World Poker Tour Transforms Season XVII The World Poker Tour is moving all televised final matches for Season XVII to the eSports Arena at the Luxor Casino & Hotel in Las Vegas. Vegas was the original home of the WPT, and the recently completed eSports Arena will host the finals in style. At a cost of over 20 million dollars, the arena boasts a Hype Tunnel, incredible lighting, and a spectacular viewing experience. The format of the eight televised Main Tour poker events and the Tournament of Champion will be changed to allow a three to six-week hiatus between the…

Online poker in New York is turning into the legislative version of Robert Louis Stevenson’s literary masterpiece, the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. After a couple of close calls in each of the last two years, Albany lawmakers don’t seem to know if they’re coming or going in 2018. And depending on who you ask, online poker efforts have either taken a step forward or a step backward in 2018. On the one hand you have first-term Assemblyman Clyde Vanel, who appears to be spearheading the current online poker effort in the Assembly. “The budget effort didn’t…

The Current State of Poker in New Jersey Online poker in New Jersey continues its bull run with impressive earnings in the first half of 2018. Two weeks after month end, New Jersey casinos and online poker rooms release their GGR (Gross Gambling Revenue). The total Internet gambling win by month makes for interesting reading. Online poker revenues in March 2018 topped out at $1,966,366, significantly higher than February poker revenues of $1,772,988. In January 2018, poker revenues were strong, from the holiday season overflow at $1,950,696. These GGR figures were released by the NJ Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE)….

It took Chris Ferguson about seven years to issue a 42-second video apology for the Full Tilt Poker fiasco. Hopefully he wasn’t working on writing it the entire time. Regardless of his motivations, the poker community responded harshly to his attempt at reconciliation. This summer will mark Ferguson’s third year back at the World Series of Poker, after he took several summers off after the Full Tilt scandal. The government said that Ferguson allocated himself $85 million in distributions for his work at the poker site, while about $160 million in U.S. player deposits went missing after the platform shut…

The impending release date of the shared liquidity on WSOP.com between Delaware, Nevada, and New Jersey resulted in excitement across the markets. May is finally here and WSOP.com coronated the launch with a major online tournament series. The shared liquidity agreement was announced on October 13 and anticipation has been high since then. The shared player pools allow for larger prize pools, increased offering in live games and tournaments, and potential for legislation in other states. Pennsylvania is expected to be the next state in the pecking order to join in the shared liquidity. The state signed online gaming into…

UK-based firm Sky Betting and Gaming (SBG) is to be sold to a Canadian company for about £2.5bn, it has been announced. The Stars Group Inc – which owns PokerStars, an online card room – said the deal will make it the largest publicly listed online gaming company in the world. SBG is currently in the middle of a multimillion-pound sponsorship deal with the English Football League. Rafi Ashkenazi, Stars Group’s chief executive, said SBG would complement the PokerStars platform and give the group potential for growth. He described the acquisition as “a landmark moment” for the Stars Group. More…