3-Bet: William Hill First to Get eSports Betting Approval in Nevada, Pros Win Big at Aria High Rollers & Bet365 Gets License For Online Poker in Bulgaria

3-Bet
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  • PG News November 21, 2016
  • 3 Minutes Read

In this edition of our PokerGuru 3-Bet, we have two stories of business licenses and in between a report of the High Roller Events held at the Aria in Las Vegas. The first is about William Hill being the first to get approval from Nevada for eSports offerings. The second is about several pros making top places at three High Rollers, including David Peters, Dan Smith and Ali Fazeli. The third story is about how Bet365 has gained a license in Bulgaria to offer online poker and casino games.

 

William Hill Gets First Nevada Approval For eSports Betting

After William Hill, UK’s largest bookmaker tied up with Downtown Grand, Las Vegas, as required by Nevada rules, it became the first to get an approval to offer eSports betting in the state.

Earlier this year Downtown Grand opened a live room for esports betting for Madden, Mortal Combat and Street Fighter gamers. Now, William Hill has launched eSports wagering with offers for bets on the IEM Oakland eSports event held over the weekend.

Joe Asher, Chief Executive Officer, William Hill U.S. made a statement to the media, “We are excited to partner with Seth Schorr and the Downtown Grand to become the first sports book in America to offer legal wagering on eSports. A lot of work has gone into bringing eSports to the Nevada betting market and we thank the Governor and his Gaming Policy Committee, the Gaming Control Board and Seth for all of their efforts to keep Nevada at the forefront of the gaming industry. William Hill always tries to offer the most innovative and largest wagering menu and this reflects our commitment to innovation.”

Echoing the sentiment, Seth Schorr, Chairman, Downtown Grand Casino and CEO of Fifth Street Gaming said that both, William Hill and Downtown Grand welcomed the Gaming Commission support in bringing new gaming revenue to Nevada. Schorr added that Downtown Grand had put in a lot of effort in making its room a prime eSports venue and that the new partnership with William Hill would further enhance its reputation in the market.

Esports are growing at an immense rate in the US and already games such as Hearthstone have taken the country by storm. Top online poker players including noted poker pros Daniel Negreanu and Bert Grospellier are part of professional Hearthstone leagues.

William Hill was recently in the news for trying to takeover Canadian giant Amaya. Talks failed after the UK company’s largest shareholder objected to the deal.

 

Pros David Peters, Dan Smith and Ali Fazeli Top Aria High Rollers

The High Roller season at the Aria Poker Room in Las Vegas continues and the latest winners to emerge are David Peters, Dan Smith and Ali Fazeli. As usual there were two $25,000 High Roller events and also a $50,000 tournament.

Both Peters and Smith also final tabled two of the above three events. Erik Seidel and Tom Marchese also final tabled two of the events.

David Peters won the $50,000 Aria Super High Roller 13 for a sum of $511,970, after defeating Erik Seidel at heads up, with the latter taking home $510,430. Tom Marchese took home $201,600 for a third place finish. The event drew 30 entries creating a $1,440,000 prize pool.

At the $25,000 Aria High Roller 45, the champion was Ali Fazeli who collected the lion’s share of $403,200 from the prize pool of $960,000 generated by 40 runners. Marchese finished at third place for $134,400, with Seidel making a sixth place for $48,000.

Dan Smith topped the $25,000 Aria High Roller 46 for $312,000 and it was Peters who ended runner-up for $168,480. This was Smith’s third title this year. The event attracted 26 hopefuls creating a prize pool of $624,000.

 

Bet365 Launches Online Poker & Casino Games in Bulgaria

Bet365 has finally found success in Bulgaria, after the country approved it`s license in 2014, but then went on to unceremoniously blacklist the company.

However, now the UK bookmaker has received a new license from the Bulgarian State Commission on Gambling (SCG). Though PokerStars was the first to get a license, Bet365 has received approval to offer both online poker and casino games in the country.

Bet365 received the license, after the Coates family appealed against Bulgaria’s decision to blacklist them. The appeal was successful and the country’s decision was overturned by the Court of Sofia, paving the way for the license.

UK tabloids have revealed that Denise Coates, owner of Bet365 enjoyed a salary of £117.5m and has a net worth of £2.8 billion. She is often referred to as the ‘highest paid businesswoman’ in Britain.

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