© Matt Alexander Coral owner GVC has warned profits will be hit from England's planned second lockdown (Matt Alexander / PA)
GVC, the betting group behind Coral and Ladbrokes, warned it could take a profit hit of £34 million if all its high street betting stores in the UK are forced to close for the entire month.
The company said that as things stand the new lockdown restrictions announced in England on Saturday will hit profits by £27 million, although this could rise to £34 million if Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland follow England with a month-long lockdown.
- This past weekend, I was in Tama, Iowa for the Mid-State Poker Tour's latest $1,100 Main Event at the Meskwaki Casino. The tournament attracted 423 runners, one of whom was Minnesota's Matt Alexander.
- Matthew Alexander poker tournament results, including recent cashes, lifetime winnings, WSOP and WPT stats.
Matt Alexander Poker Show
Matt Alexander: (HPT Champ & POY Contender): 136.5k Bernard Lee: 118k Maria Ho: 68.5k. Average Stack = 103,250 Big Stack 230k. Day 2 - L13 Antes/Blinds = 500/3k/6k. Cash bubble @ 41 players today, and the winner will take down an estimated $177k. (hey, I'm not @KevMath y'all, even.inside. the tourney room.). Matthew Alexander moves all in from the button for about 150,000, and Justin Lunin-Pack calls from the big blind with A J. Alexander shows J 7, and he needs to improve to stay alive. The board comes 10 2 2 Q K, and Lunin-Pack wins the pot with an ace-high straight to eliminate Alexander from the tournament. Justin Lunin-Pack – 1,070,000 (44 bb).
Current rules mean bookies in Scotland and Northern Ireland can remain open, with sites in Wales expected to reopen on November 9.
GVC's European operations will also face an underlying pre-tax profit fall of £10 million as things stand, with sites in Ireland, Italy and Belgium all under restrictions or closed.
If the closures were in line with the England lockdown for a month until December 2 it would fall to £9 million, although it is unlikely with Belgian sites closed until December 13.
GVC's European operations will also face an underlying pre-tax profit fall of £10 million as things stand, with sites in Ireland, Italy and Belgium all under restrictions or closed.
If the closures were in line with the England lockdown for a month until December 2 it would fall to £9 million, although it is unlikely with Belgian sites closed until December 13.
The profits hit includes any offsetting from Government support, including the reintroduction of the furlough scheme.
GVC said: 'The well-being, safety and security of our colleagues and customers is of paramount importance to us.
'We are following Government advice in each area of our operations and are enacting contingency plans to minimise the impact on the business.'
GVC has previously reported a strong year and upgraded earnings twice since the pandemic, with punters turning to online gambling in droves.
The company benefitted from online casino games and poker, as bored gamblers filled their time in online gaming rooms.
December 11, 2014 5:19 pmMatt Alexander Poker Game
Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) Team Pro Matt Alexander has won the HPT Prairie Meadows main event, after overcoming a tough field of 176 players over three days on his way to claiming a second HPT gold ring, and walking away richer by $69,043. Following his impressive victory, the Minnesota pro who now boasts $605,713 in live earnings, said:
'I feel great coming out on top, I play so many of these tournaments to win so it's nice to get a first place. I've won two tournaments before, but this is the biggest score yet, so I'm happy about that.'
The $1,650 Main Event was held at the Iowa-Prairie Meadows Racetrack Casino Hotel in Altoona, and amongst the notable players subsequently receiving a share of the $255,720 prize pool was Blair Hinkle in 16th ($4,092), and Lance Harris in 11th ($6,137).
At the final table of nine, Matt Alexander (A-J) eliminated Paul McCaffrey (Q-J) in 8th ($9,078), before later being dealt A-10 and catching some good fortune on a Q-10-6-3-Q board to knock-out Richard Fitzgerald (A-J) in 6th for $11,763. Eventually, Alexander took a 3.2m to 1.9m chip advantage over Kou Vang into heads-up play, and ten minutes later the defining hand was played with Vang moving all-in preflop with A-Q only to be called by Alexander with pocket sevens. The dealer subsequently laid out a 6-5-4-6-3 board to consign Vang to a runner-up finish worth $42,961, while Matt Alexander was crowned the champion. Heaping praise on his final opponent, Alexander later tweeted:
'Thanks everyone for all the support and sweats. Means a lot. Played a world-class player in Kou Vang. He's the best.'
Final Table Payouts:
1 Matt Alexander – $69,043
2 Kou Vang – $42,961
3 Travis Remmert – $26,083
4 Michael Hahn – $19,179
5 Quang Pham – $14,320
6 Richard Fitzgerald – $11,763
7 Roger Bennett – $10,357
8 Paul McCaffrey – $9,078
9 Jonathan Hanner – $7,672
