The coronavirus has now officially affected every major American sporting league. The last holdout had been the UFC, which staged a Fight Night card last Saturday in Brazil with no fans allowed in attendance. UFC president Dana White was hoping to continue in that manner during this crisis, but on Monday he finally surrendered to the obvious and canceled the next three cards on the schedule. Those were:

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

This Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 171 event from London highlighted by a matchup between former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley and Leon Edwards.

A March 28 UFC on ESPN card from Columbus, Ohio, headlined by a heavyweight bout between former title contender Francis Ngannou and Jairzinho Rozenstruik.

The coronavirus has now officially affected every major American sporting league. The last holdout had been the UFC, which staged a Fight Night card last Saturday in Brazil with no fans allowed in attendance. UFC president Dana White was hoping to continue in that manner during this crisis, but on Monday he finally surrendered to the obvious and canceled the next three cards on the schedule. Those were:

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

This Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 171 event from London highlighted by a matchup between former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley and Leon Edwards.

A March 28 UFC on ESPN card from Columbus, Ohio, headlined by a heavyweight bout between former title contender Francis Ngannou and Jairzinho Rozenstruik.

Switzerland’s authorities continue their purge of unauthorized gambling sites as they attempt to steer local gamblers to sites operated by the country’s brick-and-mortar casinos.

On Tuesday, Switzerland’s federal gaming board (ESBK) issued the latest update of its blacklist of internationally licensed online gambling sites that lack local permission to offer services to local consumers. Tuesday’s update added 27 new domains, bringing the total number of blacklisted sites that local internet service providers are required to block to 172.

As with previous updates, most of the new domains are sketchy Curacao-licensed online casinos, although one domain (788-sb.com) is a mirror of UK online betting giant Bet365. Several other Bet365-related domains have been blacklisted by the Swiss Lottery and Betting Board (Comlot), which maintains its own independent list of online scoundrels.

Speaking of, Comlot also issued a blacklist update on Tuesday that added 13 new names, pushing Comlot’s list to a total of 101. Among the new entrants are Bet365’s Danish-facing site, an Efbet domain (linked to Bulgarian fugitive Vasil Bozhkov) and two domains of Alderney-licensed operator Wirwetten.

Online gambling operators shouldn’t link their brands to a global pandemic, according to the Netherlands’ gambling regulator.

On Tuesday, the Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) gambling regulatory agency issued a notice saying it had become aware of “additional activities by illegal online gambling providers and their advertisers.” Specifically, these digital rapscallions were seeking to “take advantage of the fact that arcades and gaming casinos have had to close their doors due to the coronavirus.”

KSA chief René Jansen said that, among the “completely objectionable” marketing tactics being employed by these internationally licensed gambling sites, was luring unsuspecting Dutch gamblers into “what is known as a Corona-free offering.”

The KSA’s missive didn’t identify which sites may have been offering pandemic-free online gambling to Dutch punters, but it did say that the KSA would pay “keen interest” to all parties involved. Similar pitches “will weigh heavily in a possible application” for a Dutch online gambling license when that process gets underway on January 1, 2021.

The UK’s gambling regulator has suspended the license of yet another online operator, the fourth such action in the last five weeks.

On Tuesday, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) announced the immediate suspension of the online betting and casino licenses of the Isle of Man-based International Multi-Media Entertainments Ltd, aka ‘The Lottery Centre,’ which trades via the Lotteries.com domain.

The UKGC’s statement said it decided to suspend the license “due to anti-money laundering practices and ongoing social responsibility concerns we have with the operator.” The UKGC has undertaken a license review “pursuant to section 118(2)” of the Gambling Act 2005.

Lotteries.com offers betting on international lottery draws, including America’s Powerball and Mega Millions, the Euro Millions, as well as local lotteries in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland and Spain. The site also offers ‘instant win games’ aka random number generator based products.

UK sports betting and gambling operators are pleading for the government to help offset the cancellation of all UK racing fixtures and the postponement of the Euro 2020 football tournament.

Betting operators suffered a double-whammy on Tuesday with the news that UEFA had decided to postpone the Euro 2020 football tournament until mid-2021 following a meeting with all 55 individual football federations.

The decision was made in order to prevent further spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus and to ensure the completion of individual countries’ football league seasons, most of which had already been suspended due to coronavirus concerns.

Tuesday also saw the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) announce that all racing in Britain was officially suspended until the end of April. BHA boss Nick Rust said the current crisis was “a national emergency the like of which most of us have never seen” and the BHA’s “first duty is to the health of the public, our customers and to racing industry participants and staff.”

As increasing measures are enacted to contain the COVID-19 coronavirus epidemic, the gambling sector in the Philippines faces a lot of uncertainty. The Philippines Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) has ordered casinos to cease operations for at least the next month. And now after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered strict home quarantine, a transportation ban, and closure of most businesses, Philippine Offshore Gambling Operators (POGOs) have to navigate a tricky path to stay operational. We spoke with several employees in the POGO industry to see what their arrangements are for the quarantine.

As someone stuck in the middle of this home quarantine situation myself, I can tell you it’s a bizarre experience. Manila, where there’s always the sounds of car horns and loud people, is quiet and eerily vacant. Nobody is leaving their home, for fear of either catching the virus, or running afoul of the authorities.

As part of the escalated quarantine, there is zero public transit, and for most people, the only methods of getting anywhere are either walking, or illegally hitchhiking. My mother-in-law had to walk 14 blocks to visit our apartment tonight, and let me tell you, nobody’s happy about that.

POGOs have not been ordered to close, putting them in a sticky situation. How do they keep operations running if employees can’t get to work, or landlords have shuttered their buildings?

Poker on television is often about getting viewers to tune in. If they are hooked from the first minute, then they’ll keep watching. If they watch until the end of the show, you’re onto a winner. If they love the series, such as was the case when the opening series of Britain’s Late Night Poker was launched, you could have a cult classic on your hands.

When it comes to Celebrity Poker Showdown, however, what you have is a show that is cashing in on the success of Chris Moneymaker’s WSOP victory with five seasons of shameless use of celebrities in order to profit from the popularity of poker.

Take this episode for example, where future Breaking Bad actor Bryan Cranston takes on future Game of Thrones actor Peter Dinklage, with a little spice added by the inclusion of other opponents including Howie Mandell and… well, Meatloaf.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrMC8D-WEhY?feature=oembed&w=500&h=375]

Central and South America are about to get a new sports gambling solution, although its rollout might be slow at first. Spiffbet, a company out of Stockholm, Sweden that specializes in live-action sports gambling games, is teaming up with gaming software provider Panorama Gaming in a new deal that will see it grab a piece of the popular Latin American (LatAm) market. Panorama, based out of Costa Rica, will bring aboard Spiffbet’s entire portfolio of games.

Spiffbet focuses on hybrid wagering content that can be used by casinos and sportsbooks. The company has three different brands, Spiffbet Casino, STHLM Gaming Sweden (STHLMGAMING) and Spiffbet Sports, and the new partnership gives the company another step into LatAm, as well as the possibility for additional expansion into Asia. The company’s CEO, Henrik Svensson, said in a statement, “It is with great excitement that we look forward to delivering games to Panorama Gaming, which operates both in Latin America and where we have the ambition to grow, and in Asia, which includes several large gaming markets where we have not yet tested our games.”

Panorama has been around for a number of years in the LatAm market, and develops gaming solutions and software for online and retail operations. The company covers many aspects of the gaming industry, including sports gambling, live and virtual casinos and more. Jose Pablo Mesen, Panorama’s chief operating officer, adds, “Spiffbet has an interesting offering of its own games and games from other studios that fit into our casino gaming offer. We are keen to begin the integration of the games and start distribution.”

This newest partnership is just the latest for the Swedish company in recent months. About a week ago, it signed an agreement with B2B gaming provider Relax Gaming that extended the current relationship between Relax and Spiffbet subsidiary STHLMGAMING. That arrangement will see Relax offer to more of its geographic footprint, and the company’s chief product officer, Simon Hammon, explained, “We at Relax are very pleased to expand the relationship with Spiffbet / STHLMG and enter new markets under Relax’s innovative Silverbullet program. Relax continues together with its innovative partners to push boundaries in both game design and distribution.”