Phil Ivey begins his last ditch attempt to salvage £7.7m in lost Punto Banco winnings as he takes his case against Genting Casino to the UK Supreme Court.

Robin Hood, Lords, Ladies…are not the common words you expect to see chained to Phil Ivey in a sentence, but that’s what’s happened this week, as Ivey had his £7.7m date with destiny in the UK Supreme Court.

Ivey, who has been inconspicuous by his absence at the World Series of Poker (WSOP), decided against a trip to London. Instead,  Lord Neuberger, Lady Hale, Lord Kerr, Lord Hughes, and Lord Thomas, squared up against Ivey’s legal counsel: Richard Spearman QC.

The UK Supreme Court donned their superhero costumes after Ivey, and his legal team failed twice to prove Ivey and his buddy Cheung Yin Sun’s innocence. The pair used ‘edge sorting’ techniques to win £7.713.650.60 playing a derivative of Baccarat known as Punto Banco across 20 & 21 August 2012, at Crockford’s Casino in Mayfair, London.

The Swedish online gambling operator, Unibet, has partnered with the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s PGL Major Krakow to live stream over 80hrs of footage and offer betting markets for the event. 

When it comes to the relationship between traditional bookmakers and esports, the Swedish online casino Unibet are beginning to amp up their interest.

For the first time in Unibet’s history, they will provide live streaming coverage of a top esports live event on their UnibetTV Twitch channel. The event in question is the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS: GO) PGL Major Krakow taking place 21-23 July.

In June, tournament organisers held qualifiers throughout the Americas, Europe, CIS, Asia, and online, and 16 teams remain in contention for the $1m prize pool. The winners will receive $500,000, and the runner-up takes the consolation prize of $150,000.

Day 4 of the World Series of Poker Main Event has concluded with Kenny Hallaert primed for back-to-back final tables finishing the day third in chips.

Between 1987-1989 the name ‘Johnny Chan’ was ubiquitous with the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, winning back-to-back titles in 87 & 88, only to have his unprecedented triple triumph foiled in 89 by a promising young lad named Phil Hellmuth Jr.

Back then you could fit the WSOP Main Event combatants in a petri dish. Today, Chan’s accomplishments border on the impossible. Just making the final table is itself a minor miracle, and Mark Newhouse did that in 2013 & 2014 finishing in ninth place on both occasions, a fact that must have felt like a chisel driven into his marrow.

The Newhouse run was a mere flash in the pan.

Day 5 of the World Series of Poker Main Event has concluded with Kenny Hallaert and Michael Ruane both with a shot of making back-to-back final tables.

Day 5 of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event saw 212 players hung on meat hooks in the back room of the butcher’s shop, leaving 85 in contention for the $8,150,000 first prize, and leading them is the German player Robin Hegele.

When poker media print their poker poetry, the name of Robin Hegele, isn’t normally in a stanza, but he did run deep in this competition last year, finishing 124th for a $49,108 cash in his first appearance at the WSOP Main Event. Hegel is already guaranteed $72,514 come what may from this point onwards.

Yesterday, we waxed lyrical about Kenny Hallaert and his drive to make back-to-back Main Event final tables, and in doing so forgot about Michael Ruane. The American, who finished fourth for $2.5m last year is still in contention for making another final table bagging up 3 million in chips. Hallaert is still milling around this thing with 4.4m.

A floating casino has run aground on the Mandovi river in the Indian state of Goa, bringing unwanted attention to an already controversial subject.

On Sunday night, the MV Lucky 7 casino cruise vessel was being towed from Mormugao harbor to its designated anchoring spot on the Mandovi river when the ship got stuck on a sandbar near Miramar beach. The MV Lucky 7 had only just launched on the weekend after the ship’s owner, Golden Globe Hotels Pvt Ltd, received permission to set sail last week from the High Court of Bombay.

Local media reported that the Coast Guard was called to remove four of the MV Lucky 7’s 19 crew members, one of whom was injured while the others were described as being extremely sea sick. The vessel wasn’t due to take on any passengers until it reached its final mooring place.

The MV Lucky 7’s launch was preceded by warnings that the timing was ill-advised, given the arrival of the local monsoon season. Following the ship running aground, a local salvager told reporters said the ship’s crew had taken unnecessarily high risks due to the Aguada sandbar area being routinely closed for navigation during monsoon season.

India’s sports minister is denying media reports that he is holding early talks on finally legalizing sports betting in the country.

Last week, the All India Gaming Federation (AIGF) submitted a White Paper to the Law Commission of India (LCI) urging the adoption of central government legislation allowing legal betting – both land-based and online – on sports events. Betting on anything other than horseracing is currently illegal in India.

The White Paper suggests leaving decisions regarding land-based sports betting (and other forms of gaming) to India’s individual states, but because online activity “is so fluid, it makes sense to have a central law.” The AGIF also advocates for the creation of a National Gaming Council encompassing sports federations, the judiciary and investigative agencies to oversee gaming regulations.

Late last year, India’s Supreme Court ordered the LCI to study the pros and cons of legalized betting, leading the LCI to request public input into this process. LCI chairman, retired Justice Balbir Singh Chauhan, met with AGIF representatives on Monday, and the LCI told local media that it was “considering the industry’s demands.”