Australia’s online gamblers will soon be able to prohibit their access to locally licensed betting sites on a national basis as the government implements new consumer protections.

This weekend, Australia’s federal government released the baseline study on its new National Consumer Protection Framework for online wagering. The Framework, which was ratified by all Aussie state governments one year ago, featured 10 minimum standards for Aussie online betting operators that are now being implemented.

One of the study’s chief recommendations was for the federal government to “prioritize the development and implementation of the national self-exclusion register.” On Wednesday, Communications Minister Paul Fletcher complied, tabling draft laws to parliament’s lower house that will establish the voluntary online National Self-Exclusion Register.

Once implemented, the register would enable gamblers to ban themselves from all Aussie-licensed betting sites and apps across state boundaries “in one go.” Bettors would have the option of banning themselves for a period of three months or on a permanent basis.

The European Champions hope to seal their progress to the knockout stage, there’s a potential Nou Camp classic and both United and Arsenal battle for pride on Thursday night.

With neither English club in Wednesday’s section yet guaranteed progress from their Champions League group and the Europa League just as open, British clubs face difficult ties at home and abroad as plenty of scores need to be settled this midweek.

Champions League choices narrow for Super Cup players

When Liverpool and Chelsea battled it out for the European Super Cup back in August, both might have been forgiven for believing their respective Champions League groups to be merely formalities. No teams in there that looked too threatening on paper, they might have thought as their executives nodded politely at the draw whilst mentally spending the money the knockout stages were clearly going to bring.

Poker strategy books often fit into their time, and in some ways define it. Super System jumped right out of that first era of Doyle Brunson winning the World Series. But others manage to transgress the time in which they were published and apply themselves to poker past, poker present, and even poker future.

Elements of Poker by Tommy Angelo, which was first published in 2007, fits very well into the section of poker books that you can pick up and apply the advice therein to any era of playing the game.

“I think it struck a chord for a couple of reasons.” said Angelo when we spoke with him about his popular poker book. “The topics that were covered had not been covered before, most of them. Quitting, what to say and not to say at the table, the sheer variety of topics made it popular.”

Another very deliberate effort by Angelo, who has written a lot of strategy books over the past decades, was where Elements of Poker could assist players who bought it at the time of its first release.

Chris Moneymaker, Justin Young and Norm Macdonald are the players. Jeff Platt is the host. PokerGO is the channel. What you’re about to watch might be the most fun quiz show you’ll see this year.

If you haven’t watched Episode 1 of The Big Blind, then you’re missing out. This review is going to have spoilers, so if you seen it yet, then sign in or sign up and check it out here.

Poker and quiz shows don’t always go to plan. Shark Tank was… interesting. PokerFace on ITV was… a minor disaster in broadcasting terms, only saved by the hosts. The Big Blind has come into territory where there is a sign planted in the ground warning those who have made it so far to think very hard about travelling further down the road they’re on.

If The Big Blind is Wile E. Coyote chasing an impossibly smart Road Runner, then it is living on the edge, trying to survive in a world designed to make it fail. Quiz shows are vastly popular. Poker is the most played card game on the planet. But the combination of the two has never seemed to work. The Big Blind might just be the show to break the mould.

On November 25, Melco Resorts Finance Ltd announced that they will likely be conducting an international offering of senior notes. Although details about the interest rate and date were not initially provided provided, the operator has revealed that the offering consists of $900 million as the aggregate principal amount at a 5.375% senior notes rate that will be due in 2029. These new notes were priced at 100% value.

The net proceeds from this offering are expected to make full repayment on the principal amount outstanding under their current revolving credit balance. This loan balance was entered into by a subsidiary of Melco Resorts Macau, Melco Resorts Finance, which came from a loan dating back to 2015.

The new notes are set as senior obligations of Melco Resorts Finance. This ranks them with equal value to all existing and future senior debts by the company. It is not expected that Melco will be the guarantor of the new notes.

The chairman and chief executive of Melco Resorts, Lawrence Ho Yau Lung, explained on a recent third-quarter call that the ratio for net debt versus earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) still remains low at approximately “two times” at the end of the third quarter. He added that this current ratio will permit Melco Resorts to be able to continue its recurring dividend program while also being able to retain “ample financial flexibility to reinvest in…existing properties and to pursue newer development opportunities.”

Things might slowly be getting better at Success Dragon International Holdings. The company recently announced it expects to see a decrease in losses for the six month period which ended on September 30, 2019, as compared to the same period of time in 2018.

According to the owners of Success Dragon, the company saw an HK$13.5 million ($1.72 million) loss for the same six-month period of time last year, however, they did not provide any additional information about what amount of loss they expect.

They expect the improvemnet primarily because the amount of revenue that has been generated from its moneylending business, which has made a significant impact on overall profits. This business was acquired in December 2018 and, combined with a decrease in depreciation expenses, has helped to improve the overall revenue.

It has been a difficult last few years at Success Dragon. At the end of March 2019, the company reported a year-to-year decline in revenue of 21.9%, falling to HK$87.8 million ($11.22 million). This, despite a considerable decrease in losses, which fell from HK$131.6 million ($16.81 million) to HK$38.9 million ($4.97 million) during those 12 months. The decrease in losses came primarily from a decrease in operating and administrative expenses.