one almighty embarrassment on the cards in the Player of the Year (POY) race.

Ray Henson currently leads the way with 614.87 points after nine cashes and four final tables, but sitting in second position on 599.50 points is the man the poker world loves to hate: Chris ‘Jesus’ Ferguson.

The disgraced Full Tilt man, and former WSOP Main Event Champion, has cashed in 12 events, including a fourth place finish in the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi/Lo Championship event.

Another week and another insight into the routines and habits of a professional poker player, this time, the spotlight shines on the 888Poker Ambassador, Sofia Lovgren.

Sofia Lovgren is a poker polymath.

The Swedish star excels in both cash games and tournaments, and is a winner both online and live, a set of skills that are very much needed as the game gets tougher to beat.

Lovgren started out as a sponsored pro for the defunct 3D operator, PKR, before joining 888Poker as an ambassador in April 2014. Three years later, and Lovgren spends most of her time playing live cash games in the Far East, as well as spending time on the virtual felt of her beloved 888.