Is it at all possible that we might just be underestimating the Indianapolis Colts and the Green Bay Packers? As soon as the Divisional Round games of the NFL playoffs concluded, a lot of people seemed to have penciled in the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks to meet in Super Bowl XLIX.

Both teams even opened in the -7 range as favorites against the Colts and Packers, both high numbers given how deep we are in the playoffs. But just when it appeared that momentum for a Seahawks-Patriots Super Bowl was getting some steam, bettors are singing a slightly different tune by giving the Colts and Packers a lot of love.

The Colts, in particular, are getting a lot of action, enough at least to push the spread against the Pats down to -6.5. All this is happening despite the fact that Andrew Luck is 0-3 against the Pats in his young career, getting blown out each time on his way to losing by an average of 26 points per game! That’s not a misprint, nor is it an exaggerated version of the truth. It’s just facts stating facts.

But the spread is where it’s at because the public isn’t buying this lopsided trend. Some people even believe that Indy’s peaking at the right time, especially Luck who had two good games against the Cincinnati Bengals and the Denver Broncos to set up this encounter with Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.

Even at -6.5, there’s belief among sharps that the number is still inflated leaning towards New England. So if you’re betting on the Colts, now may be a good time to take the splash before the spread goes down even more.

Prediction: Pats 28, Colts 24

Over to the NFC Championship game, the game between the Seahawks and the Packers opened at -7.5 for the defending champs. A few days later, the line has bounced up and down marginally, but for the most part, it still sits at that number with a few sportsbooks now offering the Seahawks at -7 with an extra squeeze of juice attached to the favorites.

Lee Davy gives you a sound bite of all the week’s poker news and stories including a run down of the most impressive results from the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, PokerStars Spin & Go’s first $1m winner, and much more.

The story that picked up the most press coverage, this week, was the magnificent performance of Ronaldo in the $10,000 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) Main Event.

The Brazilian footballing legend’s impressive run ended in 26th place, and the PokerStars marketing department must have been rubbing their hands with as much verve and vigor as a witch checking out the kids as they start munching on her chocolate flavored brass knockers.

This is what it’s about.

This is why online poker rooms pay the big money to attract the stars of sport. They finish 26th and the brand of PokerStars is spread wider and further than any poker player could take it.

The winner of the event was the Kevin Schulz. The American beat the number one Peruvian online wizard, Diego Ventura, in heads-up action, to take the $1.4m first prize. A good kid and a great poker player. But I doubt he goes down in the box with the enthusiasm of Ronaldo.

The PCA ended with their largest ever $25k High Roller event. 269 entrants, and the winner was a young man who doesn’t even play live tournaments. In fact, his million-dollar victory is the only piece of writing on his Hendon Mob CV. Cash game player, Ilkin Garibli, was on holiday, in the Bahamas, when friends convinced him to play. Wise choice.

Clarion Events, the organizer of numerous high-profile gambling conferences and expos including ICE Totally Gaming, Global iGaming Summit and Expo (GiGSE) and the Excellence in iGaming (EiG) summit, has been acquired by global asset management firm Providence Equity.

The transaction is reportedly worth in excess of £200m, with sources suggesting that Providence fought off competition from a number of rival bidders including conference and exhibition organizer ITE Group and private equity firm Carlyle Group.

Clarion, which can trace its origins back to 1947, was owned by private-equity firm Veronis Suhler Stevenson, which bought the company from HgCapital for 120.5 million pounds in 2008. Clarion also organizes the Counter Terror Expo and Forensics Europe Expo at Olympia, London.

Jersey to exhibit at ICE Totally Gaming 2015

Jersey eGaming has announced that it will be exhibiting at ICE Totally Gaming, which be held at Excel London on Feb 3rd-5th.

Jersey is the newest tier-one eGaming jurisdiction to emerge, offering lost cost, high quality services.  Key features of Jersey’s eGaming proposition include:

“Jersey’s eGaming offering has gone from strength to strength in recent years and is now arguably the most attractive of any tier one jurisdiction. Our recently announced highly competitive licensing environment, investment in telecommunications, depth of technology skills and our reputation as a leading finance centre makes us the compelling new option for eGamingorganizations. We are also fortunate to have a supportive government position in relation to eGaming, and Jersey’s Assistant Chief Minister, Senator Philip Ozouf, will be attending the ICE event on the 5th February to speak personally to businesses who may be interested in doing business with Jersey,” said Andy Jarrett, Director of Digital Jersey.

Pennsylvania casino revenue fell 1.44% to $3.07b in 2014, the fourth straight year that casino gaming revenue in the state has topped $3b. It’s also the second consecutive year of negative growth, although the total was enough to maintain the state’s status as America’s #2 casino gambling market.

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) had previously released the state’s slots figures for 2014, which showed revenue down 2.7% to $2.31b. On Thursday, the PGCB revealed that table game revenue had risen 2.7% to $749.5m, the highest total since the state allowed table games five years ago. However, table revenue growth was less than the 6.2% gain recorded in 2013.

The state’s high water mark came in 2012, when overall revenue topped $3.15b. Since then, new casinos have opened up in neighboring Maryland and Ohio, giving Pennsylvania a dose of the same medicine it has inflicted on New Jersey, where gaming revenue has fallen every year since 2006, the same year Pennsylvania launched its own slots venues.

Still, don’t cry too much for Pennsylvania, as the state’s highest-in-the-nation tax rates – 54% on slots and 14% on tables – diverted $1.34b of 2014’s haul into the government’s coffers.

The full-year numbers were aided by a boffo December, which saw slots rise 6% and table games jump 15.3% over December 2013. Sands Bethlehem led December’s table tallies with $14.2m in winnings, followed by Parx with $10.2m (+13%) and SugarHouse with $7.3m (+12%). Sands benefited from having 206 tables in action during December, compared to just 183 in December 2013. Parx’s gains are all the more impressive considering its table total fell from 165 to 154 over the same period.

For the year as a whole, Sands Bethlehem’s tables earned $189m, up 7% year-on-year and representing nearly one-quarter of the total statewide haul of $749.5m. The Parx’s tables were up nearly 9% to $130m, about 17% of the statewide total. Just four of the state’s dozen casinos – Harrah’s Philadelphia, Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course, Meadows Racetrack and Presque Isle Downs – were in negative table territory for the year.

Macau casino fortunes may have taken another body blow on Wednesday after China’s President Xi Jinping announced plans to intensify his anti-corruption campaign in 2015. The crackdown, which began in earnest about a year after Xi took power in March 2013, has been widely credited for Macau’s ongoing casino revenue decline as high-profile individuals curbed their conspicuous consumption in a bid to stay under Xi’s radar.

The fifth plenary session of the Communist Party of China’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) concluded on Wednesday, after which a communiqué was issued listing seven priorities for 2015. These include ensuring senior officials “toe the line” with regards to central leadership policies. All state-owned enterprises (SOEs) will be subject to new inspections and officials found to have embezzled funds or engaged in the selling or buying of government posts will face “serious penalties.”

SOE execs and the heads of Party and government departments will be held accountable for any serious corruption cases that occur on their watch. The government also intends to “strengthen international cooperation in the hunt for fugitive officials and asset recovery.” The CCDI says it punished a total of 71,478 Chinese officials for corruption in 2014, with 68 of these cases involving high-level officials.

Perhaps sensing that their language might spur the anti-corruption team’s rank-and-file members to break out the pitchforks and torches, the state cautioned that this was not a “whirlwind campaign” but a “step by step” process that required “political composure, restraint and patience.” In other words, anyone hoping that Xi would ease up on the throttle has another thing coming.

As for what impact this broadened campaign might have on Macau, one only has to look at the damage previous efforts have done to Macau’s VIP gambling sector (and the junket operators that cater to these VIPs). High-rollers traditionally account for as much 70% of overall gaming revenue but this has fallen to as low as 56% in recent months.

Pre-crackdown studies by the Polytechnic Institute of Macau found that around half of Macau’s high-rollers were either government officials or SOE executives. One assumes that the smarter VIPs have already cottoned on to the fact that playtime is over, so anybody caught in the act from this point forward is merely bent on proving Darwin was right.

It won’t help that the recent arrest of Stanley Ho’s nephew for operating a prostitution ring at the Hotel Lisboa has local police vowing to beef up surveillance at Macau’s gaming properties. On Tuesday, Macau’s Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak vowed to “strengthen communication with senior executives in casinos and hotels” while simultaneously adding more equipment and manpower to the Public Security Forces to help in “maintaining a secure society.” And, one presumes, less profitable casinos.

Macau junket operator David Group is reportedly cashing in its chips, underscoring the difficulties facing all facets of gaming operations in the world’s largest casino hub.

On Thursday, analysts at Nomura reported that David Group was “in the process of shutting down its VIP rooms in Macau.” David Group is considered one of Macau’s top-10 junket operators, controlling seven VIP rooms containing 58 gaming tables, which are believed to have handled up to 5% of Macau’s total VIP turnover.

Analysts at Daiwa Capital Markets later reported that David Group was planning to close four of its VIP rooms; two each at the Wynn Macau and MGM Macau. The junket also has a presence at Galaxy Macau, Sands China’s Four Seasons and the L’Arc, which operates under an SJM Holdings license. David Group has yet to publicly comment on either report.

Nomura’s sources reported that David Group had recently waived its requirement for gamblers to make a minimum deposit of HKD 100k (US $13k) to open an account at its VIP rooms. Nomura said David Group planned an “orderly” shutdown “over the next few months” as they seek to collect all outstanding debts.

Nomura suggested David Group’s demise might not have too great a negative impact on junket operator liquidity, although the analysts cautioned that they were unclear “whether this is an isolated incident or something more structural.”

Macau’s seven-months-and-counting gaming revenue decline is primarily the result of high-rollers scaling back their spending, which has weighed heavily on the special administrative region’s junket operators. Industry observers have projected Macau could see up to 50 VIP rooms close in 2015.

David Group isn’t suffering in isolation. Last week, Hong Kong-listed Imperial Pacific International Holdings Ltd warned the market that its 2014 profit stream from the Hengsheng Group junket operation had failed to meet guarantees. Imperial Pacific, which is developing a casino project on the island of Saipan, holds a 5% stake in profits generated via Hengsheng’s junket activities. That stake was supposed to guarantee a minimum of HKD 24m ($3.1m) in 2014 but Hengsheng anted up only HKD 10.7m.

Online poker giant PokerStars says its initial foray into the world of sports betting will make its public debut before the end of March. The news was revealed in a business update issued on Thursday by Star’s parent company, Canada’s Amaya Gaming Group.

In November, Stars announced plans to roll out casino and sports betting products in markets served by its .com site. Amaya now says the sports betting launch will take place in Q1, “ahead of schedule.”

The betting product will launch within the PokerStars 7 poker client “in certain markets” and Stars vows to “gradually” add other markets as well as web and mobile versions throughout 2015. Stars has enlisted former bet365 VIP trading manager Ian Marmion to build Stars’ in-house trading team.

Amaya says it has successfully completed the rollout of casino table games “in eligible markets on PokerStars.com and certain domains sharing liquidity on the global network.” Stars says web and mobile versions of its casino offering are coming later this year, which will be accompanied by an “aggressive” marketing campaign.

Stars’ Spanish-facing site was the first to host its new blackjack and roulette offering in October, but the product was taken offline over the holidays to address local regulations requiring Stars to make hand- and spin-histories available to customers. The casino games are scheduled to be back online within weeks.

Before the product went offline, Amaya says it had managed to capture a “significant double-digit share” of Spain’s regulated online casino market. Stars enjoyed a 30% cross-sell of table games to its active player ranks, a faster cross-sell than Amaya’s ‘B’ gaming site Full Tilt enjoyed, despite Tilt offering a wider variety of casino products, including slots. Spain is still in the process of allowing its licensed operators to offer slots.

Meanwhile, Stars’ French-facing site is testing new ‘surprise’ bonuses that use ‘big data’ to tailor rewards for specific players based on their individual gaming habits. The scheme allows players to swap their regular bonuses for a personalized bonus of unknown treasures. Assuming they choose the mystery option, the specific benefits and requirements will then be spelled out, with players given two weeks in which to clear the necessary benchmarks.

Caesars Entertainment Operating Co. Inc. (CEOC), a unit of Las Vegas-based casino operator Caesars Entertainment Corp, filed for bankruptcy in the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago on Thursday.

The division Caesars Entertainment Operating Co. who owns and operates 44 gaming and resorts properties and represents 80% ($18.4b) of Caesars’ overall $28.2b debt load, announced that it is moving forward to implement its previously announced financial restructuring plan.

In a press release, CEOC said that the plan, which has received support from more than 80% of first-lien note holders, is intended to significantly reduce long-term debt and annual interest payments, while providing for significant recoveries for creditors and ensuring no interruption of operations across the company’s network of properties.

“Today, with the overwhelming support of our first-lien bondholders, we are moving forward to implement our previously announced restructuring plan, which is intended to strengthen CEOC’s financial condition and significantly reduce debt,” said Gary Loveman, Chairman of CEOC.

“We believe this restructuring is in the best interests of all of CEOC’s stakeholders and will result in a sustainable capital structure for CEOC and value creation for all stakeholders. The restructuring of CEOC is the culmination of a years-long effort to improve the health of CEOC’s balance sheet, which has included substantial investment in new and upgraded assets, especially in Las Vegas. I am very confident in the future prospects of our enterprise, which will combine an improved capital structure with a network of profitable properties,” Loveman added.

Caesars CEO also announced that its casino-hotels would remain open and continue to host meetings and events, assuring customers that their loyalty points would still accrue and the company’s lineup of on-stage entertainers would keep performing according to their schedules.

According to Loveman, the company’s suppliers will still be paid in full and employees would continue to receive pay and benefits as usual.  Caesars Entertainment Operating Co.’s has more than 30,000 employees in its 38 casino-hotels, including Bally’s and Caesars in Atlantic City and the iconic Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip.

Ladbrokes‘ affiliate program, Ladbroke Partners, has revealed a redesigned website for its current and prospective business partners.

The new look includes a responsive design, adapting to customer’s device and screen size and an intuitive interface that streamlines a user’s experience.

Ladbrokes Partners’ homepage is said to be cleaner, brighter and reminiscent of Ladbrokes’ new “This is the Ladbrokes Life” campaign. The site’s product and available market pages were laid out to highlight its unique selling points, while new pages have been added for promotional and affiliate news.

The site has been made available in different languages such as English, Swedish and German to ensure that it is in line with Ladbrokes’ recent shift to regulated markets. French and Dutch will be rolled out soon.

“This new site puts our business partners at the forefront. One of our key goals was to create a responsive site in light of the increasing number of mobile and tablet visitors. The site also makes it easier than ever to find the markets and products of interest to our affiliates,” said Ladbrokes Digital CMO Selmi Chakim.

Intertain Group‘s InterCasino.com, one of the internet’s first online casinos, established 1996, has undergone a site design overhaul and re-brand.

The redevelopment of the site has been executed ahead of a planned UKTV marketing campaign later this year and based on the feedback of more than 6000 customers, media partners, and affiliates through focus groups and surveys.

Merkur Gaming has appointed gaming industry veteran Jens Halle as the new CEO of the casino gaming systems designer and manufacturer effective January 1.

Halle had left Novomatic group, end of 2014, after 15 years of working as managing director of Austrian Gaming Industries GmbH and chief executive of Novomatic Americas Sales LLC.

The Germany-based firm Merkur Gaming said in a press release on Wednesday that Halle will take charge of the company’s international sales and distribution, consolidation of business activities in Merkur Gaming’s established markets, as well as the company’s expansions into new territories.

“The development know-how and the long-standing wealth of experience at the Gauselmann Group offer great potential and diverse development opportunities for our partners abroad,” said Halle.

“Mr. Halle’s long-standing focus on the global casino business has enabled him to have the right vision, with such experience so as to further develop our products – mainly overseas outside of Europe –  in a truly sustainable way,” said Paul Gauselmann, chairman of the Gauselmann Group, and Jürgen Stühmeyer, sales director of the firm in a joint statement.

Merkur Gaming, subsidiary of Gauselmann AG, develops multi-games, cabinets, casino machines, video lottery terminals, and jackpot systems for the gaming industry.

The Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers (AGEM) has also announced its latest line up of officials.

Ice Totally Gaming, one of the largest and most comprehensive trade event in gaming, will take place on February 3rd-5th at Excel, London.

Every sector is present, whether it’s be it betting, bingo, casino, lottery, mobile, online, social or street gaming, and whichever of these you belong to, you will find products and content to drive your business forward in 2015.

ICE is the annual launch pad for gaming innovation, with hundreds of new product launches over the three days. The event has the great learning programs—a unique gathering place for all major gaming players such as operators and regulators, allowing you to build your contacts, arrange meetings, and get potential partnerships.

ICE’s show-floor seminars are free to attend and can give you up-to-the-minute industry information and engaging debates around what the gaming industry is talking about.

Visitors, exhibitors and delegates attending have the opportunity to tap into all the latest developments taking place in and around both events courtesy of the new dedicated ICE app.

Available for free download on Android and iOS devices, allowing visitors to access the full event schedule, browse the latest product launches, receive information on all of the speakers taking part in the ICE Conference and Seminar programs.

It also features a detailed interactive floor-plan to help attendees navigate the 60,000+ square meters of show floor space as well as keep stakeholders fully up-to-date with the latest developments through a link to the #ICE2015 social media tag.

Laurent Malka is one of the first people I met in the online gambling industry, our initial meeting was at GiGse 2005 to be exact.  He’s one of the best digital marketers in our space, a widely respected expert in affiliate management and someone who understands iGaming better than most. Malka’s experience in iGaming spans from his time at The Nation Traffic and Euro Partners followed by the launch of his own company, Wingate Ventures, amongst other projects including operating several online casinos.

It wasn’t until l saw his post in the Stephanie Wynters Mastermind Group on Facebook that I realized Malka had started a new project to better the lives of anyone generating or buying traffic.  I wanted to learn more about Malka’s latest venture, TrackingDesk, especially because I can relate to tracking headaches as an affiliate due to my time at Casino City.  The timing is also appropriate, seeing as the LAC is around the corner and affiliates are ready to step things up for 2015.

We all know its not as easy to make a buck in today’s iGaming market as it was 10 years ago, so making the most of your traffic is essential.  Affiliates can absolutely squeeze more revenue out of their existing campaigns with better tracking and less time spent on the arduous task of data management – whether TrackingDesk is the answer to all your problems or you just need a nudge to step up your tracking, hopefully you’ll learn something from my interview with Malka.

Thank you for joining me and sharing your knowledge, Laurent.  Lets start with the background on this project- how & why did you decide to create TrackingDesk? 

After the casinos were sold in august 2013, we found ourselves with many large traffic sources. We had the possibility to either refer them to some friends or monetize their traffic. Several millions hits per day, from over 30 countries required a complete turnaround in the way we were operating until then. Pushing a brand over which you have complete technical control is a serious challenge, but pushing 20 brands over which you have very little technical control is a very different game. So when you find yourself with 20 brands to promote, over 30 countries and each brand has at least 5 different landing page per country, you quickly find yourself drowning under data. No matter how you try to handle this, unless you have a system in place that enables you to manage this traffic in a simple and agile manner, that reports in a granular way results and performances, there is NO WAY you can have a positive ROI.

So my team and I started hunting for platform that could get us to the right position. Unfortunately (and fortunately), we didn’t find anything that would match our requirements. So we were left with the only option to integrate various systems together. From analytic platforms, tracking software, landing page management, geo targeting databases to reporting software. Eventually, we manage to connect everything together and we started operating.

I took a step back and I started breaking down the features and matching them with various type of users – Affiliates, Media Buyers, Agencies, Enterprises. Eventually, I realized that there was a serious gap in the market. Large corporations and enterprises had access to heavy (and expensive) platforms, while small agencies and affiliates were left with basic tools. So I made up my mind, gathered a team and started designing TrackingDesk.

In this week’s confessions series, Lee Davy, talks about some of the characters in his local home game, and why their attitude towards the game blends in with the success of the PokerStars Spin & Go format.

I have just come off the phone, from a conversation with my mate Steve. We always have a little chat the afternoon after our local home game. We’re gossiping. We talk about how lucky people are, who unlucky others are, who deserves to win, and who deserves to lose.

I use this time to give my friend some advice. Steve loves the game, but it’s his love for the game that gets him into trouble. He plays too many hands, sees too many flops, and loses more money than he wins. I know I shouldn’t give him advice. I should take his money. But I like Steve. He’s a solid bloke. He’s salt of the earth.

“You just don’t get it Ching.” He told me when I castigated him earlier for ruing a hand he played where he folded, instead of chasing a one-outer that duly arrived. “I don’t play to win money. I love the game. The money is a nice bonus. But twice I week I sit down and play. I’m in my element. Like a pig in shit.”

Steve used to have a nasty habit on the Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs). He used to tell me that they would wink at him, and beckon him over like a young woman in a pair of fishnet stockings. That was an expansive affair. He never complained though.

“I loved every penny I spent.” He once told me.

Gary is another one of the boys. He likes the wheel. He has a system, and it seems to work for him. I use the word ‘seems’ because I know that the outcome is generated by luck. I guess he’s a very lucky man. He loves it though.

For the third time in four years, Rep. Bobby Moak has submitted an online gambling bill to the lords and masters in the Mississippi Legislature.

If online poker has any chance of emerging from the draconian deathlike grip of the Undemocratic States of America then we have to hope that men like Democratic Representative, Bobby Moak, never give up in what they believe is just and fair.

In 2012, Moak introduced The Mississippi Lawful Internet Gaming Act – it didn’t make it past the House Ways and Means Committee. In 2013, he tried again – same response. Now it’s a case of third time lucky.

House Bill No. 306: The Mississippi Lawful Internet Gaming Act is a 74-page document, not too dissimilar from the pieces of paper that were cast into the recycling tray back in 2012 & 2013. The new piece of draft legislation is being pushed through ahead of results from a comprehensive study of internet gambling governed by the Executive Director of the Mississippi Gaming Commission, Allen Godfrey.

The bill leads with the assertion that millions of people are engaged in online gambling through illegal offshore operators. It’s promise is to bring some law and order into what it believes to be an industry that lacks oversight, regulation and enforcement.

The need to protect the young, stop sending taxes and revenue overseas, the creation of jobs, and the improvements it could make to statewide economic conditions, are cited as reasons for following the lead of Delaware, Nevada and New Jersey.

The act is wise in the insertion that the Magnolia state could enter into agreements with other entities to share liquidity with games such as online poker. This agreement could stretch to other states, tribes and even other countries. A recent bill was also presented to the overlords in Washington State, but it was devoid of ink that would allow them to do business with other countries – New Jersey have already been in discussion with the UK for example.

Ray Henson tops the largest field in World Series of Poker Circuit history, after defeating the six-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner, TJ Cloutier, in heads up action at Choctaw Casino in Oklahoma.

There are two things that I know for sure.

1. Poker players may think that re-entries are bad for poker, but they do their very best to keep them alive by ploughing money into them.

2. Once a great poker player: always a great poker player.

The World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) $365 Main Event (Re-Entry), held at Choctaw Casino, Oklahoma, broke the attendance record when four starting days attracted a field size of 4,053 entrants and $1,215,900 in prize money.

With the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) also breaking records under the baking Bahamian sun; 2015 looks like it’s going to be a stellar year for live poker attendances. It’s not just a new influx of players that are affecting these numbers, as the final table of this bad boy demonstrated.

With six-WSOP bracelets, spread over a 35-year career, TJ Cloutier is a veritable legend in the game. His runner-up spot to Ray Henson is testament to both his skill and stamina, as he picked up a $122,040 paycheck – his largest in seven years when he took $240,560 for his victory in the $5,150 Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge IV in Tulsa. Guess whom Cloutier beat in the heads-up phase of that contest – Ray Henson.

Lee Davy brings you a short recap of the first 13-side events at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in the Bahamas.

The PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) is one of the most prestigious events outside of the World Series of Poker (WSOP). The winner of the $100,000 Super High Roller, $25,000 High Roller and $10,000 Main Event will all take home paychecks containing a lot of zeroes.

Those three tournaments are what make the PCA special, but it’s the depth of side events that makes the PokerStars live events the most attended outside of the once a year jaunt to the desert.

Here’s a short recap of the action that has gone down during the first 13-events.

A fresh new year, and it seems as if the poker economy is going to be strong. Both the $100,000 Super High Roller, and $25,000 High Roller events attracted record numbers (50 & 269 respectively), and at the time of writing Steve O’Dwyer has banked $1.8m as the $100,000 winner, and there are 11-players vying for the $1.2m first prize, with Dominik Nitsche a potential Triple Crown winner, in the $25,000 event.

For the first time since its inception, the Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT) came to the Bahamas and Josh Kay defeated a field of 532 entrants to win the first prize of $367,928 in the Main Event.

Three more six figure winners to catch up on.

UK-listed bookies William Hill have declined to renew their sponsorship of the Lincoln Handicap race at Doncaster due to the imposition of the UK’s point-of-consumption tax (POCT). The tax, which costs operators 15% of revenue earned via online gamblers based in the UK, kicked in Dec. 1. Hills had served as the race sponsor since 2006 but the latest deal ended last March.

On Tuesday, Hills spokesperson Kate Miller said the company “had to review a number of our marketing investments” as a consequence of adjusting to the new POCT reality. Miller told the Racing Post that it hadn’t decided to axe any other racing sponsorships and the Lincoln hadn’t been singled out for special treatment. “The renewal of it came up at an opportune moment.” Track officials say they are “currently in discussions with several interested parties” regarding the now vacant sponsorship.

In more positive Hills news, the company’s US division has been added to the board of the American Gaming Association (AGA). Hills was one of six new firms added to the AGA’s board, joining Nevada bookies CG Technology, casino and racetrack operator Greenwood Racing Inc., gaming device maker Konami Gaming, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and Seminole Hard Rock Gaming, the AGA’s first ever board member from the ranks of America’s Indian tribes.

Finally, Hills recently paid out £2,500 to a Scots punter who bet the bookies he could lose 100 lb. in less than a year. Self-confessed pie eater Gary Connell had tipped the scales at 344 lb. and when he decided to drop the fork he convinced Hills to accept his £25 wager that he couldn’t flay the flab in under a year. Thanks to a pie-free diet and a regular exercise program, the 35-year-old Connell now weighs a mere 240 lb. Hills spokesman Rupert Adams said the bookie normally accepts around 100 such bets each year and called Connell’s accomplishment “a flau-ulous feat.”