The legal fight to clear the uncertainty of the legality of poker games in the Indian state of Gujarat remains in limbo, as the state’s High Court postponed the ruling to allow government officials more time to reply to the petitions.

If you recall, seven poker clubs led by the Indian Poker Association (IPA) filed a plea asking the high court for “urgent adjudication” after Gujarat police took down three poker rooms in less than a month. In its petition, the association claimed that poker is a game of skill and playing the game “is an activity that is protected under the right to free trade and commerce, which is guaranteed under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution.”

The clubs, however, decided to withdraw their special criminal application and file a fresh civil petition challenging the Ahmedabad police commissioner’s statement that poker is not exempted under the Gujarat Prevention of Gambling Act because it is a game of chance.

IPA, along with six other poker clubs operating in Gujarat, believes that a fresh civil writ petition is the only way to challenge the police’s letter. The High Court has allowed the poker clubs to withdraw their criminal applications and file new petitions “to argue their contention that poker is a game of skill.”

After spending one week in Vancouver with our Founder (and Bitcoin evangelist) Calvin Ayre and attending GamCrowd’s Tech Conference, I couldn’t help but dedicate this week’s edition of Becky’s Affiliated to Bitcoin and how we as an industry can continue to follow the progress of this groundbreaking technology.

One of my “go to” sources for anything Bitcoin and gaming has always been Eric Benz, a friendly and informed professional who has been working in the payments technology sector for over ten years, with a more recent focus on the evolving Bitcoin and Blockchain technology.  Benz now serves as the Managing Director of Cryptopay, a “Paypal meets Revolute meets Bitcoin” payment solution.

According to Benz, Cryptopay is the largest Bitcoin pre-paid card issuer in existence and the company has already locked in a number of gaming operators and payment gateways while recently soft-launching their new mobile app.  Benz highlighted the simplicity of his company’s service for both merchants and customers and urges everyone to try out the mobile app to see for themselves just how simple it is to obtain and use a Bitcoin pre-paid debit card.

In an effort to expand his company’s reach and the Bitcoin ecosystem in general, Benz has been proactively meeting with gaming regulators, attending conferences, leading sessions and consulting with event organizers to educate all related parties on what needs to happen to make Bitcoin work.

The historic merger of daily fantasy sports (DFS) giants FanDuel and DraftKings is facing a major roadblock after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have raised serious competition concerns.

Recode reported that the FTC may block the FanDuel-DraftKings merger as it believe that the combination of the DFS firms will threaten competition.

Both FanDuel and DraftKings share the largest piece of the daily fantasy market pie. The report said that the two companies will face major anti-trust roadblocks if the FTC will decide only on the effect of the merger to the DFS.

The saving grace for both FanDuel and DraftKings was the fact that it introduced other products in the recent years. Daniel Wallach, a lawyer at Becker & Poliakoff in Florida who works on gaming and sporting law, pointed out that diversification of the two firms “buttress the contention that they’re not just simply in the space for daily fantasy sports.”

The Philippine House of Representative has summoned Travellers International Hotel Group, Inc. (Travellers) to attend the on-going probe into the June 2 attack on Resorts World Manila.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Farinas has ordered the issuance of a subpoena against former Genting HongKong president and Travellers owner David Ming Huat Chua after failing to attend the probe for the second time.

Chua was not able to attend the House inquiry because he had already left for HongKong last June 11, according to Resorts World Manila President Kingson Sian. Chua, according to Sian, lives in China’s special administrative region and is not a Filipino citizen.

Farinas, however, didn’t buy Sian’s excuse, warning Chua that the government will be compelled to issue a warrant of arrest against Chua if the Travellers executive fails to appear in the next House probe.

Two more gold bracelet stories to catch up on including Pablo Mariz winning the MILLIONAIRE MAKER and Shawn Buchwald writing an incredible story in the Limit Hold’em event.

WSOP.com

There is no secret sauce when it comes to hosting a large live poker tournament. You don’t spray the thing with a particular addictive fragrance. All you need to do is give someone the opportunity to make their dreams come true.

1. Offer them the chance to win a WSOP bracelet

The fight to keep online poker legal in Australia continues, this time with Senator David Leyonhjelm at the helm.

The Liberal Democrats politician is leading an online inquiry into the country’s online poker market as part of a series of efforts to stop the implementation of the Interactive Gambling Amendment Bill that bans the skill game in Australia. The Interactive Gambling Amendment Bill sought to close the loopholes in the Interactive Gambling Act, which allowed sports betting companies to find ways to circumvent it.

To close the loopholes, Australian lawmakers introduced a bill, which, in turn, prohibits online poker sites from operating in the country—an ill-advised move, according to Leyonhjelm.

“If I initiate an inquiry which highlights the stupidity of the law as it stands, perhaps some changes can be implemented,” the senator said in an interview with Poker News.

State-run Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) may allow Philippine-listed gaming technology provider PhilWeb Corp. to go back to business on one condition – it should change its operations.

In an interview aired over ANC’s Headstart, PAGCOR chair Andrea Domingo had approached her twice to inform her that he had taken over from former PhilWeb chairman Roberto Ongpin.

Ongpin was singled out by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte as “an oligarch that must be destroyed” when he assumed to power last year. It turned out that Ongpin was a victim of nasty rumors relayed to the president before he assumed power in July.

Domingo said she laid out a simple condition for PhilWeb to comply if it really wants to participate in the country’s vibrant gambling industry.

This is a guest contribution by Dmitry Ivanov of Binary and Forex . If you would like to submit a contribution please contact Bill Beatty for submission details. Thank you. 

Much has happened in recent years when it comes to the promotion and implementation of responsible gaming policies in online gambling. Operators have realized that offering responsible gambling tools to players is beneficial for a sustainable business model, while regulators have come to notice that it is important for their reputation and credibility.

While all of us were busy building and promoting tools for self-exclusion from sportsbooks and deposit limiting features for casinos, however, a whole industry has grown up and matured in our shadow, and it is one that likes to hide behind the label of financial respectability while being ten times worse than any gambling company when it comes to business practices. I am of course speaking about Binary and Forex trading companies and the products they are offering to the public.

Even Apple has had enough: the tech giant has just banned all Binary trading apps from its App Store, dealing a massive blow to this often shady but very lucrative category of apps. That should tell you everything you need to know about this industry. For a whole type of app to be kicked out by Apple is a clear sign that a considerable number of people have complained, otherwise the tech giant from Cupertino would never act like this.