Friday, November 13, 2009

Joe Cada Comments on WSOP Main Event Victory, by Dan Cypra - Poker News Daily - 12th November 2009

Poker News Daily: Congratulations on the big win in the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. How are you feeling after the victory?

Joe Cada: It hasn’t quite hit me yet, but I’m feeling really good.

PND: How were you able to handle the busy schedule prior to taking to the felts?

Cada: Before the final table took place, there was a long gap in between and I tried to not think about it too much. Instead, I tried to continue my normal lifestyle. Fortunately, I ran really well and, going into heads-up play, went from a big underdog to a big favorite.

Darvin was playing great poker and took over the chip lead relatively quickly. I came in with a game plan of playing a lot of hands in position and playing a lot of small ball poker waiting for him to make mistakes. It blew up in my face. He just wanted to play big ball poker, put me in a lot of tough spots, and played really well. It was rough at the start, but I tried to remain focused and turned it around.

PND: Darvin Moon took a 3:1 chip lead heads-up after re-raising on a board of A-5-3 and you folded. Tell us about that hand.

Cada: It’s one of those things that heads-up, you’re playing a lot of hands. More times than not, you’re not going to make a lot of hands. Darvin likes to trap a lot and check-raise a lot. I never played back at Darvin during the course of the heads-up match. I raised pre-flop, the flop came A-5-3, he decided to lead out, and I took a shot. I made a raise, but every time I tried to raise or bluff, it backfired. That was another example of that happening.

PND: You doubled heads-up after calling all-in with J-9 on a board of 10-5-9-10. Tell us about your thought process there.

Cada: I raised pre-flop to the standard two and a half big blinds and he called. The flop came 10-9-5 and he loves to check-raise, so I checked behind for pot control. The turn brought a ten. The board was 10-9-5-10 with two clubs and he decided to check again. A lot of the hands weren’t checked down to the river. I bet three million into a six million pot and then he jammed all-in. I took a lot of time to make decision and didn’t see him open-jamming the way he had been playing with a ten. There were hands like 7-8, J-Q, and clubs – random hands I could see him jamming with – and I opted to go with the correct call even though I wasn’t happy about it, but it worked out.

PND: What went through your mind when you realized you had become the 2009 WSOP Main Event Champion?

Cada: I was glad it was all over. I knew how important it was, but was happy to get the match over with. I gave as many props as I could to Darvin because he played great poker.

PND: Your father told us that he wasn’t completely behind your poker career to start with. Tell us about your relationship with him and how it’s evolved.

Cada: My parents weren’t totally against it, but they weren’t 100% supportive. I worked for a long time and had a job for four years, but decided to quit since I had made a significant amount in poker over a long period of time. Once I quit my job to do poker full-time, I continued to have a lot of success. Then, I traveled to tournaments in places I could play like the Bahamas, Costa Rica, and Aruba. College interfered and I had to go one way, so I put money aside in case poker didn’t work out and decided to play full-time.

PND: How big was the crowd support at the Penn and Teller Theater?

Cada: Having the support of these guys was great. Some of them missed school and work and none of them have voices left. They cheered me on the whole time, whether I was down or had chips. It was great having all of that support.

PND: Tell us about signing with PokerStars and wearing a Poker Players Alliance (PPA) logo.

Cada: PokerStars is a great website. They’re the biggest known site out there. I was very grateful for the opportunity they gave me. I’m very supportive of the PPA being an online player. The least I can do is support the PPA. (Credit: Poker News Daily)

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Virgin Poker Renews Contract with GTECH G2’s International Poker Network

British poker site has been part of IPN since 2005 – signs up for another 3 years

GTECH G2 announces that it will continue to provide bingo, poker and games to search and entertainment giant Yahoo! for at least another two years. New instant win games will be added to the state of the art games powered by GTECH G2.

9th November 2009 Stockholm, Sweden) - GTECH G2 has renewed its contract with VirginPoker.com to supply the online poker site with its games software and player management system.

VirginPoker.com is part of the Virgin Group and has been one of the most popular poker rooms in the International Poker Network (IPN) since it joined 2005.

With well over three million poker players, the International Poker Network is the world’s largest independent poker network. It is operated by GTECH G2 and managed by GTECH G2 St Minver, one of the four igaming companies acquired by lottery industry giant GTECH to form its
interactive gaming division.

One of the world’s most recognized brands, Virgin Poker has been part of the IPN since 2005. Attracting players from around the world, Virgin Poker offers seven different poker games including multi-table and Sit&Go tournaments and is also the host of the annual Virgin Poker Festival.

"Having a blue-chip client like Virgin renew their commitment with us is a terrific endorsement of the investment we have made in our product and, together with our partners, our success in building further liquidity on the IPN," said Atul Bali, CEO, GTECH G2.

Simon Burridge, Chief Executive of Virgin Games, says “Virgin Games is very happy to extend our partnership. Since our launch in 2005 we have seen good growth in the UK poker market and we look forward to continued progress, moving forward with GTECH G2 and the IPN´”

The IPN recently awarded a Bad Beat jackpot of nearly half a million dollars and hosts a €100,000 Guaranteed Freeroll Tournament every Sunday. At any given time there are nearly 10,000 players on the network playing at more than 1500 tables.

“There are many advantages in a large network like ours,” said Tony Ure, Head of IPN, GTECH G2. “With so many players, there’s a table for every kind of player and they’re always busy. Our liquidity allows us to provide big jackpots and to host €10,000, €100,000 and even €1,000,000 guaranteed free rolls.”

About GTECH G2 (G2 - GTECH Digital Gaming & Sports Betting)
GTECH G2 brings together — under one brand — the combined expertise of GTECH and its extensive lottery insight with leaders in the interactive gaming world providing a complete gaming portfolio of poker, bingo, casino, sportsbetting, fully managed services and instant games. The group includes Boss Media (Boss Media), a leading innovator in software and systems for Poker, Casino and Bingo entertainment; Finsoft (Finsoft Ltd), a leading provider of enterprise-wide real time trading solutions for the commercial sports betting industry – both interactive and retail; St Minver (White label gaming solutions: Gaming network operators), a fully managed service provider of Internet games to media, lifestyle, and other brands; and Dynamite Idea (Dynamite Idea), a developer of unique, innovative digital instant and side games. Consolidating combined talent and expertise into one premiere brand means that GTECH G2 can provide a flexible digital solution to all customers, large or small, wherever they may be.

About the International Poker Network (IPN) (Poker Games Online: Poker games from IPN Poker Network)

Operated by GTECH G2 and managed by GTECH G2 St Minver, one of the four igaming companies acquired by the lottery industry giant to form its interactive gaming division, the IPN is Europe’s largest independent poker network. It recently celebrated its 3,000,000th player and dealt its billionth hand last year. The IPN, which includes such popular poker sites as VirginPoker.com, PokerHeaven.com and the Casino-Club.com poker room, regularly hosts guaranteed €1,000,000 tournaments. The IPN offers players a full suite of card games including Texas Hold'em and 7 card stud with 24/7 multi-level customer service including chat, email and telephone.

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Thursday, November 12, 2009

PartyGaming's PartyCasino and PartyPoker In Line For More Awards, by Greg Tingle - 12th November 2009

As we head towards the end of 2009 and the igaming industry remains as competitive as ever, it shouldn't surprise anyone, punter, newbie or industry veteran, that PartyGaming and its PartyCasino and PartyPoker brands are in line for more industry awards and commendations.

PartyGaming remains the world’s leading listed online gaming company. Founded in 1997, the
Group has its shares listed on The London Stock Exchange.

Coming off a wave of momentum with its successful purchase of World Poker Tour (WPT Enterprises) last week, Cashcade a number of months ago, and the release of a swag of new slot games, the company is tipped to continue domination of the gaming and igaming world.

Party's awards and commendations include eGaming Review Operator Of The Year, Socially Responsible Operator Of The Year and Media Man - Casino News Media Online Casino Of The Month (numerous times).

The company also achieved inclusion in the FTSE4Good Index Series.

As the company looks forward to the new year they look to continue innovation, value for money, world class service, and growth into new geographic regions including South America, Indian, France and the Asia Pacific.

PartyGaming will continue to revamp its websites including it's ever growing PartyCasino.com site, thanks to the frequent games being added and its newly acquired Club WPT website, certain to have a more PartyGaming look and feel being added in the coming months.

PartyGaming is poised to make more inroads into the United States coming off the back of its purchase of WPT Enterprises (U.S residents can play online poker on the Club World Poker Tour website without potential legal complications) and PartyPoker.com and World Poker Tour ambassador, Mike Sexton, has just been inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in Las Vegas and had nothing but praise for the PartyGaming family.

*the writer has a b2b relationship with a number of PartyGaming brands, as they do with dozens of other brands in the gaming and igaming world.

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Tuesday, November 10, 2009

PartyPoker Ambassador Mike Sexton Inducted Into The Poker Hall Of Fame

PartyPoker.com Ambassador Mike Sexton Inducted Into The Poker Hall Of Fame

Congratulations To The 1,100 Players Who Cashed In Celebratory Freeroll

Gibraltar – 9th November 2009 – PartyPoker.com ambassador Mike Sexton was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame on Saturday night. In what was an emotional night, legends of the game lined up to endorse Mike and welcome him into the game’s most prestigious club.

As Mike entered the Hall of Fame, the news also broke that PartyGaming had acquired the World Poker Tour, another special moment for the ‘Ambassador of Poker.’

“For PartyGaming and the World Poker Tour to come together is like a dream come true for me,” said Mike.

Here is just a selection of the endorsements from the stage at the induction ceremony:

Jack Binion: “Mike Sexton made poker how it is today through PartyPoker.com and the World Poker Tour.”

Doyle Brunson: “Mike Sexton is the greatest ambassador poker has ever had.”

WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack: “When I think of Mike Sexton, one word comes to mind…class.”

Tom McEvoy: “I can’t think of a more worthy candidate than Mike Sexton.”

TJ Cloutier: “Mike Sexton was a shoo-in in my eyes and we’re delighted to welcome him into the Hall of Fame.”

PartyPoker.com hosted a celebratory freeroll on Saturday night in honour of Mike’s induction. 8000 runners took part in the freeroll that was at capacity after only one hour of being open in the lobby. Congratulations to alex7777381 who walked away in first place with $1,151.15. A total of 1,100 players made the money.

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Win one of 25 packages to the Aussie Millions®

Win your chance to shine with a dream trip to the Aussie Millions®

The Aussie Millions® is one of the world’s biggest poker tournaments and with an estimated AUS$2.5 million for the winner, it’s an event every poker player needs to experience.

We’re giving all PartyPoker.com players the chance to win one of 25 luxury Aussie Millions® main event packages.

These dream trips will be up for grabs in two amazing satellites on Sunday, 13th December.

One will be timed to suit Australia and New Zealand-based players with five packages guaranteed, while the other is scheduled to give players from the rest of the world the chance to win one of 20 guaranteed packages.

You can start your journey to the Aussie Millions® without breaking the bank by playing in our daily freerolls or our qualifiers, which start at just $1. Plan your route to the Aussie Millions® by visting PartyPoker.com

Australia/New Zealand qualifying structure

Rest of the world qualifying structure

Current Aussie Millions champion and PartyPoker.com Australia ambassador Stewart Scott said: “I’ve been playing at PartyPoker.com for five years. These great packages are an amazing opportunity for other players to play in this huge tournament. Claiming the Aussie Millions® title has been the highlight of my career and I’d love to see another PartyPoker.com player take the title.”

Take the chance to play for Australia’s biggest poker prize: register for our Aussie Millions® qualifiers today.

Please note:

The rest of world package has a value of $15,000 (main event buy-in, accommodation in the luxurious Crown Promenade Hotel and $3,500 towards travel costs)
The Australia and New Zealand package has a value of $12,000 (main event buy-in, accommodation in the luxurious Crown Promenade Hotel and $500 towards travel costs)
Players are responsible for arranging their own relevant travel permits and visas
Prize-package tournaments on 13th December are not restricted by territory and are open to qualifiers regardless of location
If a non-Australia or New Zealand-based player wins a prize package from the Australia or New Zealand tournament they will not be awarded extra cash to make up the shortfall from the rest of the world package value
If a player based in Australia or New Zealand wins the rest of world timed package they will receive the full $15,000 package value
Additional freerolls will take place every Tuesday at 18:00ET in the Play Money tournament lobby. No deposit is required to play these freerolls but players must be cashier registered to be eligible to take part
Please read our standard terms and conditions

® AUSSIE MILLIONS, AUSSIE MILLIONS POKER CHAMPIONSHIP and CROWN Device and associated trade marks are trade marks of Crown Melbourne Limited. No license, affiliation, sponsorship or endorsement, is claimed, or should be inferred from the use of these trademarks here. PartyGaming is not affiliated, licensed, by, or otherwise affiliated with Crown Melbourne Limited in any way.

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Poker News Media - 10th November 2009

PartyGaming buys World Poker Tour

World Series of Poker Main Event Final Table Heads-Up Play Begins at 10:00pm Monday - Joe Cada VS Darvin Moon

Mike Sexton Inducted into Poker Hall of Fame, speech received well by friends and industry

Crown Casino Aussie Millions 2010 predicted to best biggest and best yet

PartyPoker runs with The Gladiator promotion

PKR Poker updates website and tourneys

ABC Radio and ABC TV in Australia likely to ramp up professional poker coverage

Network Ten Australia plugs Crown Casino and poker on The 7PM Project with more to come

Poker coverage good business for TVS Sydney (Channel 31) Community TV

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Monday, November 09, 2009

PartyGaming Plc Acquisition of World Poker Tour

9th November 2009

PartyGaming Plc of World Poker Tour completed

PartyGaming, the world’s leading listed online gaming company, announces the completion of the acquisition of the business and substantially all of the assets of WPT Enterprises Inc.

(“WPTE”) for a cash consideration of $12.3 million plus an additional minimum aggregate payment of $3m over the next three years relating to an ongoing revenue share agreement.

The assets being acquired include, inter alia:

· The World Poker Tour® brand, rights to a number of land-based events in the US and Europe and all other intellectual property rights associated with the World Poker Tour

· An extensive library of over 150 hours of poker programming that is broadcast in more than 150 countries

· The ClubWPT subscription poker offering that has more than 16,500 paying subscribers in 37 US states

Commenting on today’s announcement, Jim Ryan, PartyGaming Chief Executive Officer, said:

“This deal brings together two of the biggest brands in online and offline poker – www.PartyPoker.com and World Poker Tour – that we will market internationally to build our poker business. Our plans also include using the ClubWPT subscription platform to leverage our 12 million-strong US player database via a Party-branded website and the launch of a European WPT-branded poker and casino site. We are excited about the opportunities that WPT, a proven marketing channel for the Group, will create for PartyGaming, particularly if the US regulates and licenses online gaming.”

Steve Lipscomb, the founder of WPTE, said:

“PartyGaming has been an important partner for a number of years and we are confident that they will be an excellent manager of our brands in the future. Combining two of the pioneers and leaders in the poker and online gaming markets will create a strong vehicle for the WPT brand to continue its global expansion.”

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PartyGaming Company Profile

PartyGaming is the world's leading listed online gaming business. The Group offers a variety of games through an integrated Party-branded platform and through a number of secondary brands and alliances with blue chip companies. Through our unique operating platform, adults can tune in to a broad range of games, using multiple languages, multiple-currency options and with the tools to ensure they have fun and play within their means.

The company listed on the London Stock Exchange in June 2005. Regulated and licensed by the Government of Gibraltar, the Group has over 1,200 employees located in the head office and operations centre in Gibraltar, a business process outsourcing operation in India, and a marketing services subsidiary and multi-lingual customer service operations in Europe. The Group has customers throughout the world. PartyGaming does not accept wagers or deposits for real money games from customers located in the US.

Business Overview

The Group's key gaming sites include PartyPoker.com, one of the world’s largest online poker rooms and PartyCasino.com, the world's leading online casino. In addition, the Group offers sports betting through PartyBets.com and Gamebookers.com, online bingo through PartyBingo.com and online backgammon through PartyGammon.com.

Poker is the Group’s largest business segment with key brands including PartyPoker, EmpirePoker and Noble Poker.

Casino (including bingo) is the Group’s fastest growing segment with over 50 different games offered on a number of different sites, including PartyCasino, CasinoKing and CasinoLasVegas.

Sports Betting, PartyBets and Gamebookers offer odds on over 30 different sports as well as live betting on up to 36 different events at any one time.

Whilst we continue to develop new games in-house, we also licence games and brands from third-parties and white label and licence our products and brands to other companies.

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Casino News Media - Global Gaming Directory - Media Man News Update - 9th November 2009

PartyCasino.com remains mega popular in Asia Pacific, Australia

Australian Gambling - Productivity Commission recommends further regulation of industry following 12 month report

Crown Casino - Tiger Woods to stay in same luxury villas recently occupied by Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes

Aussie Millions - Crown Casino showcase poker event qualifier's available at PartyPoker.com; PartyPoker's Stewart Scott to defend his Aussie Millions championship in January 2010

Captain Cooks Casino - Tomb Raider Tomb Raider: Secret Of The Sword and Mega Moolah Isis remain super popular, giving Cleopatra a run for her money

European gaming - Asia Pacific punters prefer strong European brands: PartyCasino, Virgin, Captain Cooks, PKR and William Hill

PartyGaming's Noble Poker joined by Noble Casino offering

World Poker Tour deal with PartyGaming's Peerless Media, despite outside bid

Gold Mega Jackpot now over 4.6 million dollars

Mike Sexton inducted into Poker Hall of Fame

PartyPoker Gladiator Promotion in November

GlobalGamingDirectory.com launches sister site, GlobalGamingDirectory.net

Media Man global push, launches Media Man International website portal

Cleopatra enjoys promotion with Cleopatra Slot News.com and Cleopatra2.com, Cleo goes mobile

Marvel Entertainment themed games Thor and Iron-Man get boost thanks to upcoming movie releases

Playtech - Sega new themed slot game details within weeks

Playtech release new version of poker client on iPoker Network and Poker.it

Virgin Games new slot game offerings huge hit with punters, unsettles competitors

Richard Branson may purchase Camelot Lottery

Titan Casino and Titan Poker remain strong brands in European sector

World Series of Poker - Darvin Moon and Joe Cada move to next round

PKR Poker launch revamped tourney schedule

Harrah's Entertainment advised not to protect 888 too much, at the expense of fairness to industry

Burswood Casino aka Burswood Entertainment Centre second to Crown Casino in profitability in Australian land based sector

James Packer Crown Casino tourism attraction statements are correct, says mainstream media

Doyle Brunson autobiography comes out this Wednesday in US, Amazon.com orders possible

Bodog talks up cafes and the tote

iGaming Awards Nominations Announced

Online casinos continue in popularity in most countries, cutting into land based casino patronage

Tasmania government moving forward on plans to make Tassie gambling industry mecca

France making progress towards full gaming regulation; enjoying industry support

Poker is a game of skill; more judges rule poker is skillful in numerous court cases globally

UFC gives boost to sports betting brands, PartyBets.com and BetsUS.com

Las Vegas should see igaming and online casino sector as an opportunity and capitalize, not see as threat

Super Heroes Casino.com prepares for DC Super Heroes VS Marvel Super Heroes epic battle

Centrebet mobile betting offerings popular with Aussies

Live Dealer function found at PartyCasino setting industry trends

Media companies examine ways to embrace gaming, igaming and betting; will boost revenues and customer base says Media Man

Media Man network exceeds 3.5 million hits per month for October 2009, more sites and portals planned as international expansion continues

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Sunday, November 08, 2009

Media Man's Rob "The Hux" Huxley Discusses Risk On ABC Radio - 8th November 2009

Australian poker pro, Rob Huxley, discusses "risk" with James O’Loghlin's ABC Radio Show.

Huxley is a close friend and associate of Media Man's "ace in the hole" at Crown Casino, Keith "Bendigo" Sloan. It was "Bendigo" who tipped off Media Man on how big poker would be in media and on the internet some 6 years ago, when Bendigo and Media Man inked a business deal.

*Media Man director and founder, Greg Tingle, does own shares in Crown Limited.

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World Poker Tour Changes Name to Ante4 - 6th November 2009

World Poker Tour Enterprises, which recently completed the sale of its World Poker Tour to an international gaming company, on Friday announced that it had changed its name to Ante4 Inc.

It will trade on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange under the ticker ANTF on Monday, at which time the World Poker Tour’s WPTE ticker will cease to exist.

Steve Lipscomb, founder of the World Poker Tour, said he has money in the bank and a revenue stream from royalties on future poker tournaments as the result of the sale. He plans to buy or merge with another operating company in the future.

“We have one really great employee.” Lipscomb told the Business Journal, referring to himself. “We are looking for opportunities that will maximize shareholder value, but have nothing to announce at this time.”

PartyGaming Media, an online poker company based in Gibraltar, purchased World Poker on Nov. 2 after shareholders from both companies approved the acquisition.

World Poker’s 35 employees now work for PartyGaming at the former WPT offices at 5700 Wilshire Blvd.

Chris Welch, PartyGaming’s chief marketing officer, said the new owners plan to continue producing poker tournaments with the same personnel. (Credit: Wires, Google News, WSJ, MediaMan)

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