Monthly Archives: November 2020

Sweden’s online gamblers still unsure of advantages of local licensees

Sweden’s gambling regulator is mounting an awareness campaign for its Spelpaus self-exclusion program after concluding that Swedes had increased their gambling activity during the pandemic lockdown.

This week, Sweden’s Spelinspektionen regulatory body announced a new campaign to remind the nation that there was a system in place to prohibit access to gambling products. Around 58k individuals have to date signed up for the Spelpaus program, which launched in tandem with the country’s regulated online market in January 2019.

Spelinspektionen spokesperson Anders Sims noted a new market survey indicating that the percentage of online gamblers who are aware of Spelpaus has risen from 54% in 2019 to 71% this year. Sims said this was “fine, but it could be even better.”

The new campaign, which will run through mid-January, features 13 different banner ads across a variety of websites, pushing not only the existence of Spelpaus but also educating viewers as to signs of potential problem gambling behavior. The new messages have a particular focus on women, relatives of problem gamblers and individuals whose first language isn’t Swedish.

EPT Online main event Day 2 Sees Toby Joyce take the lead

Day 2 of the EPT 2020 Online Series Main Event is in the books, and after just 72 players remained at the close of play, it was Toby Joyce who held the chip lead.

 The Irish player, who won the Galway Poker Cup in January 2015 and hasn’t looked back ever since, finished top of the pile after an initial field (including late re-entries at the start of Day 2) totalling 1,304 entries was whittled down to just 5.5% of that number.

The EPT 2020 Online $5,200 Main Event saw a total prizepool of $6.52 million gathered, which meant just 159 players would be paid. Plenty, therefore, would miss out and some of the names who missed out on profit included but weren’t limited to Felix Schneiders, Ben Spragg, Kalidou Sow, Lex Veldhuis, Kenny Hallaert, Christoph Vogelsang, Andrey Pateychuk, Ludovic Geilich, Jens Kyllonen, Samuel Vousden, Andre Marques and Steve O’Dwyer.

Once the bubble burst, players such as overnight chip leader Fintan Hand bowed out, with the Irishman donating over $5,000 to charity. Scott Margereson min-cashed, Robin Ylitalo busted in 138th place and Aliaksei Boika hit the rail in 107th place. Popular EPT player Noah Boeken left in 100th place and suddenly there were just a dozen 8-Max tables between any of the remaining players and the final table.

Pennsylvania hails ‘dramatic’ iGaming, betting surge for October gains

Pennsylvania’s gambling market enjoyed a double-digit revenue gain in October thanks primarily to “dramatic” rises in online casino and sports betting activity.

Figures released Tuesday by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) show the state’s gaming operators generated combined revenue of $320.2m in October, a 12.9% rise from the same month last year and 12.7% better than the market reported in September 2020.

Land-based casino revenue continues to suffer from pandemic capacity restrictions, with slots revenue falling 17.2% to $154.7m and table games off 13.4% to $63.3m. All Pennsylvania casinos reported year-on-year slots declines while Harrah’s Philadelphia, Valley Forge and Presque Isle Downs were the only casinos to post improved table numbers.

It was a vastly different story with digital gambling, as online slots soared to $40.3m from just $4m in October 2019 (although only $1m better than September 2020). Online table games brought in $17m, up $2.3m from September, while the state’s lone online poker licensee (PokerStars) brought in $2.4m, effectively unchanged from September.

Switzerland gets 7th online casino via Groupe Partouche

Switzerland’s online casino gamblers finally have another locally licensed option, while land-based operators are being prevented from shutting down their gaming tables during a pandemic.

On Monday, Switzerland’s federal gaming board (ESBK) announced that Group Partouche’s Casino du Lac Meyrin in Geneva had been formally authorized to commence online casino operations via its Pasino.ch site.

The site, which is powered by the Gamanza Group (which also powers Grand Casino Baden’s online casino) is currently offering a variety of online slots and table games (both RNG and live) from the likes of Evolution, NetEnt, LeoVegas’ Red Tiger brand, among others.

Partouche received its initial ESBK approval back in April but the company dragged its feet getting its online site up and running. That created a void that was promptly filled by BC.Game, an operator of Ethereum-based online casinos that chose to launch a Pasino.com site which the ESBK saw fit to include in its latest online gambling blacklist.

EPT Online Main Event Smashes Guarantee Ahead of Penultimate Day

PokerStars’ European Poker Tour (EPT) Online main event has breached its $5 million guarantee by more than 25% as play moves into Day 3.

The EPT Online main event has beaten its guarantee by more than $1.5 million after attracted 1,300+ entries. (Image: PokerStars)

When the late registration period ended on November 16, 1,304 entries had been collected in the $5,200 MTT.

Fintan Hand led at the start of play but couldn’t keep up the momentum. When the chips had fallen, the Irishman picked up $11,757 for his 134th place finish while Toby Joyce went on to take the chip lead.

College football odds: Week 12 lines & trends

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

The SEC was ravaged by COVID-19 postponements in Week 11 with four games called off; it goes without saying there could be more all across the country in Week 12 with the virus raging – Ole Miss at No. 5 Texas A&M and Georgia Tech at No. 12 Miami are both already postponed to name two.

Chip Kelly was a mega-successful football coach at Oregon from 2009-12 before trying his luck at the NFL, which did not go so well. UCLA hired him before the 2018 season and Kelly has not been able to find his collegiate magic with the Bruins. They are at No. 11 Oregon on Saturday and the Ducks are -14.5. Oregon has won six straight at home in the series by an average of nearly 22 points per game.

While Oregon is expected to win the Pac-12 North, the No. 20 USC Trojans are South Division favorites. They visit two-time defending South champion Utah. It’s quite possible if not likely the winner of that game will claim the South in the Pac-12’s very shortened season. Utah has had its first two games canceled due to COVID-19. It is a 3-point underdog and the visiting team is 1-8 ATS in the past nine in the series.

Michael Addamo Leads Day 1A of Caribbean Poker Party Main Event

Partypoker’s Caribbean Poker Party is in full swing and, after the first day of action in the $5,300 main event, Michael Addamo is the man on top.

Michael Addamo topped the list of entrants on Day 1A of the Partypoker Caribbean Poker Party main event. (Image: Paul Phua Poker)

Cruising through Day 1A and bagging just over 18.6 million chips, the Australian is in the driving seat heading into Day 2.

However, with Day 1B set take place on November 22 and at least $5 million to play for, Addamo’s position is far from certain.

Poker Hall of Fame will welcome only one inductee in 2020

Finding out which two new players have been inducted in the Poker Hall of Fame is a poker tradition like the World Series of Poker ending in July November July. It shouldn’t be changed and now it has.

This year, as opposed to 14 of the previous 15 years, there will only be one inductee.

Setting aside the fact that the last time this happened, it was 2009 and the late, great Mike Sexton’s personality easily covered for two inductions, what are the reasons for the change?

According to an interview with PokerNews, Ty Stewart, World Series of Poker Executive Director, said: “There will be a 2020 Poker Hall of Fame class, or said more accurately, a 2020 inductee. We are going to return to the tradition of one inductee per year, voted in by their peers, but I’d like to present the full details on that in the near future.”