You know how everybody attaches the suffix “Gate” on any scandal – perceived or otherwise – that affects the sports world these days. We just saw it in the NFL with “DeflateGate”, not to mention past scandals that have given rise to terms such as “SpyGate” and “BountyGate”.

Well, now you can add another one to that list, albeit one involving the other kind of football.

See, FC Barcelona is currently in England to take on Manchester City in the first leg of their Round of 16 showdown. But ahead of that highly anticipated match, the only thing people are talking about is “CasinoGate.”

Just before the team flew to Manchester, team superstar Lionel Messi and Gerard Pique were spotted at the Casino de Barcelona. Normally, news like this will only draw the casual glance from sports fans, but the fact that Messi and Pique, together with ex Barca teammate and current Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas, were seen inside a casino hours before the team was supposed to fly to Manchester has caused a massive uproar in Barcelona.

It’s come to the point wherein Barca manager Luis Enrique was showered with questions about the “timing” of his player’s casino excursion in Barcelona. Naturally, the interrogation only annoyed the already under-fire manager. “I focus on football,” he told reporters, non-plussed about the brewing controversy that could explode should Barcelona lose to City in the first leg of their Champions League showdown.

If the casino trip was Messi and Pique’s way of unwinding after a catastrophic loss at the hands of Malaga over the weekend, then this shouldn’t be an issue, at least not from a concentration point-of-view. Who knows, Messi and Pique may have had some time on their hands before their flight to Manchester so they went out with the visiting Fabregas to have some fun. That’s what Pique seemed to convey to the media, who questioned him about the topic. “It’s my private life. A friend came over from London and we had a good time.”

To their credit, Messi and Pique didn’t miss the flight to Manchester and are currently in full preparation ahead of their match against City tonight. Despite being the road team, the Catalans are favored against the defending English Premier League champions, with full time odds at 11/10 compared to City at 11/4. Meanwhile, a draw has been priced at 5/2 odds.

If there ever is such a thing as having too many tourists visiting a given location, then Macau is in for a real problem. Last year, the only place in China where casino gambling is allowed took in a record 31.5 million visitors, two-thirds of which are made up of visitors from the mainland. More importantly, that number is expected to increase by 5% this year.

The combination oh the high visitation numbers and the sheer size of the territory has become a point of concern for the government, so much so that officials are now looking at ways to stem the influx of tourists visiting Macau. Speaking to a local radio show, Macau’s Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Alexi Tam Chon Weng indicated that the government is reviewing the way it distributes visas to foreigners coming into the country, specifically the Individual Visit Scheme that’s popular among tourists from the mainland.

If the government can’t find a solution to fix the issue of overcrowding without preventing tourists from coming into the territory, that will probably be the next logical step, even if it seems to fly counter to attempts by other countries to improve their own tourism numbers.

But according to Tam, the issue in Macau is real. “If Macau is so crowded that people cannot even get on a bus or cannot find a restaurant for a meal, I believe even the tourists would not like to come,” he told reporters.

While he does make some valid points, cutting down the number of tourists visiting Macau or at least putting a cap on visitors are ideas that not everybody is on board with.

Japanese brokerage Nomura, for one, believes that putting a cap to the number of mainland tourists coming to Macau will have a significant effect on the casino industry and that’s not something the industry wants to see in a time where it’s already in the middle of the most serious revenue slump in history.

“The cap proposal confirms our view that more tightening policies will be issued,” analysts Stella Xing, Wendy Liu and Harry Curtis wrote in a note issued on Tuesday. “We remain cautious and believe that the Macau casino sector has not yet bottomed out.”

The Australian Football League(AFL) has found itself in the eye of controversy after local launched an investigation surrounding bets made on Brisbane Lions midfielder Lewis Taylor winning the league’s Rising Star Award.

The controversy reportedly started when authorities discovered that former North Melbourne premiership player and Herald Sun columnist David King admitted that he placed two bets on Taylor to win the award. Normally, such an occurrence wouldn’t have been treated with the attention it’s currently getting, but King is a media member with potential ties to inside information on who is awarded major medals, hence the decision by local authorities to open an investigation on the case.

According to the Herald Sun, the AFL has since launched its own review of betting protocols involving its major medals. The league’s football operations manager, Mark Evans, told the newspaper that new security measures on major awards would be put in place if it was “deemed necessary.”

“Fair to say we will review, or we are reviewing our procedures around the Rising Star and other awards,” Evans added. “We will make sure we have got those (new measures) in place before this year’s awards take place.”

For his part, King has denied any wrongdoing, specifically on rumors that he was using inside information to place the bets on Taylor winning the “Rising Star” award. Instead of taking that perceived short cut to cash in on his bets, King told the Herald Sun that the bets he made were based on his “own football opinion on this guy’s ability to win the award.”

“I know that I placed bets on Lewis Taylor and those amounts were not out of line with my normal wagering,” King added.

But whether he did or didn’t bet on Taylor to win the award isn’t the issue. The real issue here is that King is a media member with access to information that the public isn’t privy to. They’re called “sources” and any leaks from these sources puts him in a position to use these kinds of information to make his picks.

A triumvirate of news stories including Sam Trickett’s accident in his Ferrari; Katie Dozier getting upset with PokerStars and Daniel Negreanu asking if it’s possible to ban certain players from the World Series of Poker?

What a week it’s been for Sam Trickett.

He flunked the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA); likewise at the Aussie Millions, and then lost a ton of money on the Superbowl after a Pete Carroll last minute call that still infuriates him to this day.

Could things get any worse?

In a recent interview with yours truly, I asked him to choose his three most prized possessions. They were his house, his dogs and his Ferrari.

Nooooooooooo! Gutted ! #IamOktho pic.twitter.com/VTmirpQKXe

— Sam Trickett (@Samtrickett1) February 21, 2015

Andrew ‘luckychewy’ Lichtenberger has joined ranks with the Poker Players Alliance in the war against Sheldon Adelson, and anyone else trying to ride roughshod over a fully regulated online poker market in the U.S.

We are at war.

Sheldon Adelson and his band of Crony Capitalists have taken up arms. They have loaded up the tank with shells full of RAWA and the cannon is aimed directly at Capitol Hill.

Who will stop them?

Who is going to save the world of poker?

It feels like an unfair fight. He has all that money, all that influence and organization. That’s going to be the killer. The octogenarian is more organized than we are. He has a plan. Our only plan is to hope he dies of old age before RAWA gets underneath the fingertips of a man without morals.

The online poker industry is in the midst of conflict.

A number of my contacts within the Bitcoin industry have mentioned the importance of big name iGaming operators and suppliers jumping on the Bitcoin bandwagon.  Once this happens, it will be a domino effect, they have said.  Now we’re finally started to see the deals come in and I think its only a matter of time before the floodgates start to open and Bitcoin becomes more prominent in the iGaming industry.

CoinGaming.io, “io” being a popular domain extension for innovative companies and start-ups, is a an online gaming platform provider specializing in Bitcoin solutions for the fiat iGaming sector.  Mark McGuinness has over fifteen years of experience in the digital marketing industry and is currently serving as the Communications Director for Coingaming.io.  I had the opportunity to sit down with Mark and talk with him about what the deal with Microgaming entails, why its so important for the Bitcoin industry and what some of CoinGaming’s plans are over the coming months.

Thank you so much for joining me today, Mark.  Lets talk about the Coingaming deal with Microgaming and what it entails.  Can you elaborate?

We are extremely pleased to be the first-ever licensed Bitcoin only, online gaming platform to offer Microgaming Quickfire games.

Microgaming is one of the world’s foremost gaming software brands and quite rightly chooses its marketing partners carefully. Our journey took several months of discussion with several stakeholders involved in the process, covering due diligence, updated gaming licence requirements, and a positive outlook towards Bitcoin and the subsequent integration from both the Isle of Man (where Microgaming are headquartered) and Montenegro (where our gaming licence is held).

This successful outcome means, we are now able to offer Quickfire, powered by Microgaming, to operators that use the Coingaming Bitcoin only online casino platform.  With access to over 400 games, which include games like Avalon II, Thunderstruck II, and branded content titles such as; The Dark Knight™, The Dark Knight Rises™ and Playboy™ players now have the opportunity to play some of the best gaming content available.

Early feedback has been amazing; with our first operator www.bitcasino.io being live for over 2 weeks now, reporting positive player engagement and high volume on the Quickfire games.

Main Event Travel: Solving Problems for Poker Players Video

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Lee Davy shares an op-ed based on his experience of playing poker with a transgender, and Doyle Brunson’s outspoken reaction to Bruce Jenner’s decision to become a woman.

I recently played poker with someone who is transgender. At least I think I did? I liked it. It piqued my curiosity. I’m not a cat. I’m the kid who stared at his Grandmothers moustache.

I grew up in a little mining village. Asian people worked in restaurants, Indian people ran corner shops, and there was only one black man in the whole village. I don’t know what he did? I don’t even know if I am allowed to call him black?

Then there was the kid who was not really Chinese, and not really white. He was a bit of an oddity. His name was Lee.

I know a bit about being the kernel in the popcorn. So forgive my fascination when a woman who looks like a man, but is a woman at heart, and a man in physical appearance, sits down at my poker table and starts kicking ass.

She sat down and everything changed. There was an awkwardness at the table. It wasn’t there before. There was confusion during a hand. Somebody called her him by mistake. Cheeks reddened. Hope that the male vernacular had not passed those pearl earrings not doing enough to fan the flames.

For several hours prior to this young woman taking her seat, some of the players were saying the word ‘ladies’ each time a pair of queens was shown to the table. The tone of the word was queer. Someone uttered it once, after the young woman sat down. Once again blusher was applied. I never heard it muttered again.

Throughout the whole process behind the latest negotiations of the Floyd Mayweather – Manny Pacquiao fight, the self-proclaimed “A-side” – that would be Floyd – always went back to one word to defend against complaints that the fight had lost its appeal: timing.

We can all argue when the fight should have been made until the cows come home, but in reality, the fact that we’re finally going to see it on May 2 after years of waiting boils down to when Floyd Mayweather decided that it was time to finally face Pacquiao. No one could’ve made this fight other than Mayweather. Not Bob Arum. Not HBO. Not Showtime. And obviously, not Pacquiao.

He held all the proverbial chips and for the longest time, he held on to his hand until the timing was right. This was never about Floyd being scared to fight Pacquiao. This was about Floyd understanding that he could keep the Pacquiao fight in his pockets because he could still rake seven-figure pay-per-view buys fighting anybody not named Pacquiao. He scored an incredible 2.2 million pay-per-view buys against Canelo Alvarez. He even got 1.5 million PPV buys against Miguel Cotto and 1.35 million against Shane Mosley. In hindsight, it now seems incredible that Mayweather was able to draw 1.25 million PPV buys against Victor Ortiz.

But that’s why he’s called Money Mayweather. He picks his opponents carefully knowing that it he can package the fight in a way to make them more interesting than they actually were. That and he knew that he still had the Pacquaio fight in his back pocket, ready to cash it in when public perception began to sour on his fights.

That turning point, at least in my head, happened during the two Marcos Maidana fights. At that point, Mayweather was already running out of viable opponents that he could sell to the public. Pure boxing fans may have been intrigued about the first fight, especially after Maidana scored a stunning win against Adrien Broner, or as he’s otherwise known, the faux Mayweather. But the rematch was anything but sellable, even after Floyd tried to sell it as a continuation of the surprising slugfest that was the first fight. Still, it only ended up selling 925,000 PPV buys, the first time a Mayweather fight didn’t reach 1 million buys since…I don’t really remember anymore.

Once it became clear to Floyd that his PPV numbers would only go south if he kept that Pacquiao card in his pocket and continued to insist on parading anybody that wasn’t the Filipino slugger to the boxing audience. Of all people, he knew this and he understand that the time was right to finally cash in on that card.

So after five years of on-again, off-again negotiations. After months of continued teasing, prodding, and more teasing, Mayweather-Pacquiao is finally on and just as Floyd expected, the timing was absolutely perfect.

Paddy Power’s Oscar Pistorius “Money Back If He Walks” received by far the most complaints ever in Britain, Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said on Friday.

In a list published by the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the media and advertising watchdog revealed that the Paddy Power advert had received 5,525 complaints, roughly three times more than the next highest offender.

The advert for Irish betting company Paddy Power appeared during Pistorius’ trial for murder last year. ASA demanded the operator to remove it immediately.

The ASA linked the record year of complaints to the rise of social media – and the outrageous retweets and shares that often accompany it.

“2014 was the year social media came into its own in making it easier than ever to lodge complaints en masse. While some ads will inevitably split opinion, as the diverse nature of complaints we received shows, last year underlined the importance of our work in cracking down on misleading ads, including copycat websites, that are simply unfair to consumers,” said ASA Chief Executive Guy Parker.

However, Paddy Power spokesman said to eGaming Review that the company made the right decision to take bets on the Oscar Pistorius murder trial and would do it again in the future.

“We went into Pistorius with our eyes wide open and fully aware that it might stir controversy. However, as the biggest news story on the planet and as the main topic of discussion around water coolers, we wouldn’t be true to ourselves had we not taken bets on it,” the company spokesperson said. “In hindsight, the feeling is that it was the right decision and we would 100% do it again.”

The Aviation Club de France has shut down for good after the Tribunal de Grande Instance in Paris announced plans to place the poker room into liquidation.

The Aviation Club de France (ACF) is dead.

Concern has become reality. The Tribunal de Grande Instance in Paris will not be renewing their license. They have been placed into liquidation. 213 employees are out of work. French poker players are running out of places to play.

“It’s so sad that the historical place of gaming in France has disappeared.” Says PokerNews France Chief Editor, Mathieu Sustrac. “107 years of history and 20 years of poker in the Champs Elysees. It’s a shame the government didn’t try to save this. And lest we not forget the 213 employees who have fought for their dignity in the past five months.”

It was not that long ago that a nomination panel of Bruno Benveniste, Laurent Dumont, Alexandre Dreyfus, Bruno Fitoussi and Mathieu Sustrac were awarding ‘The “213” in the Aviation Club de France and Victor Saumont’ with a special Jury Award at the 2014/15 French Poker Awards. That trophy no longer has a home.

The club was closed down in September after the French Judicial Police raided the joint and arrested 12 people. The order came from judges at the Grand Instance Court in Paris.

It has remained closed ever since. 213 employees have struggled to make ends meet. Uncertainty casting a shadow that has finally left after a downpour they will never forget. There were many campaigns to keep the place open – most notably the #BringbackACF campaign that was waged via social media networks. Nothing worked. The opinion of policymakers couldn’t be changed.