by Joseph Ewens, Dec 7, 2011 | 2:42 pm

The icy tendrils of winter are tightening their grip on the northern hemisphere and my sugar intake has increased 4000%. It’s December! Which, for the poker world, means not much at all. The felt is green all year round and money tastes as sweet as ever. Unless you play on Bodog or Everleaf, but we’ll get to that in good time.

Brits Can’t Stop Gambling

For now let’s start with some good cheer. UK gambling revenue increased to $4.2 billion during 2010, with bricks-and-mortar accounting for almost two thirds of that figure. Gambling is traditionally a recession resistant industry and in a country with an open – but properly regulated – market that adage appears to ring true. Noted number crunchers PriceWaterhouseCoopers predict that this UK uptick is part of global trend that will see gambling revenues increase 10% per year until 2015. [Independent]

Bodog Anonymous

Last week, Bodog unveiled poker tables which hide your ID from other users. The intention was to protect bumbling recreational gamblers from being stalked by evil grinders and their advanced HUD software. It didn’t work. Hackery hacking guys hacked into the client with their hack machines and hacked the whole thing to pieces. At least that’s what this article from data-miners HH Smith sounds like to me. At the very least, it says makes some important points about the responsibilities companies have to protect the privacy of their customer’s information. [HH Smithy]

Everleaf isn’t for Everyone

Over at the Everleaf Network, they’ve taken a similar dislike to winning players. If you generate too much income one week, expect to be barred from certain tables the next. Users are assigned a rating that accords with how much profit or loss they have recently made. Pass a certain ratings threshold and you’ll be penned into a small area with all the other successful players. And just in case you harboured any hopes of a clueless fish wandering into your sharks-only game, any player attempting to join a high rating table is presented with a pop-up encouraging them to find a seat elsewhere. [Poker Fuse]

Time for Contemplation at the AGCC

Amid the fallout from the collapse of Full Tilt, the Alderney Gambling Control Commission took a lot of heat from irate onlookers. In response to that criticism, Excecutive Director Andre Wilsenach has announced an independent review of the process that lead to revocation of Full Tilt’s operating license. The inquiry will be conducted by Peter Dean, the former chair of the British Gambling Commission and will be all important and official and stuff. [Poker Strategy]

The writing of this roundup has been punctuated by occasional bouts of rage as my football team of choice concede goals against inferior opposition. Quite literally as this sentence is being typed, we’ve pulled a goal back with 3 minutes remaining. Check the tone of next week’s column to discover if we’ve won or lost.