US Poker – The dust has settled from the 140th Kentucky Derby. California Chrome celebrated in the winner’s circle on Saturday. Bettors that picked California Chrome to win took home $2.50 for every $1 bet.  Many other wagers were placed on the annual betting tradition. Churchill Downs held a large portion of the action. Win, place and show bets saw a 17.5 percent hold. Exotics had 22% taken from the prize pool. This was up from 16 percent and 19 percent in 2013, respectively. Churchill Downs booked $186.6 million in bets on Saturday across the entire race card. Winning bettors…

Seattle Times – When the Seahawks drafted tight end Luke Willson last year, most people probably had two reactions. First, to make a joke about the Seahawks taking an actor (Luke Wilson, one L) in the fifth round. And, second, to look up who the heck Luke Willson (two L’s) was. But Willson offers an interesting window into the draft. He played at Rice with Vance McDonald, another tight end who the 49ers drafted in the second round. Willson was highly productive as a sophomore and junior, but he battled injuries as a senior. His stats dipped significantly. Where McDonald…

The Guardian – Usually when poker makes headline news it tends be alongside the word “addiction” or “gambling”, a precautionary tale of why this card game of skill and temperament should be avoided at all costs. So when Victoria Coren Mitchell became the first person to win two European Poker Tour (EPT) titles, garnering a significant amount of press interest among broadsheets and the more reputable media outlets, the whole poker community breathed a sigh of relief. The truth is that poker has suffered greatly over recent years, particularly in the US where online poker was ostensibly banned in April…

iGaming Business – PokerStars and California’s Morongo Band of Mission Indians and the state’s three largest card rooms – the Commerce Club, the Hawaiian Gardens Casino and the Bicycle Casino, have confirmed their partnership that will see PokerStars supply and operate a California-licensed online poker site once regulation comes into force in the US’s most populous state. News of the agreement between the different parties first came out in late March, its official announcement was made yesterday (Wednesday) to coincide with the hearing organised by California’s Assembly Committee on Governmental Organisation on intra-state online poker regulation. The key issue in…

Spokesman – The Coeur d’Alene Casino is ready to shuffle up and deal. The casino is advertising a May 2 opening date for its new poker room, with executives saying that Idaho’s constitutional ban on poker games doesn’t apply to the tribal-owned casino. But the Idaho Lottery Commission has different views, setting up a potential showdown over the casino’s six poker tables. The Coeur d’Alene Tribe plans to offer Texas Hold ’Em and Omaha at the casino. Those are card games of skill with players competing against each other for stakes and no house bank involved, said Helo Hancock, the tribe’s legislative director. The…

Poker Fuse – The Delaware Lottery has published the revenue results from February which show a 16% fall in poker rake and fees. The four months of figures now available provide a picture of how each of the three licensees is doing in the market. The amount wagered on table games in February doubled from January’s $1.1m to $2.2m producing net proceeds of $65k. Adding in the $27k of video lottery revenues (slots) produced a total of $92k, which meant that poker’s proceeds of $74k now represent just 44% of the total. That compares with the 76% produced by poker…