Doyle Brunson is a man that most – if not all – poker players know, at least by name. He has been a regular fixture on the poker scene for more than half a century and is as much a part of the game as are the cards, chips and felt. The 85-year-old patriarch has more than $6 million in live tournament winnings, ten WSOP bracelets and one WPT title. Now, he is also the owner of a brand new Cadillac Escalade, courtesy of those he took down in Bellagio’s Bobby’s Room poker room.

Brunson showed off his new wheels on Twitter, captioning a picture of the Escalade with, “I want to thank all the players who lost money in Bobby’s Room this summer. This new Escalade is from their generosity.”

Not everyone was impressed, however. One follower who obviously didn’t appreciate the joke, “le touche philippe,” took offense to the post and responded, “To thank people who lost money seem to me so stupid…definitively you’re a great player but for the rest.. I guess it’s your age.”

Brunson responded as only he would, saying, “Almost a 1,000 responses and yours was the only negative one. You got no sense of humor le touche.”

One of Macau’s leading caisno junket operators is expanding its presence at Galaxy Entertainment Group’s StarWorld Hotel property.

On Friday, GGRAsia reported that Macau junket investor Tak Chun Group had confirmed plans to shift its current operations at GEG’s StarWorld property to a different floor, while also expanding the number of tables under its control.

According to the report, Tak Chun currently operates 14 VIP gambling tables at StarWorld, but the newly relocated VIP club – which will take up the whole 11th floor – will now feature 16 tables.

Tak Chun has been on an expansionist tear this year, launching new VIP clubs at Sands China’s Plaza Macao in February and at the Macau Roosevelt Hotel, which operates under a SJM Holding license, in May.

The gross domestic product (GDP) in Macau improved slightly in the second quarter of the year compared to the same period in 2017. The GDP was up 6% for the quarter, supported by “steady growth in exports of services and private consumption.” Gaming services are considered exports in the city for GDP purposes, as the majority of the gaming consumers are foreign tourists.

According to Macau’s Statistics and Census Service, over the first half of 2018, Macau’s GDP rose a total of 7.6% year-on-year. The first quarter saw an increase of 9.2% and the second-quarter figures were lower as a result of “a smaller increase in exports of services and a notable decline in investment.”

In the three months ending on June 30, exports, including gaming services, rose by 13.7% year-on-year. Exports of non-gaming tourism services in the same period increased by 13%.

The total of all services exports, considered to be the “major driving force” for economic growth in the city, grew by 13% in the second quarter over the same period last year. This was fueled by an increase in visitor arrivals during the quarter, as well as an increase in spending by the tourists. A jump of 30% in the export of goods during the quarter was also recorded.

Lee Davy talks to Daniel Negreanu about his Platinum Pass Adventure, the importance of living a life of abundance, service and refusing to get into low-frequency disputes.

I walk into the area where the best in the world are competing in the €100,000 buy-in Super High Roller. I extend a hand to Patrik Antonius’ Social Media Manager ( I made the title up). I love his jacket. I can never remember his name. I find it difficult to decipher what he says. But I love the guy. He reminds me of David Bowie. Not that I ever met the man, but you get my point. A man who has spent his life refusing to conform.

Daniel Negreanu stands up.

“Are you ready for me, Lee?”

US sports betting is now the news stream that just keeps on giving, even long after news sites have exceeded our capacity to keep up with them, so without further ado, here’s the latest updates.

On Monday, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) confirmed receiving a sports betting license application from Greenwood Gaming & Entertainment (GGE), which operates the state’s market-leading brick-and-mortar gaming venue Parx Casino, which has a betting tech deal with Irish firm GAN.

GGE is also seeking to offer wagering at the South Philadelphia Turf Club, one of three off-track betting parlors it operates in the state. GGE’s application urged the PGCB to fast-track its application, so that its new sportsbooks “capture as much of the popular fall sports season and events as possible.”

GGE’s application comes 10 days after Penn National Gaming (PNG) filed the state’s first sports betting license application to offer wagering at its Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course. PNG’s application came two days after the PGCB published the final draft of its sports betting regulations.

The Mikita Badziakouski streak continues as the Belarusian adds the €100k PokerStars European Poker Tour Barcelona title to his back-to-back Triton Poker Series Main Event titles.

Everyone knows that Justin Bonomo has earned more live tournament dollars than anyone in 2018. But do you know who sits in second place?

Mikita Badziakouski.

The Belarusian is on a tear.

The Ohio Lottery has taken a tentative step towards the future by allowing customers to make draw ticket purchases via mobile devices.

Last week, the Ohio Lottery introduced its new mobile-enabled Lottery Card, which allows customers to place ticket orders for such draw games as Powerball and Mega Millions. The cards can be purchased at a number of the Lottery’s retail partners, including Buehler’s, Fresh Food, Giant Eagle and Kroger stores.

The cards are available in two denominations — $10 for five plays, or $20 for 10 plays, plus an 89¢ fee for Mobile Play Benefits. Customers text the cards’ unique codes to a specified number, confirm their identity, age and location, then can order draw tickets, the quick-pick numbers of which are confirmed by text and picture message. Winnings under $500 are paid instantly to a customer’s PayPal account.

The Lottery Card project, which comes courtesy of tech outfit Linq3 — one of the parties behind the Minnesota Lottery’s now-shuttered online sales channel — and fintech firm Blackhawk Network, marks the state’s initial effort to update their purchasing channels to appeal to a younger demographic, which traditionally view lottery tickets as a stodgy product better enjoyed by their grandparents.

A fatal shooting at a Bahamas ‘web shop’ gambling venue won’t help operators’ efforts to roll back new tax hikes.

Last Friday, the Bahamas Tribune reported that an unidentified patron of the Everybody Wins web shop shot another customer several times on Friday morning. While the motive remains unclear, both the victim and his murderer are reportedly known to police.

The timing couldn’t be much worse, as licensed web shops – which offer online casino-style games via computer terminals as well as lottery products – are facing increased taxes on their gambling revenue, while customers face a 5% tax on their online gambling deposits and over-the-counter lottery sales.

The revenue tax took effect on July 1, while the customer deposit levy was postponed until September 1 after the government discovered that recertifying the operators’ digital operations was taking longer than expected. On August 15, Tourism Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar confirmed that the deposit tax would kick in as planned, whether operators were ready or not.