Resorts became the first casino in Atlantic City to debut electronic table games from IGT, giving players a chance to play roulette, baccarat, or blackjack all at once and Resorts to take more bets in an hour.
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A bill introduced by six members of the New York State Assembly would require video game manufacturers to label games with randomized in-game purchases, restrict the sale of such games to persons under 18, and disclose the odds of the randomized prizes.
The summary of the bill reads:
“Requires chances of randomized in-game purchases in video games to be disclosed; requires labeling of video games with randomized in-game purchases; restricts purchasing of video games with randomized in-game purchases to those eighteen years old or older.”
The six sponsors of the bill, A 10075, are:
Loot boxes landed on the government radar thanks to their prominence in the game Star Wars Battlefront II. They aren’t a new phenomenon though. Virtually every mobile app from Candy Crush to Angry Birds utilizes microtransactions to monetize their product.
Simply put, loot boxes are a shortcut in the game. Unlike the tit-for-tat purchase of more lives in Candy Crush, loot boxes are awards that contain random rewards.
Loot boxes are voluntary transactions, but game developers can make it so continued progress in some games almost necessitates their purchase.
In most cases, loot boxes fall short of a “gambling” designation, meeting only two of the three requirements:
Unless the contents of loot boxes can be sold or traded for money or something of value, they don’t meet the “Prize” criteria.
However, even if loot boxes aren’t technically gambling, calls for stiffer regulation are growing stronger, and not just in New York.
Amid this growing concern, EA, the maker of Star Wars Battlefront II, pulled loot boxes from the game. However, the company is now considering reinstating them.
That’s a decision it might want to reconsider.
In addition to New York, loot boxes have come under fire in Hawaii, Congress, and in jurisdictions around the globe.
During a Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing in February, New Hampshire Senator Maggie Hassan asked FTC nominees if they would independently review the use of loot boxes in video games.
That line of questioning came on the heels of Hassan writing to the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) about the matter:
“I respectfully urge the ESRB to review the completeness of the board’s ratings process and policies as they relate to loot boxes and to take into account the potential harm these types of micro-transactions may have on children. I also urge the board to examine whether the design and marketing approach to loot boxes in games geared toward children is being conducted in an ethical and transparent way that adequately protects the developing minds of young children from predatory practices.”
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Christopher Howard, executive director of the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, has announced that he will step down from the position. A new appointee from Gov. Phil Murphy will take over.
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A trio of the world’s largest internet betting companies has joined the commercial casino lobby in the United States. According to the American Gaming Association, leading online gambling firms GVC …
The latest from the Pokerfuse Poker Podcast Directory.
Poker Action Line 03/21/2018
There is a revolution taking place in tournament poker right now in the form of the big blind ante. Started by players in ARIA High Roller events, the concept has expanded to the world’s largest brands and tournaments. The debate on how to best implement the big blind ante has been a major discussion among the poker community on social media. Change doesn’t come easy in the poker world and the big blind ante has stirred up a whole bowl of it.
Have you ever been at a table where there are a few players who need a reminder every hand to put their ante in? The big blind ante solves that issue. Usually tied to the size of the big blind (ex. 2,000/4,000/4,000), the big blind antes for the everyone at the table each hand. The math of the game remains nearly the same.
There are a few small improvements in gameplay the big blind ante solves. Gone are the pesky T25 chips in starting stacks. Instead, players start with levels of 100/100/100 rather than 25/50.
The big blind ante has empirical data showing there are more hands played as a result of the format. Players across all buy-in levels enjoy it as well. Eventually, positie player feedback in High Rollers led to ARIA introducing it into $240 daily events.
Tournaments using the big blind ante are found across America. ARIA was the first to use the format in 2017 and it has spread since then. The Wynn Poker Room introduced big blind ante across all of its events in 2018 to rave reviews from players.
BB ante tournaments = sliced bread
. Thank you @WynnPoker for implementing this great format. It speeds up the game quite a bit and makes the dealer’s job easier.
— David Paredes (@gaucho2121) March 4, 2018
Decided to fire the @WynnPoker $600 250k… BB ante is so damn sexy good job as always Wynn
— wretchy (@Wretchy) February 27, 2018
The largest study of the format came in California at the L.A. Poker Classic. A field of close to 4,000 entrants used the big blind in the $350 buy-in opening event. World Poker Tour Executive Director Matt Savage found recreational players taking to the format upon putting it into play at LAPC.
Savage announced last month the WPT will be using the big blind ante in all Main Tour events come Season XVII.
The Borgata is utilizing the format for all of the Spring Poker Open in April. Seminole Hard Rock is following suit for a few events for their Showdown series next month.
Come this summer, The Venetian is putting the big blind ante into use for 16 tournaments in the DeepStack Extravaganza series from $400 single-day events all the way up to $5,000 buy-ins.
Daniel Negreanu made headlines last week over his adamant debate over a facet of the big blind ante structure. A veteran of ARIA High Rollers, Negreanu argues that the “big blind first” rule is best for players of the recreational and professional level.
“Big blind first” means that if a player is a all-in for up to or less than a covering stack when in the big blind, they are eligible to win their amount of chips multiplied by the number of players at the table.
When a player doesn’t have enough to cover the ante and BB the BB is paid first. So if he owes 8k BB 8k Ante but only has 2k. He posts 2k as a BB and there is no ante. He wins 2k x # of players
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) January 16, 2018
“Ante first” in the same situation prevents a big blind from being posted and a player can only win back the chips they are all-in for, thus having zero additional equity in the hand.
Savage is a proponent of “ante first” and plans to use that definition of a rare all-in situation for the WPT.
Because you win the entire ante when not in the BB plus chips you have x players in the pot, cannot have it both ways @DBuzgon @TabDuchateau https://t.co/gp67dhcFXi
— Matt Savage (@SavagePoker) March 16, 2018
The debate among Savage, Negreanu, and the poker community at large has netted out to a common denominator: the big blind ante is a popular choice among players.
Olivier Busquet summed up the argument for using big blind ante best when comparing to the current style of all players anteing.
If you’re unsure about the bb ante, imagine that bb ante were the status quo and the discussion were to change it to the current system. It would be absurd – break the ante up into small pieces and force each player every hand to do it?? This helps show status quo bias.
— Olivier Busquet (@olivierbusquet) March 16, 2018
The big blind ante is popular across high roller events and is going to be in use at the Super High Roller Bowl and Big One for One Drop this summer. One Drop is the only World Series of Poker event to adopt the big blind ante so far but that should change come 2019.
The WSOP Circuit is tinkering with use in events and the growing popularity among players might be too much to pass up.
More venues and series are making the big blind ante the rule. SugarHouse in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is using the concept in a $150 tournament next month.
$100,000 Guaranteed.
$150 Buy In#BBANTEApril 8th – April 15th https://t.co/5RG45z73qi pic.twitter.com/UpTkaOgL8d
— SugarHouse Poker (@sugarhousepoker) March 16, 2018
It’s only a matter of time before the days of every player putting in an ante is a thing of the past.
Lead image courtesy of World Poker Tour/Flickr
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The new variant appears be based on the split pot game Double Flop Hold’em, which could be the first time the game will be spread online.
PokerStars is readying to launch a poker variant dubbed Split Hold’em, according to new graphics files distributed across its global online poker client last week.
No details on Split Hold’em have been revealed. However, based on its branding and a reconstruction of the new poker table by PRO using the image assets in the client, it may be that Split Hold’em is inspired by, if not entirely based on, a common home game novelty known as Double Flop Hold’em.
New pricing means approximately 2% more of a tournament entry fee now goes to the operator.
PokerStars has increased the rake across its low stakes scheduled tournaments, taking approximately 2% more of the total entry fee in rake.
The operator first announced its pricing update in a post on its corporate blog last week. It stated that MTTs with buy-ins less than $20 would see a rake increase, while its niche “Time Tourney” offering would see a rake drop.