Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Poker and Casino News Media Update, by Greg Tingle

Australian Gaming mogul, James Packer, became a new father today with the birth of his daughter, Indigo. Packer's ex, Jodhi Meares, has found Scientology at the same time, following her woes with Foxtel and 'Top Model'.

Media Man Australia is seeing continued growth in the online casino business (as opposed to the bricks and mortar) casino business. Virgin Casino and PKR Casino continue to impress.

Packer ops out of a second casino deal, this time in the Philippines, following his exit of Macau. Lawrence Ho saw challenges early in the peace, and now Ho's got family challenges as an ongoing distraction to the running of his gaming empire. You can bet Packer's looking for his Aussie Millions of Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia, to turn a dollar. Speaking of Millions, Australian media and advertising tycoon, John Singleton, is travelling along nicely with his Magic Millions (horse racing).

Online gaming mainstays, Lasseters, Bwin, 888.com and GoldenPalace stay in the race, however many media analysts and gaming insiders are of the opinion that PKR.com and Virgin Games have more credibility and usability, and in short are more trusted and reliable than many in the gaming and online casino business.

Gaming convention, Australasian Gaming Expo, a 3-day affair, kicks off Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour, Sydney, Australia on the 24th August.

Donald Trump, property developer kingpin, is looking to offload some of his hotel and casino interests abroad, and is locked in to speak in Australia at the first time in Australia this November with his Think Like A Billionaire Seminars to be held in Melbourne, Sydney and the Gold Coast. Not Perth however, which has more millionaires and billionaires per capita than anywhere else in Australia and by the way, James Packer just happens to have Burswood Casino running at a profit in the wild west. If only he can achieve this offshore, unless he's tossed that aside, with his new found status are Australia's 3rd richest individual (down one place from a few months back).

Media Man Australia recently attended the Climate Change Summit and was inspired to get up a green eco friendly casino... hang on a moment, Media Man Australia is already green, having sold the V8 and with pro active assistance to the likes of Universal Peace Centre Retreat, Greenfest and Virgin Unite. Media Man is in the final stages of establishing casino tour packages with Travel Tourism Media
( www.traveltourismmedia.com ), and is still taking business proposals from potential partners for the project. A birdie told us they were checking out the World Poker Tour as a potential partner, but their status is not right for the Australian market. In anticipation of the formal launch, Media Man Australia has established Casino News Media
( www.casinonewsmedia.com ) to oversee the growth of the business.

Richard Branson, Virgin King, has done well to stay out of the traditional casino business, however a number of casinos are going very cheap at the moment. Branson might do well to pick up a couple and add to one of his latest ventures, Virgin Hotel, which will complement his Virgin Vacations business beautifully. His Virgin Games remains impressive, and offshoot, Challenge Jackpot, recently hit the screens in Europe to rave reviews. Pikum!, who he also lent his name (and money via Virgin Mobile) to is also on a wave of momentum.

Down under in Australia there's whispers of TAB teaming up with another gaming operator, and this likely has something to do with attempting to adept to the ever changing market, as more punters continue to hit the internet to try their luck.

We recently stumbled upon a board game (on the web) entitled Media Mogul, and we help to soon review it, as it features Murdoch, Branson and Simon.

Thank you to the folks are iGaming Business and CAP Magazine, we enjoyed the read and did find strong relevance to the online gaming sector

Media Man Australia casinos of the month... you guessed it, Virgin Casino and PKR Casino.

Media Man Australia Profiles

Virgin Casino

Virgin Games

PKR Casino

PKR

James Packer

Richard Branson

Donald Trump

John Singleton

Travel Tourism Media

Poker and Casino News

Casino News

Websites

www.mediaman.com.au

www.traveltourismmedia.com

www.casinonewsmedia.com