Australia’s only female World Series of Poker bracelet winner, Jacky Glazier, is set to appear in Australia Survivor: Champions v Contenders with the top prize of $500,000 up for grabs if she can take it down.

Jean-Robert Bellande once told me that his biggest challenge in life smacked him upside the head when competing in Survivor: China, and he’s not doing too bad for himself.

Ok, so a big bad Russian guy has been blowing smoke into his face from a cigar the size of Eurotunnel all week, but he has a lovely lady on his arm, an expensive looking goblet of red stuff at his beck and call, and a stack of chips the size of the old Berlin wall.

Maybe it did something to him.

Lee Davy spends nine minutes of his life watching Episode #1 of PokerGO and CakeWorks latest collaboration, Hand Histories and delivers his review. 

You know you’re fucked when the plan to climb out of a £30,000 hole is to wait until you’re 55 so you can use your pension lump sum as a ladder.

13 players left.

I have one of the biggest stacks in the room.

Japanese pachinko hall operator Dynam Japan Holdings Co. Ltd. (Dynam) continued to bear the brunt of severe business environment in the country, with revenues dropping 4.4 percent in the first quarter of fiscal year 2019.

Dynam announced before the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that its total revenue for Q1FY19 stands at ¥35.87 billion ($322.92million), down from ¥37.51 billion ($337.73 million) in the same period last year. Its total gross pay-ins for the first quarter ended June 30, 2018, also slipped 4.1 percent to ¥189.04 billion ($1.70 billion) from ¥197.11 billion ($1.77 billion) in Q1FY19.

On the flip side, Dynam’s hall operating expenses also declined 16.1 percent to ¥29.52 billion ($265.8 million) from ¥35.19 billion ($316.84 million).

The company attributed the decrease of its operating expenses to the reduction of pachinko and pachislot machine expenses. Data showed that pachinko and pachislot machine expenses for Q1 FY2019 stands at ¥5.18 billion ($46.64 million), a 46.9 percent plunge from ¥9.75 billion ($87.79 million) in the same period last fiscal year.

Not even the six-month closure of the idyllic, Philippine island holiday destination of Boracay has stopped Macau-based casino operator Galaxy Entertainment Group (GEG) from proceeding with its $500 million integrated resort project.

GMA News Online reported that the controversial multi-million dollar casino resort in Boracay is on track for a 2021 opening despite recent reiterations from the Philippine government that the popular island getaway will remain casino-free.

GEG’s local partner, Philippine-listed gambling operator Leisure and Resorts World Corp. (LRWC), pointed out that the six-month rehabilitation of Boracay has not affected its casino project in the island since they were able to finish what they needed to do prior to the closure of the island.

This included the purchase of 23-hectare lot in Barangay Manoc-Manoc, which was considered to be ‘alienable and disposable’ property, according to LRWC vice president for legal affairs Katrina Nepomuceno. Nepomuceno has not given a definite timeline for the actual construction of the brick-and-mortar facility in Boracay but she said that the original 2021 opening of the integrated resort is achievable.

The Philippines is about to see another influx of casinos via its freeport zone authority, the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA).

Secretary Raul L. Lambino, administrator and chief executive of CEZA, confirmed last week that four “big” integrated resort and casino operators from Hong Kong, Malaysia, Japan and South Korea have submitted letters of intent to establish integrated resorts in the northern part of the Philippines, the Manila Bulletin reported.

Of the four gaming companies, the Freeport authority has signed a memorandum of understanding with “a big Chinese proponent,” which will invest $500 million to develop Fuga Island into an integrated resort and casino, according to CEZA Senior Deputy Administrator Raymundo Roquero. Fuga Island is the second northernmost island group of the Philippines and falls under CEZA jurisdiction.

Plans for the 10,000-hectare island include the construction of a casino, a hotel, a theme park, theatres, and a $1-million peCr unit villa, among others. CEZA officials said the Chinese investor wants to replicate South Korea’s Jeju Island development in Fuga.

The HKD 1,000,000 (USD 127,000) Short-Deck, Ante-Only event at the Triton Poker Series in Jeju entered an unscheduled third day of action with Kenneth Kee, Cary Katz and Richard Yong all searching for that USD 2.8m win.

I was listening to Tom Dwan give a rare interview to PokerNews during a break in the HKD 1,000,000 (USD 127,000) buy-in Short-Deck Ante-Only event.

The host asked him why he only appeared at Triton events?

“They take the 2,3,4 and 5 out of the deck,” said Dwan referring to the Short Deck format.

A casino in Auburn, Washington, has taken an innovative approach to increase its customer base and bring the action to the client. The Muckleshoot Casino, in conjunction with Playport Gaming Systems, is launching a new app that allows gamblers to purchase games and place bets with real money from anywhere. While it sounds like it would be an enticing and viable solution to virtually anyone, there is one catch that might make things a little complicated—to play or collect winnings, the gambler must conduct the transactions while physically at the casino.

The casino will offer real-money games such as Bingo and others that aren’t played against the house. There are already a number of similar apps out there, but this is the first that requires a gambler to be present at the casino to deposit or to cash out. It is certainly a little more than inconvenient; not many would want to fly to Washington state just to make a deposit or cash out $300 in winnings.

Playport already has similar operations in Mexico. This will be its first casino-integrated operation in the United States, and the company notes that the games will be available directly from Playport’s point-of-sale and loyalty platforms.

Muckleshoot Casino is owned and operated by the Muckleshoot Indian tribe. As such, it isn’t subject to state laws. This is a bonus win for the casino, since a number of companies in Washington are currently facing lawsuits over casino-style games. Those companies, while not offering real-money gambling, are said to be in violation of Washington gambling laws, said to be some of the tightest laws in the country.