Partypoker has released three new Sit & Go formats including the opportunity to win a million dollar first prize in a new game branded in the name of their newest recruit, Sam Trickett.

Poker has caught the million dollar bug.

In a year that has seen more seven-figure scores handed out in poker than at any other time in history, the online giants are getting in on the action.

First PokerStars offered a million dollar jackpot for Spin & Go players. Then we had 888Poker doing likewise for BLAST Poker players. And now partypoker are also offering a million buck jackpot in their newly revised Sit & Go Hero game.

A few quick hits before you dive in to this preview for UFC 207. First off, the entire preview for the Nunes-Rousey championship match is a meant as a study on whether Rousey truly has what it takes to be the champion again. I have a few quick hits about the card afterwards as well. Also note that the Fabricio Werdum fight against Cain Velasquez has been unfortunately scrapped due to the latter’s health. As if the heavyweight division couldn’t get more irrelevant.

Enjoy UFC 207, which takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Friday, December 30th! Head to our buddies at Bodog for the best fight lines.

AMANDA NUNES +110 over RONDA ROUSEY -140

Super successful athletes are a combination of three things: talent, hard work and perseverance. It’s not a mix. You can’t just have parts of one element and draw blanks on another. Success as an athlete requires a pure blend of all three, along with a sharp dose of luck.

Russia’s telecom watchdog agency is celebrating what it claims is a successful campaign against unauthorized online gambling sites, although its claims actually undercut its argument.

Figures released last week by the Roskomnadzor agency showed that it had identified nearly 87k website domains in 2016 that were in violation of various Russian laws, triple the number of domains so identified in 2015.

Of 2016’s offenders, around 52k were ordered offline by Roskomnadzor, while a further 34.5k were taken down by network operators without the agency having to crack the whip.

Some 15,900 sites were flagged by the Federal Tax Service (FTS) for offering prohibited online gambling services. Of these unwanted online gambling domains, 12,561 (79%) were subsequently blocked by the agency, second only to “extremist materials” in the 22 categories of unauthorized data tracked by Roskomnadzor.

It’s been a long and largely sucktastic year, so without wasting any more of anyone’s time, here are the top casino stories of 2016:

MACAU BOUNCES BACK

Macau’s casinos broke their prolonged losing streak in August, posting their first year-on-year gaming revenue gains in 26 months. The positive momentum has continued for four months now, offering operators further hope that their long jurisdictional nightmare is finally behind them.

Macau welcomed two new integrated resorts in 2016, and so far the pair have experienced wildly different fortunes. In keeping with Wynn Resorts’ boss Steve Wynn’s penchant for opulence, Wynn Palace was aimed at high-end customers, a demographic that wasn’t yet in short supply when the $4b project began construction several years back. Wynn Palace has to date performed far below expectations, forcing management to make changes to its gaming floor meant to attract more mass market customers.

Week 18 of the English Premier League sees Chelsea set a club record with a 12th consecutive win over Bournemouth; Man Utd win four in a row, and the bottom three all lose.

The last four times Chelsea has been at the top of the Premier League Christmas Tree they have gone all the way, and I can’t see this year being any different.

Antonio Conte’s men set a new club record of 12-straight Premier League victories after subjecting Bournemouth to their third loss in four at Stamford Bridge.

It’s an incredible turnaround for the Blues. This time last year they hovered three points above the relegation zone with the Player of the Year, Eden Hazard, playing his football in a straightjacket.

Some lottery winners avoid paying debts out of their winnings. But how many?Financials, North Carolina, Study, Government, Director

My favorite part about the college football playoffs is that it gives me a legitimate excuse to get my New Year’s Even drinking started at lunch time. Well, I didn’t really need an excuse but it makes me fell less like an alcoholic. The two games taking place on December 31st are absolutely epic and will cap off a tremendous year of sports betting. Here’s where I’m leaning. Good luck and enjoy.

CHICK-FIL-A PEACH BOWL

#1 ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE -14.5 over #4 WASHINGTON HUSKIES

(UNDER 54.5)

My favorite part about the college football playoffs is that it gives me a legitimate excuse to get my New Year’s Even drinking started at lunch time. Well, I didn’t really need an excuse but it makes me fell less like an alcoholic. The two games taking place on December 31st are absolutely epic and will cap off a tremendous year of sports betting. Here’s where I’m leaning. Good luck and enjoy.

CHICK-FIL-A PEACH BOWL

#1 ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE -14.5 over #4 WASHINGTON HUSKIES

(UNDER 54.5)

My favorite part about the college football playoffs is that it gives me a legitimate excuse to get my New Year’s Even drinking started at lunch time. Well, I didn’t really need an excuse but it makes me fell less like an alcoholic. The two games taking place on December 31st are absolutely epic and will cap off a tremendous year of sports betting. Here’s where I’m leaning. Good luck and enjoy.

CHICK-FIL-A PEACH BOWL

#1 ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE -14.5 over #4 WASHINGTON HUSKIES

(UNDER 54.5)

My favorite part about the college football playoffs is that it gives me a legitimate excuse to get my New Year’s Even drinking started at lunch time. Well, I didn’t really need an excuse but it makes me fell less like an alcoholic. The two games taking place on December 31st are absolutely epic and will cap off a tremendous year of sports betting. Here’s where I’m leaning. Good luck and enjoy.

CHICK-FIL-A PEACH BOWL

#1 ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE -14.5 over #4 WASHINGTON HUSKIES

(UNDER 54.5)

My favorite part about the college football playoffs is that it gives me a legitimate excuse to get my New Year’s Even drinking started at lunch time. Well, I didn’t really need an excuse but it makes me fell less like an alcoholic. The two games taking place on December 31st are absolutely epic and will cap off a tremendous year of sports betting. Here’s where I’m leaning. Good luck and enjoy.

CHICK-FIL-A PEACH BOWL

#1 ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE -14.5 over #4 WASHINGTON HUSKIES

(UNDER 54.5)

My favorite part about the college football playoffs is that it gives me a legitimate excuse to get my New Year’s Even drinking started at lunch time. Well, I didn’t really need an excuse but it makes me fell less like an alcoholic. The two games taking place on December 31st are absolutely epic and will cap off a tremendous year of sports betting. Here’s where I’m leaning. Good luck and enjoy.

CHICK-FIL-A PEACH BOWL

#1 ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE -14.5 over #4 WASHINGTON HUSKIES

(UNDER 54.5)

The December is a very fruitful time for the Endorphina and the players that prefer the game like no others. After a successful release of the Voodoo slot, the game provider continues in unveiling the non-christmas themed slots before the end of the year.

The next addition to the broad portfolio of Endorphina’s games is a polynesian themed slot MAORI, celebrating the traditional inhabitants of the New Zealand.

Known for their rich mythology, distinctive crafts and performing arts, the Maori people developed their culture during the centuries in a complete isolation. This interesting ethnic group inspired the creative team and the result is visually mastered slot that features full 3D modeled characters in HD that allows great immersion into the game and the culture of the people.

The slot promises unlimited free games and a huge opportunity for winning big and is available at casinos from the 26th December 2016.

NEW YORK and LONDON, December 2016 — Inspired Entertainment, Inc. (“Inspired” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: INSE, INSEW) (known prior to completion as Hydra Industries Acquisition Corp.), announced today the Company’s business combination with Inspired Gaming Group (“IGG”) has been successfully completed. The transaction was unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies and was approved by approximately 89% of Hydra’s stockholders on December 22, 2016. With the closing of the transaction, IGG has become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Inspired. Inspired will continue to trade on NASDAQ under the tickers INSE and INSEW for the common stock and warrants, respectively, beginning Wednesday, December 28, 2016.

Inspired is a global games technology company, supplying Virtual Sports, Mobile Gaming and Server-Based Gaming systems with associated terminals and digital content to regulated betting, gaming and lottery operators around the world. Inspired currently operates more than 25,000 digital gaming terminals and supplies its Virtual Sports products in more than 35,000 venues and on over 100 websites in 30 countries. Inspired employs over 800 employees in the UK and elsewhere, developing and operating digital games and networks.

Lorne Weil, Executive Chairman of Inspired Entertainment, Inc., said, “We are truly delighted to combine the respective management teams of Hydra and Inspired. Luke Alvarez and his team created a company whose products entertain and are played by millions of end customers through a broad range of distribution channels. We believe Inspired is uniquely positioned to expand the distribution of its unique and cutting edge content and are excited to embark on building out this world-class business.”

Luke Alvarez, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “Over the last fifteen years, Inspired has established itself as a leading provider of content and technology to the global gaming industry, focused on “Entertainment with an EDGE”. We are thankful to our investors, our customers and our players for helping us achieve today’s milestone. I look forward to working with Lorne, his team, and our public shareholders to bring our products to new markets and to take Inspired to the next level.”

When the world theatre of gaming opens at ExCel London on February 7-9, NOVOMATIC will resume its expansive stand at ICE Totally Gaming to showcase a complete range of cutting-edge gaming solutions. A combination of revolutionary cabinet innovations and leading Omni-channel content presented by 22 global subsidiaries and competence centers will demonstrate why NOVOMATIC is Europe’s undisputed leading gaming technology provider.

The NOVOMATIC stand, abounding with innovation, is located in the centre of the show floor and will be split into five distinct sections to profile a complete picture of gaming solutions. Upon entering the stand, visitors will first see the latest lottery and sports betting developments demonstrated by NOVOMATIC Lottery Solutions (NLS) and NOVOMATIC Sports Betting Solutions (NSLS), respectively. Next is the NOVOMATIC Interactive division with a full range of Omni-channel solutions from subsidiaries including Greentube, StakeLogic, Eurocoin Interactive, AbZorba Games, Mazooma and Extreme Live Gaming.

Passing a standout display of larger-than-life NOVOSTAR® V.I.P. Royal cabinets featuring a selection of bold new content designed for its huge 65” upright curve screen, visitors will find themselves at the heart of the company offering with the latest casino and systems innovations from NOVOMATIC Gaming Industries (NGI) and Octavian.

Moving around, the stand opens into the NOVOMATIC UK Group and its various subsidiaries with leading products for the casino, arcade and pub markets. An extensive range of international AWP and VLT products, as well as cash management solutions, will be on show at the end of the stand, by European subsidiaries including LÖWEN Entertainment, Crown Technologies, NOVOMATIC Italia, NOVOMATIC Gaming Spain and NOVOMATIC Netherlands. The latest Ainsworth cabinets and games will also be on show for the first time on the NOVOMATIC stand at ICE.

Without further ado, behold the stories that had everyone’s chins a wagging in 2016:

OH MY, UH…

If Canada’s Amaya Gaming was a hockey team, commentators would say their season was ruined by ‘off-ice distractions.’ Despite Amaya’s flagship PokerStars brand making its triumphant return to US shores and continued progress in diversifying beyond its pure poker roots, Amaya headlines were dominated by allegations of illegal insider trading and fumbling attempts at acquisition and privatization.

Amaya CEO David Baazov stunned the markets in February by announcing plans to acquire the company and take it private. The following month, Quebec securities regulators filed criminal charges against Baazov, accusing him of running an illegal kickback scheme by providing advance info on Amaya deals to a group of individuals that included his brother Josh/Ofer and Craig Levett, the pair behind former scam betting site BetonUSA.

May the spirit of Christmas fill your heart with peace, love, and joy.Lottery Post, Holiday, Christmas

The Dallas Cowboys‘ recent slump against the spread and the Detroit Lions’ resiliency makes their meeting more intriguing than the typical betting matchup with a touchdown favorite. The Cowboys are seven-point favorites against the Lions with a 44-point total for Monday night.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

The Cowboys are on a 6-0 straight-up streak at home, but they are only 3-10-1 ATS in their last 14 home games against teams with winning records. Conversely, the Lions are 5-2 SU and ATS in their last seven games against teams with winning records.

Dallas has also failed to cover the posted spread in four consecutive games.