A California casino could become the new home of UFC mixed martial arts events for as long as the COVID-19 pandemic continues its rear naked choke on public gatherings.

Earlier this week, UFC boss Dana White claimed to be actively looking to acquire a private island somewhere that would allow him to stage UFC 249, which was originally scheduled to take place in New York City on April 18 before the coronavirus called a halt to most public sports events.

On Tuesday, White told ESPN that he’d “secured” the island in question and “the infrastructure is being built right now” to make the island the new hub for all UFC international fights. White also alluded to securing an unspecified US location to host UFC 249 that he’d “locked up for two months, so I’m going to continue to pump fights out.”

Later Tuesday, the New York Times reported that the Tachi Palace Resort Casino in Lemoore, California will serve as the UFC’s new US staging ground. On Wednesday, White played coy at the mention of the Tachi venue, saying the only place the fight was happening was on ESPN.

Russian sports betting operator Fonbet’s inclusion on a list of the country’s economic ‘backbone’ businesses appears to have slipped a disk.

Earlier this week, Russia’s leading bookmaker Fonbet’s parent company LLC F.O.N. appeared on a government list of ‘systemically important organizations,’ one of 646 companies whose financial health the government deemed important to the smooth running of the national economy.

Russian news agency Interfax is now reporting that the Ministry of Finance has proposed removing Fonbet from this list before the final version is issued on Friday (10). Interfax quoted a source saying Fonbet’s involvement in the betting industry is not the issue, as the Ministry has reportedly asked for several other firms on the earlier list to also be expunged.

Fonbet’s inclusion on the list irked some of its rivals, as the list seemed to single out Fonbet as worthy of preserving, while all Russian bookmakers are currently struggling due to the shutting of the land-based betting shops and the mass cancellation of global sports events.

Casino operator Wynn Resorts admits that it’s bleeding red ink as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic but insists that the company can bleed for a long time before dying.

On Tuesday, Wynn filed papers with the US Securities and Exchange Commission noting that the company incurred cash operating expenses of $2.5m per day, excluding cash interest expense of $500k per day, during the government-ordered 15-day closure of its Macau casinos in February.

Despite those Macau properties having since reopened, Wynn said that “certain health safeguards” to minimize further COVID-19 spread remain in effect. As a result of these safeguards, along with travel restrictions from mainland China, the company expects “to continue to incur such cash costs in excess of the amounts we are earning at our properties.”

In the US, Wynn’s operations in Las Vegas and Boston remain closed and the company recently committed to paying its 15k furloughed employees through May 15. The cost of doing so, along with other cash operating expenses of its US properties, total around $3.5m per day, excluding $800k of cash interest expense.

America’s brief flirtation with election betting appears all but dead as West Virginia’s governor says he won’t allow such nefarious activity in his state.

West Virginia made national headlines on Tuesday after locally licensed sports betting operator FanDuel briefly posted betting lines on the 2020 US presidential election. However, the lines were withdrawn almost immediately thereafter amid major confusion over whether these markets had been expressly authorized.

FanDuel stated that the West Virginia Lottery, which regulates the state’s gambling operators, had approved election betting but had since asked FanDuel to “refrain from offering the markets until they have time to fully work through the implications of this new market offering.”

On Wednesday, the state’s senior politicians suggested there was nothing to work out. The WV Metro News quoted Secretary of State Mac Warner said election betting was “a terrible idea” that had been approved by “somebody getting overly excited about an opportunity without considering state law or consulting the proper people.”

The UK gambling regulator suspended betting exchange Matchbook’s license due to “serious failings” in its social responsibility and anti-money laundering (AML) obligations.

On Wednesday, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) published details on its February 17th decision to suspend the license of Matchbook’s parent company Triplebet Ltd. The UKGC said the suspension will remain in place “until Triplebet can prove it has implemented the remedial measures” the UKGC requires.

The UKGC said it found deficiencies in Triplebet’s AML policies, including a failure to (a) establish objective circumstances that would trigger a customer’s risk reclassification, (b) set out specifics on when enhanced due diligence measures were required for certain high-risk customers, (c) provide guidelines for when to undertake source of funds/wealth checks, and (d) require adequate recordings of customer interactions.

Triplebet failed to update its AML policy for over three years while claiming that it relied on staff to ensure effective implementation of these policies, despite the company’s failure to provide staff with sufficient guidance on how to implement its policies.

While many people are in quarantine, household isolation or self-isolation around the world during the Coronavirus crisis, one of the most important ways we can stay connected has been at our fingertips all along.

Playing video games online with and against friends and strangers has always been a fun thing to do. While the AI of computer programs can take a lot of beating whether you’re playing FIFA, Minecraft or Fortnite: Save the World, there’s no feeling like playing with your friends.

In four weeks, on May 2nd, the You Are Not Alone (YANA) fundraising event takes place, with the official website announcing that the charity drive will benefit a range of related charities as it’s the gamers choice. One example would see funds raised go directly to The Children’s Society.

With the drive a push to get 10 million gamers together around the world, the project has been backed by some very big names, with official partners such as Barclays, Codemasters, Sports Interactive, Esports Insider and Ubisoft all throwing their weight behind the mission.

Some of the best books about poker don’t feature a single sentence about strategy or two words on tactics. They simply bring the game to life and inspire us to join the fun. The ways this can be done are varied, with every style having a place on your poker bookshelf. From the ‘Life and Times of a Poker Legend’ like The Devilfish to a deep-dive into ‘Poker & Pop Culture’ courtesy of the 2019 Global Poker Award winner Martin Harris, there’s something for everyone.

Just last week, a new exposé was published that lifts the lid still further on the notorious Hollywood poker game that featured in the 2017 film, Molly’s Game. Billion Dollar Hollywood Heist is a look at the infamous Hollywood game that was taken away from Molly Bloom by, it is alleged, Tobey Maguire.

The star of Spiderman 1,2 & 3 as well as films such as Seabiscuit and The Cider House Rules has long been a figure that has polarized popular opinion. Known as a poker player, Maguire is said to have offered Bloom, then the hostess of the poker game $1,000 to “bark like a seal”. No-one was applauding when that tidbit of Tinseltown tattle came out, and Maguire has arguably suffered since. His appearances in Hollywood movies have scaled down dramatically over the past few years, where he has been more active as a producer rather than an actor.

Was Tobey Maguire’s poker game, one in which he wanted to take down Hollywood icons such as Matt Damon, Leo Di Caprio and Ben Affleck, his downfall? The Billion Dollar Hollywood Heist the book refers to is written by Houston Curtis, the other half in the partnership between him and Maguire, that looked to take down the suckers that formed part of La La Land’s elite.