“The Beast” is back and bigger than ever. The poker option offered by the Winning Poker Network (WPN) is a progressive rake race that has been run on a weekly basis, but which will now be run every day in order to determine if it’s a monster hit with players.

The Beast has been around since 2012. It is one of the most popular poker promotions found on Black Chip Poker and Americas Cardroom. It initially was only meant to be a monthly rake race, but has since moved to a bi-weekly, then a weekly, schedule. It offers methods to qualify for a number of live and online poker tournaments.

Starting on November 4, the WPN will be conducting a test to see if The Beast works as a daily race. Cash prize tiers will be reduced to $500, $200, $50 and $25, which will give players a better opportunity to improve their bankrolls. Top performers will be able to win more, as well, with an increased ceiling above the current $2,500.

According to the WPN, the new format will be available for the entire month of November. The last day of the month is a Friday this year, which means that it can easily be continued if it proves to be popular. Alternatively, if players don’t like it, The Beast will return to its previous weekly schedule, which saw the race held every Saturday.

The Lucky Dragon in Las Vegas has proven to be anything but lucky. It halted its gaming operations this past January, after about a year after opening, and subsequently closed all operations by last month. Since then it has tried to find someone willing to take a chance on purchasing it, but there have been no takers. Even when it was put up for auction in September, not a single bid was received. It has now held its second auction and the results were no better than they were last time.

The off-strip foreclosed property went to auction this past Tuesday with an opening bid of $35 million, according to the Washington Times. Three individuals had been pre-qualified to submit bids; however, not one was willing to take the plunge. The closest thing it has to an owner now is the chain-link fence that surrounds the property.

The Lucky Dragon, which cost around $160 million to build, was designed to capture an Asian market, which developers said were unrepresented in Vegas. They said at the time that it would be the “first resort delivering an authentic Asian cultural and gaming experience.” It includes a casino floor measuring 27,500 square feet, a hotel with 203 rooms, space for restaurants and bar, a retail space and other amenities. When it opened, it offered 30 gaming tables, 300 slot machines, the hotel and not much else.

The venue was financed, in part, by Chinese investors who were promised U.S. residency in exchange for their investments. The deal is part of a U.S. visa program that awards residency for making sizeable investments, of at least $500,000, in certain industries that can lead to the creation of more jobs.

The only listed casino operator in India, Delta Corp., wants to build an integrated resort (IR) in Goa. It would include a convention center, a water park, retail space and, of course, a casino. However, it isn’t willing to move forward unless the government makes a significant concession.

According to the company’s chairman, Jaydev Mody, the IR could be added to the state’s landscape if the government agrees to a policy change that would see the area’s floating casinos move onshore. In speaking with the Economic Times, he indicated that any plans, as well as the level of investment, for Goa hinge completely on the approval of the policy.

“It is a win-win for everybody, for the government, for the people and for the industry. It makes a lot of sense…I do not see any reason why we cannot keep growing at that pace in the future. The business is there and we will keep growing. We just have to keep innovating and keeping our product and quality of service right up there,” he explained.

The government is said to be contemplating a policy change that would allow the floating casinos to move out of the Mandovi River and into another area. The most likely candidate would be a zone that is close to the airport in Goa, which would facilitate easy international travel.

According to a press release, CryptoSlots.com is going to add a new version of its Double Bonus Poker. The new version will be a five-hand version and will be accompanied by several bonuses in celebration of the Halloween period.

The bonuses will include extra playtime on the company’s Double Bonus Poker Multi-Hand. CryptoSlots.com will reward users by added 35% to their deposits until November 4 and cash top ups of as much as $150 are also possible.

Double Bonus Poker Multi-Hand is based on the Jacks or Better video poker game. The new five-hand version will allow players to play up to five hands at a time, with each hand playing with a separate 52-card deck. As with the other versions, it includes a range of betting options to appeal to a wide range of players. If a player hits a win larger than their bet, they can attempt to double their winnings by tapping the “Double” button.

CryptoSlots is completely a cryptocurrency-based gambling site. Deposits are made through Bitcoin BCH, Bitcoin Core or Litecoin, which are then converted to U.S. dollars. All payouts are made through cryptocurrency and the transactions fees, as with the majority of cryptocurrency transactions, are extremely low.

The World Poker Tour and partypoker LIVE roll out the first event in a four-year feast of poker as the WPT Montreal gets underway with a successful WPT500 event. 

The fun has begun.

The World Poker Tour (WPT) and partypoker LIVE are marching down the Montreal high street, banging drums and cymbals with all the enthusiasm of a group of Hare Krishnas.

Adam Pliska, Lynn Gilmartin and co looked solemnly on as the old WPT took a ride in the morgue elevator. Tony Dunst and Vince Van Patten have declared the last rites.

Casino and betting operator Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI) has agreed to pay up to $500m to acquire an Illinois casino property.

On Wednesday, CDI announced that it had signed a definitive purchase agreement to acquire “at least” a 50.1% stake in Midwest Gaming Holdings, the parent company of the Rivers Casino Des Plaines in Des Plaines, Illinois.

CDI will pay $291m for 100% of the Clairvest Group’s stake in Midwest Gaming, and has made an offer to purchase additional units of Midwest held by Rush Street Gaming affiliate High Plaines Gaming, and Casino Investors LLC, that will bring the aggregate cash consideration to $326m. Assuming the deal goes through, CDI and Rush Street will jointly control Rivers Des Plaines.

But wait, there’s more. The parties are also planning a complicated recapitalization transaction in which Midwest will use roughly $300m in proceeds from new credit facilities to purchase additional Midwest shares held by Rush Street and Casino Investors. Plus, if we’re reading correctly, one of the parties gets prima nocta rights with some Illinois farmer’s daughter.

Julien Stropoli takes down the Battle of Malta Main Event after beating his buddy, heads-up, to win the largest-ever live tournament held in the country.

When your Prime Minister stands up at a United Nations (UN) conference and calls cryptocurrency the inevitable future of money you know you’ve arrived in a radically open-minded country.

So, maybe we shouldn’t be surprised that the Battle of Malta (BOM) has managed to lure a record-breaking 3,816-entrants into its award-winning tournament, making it the largest-ever live multi-table tournament in Maltese poker history.

And the island has hosted some of the big boys.

Social gamers Zynga reported a steep decline in earnings and profit in the third quarter along with weakness in its social slots segment and ‘challenges’ facing the venerable Zynga Poker.

On Wednesday, Zynga reported revenue of $233.2m in the three months ending September 30, up 4% from the same period last year, while bookings, the sale of virtual goods within games, rose 17% to $249m. But adjusted earnings slipped 15% to $38m and net income tumbled 44% to $10.2m.

Advertising revenue had a notable quarter, rising 41% year-on-year to a record $65.4m, pushing advertising’s share of overall revenue up seven points to 28%. The company credited the rise to increased player engagement and advertising network optimization.

Zynga’s average daily active users (DAU) were up 8% year-on-year to 22m in Q3, and its average daily bookings per average (DAU) was also up 8% to $0.121. However, its player-to-payer conversion rate fell from 2.4% in Q3 2017 to 2% in the most recent quarter.

The penultimate round-up from the preeminent World Series of Poker event outside of their Las Vegas boudoir includes an end to the 2018 Player of the Year speculation, a look at the results of the final €100k event, and an update on the Main Event.

The 2018 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Player of the Year (POY) is Shaun Deeb, but you already knew that didn’t you.

You were more likely to catch and kill a cockroach than see one of Deeb’s competitors pip him to the post, as none of them felt the prestige of being the WSOP POY was worth spending a fortnight in Rozvadov.

Deeb begged to differ.