Pokerstars retreats from Washington State citing Rousso case ruling

The recent finding in the Washington Supreme Court that went against a constitutional appeal by PPA member Lee Rousso against the state’s draconian anti-online gambling laws is causing industry waves. This week the world’s largest online poker provider, Pokerstars, announced that it would no longer offer real money poker to residents of Washington state following the court’s ruling.

Pokerstars issued a statement explaining its decision as follows:

“PokerStars today announced that it would cease providing real-money poker to residents of Washington State.

“To date, PokerStars has operated in Washington on the basis of legal opinions where the central advice was that the state could not constitutionally regulate Internet poker, or at least could not discriminate in favor of local cardrooms and against online sites.

“Last week, however, the Washington Supreme Court for the first time rejected that position and upheld the state’s Internet gaming prohibition.

“In light of this decision, following extensive consultation with our legal advisors, we believe that the right course of action is to now block real money play by Washington residents on the PokerStars site.

“This policy will remain in effect until the law changes or subsequent legal challenges succeed. Our decision to block real money play in Washington does not affect the balance of funds in customer accounts, which remain completely safe. Our payment services team continues to be available to Washington State residents to assist with cashout requests.

“We regret this decision, which will no doubt disappoint our customers in Washington State. However, in all of the jurisdictions where we operate, we are committed to making responsible decisions that are based on a full and considered understanding of the most up-to-date legal advice.

“PokerStars remains supportive of passing sensible Internet poker regulation in the United States that will provide much-needed tax revenues and formalize consumer protections. PokerStars operates under those conditions, complying with rigorous licensing regimes, for its worldwide operations in the Isle of Man (UK), and for local operations in Italy, France and Estonia.”

UB Poker Presents The Perfect Play

It's a month long smorgasbord of 31 days filled with contests and micro-stakes tourneys during October in UB Poker's Perfect Play. Highlight is put on the low-limit online poker players in this Perfect Play that compliments the whole package.  With the return of the Perfect 10 and the launch of the completely new Perfect 3, players with smaller bankrolls will find over $100,000 in Tournament Leaderboard (TLB) prize money.  Included in the Perfect Play package is a Perfect Play double (you have to appreciate 'double' although we believe it was originally meant for ice cream cones, it works very well in poker promotions) loyalty rewards points on designated Cash Game Tables; Perfect Play Deposit Bonus; and more.  UB Poker dishes out the rewards for all existing and new players and this is a perfect example.

The emphasis of the Perfect Play is to give you mega opportunities to improve your game and your bankroll by shooting at a piece of TLB Prize Money – just by playing – and you will find 10 No Limit Holdem tournaments have been added to the schedule every day in October, running every hour, starting on the half hour, with a $10+$1 buy-n to the Perfect 10. The Perfect 3 keeps the competition running by adding 10 extra tournaments a day that run alongside each of the Perfect 10 events but these beauties have a buy in of $3 + $0.30.  Check all of them out, that's an additional 620 tournaments waiting for you that are affordable but still offer big pay-outs.

Getting into more great news you'll find that both Perfect 10 and Perfect 3 players are automatically in competition to win $60,000 in TLB prizes in the $10 level, and $20,000 in TLB prizes in the $3 level buy-ins. And UB Poker will also award the Perfect Player Bonus to one overall champion with the most combined TLB points across both buy-in levels  – that’s an additional $2,500 that beefs up the bankroll nicely.  There are Weekly Leaderboard cash prizes available also and you don't have to be a tournament player to reap the rewards.  Get ready for the Perfect Cash Games – those include No Limit and Pot Limit (limits ranging up to and including$0.05-$0.10) and Fixed Limit (limits ranging up to and including $0.10-$1.20) ring games where you receive Double Loyalty Points.

From the mouth of Joe Sebok : "Always looking to improve when we’re on to a good thing, the ‘Perfect Play’ builds  on the popular Perfect 10 promo that we debuted earlier this year.” Sebok continues, “Making it super accessible to more players, with more players sharing in the massive prize money is our ultimate goal, and our ‘Perfect Play’ is going to be sick. We’re fired up about it."

Don't wait to get started, today is day 1 of the beginning of a great October – even more reason to download UB Poker and take advantage of the Perfect Play Deposit Bonus.

Microgaming Powered Online Casinos Pumping Out Jackpot Wins

CashSplash It has been a busy week for Microgaming powered online casinos, and the large amounts of slot players enjoying the casinos have seen their equals winning jackpots in that time. Microgaming powered online casinos have been pumping out slot jackpots through the past weekend and into the new week.

Mega Moolah Major was the latest of the big slot jackpots when it was hit yesterday. The jackpot paid one lucky player $22,396. The popular slot also paid out $15,000 three days ago, almost $40,000 five days ago, and $36,076 six days ago.

Fruit Fiesta paid out to the tune of $36,749, and Wowpot won a gambler $17,446. These two jackpots were both hit on Saturday. It had been over two weeks since the most recent Wowpot jackpot. The increase in wins has many people considering their options of where to play.

“I like to play the Mega Moolah slots because I can play at different denominations and still have a chance to hit a portion of the jackpots,” said one online gamer. “Right at the end of the summer is usually when I do best, so I’m looking forward to the next couple of weeks.”

The winners from this past week will not argue that the beginning of fall is a good time to play slots. LotsaLoot, one of the more popular Microgaming slots, and CashSplash, both had hits on Tuesday. The LotsaLoot jackpot was hit for $35,526, and the CashSplash hit was $53,485.

For those that do not like playing the slots, the news was also good this weekend regarding Jackpot Deuces and SupaJax. The two card themed games paid jackpots of $33,407 and $37,168, respectively.

Champions League Betting – Manchester United in Trouble Without Rooney?

Manchester United are at odds of 6/4 to make light of striker Wayne Rooney’s absence and defeat CF Valencia in Spain. The home side are at betting odds of 17/10, with the draw at 12/5, while in-form Dimitar Berbatov is 11/2 to be first on the scoresheet.

David Williams of Ladbrokes said: “Fergie would probably take a draw in Spain, but Valencia are a far cry from the side that reached back-to-back finals a decade ago, so United could sneak a win.”

Tottenham Hotspur are 4/5 to seal their first Champions League victory at home to FC Twente Enschede, with Steve McLaren’s old side a 7/2 shot and the draw at odds of 5/2. Peter Crouch is 7/2 to continue his rich vein of European goalscoring form and notch first.

In Scotland, Glasgow Rangers are 10/11 to defeat Turkish Champions Bursapor, with Kenny Miller 4/1 to score first. Elsewhere, holders Inter Milan are at betting odds of 8/13 to beat Werder Bremen, with Barcelona 4/7 to win away to Rubin Kazan.

Latest Betting Odds – Champions League Winner

Barcelona 5/2, Chelsea 5/1, Real Madrid 11/2, Man Utd 8/1, Arsenal 12/1, Inter 14/1, Bayern Munich 14/1, Milan 16/1. Continue..

Lord of the Rings Slot Adventure at Red Flush Casino

October 1 – Red Flush Casino is offering some exciting slots tournaments on a wide range of games, including the Lord of the Rings casino slot game.

The first promotion involves the new and popular game Lord of the Rings and the competition is called Lord of the Rings Slot Adventure. In this slots tournament, players can win up to $40,000 on the Lord of the Rings – Fellowship of the Ring game.

The Lord of the Rings Slot Adventure is a leaderboard tournament and all players have to do is play this popular video slot game and earn as many points as possible.

The process to register for this fun tournament is very easy. You? need to login to your casino account and click on Promotions. You then need to select an alias and submit the information. Once this registration process is completed, all you need to do is play.

In order to earn points on the leaderboard players can either play any of their favourite slots or earn extra points by playing Lord of the Rings – The Fellowship of the Ring.

Points can be earned as follows:

• Slots and Palour games will earn one point for every $100 wagered.

• American Roulette, Table Poker, Red Dog, Casino War and Sic Bo earn you 0.50 points for every $100 wagered.

• Roulette (except for American Roulette), 3 card poker, Blackjack, Craps and Baccarat earn 0.10 points for every $100 wagered.

Extra points can be gained in the following manner:

• One point for each $100 deposited.

• 100 extra points to players who play 4 nights during the week and bet a minimum of 40 bets on the Lord of the Rings game.

• Players who wager between 10,000 and 15,000 on Lord of the Rings earn 50 points

• Players who wager between 15,000 and 25,000 on Lord of the Rings earn 100 points

• Players who wager between 25,000 and 50,000 on Lord of the Rings earn 150 points

• Players who wager 50,000 or more on the game get a whopping 250 points.

X Factor Betting Odds – Cheryl Cole Likely to Produce this Year’s Winner

Cheryl Cole is the 6/4 favourite with Irish bookmakers Paddy Power to mentor this year’s winning X Factor act for the third year in a row. The Girls Aloud star has been given the female category and with acts like Gamu Nhengu at betting odds of 9/2 and quirky rapper Cher Lloyd at 5/1 in her category she looks a decent bet for the hat-trick.

However Aussie judge Dannii looks to be the closest threat to Cheryl this year. Dannii’s best chance looks to be painter and decorator Matt Cardle who has overtaken Cher to become this year’s new 3/1 betting favourite to win the show outright.

Sharon McHugh, spokesperson for Paddy Power, explained: “Of the final thirty-two acts, there are a handful that really stands out and at the moment I think we’ve got the odds spot on. Matt not only has an amazing voice but maybe 2010 will be the boy’s year for a change.”

Meanwhile, Ireland’s answer to Su-Bo, Mary Byrne has successfully made it through to the judge’s houses but has slipped significantly in the betting to odds of 16/1.

Latest Betting Odds – X Factor Outright Winner

3/1 Matt Cardle, 9/2 Rebecca Ferguson, 9/2 Gamu Nhengu, 5/1 Cher Lloyd, 6/1 New Direction/1 Direction, 7/1 Aiden Grimshaw, 14/1 Katie Waissel, 16/1 Nicolo Festa. Continue..

Slotastic Casino Announces New Bonuses And Payment Methods – 09-27-10

September 28 – Real Time Gaming powered Slotastic Casino have updated their sign up and reload bonus schedule. 

Bonuses:

• $300 Welcome Bonus $200 Second Deposit bonus
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• $100 Slot of the Week $100 Progressive of the Month
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Slotastic Casino now supports the following payment methods:

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Check out our Slotastic Casinooo review now and claim a $500 start-up bonus – all North American players are welcome.

Microgaming sees opportunity in online gambling regulation

The trend for individual governments to regulate, license and tax online gambling is now firmly established, especially in the more progressive environment of Europe, and that’s a good thing, opined Roger Raatgever this week. The energetic chief executive officer of veteran industry software developer Microgaming was speaking at the Isle of Man launch of his company’s latest branded game The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, themed on the blockbuster movie trilogy The Lord of the Rings.

Raatgever believes that the strong move to regulatory instead of prohibitionary or monopolistic regimes is a positive evolution for the industry, and one which he intends to ensure benefits both his company and its licensees.

“Regulated markets are happening, and Microgaming will be at the forefront of those industry companies who are ready to meet the toughest licensing requirements for their licensees,” he said.

“This is something we have been waiting for; and it will additionally enable us to dispel negative myths and misperceptions about the industry by demonstrating our professionalism and the considerable technological developments now available to defend against under-aged or problem gamblers, money laundering and other concerns of those who oppose internet gambling.”

Microgaming is a respected and acknowledged pioneer in this dynamic global industry, and in the early ‘nineties was among the first to develop the ingenious software that enables companies to safely bring the action and excitement of gambling in its diverse forms to the punters’ PCs, laptops and mobile phones via the internet.

The rapid development of underlying industry technologies has enabled Microgaming to build up an enviable reputation as a creator and purveyor of quality games – an inventory of around 500 at last count – and the complex back end administrative and marketing systems used by online casino, poker room and sportsbook operators who licence the software.

Working with associate company Spin3, it was also one of the first to start developing the mobile gambling business model and software, a global enterprise that is now gaining significant momentum and has been independently estimated to be worth $48 billion by 2015.

Raatgever says the company’s approach is built upon a commitment to quality, a keen interest in what players want, technological progress and innovation. The company was the first to bring concepts like big money progressive jackpots, player accessible information on financial and betting records, mobile wagering, and the use of major movie and videogaming brands in slots to the online environment.

“There are many companies in this industry that are models of customer care, corporate governance, fiscal responsibility and professional business conduct, and we intend to remain among them in the new and exciting world of regulatory opportunity now opening up,” he said.

Ensuring that the company retains the capability to do that, are development teams on nearly every continent around the world; an impressive talent pool of over 1,000 people. Raatgever presides over the group from his 80-employee head office in Douglas on the Isle of Man, a location ideally positioned in a geographic sense with an advanced communications infrastructure and a business-friendly legal environment.

Last week saw the opening of a newly refurbished live dealer studio providing feeds to service the growing demand around the world for live dealer gambling over the internet. As with all Microgaming initiatives, the objective is to extend the range of options available to licensees when areas of business opportunity are identified.

Given the size and success of the organisation, several industry analysts have on occasion speculated why Microgaming has not been publicly listed – a course taken by many smaller industry companies in the past.

Raatgever does not favour the idea, saying that the private company business model is best suited to his company, which has no need to go public to attract capital. “In fact I regard the private nature of our company as an absolute competitive advantage in that it enables us to maintain security on projects until we are ready to move to market,” he says.

Similarly, there has been conjecture that Microgaming has the wherewithal to be both software provider and an operator in its own right, a proposition firmly discarded by Raatgever. “We are essentially a technology oriented company,” he notes. “We prefer to stick to our knitting, which we know and do rather well, and leave the operational side to our licensees or partners,” he says.

“We’ve had approaches, but we’re not interested.”

Finance Director John Coleman supports Raatgever, confirming that he has turned away many approaches: “You might say that we could be defined by the deals we have turned down in this area,” he observes. “But we have our own imperatives, which are the provision of top product at a fair price, and a commitment to a service oriented partnership with our licensees.”

Raatgever sees trends other than the moves to regulation ongoing in the industry, namely consolidation, technological convergence and the continued growth of strong competition; all areas which he has constantly under review, with planning and preparation dictated by ongoing research into player demands, technology advances and new gaming trends.

With one eye on the competition, Microgaming, in common with other providers, has adopted a more flexible approach in providing specific products to clients as well as complete packages. One area it has entered is the cross-platform trend whereby operators offer their players a range of games from different providers, all integrated into the same administrative platform. High profile operator Virgin Games is among the latest to advertise new games from Microgaming on its multi-provider platform.

New poker products

Another of the highly competitive market sectors in which Microgaming is active is online poker.

Head of Poker Lydia Melton says that her teams have been preparing for two major events on the production calendar: the introduction of the new downloadable Microgaming 3D poker software, and the launch of a new novice-oriented Flash poker product.

Microgaming’s software is also available through Prima Networks Limited which is currently engaged in launching a dedicated French poker network as a result of a joint venture with 888 Holding’s PLC. Initially comprised of four client operator companies, this joint venture into the French market has achieved the most approved licenses from the French regulator ARJEL to date.

The company has also been quietly getting on with its own approach to the ‘poker ecosystem’ where the problems associated with balancing the ratio of relatively inexperienced ‘fish’ against more skilled ‘sharks’ has been stimulating debate in the industry for some time.

Microgaming’s approach is multi-pronged, involving monthly rake reconciliation and encouraging licensees to adopt a far more wide-ranging marketing approach. This is designed to bring in more recreational players, giving the network a better business balance despite the higher acquisition costs.

The Flash poker product is particularly interesting, enabling Mac players to access the action, and at the same time presenting novice players with a ‘One Click’ simplified choice that does not delay or intimidate and makes site navigation easy.

The new product is already live on Unibet’s Maria Poker site, along with Nordicbet and Ladbrokes, and features play for real or fun and a selection of tournaments, sit n’ goes and cash game options.

Sports book operators are reportedly showing an interest in taking the Flash product on board as an additional player service, with the added benefit that Flash clients have shown good conversion rates to download games as they progress.

The move toward more complex 3D poker is another example of Microgaming’s preparedness to extend its technology reach. High profile companies like PKR currently occupying the downloadable 3D poker space will find themselves under growing competitive pressure from the new MGS offering, which may prove to be faster, yet carries the same level of customisable avatars and varied perspective views.

Again, the company’s push in this direction is intended to provide licensees with the widest possible selection of player-attracting products.

Bringing famous brands to the online environment

Poker is just part of the jigsaw for the Isle of Man based Product Team, whose international remit covers everything from research to brand licensing and game development.

The past nine months has been a busy period with the development teams bringing to fruition the first game in The Lord of the Rings trilogy as a multi-featured flagship game which captures the spirit, characters and atmosphere of the big-screen impact of the blockbuster movie.

Development was preceded by an exhaustive licensing and approval process which involved exacting standards at Warner Brothers which has been delighted with the final product.

Microgaming is no stranger to the branded content process, having held rights to the Tomb Raider brand since 2004. New game formats, player demands, technology advances and convergence in delivery systems are just a few of the elements where it is imperativefor software companies like Microgaming to stay at the sharp edge.

Is the UK bingo market saturated?

Pessimists who claim that the online bingo sector is at saturation point will find a spirited debate from Neill Whyte, Head of Bingo for Microgaming.

“We’ve been involved in this burgeoning market segment since 2008 and now have 8 brands on our network,” Whyte says.

Online bingo is a $2 billion-a-year business with particular focus in the UK, where there are an estimated 300+ brands operating, and to a growing extent in Western Europe and the Nordic countries.

“As much as 70% of the business is in Europe at present, mostly in the UK,” Whyte observes.

Competition is fierce, with bingo providers like 888’s Dragonfish, Playtech’s Virtue Fusion and the independent Cozy Games all active.

Microgaming concentrates on quality, entertaining and diverse content and product diversification, leaving its operators free to focus on customer care and marketing.

Whyte sees the currently hot topic of free bingo play as a potential acquisition and retention tool, but feels there is a need to sensibly balance free play with real play, with industry pundits pretty evenly split on its true value to business.

Independent estimates from respected research firms have predicted that global growth is set to continue at anything up to 30%, including the UK.

Interestingly, bingo players are seriously into side games, with as much as 60 to 70% of revenues emanating from this source. Microgaming thrives in this department, with a massive inventory of innovative games and the capability to deploy these into the bingo sites, increasing player pull.

Microgaming’s development teams have so far provided licensees with some 300+ instant-play Flash side games, mostly well-proven 5 reel slots….and there are plenty more in the group inventory.

Progressive jackpot, scratch card and AWP interactive pub slot games are all popular as side games, which are used extensively by players.

“We listen very carefully to what players are saying and what they want,” says Whyte. “We invest in pre-testing and extensive research with the changing demographics of bingo players, which now embrace a younger and more equally balanced gender profile.

“Bingo players tend to spend less per visit, but play more often and stay longer, providing operators with better life-of-customer longevity.”

The current focus for Microgaming bingo is a major upgrade to the software, which bingo fans will see on their screens some time in the upcoming months.

Keeping pace with regulation

Microgaming execs Chris Hobbs in Corporate Affairs and Andy Clucas in Regulated Markets are seeing their company roles become significantly more demanding as the regulatory trend spreads through Europe.

With the formidable task of keeping pace with a multitude of legal changes and developments, they ensure that the company is ready at any time to support its licensees in entering newly regulated markets by meeting the diverse requirements of individual regulators.

Their ‘campaign map’ covers a growing number of licenses already obtained, those in process and timelines for the implementation of new regulated markets that stretch from the present to 2012 – a veritable patchwork of nations and dynamic time estimates.

“There are clearly advantages for existing or potential licensees where Microgaming is already established or is well prepared to enter new markets,” Hobbs notes.” Our responsibility is to ensure that the company maintains that positioning.”

Hobbs refuses to be drawn on the complex and troublesome US market, where the authorities have decided on a prohibitionary approach to online gambling but moves are afoot to reverse this negative direction.

“Clearly we watch developments closely, but the situation remains very fluid at present,” he says, concluding that the manner in which he and colleague Clucas work is thorough, cautious and measured.

Responsible management

CEO Raatgever returns to the subject of perceptions as the visit ends, observing that educating interested parties on the positive aspects of the industry is important.

“There are many highly professional companies in this business who go above and beyond in maintaining high standards of corporate responsibility, integrity and professional behaviour – it’s important to get that perspective out there to dispel the myths – some of them maliciously created – about the industry.

“The fact that little cash changes hands in online gambling, because credit or debit cards are used, ensures a high degree of trackability that is anathema to organised crime and fraudsters.

“Once you explain the breadth of reliability and accurate tracking systems in online gambling, and the conscientious precautions taken by operators to obviate concerns about underage or problem gambling, fraud and money laundering, many critics are surprised into a reappraisal.”

Turning to fair and safe software, Raatgever points out that tier one companies in the business, including his own, go to extraordinary lengths to ensure that their software is independently tested and monitored.

In collaboration with two major competitors, Microgaming invested substantially in the creation of the independent eCOGRA seven years ago; a London-based stand-alone player protection and standards organisation that mediates player disputes, sets international standards of business and responsible gambling conduct for the industry, and tests and monitors operators who volunteer to meet its tough requirements.

Since then the professionally-staffed organisation has become self-funding and has earned the respect of regulators, trade associations like the influential European Gambling and Betting Association and major international companies unconnected with the original founders.

“eCOGRA has now achieved the goals that we set for it, which has made the internet gambling environment a safer place for players, and has simultaneously improved operating standards throughout the industry,” Raatgever observed.

“I believe this is indicative of the serious approach to business and player care that characterises a significant and growing proportion of industry businessmen.

“We are a business with very strong professional commitments to fairness, efficiency and legality,” he concludes.

Ivey, Isildur1 Out as WSOPE ME Final Set

The World Series of Poker Europe main event began with a who’s who of poker, but will end Tuesday with a final table roster full of players the causal poker fan has likely never heard of.

While stars like Phil Ivey, Viktor “Isildur1” Blom and a host of others littered the leader board coming into Monday’s final 22, they all hit the rail as the field was whittled down to nine.

San Diego’s Dan Fleyshman, CEO of upstart site Victory Poker, will have the chip lead heading into the final.

And with most of the best poker players in the world already on the sidelines, he’s feeling confident despite having just a little more than $100k in career tournaments earnings built mostly with $1k buy-in events and under.

“It is the toughest field hands down on the planet,” he said. “But when I go in I don’t want to spend £10,000 and not expect to win, so I’m not shocked, but it is really cool to be the chip leader.”

The exits of both Blom and Ivey certainly helped.

“The whole time I thought it was going to be me against Phil Ivey and Isildur,” Fleyshman said. “I had this whole dream in my head, it was going to be Viktor Blom and Phil Ivey on this side and it’s almost like smoke was going to be in the room.

“Then when I heard Phil Ivey busted, I went from 300k to 1.5 million just like that because there was nothing to fear anymore. The one guy out of 60 million players in the world, he’s the one guy I was scared of.”

Online pro Ronald Lee, who has a little over $80k in career live tournament earnings, will come into the final nine right behind Fleyshman.

Iowa’s Daniel Steinberg made about $60k in cashes at the 2010 WSOP and will start right behind those two, with the most recognizable pro left in the field hot on his heels.

Winner of an EPT title, WSOP bracelet and WPT title, Roland de Wolfe is the name on the marquee here.

The veteran UK pro has won over $4.8 million throughout his career and is by far the most experienced on the big stage.

The UK’s James Bord has a WSOP final table from this summer on his resume, and will be looking to add to his less than $80k in career earnings coming in just shy of De Wolfe.

Next up is Kentucky’s Brian Powell, who has around four WSOP cashes lifetime and a total of $147,365 in career earnings.

A good friend of Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Powell will enter the final nine sitting sixth in chips.

Following up on his second WSOP final table this past summer, outside of De Wolfe, French Winamax pro Nicolas Levi is likely the most notable player in the final nine.

Levi has $765,805 in earning coming into the final, with his previous biggest score being a seventh-place finish at EPT Dortmund back in 2007.

He’ll come in jostling for position with the shorter stacks, including Italian Fabrizio Baldassari, who has a couple of EPT cashes and some small Italian results on his resume adding up to $102k in tournament earnings, and Frencham Marc Inizan, who made third at EPT Berlin earlier this year earning $474,750, an experience that should put him in good steed coming in to the final table.

The £10,350 WSOPE Championship drew a total of 346 players to the Casino at the Empire in London’s Leicester Square creating a £3,460,000 prize pool with £830,401 set aside for first.

All nine finalists are guaranteed at least £69,754.

To follow the final table action, click through to PokerListings’ WSOPE Live Updates.

Here’s how the stacks look coming into Tuesday’s 12 p.m. start:

1 Dan Fleyshman 1,946,000

2 Ronald Lee 1,899,000

3 Daniel Steinberg 1,520,000

4 Roland de Wolfe 1,377,000

5 James Bord 1,331,000

6 Brian Powell 842,000

7 Fabrizio Baldassari 697,000

8 Nicolas Levi 428,000

9 Marc Inizan 349,000

New owner of Malaga FC ends William Hill shirt sponsorship

Only one year into a three year sponsorship deal with Spanish football club Malaga, William Hill plc has agreed to withdraw from the agreement after the new club owner raised objections on religious grounds.

The new owner of Malaga is Sheikh Abdullah Bin Nasser Al-Thani (43), a member of the Qatari royal family who acquired the Spanish club in June for €10.5 million.

He raised religious concerns about a gambling company being involved with the club, claiming that this went against the tenets of his Islamic religion, and by mutual consent both club and gambling company have agreed to end the sponsorship.