Monthly Archives: December 2018

Alipay, UnionPay deny links to North Korean casino

A casino in North Korea’s capital Pyongyang has no ties to Chinese online payment platforms, at least, not according to the platforms.

Earlier this month, South Korean media outlet NK News reported that the Casino Pyongyang at the Yanggakdo Hotel was offering guests online money transferring services via China’s Alipay, UnionPay and WeChat Pay platforms.

North Koreans have no access to websites beyond the nation’s borders but the casino is reportedly offering free WiFi to its guests, allegedly to ensure its gambling guests don’t cash out too soon. NK News quoted a tour guide with the China-based Young Pioneers Tours saying the services appeared intended to offer “options for high-rollers to gain access to money while gambling.”

NK News published a photo of a desk display at the casino that clearly shows Alipay and UnionPay logos. The report noted that facilitating international financial transactions with any firm connected with the North Korean regime could represent a violation of sanctions imposed by both the United Nations and the United States.

Super High Roller Bowl Day 3 Recap: Isaac Haxton beats Alex Foxen to win the title

Isaac Haxton is the newest member of the Super High Roller winner’s circle after taking down the fifth iteration of the event, beating the world number one Alex Foxen, heads-up, to claim the $3.67m first prize.

The cops come in and order another round of Diabetes. You don’t see rainbows in LA, and you don’t see guns in the UK. Am I supposed to get a sense of security when I look at these two police officers wearing bat belts containing guns?

I don’t.

I feel terrified.

Germany’s Schleswig-Holstein online casino licenses expire

Germany’s online gambling market is closing a chapter as the first online casino licenses issued in the state of Schleswig-Holstein start to expire.

This week, UK-listed gambling operator GVC Holdings, the parent company of the Bwin betting brand, informed its affiliate partners that its German-facing online casino brands would no longer accept PayPal. Casino News Daily quoted from a GVC email saying the PayPal option would go dark for its German casino customers effective December 19.

Many online gambling sites have been restricting their German-facing operations ever since a late-2017 court ruling that barred international operators from offering services to German gamblers. This week has seen a number of operators follow this lead, including Gauselmann Group’s Merkur Gaming brand, whose German customers learned that they would lose access to the site’s online casino as of December 18.

Both Merkur and GVC’s new restrictions coincide with the expiration of the online casino licenses issued six years ago this week by the state of Schleswig-Holstein (S-H). The state famously broke with the other 15 German states by not signing the 2012 federal gambling treaty, which permitted only online sports betting, opting instead for its own full-spectrum online licensing regime.

50th Anniversary WSOP opens with rake-free $500 buy-in, $5m GTD event

The bright sparks behind the World Series of Poker have released the dates for the 50th Anniversary show and illuminate us with news of a $500 buy-in, rake-free, $5m GTD, $1m GTD for the winner opening event.

The fiddlers guide me gently from the slow to the fast lane. The tapping of the drumsticks on the metal frames mirror the beat, beat, beat of my ageing heart.

We experience many crashing crescendos throughout life.

The birth of our first child.

WPT to change ownership; poker operations to remain unaffected

The World Poker Tour is about to experience another round of musical chairs after Ourgame International Holdings Ltd., agreed to sell WPT Enterprises and Allied Esports to the acquisition specialists Black Ridge Acquisition Corp.

The World Poker Tour (WPT) is set to undergo another change of ownership, but don’t fret, there isn’t a burnt out clutch smell to the latest wheeling and dealing.

A purpose-built acquisition company called Black Ridge Acquisition Corp. has agreed to buy the World Poker Tour (WPT) Enterprises, and Allied Esports subsidiaries of OurGame International Holdings Ltd., for a sum believed to be in the region of $150 million.

The deal will see Black Ridge, spearheaded by the Poker Hall of Famer and three-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner, Lyle Berman, change their name to Allied Esports Entertainment Inc., and will trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol AESE.

Diversified strategy for BtoBet in London

• Dedicated space allocated for Certified Partners and WLP Program

“The opportunities that the African iGaming industry has to offer are huge, and a substantial number of both local and international operators are ever more seeking to team up with a local partner to consider their options when it comes to investing and expanding their businesses in the region.” This is what Sabrina Soldà, BtoBet’s Chief Marketing Officer, commented regarding the success that the company’s White Label Partnership Program has reaped throughout the past weeks since it was launched at ICE Africa in October.

STM Gaming was announced as BtoBet’s first Certified Partner for Africa after successfully undergoing a thorough screening and due diligence process. Alessandro Pizzolotto, STM’s CEO stated that the company has already signed various agreements with a number of White Label Operators operating in Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Sierra Leone and Tanzania to provide them with a lite and simplified version of BtoBet’s advanced technologies.

“Africa presents its own unique opportunities as well as challenges that distinguish it from Europe or Latin America.” He further stated that in a bid to being successful, operators – especially those who have established themselves in more mature markets such as Europe – need to truly have an understanding of the complex African scenario and understand that their thought process needs to change. “A successful business model in the European market, will surely fail if an operator does not have the knowledge to adapt to the reality of the African market. And it is this expertise and know-how that has proved to be the success of the BtoBet White Label Partnership Program.”

CoinPoker offer geeks 1m CHP bounty if they can find a flaw in RNG

The online poker cryptocurrency room, CoinPoker, is offering punters a 1m CHP bounty if they can find a flaw in their all singing, all dancing, open source random number generator.

I’m the guy who doesn’t care about the Jack because I’m never changing a tyre. I’m sitting in the front seat reading Dare to Lead by Brene Brown while I wait for the mechanic to fix it.

Neither was I the guy asking to see the surgeon’s credentials before I lost a frenulum, hanging by a thread after being sliced open by an errant high heel.

And I’m not the guy playing online poker, suspicious that the security is so poo that the meteorologists and nuclear physicists amongst us can break in and see my hole cards.

Massachusetts report on Wynn casino delayed to January

The fate of Wynn Resorts’ Massachusetts casino project won’t be known until the new year thanks to a Nevada judge’s scheduling decision.

On Thursday, Clark County District Court Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez set a January 4, 2019 date for hearing arguments on whether to permit the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) to publicly release its report into what Wynn Resorts execs knew about former chairman Steve Wynn’s sexual harassment allegations while the company was pursuing its Massachusetts license.

In late November, Gonzalez granted Steve a temporary restraining order preventing the MGC from releasing its report, based on Steve’s claim that his former company improperly shared information with the MGC that Steve maintains was protected by attorney-client privilege.

Depending on its contents, the MGC report could result in Wynn Resorts being declared unsuitable to operate its in-development $2.5b Encore Boston Harbor project, which is slated to open its doors next summer. Rival firms have already offered to take over the project in the event that the report relegates Wynn to the sin bin.