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Here are today's headlines in the world of gambling and sports betting as they happen - Thursday June 20, 2019.
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Collingwood Coach Nathan Buckley Accuses AFL of Hypocrisy Over Gambling
8:22 pm ET - Players need protection from themselves, expert says
Associate Professor Livingstone said AFL players "tick all the boxes for someone who's at risk of gambling".
"They're all performance nuts, so they all want to think they can pick the form of anything and anybody," he said.
"And they're action-oriented people. They want stuff to be happening around them."
Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge said more needed to be done to protect players from themselves.
"Too much time on their hands and too much disposable income: they're the two dynamics that collide and create a real issue," Beveridge said.
"It's important for players to have another vocational focus, whether that's in academia or whether they've got a job placement, but they need to fill in their days.
"The priority is that they become consistent and prolific AFL footballers, and that hopefully sets them up for life, but it won't if they don't have things to fill in their gaps, because they'll dispose of that money too easily."
EA: They Aren’t Loot Boxes, They’re ‘Quite Ethical’ ‘Surprise Mechanics’
8:22 pm ET - Battlefront II’s progression almost entirely chained to loot crates back in 2017 once Star Wars Battlefront II went from a new hoped-for sequel to a towering heap of bantha fodder in a matter of weeks once gamers discovered exactly what kind of loot system EA had designed
Loot crate rewards were completely randomized, unlike in previous games, where playing a class and/or using specific abilities typically earned you experience in that class or improved your skills. There was no guarantee that the loot you received would even be related to the game modes you wanted to play, which meant you might spend 8 hours in starfighter dogfights and receive only infantry upgrades. Read More Here
Bitcoin Hits New High
7:43 pm ET - The bitcoin price recorded a high of $9,600 per bitcoin on the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange, up almost 5% over the last 24 hour trading period and a staggering 160% since the beginning of 2019.
The latest bitcoin rally has been put down to a number of different factors, with surging media and mainstream interest in bitcoin as a result of Facebook's Libra cryptocurrency announcement the most recent.
Google Trends data shows searches for bitcoin hit 12-month highs earlier in May as speculation around Facebook's plans for a potential bitcoin rival reached fever-pitch. Read More Here
Arizona's Hennigan Outduels Daniel Negreanu for Title in Elite Seven-Card Stud Event
10:52 am ET - Veteran pro John Hennigan has collected career World Series of Poker bracelet number six by taking down Event #41 of the 2019 WSOP, $10,000 Seven Card Stud.
Poker's “Johnny World” earned his latest bracelet and a $245,451 payday by closing out another talented veteran, Daniel Negreanu, for the win in this elite 88-player event. In the process, he denied “Kid Poker” his own seventh WSOP title.
The 48-year-old Hennigan, a native of Philadelphia, trailed Negreanu for most of the day before pulling ahead when Negreanu's cards ran cold during their hours-long heads-up duel. Hennigan's latest big score boosts his lifetime WSOP earnings to just under $5.8 million.
Negreanu entered this event's final table with the lead and held it through the day's early levels, only to be reeled in by one of poker's most skilled fixed-limit players. Negreanu's strong showing was still worth $151,700, swelling his own lifetime WSOP earnings well over $17.36 million.
“It was a very tough duel, especially for me,” said Hennigan. “He played so well, and I played so poorly, he really did not get what he deserved. He made every right decision and I made every wrong decision, and it was just bad luck for him at the end.
“I played a very good tournament, up to that point, but I really needed luck there when it got to heads-up. He played great the whole time. I believe I did as well but he clearly had me without the luck. That's how it goes.”
Final-Table Payouts:
1st: John Hennigan, $245,451
2nd: Daniel Negreanu, $151,700
3rd: David “ODB” Baker, $104,416
4th: Mikhail Semin, $73,810
5th: David Singer, $53,621
6th: Chris Tryba, $40,066
7th: Frank Kassela, $30,817
8th: Frankie O'Dell, $24,419
New York Mobile Sports Wagering Dead
3:19 am ET - As widely anticipated, the New York legistlature has concluded its session for 2019 without a bill that would legalized sports betting via mobile devices.
Lawmakers will need to wait until January 2020 to get another measure pushed through but even then Governor Andrew Cuomo has insisted a voter referendum is required.
The deadline for passage was yesterday. The new legislative session starts January 2020.
Our Free Picks Record June 18
2019 MLB Record: 17-11-2 (60.1%) - No Plays Over -160
2018-19 College Basketball Record: 12-9 (57.1%)
2018-19 NBA Record: 7-5 (58%)
2018 MLB Record: 45-35 (56.2%)
2018 NBA Record: 12-4-1 (75%)
