The UK’s gambling regulator is seeking public input on how to ensure that its online licensees adequately protect consumers from potential gambling harm, including proper checks to ensure that customers can afford to gamble.

On Tuesday, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) opened a consultation on its remote gambling licensees’ customer interactions. The UKGC said operators “already have the capability of identifying customers who may be harmed by gambling” but the regulator believes the industry “has not used this capability sufficiently to reduce harms.”

The UKGC claims too many licensees have “set thresholds for interaction too high,” in some cases not intervening until “tens of thousands of pounds” have been deposited and/or wagered. The UKGC is proposing new Social Responsibility Code requirements for licensing and a new “customer interaction manual” to replace the existing customer interaction guidance document.

UKGC exec director Tim Miller said many online licensees were “not taking the appropriate action or acting quickly enough when they do identify risks of potential harm.” Miller claimed that the consultation was intended to ensure the regulator struck “the right balance” between consumer freedom and consumer protection.

The third gameweek in this season’s Champions League will see clubs reach the halfway stage of the group phase. With a potential nine points on offer across the first three games, who needs to improve vastly on their opening two games and who could have one foot in the knockout phase at the end of 90 minutes?

Tuesday November 3rd

There are some very interesting matches on Tuesday night as Atalanta and Liverpool clash in the Stadio di Bergamo. Despite winning against both Ajax and FC Midtjyland, Liverpool have only scored three goals in the competition so far, while Atalanta have smashed in six in their two games to date. The Italians represent the biggest challenge posed to Jurgen Klopp’s side and look good value at 23/10 for the win.

Elsewhere on Tuesday, both sides should score in the game between Lokomotiv Moscow and Atletico Madrid, and at odds of 13/10, that bet must be taken. Manchester City look racing certainties to beat Olympiakos but taking The Citizens at 2/9 best price is a fools’ folly. Far better is the 8/1 on offer for Ruben Dias to score at any time. Dias scored 9 in 91 for former club Benfica and can be very dangerous in his 7th game for Manchester City, and is yet to score.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

Week 10 of the college football season is the most action-packed so far because the Mid-American Conference (six games on Wednesday) and Pac-12 Conference both kick off their seasons, and there are a few spectacular matchups from other leagues Saturday.

Let’s start with Friday when No. 9 BYU, an independent, visits No. 21 Boise State of the Mountain West at 9:45 p.m. ET. The unbeaten Cougars have a shot at reaching the College Football Playoff if they run the table, although their weak schedule will hurt. Boise State is the only ranked school currently on the slate. BYU is -3 and is 4-1 ATS in the past five meetings.

Southern Cal and Oregon are neck-and-neck as the favorites to win the Pac-12 this year – they play in opposite divisions and thus could meet in the title game.

The global gaming industry has suffered greatly because of COVID-19, with billion-dollar companies now scrambling to make ends meet. While most will blame their shortfalls on the global pandemic, an argument for lack of prudent planning can be seen clearly. Everi Holdings, a global supplier of gaming and loyalty solutions, has been able to manage its finances well enough that it is already showing almost a complete recovery from the COVID-19 disaster. It has also been able to pay off its debts, while other gaming companies are reaching out to investors to try to secure hundreds of millions of dollars just to stay alive.

Everi just released its latest financial statement for the third quarter, showing considerable strength in its numbers as revenue is up 190% quarter over quarter. While it still reported a net loss, at $900,000, for the period ending September 30, this was much better than the net loss of $68.5 million it saw in the second quarter of the year. Revenue from games and FinTech operations were $38.7 million, but improved to $112.1 million in Q3. This is only off by 16.7% from what was reported for the same period last year, and comes as the world is continuing to struggle with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) also improved from the second quarter to the third. It was up 94.5%, reaching $59.8 million, and included a debt repayment of $35 million Everi had drawn on a revolving credit facility. 

Everi CEO Michael Rumbolz said in the statement, “The significant quarterly sequential improvement in revenue, net income, Adjusted EBITDA and Free Cash Flow in the third quarter demonstrates a quicker than previously expected recovery in our results. Our operations strengthened throughout the third quarter, with better performance at the end of the quarter compared to earlier in the quarter. While the future impact of the pandemic remains uncertain, our improved results highlight the resilience and strength of our recurring-revenue streams.

Maybe it’s just poor timing, but an attempt to find backing for a bullet train between Las Vegas and California has failed after the project didn’t attract attention from possible investors. The idea of laying a line between the gambling city and, ultimately, Los Angeles, which would reportedly cut travel time by half, made a reappearance at the end of September, with developers hoping to attract $3.2 billion through the issuance of bonds. However, it’s now back to the drawing board for the project, which has repeatedly run into a brick wall for 15 years.

Brightline Holdings began pitching the high-speed train project – again- in September, with plans to initially install rails between Las Vegas and Victorville, CA. The project carries an estimated price tag of $8 billion, which would be provided through leveraged bonds backed by California and $800 million coming from Nevada. The Fortress Investment Group-owned company, which operates other trains in the country, brought in Morgan Stanley to help attract investors, but will now need to rethink its approach.

The bonds would have reportedly offered yields of 7-7.5% and would mature in 2050. Most bonds offer yield rates substantially lower (around four times lower) and the higher yield may have actually been detrimental to the bond offering. It showed investors that there is a substantial amount of risk associated with the project, which could have been a deterrent to finding support. However, others believe it’s just a matter of liquidity. Fiona Ma, California State Treasurer, told Bloomberg, “Unfortunately there is not a lot of liquidity in the market and a lot of economic uncertainty at this moment. The project is postponed until market liquidity improves.”

Another issue with the project is the trajectory. The idea of offering a bullet train was pitched using the argument that it would reduce travel time from, and congestion in, LA. However, the initial phase stops in Victorville, which is still a long distance from the City of Angels. As a result, anyone wishing to hit Las Vegas from LA would still have to drive to Victorville, negating any chance of reducing congestion. Victorville sits about 80 minutes from LA and, after driving that distance, Vegas-bound gamblers are already almost halfway to their destination. 

Even though Japan is not currently dedicating a lot of time to its plans to introduce integrated resorts (IR) to the country, the project is still moving forward on both national and regional levels. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has confirmed that there will eventually be movement, and local governments are still trying to drum up support from locals to be able to submit a bid. The Nagasaki prefecture is one location that has been mentioned as a possible target for one of the first three IRs expected to be approved, and it is getting some additional support from local leaders, who have formed the Kyushu IR Promotion Council while the area continues to sculpt how an IR industry might appear.

Kyushu is Japan’s third-largest island and is home to seven prefectures – including Nagasaki. The prefectures’ governors are part of the Kyushu Governors’ Association (KGA), which decided, as did the Kyushu Regional Strategy Council (KRSC), to create the new IR-supporting group. The goal of the new entity will be to ensure that local economies and businesses will be able to benefit from the development of an IR, should the region be approved to host one of the properties.

A statement about the creation of the new group explains that it expects to “create business opportunities and promote local procurement by building business networking strategies” and that it will include individuals who will represent “economic organizations, local government and councils of Nagasaki prefecture and the Kyushu region.” Ultimately, if selected, Nagasaki has earmarked a 76.6-acre site close to the Huis Ten Bosch theme park to host the IR, allowing the area to become a hotbed for global tourism of all types and ages. 

The KGA is composed of the governors of Fukuoka, Kagoshima, Kumamoto, Miyazaki, Nagasaki Oita and Saga, as well as the governors of the Yamaguchi prefecture on Honshu Island and of Okinawa. The KRSC is a group that includes representatives from business activities in the region, working with the governors to improve its commercial activity. Both groups have acknowledged support for an IR in the area previously, and the KGA has repeatedly endorsed Nagasaki as one of the prime locations in the country to host an IR. 

The English Premier League saw yet more drama as there were important wins and losses for the biggest teams in the division. Who is looking likely to go into the International break with a headache and which teams have a clear outlook on how they can return?

Sheffield United 0-1 Manchester City

While it might not have seemed so vital at the time being that it kicked off the weekend’s action, Sheffield United’s defeat to Manchester City could be one game we look back on as crucial in the pattern of each side’s respective Premier League campaigns. 

It was Blades old boy and fan Kyle Walker who scored the winning goal, a rasping drive from distance that flew past Aaron Ramsdale into the United net.

Happy election day everybody! It’s been 4 years since Donald Trump was elected President of the United States, and it’s been 558 days since former Vice President Joe Biden announced he would run against him. We’re just about to see which man will be elected President for the next 4 years, and we have the final set of odds as Americans enter their last day of voting.

At Bodog, Biden maintains one of the biggest leads he’s had in the race with -180 odds to be elected, or a 64.3% chance to win. Judging by their state by state odds, he leads in enough battleground states to win election with the closest being Pennsylvania, where his odds are also -180.

Trump remains near his all time low at +150, or a 40% chance to win. He’s leading in several key states he needs, like Texas, Georgia and North Carolina, but must pull off an underdog upset, likely in a state like Pennsylvania, to win re-election.

Although Biden’s odds improved at Bodog over the weekend, they’ve taken a slight dip in other markets. PredictIt, the Democrat had a 68% chance to win last week; he current sits at 62%. Trump has similarly risen from 39% to 44%.