Three World Series of Poker bracelet wins to nail to the mast including Sean Swingruber winning the $10,000 Heads-Up Championship, and $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em wins for Isaac Baron and Brett Apter.

Ed Balls.

Rachel Gotobed.

Claire Conway-Crapp.

Portugal adds another piece of silverware to a once barren trophy cabinet after a victory over the Netherlands in an uninspiring UEFA Nations League Final.

When UEFA announced their intention to create a Nations League, there was a sceptic for every person suffering a rifle butt to the head searching for antiseptic.

Today, even the most calloused of sceptics have to admit that for once, UEFA, got it right. Mindless European friendlies have gone the way of Paul Scholes’ asthma pump, replaced by some of the most refreshing international football we have seen in years.

It’s a shame the final wasn’t handcuffed to that same pizzazz.

A round-up of live tournaments from the periphery of the World Series of Poker including wins for Jack Salter and Julien Sitbon at The Wynn, and Brian Altman and Brett Apter at The Venetian.

Occasionally, the dreamers that have come to Las Vegas to win gold bracelets leave their Rio-based colony, and when they do, two of their alternative anthills are The Wynn and The Venetian.

The Wynn Summer Classic takes in the loose shavings from the World Series of Poker (WSOP) lathe, and in the past week, two $1k events have been on the schedule.

Louis Salter conquered a field of 484-entrants, including beating the mighty Connor Drinan, heads-up, to win the first of two $1k events. The win was Salter’s third of his career, and the British pro has now earned more than $1.3m in live tournament earnings.

Just because someone is friendly and offering you money doesn’t mean they are your friend. As a good example of that lesson, visitors to casinos located in the Philippines should be wary strangers offering loans, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) warned on June 7, as reported by the government outlet Philippine News Agency.

Specifically, there’s a risk that gamblers, and particularly tourists, might be kidnapped if they are unable to pay back their loans. Ferdinand Lavin, an NBI spokesperson, advised the public that if a money lender approaches them, “people playing in casinos should approach the hotel staff and security for help immediately.”

This reminder comes fresh off of the arrest of six suspects, five Chinese and one Filipino-Chinese, on charges of kidnapping and holding three people in Parañaque City, an area of the Metro Manila area in close vicinity to the Entertainment City. They were demanding their hostages pay PHP7 million ($130,000), the amount of their loan plus interest.

Three of the suspects were arrested in a sting operation. The other three tried to spring their friends from jail by offering a large bribe to the NBI Cyber Crime Division, and were then also arrested.

On June 7, Aruze announced that longtime CEO Takahiro Usui would be stepping down after 14 years in his position. He will be replaced by Chief Financial Officer Yugo Kinoshita in a shakeup at the top that also included Hiromi Okada joining the board of directors.

Takahiro Usui is stepping down at the end of this month for what has been described as “personal reasons.” He helped to turn Aruze into a worldwide leader in the gaming industry. “The Aruze Board of Directors collectively would like to thank Takahiro for his incredible efforts and accomplishments while at Aruze and we wish him well in all his future endeavors,” explained Vice-Chairman of the Board Rich Pennington.

Under the leadership of Usui, Azure has become one of the most influential companies in the gambling industry. Not only have they added to their portfolio by inking deals with companies such as Walker Digital Table Systems, but have expanded operations into the Mediterranean. This included gaining gaming licenses for both Greece and Cyprus last year.

In his place steps Yugo Kinoshita, who has been serving as both the CFO and the Chief Strategy Officer. While remaining on the board of directors, he will step in as the CEO. He has been with the company since 2012.

Last month, a former Prime Minister (PM) of Thailand, Thaksin Shinawatra, was sentenced to three years in prison for using his position for economic gain. When active as the PM ten years ago, he ordered the country’s Export-Import Bank to give a loan to a satellite communications company that was controlled by him and his family, and a separate case has now seen two more years tacked on. Shinawatra apparently believed he was above the law.

Thailand’s Supreme Court, through its Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions, asserts that the former politician ran a lottery scheme from 2003 on that was similar to other games typically associated with illegal bookmakers. He was found guilty of launching two- and three-digit lottery games and his goal was “to steer some of the money that went to it to government coffers instead,” according to comments by the Associated Press.

Gambling is illegal in Thailand in almost all forms. The country operates a state-run lottery and there is parimutel horseracing, but everything else is prohibited per the country’s Gambling Act of 1935. Of course, this doesn’t prevent illegal gambling operations, which still run rampant and allegedly collect billions of dollars each year.

Shinawatra was a billionaire before his political aspirations surfaced. He had been heavily involved in the telecommunications and IT industries and used his money to create Thailand’s Rak Thai Party before rising to lead the country. He was elected PM in 2001 in an easy win and then reelected four years later.

News of Melco Resorts and Entertainment (Philippines) Corp. being delisted from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) has been circulating for about a month. The day has arrived and, as of tomorrow, Melco will no longer be found among the exchange’s offerings. The exchange chose to delist the company after it repeatedly failed to meet certain listing requirements.

[Image credit: Wikimedia Commons]

Melco acknowledged the delisting in a filing today, stating, “The corporation hereby informs the public that per Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) Memorandum CN No. 2019-0023 dated May 14, 2019, the corporation will be automatically delisted from the official registry of the PSE effective on June 11, 2019, by reason of its public ownership remaining below the minimum threshold prescribed under the PSE Rule on Minimum Public Ownership for a period of more than six months.”

Melco was warned last month that it would be removed from the PSE after receiving several notifications that it was in violation of listing guidelines. Specifically, the company was meant to keep at least 10% of its stock floated; otherwise, if it failed to correct the issue by June 11, it would have to be delisted. Melco had already seen trading on the exchange suspended – on December 10 of last year – because it didn’t meet the listing requirement.