The World Series of Poker continues to refine the roster for the 50th-anniversary festival with the addition of 13-events, including a $1,000 buy-in Mini-Main Event preceding the more expensive and illustrious option.

The planning for the 50th anniversary of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) continues. Jack Effel has nipped the red carpet into the dry cleaners. Seth Palansky is busy blowing up 50 hot air balloon size balloons. Phil Hellmuth’s PR agency is figuring out an entrance that captivates our imagination like a total eclipse of the sun.

In December, we learned of the Big 50 – a $500 buy-in, 50,000 chips, 50-minute levels, $5m GTD prize pool, $1m GTD for the winner fanfare, and the return of the Millionaire Maker, Seniors, Monster Stack, Crazy Eights and the $10,000 Main Event.

It’s time for another update with 13 additional events added to the roster.

Gambling operator SKS365 Group has bid goodbye to its CEO amid a flurry of senior management departures.

Last week, Italian gaming affiliate Agipro reported that SKS365 CEO Ian McLoughlin had resigned “in recent weeks,” reportedly to pursue the standard “other opportunities.” Also leaving was SKS365’s general counsel Angela Gemma, who is reportedly returning to private practice, while financial director Aaron Meli is also leaving the fold but will reportedly continue to aid the company via a consultancy role.

SKS365 was originally based in Austria but has since relocated to Rome. The company operates Planetwin365, a leading Italian gaming brand at both the retail and online levels. SKS365 held a nearly 15% share of Italy’s online sports betting market in 2018, second only to UK operator Bet365 (no relation). The company ranked third in retail betting with a 10% share.

In November, SKS365 was one of the companies named in Italy’s latest crackdown on Malta-based online gambling operators engaged in sketchy activity with Italian organized crime groups. The ‘Galaxy’ operation resulted in the arrest of some 68 individuals who face a battery of charges including illegal gambling, money laundering and tax evasion.

Malta-licensed live casino technology outfit Medialive Casino Ltd has caught a break from an Italian judge in relation to the 2017 arrests of two company directors.

In November 2017, Italian authorities launched Operation Double Jack, which targeted a network of retail betting shops offering online gambling via computer terminals connected to Malta-based sites. These terminals weren’t connected to the Italian gambling regulator’s monitoring systems and thus the revenue they generated escaped local taxation.

Among the individuals detained in the 2017 raids were two Medialive directors, Massimiliano Fullin and Fabio Veglianetti. The pair, who denied involvement in any criminality, were eventually released from custody but the Florence prosecutors froze over €8.4m of the company’s funds.

Shortly before Christmas, Medialive issued a press release indicating that Angelo Pezzuti, magistrate of the Court of Florence, had reduced the amount of funds subject to seizure to €685k, which the company says it has “entirely already paid.”

Yet another gambling advert is riling up the UK media, but this time the target of their ire is British Airways.

On Tuesday, the Guardian reported that the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) was fielding complaints about a recent British Airways Holidays television commercial, in which a holiday couple relates a tale about winning a small slot machine jackpot at an unspecified resort.

The ad features the happy couple returning to their hotel room while explaining how they “had a bit of spare change so we put it in the slot machine … and won a couple of dollars. So we put it back in and the next thing we know we’d won $493. Luckiest dip ever.”

The usual suspects, including the Campaign for Fairer Gambling, are up in arms based on their view that the ad is promoting gambling. Former Tory party leader Iain Duncan Smith claimed to be “stunned” by the airline’s decision to approve the “utterly appalling” commercial.

SPiCE Gaming Conference and Exhibition to be held in Goa Marriott Resort & Spa in 25-27 February 2019 amidst discussion in India’s parliament on betting legalization:

Wishing you all a very happy and prosperous New Year! As we enter the new year, there is excitement and anticipation building up for the much awaited, Strategic Platform for iGaming Conference & Exhibition (SPiCE) that is scheduled to be held from 25th – 27th February, 2019 at the Goa Marriott Resort & Space, located in Miramar, Panaji.

The event will see eminent experts and industry leaders brainstorm the developments in the gaming and betting industry and the road ahead for the sector over the course of two days, especially in light of latest developments in India’s parliament, with a new legislation seeking regulation of online sports betting being introduced by a senior Member of Parliament.

A SP’iCE’ Breaker Networking drinks event will be held on the eve of the event, i.e. on 25th February at the Marriott Resort, wherein the attendees will get an opportunity to discuss, deliberate and network over drinks while gazing out over the beautiful oceanic view of the Arabian sea.

Macau police have rumbled a gang that modified mobile banking terminals to appear as if users were still on the Chinese mainland.

On Wednesday, Macau’s Judiciary Police (PJ) announced the arrests of 21 individuals suspected of illegally altering point-of-sale (POS) mobile terminals to avoid China’s strict rules about taking money out of the country. Mainland police arrested an additional 16 suspects in simultaneous raids across several provinces.

The modified POS machines allowed Macau visitors to use their bank cards to access cash while making it appear as if they’d never left the Chinese mainland. The PJ said the gang had reportedly begun its illegal operations in 2016 and allowed users to illegally withdraw MOP1.4b (US$173.4m) in 2018 alone. The gang’s profits reportedly funded a much larger underground banking network.

The PJ’s investigation began in November 2018 after receiving certain information from their mainland counterparts. The PJ raided eight luxury flats in Macau, seizing a number of the modified POS terminals and around HK$5m in cash.

New Zealand’s betting monopoly has finally unveiled its new fixed-odds betting platform, more than two years after it first announced its intentions.

On Monday, the New Zealand Racing Board (NZRB) heralded a “new era for Kiwi punters and the New Zealand TAB” betting service thanks to the “modern, innovative and competitive new TAB website and mobile app.”

The new platform is powered by the tandem of UK-listed gambling operator Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) and betting technology suppliers OpenBet (now owned by Scientific Games), who in December 2016 were tasked with dragging the TAB’s fixed-odds betting platform out of the stone age. The TAB’s previous Jetbet system was prone to crashing during periods of heavy activity, particularly on major race days.

NZRB CEO John Allen hailed his group’s tech partners as “world class operators” who have ensured that the NZ TAB “can now compete with the rest of the world.” Allen may have lavished praise on his tech partners but he also said the new platform would offer the NZRB “the flexibility to set our own odds on events where our local expertise outpaces” PPB’s trading team.

Gamblers are creatures of habit, and with good reason. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it. This applies to how they interact with online gambling operators in every way. The website has a fresh new look? They don’t know if they like it yet. A new policy being enforced at the poker tables? This changes too much! Where it really gets serious though is when it affects their money, and all too often that comes down to payment providers.

In my previous life, I worked in customer service for an online gambling site. By far, the toughest type of call I could ever hope to handle was just after a payment provider denied a player service, or just plain stopped operation.

It gets personal.

“Is there something wrong with me? Am I doing something wrong? Why can’t I use my money any way I want to?” These are the types of things a player wonders when they can’t use their favorite payment provider all of a sudden. On occasion, they’ll be understanding of the situation and move on to the next suggested option. More often, they’ll blame the operator for giving them another financial headache. In the majority of cases, we’d lose a valuable player because the headache of learning a new option just wasn’t worth it to them.