Clubs at Bangladesh can finally heave a sigh of relief. For the next eight weeks, that is.

A quick recap if you’re just joining us: Recently, the High Court directed the Bangladeshi government to “immediately stop gambling” activities such as dice, card and housie at 13 clubs across the country, including the Dhaka Club, Uttara Club Ltd, Gulshan Club Ltd, Dhanmondi Club Ltd, Banani Club Ltd, Officers’ Club Dhaka, Ladies’ Club Dhaka, Cadet College Club Dhaka, Chittagong Club Ltd, Chittagong Seniors’ Club Ltd, Narayanganj Club Ltd, Sylhet Club Ltd and Khulna Club Ltd.

The court ruling was in response to a writ petition filed by two Supreme Court lawyers Samiul Huq and Rokonuddin Md Faruq, which cited provisions of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Ordinance 1976, Chittagong Metropolitan Police Ordinance, 1978 and Public Gambling Act, 1867 and Article 18(2) of the constitution.

The High Court also gave the authorities concerned four weeks to explain “why they should not be directed to take actions against the unlawful business and indoor games of cards, dice and housie in exchange for money.”

Clubs at Bangladesh can finally heave a sigh of relief. For the next eight weeks, that is.

A quick recap if you’re just joining us: Recently, the High Court directed the Bangladeshi government to “immediately stop gambling” activities such as dice, card and housie at 13 clubs across the country, including the Dhaka Club, Uttara Club Ltd, Gulshan Club Ltd, Dhanmondi Club Ltd, Banani Club Ltd, Officers’ Club Dhaka, Ladies’ Club Dhaka, Cadet College Club Dhaka, Chittagong Club Ltd, Chittagong Seniors’ Club Ltd, Narayanganj Club Ltd, Sylhet Club Ltd and Khulna Club Ltd.

The court ruling was in response to a writ petition filed by two Supreme Court lawyers Samiul Huq and Rokonuddin Md Faruq, which cited provisions of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Ordinance 1976, Chittagong Metropolitan Police Ordinance, 1978 and Public Gambling Act, 1867 and Article 18(2) of the constitution.

The High Court also gave the authorities concerned four weeks to explain “why they should not be directed to take actions against the unlawful business and indoor games of cards, dice and housie in exchange for money.”

Newly-formed trade association Responsible Wagering Australia is making sure that its presence is felt in the industry by backing a push to ban advertisements that promote “free” and “bonus” bets in the country.

Launched barely two weeks ago, RWA is a new body espousing a code of conduct that includes responsible gambling and harm-minimization protocols. The group, whose founding members include Bet365, Betfair, CrownBet, Sportsbet and Unibet, said it will support government initiatives to reduce the potential “adverse influence” of gambling.

And it appears that RWA is making good on its promise.

RWA executive director Stephen Conroy was quoted by The Sunday Mail saying the group will support a “stronger regulation” around gambling advertising. Currently, every other state in Australia has a regulation around the issue of inducement advertising, but Conroy believes a “national approach” is needed.

Macau, China, December 2016 – After fifteen poker festivals held in various destinations around the world, the Asian Poker Tour wrapped up its busiest year with the APT Finale 2016 coming to a close in Macau. The nine-day event ran from December 7th-15th at the Crystal Palace in Casino Lisboa, attracting a huge turnout of 1200 entrants comprising of 450 unique players from 23 different countries. The overall prize pool was also a hefty one, amounting to a massive HKD8,000,000.

Huge crowd at APT Finale Macau 2016

Over the course of the week, there certainly was no shortage of thrilling moments with many players reigning victorious at the side events. One player who seized the finale by storm was Korea’s Soojo Kim. Kim overcame a field of 273 entries at the APT Main Event, its largest turnout recorded for the year. He also claimed two side events, the No Limit Hold’em 1 and the 6 Handed Turbo w/Antes. Kim earned a combined total of HKD740,400 at the festival.

Several years ago, the APT staged an event called the Manila Millions, which was by far the highest ever seen buy-in for a poker event in the Philippines at that time. With the rise of these events now being witnessed in the live tournament scene, the finale included a Super High Rollers event to the roster. Buy-in was a whopping HKD200,000 with eight players in attendance. Winning the event and earning the single highest event payout was China’s Devan Tang who shipped in HKD720,000. Days prior, Tang finished second at the High Rollers event bringing his total winnings to nearly HKD950,000. That makes him the biggest cash winner of the finale.

FRANKLIN, Tenn. (December 2016) – VGT’s Mr. Money Bags’ Easy Money Jackpot™ has hit again, this time for an incredible, life-changing $631,634.29!

The jackpot was hit at Comanche Red River Hotel Casino in Devol, Okla. Now the Mr. Money Bags’ Easy Money Jackpot progressive resets to its start-up jackpot of $250,000.00.

Since its launch last year, Easy Money Jackpot has paid out more than $7 million in top jackpots to more than 20 winners across North America, with the top jackpot hitting at an average of once every few weeks.

“What’s unique about Mr. Money Bags’ Easy Money Jackpot is that it adds to the fun and entertainment of the widely popular VGT games that players everywhere know and enjoy,” said VGT President Jay Sevigny. “The progressive adds a new level of excitement to the casino floor, and is another reason for Class III operators to consider taking advantage of Class II opportunities.”

December, 2016 – London, UK (Press Release): Mobile-first sports betting app Bookee has been awarded the top prize in the prestigious Brightest Minds Showcase at the iGaming Entrepreneur Conference.

The innovative platform – which is being described by many as Tinder for betting – was chosen ahead of 12 rivals at the London event as it scooped a mentoring and professional services package worth more than £25,000.

Each entrant presented a 60-second pitch video before answering questions from the assembled experts, mentors and investors at the Grange Hotel, Tower Bridge. In a highly-competitive field, the judges were ultimately wowed by the Bookee app, which offers users the chance to place a bet with the simple swipe of a finger.

“The mentoring and service providers all voted on their top three-rated projects based on innovation, team, likelihood of success and several other factors,” said Michael Caselli, the organiser of iGaming Entrepreneurs Conference, which took place on December 6.

16th December, 2016 (London) – iGaming Business, the most respected information provider for the interactive gaming sector, has confirmed its 2017 schedule of conferences and events that promises to set the agenda for the industry over the next 12 months.

Among the highlights will be the flagship events in the iGB Affiliate event series, the London Affiliate Conference and Financial Partners Expo, which take place between 9th – 12th February at their new venue of the ExCeL, with more than 5,000 delegates and exhibitors expected to attend.

There is also a new date to add to the calendar, with the Scandinavian affiliate sector gathering in Stockholm on 7th April for the inaugural Nordic Affiliate Conference.

This year’s iGaming Super Show will kick off in Amsterdam on 11th July, and is as ever paired with the Amsterdam Affiliate Conference & FPE Amsterdam, while there will be the familiar stop in Berlin for BAC and FPE Berlin in November.

Monday, 19th of December 2016 – The organizers are proud to announce that Pieter Remmers(Assissa), a true veteran who since 1989 has been involved and reached great success in the areas of responsible gaming, consultancy and training of gambling industry professionals . Pieter will give a presentation about the New developments of Responsible Gambling in Central Europe, but will also moderate the panels which are dedicated to updates in regards to Responsible Gambling from the local experts of Eastern and Central Europe.

The Responsible Gambling in Central Europe panels will be held within the Vienna International Gaming Expo 2017 on the first half of Day 2(21.03.2016).

Pieter Remmers started his career as the director of an outpatient clinic for addiction problems of Jellinek in the early 80’s.

His company Assissa Consultancy Europe works / worked on responsible gaming policies and programmes in a number of countries i.e. Netherlands, South Africa, Germany, Switzerland, Luxemburg, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Malaysia, Singapore, Canada, Malta, Sweden and others. Besides Pieter is a consultant world wide for as well as the gambling and betting industry land based and online, casinos, slot machine halls and lotteries and for regulators or other governmental bodies.

Monday, 19th of December 2016 – The organizers are proud to announce that Pieter Remmers(Assissa), a true veteran who since 1989 has been involved and reached great success in the areas of responsible gaming, consultancy and training of gambling industry professionals . Pieter will give a presentation about the New developments of Responsible Gambling in Central Europe, but will also moderate the panels which are dedicated to updates in regards to Responsible Gambling from the local experts of Eastern and Central Europe.

The Responsible Gambling in Central Europe panels will be held within the Vienna International Gaming Expo 2017 on the first half of Day 2(21.03.2016).

Pieter Remmers started his career as the director of an outpatient clinic for addiction problems of Jellinek in the early 80’s.

His company Assissa Consultancy Europe works / worked on responsible gaming policies and programmes in a number of countries i.e. Netherlands, South Africa, Germany, Switzerland, Luxemburg, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Malaysia, Singapore, Canada, Malta, Sweden and others. Besides Pieter is a consultant world wide for as well as the gambling and betting industry land based and online, casinos, slot machine halls and lotteries and for regulators or other governmental bodies.

Sixteenth Spin & Go millionaire overall is ‘jrww86’ from Bermuda

ONCHAN, Isle of Man, December 2016 – Christmas arrived 10 days early this year for poker player ‘jrww86’ who became the third Spin & Go millionaire that PokerStars, an Amaya Inc (Nasdaq: AYA; TSX: AYA) brand, has produced in 2016, and sixteenth since the first $1M Spin and Go tournament launched in January 2015. The Bermuda-based player started playing a $100 PokerStars Spin & Go at 3.00pm ET yesterday, December 15, and 12 minutes later was a millionaire.

‘jrww86’ was up against ‘netspider_by’ from Belarus and Russian ‘REVELKOF’, who both finished with $100,000 in runner-up prize money.

‘netspider_by’ was the first to find themselves short stacked and was the first to go when their Kd 6c lost out to ‘REVELKOF’s 6s Qc, which hit a club flush to take the chip lead. Over the next 14 hands, ‘jrww86’ chipped away at the Russian’s stack to eke out a lead. The final hand came at the 30/60 level when ‘REVELKOF’ went all-in with top pair on a Qs Jd 9h flop holding Qd 3h only to find that ‘jrww86’ had flopped two pair with Qc Jc. The hand held up and won ‘jrww86’ the $1,000,000 first prize.

The European Poker Tour has topped the $1 billion payout mark at Prague, and a Bermudan received an early Christmas present by becoming the 16th Spin & Go, millionaire.

The European Poker Tour (EPT) has come a long way since John Duthie took a punt on an idea that emerged when playing with his rubber ducky. The first Main Event accrued a €229,000 prize pool when Alex Stevic defeated David O’Callaghan to win the €80,000 first prize. 115 stops later, and the tour has paid out over €1 billion.

It’s a tour that divides opinion.

A quick glance at the numbers and you have to say it’s one of the most successful tours ever created. But dissenters believe as PokerStars has grown into the public monster that it is today, the need to make a profit has come before customer service.

I’ll be attacking the College Football Playoffs with gusto starting next week, but for now we need a way to earn some coin prior to those matchups. So all the big time college bowl game betting picks are here including the Orange Bowl, Citrus Bowl, Outback Bowl, Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Cotton Bowl and Outback Bowl. A few others caught my attention for sheer value proposition alone, including the first one I’m going to go heavy on so I can start with a big bankroll as I enjoy the holidays like every gambler should be – with college football.

ARMED FORCES BOWL (Friday, December 23rd at 4:30pm EST)

Louisiana Tech Bulldogs -5.0 over Navy Midshipmen

 As we saw in their shocking loss to Army, Navy is not the same without quarterback Will Worth who was the team’s best player by a mile. Louisiana Tech probably flew under your radar but are an outstanding college bowl betting pick because their offence can bury teams in a heartbeat. The Bulldogs averaged a blistering 44.0 points while amassing the 8th most yards in the country with 516.3 per game. Navy won’t be able to option their way to safe shores in this one.

Less than two weeks before Christmas, the line to buy a ticket for Spain’s biggest lottery at Doña Manolita, which some consider the country’s luckiest ticket vendor, was roughly 100 people long on a chilly Tuesday evening.El Gordo, Retailer, General Interest, Spain

Less than two weeks before Christmas, the line to buy a ticket for Spain’s biggest lottery at Doña Manolita, which some consider the country’s luckiest ticket vendor, was roughly 100 people long on a chilly Tuesday evening.El Gordo, Retailer, General Interest, Spain

Kirk Cousins and the Washington Redskins need to continue their history of not faltering against sub-.500 teams in order to preserve their playoff hopes. Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

Washington is listed as a six-point favorite against the visiting Carolina Panthers with a 51-point total in the Monday Night Football matchup. Washington is 8-2 against the spread in their last 10 games against teams with losing records while Carolina is 0-6 straight-up in their last six road games against teams with winning records.

Carolina, which is 5-8 SU and 4-7-2 ATS, is just playing out the string, so how focused Cam Newton and Co. will be is hard to predict. Newton has been resting his arm in practice after having an MRI on his right shoulder, but it’s doubtful he would not play. On paper, there is potential for the Panthers offense to be productive. Newton’s favorite receiver, Kelvin Benjamin, will likely occupy the attention of shutdown CB Josh Norman, but teams can pick on CB Bashaud Breeland and CB Kendall Fuller.

The Redskins allow 4.5 yards per rush (28th in the NFL), so Carolina should be able to create some lanes for veteran Jonathan Stewart. That said, the Panthers are 1-7-1 ATS in their last nine road games.

A distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack has taken down another bitcoin exchange.

European bitcoin and altcoin exchange BTC-e went offline on Thursday morning after receiving a DDoS stream of requests around 5:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. The exchange confirmed the attacks on Twitter: “DDoS attack on our server #btce”

BTC-e’s operations resumed several hours after the attacks.

This isn’t the first time the Bulgaria-based bitcoin exchange has been taken down by a DDoS attack. In January, BTC-e was also knocked offline for several hours before it was able to return to full service.