In order to infiltrate a community and not be discovered, it might be a good idea to lurk in the shadows. Don’t be flashy, don’t draw a lot of attention, and choose a good name.

“The_Mole” is an example of a name that doesn’t meet those criteria. However, that’s what a staff member of iPoker did on the 2+2 poker forums, resulting in moderators taking a closer look at who was behind the nickname. The outcome was a ban on the user—and a little bit of embarrassing publicity for the website.

When a new user started participating in threads related to iPoker, in particular regarding the use of bots and possible questionable activities on the site, it didn’t take long for the posts to get noticed. After leaving a couple of posts that raised members’ eyebrows, a poster called out “The_Mole” as an iPoker employee. To that, he or she responded, “Pretty weird.  It would be ridiculous to post statements like that, unless I somehow had inside information. Which I couldn’t possibly have, obviously.” That is virtually the same as saying, “Yeah, I’m guilty. You discovered me.”

Going undercover can be a tricky ordeal. Throughout history, spies have met a wide array of punishments, including some pretty gruesome deaths. That might be a gross overreaction in this case, but it certainly made more than a few users get out the pitchforks and torches. Fortunately for the unidentified user, he or she escaped unscathed.

The WSOP Circuit Las Vegas $2,200 NLHE High-Roller tournament drew a modest field of 130 players looking to take a piece of the action. By the time it was over, New York native Loni Harwood outlasted everyone to take first place and a purse worth $72,802. She continues to fill her jewelry box with more bling, having now accumulated five WSOP Circuit rings and two WSOP gold bracelets. To date, Harwood has racked up over $2.6 million in live-cash winnings.

It was a difficult battle for the 29-year-old player. At the final table, with only three players remaining, she was down to less than ten big blinds before doubling up twice to get back into the game. Both of those hands were against Anjush Mandavia, the Atlanta, Georgia native who is second on Georgia’s All-Time Money list. Mandavia at this point was probably feeling a little frustrated and pushed all-in on a three-bet with A-8. Unfortunately for him, Harwood was holding A-10, and Mandavia couldn’t find a match, hitting the rails in third place with $32,089 to add to the $4.4 million he had already racked up in live action.

Now in heads-up action against Joseph Cheong, Harwood was a 9-7 chip underdog. Cheong would go on to extend his lead a little further after correctly reading a bluff attempt by Harwood. At this point, Harwood found the cards starting to line up in her favor and she was able to take a 2-1 chip lead before the pair duked it out on the final hand. A four-bet all-in jam by Cheong, who was holding A-9, was answered by Harwood with A-Q suited. A run out of the board didn’t produce any connectors for Cheong, who settled for second place and just under $45,000. To date, he has won over $12 million in live earnings.

Harwood and Cheong had some stiff competition going into the final table. Vincent Moscati, who took first place at the 2018 Card Player Poker Tour at Golden Gates in Colorado in January, was sent home in eighth place and a tiny stack worth $7,896. Seth Davies, with more than $1.8 million in live winnings and a tournament history dating back to 2010, made it a little further. He was eliminated in sixth place for $13,081.

Macau casino operator SJM Holdings endured double-digit declines in earnings and profit last year, while its share of the overall Macau market fell to a new record low.

Figures released Wednesday show SJM’s 2017 gaming revenue was essentially flat at HKD41.3b (US$5.3b), while adjusted earnings fell 10% to HKD3.1b and profit slumped 15.6% to just under HKD2b.

SJM’s VIP, mass market tables and slots revenue were all essentially flat year-on-year, despite the overall Macau market revenue rising nearly one-fifth over the same period. SJM’s share of Macau’s broader casino market fell to 16.1% in 2017, down from 19.1% in 2016, which was itself down from 2015’s 21.7%.

SJM CEO Ambrose So said the company remained optimistic about the future of Macau and claimed SJM was entering 2018 “in a strong position.” For the record, that’s the exact same phrase So used when discussing the company’s disappointing 2016 results, so read into that what you will.

The Indian state of Goa is contemplating forcing its casino industry to relocate en masse to a new ‘entertainment zone’ planned for a local airport.

Last week, Goa’s Public Works minister Ramkrishna Dhavalikar informed the state legislature that the government planned to open a designated entertainment zone near the under-construction airport in the village of Mopa along the state’s northern border.

Goa’s six licensed shipboard casinos are floating on borrowed time, as the state government previously announced that the vessels will all have to move their gaming operations onshore by July 2020. The Mopa airport isn’t expected to open for business until 2020, and Dhavalikar didn’t specify whether the planned entertainment zone would open in advance of the airport.

Goa also has nine land-based gaming venues, most of which are based in luxury hotels and cater to tourists. However, Dhavalikar suggested that all Goa casinos – be they floating or land-based – could be relocated to the new Mopa entertainment zone.

As a District Judge throws out allegations made by Leon Tsoukernik that Matthew Kirk and the ARIA Casino & Resort conspired to win millions of dollars from the Czech Casino owner, Lee Davy points an angry finger at poker for allowing these cases to rumble on.

I remember being cheated in a home game by a man in his 60s known as The Bookie. I didn’t react well. If he were a bee, I would have pulled out his stinger there and then. But that’s not the point. 

As I was throwing chairs, and moving around the room like a moth with a singed wing, the game went on. I remember asking my mates to take my side. To say something, anything.

Nothing.

As a District Judge throws out allegations made by Leon Tsoukernik that Matthew Kirk and the ARIA Casino & Resort conspired to win millions of dollars from the Czech Casino owner, Lee Davy points an angry finger at poker for allowing these cases to rumble on.

I remember being cheated in a home game by a man in his 60s known as The Bookie. I didn’t react well. If he were a bee, I would have pulled out his stinger there and then. But that’s not the point. 

As I was throwing chairs, and moving around the room like a moth with a singed wing, the game went on. I remember asking my mates to take my side. To say something, anything.

Nothing.

After Phil Galfond shares his thoughts that PokerStars is becoming nothing more than a casino, a Norwegian poker player wins $1.6m playing the slots, and Jake Cody puts it all on black – Lee Davy pens an op-ed about it all.

I’ve always wanted to hold a sponsored poker player’s Roles & Responsibility Statement in my hand. It’s an itch. No, more like a gnaw. I know there is a headline and then nothing beneath. I know it. It’s the reason those who are supposed to write them never produce one.

Isaac Haxton is proof personified.

The former PokerStars darling and new partypoker squeeze is busy doing the media interview rounds, celebrating his new position, giving his new employer some air time, and telling all and sundry that the beauty of his contract is he can do what he wants, go where he wants and play what he wants.

Brazil’s long-stalled efforts to legalize online gambling could come to nothing after the government made a surprise push to legalize only land-based casinos at integrated resorts.

On Tuesday, Joao Carlos Bacelar (pictured right), a deputy in Brazil’s lower legislative body, gave an impassioned speech in the Chamber of Deputies slamming the Ministry of Tourism’s urgent request for consideration of a plan to legalize integrated resorts.

The plan involves fusing several pieces of legislation, including a bill calling for the creation of the Brazilian Tourism Promotion Agency, another amending the National Tourism Policy to define the federal government’s role in overseeing the nation’s tourism industry.

Deputy Paulo Azi, who oversees the Chamber’s Tourism Committee, pushed for a single urgency vote on the combined legislation, which would bypass the need for further committee input and move the bill to a vote by the full Chamber.

Winamax signs Leo Margets and João Vieira as they continue to prepare for the launch of their product in the European Shared liquidity market of Spain, France, Italy and Portugal.

It’s one thing to lose your greatest ever midfielder to one of your competitors. But to lose him to an online poker room. Wow, that would have been the final staple in Arséne Wenger’s coffin. And that’s what I thought when I saw a headline saying that Vieira had joined Winamax.

Don’t call me nuts. We live in a world where a reality TV star can become President. For the first time since we jumped on a raft and said, “Let’s leave this dustbowl,” anything is possible.

But I was wrong.

Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez – move over, a new breed of digital superstars need your shirt space after FC Barcelona revealed plans to create an esports team to compete in a new eFootball league based on Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer.

I guess a ‘splash page’ is a web page designed to make a ‘splash’, like a kid trying to chew gum and talk at the same time while jumping into a puddle. That’s not what I saw this morning.

FC Barcelona is one of the most iconic football clubs in the world. It is a business. It is a brand. It is a story. It is a dream. This week, the Catalan club announced plans to enter the world of esports.

A brand new team of esports professionals will join Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez at the club, representing FC Barcelona in digital football matches, worldwide.