As sports betting quickly spreads throughout the U.S., each state is trying to get in on the game before they lose their share of the pot. Maryland is now looking to take a shortcut to the action, with House Bill 1132.

Previously, the thinking was that, due to their state constitution, any expansion of gambling in Maryland would require a referendum. After failing to place it on the ballot in 2018, the next chance to do so would be in 2020.

Now, Gaming Intelligence reports that Republicans Jason Buckle and Kevin Hornberger have filed House Bill 1132, which would authorize the State Lottery and Gaming Control Agency the responsibility for regulating sports betting, effectively side stepping the previous accepted thought.

They’re thinking is that the agency received its powers in a 1972 referendum, and if challenged in court, they could defend that this isn’t an expansion, but rather just further defining the powers of the agency.

British racing will resume action on a ‘risk-managed’ basis on Wednesday (13) following last week’s outbreak of equine influenza.

Late Monday, the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) announced that “a risk-managed return to racing” will commence on Wednesday. Racing’s resumption will come a full week after the BHA ordered a shutdown of all British racing following the discovery that several equine flu-infected horses had participated in races at the Ayr and Ludlow courses.

Wednesday’s announcement said the decision to resume racing was made with the unanimous support of the industry veterinary committee following more testing by the Animal Health Trust. However, the BHA said racing would only resume with “strict biosecurity controls in place.”

These controls include barring any horse from racing that hasn’t been vaccinated in the previous six months. Trainers will also have to provide a health declaration upon arrival at a racecourse.

PokerStars has signed the winner of the PokerStars Player’s No-Limit Hold’em Championship, Ramón Colillas, to represent the brand in the wake of Jaime Staples and Jeff Gross leaving the company.

“I’m more excited about this than the even winning in the Bahamas.”

Ramón Colillas made that statement.

A name that’s still unfamiliar within the poker community. It’s no Blue Monday. Chris Moneymaker, now that was a Blue Monday name.

The World Poker Tour have secured a distribution deal with BTSports, and Mohamed Abdou wins the record-breaking WPTDeepStacks Brussels Main Event. 

Poker fans in the UK & Ireland are in for a treat after The World Poker Tour (WPT) secured a distribution deal with BT Sports to show Season XV coverage through the British Isles.

The new deal sends the WPT brand into more than 3.6m eyeballs, with BT Sports channels 1, 2 & 3 all showcasing the greatest live poker tour in North America.

Rich Sarris, Manager of Content Distribution in the UK for the WPT, and mastermind behind the deal said he is “thrilled” to be partnering with one of the largest sports television networks in the UK.

A Cambodian casino narrowly escaped disaster after an alert gambler noticed something odd during his trip to the loo.

On Sunday evening, members of the Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC) successfully detonated a bomb discovered in the washroom of the Golden Crown Casino in Poipet. The bomb was discovered by a gambler who noticed a suspect Styrofoam box inside the casino’s washroom.

Following his discovery, the gambler alerted casino security staff, who gingerly moved the package outside to the casino’s parking lot. The authorities were called and the package’s contents were confirmed to contain an explosive device connected to a timer, leading police to order the evacuation of the casino and the surrounding area.

Reports from the scene vary, but it appears that the CMAC – who have vast experience clearing the country of the land mines, grenades and cluster bombs left behind during the country’s long periods of violent conflict – was responsible for the forced detonation of the device.

UK-listed online bingo and casino operator Stride Gaming has confirmed “press speculation” that the company is flogging its assets on the open market.

Over the weekend, the Sunday Times reported that Stride’s management had “put itself up for sale” and had engaged Investec Bank plc to “find a buyer.” On Monday, Stride issued a statement confirming that the company is “currently reviewing all strategic options in order to maximize value for its shareholders.”

Stride clarified that the options the company’s board are considering include a more aggressive UK and international organic expansion strategy, taking advantage of “disruption” caused by “fiscal and regulatory changes” to acquire some rival operators, and mulling whether to “participate in potential industry consolidation” by allowing itself to be acquired.

Under UK takeover rules, the announcement triggers the start of the mandatory ‘offer period.’ Stride plans to issue a further statement on its strategic review when it releases its interim results covering the six months to February 28, 2019 but reserved the right to scrap the strategic review process entirely and to reject any would-be buyer’s come-hither glances.

UK online betting giant Bet365 has commenced legal action against a Bulgarian gambling operator’s sincerest form of flattery.

On Monday, eGaming Review reported that Bet365 had filed an intellectual property infringement suit against Betio, a Bulgaria-based white label sports betting technology provider.

The move followed last week’s ICE convention in London, during which Bet365 says “numerous” attendees noted a striking visual similarity between the two companies’ product and branding. Among the similarities on display include Betio’s use of a familiar white-and-yellow text combo against a green background.

A Bet365 spokesperson said that after thorough investigation of the attendees’ claims, “we decided to initiate appropriate legal actions to protect our intellectual property rights, which in our opinion were violated in this case.” The spokesperson said Bet365 had spent years building its brand and it wasn’t about to let some new kid on the betting block piggyback on its sterling reputation.

Sports betting odds provider Don Best has warned customers that it suffered a data breach during its integration with new owner Scientific Games Corporation.

Last week, customers of Don Best Sports Corporation and DBS Canada Corporation reported receiving emails warning them of a “data security incident” that occurred last October. The incident wasn’t discovered until late December, during the Don Best companies’ integration with new owners Scientific Games.

The email claimed that “unauthorized individuals” had accessed a Don Best database as a result of a “malware attack” that occurred between October 12-28, 2018. The unauthorized user(s) are believed to have accessed data including customer names, addresses, phone numbers and user names (email addresses) and passwords.

The Don Best email stressed that while the database in question also stored credit card info, “our investigation indicates that no credit card information was accessed or acquired.” Don Best said it is resetting all customer passwords and has taken other “steps to remove the malware and to further improve the security” of its network.