Snitches gets stitches, unless they’re online gambling snitches in China, in which case they make bank.

Earlier this month, China’s Ministry of Public Security unveiled its new “comprehensive reporting platform to combat cross-border gambling,” via which concerned and/or patriotic citizens – as well as disgruntled gamblers who’ve recently lost a packet – could fink on international online gambling operators serving mainland Chinese customers.

This week, the Public Security Department in China’s Jilin province announced a trial of ‘Implementation Measures for Rewards for Reporting Cross-Border Gambling Crimes,’ in which individuals who report ‘international gambling crime clues’ are eligible for payments of up to RMB50K (US$7K).

The desired ‘clues’ involve both land-based (for example, finking on agents who incentivize mainland Chinese to travel abroad to casinos in jurisdictions other than Macau) and online operations (finking on agents who handle financial transactions on behalf of international gambling sites, or companies that offer technological assistance to or promotion of said sites, etc.).

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

There are two superspeedways on the NASCAR Cup Series circuit: Daytona and Talladega. Racing is simply different at those two huge tracks and that’s why NASCAR used to put restrictor plates on the cars to keep speeds from getting too high. The 1997 event at Talladega still stands as the fastest NASCAR race to date ever run with an average speed of 188.354 mph.

Restrictor plates in theory prevented such crazy speeds and ensured pack racing, but they usually also guaranteed at least one monster multi-car wreck per race. The series did away with restrictor plates last year, replaced by tapered spacers.

Denny Hamlin won the season-opening Daytona 500 this year, and he’s a co-favorite at +1000 to win the Cup Series’ first trip of the season to Talladega on Sunday for the Geico 500 – that’s miles, not laps (there will be 188 laps). This was to be held in late April but rescheduled due to the coronavirus. Talladega also is set to host the YellaWood 500 playoff race on October 4.

A small contingent of Members of Parliament (MP) in the U.K. wants to ban all online and TV ads related to anything tied to the gambling industry. They believe that gambling is out of control and that operators aren’t following the letter of the law when it comes to how they implement their advertising policies. If that were all it took for an activity to be banned, there would be a massive amount of dead air when TV shows cut away from their programming to offer commercial breaks. As the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Gambling Related Harm (GRH APPG) attempts to enforce its will, at least one advertising group has come forward to point out the absurdity of the measures.

The GRH APPG believes that banning advertising will have an impact on problem gambling, even though there is yet to be any evidence provided that this is an accurate assumption. The group always wants to completely revamp the U.K. Gambling Commission (UKGC), offering 30 different solutions that it feels will make the agency more productive and efficient. While any entity has to constantly update its structure, scrapping everything and trying to start over seems to be a huge exaggeration of what might actually be required.

The Advertising Association (AA) responded to the GRH APPG’s recommendations yesterday, rejecting the idea of a complete ban on gambling ads. Stephen Woodford, the chief executive of the group, asserts that existing legislation, as well as proper oversight of standards, are more than adequate to address any concerns. He added, “We believe a total ban is not necessary – such action has wide implications, particularly for the support of sports across media channels, something enjoyed by millions of people right across the U.K.”

As far as making necessary changes, Woodford feels that the AA is doing its part to support the UKGC and the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), explaining that the frameworks are constantly under review and are updated often. He asserted, “The codes are under regular and rigorous review in line with the evidence. As new evidence emerges, the ASA and Gambling Commission consider this and amend the rules if they believe the evidence supports change.”

After everything the country has been through, getting a break from the same old routine could be just what the doctor ordered. As coronavirus-caused lockdowns are lifted and public protests over the killing of George Floyd begin to dissipate, everyone is going to need a change of scenery. Based on previous comments made by President Trump, and on input from travel insiders, a domestic travel credit might soon be on its way, giving a huge incentive to individuals to book a getaway.

This past May, Trump alluded to the fact that domestic travel credits might be provided, adding that it would give restaurants and travel-related companies a huge economic boost. He is quoted as saying during a meeting with restaurant executives, “Create an ‘Explore America’ – that’s ‘Explore,’ right? Explore America tax credit that Americans can use for domestic travel, including visits to restaurants. That’s a big deal.”

While Trump didn’t put a dollar figure on the amount, travel insiders have introduced a proposal on Capitol Hill that would give as much as $4,000 to Americans in order to get them out on the open road. The concept follows one that was developed for first-time homebuyers when the real estate bubble burst just over a decade ago, and would be accompanied by certain tax relief measures given directly to companies operating in the tourism and hospitality industries.

Last month, the president and CEO of the US Travel Association, Roger Dow, put his weight behind the measures, explaining that they would be a huge win for both consumers and the economy. He asserted, “An ‘Explore America’ tax credit and campaign will do wonders to put America back on the path to prosperity. We applaud the president’s support, and with our industry’s health and safety guidance for the reopening of travel businesses in place, we are very prepared to work with the administration to push the effort forward at the right time.”

Back in January, Vermont lawmakers brought up the subject of legalized sports gambling in the state after two senators introduced a bill that would allow both land-based and online sportsbooks. It seems like a great idea, especially since some Vermont neighbors, including Rhode Island and New Hampshire, have already gotten on the US sports gambling bandwagon. However, the process is moving slower than the maple syrup the state is known for. Lawmakers are now discussing a bill that would allow the state to explore the feasibility of sports gambling and what options should be included.

It isn’t enough that Europe has had sports gambling for decades or that several states in the US have already conducted numerous studies on the subject of legalized sports gambling. Vermont now wants to direct more money to investigate the activity, which will result in the same findings – legal sports gambling is a moneymaker and doesn’t lead to massive amounts of gambling addiction. By some accounts, the percentage of those who could be considered “problem gamblers” in the US only makes up about 2% of the entire gambling population.

Still, lawmakers have to be able to run through the motions, and the Vermont Senate unanimously approved last Friday the creation of a committee that will work out the details of how to tax and regulate sports gambling in the state. Unfortunately, that was just the second reading – another one had to be held yesterday before the bill made its way to the House if it’s approved.

As everyone already knows, except, apparently, lawmakers who don’t stay on top of the news, sports gambling is already happening in Vermont, just like it is everywhere else. Legalizing it only means that the state will be in a better position to profit from the activity, as well as to create oversight to ensure addiction doesn’t become a problem.

This week, in our regular feature about poker appearances on television and at the cinema throughout the ages, we talk about a classic in TV poker terms.

Taking place at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas in 2005 and at Caesars Palace between 2006 and its conclusion in 2013, the NBC National Heads-Up Championship is one of those TV shows which should never have gone away and which, if it came back today, would likely be twice as popular as it was in its heyday. 

Ali Nejad and Matt Vasgersian were the commentary team from 2007, with Gabe Kaplan in the Ali Nejad role in 2005 & 2006. The undoubted stars of the show, however, were the players, who went heads-up against each other one-on-one through the Round of 64 to a winner.

The buy-in to the event was a massive $25,000, and was by invitation-only, meaning only the best and most exciting players were invited along to play. Each round – with players already part of the full draw in four sections of clubs, spades, hearts and diamonds, naturally – would see a heads-up game determine which player moved on to the next round. The final was a best-of-three match to see who would become champion.

Poker players often have the option of re-entering poker tournaments in today’s day and age in a way that even a decade ago was unheard of. While there were rebuy or re-entry events, they weren’t everywhere. Nowadays, of course, re-entry tournaments are the norm, so a tournament series devoted to freezeouts seems revolutionary.

The 888poker Freezeout Series runs from June 21st until June 29th and includes 24 events in total. The total guarantees across these events run to $665,000, which compared to some event series coming this summer, is small. But with no re-entries, players will have the chance to play knowing that when they bust someone, they won’t be coming back in the same event.

Just how popular freezeout events are with players might be gauged quite accurately by the turnout, with buy-ins ranging from just $5.50 up to $109, with Day 1 entries for the $200,000-guaranteed Main Event costing $109. The Main Event offers the chance to enter multiple flights, slightly bending the rules of a total freezeout in that sense, but there are plenty of other events without that option.

With a variety of formats such as 6-Max, 8-Max and full ring, there’s something for everyone, with PKO’s (Progressive Knock Out events) going on too. Most tournaments are simple NLHE freezeouts, however.