Hunt is preparing to radically overhaul online gambling licensing rules, reportedly to ensure that the Exchequer gets his cut through new advertising restrictions on offshore operators, and British players are better protected.

A spokesman for the Ministry told The Guardian that the events surrounding Full Tilt Poker highlights “…why the government is looking at reforming how overseas-based operators are regulated,” adding that the ministry hopes to make an announcement in the next few weeks.

The UK government recently completed a wide-ranging consultation on online gambling. Under current rules offshore companies can advertise and operate without being licensed by the UK Gambling Commission as ministers rely on the strength and integrity of approved overseas regulators, particularly those within the EEC.

Full Tilt and its bigger rival PokerStars have spent millions advertising in British media in recent years and are among the most popular sites with UK players.

Pokerstars, which is licensed in the Isle of Man, appears to have emerged from the US debacle rather better than its rivals, refunding US players and avoiding scandal.

This is in contrast to the other two companies involved in the American enforcement action, Full Tilt and the Cereus network, which have yet to pay players and have been found wanting in useful public communications, losing business and traction in other markets due to (in the case of FTP) suspended licensing.

The Guardian approached the Isle of Man to enquire if it applies a “fit and proper” test to licensees, and was told by Steven Brennan, chief executive of the Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission: “The GSC thoroughly checks and vets every director and key official of any online gaming company … It has the authority, and has used it, to turn down any company where it feels the company or the owners could bring the island into disrepute.”

The Isle of Man appears to have more stringent ring-fencing requirements on player deposits than other jurisidictions.

The duo were playing in an unscheduled but necessary fourth day in the competition, having survived an original field of 3,389 and a final table chock-full of poker talent.

Day 3 began with 42 players left, and a final table was reached Thursday when Brynn Kenny was eliminated at tenth place, leaving Andy Philachack in the lead with a 2 million chip advantage over his closest opponent, Hasan Anter.

However, Anter continued to quietly build up his stack until he took the lead, holding on to it as the final table shrank to three players by the time the ten level rule forced officials to shut down the game and go to a fourth day.

Resuming their seats on the extra day, the three survivors were Hasan Anter in the lead on 8.3 million, Nemer Haddad on 3.4 million and Andy Philachack on 3.23 million.

Anter went right to work, and the cards stayed with him as he continued to dominate the game, crippling Philachack in one momentous hand, and leaving him for Haddad to eliminate a few hands later.

Heads up, Anter held a 3 to 1 lead, but his opponent managed to level the chip count after a dozen hands and an exciting fight for supremacy ensued until Anter was again able to pull ahead with sustained aggressive play and finish Haddad off in style with that royal flush.

Anter claimed the bracelet and the $777,928 main prize, leaving his very worthy adversary with a second placing check for $479,521.

In event 57: $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo Split, Nick Binger bagged the last of the preliminary WSOP event bracelets Friday evening when he took down his heads up opponent David Bach in a finale that lasted barely 15 minutes at level 30 and on the fourth (extra) day of play.

That additional day was made necessary by a long 12 hour third day that saw 25 survivors from the original star-studded field of 352 cut down to just two players - Nick Binger and David Bach - who had to return late afternoon Friday for another session to decide the winner.

When Day 4 play commenced Bach was around a million ahead, but Binger stayed calm, was aggressive when he needed to be, and closed the gap, going on to take the lead, his first WSOP bracelet and the $397,073 first-place prize.

David Bach had the consolation of a second placing prize worth $245,314.

Event 58: $10,000 Main Event saw 985 hopefuls take to the tables for Day 1b, the second of four Day 1 flights scheduled for the event.

Compared with last year’s Day 1b entry field the registration numbers were disappointing, declining by some 504 players, but still comprising many top players.

They could face the same ignominy as several high profile aces did on Day 1a, where names like Doyle Brunson, Jeffrey Papola, Ari Engel, Tom Schneider, Matt Affleck, Vinny Vinh, Vanessa Selbst, Josh Arieh, Evelyn Ng, Vinny Vinh’s chair, Scott Montgomery, Faraz Jaka, and former WSOP Main Event champions Greg Raymer and Jerry Yang all headed for the rail, leaving 560 players from Day 1a, led by Fred Berger in the chip lead on 209,500, to go through to the second day flights.

Back to Day 1b: Late night Friday Vegas time the field was down to 626 with three more hands to go before the officials halt the day’s activities.

Ben Lamb held the chip lead on 215,000 with Guillermo Ramirez in second place with 177,000 and a host of top players still in the field.

Sticking to a Red Ruby theme, this month’s loyalty bonus includes a GBP25 deposit match and 1000 free Red Ruby points worth GBP10.

In other news, the group started to sponsor the Swansea City Football Club earlier in the year and since then have run a number of competitions for fans - none more exciting than their offer to make a 32Red player and Swansea Fan the official number 32 for the Swans.

As is the case each month, the casino has launched some groundbreaking new casino games. This includes 3 online slots and a brand new table game.

Kung Fu Monkey: The biggest thing to hit 32Red Online Casino since Tomb Raider 2, the 5 reel, 15 payline Kung Fu Monkey is set to become an instant classic. With 3 unique bonus games that will see players battling different opponents and towards a 50,000 coin jackpot, it really is top casino entertainment.

Wooly World: Join the cuddly characters of Wooly World on a 5 reel and 20 payline slot adventure that really is… cool. Line up the Ice Age themed symbols and win big - up to 100,000 coins in the free spins bonus game!

Pure Platinum: The most valuable substance in the world glitters off 5 reels and 40 paylines of slot. The payouts match classy looks with an enormous jackpot of 100,000 coins available through a choice of free spins options. That’s right, select which type of free spin reward you want, from more spins with a smaller multiplier, to less spins with a huge x5 bonus.

CasinoJoy.com has today released Batman and Wonder Woman slots as the latest additions to its leading selection of branded casino games. The new slots have been made available through software provider Cryptologic, and complement CasinoJoy’s exciting portfolio of over 200 games. Tom Richards, Head of CasinoJoy.com says:

“The DC Comic slots are the first in a wide range of new high-value games that we intend to deliver over the next 6 months, and we are delighted to be one of the first to offer these two games to the market”.

To celebrate the launch of the Batman slot, CasinoJoy.com has also announced a €1000 Wager Race for players who play the game in the first month of launch.

CasinoJoy.com provides players with over 200 online casino games including several of the most popular branded classics, the strong performance of such games underlining the continuing importance of brand familiarity and top of the range graphics. Richards added “The players experience is central to the growth of CasinoJoy.com. We hope that through the extension of well constructed, socially relevant and innovative games our customers will remain happy with our product offering”

ChanceRoom.com is licensed in Malta and operated by LGH Ltd. The site offers a full suite of casino games, a poker room that’s part of the International Poker Network - arguably Europe’s largest independent - and a full range of sports betting options including horse racing and football, with customer service teams fluent in both languages.

“We’ve come up with some great ways to reward our best players,” said John Benjamin of ChanceRoom.com this week. “Players are automatically enrolled in our VIP Club which gives cash bonuses based on reward points earned by wagering and depositing. And, every month, we‘ll award bonus cash to the winners of our Points Race – the top point-scorers in each casino game that month.”

“Both [French and English] sites will offer the same wide selection of games and betting options,” said Benjamin. “But the French site will likely focus more on French horse racing while the British site will emphasise football wagers more.”

Louis Harang, a director of LGH Ltd. which owns and operates ChanceRoom.com said: “We’ve assembled a management team with many years experience in igaming, and designed unique incentives for regular players to make sure our players enjoy the best experience possible.”

“They’ve got a very good selection from our games portfolio, including our most popular big progressive jackpot games like Aladdin’s Lamp and Fortunes of Egypt, and we’ll have lots of new games for them in coming months,” said Mery Blomqvist at GTECH G2. “I’m sure ChanceRoom players will appreciate the convenience of having one wallet for the sportsbook, casino and poker room.