Watching your favourite poker players play poker is obviously the greatest thrill for any poker fan. We want to see the whites of our hero’s eyes as they five-bet shove absolute air and get a crying fold from the player we love to see get beaten.

There’s a special place in the hearts of dedicated poker fans hearts, however, for a slightly different way of enjoying players at the highest level going head-to-head with each other.

The Professional Poker League came along in 1999 and was notable for the sheer quality of players it attracted, not to the tables but to the Player Draft that was held before the tournament even got a chance to play out.

For many reasons this week, players such as Daniel Negreanu have been looking back at it, and the Canadian superstar piqued the interest of fans with this teaser shot of the actual VHS tape from 21 years ago.

Casino operator MGM Resorts plans to reopen its Park MGM property as a smoke-free venue, the first such facility on the Las Vegas Strip to permanently kick tobacco to the curb.

Last week, MGM announced that it would reopen its Empire City Casino in New York on September 21. New York recently confirmed that its commercial casino operators could reopen on a limited basis as of September 9, and Empire City says its slots and electronic table games will be in operation, while bars and beverage service will remain closed for the time being.

On Monday, MGM announced that its Four Seasons Las Vegas property will reopen on September 25 while the Park MGM resort and its affiliated Nomad hotel will follow suit on September 30. These openings will mark the last MGM properties to restart operations since the company was forced to shut down its retail casinos this spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

While Park MGM will have certain restrictions on its gaming and non-gaming amenities when it reopens, the company has decided to impose a total indoor smoking ban, making the property The Strip’s “first fully smoke-free casino resort.”

Casino operator MGM Resorts plans to reopen its Park MGM property as a smoke-free venue, the first such facility on the Las Vegas Strip to permanently kick tobacco to the curb.

Last week, MGM announced that it would reopen its Empire City Casino in New York on September 21. New York recently confirmed that its commercial casino operators could reopen on a limited basis as of September 9, and Empire City says its slots and electronic table games will be in operation, while bars and beverage service will remain closed for the time being.

On Monday, MGM announced that its Four Seasons Las Vegas property will reopen on September 25 while the Park MGM resort and its affiliated Nomad hotel will follow suit on September 30. These openings will mark the last MGM properties to restart operations since the company was forced to shut down its retail casinos this spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

While Park MGM will have certain restrictions on its gaming and non-gaming amenities when it reopens, the company has decided to impose a total indoor smoking ban, making the property The Strip’s “first fully smoke-free casino resort.”

Casino operator MGM Resorts plans to reopen its Park MGM property as a smoke-free venue, the first such facility on the Las Vegas Strip to permanently kick tobacco to the curb.

Last week, MGM announced that it would reopen its Empire City Casino in New York on September 21. New York recently confirmed that its commercial casino operators could reopen on a limited basis as of September 9, and Empire City says its slots and electronic table games will be in operation, while bars and beverage service will remain closed for the time being.

On Monday, MGM announced that its Four Seasons Las Vegas property will reopen on September 25 while the Park MGM resort and its affiliated Nomad hotel will follow suit on September 30. These openings will mark the last MGM properties to restart operations since the company was forced to shut down its retail casinos this spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

While Park MGM will have certain restrictions on its gaming and non-gaming amenities when it reopens, the company has decided to impose a total indoor smoking ban, making the property The Strip’s “first fully smoke-free casino resort.”

Philippines-based online gambling operators are facing stiff new tax hikes as the government looks for cash to fund its economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Saturday, Philippine Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon announced that the newly signed Bayanihan to Recover as One (Bayanihan 2) law will more than double its financial collection from Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) by imposing a tax on online gambling turnover rather than revenue.

The law states that POGOs will now be subject to a “five percent (5%) franchise tax on the gross bets or turnovers or the agreed pre-determined minimum monthly revenues from gaming operations, whichever is higher, earned by offshore gaming licensees, including gaming operators, gaming agent, service providers and gaming support providers.”

To ensure operators can’t use foreign currency fluctuations to diminish their tax obligations, the franchise tax “shall be computed on the peso equivalent of the foreign currency used, based on the prevailing official exchange rate at the time of payment, otherwise the same shall be considered as a fraudulent act constituting under-declaration of taxable receipts or income.”

The 8th event of the World Poker Tour World Online Championships saw 490 entries last week on Day 1a, which ended with Dominik Panka, Shaun Deeb and Upeshka De Silva all taking through top 10 stacks as Slovenian player Blaž Žerjav held the chip lead.

Last night, 521 more entries – including re-entries – saw the total field swell to 1,011 entries and surpass the generous $10 million guarantee for the $10,000-entry Main Event Championship.

Top of the shop after around 11 hours of play was the German player Benjamin Rolle, who ended play with 3.6 million chips. With the top prize of $1.7 million now announced by the WPT and another $1.2 million for the runner-up, there’s a lot on the line, and play was of a high standard throughout Day 1b.

Day 1b saw many great names making Day 2, but one former Mike Sexton Champions Cup winner, Matas Cimbolas – although the Lithuanian won the trophy before it was gloriously renamed in the late, great Sexton’s honour – was not one of them. He was all-in late on in a three-way shove-fest with pocket aces, but was outdrawn by the ace-king of diamonds of Benjamin Rolle, who went runner-runner for a flush on the river that sent both Cimbolas and Pascal Hartmann packing.

The eSports industry has exploded over the last decade and is the newest big thing in the gambling industry. GameCo CEO Blaine Graboyes has been one of the pioneers of the video gambling concept, combining his background in film and television with his passion for Esports. He took some time out to sit down with CalvinAyre.com’s Becky Liggero Fontana to speak about the future of the Esports industry in this week’s episode of The Long Con.

Blaine Graboyes shared how he got pulled into the Esports industry as a film and television student at Bennington College in Vermont. “I got exposed to the technology around DVD production and started my first company in New York. I was the first digital producer to represented by ICM in 2002,” he said.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-N637b_0HYY?feature=oembed]

“ICM introduced me to the video game space and I worked with some of the top studios in LA, I started in Esports 10 years ago and it was that industry that led to my ideas in video game gambling.”

After three Grand Slam finals, Austrian tennis pro Dominic Thiem has finally ended the dominance of the ‘big three’ to win the U.S. Open.

There may not have been Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer at the U.S. Open at Flushing Meadow, but Novak Djokovic arrived a fortnight ago determined to clinch his 17th Grand Slam. For a number of reasons, that didn’t happen in spectacular style, but Thiem did get over the line, the most experienced man in the draw from the fourth round onwards finally sealing the deal late in the day last night.

With Thiem earning $3 million, runner-up Alexander Zverev will not be disgruntled at taking home $1.5 million as a consolation prize, but he will wake up today wondering how he let it slip through his grasp, up two sets only to eventually lose 2-6 4-6 6-4 6-3 7-6 (8-6) to the Austrian.

Thiem told reporters afterwards that he had been working towards the Grand Slam victory his “whole life” and consoled his great friend Zverev to be someone who deserves to win a Slam soon. That might be true, but the 27-year-old Austrian will be privately delighted to have got one over his younger German frenemy. He was very respectful both on court after the game and online after the event.

Massachusetts is considering introducing legalized sports gambling in the state, but how the market may be shaped is still up for discussion. The idea of allowing wagers on sports began even before COVID-19, but the coronavirus pandemic has forced the issue to take on a different tone, with the state looking at different ways to recuperate lost revenue. Should lawmakers push forward with a bill that is currently being discussed, House Bill 4887 (HB 4887), a number of colleges and universities in the state want to make sure that college-level sports activity is not included. They authored a letter that was sent to legislators, urging them to allow, in so many words, illegal college sports wagers to continue. 

Harvard University was one of seven schools that signed off on a letter sent last Friday to lawmakers, asking them to think twice before allowing bets on college sporting events. According to the university’s own publication, The Harvard Crimson, the complete list includes the “presidents and athletic directors of Boston College, Boston University, the College of the Holy Cross, Merrimack College, Northeastern University, the University of Massachusetts, and Harvard University signed onto the letter, which was addressed to Massachusetts Senate President Karen E. Spilka, Speaker of the House Robert A. DeLeo, Senator Michael J. Rodrigues, Senator Eric P. Lesser ’07, Senator Patrick M. O’Connor, Representative Ann-Margaret Ferrante, Representative Aaron Michlewitz, and Representative Donald H. Wong.”

This past July, the Massachusetts House of Representatives signed off on HB 4887, allowing it to consider making its way through the legislative quagmire. The bill initially contained a provision for college sports wagers to be included; however, when it got to the Senate, the idea was axed. In siding with the branch in voicing their opposition to the measure, the schools’ representatives said in the letter, “Based on our years of experience, each of us believes that such legislation will create unnecessary and unacceptable risks to student athletes, their campus peers, and the integrity and culture of colleges and universities in the Commonwealth.”

Given that there is no foundation upon which to reach that conclusion, absent a widespread and legal college sports gambling industry, the push to keep college-level sports out of the mix doesn’t have a strong case. Harvard is viewed by most as educated and sophisticated, which makes it a little surprising that it would miss this blatantly obvious conclusion. Gamblers are going to gamble, regardless of whether or not it’s done in a legal, regulated environment or through offshore channels. It’s only through legalization and regulation that the gambling industry can be more transparent and integrity more enforced. If anyone thinks that student-athletes don’t already have the ability to make deals with sportsbooks, they haven’t done their homework.