Freaky Fortnight – Fun Gambling Adventures from MAY 2023

If there’s one thing that’s fairly constant in the world of gambling, it’s that there will always be some kind of funny story to tell. Whether it’s a poker player getting exposed during the WSOP Main Event or a pro getting banned from Twitch, fun is always on the horizon. Over the past few weeks, a few more feel-good stories from the world of gambling have come to light. Let’s take a look at some of the crazy happenings in the scene in this one May 2023 edition of Great two weeks.

Reaction from Newcastle fans when Ivan Toney bets against his own team

Ivan Toney is an English professional footballer who is a striker for Premier League club Brentford. He also plays as part of the England national team. Yet between February 2017 and January 2021, unfortunately, it seems he didn’t have much faith in his own teams.

We’re getting a little ahead of ourselves though. In November 2022, the Football Association stated that there were 232 alleged violations of gambling rules by Tony, and a month later he was charged with 30 more violations of such regulations. These offenses cover a period in which Ivan Toney played for Newcastle United and Peterborough United, as well as his current club Brentford. Tawney admitted to many of these allegations, but also denied some.

Tony was diagnosed as a gambling addict, which may account for the relatively light sentence he received at his hearing in mid-May 2023. Ivan was banned from playing football for eight months and fined £50,000 ($61 760) for his indiscretion.

Football player Ivan Toni is involved in a betting scandal

Yet he seems to have much more to do with Newcastle United fans. Several occasions saw him bet on his own clubs to lose and he provided inside information to a friend as to when a match started.

In total, he bet against his own teams 13 times with 11 of those occasions were while he was playing for Newcastle. This, understandably, drew the ire of the team’s fans, who described it as a “disgrace”. Apparently he had little faith in his own team’s ability to win on these occasions.

One saving grace from this worrying affair is that Toney did not play in any of the games he was betting on against Newcastle. Maybe he thought he was the shining star who could push the team to victory and that without him playing, they were incapable!

‘Charming’ poker game banned from Nintendo Switch due to creator’s prank

It is well known among poker players that the game is not well received in various countries. Gambling in general is restricted in many places around the world. Ever since Black Friday in 2011, many have known what it feels like to suddenly be deprived of access to their favorite games. That’s the case now with an unlikely candidate: a game called Sunshine Shuffle that features poker as a core gameplay element.

In the game, individuals can play as one of several cute animals who all experience life on a boat together. To pass the time, these animals participate in rounds of poker, and as you play through the game, you learn that these animals have actually committed a crime together: robbery!

A still image from the computer game Sunshine Shuffle

When you combine poker with animals and theft, you get quite a combination for an addictive computer game, right? Unfortunately, the game’s developer pulled a funny prank that means it won’t be available for some people for a few more days.

Strange Scaffold is the development brand responsible for the Sunshine Shuffle. It is owned by Xalavier Nelson, Jr., who often comes up with jokes and funny scenarios before the game’s release. He often comes up with tongue-in-cheek lyrics and catchphrases online, though the results are often more unpleasant than genuinely funny. One of the most recent of these predators is around the Sunshine Shuffle game.

In a video post through his Twitter account, the developer decided it would be best to emphasize the game as teaching children to gamble, thanks to its combination of adorable animals and poker games. Yet the game doesn’t really do that at all. However, Nelson, Jr. chose to repeat that gag in the video, which means a lot of people started to take it seriously.

As a result, Sunshine Shuffle is currently unavailable on the Nintendo eShop in North America, although it successfully launched in May via Steam and itch.io. According to Xalavier, he was also banned completely in the Republic of Korea because of his video.

The developer explained that the idea behind his prank was to pre-empt potential bad faith criticism. That, he said, would likely cause the game to be taken out of context, with some suggesting it would teach kids to gamble because of the cute animals playing poker.

Stake Co-Founder Ignores Brand Ambassador…Drake Saves The Day!

UFC is one of the most intense sports today. Many people bet on it, with the Stake brand being one of the bookmakers providing match odds.

Middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is one of the brand’s ambassadors, signing on as such in 2021. As such, you’d think the higher-ups would be paying him full attention. Especially considering he’s the UFC champion and big news for the Stake.

Unfortunately, it seems that Stake’s co-founder, Edward Craven, hasn’t been on his guard recently. An incident occurred when Adesanya reached out to shake Craven’s hand. However, the company’s co-founder didn’t notice the gesture and instead simply walked away. No doubt Adesanya was left there feeling embarrassed by the whole situation.

Someone else who has a connection to the Stake brand is Canadian rapper Drake, who often makes cryptocurrency bets on the platform. In fact, within two months of becoming a member of the platform, Drake placed bets valued at over £800 million. This includes both sports and casino betting and he, like Adesanya, has continued to promote Stake ever since.

A viral “video was posted on Stake’s official Instagram page, showing Adesanya missing a handshake from Craven. He is visibly embarrassed by the whole situation until Drake comes over. Commenting on the video on Instagram, the rapper noted, “This is AI generated,” trying to save the UFC fighter.

This prompted hundreds of fans to like the comment, and Adesanya would go on to share the video on her own Instagram story, along with Drake’s comment. Many saw the video in a humorous light, although some also noted it as disrespectful to Adesanya. It’s always best not to take yourself too seriously – and Adesanya seems to find the whole charade amusing.

The best way for 1950s ladies to dress a man? Play poker!

If you think dating in 2023 is hard, then you have no idea how hard it was for women in the 1950s. The market was much tougher back then.

Yet there are always people who try to help, as was the case this decade. Article in a 1958 issue of “McCall’s”. has come forward providing some unusual advice for women looking for love. Some of the directions the young ladies had to take into consideration were quite strange.

For example, girls were told to become friends with less attractive women in order to catch the eye of the man of their dreams. The article even suggests that ladies read the obituaries to find themselves a suitable widower. And let’s not even get into the one that tells girls to wear wigs so they can easily get a bald man!

In fact, the list of things to do to catch a man stretches to 129 different tactics. Includes places on where to find a man, let a man know you’re there, look good in front of him, and choose him as your date.

It is the latter of these categories that contains gambling-related advice. Tip 103 suggests that a woman can learn how to play poker so that a person will be more than impressed by her. Will a woman who can play poker make you more attracted to her?

The next point is: “If he’s rich, tell him you like his money – honesty will intrigue him!” Could it be that the men of the 50s had little experience with bluffing? Whatever the case, maybe the women of that era only wanted to impress the rich poker players!