Category Archives: Gambling

WPT Targets Asia’s 1.2 Billion Mobile Gamers with Unique Spring Festival

The World Poker Tour (WPT) is breaking new ground in more ways than one thanks to a new partnership with Poker King.

Tom Dwan and Phil Ivey will be among the celebrities playing the mobile-only WPT Spring Festival on Poker King. (Image: Kakuchopurei)

Poker King made headlines last year when it recruited Tom Dwan and Phil Ivey to peddle its wares. Now, with its mobile poker app gaining momentum in Asia, it’s linked up with the WPT for a unique tournament series.

The WPT Spring Festival will run between February 11 and 22. Ivey and Dwan will taking part, but the real USP is the fact it’s a mobile-only series.

France’s ANJ lays out the five key pillars to gambling regulations

France’s L’Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ) is setting in motion its plans for the country’s gambling industry following its creation last summer. It replaced L’Autorité Nationale de Régulation des jeux en ligne (ARJEL) in an effort to unify gambling regulations and, now that it has a handle on the environment, is ready to build upon its “five key pillars” to shape the industry. ANJ has now released its objectives to update France’s gambling laws and standards, anticipating that it will need three years to have everything fully in place. However, if trends are to be followed, it might take longer than expected for those plans to be completely rolled out.

From now through 2023, ANJ will focus on strategic solutions to ensure better consumer protection and keep people away from the “harms” that are associated with gambling. The plan has already been approved by the regulator’s board of governors, as well as others shaping government policy, and will build upon five tenets that are being implemented to reinforce gambling operators’ obligation to provide a “significant return” to society. They will also include guidance to minimize the risk of gaming addiction and maximizing public safety.

Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin, serving as the regulator’s president, has been busy getting everything in place to redesign France’s gambling laws since the ANJ was formed last year. She is approaching her responsibilities methodically, beginning with a reform of the current regulatory structure while introducing new requirements and commitments for operators. The ANJ has already implemented new regulations, including new player protection guidelines tied to deposit limits and more.

Prior to the introduction of the ANJ, regulatory oversight of gambling in France was fragmented, with virtually all activity having its own set of rules. Now, however, the ANJ is creating a unified strategy that will be applicable to all operators in all disciplines, while providing a certain amount of flexibility for each segment. The regulator has introduced new technical requirements all operators must follow and plans on dedicating resources to implement new anti-money-laundering solutions that can be applied across borders.

Doug Polk on Long-Time Rival Daniel Negreanu: He’s a Worthy Opponent

Doug Polk and Daniel Negreanu have finally buried the hatchet after years of bickering. All it took was a 25,000-hand heads-up poker challenge that was a bit more competitive than many expected.

Doug Polk and Daniel Negreanu may have recently realized they have a lot in common. (Image: Poker Central)

The poker pros began feuding in 2014 when Negreanu claimed he can beat $25/$50 no-limit hold’em 6-max online games after studying for a few weeks. That irked Polk, who felt the PokerStars ambassador at the time was being cocky and disrespectful to the grinders who work hard to hone their craft.

He then continued verbally attacking Negreanu over the next six years for various issues, mostly petty ones. In 2018, he took out a billboard outside the Rio during the WSOP, which read “More Rake is Better,” mocking Negreanu’s claims that increased rake on PokerStars was good for the game as a whole.