Areas of Expertise
3300 stories by Philip Conneller
Sports Betting Shouldn’t Be Widely Promoted, US Poll Responders Say
US poll responders broadly support legalized sports betting, but they don’t necessarily want it shoved in their faces. That’s the takeaway from a new Harris Poll that found that 54% of American adults have a positive opinion of sports betting, and two...
Detained Hong Kong Influencers Face Up to Seven Years for Gambling Promos
The issue of social media influencers promoting gambling has grabbed headlines this year, and even sparked a ban on Twitch. But in Hong Kong, it can get you up to seven years in prison. Between last Wednesday and Sunday, seven influencers were...
River Rock Casino Loan Shark Killer Gets Life Sentence Reduced
Last week, a British Columbia gambler sentenced to life in 2009 for the murder of a woman working as an illegal loan shark saw his sentence commuted. A jury of the BC Supreme Court in Vancouver took two days of deliberations to...
World Cup Betting: Whose Stock is Rising After First Round of Games?
Brazil’s win against Serbia in Qatar on Thursday night brought the first round of World Cup games to a close. So which teams saw their stock rocket in the first week like an unstoppable Saudi strike into the top corner? And which...
FIFA Threatened ‘Massive Sporting Sanctions’ in Row Over LGBT Armbands
FIFA threatened the England soccer team with “massive sporting sanctions” ahead of its opening game against Iran on Monday if any of its players wore "OneLove" armbands, as planned. Seven soccer federations, from England, Wales, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany and Denmark,...
FTX Lawyer Was Key Figure in Notorious UltimateBet Poker Cheating Scandal
The chief regulatory officer of disgraced crypto exchange FTX, Dan Friedberg, has history. The Seattle Wash.-based lawyer was a key figure in one of poker’s most notorious cheating scandals. FTX, formerly one of the world’s biggest crypto exchanges, collapsed spectacularly earlier this...
Ex-Decathlete Sentenced for $45.2M Cannabis Ponzi Scheme Spent $8M in Casinos
A former UCLA decathlete who later represented the Philippines at track and field events has been sentenced to 17.5 years in a federal prison for fraud. American Philippine citizen David Bunevacz, 53, of Calabasas, Calif., stole more than $35 million from investors,...
Texas Poker Rooms Threatened by Bill to Amend Legal Code on Gambling
A bill filed in the Texas legislature would close an alleged loophole in the state’s penal code that has spawned a thriving poker club scene in cities throughout the state. State Rep. Gene Wu (D-Houston) says his bill would clarify a gray...
Federal Judge Unruffled by Bid for Cockfighting Carveout in US Territories
A lawsuit that sought a carveout from a federal ban on cockfighting for Guam and other US territories has been dismissed by the US District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands. Judge Ramona Manglona declined to overrule the previous decision. She wrote...
Landing International Chairman Suspended Amid Securities Regulator Probe
Landing International’s controlling owner, Yang Zhihui, has been suspended from his position as chairman and executive director. That’s after the Hong Kong-based casino developer’s board received notice from the region’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) that Yang is suspected of some shady...