Olivier Busquet Wins WPT Borgata Poker Open, by Dan Cypra - 25th September 2009

Down 20:1 in chips heads-up, Olivier Busquet mounted the comeback of the century and won the 2009 World Poker Tour (WPT) Borgata Poker Open. Busquet entered the six-handed televised final table as the chip leader.

Beginning the day with just five big blinds to his name, Kenny Nguyen was the first to go, exiting on the third hand of final table play. Nguyen pushed with pocket eights pre-flop only to run into Busquet’s pocket kings. The board ran out A-J-2-10-7 and Busquet scooped the pot, sending Nguyen packing $156,000 richer for his efforts.

Fifteen hands later in a battle of the blinds, Keith Crowder hit the skids in fifth place, earning $188,000. Prior to Crowder moving all-in, Jeremy Brown told him, “I will felt you if you move all-in.” Crowder shoved from the small blind with a scant 10-4 of spades and Brown called from the big blind with pocket eights. The board came 4-2-2-5-J and Brown boosted his chip stack to nearly eight million.

Yanick Brodeur’s run through the WPT Borgata Poker Open came to an end on the 53rd hand of final table play. Brodeur went out on a bad beat, calling Brown’s all-in pre-flop with A-K. Brown turned over A-Q and found himself way behind. The flop came 9-8-6, keeping Brodeur in the lead, but a queen on the turn would be his demise. No king hit the river and Brodeur was shown the door in fourth place for $216,000, not a bad return on investment for his $3,500 buy-in.

Ivan Mamuzic was ousted in third place for $251,000. Brown raised from the button and Mamuzic pushed all-in over the top. Mamuzic flipped over pocket threes, while Brown showed pocket sixes, a 4:1 favorite pre-flop. Brown spiked another six on the flop and running tens secured his victory in the hand, setting up a heads-up showdown with Busquet. Having eliminated Mamuzic, Brodeur, and Crowder, Brown held a 3:1 edge in chips entering heads-up play.

By 20 hands into heads-up action, Brown had improved his edge to 20:1, holding 29.2 million chips to Busquet’s 1.4 million. Then, Busquet mounted a comeback of epic proportions. Busquet doubled up with pocket queens against 9-7 after Brown’s straight and flush draws failed to hit to narrow the lead to 5:1. On a flop of 8-7-6, Brown pushed all-in over the top of a raise by Busquet, who called for his tournament life with 9-10 for the nuts. Brown showed J-8 for top pair and Busquet was suddenly just a 3:2 underdog in chips.

Busquet took the chip lead after picking off Brown’s bluff with Q-2 on a board of A-K-6. Then, Brown struck back. On a board of Q-9-10-K-Q, Busquet bet out 1.5 million and Brown raised to 4.5 million. Busquet called the three million chip raise only to see Brown table K-Q for a boat. The hand sent Brown back into the chip lead by a 3:2 margin. The two were nearly even in chips until Busquet made top pair on a J-9-5-9-4 board with J-10, enough to rake the six million chip pot and reclaim the chip lead for good.

On the final hand of the Borgata Poker Open, Brown raised to 1.2 million pre-flop and Busquet called to see a flop of 4-4-3. The chips quickly found their way into the middle, with Brown showing 5-2 for an open-ended straight draw and Busquet revealing A-4 for trips. The turn came a seven and, calling for an ace or six, Brown watched as the river was a five, shipping the $925,000 first place prize to Busquet. Second place was worth $453,000.

Here is how the final table shook out at the WPT Borgata Poker Open:

1st Place: Olivier Busquet - $925,514
2nd Place: Jeremy Brown - $453,519
3rd Place: Ivan Mamuzic - $251,955
4th Place: Yanick Brodeur - $216,681
5th Place: Keith Crowder - $188,126
6th Place: Kenny Nguyen - $156,212

Next up for the WPT on U.S. soil is the Festa al Lago, which kicks off on October 21st from the Bellagio in Las Vegas. In the interim, WPT Marrakech will take place from October 11th through 18th. The non-televised event brings the WPT brand to the African continent for the first time. (Credit: Poker News Daily)

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France Set To Deliver Boost To U.K. Gambling - 23rd September 2009

PartyGaming Plc, William Hill Plc and 888 Holdings Plc, U.K. gambling companies facing a slowing market at home, may get a boost as neighboring France opens its online-betting market to foreign operators next year.

A bill that comes before the French parliament Oct. 7 would let foreign companies offer sports betting and poker, ending the monopolies of state lottery provider Groupe Francaise des Jeux and Pari Mutuel Urbain, which runs gambling on horseracing. All other online betting is currently banned.

“The size of the population and the appetite for gambling, and the group’s historically cautious approach to France make this a particularly exciting opportunity for us,” said Jim Ryan, chief executive officer of PartyGaming, the owner of the PartyPoker.com brand and the U.K.’s biggest online-gaming company by revenue. (Credit: Bloomberg) *full story

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Casino News Media - Global Gaming Directory - Media Man Australia News Update - 24th September 2009

PartyCasino.com releases Tarzan and High Noon online slots, and Multi-Hand Blackjack Pro

Virgin Games to release Bejeweled classic in coming days

CAP Down Under II coming to Australia, March 2010, land based casinos have interest

Ric Flair's NC Education Lottery Wooooo! scratch card a winner

Hulk Hogan may expand on igaming deals, The Hulkamania Experience and Marvel's "The Hulk" may be just the tip of the iceberg

Titan Poker to back European Championship of Online Poker V

James Packer's City Of Dreams, Macau, on the upswing, casino commissions on track

Crown Casino continues to attract world class entertainment acts, with Aussie Millions coming in January 2010

Crown Casino Brownlow Medal awards night see over indulgence of drinking

Harrah’s Entertainment debt restructure

Google may build upon igaming, following Monopoly City Streets

Playtech - Sega "Sonic" deal on cards this October

Multi currency casino options a favorite of gamblers

European Union legal outcomes may see online gaming go underground

PartyBets.com ramps up UFC and boxing sports betting, eating into BetUS.com, others

Sports betting - fixing and corruption can be linked to small % of athletes officials

Slots tournaments popular with punters

Horse racing slot machines may hit Australian TAB suburban outlets

Bingo online sector still growing

Gaming Entrepreneurs - reputation, deals, associates and bottom line show real industry power players... spin free zone

Macau caps junket fees at 1.25%, cutting casino costs

Media Man Australia and Casino News Media company and web network will add more sites

Cleopatra casino classic still world's #1 online casino game

Captain Cooks Casino enjoying strong popularity with Aussies, Asia Pacific region

Mobile casino game market still growing

Domain names investment trend continues, Media Man Australia and Global Gaming Directory in leading pack

Hitwise - Media Man Australia website makes top ten (January - June 2009)

Online casinos further ramp up safe gambling awareness

PartyGaming continues global domination on world's online casino, gaming markets, World Poker Tour, Noble Poker and Hollywood themed casino portfolio to further expand

Virgin Unite - Virgin Games campaign supported by Media Man Australia

Asia Pacific sector remains "promised land" for some igaming companies

PartyCasino.com wins Media Man Australia "Online Casino Of The Month" again

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Titan Poker Hosting Next European Championship of Online Poker - 23rd September 2009

Euro Partners poker brand, Titan Poker, is hosting the European Championship of Online Poker V.

This year’s ECOOP events begin on 23rd November and runs till 6th December 2009.

The total prize pool exceeds a guaranteed $4,550,000.

Every day one new tournament will take place, and players will enjoy the option of playing in each game if they choose.

The main event will have $1.5 million guaranteed.

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Crown's Packer talks with News; iGaming - Aussie wrestling connection, by Greg Tingle - 24th September 2009

The Australian's Rebecca Urban penned a ripper story on James Packer's meeting with News Limited's John Hartigan. For our money, the line that made the piece, coming from "Our James" was "Listen mate, I'm here for a business meeting,". Yes folks, not even the red dust could stop our home grown Aussie gambling and media tycoon. Given the venue of choice being Rupert Murdoch's main business den, just maybe Mr Packer is taking more of a liking to news media these days, in more ways that one. ConsMedia remains a co owner of Foxtel, saddled by Telstra and News. Meantime, Packer's Crown Macau is doing great business, as Macau's politicians wrestle with casino commissions. Macau will limit the commissions paid to junket operators to 1.25 percent of the betting chips purchased by high rollers, helping cut casino operators’ costs. In the meantime Crown Casino remains open to b2b igaming and gaming business opportunities, with firms such as PartyGaming's PartyPoker, Noble Poker and Euro Partner's Titan Casino offering satellites to play poker at Crown. iGaming Business - Affiliate Media and a number of other igaming entities remain keen to do business with Crown Casino, and information is leaking about an upcoming igaming conference to be held in Australia in the coming months, following on from last years CAP Down Under. In the meantime, Hulk Hogan, pro wrestling legend and business tycoon, just returned to the United States, having spent a week of doing ultra impressive promos and appearance in Australia to plug his Hulkamania Let The Battle Begin tour, which kicks off in late November. Hogan (and his named opponent, "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair), also have a number of gaming and igaming business interests. Hogan has a Hulkamania Experience pokie found in some U.S casinos and Mr Flair is currently the face of the NC Education Lottery, with his unmissable "Woooooo!" scratch cards. A media man or two reckon a meeting may be order soon for Hogan, Flair and Packer, and PartyGaming and NextGen Gaming may be a logical choice of business partner for igaming ventures. NextGen Gaming has developed an Andre The Giant online slot game. Incidentally, the late, great, Kerry Packer was rumoured to has sat ringside for at least one major American wrestling tour that occurred in Australia in circa 2002. Mr Packer and co have a wealth of opportunities to explore. It's hard to get rid of the wrestling and media bug, Hulkamania, Goanna or not. Casino moguls everywhere are looking forward to blockbuster movie to be, 'Casino Jack', but a few Australian politicians, namely one or two Labor Party MP's, wouldn't mind seeing the movie never be screened on Australia soil. A certainly Australian film producer is very interested to do is own 'Casino Jack' style movie, but showcasing Australia's links between casinos and politicians. Go Aussie, go. Packer, Branson, Ho, Murdoch, Ayre, Stokes, Ryan... gentlemen, you're throw of the dice.

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WSOP Europe On The Way - 21st September 2009

World Series of Poker Europe kicked off over the weekend at the Empire’s Casino in London.

The player line up includes:

Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Peter Eastgate, and Ivan Demidon.

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Poker Promoter Sells Seat at Table, by Joel Russell - Los Angeles Business Journal - 21st September 2009

GAMING: L.A.’s WPT folds hand after luck runs out

After seven years in the game, poker pioneer WPT Enterprises is cashing in its chips.

The Miracle Mile-based tournament producer that helped fuel the poker craze rode a winning streak to the top. At one point, its market cap was $500 million. But more competitors elbowed into the game and suddenly WPT got on a losing streak. When it agreed to a sale last month, its value had dropped to $20 million.

What happened? For one thing, the craze cooled: TV ratings for poker shows have dropped as much as 20 percent. For another, WPT started producing too many tournaments to keep up with competitors. What’s more, other tournament producers found ways of presenting the game in TV-friendly ways and WPT didn’t keep up.

As a result, entry fees and ad sales, the two main sources of WPT’s income, have been decimated.

The company announced last month that it will sell its assets, including the namesake World Poker Tour, for $12.3 million plus a share of future profits from PartyGaming Plc, a British online poker company. Shares of WPT last week traded at about $1, down from $1.06 when the sale was announced – a long drop from a 2004 high of $25.

“Growth of the poker boom is slowing down and there are new people getting into the business,” said Matthew Rousu, an assistant professor of economics at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, Penn., who specializes in game theory and competes in professional poker tournaments.

Rousu said the WPT’s main competitor, World Series of Poker, is the undisputed champ among tournaments. At one time, WPT was second, but was surpassed by the European Poker Tour.

“WPT might have made a couple of mistakes,” Rousu said. “They tried to produce a vast number of tournaments. There are only so many times people are going to plunk down $5,000 or $25,000 to enter a poker game.”

Executives at WPT declined interview requests for this story.

Stanley Sludikoff, a poker event organizer and publisher of the Poker Player newspaper in Inglewood, said there is now an Asian-Pacific tournament, a Latin American tournament, and various regional tournaments within the United States.

Also, WPT couldn’t find a stable TV partner. For its first six years, the tournament was on Travel Channel, then it switched for a year to Game Show Network and this year it is being aired on Fox Sports. In contrast, World Series of Poker has a lucrative long-term deal with ESPN.

WPT is now in the midst of its 2009-10 season and its Borgata Poker Open Tournament in Atlantic City, N.J., will be Sept. 19 through 24. PartyGaming has not announced what may occur with WPT’s television schedule.

Rousu credits ESPN with repairing one of poker’s major flaws as a spectator sport – namely, it’s tough to show a live game on TV. A typical poker championship lasts 12 hours with about 300 hands dealt, but the TV version is only two hours with about 20 hands. Because shows are taped and heavily edited, they usually broadcast weeks after the live event; in the meantime, serious poker fans know who won the pot.

In 2008, ESPN addressed the issue by compressing the tournament schedule. Instead of following a traditional calendar with tournament rounds held every four weeks, the World Series staged a whirlwind of poker in June and early July to decide nine finalists. Tape from those rounds was shown during the summer and fall.

Although fans knew the finalists, they didn’t know the winner. The last round of the tournament occurred in November on a Sunday and Monday, and ESPN quickly edited the play and aired it Tuesday, keeping it fresh.

“The ratings were huge,” said Rousu. “It really built up the excitement, but WPT has not followed suit.”

And a new tournament format is in the works. World Team Poker features groups from different countries that compete in a league, in the style of an Olympic event. Viewers will watch matches on the Internet, with interactive features allowing the spectators to offer advice to team captains and wager on the outcome of hands.

The league, a brainchild of Downey-based poker pro Robert Turner, launched Aug. 5 at the Bicycle Club in Bell Gardens.

“Having players interact with the audience via the Internet will totally change the experience,” said David Stratton, editor of trade newspaper Gaming Today in Las Vegas. “You almost have to be a poker player just to watch it.”

It might be time for innovation. Ratings for World Series shows have slipped significantly from their peak. In 2004, the World Series of Poker championship had Nielsen ratings of 2.1, or an audience of 2.4 million households. The most recent World Series final in 2008 had a 1.65 rating, or 1.9 million homes – a 21 percent drop from four years before, although up from 2007 thanks to the compressed schedule.

Two technological developments fueled the poker boom starting in 2003.

The first development was Internet poker rooms, which allowed people to play anytime at home, without the need of assembling a group of players. That got more people playing, and created a bigger audience for poker shows and tournaments such as WPT’s.

Televised poker really took off in 2003, when Chris Moneymaker, (yes, that’s his real name) a 27-year-old accountant from Tennessee, paid $39 to enter a local tournament and ended up winning the World Series of Poker’s grand prize of $2.5 million.

“That is universally accepted as the defining moment,” said Rousu. “It exploded after that.”

WPT, which had launched in 2002, was well-positioned to capitalize on the game’s sudden popularity with its innovation, the “hole camera” that shows players’ hidden cards to TV viewers.

“World Poker Tour really brought the game to television,” said Sludikoff.

The company has announced that the proceeds from its asset divestiture will not be returned to shareholders and the company won’t go out of business. Rather, the company “plans to use the cash to develop or acquire a nonpoker-related business” which it has yet to specify, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

WPT’s chairman, Lyle Berman, owns 11.4 percent of the stock; his son, Bradley Berman, owns 10.1 percent; and Chief Executive Steve Lipscomb, owns 11 percent.

Sludikoff said that Lipscomb comes from the TV industry and so he will probably launch another show – just not about poker.

“They haven’t done as well as they thought with poker,” he said. “Therefore they want their money back to try something else.” (Credit: Los Angeles Business Journal)

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