In this week’s poker news round-up we bring you up to speed on David Baazov’s resignation from Amaya Gaming; why PokerStars may have to sit on the sidelines for five years before getting a shot at the online poker in California, and European Poker Tour payout changes.

In March, the crown that had once so elegantly balanced on the bonce of the King of Online Gambling was hanging precariously on the bridge of his nose. This week, it fell off, and an Ironsmith was on hand to melt it down into a tie pin.

David Baazov resigned from his twin positions as Amaya’s CEO and Chairman of the Board and the interim CEO; Rafi Ashkenazi is the man looking for an Ikea shoehorn so he can fit into his boots.

Baazov’s reign at Amaya has been plagued with uncertainty after the allegations of insider training emerged. The announcement came amid Amaya’s Q2 earnings call. The new CEO and his team waxed lyrical about the Red Spade’s involvement in New Jersey’s online poker market (25% growth year-on-year & PokerStars traffic counted for 44% of overall NJ online poker revenue). They were less enthusiastic about the performance of real money poker on a worldwide scale with $215.6m showing a flat year-on-year performance with the Euro 2016 Finals blamed for the lack of movement.