Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) chief Andrea Domingo has doused speculations that she is the next government official to face President Rodrigo Duterte’s chopping block due to alleged power abuse.

Domingo broke her silence two days after Duterte announced that he’ll be firing gaming officials linked to corruption as part of his administration’s major house cleaning, which started in April.

The PAGCOR chief pointed out that the president neither mentioned PAGCOR nor the agency’s officials in his recent speeches. She said the gaming officials that the Philippine’s chief executive was referring to were those officials in the freeports.

There are three freeports that issue licenses in the Philippines: The Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan (AFAB); The Aurora Pacific Economic Zone (APECO); and Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA). Domingo said that gaming officials from these three jurisdictions will probably get the boot from the president.

Silver Heritage Group Ltd (SHG) out of Australia announced last Monday that Richard Barker has suddenly resigned from his position as a non-executive director, effectively immediately. In conjunction with the resignation, Barker won’t seek reelection during SHG’s annual general meeting, scheduled for the day after tomorrow.

In a filing with the Australian Securities Exchange, SHG reported that Barker resigned in order to “focus on other business interests.” According to the SHG corporate website, Barker has been an executive who “specialized in mergers and acquisitions, capital raisings and corporate financial advice.” The company’s filing stated, “The board of directors thanks [Mr.] Barker for his input and efforts during his tenure as a director.”

Barker’s departure marked the second seen by SHG this month. David Green, who was the company’s chairman and a non-executive director, resigned last May 7. SHG cited the same “personal reasons” as they did for Barker when Green resigned.

SHG operates a new Nepalese property, Tiger Palace Resort Bhairahawa, close to Nepal’s border with Uttar Pradesh in India. The property is one of three run by the boutique casino operator, along with the Phoenix International Club near Hanoi, Vietnam and the Millionaire’s Club and Casino in Kathmandu.

West Virginia’s Jason Koon is no stranger to the high-stakes poker tables. He has racked up over $16.5 million in live action, including a US$3.57-million win at the US$128,000 Short Deck tourney during this year’s Triton Super High Roller (TSHR) Series in Montenegro. Still, seeing a million-dollar pot slip out from between your fingertips is never a good feeling. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened in a recent Triton Cash Game in the TSHR series.

Koon found himself at the game with poker greats such as Patrik Antonius, Tom Dwan and Phil Ivey. Also present was the player that would become his nemesis, Kane Kalas. The game was a €1 million (US$1.17 million) buy-in NLHE event and a particular hand could not have gone more wrong for Koon. In poker, position can make or break a player.

Koon was sitting on A-Q off-suit, undoubtedly a strong hand. He bet in pre-flop with €11,000 (US$12,956), causing everyone at the table to fold except for Kalas and Nikita Badziakouski. Badziakouski called and Kalas raised to €55,000 (US$64,784). Not ready to be put off, Koon five-bet to €120,000 (US$141,000), causing to Badziakouski to get out of the way. Kalas was in for the long haul and called the bet.

A 5-3-6 didn’t offer any support to Koon, but he was confident that he would be able to at least buy the post. He bet in with €128,000 (US$150,000) and Kalas called. A 10 on the turn still didn’t help Koon, but he kept at it, betting €160,000 (US$188,000). Kalas, who was showing no emotion, called and an Ace on the river gave Koon his high pair. Koon felt like his shoving had paid off, and he moved all-in.

Fortnite developer, Epic Games, has pledged $100m into the first-ever Fortnite Esports pro-season leaving the sports books rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of another big esports hit.

I pull up outside the old house. It’s funny when I first got divorced. I still had a house key for the longest time, and I would drive home after work, walk into the front room, and my ex-wife would say, “Lee, you don’t live here anymore.”

These days, I sit in my car, outside, playing with my phone.

“Dad, you can come in if you like?” Said, my boy. “I’ll show you that game you write about.”

Atlantic City casinos reported reduced profits in the first quarter of 2018, making next month’s arrival of two more casinos the last thing the market needs.

Figures released Tuesday by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission show the state’s seven casinos generated combined revenue of $599.2m and gross operating profit of $123.6m in the three months ending March 31.

Both figures represent declines from the same period last year, with revenue down 3.2% and operating profit falling 11.7%. All seven venues were in negative revenue territory, led by Caesars, which fell 16.5%. The profit plunge was largely due to two operators – Caesars and the market-leading Borgata – which were down 38% and 27%, respectively.

AC’s casinos were on a roll in 2017, with combined profit for the year rising nearly one-quarter from 2016, but the market suffered repeated bouts of inclement weather earlier this year that brought the gravy train to a screeching halt. Hotel occupancy was down 3.2 points to 77.9% in Q1, as customers apparently chose to stay home and patronize the state’s licensed online gambling sites (which set revenue records during Q1).

The Poker Masters Champion, Steffen Sontheimer, qualifies for the Super High Roller bowl via the backdoor after Andrew Robl withdraws at the last minute, leaving question marks over why they didn’t select The Goose in the first place.

1998-99 was the finest year in Manchester United’s history, and that’s saying something given the rich tradition of the most famous football club in world football.

It began with Sir Alex Ferguson’s men winning their fifth Premier League title. The league and cup double came next when Teddy Sheringham and Paul Scholes secured a comfortable 2-0 win over Newcastle. It ended with complete and utter mayhem when United came from a goal down to beat Bayern Munich in the final of the Champions League with both goals coming in the three minutes that Pierluigi Collina had awarded for injuries.

The Treble.

3:Barrels with a hint of World Poker Tour seasoning including an update from the Bobby Baldwin Classic at ARIA, information relating to the added-value at the Tournament of Champions, and Matt Montgomery picks up the DeepStacks title in Fresno.

Season XVI of the World Poker Tour (WPT) is heading for an exciting conclusion with the Bobby Baldwin Classic in full swing at the ARIA, the WPT Tournament of Champions and WPT Bellagio High Roller pencilled in for appearances at The Esports Arena Las Vegas, and another successful WPTDeepStacks event, this time in Fresno.

The $10,000 buy-in WPT Bobby Baldwin Classic attracted 162 entrants, creating a $1.5m prize pool. The winner has to figure out how to spend $387,580, and there are 20 players left after Darryll Fish fell in 22nd place (Terry Fleischer cashed in 21st for $19,990).

Leading the way is Jonathan Little. The man who writes more books than Lee Child has 763,000 chips, and is attempting to become the sixth person to win three WPT Main Event titles.

Casinos in the Turkish-controlled northern half of Cyprus are reportedly being probed for allegedly laundering the astounding sum of $5b. Or perhaps not.

On Monday, Turkish Cypriot media outlet Havadis reported that the Turkish Board of Investigation on Financial Crimes (MASAK) was looking into allegations that some 13 gaming venues in the northern half of Cyprus had laundered some $5b for as-yet parties unknown.

The report claimed that MASAK had seized $100m after studying accounts linked to seven casino managers, which reportedly revealed transfers of vast amounts of foreign currency. Some 20 companies affiliated with the casinos are also reportedly under MASAK’s microscope.

The report went on to link the funny money transfers to seven Turkey-based banks, including Bank Asya, which was shut down in 2016 for its links to controversial cleric Fethullah Gülen, who the Turkish regime has declared an outlaw and is currently in exile in the United States.

A floating casino in the Indian state of Goa is disrupting life for many local residents who say the berthed vessel is threatening their safety.

For the last two months, Golden Globe Hotels Pvt Ltd has been operating Goa’s newest floating casino, the Big Daddy (Maharaja) Casino, which plies its trade on the Mandovi river but collects and deposits customers from a jetty in Goa’s capital Panaji.

This weekend, the Herald Goa reported that local residents were losing it over the fact that casino customers who queue up nightly waiting to board the casino are blocking a local footpath, forcing local residents to walk on the adjacent road during rush hour, leading to traffic jams and a few incidents in which cars have struck pedestrians.

The boat’s captain told the Herald that it wasn’t just gamblers blocking the path but passengers trying to board other cruise ships. The captain claimed the problem will persist until the Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC) “completes the construction of terminal building.”