Celebrities chip up to the poker table, by Rachel Glucina - The New Zealand Herald - 8th October 2008
I almost didn't make it to SkyCity last night for the poker festival. I was running late from Newmarket in heavy traffic and pouring rain where I'd been hobnobbing at Kemp Rare Wines sipping the most expensive and exclusive wines from around the country. Yeah, ok, I'm bragging.
We finally got to SkyCity; parked in the maze they call a car park; ambled through the complex into the room where the celebrity festival was being played, when I got stopped by a security guard and harassed for ID. Apparently I looked too young to be in a casino. I'm thirty-five! I fished out my driver's licence, while Norrie, my pint-sized photographer was chortling with laughter. Finally, the guard ushered us through and into the room for the celebrity tournament.
(Here's some photos from last night's Festival of Poker at SkyCity.)
There were ten tables crammed full of well-known faces: Otis Frizzell and Dave Fane in fedoras were at the far table cavorting with horse racing couple Bridgette and Lance O'Sullivan; Aja Rock who was sporting some dramatic cleavage and a fascinator (maybe she thought she was at the races) was playing with Simon Doull; Neil "The Waka" Waka (what is it with Kiwi blokes and not-so-original nicknames?) was there looking like a poker ace donning a baseball cap and sunglasses - the only time you're legitimately allowed to wear shades inside, apparently - only he's not an ace. Nice bluff, Neil.
But Mike King is. He was on the same table as Nick D, Che Fu and Ali Williams, only unlike the awkward sports star, King looked like he knew what he was doing. He's a pro. He's won poker tournaments here and in Australia and has been playing the game for over 20 years. He looked the part last night, wearing dark sunnies and earphones so the chit chat around him wouldn't prove distracting. Not that he's opposed to the odd distracting tactic himself. "I pity anyone who sits at my table," King once said about the NZ Poker Championship at Christchurch Casino. "Whether I'm winning or losing, I'm constantly ribbing the other players - riding them like a horse." I didn't see much evidence of that last night. King was concentrating intently, and the only thing riding seemed to be his reputation. This was one celebrity competition Mikey couldn't afford to lose.
Ex-All Blacks AJ Whetton and Steve Devine were at another table; Auckland Blues flanker Daniel Braid (who's relocating to Queensland to play for the Reds) was at a table alongside - the same one Craig Parker, Phil Bostwick and Elemeno P's Dave Gibson were at.
Dean Lonergan admitted he didn't know how to play, though I suspect he wasn't alone. I'd heard from a poker tell-tale that Vicky-Lee, who was at the same table, had been up to 4am the previous morning learning the tricks of the trade, though if I was being honest, she didn't look like much of an apprentice. Perhaps, like King, she was opting instead for distracting tactics, if that's what you can call her not-so-subtle cleavage on display.
By contrast, Brooke McAlister (Luke's ex-wife) opted for the smart girl's guide to winning poker: sidling up to a professional by the name of Lee Nelson - the 2006 Aussie Millions Champion. It's no wonder, then, she's dumped the WAG role and moved into the entrepreneur arena and on to the arms of Eric Watson and Peter Huljich, respectively. Why expose your boobs, when a buddy in the business can be more helpful and less degrading?
Here's some photos from last night's Festival of Poker at SkyCity, but for all the piccies and a complete gossip rundown - including who won - check out Spy in the Herald on Sunday.
Rachel Glucina
Media Man Australia Profiles
Celebrity Poker
Poker Celebrities
Poker Babes
Casino Babes
Poker and Casino News
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Monday, October 06, 2008
Poker player plays cards right to go pro, by Neil White - The Times - 5th October 2008
An amateur who started playing two years ago joins the world’s elite after winning £81,000
Until recently, Chris Elliot delivered pizzas by night and played internet poker by day. But last week his life changed for ever when he won £81,000 after making the final table in Europe’s biggest tournament at the Empire casino in Leicester Square, London.
Elliot, 33, from Alloa, is living out the dream of the millions of hopefuls who play the game online. He started in a council flat bedroom and ended up a high roller playing against some of then biggest and most glamorous names in the game. Now he plans to go professional, travelling around the world’s top casinos with those elite players.
Elliot took up the card game two years ago to supplement his income. He was soon making more money playing poker than he had been delivering fast food to people in Clackmannanshire.
Then he put up £250 to enter an internet tournament that offered the chance to win a £10,000 ticket to the Betfair World Series of Poker Europe. From 1,200 entrants, he was one of 21 to end up, at 4am the next day, with a golden ticket.
In London he was one of 364 starters, including star players with the nicknames Kid Poker, The Devilfish and The Mouth. The casino was packed with players, spectators and the crew of the US sports broadcaster ESPN, which will televise edited coverage of the tournament later this year.
Elliot began playing last Sunday and had such low expectations of success in the five-day tournament that he failed to book accommodation in the capital beyond the following evening. So he found himself homeless on the streets of London at 4am on Tuesday, after his second 14-hour shift at the card tables and with his competitors falling by the wayside.
With his lone supporter, his cousin Scott Elliot, he jumped into a taxi and asked to be taken to a hotel for sleep before the game picked up at lunchtime the next day. “The driver was from another country and with that and my accent we didn’t really understand each other,” he recalls. “We ended up in the home of a Korean family who rented out their basement.”
After two hours’ sleep, he was back at the tables and with interest in the unknown Scot’s progress growing, Elliot battled through another day’s competition and found more comfortable lodgings.
By the end of Tuesday, the remaining players were guaranteed a cash prize of at least £34,000. By then he had played with some of the biggest names in poker and impressed them all. “This is my boy!” said Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, the three-times World Series of Poker champion, shaking Elliot by the shoulders. “I can’t win a hand against you,” said Daniel “Kid Poker” Negreanu, the leading money-winner on the world tour. Negreanu is famed for his ability to “read” his opponent’s behaviour at the table and decipher their cards from it. He was baffled by the Scotsman’s huge, tinted sunglasses.
“I bought them on the way to the casino on the first day,” said Elliot. “I thought if I looked at these guys during a hand I’d fall to pieces. With the glasses on they can’t see my eyes and they don’t know where I’m looking.”
By Wednesday the prize at stake was a place at the nine-man final table in front of a packed house and 14 cameras. Elliot was in danger of dropping out at the last. He bet all his chips in one hand and needed the dealer to show an ace or a king on the last card, or his tournament was over. The ace came, Elliot slammed his hand on the green felt table and yelled “That’s right! That’s right!” The casino erupted in support of a player they had adopted as the home favourite.
Elliot’s fortune was reversed at the final on Friday when he was knocked out in ninth position when his opponent got the card he needed at the last opportunity. “I had an 85% chance of winning the hand,” says Elliot. “That would have put me in a strong position to go even further and maybe even win it [the top prize with the tournament was more than £800,000]. They gave me a cheque for £81,000 though, a life-changing amount.”
In the world he is about to enter, leading players can earn millions. It’s as much a game of skill as luck. Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott, once a minor figure in the Hull underworld, has won more than £5m and is a former bracelet winner at the World Series in Las Vegas, the holy grail for professional players.
In the main event at the World Series, the winner gets £4.1m. Elliot plans to ring-fence some of his winnings so that he can go there next year. The event is a magnet for celebrities. He could well find himself playing with Hollywood stars such as Ben Affleck, Jennifer Tily or Toby Maguire in one of Las Vegas’s famously raffish hotels.
For the world’s leading professionals it is a glamorous existence, but for the average plodder, poker can mean long hours at a computer screen or at best a trip to the local casino. Elliot has moved into a different league. He returned to his council flat on Friday with more money than he has ever known. He has also earned a seat at the same tournament in London for the next three years.
Elliot plans to play in a tournament in Blackpool next month. Then there is only one place to go — Las Vegas.
(Credit: The Times)
Media Man Australia Profiles
WSOP
Poker
Poker and Casino News
An amateur who started playing two years ago joins the world’s elite after winning £81,000
Until recently, Chris Elliot delivered pizzas by night and played internet poker by day. But last week his life changed for ever when he won £81,000 after making the final table in Europe’s biggest tournament at the Empire casino in Leicester Square, London.
Elliot, 33, from Alloa, is living out the dream of the millions of hopefuls who play the game online. He started in a council flat bedroom and ended up a high roller playing against some of then biggest and most glamorous names in the game. Now he plans to go professional, travelling around the world’s top casinos with those elite players.
Elliot took up the card game two years ago to supplement his income. He was soon making more money playing poker than he had been delivering fast food to people in Clackmannanshire.
Then he put up £250 to enter an internet tournament that offered the chance to win a £10,000 ticket to the Betfair World Series of Poker Europe. From 1,200 entrants, he was one of 21 to end up, at 4am the next day, with a golden ticket.
In London he was one of 364 starters, including star players with the nicknames Kid Poker, The Devilfish and The Mouth. The casino was packed with players, spectators and the crew of the US sports broadcaster ESPN, which will televise edited coverage of the tournament later this year.
Elliot began playing last Sunday and had such low expectations of success in the five-day tournament that he failed to book accommodation in the capital beyond the following evening. So he found himself homeless on the streets of London at 4am on Tuesday, after his second 14-hour shift at the card tables and with his competitors falling by the wayside.
With his lone supporter, his cousin Scott Elliot, he jumped into a taxi and asked to be taken to a hotel for sleep before the game picked up at lunchtime the next day. “The driver was from another country and with that and my accent we didn’t really understand each other,” he recalls. “We ended up in the home of a Korean family who rented out their basement.”
After two hours’ sleep, he was back at the tables and with interest in the unknown Scot’s progress growing, Elliot battled through another day’s competition and found more comfortable lodgings.
By the end of Tuesday, the remaining players were guaranteed a cash prize of at least £34,000. By then he had played with some of the biggest names in poker and impressed them all. “This is my boy!” said Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, the three-times World Series of Poker champion, shaking Elliot by the shoulders. “I can’t win a hand against you,” said Daniel “Kid Poker” Negreanu, the leading money-winner on the world tour. Negreanu is famed for his ability to “read” his opponent’s behaviour at the table and decipher their cards from it. He was baffled by the Scotsman’s huge, tinted sunglasses.
“I bought them on the way to the casino on the first day,” said Elliot. “I thought if I looked at these guys during a hand I’d fall to pieces. With the glasses on they can’t see my eyes and they don’t know where I’m looking.”
By Wednesday the prize at stake was a place at the nine-man final table in front of a packed house and 14 cameras. Elliot was in danger of dropping out at the last. He bet all his chips in one hand and needed the dealer to show an ace or a king on the last card, or his tournament was over. The ace came, Elliot slammed his hand on the green felt table and yelled “That’s right! That’s right!” The casino erupted in support of a player they had adopted as the home favourite.
Elliot’s fortune was reversed at the final on Friday when he was knocked out in ninth position when his opponent got the card he needed at the last opportunity. “I had an 85% chance of winning the hand,” says Elliot. “That would have put me in a strong position to go even further and maybe even win it [the top prize with the tournament was more than £800,000]. They gave me a cheque for £81,000 though, a life-changing amount.”
In the world he is about to enter, leading players can earn millions. It’s as much a game of skill as luck. Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott, once a minor figure in the Hull underworld, has won more than £5m and is a former bracelet winner at the World Series in Las Vegas, the holy grail for professional players.
In the main event at the World Series, the winner gets £4.1m. Elliot plans to ring-fence some of his winnings so that he can go there next year. The event is a magnet for celebrities. He could well find himself playing with Hollywood stars such as Ben Affleck, Jennifer Tily or Toby Maguire in one of Las Vegas’s famously raffish hotels.
For the world’s leading professionals it is a glamorous existence, but for the average plodder, poker can mean long hours at a computer screen or at best a trip to the local casino. Elliot has moved into a different league. He returned to his council flat on Friday with more money than he has ever known. He has also earned a seat at the same tournament in London for the next three years.
Elliot plans to play in a tournament in Blackpool next month. Then there is only one place to go — Las Vegas.
(Credit: The Times)
Media Man Australia Profiles
WSOP
Poker
Poker and Casino News
Poker Babes, Casino Babes and Poker Celebrities
Profiles
Poker Babes
Casino Babes
Poker Celebrities
Poker and Casino News
Profiles
Poker Babes
Casino Babes
Poker Celebrities
Poker and Casino News
Poker's a big deal, by Nicola Shepheard - The New Zealand Herald - 5th October 2008
Everyone has a poker face. Property marketer Kevin Clark's is introspective, verging on brooding. Publisher Martin Cardno's is stony, half-hidden by mirror-glasses.
TV presenter Brooke Howard-Smith talks a lot and calls his opponents "sweetheart" and "hotpants".
IT specialist Robert Wang grins and crows happily when he wins.
Their game on Thursday night at SkyCity is a friendly. But Cardno, 36, and Wang, 42, regularly play in tournaments overseas. They have an arrangement whereby one gets a percentage of the other's wins. This year, Cardno has played in 15 tournaments during eight trips and made $100,000 in winnings.
Kiwi professional players usually have to travel for the big money, but in the next four months New Zealand will host the two richest tournaments to be held here.
The first is a leg of the Asia Pacific Poker Tour at Auckland's SkyCity until next Sunday. It has an expected prize pool of $1m while the 2009 New Zealand championship, dubbed The Battle for Middle Earth, is at Christchurch Casino in January.
Buy-ins - the amount players have to put in the pot to join - are $3000 and $5000 respectively. Satellite tournaments played in casinos and pubs throughout the country give amateurs the chance to win a place at the big tournaments for free, or for under a $100 buy-in.
The coming-of-age for professional poker is the top end of a poker revival making exclamations like "I raised on the flop but there were too many overcards" normal conversation in many lounges and pubs throughout the country.
By some accounts, the international poker fever is three to five years more advanced in Australia, Europe and America, but we're catching on.
More than 750,000 Australians have played poker at least once in the previous 12 months, and about 450,000 who play poker (home game, casino, pub or club, online) at least once a week.
And 50m people in the United States play poker regularly.
There are no complete figures available here, but several thousand people play in the New Zealand Pub Poker League each week.
Lee Nelson, our resident celebrity poker professional, believes per capita our boom is well underway.
Nelson is co-commentator with Howard-Smith for the TV3 and C4 show, Celebrity Joker Poker. An affable American-born doctor now living in Nelson, his place in the poker firmament was assured in 2006 when he won the salubrious Aussie Millions, taking home $1.2 million.
He's written three poker books, including bestseller Kill Phil (apparently a surprising number of poker players are called Phil), and won about $2m in his poker career.
Nelson traces the revival to three elements: the advent of the "hold camera", which shows players' private hands on TV shows, enabling watchers to get inside the game; the online gaming explosion, allowing players to hone their skills at home at their own pace; and growing social acceptability.
Suddenly lawyers, accountants and teachers were organising social tournaments - at least one has been covertly staged on an Auckland university campus with the drinks supplied by a player who worked at a major brewery. Students were putting themselves through university with online poker winnings.
Esoteric strategies were laid out for the masses in a new how-to literature, and discussed in terrifying detail in internet forums. Extreme Poker tournaments were played on platforms 30 storeys above the ocean and in scuba gear under the ocean. Last year, 18-year-old Norwegian Annette Obrestad won a European championship, giving the game a poster-girl-next-door. Poker was no longer the sole domain of flinty cowboy-types amid smoke in back rooms.
Says Nelson, "Poker went from the back room to the front room."
The big guns playing in the New Zealand tournaments include the improbably named accountant-turned-poker pro, Chris Moneymaker (reports claim it's the name he was christened).
Moneymaker's David and Goliath ascent is legendary. Like Obrestad, he started by playing internet poker in his spare time.
In 2003, he entered an online competition for $59, and won his way up the tournament ladder to a major live event in Las Vegas, finally winning $3.8m
The adrenalin-shot this delivered to online poker has been dubbed the Moneymaker Effect.
Its products include Kiwi accountant Justin Eggleton, 25, whose poker winning helped fund his studies.
"Online poker was a great way to take my mind off law school, while also helping to get out of overdraft and give me a bit of much-needed beer money. I was also able to get on a few hot streaks during my holidays that helped pay for a couple of overseas trips."
He usually plays four to six virtual tables simultaneously (some players have upwards of 20 tables on the go at once) and has won thousands of dollars over the years.
The majority of tables have cheap buy-ins of less than $50, but some online players claim to make six-figure incomes.
According to one American forecaster, the worldwide online game market could grow from $5.1 billion in 2005 to more than $19.6b in 2011.
Of course, most players - an estimated 98 per cent - will lose money. The online juggernaut, which has brought card games to a younger generation, has raised concerns about problem gambling.
Studies suggest about one in five Australian high school students gamble on card games.
British researcher Professor Mark Griffiths has drawn attention to online gambling's fish hooks.
For most gamblers electronic, or e-cash, will be easier to part with than real cash; the internet offers unlimited access and anonymity; and free games have been shown to offer higher odds of winning than paid ones.
David Boom, of the Problem Gambling Foundation, says the online boom is part of a slew of new gambling options that is normalising gambling.
"That's feeding into hardcore problem gambling."
He says there's no compulsion for host responsibility measures on websites, let alone in people's private lounges.
But players at the Horse & Trap in Mt Eden, Auckland, on Thursday night defend the game.
One, a landscape gardener who declined to give her name, says she has friends who use poker as a substitute for other forms of gambling that got them into trouble.
Richard Maui, 33, says players can easily get a poker fix for free online, or by joining a pub league.
The call centre worker won a place in the SkyCity tournament through free pub league satellites.
This week, he could be pitted against an international champion poker player. "I'm as nervous as anything," he grins.
"But since it wasn't any money of mine, I'm quite happy.
"It's basically a roller coaster."
The poker fascination goes well beyond money. Adherents speak with something approaching reverence of the stamina and mental rigour required for poker.
"You need a renaissance personality," says Alistair Bone, a radio journalist and serious poker hobbyist.
You need maths to mentally calculate changing odds.
Players also need patience and aggression, and the instinct to know when to use each.
"Ninety per cent of top players will have a blank look, ready to change into any personality," says Bone. "They're just kind of empty."
"There's a fine line between a maniac at the poker table and a champion," says Lee Nelson.
"The difference is the champion knows when to take his foot off the accelerator, he's got a sixth sense. Whereas the maniac doesn't know when to stop."
Any given game is about 25 per cent luck, he says, but on a long-term basis luck contributes far less.
Poker's status as a sport has been questioned because of its luck element, but Nelson contends just as much luck is at play in other sports.
He also argues the stamina required for 15-hour days during the three-day main events qualifies poker as an endurance sport.
Poker has its lexicon of jargon. There are tells - giveaway mannerisms that alert other players to the strength of individual hands. Nelson outlines common beginner tells as looking at chips when dealt a strong hand and staring at the fold cards when holding a weak hand.
There are tight aggressive and loose aggressive players. Tight aggressives don't play many hands but when they do, they play them boldly and seldom bluff. Loose aggressives play many hands and are unpredictable.
Deb Merito, of Christchurch, is second on the New Zealand pub leaderboard and considers himself a slow player.
"When I've got a full house I let everybody else do the raising until it gets to the river [final card dealt] and I let them bet and then re-raise. I sucker them in."
The mother and business development manager plays four times a week.
"It's a time where you can lie, cheat, bullshit, bluff, be honest, do whatever you want and it's okay."
She likes the social aspect of pub poker. Her husband, Victor, also ranks high on the leaderboard.
"Vic's just as competitive as I am. We made a golden rule if we get on to each other's table, he's no different to the next person. We're going to take each other out."
Media Man Australia Profiles
Poker
New Zealand
Poker and Casino News
Casino News Media
Everyone has a poker face. Property marketer Kevin Clark's is introspective, verging on brooding. Publisher Martin Cardno's is stony, half-hidden by mirror-glasses.
TV presenter Brooke Howard-Smith talks a lot and calls his opponents "sweetheart" and "hotpants".
IT specialist Robert Wang grins and crows happily when he wins.
Their game on Thursday night at SkyCity is a friendly. But Cardno, 36, and Wang, 42, regularly play in tournaments overseas. They have an arrangement whereby one gets a percentage of the other's wins. This year, Cardno has played in 15 tournaments during eight trips and made $100,000 in winnings.
Kiwi professional players usually have to travel for the big money, but in the next four months New Zealand will host the two richest tournaments to be held here.
The first is a leg of the Asia Pacific Poker Tour at Auckland's SkyCity until next Sunday. It has an expected prize pool of $1m while the 2009 New Zealand championship, dubbed The Battle for Middle Earth, is at Christchurch Casino in January.
Buy-ins - the amount players have to put in the pot to join - are $3000 and $5000 respectively. Satellite tournaments played in casinos and pubs throughout the country give amateurs the chance to win a place at the big tournaments for free, or for under a $100 buy-in.
The coming-of-age for professional poker is the top end of a poker revival making exclamations like "I raised on the flop but there were too many overcards" normal conversation in many lounges and pubs throughout the country.
By some accounts, the international poker fever is three to five years more advanced in Australia, Europe and America, but we're catching on.
More than 750,000 Australians have played poker at least once in the previous 12 months, and about 450,000 who play poker (home game, casino, pub or club, online) at least once a week.
And 50m people in the United States play poker regularly.
There are no complete figures available here, but several thousand people play in the New Zealand Pub Poker League each week.
Lee Nelson, our resident celebrity poker professional, believes per capita our boom is well underway.
Nelson is co-commentator with Howard-Smith for the TV3 and C4 show, Celebrity Joker Poker. An affable American-born doctor now living in Nelson, his place in the poker firmament was assured in 2006 when he won the salubrious Aussie Millions, taking home $1.2 million.
He's written three poker books, including bestseller Kill Phil (apparently a surprising number of poker players are called Phil), and won about $2m in his poker career.
Nelson traces the revival to three elements: the advent of the "hold camera", which shows players' private hands on TV shows, enabling watchers to get inside the game; the online gaming explosion, allowing players to hone their skills at home at their own pace; and growing social acceptability.
Suddenly lawyers, accountants and teachers were organising social tournaments - at least one has been covertly staged on an Auckland university campus with the drinks supplied by a player who worked at a major brewery. Students were putting themselves through university with online poker winnings.
Esoteric strategies were laid out for the masses in a new how-to literature, and discussed in terrifying detail in internet forums. Extreme Poker tournaments were played on platforms 30 storeys above the ocean and in scuba gear under the ocean. Last year, 18-year-old Norwegian Annette Obrestad won a European championship, giving the game a poster-girl-next-door. Poker was no longer the sole domain of flinty cowboy-types amid smoke in back rooms.
Says Nelson, "Poker went from the back room to the front room."
The big guns playing in the New Zealand tournaments include the improbably named accountant-turned-poker pro, Chris Moneymaker (reports claim it's the name he was christened).
Moneymaker's David and Goliath ascent is legendary. Like Obrestad, he started by playing internet poker in his spare time.
In 2003, he entered an online competition for $59, and won his way up the tournament ladder to a major live event in Las Vegas, finally winning $3.8m
The adrenalin-shot this delivered to online poker has been dubbed the Moneymaker Effect.
Its products include Kiwi accountant Justin Eggleton, 25, whose poker winning helped fund his studies.
"Online poker was a great way to take my mind off law school, while also helping to get out of overdraft and give me a bit of much-needed beer money. I was also able to get on a few hot streaks during my holidays that helped pay for a couple of overseas trips."
He usually plays four to six virtual tables simultaneously (some players have upwards of 20 tables on the go at once) and has won thousands of dollars over the years.
The majority of tables have cheap buy-ins of less than $50, but some online players claim to make six-figure incomes.
According to one American forecaster, the worldwide online game market could grow from $5.1 billion in 2005 to more than $19.6b in 2011.
Of course, most players - an estimated 98 per cent - will lose money. The online juggernaut, which has brought card games to a younger generation, has raised concerns about problem gambling.
Studies suggest about one in five Australian high school students gamble on card games.
British researcher Professor Mark Griffiths has drawn attention to online gambling's fish hooks.
For most gamblers electronic, or e-cash, will be easier to part with than real cash; the internet offers unlimited access and anonymity; and free games have been shown to offer higher odds of winning than paid ones.
David Boom, of the Problem Gambling Foundation, says the online boom is part of a slew of new gambling options that is normalising gambling.
"That's feeding into hardcore problem gambling."
He says there's no compulsion for host responsibility measures on websites, let alone in people's private lounges.
But players at the Horse & Trap in Mt Eden, Auckland, on Thursday night defend the game.
One, a landscape gardener who declined to give her name, says she has friends who use poker as a substitute for other forms of gambling that got them into trouble.
Richard Maui, 33, says players can easily get a poker fix for free online, or by joining a pub league.
The call centre worker won a place in the SkyCity tournament through free pub league satellites.
This week, he could be pitted against an international champion poker player. "I'm as nervous as anything," he grins.
"But since it wasn't any money of mine, I'm quite happy.
"It's basically a roller coaster."
The poker fascination goes well beyond money. Adherents speak with something approaching reverence of the stamina and mental rigour required for poker.
"You need a renaissance personality," says Alistair Bone, a radio journalist and serious poker hobbyist.
You need maths to mentally calculate changing odds.
Players also need patience and aggression, and the instinct to know when to use each.
"Ninety per cent of top players will have a blank look, ready to change into any personality," says Bone. "They're just kind of empty."
"There's a fine line between a maniac at the poker table and a champion," says Lee Nelson.
"The difference is the champion knows when to take his foot off the accelerator, he's got a sixth sense. Whereas the maniac doesn't know when to stop."
Any given game is about 25 per cent luck, he says, but on a long-term basis luck contributes far less.
Poker's status as a sport has been questioned because of its luck element, but Nelson contends just as much luck is at play in other sports.
He also argues the stamina required for 15-hour days during the three-day main events qualifies poker as an endurance sport.
Poker has its lexicon of jargon. There are tells - giveaway mannerisms that alert other players to the strength of individual hands. Nelson outlines common beginner tells as looking at chips when dealt a strong hand and staring at the fold cards when holding a weak hand.
There are tight aggressive and loose aggressive players. Tight aggressives don't play many hands but when they do, they play them boldly and seldom bluff. Loose aggressives play many hands and are unpredictable.
Deb Merito, of Christchurch, is second on the New Zealand pub leaderboard and considers himself a slow player.
"When I've got a full house I let everybody else do the raising until it gets to the river [final card dealt] and I let them bet and then re-raise. I sucker them in."
The mother and business development manager plays four times a week.
"It's a time where you can lie, cheat, bullshit, bluff, be honest, do whatever you want and it's okay."
She likes the social aspect of pub poker. Her husband, Victor, also ranks high on the leaderboard.
"Vic's just as competitive as I am. We made a golden rule if we get on to each other's table, he's no different to the next person. We're going to take each other out."
Media Man Australia Profiles
Poker
New Zealand
Poker and Casino News
Casino News Media
Sunday, October 05, 2008
Hawks claim $2m pokies revenue as community benefit, by Melissa Fyfe - The Age - 5th October 2008
Cashed-up premiership team Hawthorn has paid itself almost $2 million in revenue from its poker machine club - and then claimed it as a community benefit.
The triumphant Hawks - along with other AFL clubs that own poker machine venues - have been exploiting a legislative loophole that allows them to claim a smorgasbord of venue expenses and running costs as community benefits.
In total, Hawthorn claimed that last financial year it pumped $3.3 million of revenue from its poker machine venue, Vegas at Waverley Gardens, back into the community. However, analysis of the payments shows only $3058 - or 0.1% - was for genuine community gifts or sponsorships unrelated to running the business.
The extent to which Hawthorn has manipulated its ethical obligations to the community as an owner of a poker machine venue was revealed last week when it lodged its community benefit statement with Victoria's gambling regulator.
The $1.9 million payment, to "subsidise football operations", was listed as a community benefit. It is all the more curious as records show that Hawthorn made no such claim last year.
A spokesman for the Hawthorn Football Club said the club was busy conducting its Best and Fairest yesterday and declined to comment.
The club - which also claimed the community had benefited from the purchase of nine televisions and monitors and a calculator - has come under fire from anti-gambling groups after winning approval in July to operate 80 poker machines in the economically repressed Caroline Springs, in Melbourne's west.
A Monash University analysis of community benefit statements lodged by the AFL clubs that own gambling venues found they contributed $15.6 million to the community last financial year. But only 4.1% of claims were for genuine charitable or benevolent purposes, the rest was for ongoing costs of venues such as wages, electricity, cleaning, rent and repairs.
Dr Charles Livingstone, a senior lecturer at Monash University's department of health science, said his analysis showed the clubs that run pokies venues - including Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, the Western Bulldogs, Geelong, Melbourne, North Melbourne, Richmond and St Kilda - had "significantly overstated" the actual benefits to the community from poker machine earnings.
A lack of transparency made it difficult to tell how much money was going to clubs as a so-called community benefit. "Once you look beyond the facade, the whole thing is a sham," he said.
Dr Livingstone said Hawthorn's large subsidy disclosure was perhaps the result of the premiership team being more honest than other clubs, but, he added, it "could explain why Hawthorn have come so good so fast".
"They've got a stream of money coming straight into the club," he said. "The successful clubs are the ones that get their on-field as well as their business side together. They are the ones that can afford to pay their players well and employ good coaching staff.
"The club that has got more money for these things will end up going better."
Under the law, poker machine venues run in pubs and hotels are charged a community benefit tax of 8.3% of gambling revenue, but as club venues - including those run by AFL clubs and RSLs - are seen as operating for community benefit anyway, they must simply declare each year how 8.3% of their revenue is spent on benefiting the community.
The AFL-run pokies venues are not alone in using legal loopholes to claim ongoing business expenses, but anti-gambling groups believe payments to large football clubs do not constitute real community benefit.
In the clubs' community benefit statements lodged last week with the Victorian Commissioner for Gambling Regulation, the Western Bulldogs - which is pushing to open a large pokies venue in Maribyrnong - claimed $10,636 for player appearances at Club Leeds, then another $13,051 for player appearances at the Vic Inn, Williamstown.
Geelong claimed $8219 for a new interchange bench, $9029 for the football department and $121,964 for "maintaining football team". Melbourne claimed $12,408 for promotional liquor as a community benefit. North Melbourne claimed a "poker subsidy" of $5930 and St Kilda claimed $9193 for players' equipment.
The community benefit statements also showed the AFL clubs - and clubs generally - were continuing to pour large amounts of money into outdoor smoking areas. Carlton claimed $31,729 for a smoking room, while Collingwood claimed $32,861 for renovation of an outside smoking area.
Neither Collingwood nor the Western Bulldogs would comment on the scheme when contacted by The Sunday Age.
Michael Sinclair, a spokesman for Gaming Minister Tony Robinson, said the State Government was warning clubs that they would have to pay a higher taxation rate and could ultimately lose their gaming machines if they failed to satisfy community benefit obligations.
But the Opposition accused the Government of sitting on its hands while 12 months of "sometimes questionable" community benefits found their way through the loophole Labor had provided.
"Every questionable claim reduces funding to genuinely benefit the community," shadow gaming spokesman Michael O'Brien said.
InterChurch Gambling Taskforce chairman Mark Zirnsak said he acknowledged there was some community benefit funding sport, but big AFL clubs had moved away from their communities and had come to rely on gambling revenue as an income source.
"They have a concerning disregard for the harm done in these communities - people are losing their jobs, marriages are breaking up and people are turning to crime to fund their gambling addiction. The clubs don't seem to see this," he said.
Victorians lost a record $2.6 billion on poker machines last financial year. The new regulations, which tighten the community benefit categories but still allow venues to claim some ongoing costs and wages, apply this financial year.
Where the money went
Carlton: $299,046 for rent of bistro, dining and function room.
Collingwood: $32,861 for renovation of smoking area; $216,550 for rent.
Essendon: Gift to "sport" of $143,723; discounted meals $118,461; drinks $39,572; heating and lighting $45,749.
Western Bulldogs: Football - direct costs $52,768; "culture" $42,727; player appearances $13,051.
Geelong: New grandstand $18,673; new interchange bench $8279; football department $9029; maintaining football team $121,964.
Hawthorn: Subsidising football operations $1,905,183; electricity $28,253; property rental $212,637; flat screen TVs $584, $348, $839.
Melbourne: Promo liquor $12,408; repairs and maintenance $17,289; cleaning $33,557; property rental $252,958.
North Melbourne: Poker subsidy $5930; rental $2600.
Richmond: Contribution to RFC $318,590; electricity $17,998; cleaning $20,562; property rental $203,145.
St Kilda: Sport sponsorship $163,411; player's equipment
Community Benefit Statements can be downloaded from www.vcgr.vic.gov.au
(Credit: The Age)
Media Man Australia Profiles
Clubs
Poker and Casino News
Cashed-up premiership team Hawthorn has paid itself almost $2 million in revenue from its poker machine club - and then claimed it as a community benefit.
The triumphant Hawks - along with other AFL clubs that own poker machine venues - have been exploiting a legislative loophole that allows them to claim a smorgasbord of venue expenses and running costs as community benefits.
In total, Hawthorn claimed that last financial year it pumped $3.3 million of revenue from its poker machine venue, Vegas at Waverley Gardens, back into the community. However, analysis of the payments shows only $3058 - or 0.1% - was for genuine community gifts or sponsorships unrelated to running the business.
The extent to which Hawthorn has manipulated its ethical obligations to the community as an owner of a poker machine venue was revealed last week when it lodged its community benefit statement with Victoria's gambling regulator.
The $1.9 million payment, to "subsidise football operations", was listed as a community benefit. It is all the more curious as records show that Hawthorn made no such claim last year.
A spokesman for the Hawthorn Football Club said the club was busy conducting its Best and Fairest yesterday and declined to comment.
The club - which also claimed the community had benefited from the purchase of nine televisions and monitors and a calculator - has come under fire from anti-gambling groups after winning approval in July to operate 80 poker machines in the economically repressed Caroline Springs, in Melbourne's west.
A Monash University analysis of community benefit statements lodged by the AFL clubs that own gambling venues found they contributed $15.6 million to the community last financial year. But only 4.1% of claims were for genuine charitable or benevolent purposes, the rest was for ongoing costs of venues such as wages, electricity, cleaning, rent and repairs.
Dr Charles Livingstone, a senior lecturer at Monash University's department of health science, said his analysis showed the clubs that run pokies venues - including Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, the Western Bulldogs, Geelong, Melbourne, North Melbourne, Richmond and St Kilda - had "significantly overstated" the actual benefits to the community from poker machine earnings.
A lack of transparency made it difficult to tell how much money was going to clubs as a so-called community benefit. "Once you look beyond the facade, the whole thing is a sham," he said.
Dr Livingstone said Hawthorn's large subsidy disclosure was perhaps the result of the premiership team being more honest than other clubs, but, he added, it "could explain why Hawthorn have come so good so fast".
"They've got a stream of money coming straight into the club," he said. "The successful clubs are the ones that get their on-field as well as their business side together. They are the ones that can afford to pay their players well and employ good coaching staff.
"The club that has got more money for these things will end up going better."
Under the law, poker machine venues run in pubs and hotels are charged a community benefit tax of 8.3% of gambling revenue, but as club venues - including those run by AFL clubs and RSLs - are seen as operating for community benefit anyway, they must simply declare each year how 8.3% of their revenue is spent on benefiting the community.
The AFL-run pokies venues are not alone in using legal loopholes to claim ongoing business expenses, but anti-gambling groups believe payments to large football clubs do not constitute real community benefit.
In the clubs' community benefit statements lodged last week with the Victorian Commissioner for Gambling Regulation, the Western Bulldogs - which is pushing to open a large pokies venue in Maribyrnong - claimed $10,636 for player appearances at Club Leeds, then another $13,051 for player appearances at the Vic Inn, Williamstown.
Geelong claimed $8219 for a new interchange bench, $9029 for the football department and $121,964 for "maintaining football team". Melbourne claimed $12,408 for promotional liquor as a community benefit. North Melbourne claimed a "poker subsidy" of $5930 and St Kilda claimed $9193 for players' equipment.
The community benefit statements also showed the AFL clubs - and clubs generally - were continuing to pour large amounts of money into outdoor smoking areas. Carlton claimed $31,729 for a smoking room, while Collingwood claimed $32,861 for renovation of an outside smoking area.
Neither Collingwood nor the Western Bulldogs would comment on the scheme when contacted by The Sunday Age.
Michael Sinclair, a spokesman for Gaming Minister Tony Robinson, said the State Government was warning clubs that they would have to pay a higher taxation rate and could ultimately lose their gaming machines if they failed to satisfy community benefit obligations.
But the Opposition accused the Government of sitting on its hands while 12 months of "sometimes questionable" community benefits found their way through the loophole Labor had provided.
"Every questionable claim reduces funding to genuinely benefit the community," shadow gaming spokesman Michael O'Brien said.
InterChurch Gambling Taskforce chairman Mark Zirnsak said he acknowledged there was some community benefit funding sport, but big AFL clubs had moved away from their communities and had come to rely on gambling revenue as an income source.
"They have a concerning disregard for the harm done in these communities - people are losing their jobs, marriages are breaking up and people are turning to crime to fund their gambling addiction. The clubs don't seem to see this," he said.
Victorians lost a record $2.6 billion on poker machines last financial year. The new regulations, which tighten the community benefit categories but still allow venues to claim some ongoing costs and wages, apply this financial year.
Where the money went
Carlton: $299,046 for rent of bistro, dining and function room.
Collingwood: $32,861 for renovation of smoking area; $216,550 for rent.
Essendon: Gift to "sport" of $143,723; discounted meals $118,461; drinks $39,572; heating and lighting $45,749.
Western Bulldogs: Football - direct costs $52,768; "culture" $42,727; player appearances $13,051.
Geelong: New grandstand $18,673; new interchange bench $8279; football department $9029; maintaining football team $121,964.
Hawthorn: Subsidising football operations $1,905,183; electricity $28,253; property rental $212,637; flat screen TVs $584, $348, $839.
Melbourne: Promo liquor $12,408; repairs and maintenance $17,289; cleaning $33,557; property rental $252,958.
North Melbourne: Poker subsidy $5930; rental $2600.
Richmond: Contribution to RFC $318,590; electricity $17,998; cleaning $20,562; property rental $203,145.
St Kilda: Sport sponsorship $163,411; player's equipment
Community Benefit Statements can be downloaded from www.vcgr.vic.gov.au
(Credit: The Age)
Media Man Australia Profiles
Clubs
Poker and Casino News
Poker News Media Profiles Updated
Poker
Poker Celebrities
Poker Babes
Poker Promotions
Poker and Casino News
Poker
Poker Celebrities
Poker Babes
Poker Promotions
Poker and Casino News
Saturday, October 04, 2008
Poker News Media Profiles Updated
Media Man Australia Profiles
Poker
Poker and Casino News
Poker Celebrities
Poker Babes
Casino News Media
Media Man Australia Profiles
Poker
Poker and Casino News
Poker Celebrities
Poker Babes
Casino News Media
Friday, October 03, 2008
Former Cricket Pro Represents Online Casino at WSOPE - 28th September 2008
Shane Warne, a former professional cricket player, will be playing at the WSOPE in London. Online Casino 888's Australian poker ambassador is looking forward to many days of poker action and hopes to achieve similar results as at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas this July, where he finished among the top 150 players of a field of over 7000.
"I'm really looking forward to going to the WSOP in London and just hope I can play as well as I did in Vegas. I'm really enjoying my poker and the intensity of Vegas should hopefully stand me in great stead for London and the televised 888 Poker Open in November," he commented.
Warne's first participation in the tournament will be the £10,000 Main Event at The Empire Casino at Leicester Square, London at 1pm on Saturday 27th of September.
The Australian, who functions as Captain of the 888 poker team, will also update his fans about his progress on a daily basis at his personal website found at shanewarne.com.
888.com is one of the leading gaming companies offering casino games, online poker, sports betting or online bingo to its millions of customers.
At the moment, the gaming enterprise does not provide its products to residents of the United States.
Media Man Australia Profiles
Shane Warne
888.com
WSOP
Poker and Casino News
Shane Warne, a former professional cricket player, will be playing at the WSOPE in London. Online Casino 888's Australian poker ambassador is looking forward to many days of poker action and hopes to achieve similar results as at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas this July, where he finished among the top 150 players of a field of over 7000.
"I'm really looking forward to going to the WSOP in London and just hope I can play as well as I did in Vegas. I'm really enjoying my poker and the intensity of Vegas should hopefully stand me in great stead for London and the televised 888 Poker Open in November," he commented.
Warne's first participation in the tournament will be the £10,000 Main Event at The Empire Casino at Leicester Square, London at 1pm on Saturday 27th of September.
The Australian, who functions as Captain of the 888 poker team, will also update his fans about his progress on a daily basis at his personal website found at shanewarne.com.
888.com is one of the leading gaming companies offering casino games, online poker, sports betting or online bingo to its millions of customers.
At the moment, the gaming enterprise does not provide its products to residents of the United States.
Media Man Australia Profiles
Shane Warne
888.com
WSOP
Poker and Casino News
Paris Hilton Loves Poker
As the number of women playing poker nationwide grows, so does the number of female celebrities involved. While Jennifer Tilly, Cheryl Hines, and Shannon Elizabeth are well-known for their enthusiasm and skill regarding poker, a new celebrity has come forth confessing her affection for poker.
Paris Hilton was spotted gambling in Atlantic City over the weekend, indulging at a poker table. Paris told OK! magazine that she only got to play for about forty-five minutes, which she said was much shorter than her Las Vegas sessions.
Paris stated, "I love to gamble. I love being around a lot of people. There's always great restaurants and it's fun. I like Atlantic City - it's kind of like Las Vegas for New York."
Paris is not known for her intellect, and if she is found to be a frequent winner, poker's reputation as a skill game might be damaged. On the other hand, everyone knows the advantages in being the chip leader, and Paris was born a chip leader when Hilton was declared her surname.
Besides, isn't it every player's dream to sit opposite a rich opponent with limited knowledge? Better to take pots from Paris than get crushed by Jen Tilly.
Media Man Australia Profiles
Paris Hilton
Poker Celebrities
Poker and Casino News
Casino News Media
As the number of women playing poker nationwide grows, so does the number of female celebrities involved. While Jennifer Tilly, Cheryl Hines, and Shannon Elizabeth are well-known for their enthusiasm and skill regarding poker, a new celebrity has come forth confessing her affection for poker.
Paris Hilton was spotted gambling in Atlantic City over the weekend, indulging at a poker table. Paris told OK! magazine that she only got to play for about forty-five minutes, which she said was much shorter than her Las Vegas sessions.
Paris stated, "I love to gamble. I love being around a lot of people. There's always great restaurants and it's fun. I like Atlantic City - it's kind of like Las Vegas for New York."
Paris is not known for her intellect, and if she is found to be a frequent winner, poker's reputation as a skill game might be damaged. On the other hand, everyone knows the advantages in being the chip leader, and Paris was born a chip leader when Hilton was declared her surname.
Besides, isn't it every player's dream to sit opposite a rich opponent with limited knowledge? Better to take pots from Paris than get crushed by Jen Tilly.
Media Man Australia Profiles
Paris Hilton
Poker Celebrities
Poker and Casino News
Casino News Media
Thursday, October 02, 2008
CAP Press Release
Statement from CasinoAffiliatePrograms.com Regarding ASOP Event at CAP Euro Barcelona
ASOP Postponed; Will Be Held Online
IRVINE, CA – October 1, 2008 – CasinoAffiliatePrograms.com (CAP), a leading online marketing resource and community website for Internet casino affiliates, has issued the following statement regarding the postponement of this year’s Affiliate Series of Poker (ASOP) tournament.
Administered in conjunction with CAP’s sister company, PokerAffiliatePrograms.com (PAP), the ASOP was originally scheduled to take place during CAP Euro Barcelona, one of the company’s annual trade shows that was held over the weekend of September 25 through 28 in Barcelona, Spain.
On the afternoon of Saturday, September 27, undercover Spanish police arrived at the ASOP event being held in Barcelona’s Hotel Princesa Sofia. The police proceeded to terminate the event due to legality issues regarding the game’s prize fund. Roughly 40 players had been participating in the tournament at the time.
According to representatives, the company, which had made every effort to abide by all applicable local laws, was caught off guard by the action. CAP legal representatives had cleared all legal issues prior to the event, making it clear to the appropriate authorities that the tournament was a private, “free roll” style event and not open to the public.
“We don't put these tournaments on without permission, which is exactly why we have a specific registration system and a number of checks that affiliates have to go through to gain the password. This is on top of a number of other components to ensure we run an event that is completely legal,” stated Alex Pratt, an organizer for CAP Euro. “We obviously checked on Catalan and Spanish law prior to this event. The issue at this point seems to have arisen from a little-publicized change in Catalan law that occurred within the past year.”
No arrests were made, and fines levied by Spanish authorities are very minimal, according to company representatives.
The company will resume this year’s ASOP tournament in an online format, with additional compensation and rewards being offered to players to make up for the inconvenience. Further details will soon be released by the company.
“This unfortunate event does nothing to detract from the prestige of the ASOP tournament,” added Mr. Pratt. “We will ensure that all participants can resume their games in an online format, and as a gesture of goodwill, we are also increasing the prize pool for the online event.”
In response to these events, the company also plans to increase the size of the next ASOP tournament scheduled for January 2009, as part of CAP Euro London, its yearly London-based trade show that also includes the prestigious CAP Awards ceremony.
About CasinoAffiliatePrograms.com
Founded in 1999, CasinoAffiliatePrograms.com (CAP) is the largest and longest-running online gaming affiliate resource, featuring an active community forum, chat rooms, marketing tools, industry news/articles, scam alerts, and many more industry-specific tools and services for affiliate marketers. The company offers its signature CAP Certification Process as a means to protect players, affiliates marketers, and the integrity of the online gaming industry as a whole. For more information, please visit http://www.casinoaffiliateprograms.com.
About PokerAffiliatePrograms.com
The world's largest poker affiliate community and resource website, PokerAffiliatePrograms.com was established to provide webmasters interested in promoting online poker a place to research, discuss, and gain insight into the business. The company's mission is to provide the best community forum of its kind online, as well as a list of quality affiliate programs and a comprehensive collection of articles, resources, tips, and program alerts to help assist affiliate marketing webmasters. For more information, please visit http://www.pokeraffiliateprograms.com.
Media Man Australia Profiles
Poker and Casino News
Online Casino News
Casino News Media
Statement from CasinoAffiliatePrograms.com Regarding ASOP Event at CAP Euro Barcelona
ASOP Postponed; Will Be Held Online
IRVINE, CA – October 1, 2008 – CasinoAffiliatePrograms.com (CAP), a leading online marketing resource and community website for Internet casino affiliates, has issued the following statement regarding the postponement of this year’s Affiliate Series of Poker (ASOP) tournament.
Administered in conjunction with CAP’s sister company, PokerAffiliatePrograms.com (PAP), the ASOP was originally scheduled to take place during CAP Euro Barcelona, one of the company’s annual trade shows that was held over the weekend of September 25 through 28 in Barcelona, Spain.
On the afternoon of Saturday, September 27, undercover Spanish police arrived at the ASOP event being held in Barcelona’s Hotel Princesa Sofia. The police proceeded to terminate the event due to legality issues regarding the game’s prize fund. Roughly 40 players had been participating in the tournament at the time.
According to representatives, the company, which had made every effort to abide by all applicable local laws, was caught off guard by the action. CAP legal representatives had cleared all legal issues prior to the event, making it clear to the appropriate authorities that the tournament was a private, “free roll” style event and not open to the public.
“We don't put these tournaments on without permission, which is exactly why we have a specific registration system and a number of checks that affiliates have to go through to gain the password. This is on top of a number of other components to ensure we run an event that is completely legal,” stated Alex Pratt, an organizer for CAP Euro. “We obviously checked on Catalan and Spanish law prior to this event. The issue at this point seems to have arisen from a little-publicized change in Catalan law that occurred within the past year.”
No arrests were made, and fines levied by Spanish authorities are very minimal, according to company representatives.
The company will resume this year’s ASOP tournament in an online format, with additional compensation and rewards being offered to players to make up for the inconvenience. Further details will soon be released by the company.
“This unfortunate event does nothing to detract from the prestige of the ASOP tournament,” added Mr. Pratt. “We will ensure that all participants can resume their games in an online format, and as a gesture of goodwill, we are also increasing the prize pool for the online event.”
In response to these events, the company also plans to increase the size of the next ASOP tournament scheduled for January 2009, as part of CAP Euro London, its yearly London-based trade show that also includes the prestigious CAP Awards ceremony.
About CasinoAffiliatePrograms.com
Founded in 1999, CasinoAffiliatePrograms.com (CAP) is the largest and longest-running online gaming affiliate resource, featuring an active community forum, chat rooms, marketing tools, industry news/articles, scam alerts, and many more industry-specific tools and services for affiliate marketers. The company offers its signature CAP Certification Process as a means to protect players, affiliates marketers, and the integrity of the online gaming industry as a whole. For more information, please visit http://www.casinoaffiliateprograms.com.
About PokerAffiliatePrograms.com
The world's largest poker affiliate community and resource website, PokerAffiliatePrograms.com was established to provide webmasters interested in promoting online poker a place to research, discuss, and gain insight into the business. The company's mission is to provide the best community forum of its kind online, as well as a list of quality affiliate programs and a comprehensive collection of articles, resources, tips, and program alerts to help assist affiliate marketing webmasters. For more information, please visit http://www.pokeraffiliateprograms.com.
Media Man Australia Profiles
Poker and Casino News
Online Casino News
Casino News Media
Niels Rocks the Virgin Poker Festival - Bluff Europe - 30th September 2008
The London installment of the Virgin Poker took place this weekend, with over 180 poker enthusiasts battling it out for a share of a prize pool in excess of £25,000.
Having won a £120 Buy-in at www.virginpoker.com, the main tournament saw 183 poker players compete in the Texas Hold'em No Limit Freezeout. Canadian and current London resident Niels Rock aka "Rock231" triumphed against Ollie Crawford aka "olliecrawf" and took home the £8000 first prize. Ollie Crawford, also from London, got £5000 for his second place.
With the WSOPE in town too, the small stakes event even got some big celebrities down, including two time World Series bracelet winner Mel Judah and high stakes pro Brain 'sbrugby' Townsend both taking part. Townsend, famous for playing $40,000 heads ups games online, showed that poker isn't his only skill as he also recorded the fastest time of the weekend on Nintendo Wii Mario Kart challenge.
Joe Legge, Poker Manager for Virgin Poker, said: "The London Poker Festival lived up to expectations following in the footsteps of the previous festivals in Nottingham, Birmingham and Newcastle. We're looking forward to a re-run which is scheduled to take place in 2009.....watch this space!"
For details on the next Virgin Poker event visit www.virginpoker.com (Credit: Bluff Europe)
Media Man Australia Profiles
Virgin Poker
Virgin Games
Virgin Casino
Virgin Casino News
Poker
Poker and Casino News
Casino News Media
The London installment of the Virgin Poker took place this weekend, with over 180 poker enthusiasts battling it out for a share of a prize pool in excess of £25,000.
Having won a £120 Buy-in at www.virginpoker.com, the main tournament saw 183 poker players compete in the Texas Hold'em No Limit Freezeout. Canadian and current London resident Niels Rock aka "Rock231" triumphed against Ollie Crawford aka "olliecrawf" and took home the £8000 first prize. Ollie Crawford, also from London, got £5000 for his second place.
With the WSOPE in town too, the small stakes event even got some big celebrities down, including two time World Series bracelet winner Mel Judah and high stakes pro Brain 'sbrugby' Townsend both taking part. Townsend, famous for playing $40,000 heads ups games online, showed that poker isn't his only skill as he also recorded the fastest time of the weekend on Nintendo Wii Mario Kart challenge.
Joe Legge, Poker Manager for Virgin Poker, said: "The London Poker Festival lived up to expectations following in the footsteps of the previous festivals in Nottingham, Birmingham and Newcastle. We're looking forward to a re-run which is scheduled to take place in 2009.....watch this space!"
For details on the next Virgin Poker event visit www.virginpoker.com (Credit: Bluff Europe)
Media Man Australia Profiles
Virgin Poker
Virgin Games
Virgin Casino
Virgin Casino News
Poker
Poker and Casino News
Casino News Media
Poker News Media Updated
Profiles
Poker
Games
Gaming
Online Casino News
Casino News Media
Poker and Casino News
Profiles
Poker
Games
Gaming
Online Casino News
Casino News Media
Poker and Casino News
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Shane Warne not happy with musical - The Daily Telegraph - 22nd September 2008
Producers of the new Shane Warne musical be warned - the big fella ain't happy.
The Aussie spin king has hit out at the show's creators, saying there should be a law against it.
Speaking from London, where he is playing in the World Series of Poker Europe tournament, Warne said he was "disappointed" that Shane Warne The Musical has gone ahead without his permission.
"I have had 13 unauthorised biographies done in my life and the first one I read was completely wrong," he said.
"You should have permission off anyone to write about their life."
The 24-song show, from the team behind the hit musical Keating!, features tunes with titles such as Take the Pill and What an SMS I'm In.
"I'm a pretty easy target for a few cheap jokes but I brought some of that on myself," he said.
(Credit: The Daily Telegraph)
Greg Tingle comment
Warne's winning a few hands in Poker with the Pacific Poker and World Series connection, but is spinning out on damage control back down under in Australia. This raises the question... should he give the poker matches a break, focus on PR and crisis management in Australia, or consider switching brands. I would bet money that the likes of Virgin Games or PKR would like to have Warnie on board, but it sounds like he better make the trip across the Asia Pacific first to sort out the musical. Who is Warnie's agent these days, and what are they doing about it?
Media Man Australia Profiles
Shane Warne
Pacific Poker
Poker and Casino News
Casino News Media
Producers of the new Shane Warne musical be warned - the big fella ain't happy.
The Aussie spin king has hit out at the show's creators, saying there should be a law against it.
Speaking from London, where he is playing in the World Series of Poker Europe tournament, Warne said he was "disappointed" that Shane Warne The Musical has gone ahead without his permission.
"I have had 13 unauthorised biographies done in my life and the first one I read was completely wrong," he said.
"You should have permission off anyone to write about their life."
The 24-song show, from the team behind the hit musical Keating!, features tunes with titles such as Take the Pill and What an SMS I'm In.
"I'm a pretty easy target for a few cheap jokes but I brought some of that on myself," he said.
(Credit: The Daily Telegraph)
Greg Tingle comment
Warne's winning a few hands in Poker with the Pacific Poker and World Series connection, but is spinning out on damage control back down under in Australia. This raises the question... should he give the poker matches a break, focus on PR and crisis management in Australia, or consider switching brands. I would bet money that the likes of Virgin Games or PKR would like to have Warnie on board, but it sounds like he better make the trip across the Asia Pacific first to sort out the musical. Who is Warnie's agent these days, and what are they doing about it?
Media Man Australia Profiles
Shane Warne
Pacific Poker
Poker and Casino News
Casino News Media
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Aussie exposes online poker rip-off, by Asher Moses - The Sydney Morning Herald - 30th September 2008
Detective work by an Australian online poker player has uncovered a $US10 million cheating scandal at two major poker websites and triggered a $US75 million legal claim.
In two separate cases, Michael Josem, from Chatswood, analysed detailed hand history data from Absolute Poker and UltimateBet and uncovered that certain player accounts won money at a rate too fast to be legitimate.
His findings led to an internal investigation by the parent company that owns both sites. It found rogue employees had defrauded players over three years via a security hole that allowed the cheats to see other player's secret (or hole) cards.
Now the owners of the sites have filed a $US75 million claim against the makers of the software that powers them, claiming they were unaware of the security holes when they purchased the sites in 2006, MSNBC reported this month.
Official investigators - brought in following Josem's revelations - have named one of the world's most successful poker players, Russ Hamilton, as the main perpetrator of the fraud.
Suspicions of unfair play at Absolute Poker were first raised late last year. Josem plotted the win rate of several thousand players against the suspicious accounts and found the cheats won money at a rate that was 100 times faster than a good player could reasonably win.
The cheating accounts played every hand as if they knew every card that the other players had and folded hands at just the right time.
The findings led to an investigation by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, which licenses several hundred online casinos and poker rooms. It found Absolute Poker attempted to cover up the cheating by deleting gaming logs and records and fined it $US500,000.
Absolute Poker repaid those who had lost money but refused to release the cheater's identity because a private settlement was reached.
A few months later, Josem and players from the Two Plus Two online poker forum used the same methods to uncover almost identical cheating occurring at Absolute Poker's sister site, UltimateBet. One player account, NioNio, netted a profit of $300,000 in just 3000 hands and won 13 of the 14 sessions recorded on the MyPokerIntel.com website, which tracks high stakes online tournaments.
"The chances of a player winning at those rates is approximately equal to winning a one-in-a-million lottery on six consecutive occasions," said Josem.
"In poker, a contest of limited information, if you know what cards your opponent has, you'll never lose - and this is precisely what happened."
The cheats passed their fraudulent winnings between multiple user accounts in an attempt to avoid detection.
The Kahnawake Gaming Commission today released the initial findings of an audit it is conducting into UltimateBet.
It named World Series of Poker winner Russ Hamilton, previously associated with Ultimate Bet's affiliate program, as the main perpetrator. Commission spokesman Chuck Barnett said the names of others involved would come out when the final report was released in November.
The commission ordered UltimateBet to begin refunding all players adversely affected by the cheating scheme and remove any staff connected with the scheme by November 3.
The site has also been fined $US1.5 million and will have its licence revoked if it does not comply with any of the sanctions.
An Australian company, Gaming Associates, conducted the official investigations on both UltimateBet and Absolute Poker for the commission. Its principal consultant, Alan Pedley, refused to discuss the specifics of the findings as he was bound by a non-disclosure agreement.
As a result of his detective work Josem has been employed by the leading online poker site, PokerStars, to work on its security team.
He said other sites weren't vulnerable to the same cheats because they used different software and had more credible operators.
"Just as not all insurance companies behave the same way as HIH, and not all politicians are the same as Brian Burke, not all poker companies are the same as UltimateBet and Absolute Poker," Josem said.
"The employees of the leading online poker operators simply don't have the feature or ability to view hole cards of players during a hand and they don't have this ability because of a security decision that was made when their software was first written many years ago."
Josem said people could still be confident about playing on online poker sites because, if something untoward happened, it could easily be caught by statistical analysis, precisely as happened in this situation.
"Every online poker hand is recorded electronically and can be analysed after the fact. Just as the third umpire video replay can be used to enforce the rules in cricket, third-party analysis can be used to enforce the rules of poker."
(Credit: The Sydney Morning Herald)
Media Man Australia Profiles
Poker and Casino News
Casino News Media
Detective work by an Australian online poker player has uncovered a $US10 million cheating scandal at two major poker websites and triggered a $US75 million legal claim.
In two separate cases, Michael Josem, from Chatswood, analysed detailed hand history data from Absolute Poker and UltimateBet and uncovered that certain player accounts won money at a rate too fast to be legitimate.
His findings led to an internal investigation by the parent company that owns both sites. It found rogue employees had defrauded players over three years via a security hole that allowed the cheats to see other player's secret (or hole) cards.
Now the owners of the sites have filed a $US75 million claim against the makers of the software that powers them, claiming they were unaware of the security holes when they purchased the sites in 2006, MSNBC reported this month.
Official investigators - brought in following Josem's revelations - have named one of the world's most successful poker players, Russ Hamilton, as the main perpetrator of the fraud.
Suspicions of unfair play at Absolute Poker were first raised late last year. Josem plotted the win rate of several thousand players against the suspicious accounts and found the cheats won money at a rate that was 100 times faster than a good player could reasonably win.
The cheating accounts played every hand as if they knew every card that the other players had and folded hands at just the right time.
The findings led to an investigation by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, which licenses several hundred online casinos and poker rooms. It found Absolute Poker attempted to cover up the cheating by deleting gaming logs and records and fined it $US500,000.
Absolute Poker repaid those who had lost money but refused to release the cheater's identity because a private settlement was reached.
A few months later, Josem and players from the Two Plus Two online poker forum used the same methods to uncover almost identical cheating occurring at Absolute Poker's sister site, UltimateBet. One player account, NioNio, netted a profit of $300,000 in just 3000 hands and won 13 of the 14 sessions recorded on the MyPokerIntel.com website, which tracks high stakes online tournaments.
"The chances of a player winning at those rates is approximately equal to winning a one-in-a-million lottery on six consecutive occasions," said Josem.
"In poker, a contest of limited information, if you know what cards your opponent has, you'll never lose - and this is precisely what happened."
The cheats passed their fraudulent winnings between multiple user accounts in an attempt to avoid detection.
The Kahnawake Gaming Commission today released the initial findings of an audit it is conducting into UltimateBet.
It named World Series of Poker winner Russ Hamilton, previously associated with Ultimate Bet's affiliate program, as the main perpetrator. Commission spokesman Chuck Barnett said the names of others involved would come out when the final report was released in November.
The commission ordered UltimateBet to begin refunding all players adversely affected by the cheating scheme and remove any staff connected with the scheme by November 3.
The site has also been fined $US1.5 million and will have its licence revoked if it does not comply with any of the sanctions.
An Australian company, Gaming Associates, conducted the official investigations on both UltimateBet and Absolute Poker for the commission. Its principal consultant, Alan Pedley, refused to discuss the specifics of the findings as he was bound by a non-disclosure agreement.
As a result of his detective work Josem has been employed by the leading online poker site, PokerStars, to work on its security team.
He said other sites weren't vulnerable to the same cheats because they used different software and had more credible operators.
"Just as not all insurance companies behave the same way as HIH, and not all politicians are the same as Brian Burke, not all poker companies are the same as UltimateBet and Absolute Poker," Josem said.
"The employees of the leading online poker operators simply don't have the feature or ability to view hole cards of players during a hand and they don't have this ability because of a security decision that was made when their software was first written many years ago."
Josem said people could still be confident about playing on online poker sites because, if something untoward happened, it could easily be caught by statistical analysis, precisely as happened in this situation.
"Every online poker hand is recorded electronically and can be analysed after the fact. Just as the third umpire video replay can be used to enforce the rules in cricket, third-party analysis can be used to enforce the rules of poker."
(Credit: The Sydney Morning Herald)
Media Man Australia Profiles
Poker and Casino News
Casino News Media
Sunday, September 28, 2008
The Top 10s | Poker - Hitwise
The Hitwise Top 10 "Gambling -- Poker" sites for the week ending Sept. 20, 2008 (based on visits):
Australia
1. (15.47%) Pacific Poker - www.pacificpoker.com
2. (11.42%) UltimateBet.com - www.ultimatebet.com
3. (9.92%) PKR Poker - www.pkr.com
4. (7.43%) PokerRoom.com - www.pokerroom.com
5. (7.34%) Play APL - www.playapl.com
6. (4.13%) National Poker League - www.npl.com.au
7. (2.89%) PokerStars.com - www.pokerstars.com
8. (2.31%) PartyPoker.net - www.partypoker.net
9. (2.04%) Official Poker Rankings - www.officialpokerrankings.com
10. (1.98%) Poker Network - www.pokernetwork.com
United Kingdom
1. (41.94%) LadbrokesPoker.com - www.ladbrokespoker.com
2. (9.38%) PKR Poker - www.pkr.com
3. (8.26%) Pacific Poker - www.pacificpoker.com
4. (6.76%) Sky Poker - www.skypoker.com
5. (2.55%) Paddy Power Poker - www.paddypowerpoker.com
6. (2.06%) PokerRoom.com - www.pokerroom.com
7. (1.83%) VC Poker UK - www.vcpoker.com
8. (1.74%) SharkScope - www.sharkscope.com
9. (1.66%) UltimateBet.com - www.ultimatebet.com
10. (1.45%) PokerStars.com - www.pokerstars.com
United States
1. (8.74%) VideoPoker.com - www.videopoker.com
2. (7.42%) PokerStars.net - www.pokerstars.net
3. (6.88%) PokerStars.com - www.pokerstars.com
4. (5.64%) Pitbull Poker - www.pitbullpoker.com
5. (4.97%) Railbirds - www.railbirds.com
6. (4.95%) Full Tilt Poker - www.fulltiltpoker.com
7. (4.38%) Absolute Poker - www.absolutepoker.com
8. (3.40%) PurePlay - www.pureplay.com
9. (2.52%) PocketFives.com - www.pocketfives.com
10. (2.44%) Bodog Poker poker.bodoglife.com
Hitwise is the world's leading provider of online competitive intelligence services. Each day, Hitwise monitors how more than 25 million Internet users from around the world interact with over 500,000 Web sites, across over 160 industry categories. Only Hitwise can provide marketers with daily information on customers and competitors to better maximize the return on their online investments. Hitwise anonymously collects Internet usage information via a combination of Internet service provider data partnerships and opt-in mega panels. The Hitwise methodology captures home, work and educational access, and complies with local and international privacy legislation as audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers on a quarterly basis.
Clients of the Hitwise service access daily market and competitive insights via the user-friendly Hitwise Web interface at www.hitwise.com. Annualized agreements can be customized to meet a client's specific business objectives. Fees are based on levels of access to industry categories, intelligence tools, user licenses and market-specific data. All Hitwise clients are assigned a dedicated account manager and receive ongoing product training and technical support.
Media Man Australia Profiles
Pacific Poker
UltimateBet
PKR Poker
PokerStars
Poker
Poker and Casino News
*Media Man Australia is a Hitwise Australia top ten website (entertainment - celebrities category)
The Hitwise Top 10 "Gambling -- Poker" sites for the week ending Sept. 20, 2008 (based on visits):
Australia
1. (15.47%) Pacific Poker - www.pacificpoker.com
2. (11.42%) UltimateBet.com - www.ultimatebet.com
3. (9.92%) PKR Poker - www.pkr.com
4. (7.43%) PokerRoom.com - www.pokerroom.com
5. (7.34%) Play APL - www.playapl.com
6. (4.13%) National Poker League - www.npl.com.au
7. (2.89%) PokerStars.com - www.pokerstars.com
8. (2.31%) PartyPoker.net - www.partypoker.net
9. (2.04%) Official Poker Rankings - www.officialpokerrankings.com
10. (1.98%) Poker Network - www.pokernetwork.com
United Kingdom
1. (41.94%) LadbrokesPoker.com - www.ladbrokespoker.com
2. (9.38%) PKR Poker - www.pkr.com
3. (8.26%) Pacific Poker - www.pacificpoker.com
4. (6.76%) Sky Poker - www.skypoker.com
5. (2.55%) Paddy Power Poker - www.paddypowerpoker.com
6. (2.06%) PokerRoom.com - www.pokerroom.com
7. (1.83%) VC Poker UK - www.vcpoker.com
8. (1.74%) SharkScope - www.sharkscope.com
9. (1.66%) UltimateBet.com - www.ultimatebet.com
10. (1.45%) PokerStars.com - www.pokerstars.com
United States
1. (8.74%) VideoPoker.com - www.videopoker.com
2. (7.42%) PokerStars.net - www.pokerstars.net
3. (6.88%) PokerStars.com - www.pokerstars.com
4. (5.64%) Pitbull Poker - www.pitbullpoker.com
5. (4.97%) Railbirds - www.railbirds.com
6. (4.95%) Full Tilt Poker - www.fulltiltpoker.com
7. (4.38%) Absolute Poker - www.absolutepoker.com
8. (3.40%) PurePlay - www.pureplay.com
9. (2.52%) PocketFives.com - www.pocketfives.com
10. (2.44%) Bodog Poker poker.bodoglife.com
Hitwise is the world's leading provider of online competitive intelligence services. Each day, Hitwise monitors how more than 25 million Internet users from around the world interact with over 500,000 Web sites, across over 160 industry categories. Only Hitwise can provide marketers with daily information on customers and competitors to better maximize the return on their online investments. Hitwise anonymously collects Internet usage information via a combination of Internet service provider data partnerships and opt-in mega panels. The Hitwise methodology captures home, work and educational access, and complies with local and international privacy legislation as audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers on a quarterly basis.
Clients of the Hitwise service access daily market and competitive insights via the user-friendly Hitwise Web interface at www.hitwise.com. Annualized agreements can be customized to meet a client's specific business objectives. Fees are based on levels of access to industry categories, intelligence tools, user licenses and market-specific data. All Hitwise clients are assigned a dedicated account manager and receive ongoing product training and technical support.
Media Man Australia Profiles
Pacific Poker
UltimateBet
PKR Poker
PokerStars
Poker
Poker and Casino News
*Media Man Australia is a Hitwise Australia top ten website (entertainment - celebrities category)
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Virgin Poker - Virgin Casino - Virgin Games - Virgin Casino News Profiles Updated
Profiles
Virgin Games
Virgin Poker
Virgin Casino
Virgin Casino News
Poker and Casino News
Casino News Media
Profiles
Virgin Games
Virgin Poker
Virgin Casino
Virgin Casino News
Poker and Casino News
Casino News Media
Bodog Seeking U.K. Licensing
And you thought Calvin Ayre had retired?
September 25, 2008 (InfoPowa News) -- Bodog group's high-profile founder Calvin Ayre, who announced his retirement mere months ago as Bodog's North American processing and branding difficulties mounted, was back in the news in Europe this week.
The U.K. newspaper The Guardian reported that Bodog has applied for an operating licence for the U.K. despite allegations that its substantial activities in the U.S. are criminal ... and the article included an interview with whom the newspaper described as "Bodog's founder and boss, Calvin Ayre."
Ayre rejected the U.S. allegations, saying: "We have licences from sovereign governments to do what we do -- that's how it works on every other industry on the planet." He did, however, admit that Bodog took bets from U.S. customers, but claimed the company did not "operate" there.
Ayre told The Guardian that U.K. licences would not necessarily be used to take British bets. He pointed out that Bodog already had an Antiguan licence, which it is using to establish a foothold in Europe.
Media Man Australia Profiles
Calvin Ayre
Casino News Media
Poker and Casino News
And you thought Calvin Ayre had retired?
September 25, 2008 (InfoPowa News) -- Bodog group's high-profile founder Calvin Ayre, who announced his retirement mere months ago as Bodog's North American processing and branding difficulties mounted, was back in the news in Europe this week.
The U.K. newspaper The Guardian reported that Bodog has applied for an operating licence for the U.K. despite allegations that its substantial activities in the U.S. are criminal ... and the article included an interview with whom the newspaper described as "Bodog's founder and boss, Calvin Ayre."
Ayre rejected the U.S. allegations, saying: "We have licences from sovereign governments to do what we do -- that's how it works on every other industry on the planet." He did, however, admit that Bodog took bets from U.S. customers, but claimed the company did not "operate" there.
Ayre told The Guardian that U.K. licences would not necessarily be used to take British bets. He pointed out that Bodog already had an Antiguan licence, which it is using to establish a foothold in Europe.
Media Man Australia Profiles
Calvin Ayre
Casino News Media
Poker and Casino News
Battle for WWE Unforgiven Prize Package Heats Up at UltimateBet
Press Release
1st August 2008
Popular online poker site opens contest for WWE Unforgiven prize package to residents of Canada
Miami, FL (PRWeb) August 1, 2008 -- If the online poker tables at UltimateBet seem a little more intense this month, you're not imagining things. Leading online poker site UltimateBet.net today announced the launch of free WWE Unforgiven online qualifiers where Texas Hold'em fans can battle their way to WWE Unforgiven this September by winning a series of online poker tournaments.
Players are invited to sign up for a free UltimateBet.net account and enter a free qualifier, running daily for residents of Canada, to make their way to the final event. The champion of the online Texas Hold'em winner-take-all match on August 24, 2008 will win the ultimate WWE Unforgiven prize package that includes:
• Return airfare to Cleveland, Ohio for two (2)
• Hotel accommodations for two (2)
• $500 CDN spending money for food & miscellaneous items
• Two (2) premium floor seats to WWE Unforgiven
• Meet & Greet with WWE Superstar
• Two (2) replica WWE Championship belts
• Two (2) WWE Unforgiven Pay Per View Chairs
• Framed WWE Unforgiven poster
As the official sponsor of WWE Unforgiven in Canada, UltimateBet.net is continuing its strong history of awarding players with trips to WWE events. On March 2nd, the online poker site gave away an all-inclusive trip for two to WWE Wrestlemania XXIV in Orlando through a similar online poker contest.
Qualifiers are now live at UltimateBet.net and run until Saturday, August 23rd. The WWE Unforgiven promotion is only open to residents of Canada, excluding Quebec, who are 18 years of age and older. WWE Unforgiven takes place on September 7, 2008. Full details on UltimateBet.net's free WWE Unforgiven qualifiers are available at UltimateBet.net.
About UltimateBet.net
Designed with the assistance of the best poker players in the world -- Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke -- UltimateBet.net provides the best free poker games available on the net. Players can download the free poker software, play in free ring games and tournaments and get tips from these pros to learn the sport or to enhance their playing strategy. UltimateBet.net currently has more than 2 million registered players.
Media Man Australia Profiles
UltimateBet
Canada
WWE
Poker and Casino News
Press Release
1st August 2008
Popular online poker site opens contest for WWE Unforgiven prize package to residents of Canada
Miami, FL (PRWeb) August 1, 2008 -- If the online poker tables at UltimateBet seem a little more intense this month, you're not imagining things. Leading online poker site UltimateBet.net today announced the launch of free WWE Unforgiven online qualifiers where Texas Hold'em fans can battle their way to WWE Unforgiven this September by winning a series of online poker tournaments.
Players are invited to sign up for a free UltimateBet.net account and enter a free qualifier, running daily for residents of Canada, to make their way to the final event. The champion of the online Texas Hold'em winner-take-all match on August 24, 2008 will win the ultimate WWE Unforgiven prize package that includes:
• Return airfare to Cleveland, Ohio for two (2)
• Hotel accommodations for two (2)
• $500 CDN spending money for food & miscellaneous items
• Two (2) premium floor seats to WWE Unforgiven
• Meet & Greet with WWE Superstar
• Two (2) replica WWE Championship belts
• Two (2) WWE Unforgiven Pay Per View Chairs
• Framed WWE Unforgiven poster
As the official sponsor of WWE Unforgiven in Canada, UltimateBet.net is continuing its strong history of awarding players with trips to WWE events. On March 2nd, the online poker site gave away an all-inclusive trip for two to WWE Wrestlemania XXIV in Orlando through a similar online poker contest.
Qualifiers are now live at UltimateBet.net and run until Saturday, August 23rd. The WWE Unforgiven promotion is only open to residents of Canada, excluding Quebec, who are 18 years of age and older. WWE Unforgiven takes place on September 7, 2008. Full details on UltimateBet.net's free WWE Unforgiven qualifiers are available at UltimateBet.net.
About UltimateBet.net
Designed with the assistance of the best poker players in the world -- Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke -- UltimateBet.net provides the best free poker games available on the net. Players can download the free poker software, play in free ring games and tournaments and get tips from these pros to learn the sport or to enhance their playing strategy. UltimateBet.net currently has more than 2 million registered players.
Media Man Australia Profiles
UltimateBet
Canada
WWE
Poker and Casino News
PKR.com is the Hotshot - Intergaming - 26th September 2008
PKR.com is celebrating after winning the Hotshot Operator of the Year at the 2008 eGaming Review Awards.
The Hotshot Operator of the Year award is reserved for the online gaming operator which has had the biggest impact in 2007/2008 and shown the greatest promise for the future on a global scale.
The next-gen site secured the most votes to beat rivals Everest, Betsson and Betclick to the coveted prize. The award crowns a truly successful year and cements PKR.com as a major player in the online gaming industry.
Media Man Australia Profiles
PKR
PKR Casino
PKR Poker
Poker and Casino News
Casino News Media
PKR.com is celebrating after winning the Hotshot Operator of the Year at the 2008 eGaming Review Awards.
The Hotshot Operator of the Year award is reserved for the online gaming operator which has had the biggest impact in 2007/2008 and shown the greatest promise for the future on a global scale.
The next-gen site secured the most votes to beat rivals Everest, Betsson and Betclick to the coveted prize. The award crowns a truly successful year and cements PKR.com as a major player in the online gaming industry.
Media Man Australia Profiles
PKR
PKR Casino
PKR Poker
Poker and Casino News
Casino News Media
Thursday, September 25, 2008
PKR scoops industry award - 23rd September 2008
LONDON, England -- (PRESS RELEASE) -- PKR.com is celebrating after winning the Hotshot Operator of the Year at the 2008 eGaming Review Awards.
The Hotshot Operator of the Year award is reserved for the online gaming operator which has had the biggest impact in 2007/2008 and shown the greatest promise for the future on a global scale. The next-gen site secured the most votes to beat rivals Everest, Betsson and Betclick to the coveted prize. The award crowns a truly successful year and cements PKR.com as a major player in the online gaming industry.
PKR.com also received an honourable commendation in the Poker Operator of the Year category. The other nominees were industry stalwarts Party Gaming, Everest and 888.com, and the commendation alone is testament to PKR.com's incredible achievement in a short period of time.
CEO Malcolm Graham said, "We are absolutely delighted with the award which not only considers our accomplishments over the last year, but also reflects our potential for the future. The honourable commendation capped off a great evening and we feel privileged to receive special mention and be recognised as such a big player in the online poker sector."
About the eGaming Review Awards
The eGaming Review Awards are the best recognised and most prestigious online gaming awards in the UK. Adjudicated by an independent panel of industry experts the awards are designed to distinguish the best businesses in the sector.
The fourth annual eGaming Review Awards ceremony took place on 19th September in Park Lane's Grosvenor House Hotel, London.
About PKR
PKR is a revolutionary new concept in online poker that has changed the way that online poker is played.
Featuring stunning real-time 3D graphics and a uniquely engaging and immersive gaming system, PKR brings an unparalleled and previously unseen level of realism to online poker.
Media Man Australia Profiles
PKR
PKR Casino
PKR Poker
Casino News Media
LONDON, England -- (PRESS RELEASE) -- PKR.com is celebrating after winning the Hotshot Operator of the Year at the 2008 eGaming Review Awards.
The Hotshot Operator of the Year award is reserved for the online gaming operator which has had the biggest impact in 2007/2008 and shown the greatest promise for the future on a global scale. The next-gen site secured the most votes to beat rivals Everest, Betsson and Betclick to the coveted prize. The award crowns a truly successful year and cements PKR.com as a major player in the online gaming industry.
PKR.com also received an honourable commendation in the Poker Operator of the Year category. The other nominees were industry stalwarts Party Gaming, Everest and 888.com, and the commendation alone is testament to PKR.com's incredible achievement in a short period of time.
CEO Malcolm Graham said, "We are absolutely delighted with the award which not only considers our accomplishments over the last year, but also reflects our potential for the future. The honourable commendation capped off a great evening and we feel privileged to receive special mention and be recognised as such a big player in the online poker sector."
About the eGaming Review Awards
The eGaming Review Awards are the best recognised and most prestigious online gaming awards in the UK. Adjudicated by an independent panel of industry experts the awards are designed to distinguish the best businesses in the sector.
The fourth annual eGaming Review Awards ceremony took place on 19th September in Park Lane's Grosvenor House Hotel, London.
About PKR
PKR is a revolutionary new concept in online poker that has changed the way that online poker is played.
Featuring stunning real-time 3D graphics and a uniquely engaging and immersive gaming system, PKR brings an unparalleled and previously unseen level of realism to online poker.
Media Man Australia Profiles
PKR
PKR Casino
PKR Poker
Casino News Media
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
In Poker World Series, a Novice Flirts With Glory, By Joe Drape - The New York Times - 11th July 2005
LAS VEGAS, July 10 - Last March, Josh Baer sat before a glowing computer screen in his apartment in Bloomfield, N.J., and let tears roll down his cheeks. For a $160 buy-in, and after three hours of carefully calculated mouse clicks, Mr. Baer, then a theater major at Montclair State University, had achieved a dream: He had defeated 80 other online players in no-limit Texas Hold'em, earning a trip here and a seat worth $10,000 in the main event of the 36th World Series of Poker.
As Mr. Baer, 26, shuffled into the Rio Hotel and Casino on Saturday morning with the headphones of his iPod draped around his neck and a backpack loaded with Gummy Worms and Raisinets, he was focused on his mission to play smart, survive 15 hours of poker and advance out of the first round. It was too early to think about reaching the tournament's final table on Friday, with its $1 million guarantee and $7.5 million first-place check.
As he took his seat at Table 142 amid a symphony of riffling chips, however, Mr. Baer was thunderstruck by the odds he faced even before a single card had hit the felt. He was one of 5,600 players hoping to rake in a life-changing pot this weekend and wear the coveted gold bracelet given to the winner.
"I feel so small," he said.
He was not alone. Into Sunday morning, Mr. Baer and his rivals would see their chips ebb and flow as their imagined fortunes rose and fell at the turn of a single card.
While 300 players in this record-breaking field were professionals, the rest looked like a cross-section of America. They included the celebrated - like the actors Tobey Maguire and Jennifer Tilly and the golfer Rocco Mediate - and the everyday people - truck drivers, housewives and college students.
Like Mr. Baer, nearly half had won their seats for far less than the $10,000 buy-in at tournaments on Internet poker sites, which last year surpassed more than $1 billion in revenue.
Every player has visions of becoming the next Greg Raymer, the Connecticut patent lawyer who won the 2004 championship and the $5 million that came with it after gaining entry into the World Series by winning the same online tournament as Mr. Baer.
Their patron saint, however, is Chris Moneymaker, 29, who in 2003 was an accountant and amateur poker player who parlayed a $40 online entry fee into a $2.5 million windfall.
"I am the poster child for online poker," said Mr. Moneymaker, who was eliminated in the second round Sunday. "Amateurs and people who never even played the game watched me on television and figured, 'Hey, I can do that.' And they're right."
Mr. Moneymaker is widely credited with transforming a nearly two-century-old pastime played from frontier saloons to modern kitchen tables into a recent cultural phenomenon. Mr. Moneymaker, a young Tennessean in mirrored sunglasses who bluffed and bulldozed seasoned gamblers like Johnny Chan and Sam Farha, entranced viewers who watched the World Series on ESPN.
In 2003, Mr. Moneymaker faced a comparatively compact field of 839 players, and televised poker was not ubiquitous like it is now, with hundreds of hours shown on network and cable television. Among those watching the 2003 tournament was Mr. Baer, who was studying at Montclair State (he graduated in May) and spending an increasing number of hours online learning the nuances of no-limit Texas Hold'em, a game in which each player receives two cards and then bets progressively over the next five common cards on the table: three cards known as "the flop," a fourth known as "the turn" and the fifth, "the river."
Watching Mr. Moneymaker, Baer decided to set his sights on the World Series of Poker, and he began spending up to 10 hours a day online, playing millions of hands and using computer programs to analyze and explain the mathematical probabilities that can determine a winning hand.
It was hardly a delusional ambition, especially in large tournament play, because luck and nerve often offset skill when cards are landing in front of the nine players at every table. Sports bookies here, known for their handicapping acumen, made Phil Ivey, considered among the best professional players in the world, the tournament favorite - but at tepid odds of 400-1.
If poker's runaway popularity has a downside, it is felt most by the professionals who make their living around a card table. Bobby Baldwin won the 1978 World Series no-limit Texas Hold'em title by besting 41 other card sharks who anted up their own $10,000.
As chief executive officer of Mirage Resorts, however, Mr. Baldwin said he understood that what was good for the industry was tough on his friends.
"There are very, very good amateur players," Mr. Baldwin said. "And when you have 6,000 players, the odds for the pros get watered down. When you're playing a hand, you have to make all sorts of assumptions on very little information. Over a course of a week, facing wave after wave of new faces, it gets tough to be right all the time."
Mr. Mediate, for example, is ranked 32nd on the PGA Tour but rates himself no better than a "14 handicap" in no-limit Texas Hold'em, which he started playing just eight months ago. Still, before play began Sunday, he was in the top third of the players, with $33,825 in chips.
"It's conceivable that I can run through this field of the very best players in the world and win the whole thing," Mr. Mediate said. "But in golf, I could take one of these guys out on the Sunday round of the U.S. Open, and they would have absolutely no chance. I have control of my golf game. They do not. And that's what makes the tournament here so appealing."
Richard Baer, Josh's father, understands, or at least hopes, that a seat at the World Series of Poker is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. A dentist from New Jersey, Dr. Baer is wary of his son's immersion in poker; he tolerated it when Josh was working toward his college degree, even taking him out for a celebratory dinner when he earned his way into the tournament.
"I regard it as a hobby, not a potential occupation," Richard Baer said in a telephone interview. "I want him to keep it in perspective and enjoy the experience. I really admire his focus, but after this is all over, I want him to use that focus to find a regular line of work."
In the days before Josh Baer sat down at the tournament table, his father would have been proud of his son. He was focused on and enjoying his trip to the World Series. Mr. Baer was determined not to be "dead money," the term pros bestow on weak players. Most nights, he was in bed early in his hotel room at Treasure Island, which he shared with his brother, Matt, and four friends. Mr. Baer's room was free because he had agreed to wear a shirt promoting PokerStars.com, the Internet site where he won his $10,000 buy-in and another $1,000 in traveling money.
If there are any sure-fire winners at the World Series of Poker in recent years, it has been the Internet poker sites. Mr. Raymer and Mr. Moneymaker emerged from PokerStars.com tournaments, and the odds are favorable that this year's champion will be wearing the company's logo. It provided the buy-in fee and accommodations for 1,116 participants, or nearly 20 percent of the field.
But the company had already provided Mr. Baer with another transcendent moment: a 10-minute conversation with Mr. Raymer and Mr. Moneymaker at a pretournament reception.
"They were nice and encouraging," he said. "I even got my picture taken with them on my cellphone. Unfortunately, I snapped it shut before I stored the photograph."
For nearly nine hours, Mr. Baer played "tight poker." He folded hand after unsuitable hand, attacked when he had winning cards and kept his stack of chips in the $9,000 to $13,000 range. As the clock approached 9 p.m. on Saturday, he was dealt two hands in the span of 15 minutes that the probabilities, his competitors' body language and his guts told him were unbeatable.
In the first, he was holding an Ace and a King against a tablemate's Ace and Queen. With the flop came another Ace, and what the probabilities said was an 87 percent chance for Mr. Baer to win. He had $7,000 worth of chips in the post when, on the turn, a queen hit the table. It was the only card that could beat him.
On the next hand, he pushed his entire stack of chips into the middle of the table. The dealer called out, "All-in," which is a spine-tingling moment for every no-limit Texas Hold'em player and a clarion call for the television cameras and spectators to pay attention. On cue, the ESPN crew arrived at table 142 just in case Mr. Baer made it to the finals and turned out to be the next Greg Raymer or Chris Moneymaker.
Mr. Baer was holding a pair of Queens against what he guessed correctly was a King and a Queen. Again, the probabilities said he had a 70 percent chance of success. But the dealer then turned over a King and two 9's, giving Mr. Baer and his opponent two pairs. Unfortunately, his rival's Kings outranked his Queens.
Josh Baer's World Series was over. He was in good company - the former champions Doyle Brunson and Phil Hellmuth and a raft of other professionals had also been eliminated. Mr. Baer shook hands with everyone at the table, and this time the tears welling up inside him were not from joy. It took him until Sunday to put poker and the big-time tournament in perspective.
"I'll definitely be back," he said. "But I also know it's time to look for a job."
Media Man Australia Profiles
World Series of Poker
Poker and Casino News
LAS VEGAS, July 10 - Last March, Josh Baer sat before a glowing computer screen in his apartment in Bloomfield, N.J., and let tears roll down his cheeks. For a $160 buy-in, and after three hours of carefully calculated mouse clicks, Mr. Baer, then a theater major at Montclair State University, had achieved a dream: He had defeated 80 other online players in no-limit Texas Hold'em, earning a trip here and a seat worth $10,000 in the main event of the 36th World Series of Poker.
As Mr. Baer, 26, shuffled into the Rio Hotel and Casino on Saturday morning with the headphones of his iPod draped around his neck and a backpack loaded with Gummy Worms and Raisinets, he was focused on his mission to play smart, survive 15 hours of poker and advance out of the first round. It was too early to think about reaching the tournament's final table on Friday, with its $1 million guarantee and $7.5 million first-place check.
As he took his seat at Table 142 amid a symphony of riffling chips, however, Mr. Baer was thunderstruck by the odds he faced even before a single card had hit the felt. He was one of 5,600 players hoping to rake in a life-changing pot this weekend and wear the coveted gold bracelet given to the winner.
"I feel so small," he said.
He was not alone. Into Sunday morning, Mr. Baer and his rivals would see their chips ebb and flow as their imagined fortunes rose and fell at the turn of a single card.
While 300 players in this record-breaking field were professionals, the rest looked like a cross-section of America. They included the celebrated - like the actors Tobey Maguire and Jennifer Tilly and the golfer Rocco Mediate - and the everyday people - truck drivers, housewives and college students.
Like Mr. Baer, nearly half had won their seats for far less than the $10,000 buy-in at tournaments on Internet poker sites, which last year surpassed more than $1 billion in revenue.
Every player has visions of becoming the next Greg Raymer, the Connecticut patent lawyer who won the 2004 championship and the $5 million that came with it after gaining entry into the World Series by winning the same online tournament as Mr. Baer.
Their patron saint, however, is Chris Moneymaker, 29, who in 2003 was an accountant and amateur poker player who parlayed a $40 online entry fee into a $2.5 million windfall.
"I am the poster child for online poker," said Mr. Moneymaker, who was eliminated in the second round Sunday. "Amateurs and people who never even played the game watched me on television and figured, 'Hey, I can do that.' And they're right."
Mr. Moneymaker is widely credited with transforming a nearly two-century-old pastime played from frontier saloons to modern kitchen tables into a recent cultural phenomenon. Mr. Moneymaker, a young Tennessean in mirrored sunglasses who bluffed and bulldozed seasoned gamblers like Johnny Chan and Sam Farha, entranced viewers who watched the World Series on ESPN.
In 2003, Mr. Moneymaker faced a comparatively compact field of 839 players, and televised poker was not ubiquitous like it is now, with hundreds of hours shown on network and cable television. Among those watching the 2003 tournament was Mr. Baer, who was studying at Montclair State (he graduated in May) and spending an increasing number of hours online learning the nuances of no-limit Texas Hold'em, a game in which each player receives two cards and then bets progressively over the next five common cards on the table: three cards known as "the flop," a fourth known as "the turn" and the fifth, "the river."
Watching Mr. Moneymaker, Baer decided to set his sights on the World Series of Poker, and he began spending up to 10 hours a day online, playing millions of hands and using computer programs to analyze and explain the mathematical probabilities that can determine a winning hand.
It was hardly a delusional ambition, especially in large tournament play, because luck and nerve often offset skill when cards are landing in front of the nine players at every table. Sports bookies here, known for their handicapping acumen, made Phil Ivey, considered among the best professional players in the world, the tournament favorite - but at tepid odds of 400-1.
If poker's runaway popularity has a downside, it is felt most by the professionals who make their living around a card table. Bobby Baldwin won the 1978 World Series no-limit Texas Hold'em title by besting 41 other card sharks who anted up their own $10,000.
As chief executive officer of Mirage Resorts, however, Mr. Baldwin said he understood that what was good for the industry was tough on his friends.
"There are very, very good amateur players," Mr. Baldwin said. "And when you have 6,000 players, the odds for the pros get watered down. When you're playing a hand, you have to make all sorts of assumptions on very little information. Over a course of a week, facing wave after wave of new faces, it gets tough to be right all the time."
Mr. Mediate, for example, is ranked 32nd on the PGA Tour but rates himself no better than a "14 handicap" in no-limit Texas Hold'em, which he started playing just eight months ago. Still, before play began Sunday, he was in the top third of the players, with $33,825 in chips.
"It's conceivable that I can run through this field of the very best players in the world and win the whole thing," Mr. Mediate said. "But in golf, I could take one of these guys out on the Sunday round of the U.S. Open, and they would have absolutely no chance. I have control of my golf game. They do not. And that's what makes the tournament here so appealing."
Richard Baer, Josh's father, understands, or at least hopes, that a seat at the World Series of Poker is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. A dentist from New Jersey, Dr. Baer is wary of his son's immersion in poker; he tolerated it when Josh was working toward his college degree, even taking him out for a celebratory dinner when he earned his way into the tournament.
"I regard it as a hobby, not a potential occupation," Richard Baer said in a telephone interview. "I want him to keep it in perspective and enjoy the experience. I really admire his focus, but after this is all over, I want him to use that focus to find a regular line of work."
In the days before Josh Baer sat down at the tournament table, his father would have been proud of his son. He was focused on and enjoying his trip to the World Series. Mr. Baer was determined not to be "dead money," the term pros bestow on weak players. Most nights, he was in bed early in his hotel room at Treasure Island, which he shared with his brother, Matt, and four friends. Mr. Baer's room was free because he had agreed to wear a shirt promoting PokerStars.com, the Internet site where he won his $10,000 buy-in and another $1,000 in traveling money.
If there are any sure-fire winners at the World Series of Poker in recent years, it has been the Internet poker sites. Mr. Raymer and Mr. Moneymaker emerged from PokerStars.com tournaments, and the odds are favorable that this year's champion will be wearing the company's logo. It provided the buy-in fee and accommodations for 1,116 participants, or nearly 20 percent of the field.
But the company had already provided Mr. Baer with another transcendent moment: a 10-minute conversation with Mr. Raymer and Mr. Moneymaker at a pretournament reception.
"They were nice and encouraging," he said. "I even got my picture taken with them on my cellphone. Unfortunately, I snapped it shut before I stored the photograph."
For nearly nine hours, Mr. Baer played "tight poker." He folded hand after unsuitable hand, attacked when he had winning cards and kept his stack of chips in the $9,000 to $13,000 range. As the clock approached 9 p.m. on Saturday, he was dealt two hands in the span of 15 minutes that the probabilities, his competitors' body language and his guts told him were unbeatable.
In the first, he was holding an Ace and a King against a tablemate's Ace and Queen. With the flop came another Ace, and what the probabilities said was an 87 percent chance for Mr. Baer to win. He had $7,000 worth of chips in the post when, on the turn, a queen hit the table. It was the only card that could beat him.
On the next hand, he pushed his entire stack of chips into the middle of the table. The dealer called out, "All-in," which is a spine-tingling moment for every no-limit Texas Hold'em player and a clarion call for the television cameras and spectators to pay attention. On cue, the ESPN crew arrived at table 142 just in case Mr. Baer made it to the finals and turned out to be the next Greg Raymer or Chris Moneymaker.
Mr. Baer was holding a pair of Queens against what he guessed correctly was a King and a Queen. Again, the probabilities said he had a 70 percent chance of success. But the dealer then turned over a King and two 9's, giving Mr. Baer and his opponent two pairs. Unfortunately, his rival's Kings outranked his Queens.
Josh Baer's World Series was over. He was in good company - the former champions Doyle Brunson and Phil Hellmuth and a raft of other professionals had also been eliminated. Mr. Baer shook hands with everyone at the table, and this time the tears welling up inside him were not from joy. It took him until Sunday to put poker and the big-time tournament in perspective.
"I'll definitely be back," he said. "But I also know it's time to look for a job."
Media Man Australia Profiles
World Series of Poker
Poker and Casino News
High stakes poker - 175 feet up - The Times Online - 18th September 2008
Dominic Wells reports on a unique poker game, 45 metres above the city streets
With the second World Series of Poker Europe starting at London’s Empire Casino tomorrow, with a first prize of £1 million, the game retains that dangerous James Bond cachet.
As proof of that. And as a prelude to the World Series, the world’s first ever aerial tournament was held, swinging from a crane 45 metres above the ground in the same place that David Blaine once hung his Perspex box. I was one of the select few brave enough, or foolish enough, to take up the challenge.
The day started badly as it took an hour longer to set up than expected. An hour of heightening anticipation or, to put it less euphemistically, sheer naked terror. The celebrity dealer arrived, 23-year-old John Tabatabai, who was runner-up at last year’s WSOP Europe. “That?” he exclaimed disbelievingly on seeing the table. “Where’s the floor?”
There isn’t one: players’ legs were to dangle over the void. As if on cue, a truck arrived with a timely special delivery - two Portaloos.
Next, all the players were strapped into their chairs. For safety reasons, they said, but it could equally have been in case we experienced second thoughts. And then we were off, up, up and away, until we were level with the top of London’s City Hall, and looking out over Tower Bridge.
It felt for all the world as if we were playing at some sinister game hosted by Ernst Blofeld, and the first person to be knocked out would be tipped backwards into the Thames. Then we discovered that the chairs really did tip backwards at the push of a lever, and swivel, too. Now my poker face is as good as any man’s, but it was broadcasting “Get me out of here” as surely as if it was stencilled on my forehead. And that’s when the crane operator decided to make the whole table spin in slow pirouettes.
Before the bright sparks at Betfair.com thought of converting it for poker, this special table, made in Belgium, was used for mid-air banquets. God knows how anyone kept the food down.
In the circumstances, the poker itself was almost an irrelevance, though a welcome distraction. Betting or “blind” levels went up too fast, rather like the table itself, to make for a skilful game - or, at least, that was my excuse.
High-stakes poker is all very well, but high-wire poker may not catch on. How are you supposed to be able to tell whether an opponent is shaking because they have a monster hand, or because they’re terrified of heights? I’ll stick to playing on terra firma, where the ground is firmer and there’s a good deal less terror.
Greg Tingle comment
The World Series of Poker wants to be seen as more than just another poker tournament and that's achieved it. It's not a typical publicity stunt, but typical doesn't usually get the job done anymore I can tell you from my role as a media analyst. Let's see what Virgin and PKR does next to counter.
Greg Tingle, Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia
Media Man Australia Profiles
World Series of Poker
Poker and Casino News
Casino News Media
Dominic Wells reports on a unique poker game, 45 metres above the city streets
With the second World Series of Poker Europe starting at London’s Empire Casino tomorrow, with a first prize of £1 million, the game retains that dangerous James Bond cachet.
As proof of that. And as a prelude to the World Series, the world’s first ever aerial tournament was held, swinging from a crane 45 metres above the ground in the same place that David Blaine once hung his Perspex box. I was one of the select few brave enough, or foolish enough, to take up the challenge.
The day started badly as it took an hour longer to set up than expected. An hour of heightening anticipation or, to put it less euphemistically, sheer naked terror. The celebrity dealer arrived, 23-year-old John Tabatabai, who was runner-up at last year’s WSOP Europe. “That?” he exclaimed disbelievingly on seeing the table. “Where’s the floor?”
There isn’t one: players’ legs were to dangle over the void. As if on cue, a truck arrived with a timely special delivery - two Portaloos.
Next, all the players were strapped into their chairs. For safety reasons, they said, but it could equally have been in case we experienced second thoughts. And then we were off, up, up and away, until we were level with the top of London’s City Hall, and looking out over Tower Bridge.
It felt for all the world as if we were playing at some sinister game hosted by Ernst Blofeld, and the first person to be knocked out would be tipped backwards into the Thames. Then we discovered that the chairs really did tip backwards at the push of a lever, and swivel, too. Now my poker face is as good as any man’s, but it was broadcasting “Get me out of here” as surely as if it was stencilled on my forehead. And that’s when the crane operator decided to make the whole table spin in slow pirouettes.
Before the bright sparks at Betfair.com thought of converting it for poker, this special table, made in Belgium, was used for mid-air banquets. God knows how anyone kept the food down.
In the circumstances, the poker itself was almost an irrelevance, though a welcome distraction. Betting or “blind” levels went up too fast, rather like the table itself, to make for a skilful game - or, at least, that was my excuse.
High-stakes poker is all very well, but high-wire poker may not catch on. How are you supposed to be able to tell whether an opponent is shaking because they have a monster hand, or because they’re terrified of heights? I’ll stick to playing on terra firma, where the ground is firmer and there’s a good deal less terror.
Greg Tingle comment
The World Series of Poker wants to be seen as more than just another poker tournament and that's achieved it. It's not a typical publicity stunt, but typical doesn't usually get the job done anymore I can tell you from my role as a media analyst. Let's see what Virgin and PKR does next to counter.
Greg Tingle, Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia
Media Man Australia Profiles
World Series of Poker
Poker and Casino News
Casino News Media
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Sunday, September 14, 2008
GTA Addresses Federal Senators - Media Release - 12th September 2008
Gaming Machine manufacturers today called for a new approach to the development of research and regulations controlling the gaming industry in Australia.
Addressing the Senate Community Affairs Committee Public Hearing today in Sydney, Ross Ferrar, Chief Executive of the Gaming Technologies Association, stated that Australia’s gaming jurisdictions are widely regarded as the most regulated in the world.
“The companies which manufacture gaming machines work in a highly regulated and strenuously audited, total compliance environment,” Mr Ferrar stated.
“No gaming machine products enter the marketplace in Australia without undergoing comprehensive testing and technical review.”
“We have no complaint about the level of Government scrutiny to which our members are subjected. On the contrary, we believe that these high standards are important and that we can very confidently state that this industry operates with great probity and integrity.”
Mr Ferrar stated that much of what is described as “Harm Minimisation strategy” in the various Australian jurisdictions has not actually achieved anything positive. He said that many of the measures introduced in the late 1990s and early this century around Australia were not based on real evidence and as a result, have subsequently been proven to be useless.
“Australians deserve better than this. They deserve policy which will provide help if and when it’s needed – and leave the rest of the Australian public to enjoy a legitimate, legal form of entertainment.”
The GTA is pleased that the Government has announced that the Productivity Commission will review its 1999 Report into Australia’s Gambling Industries.
“We believe that this review will reinforce the various analyses that have been conducted by State and Territory Governments in the years since 1999, which have shown a decline in problem gambling in the community,” Mr Ferrar said.
“We hope that this will result in the use of current data on the incidence of problem gambling instead of ten year old statistics.”
Mr Ferrar called for the establishment of a new ongoing national research body funded by federal, state and territory governments to conduct a more comprehensive and objective research program. It should involve operators, manufacturers and related private sector businesses, as well as community and counselling sectors and regulatory authorities.
“This new body should examine all aspects of gaming in Australia, including the effectiveness of current regulatory regimes, harm minimisation strategies, the efficacy of counselling and support services, and possible future features of gaming machines,” Mr Ferrar said at the Senate Committee Hearing.
“There should be evidence-based research on the economic and social impact of gaming in Australia, both positive and negative. And all research should be required to be conducted transparently and objectively.”
“The result would be a body of knowledge in which all stakeholders could have confidence and on which all governments could build policy and regulation to protect and promote the interests of the whole community.”
“We would all be protected from the false opinions and claims of self-interested individuals whose motivations appear to us to lie in seizing a greater share of government expenditure on research for their own personal financial benefit.” Mr Ferrar claimed.
ENDS
For further information, please contact:
Ross Ferrar 0418 686 075
Garrie Gibson 0417 626 853
GTA hosts and operates the annual Australasian Gaming Expo and the New Zealand Gaming Expo.
Media Man Australia Profiles
Gaming
Poker
Poker and Casino News
Casino News Media
Gaming Machine manufacturers today called for a new approach to the development of research and regulations controlling the gaming industry in Australia.
Addressing the Senate Community Affairs Committee Public Hearing today in Sydney, Ross Ferrar, Chief Executive of the Gaming Technologies Association, stated that Australia’s gaming jurisdictions are widely regarded as the most regulated in the world.
“The companies which manufacture gaming machines work in a highly regulated and strenuously audited, total compliance environment,” Mr Ferrar stated.
“No gaming machine products enter the marketplace in Australia without undergoing comprehensive testing and technical review.”
“We have no complaint about the level of Government scrutiny to which our members are subjected. On the contrary, we believe that these high standards are important and that we can very confidently state that this industry operates with great probity and integrity.”
Mr Ferrar stated that much of what is described as “Harm Minimisation strategy” in the various Australian jurisdictions has not actually achieved anything positive. He said that many of the measures introduced in the late 1990s and early this century around Australia were not based on real evidence and as a result, have subsequently been proven to be useless.
“Australians deserve better than this. They deserve policy which will provide help if and when it’s needed – and leave the rest of the Australian public to enjoy a legitimate, legal form of entertainment.”
The GTA is pleased that the Government has announced that the Productivity Commission will review its 1999 Report into Australia’s Gambling Industries.
“We believe that this review will reinforce the various analyses that have been conducted by State and Territory Governments in the years since 1999, which have shown a decline in problem gambling in the community,” Mr Ferrar said.
“We hope that this will result in the use of current data on the incidence of problem gambling instead of ten year old statistics.”
Mr Ferrar called for the establishment of a new ongoing national research body funded by federal, state and territory governments to conduct a more comprehensive and objective research program. It should involve operators, manufacturers and related private sector businesses, as well as community and counselling sectors and regulatory authorities.
“This new body should examine all aspects of gaming in Australia, including the effectiveness of current regulatory regimes, harm minimisation strategies, the efficacy of counselling and support services, and possible future features of gaming machines,” Mr Ferrar said at the Senate Committee Hearing.
“There should be evidence-based research on the economic and social impact of gaming in Australia, both positive and negative. And all research should be required to be conducted transparently and objectively.”
“The result would be a body of knowledge in which all stakeholders could have confidence and on which all governments could build policy and regulation to protect and promote the interests of the whole community.”
“We would all be protected from the false opinions and claims of self-interested individuals whose motivations appear to us to lie in seizing a greater share of government expenditure on research for their own personal financial benefit.” Mr Ferrar claimed.
ENDS
For further information, please contact:
Ross Ferrar 0418 686 075
Garrie Gibson 0417 626 853
GTA hosts and operates the annual Australasian Gaming Expo and the New Zealand Gaming Expo.
Media Man Australia Profiles
Gaming
Poker
Poker and Casino News
Casino News Media
Saturday, September 13, 2008
New spin on high-stakes poker, by Clinton Van Der Berg - Business Times - 7th September 2008
Cricket and boxing bad boys Warne and Fenech trade knockout blows across the table
You could never mistake Shane Warne for a fighter.
Tanned, blond and handsome, the cricket pin-up says he wouldn’t have the guts to take a punch anyway.
That he would leave to his mate Jeff Fenech, the hell-raising three-time world champion who would, in turn, never be mistaken for a male model. He has a nose only a boxer’s mum could love and the coarse texture of his face is testament to a life spent eating leather.
You wouldn’t expect them to have much in common, but the two share a reputation for being among the bad boys of Australian sport. Controversy could be Warne’s middle name given his shenanigans over the years.
Fenech’s had his share of nonsense too: he’s been stabbed, shot at and is known to handle himself in bar fights. It’s a habit he shares with good mate Mike Tyson.
Now there’s another bond that connects Warne and Fenech: poker.
It’s an ironic choice for Warne given how he likens the card game to cricket. “You’ve gotta be patient, disciplined ... it’s all about position, how much you bet, how you read people.”
As Freudian slips go, it’s a clanger, but there’s no mistaking Warne’s passion for the game. He was in South Africa this week for the Sun City Million Dollar Poker Tournament — and not just for celebrity value.
He contested the World Series in Las Vegas earlier this year, ending 726th out of 7000 starters.
“I did okay,” he says. “After two 14-hour days, I lasted seven hours into day three, so it was 35 hours at the table. I was really happy.”
Fenech, 44, plays a first-rate hand too. Days before his comeback fight against Azumah Nelson earlier this year, he was up until 4.30am, winning a major poker tournament in Melbourne.
“I needed some sleep for the fight, but I kept doubling up, so it went on until I won. I called people the whole day to tell them. It was more exciting than any fight. I knocked out a lot of guys (in the poker). If that hadn’t happened, I would have used my left hook.”
Warne and Fenech are now in that unfamiliar place all sportsmen occupy: the transitional phase between sport and life largely beyond it. Warne, 39, has quit international cricket, but is clearly energised by the Indian Premier League (his team, the Rajasthan Royals, won the inaugural title), various business interests, his charity foundation and poker.
No more “fat boy” headlines for him either: he’s been exercising for months and, at 87kg, is the picture of good health.
Fenech trains fighters in his own gym and is heavily involved in charity work. He’s obviously enjoying poker, which is as far removed from the blood and guts of the ring as possible. It’s a long way from his days as a rabble-rouser.
“I try and ensure I’m an everyday guy,” says the former three-time world champion who fought with the fury and power of a mini-Tyson.
“But in the late ’80s, early ’90s, I didn’t like myself much. I had too much success, things got to my head. I got a bit carried away, but I quickly changed that. Although I’ve done some great things in boxing, I never thought I was better than anyone else.
“The real heroes are the mums and dads who look after handicapped kids. That’s why I help with the Special Olympics.”
Warne reckons he’s been lucky. He’s pleased how he retired from international cricket — “to walk off with Glenn McGrath was a real honour” — and he can pick and choose how to occupy himself. He has multiple business interests, but it’s poker he can’t get enough of.
He talks animatedly of his approach, with much the same enthusiasm he brought to his leg-spin art. “You’ve just gotta hang in there and maximise when you get a good hand,” says Warne, who was once fined for sending an SMS in the middle of a poker game. “It’s no use having the best hand and everyone folds all the time. You’ve got to find a way to make it work. Also, the beauty of poker is that anyone can play — they can be chairmen, CEOs or car salesmen. The mixture is good fun.”
And the pressure? Warne eats it for breakfast. “A lot of people don’t want the ball to come to them in cricket. I was very lucky: I wanted the ball. That’s in my nature. If there was one run to win, one wicket to get, I wanted the ball in my hand. I’m an aggressive cricketer and I’m an aggressive poker player.”
The other appeal is travel. As the captain of 888.com’s world team, he gets to visit new places and is seldom away from home for more than a week, a welcome change from three month-long cricket tours.
Warne loves the revolution cricket finds itself in, saying the popularity of Twenty20 cricket fits perfectly with our “super-fast culture”. He just wishes the ICC would get its head around IPL cricket and embrace it rather than fight it.
For all that, Warne says international cricket, more particularly Test cricket, must have primacy. “If you ask any top player, what they want is to be regarded as a top Test player. It’s the ultimate test of discipline, fitness, skills, technique and stamina.”
Warne loved his time as captain-coach of the Rajasthan Royals. He took a famously relaxed attitude to the role. Armed with a beer or a cold drink, players typically gathered around the hotel pool to discuss how to construct an over, how to work a batsman or how to read a scenario.
Warne sticks to his belief that coaches are overrated at international level. “Don’t need ’em,” he says. “At that level, it’s all about attitude and the way you think. All that happens in international cricket is your attitude changes. It’s nothing to do with technique. You have b ad days, you have good days — that’s sport. Hopefully if you’ve prepared right and have the right attitude, you’re gonna be okay.”
He’s looking forward to the year-end cricket series between Australia and SA. “I think Australia will do well in the one-day stuff, but the Tests will be very interesting, very exciting.”
If cricket seems in robust health, Fenech paints a dreary picture of boxing. “It’s on the way out,” he says. “It’s all about mixed martial arts in the US. Until someone in boxing makes competitive fights from day one, boxing’s gonna go backwards.”
He cites the example of the upcoming “superfight” between Oscar De La Hoya and Manny Pacquiao, the most exciting fighter in the sport.
“Oscar’s best weight was at light-middle and Manny’s best is featherweight, and they say Manny has a great chance to win. Come on! And they’re paying these guys 20-30-million.
“The last big fight was Oscar against Floyd Mayweather — and neither of them had a mark on their face afterwards. The other day, Australian Billy Dib was carrying on like a fool after beating your guy (Zolani Marali). I felt ashamed for the Aussie — he lost every round. He’s an embarrassment to the sport. Decisions like that turn people off the sport.”
He says he would have loved to fight Brian Mitchell. “I respect him, he was a great fighter. .. but none of them wanted to fight Azumah the way I did.”
Pointing to Warne, he says the reason they’re mates is because “we’re both winners.”
“You reckon?” asks Warne.
“You betcha,” laughs the fighter.
Media Man Australia Profiles
Shane Warne
Jeff Fenech
888.com
Poker
Poker and Casino News
Cricket and boxing bad boys Warne and Fenech trade knockout blows across the table
You could never mistake Shane Warne for a fighter.
Tanned, blond and handsome, the cricket pin-up says he wouldn’t have the guts to take a punch anyway.
That he would leave to his mate Jeff Fenech, the hell-raising three-time world champion who would, in turn, never be mistaken for a male model. He has a nose only a boxer’s mum could love and the coarse texture of his face is testament to a life spent eating leather.
You wouldn’t expect them to have much in common, but the two share a reputation for being among the bad boys of Australian sport. Controversy could be Warne’s middle name given his shenanigans over the years.
Fenech’s had his share of nonsense too: he’s been stabbed, shot at and is known to handle himself in bar fights. It’s a habit he shares with good mate Mike Tyson.
Now there’s another bond that connects Warne and Fenech: poker.
It’s an ironic choice for Warne given how he likens the card game to cricket. “You’ve gotta be patient, disciplined ... it’s all about position, how much you bet, how you read people.”
As Freudian slips go, it’s a clanger, but there’s no mistaking Warne’s passion for the game. He was in South Africa this week for the Sun City Million Dollar Poker Tournament — and not just for celebrity value.
He contested the World Series in Las Vegas earlier this year, ending 726th out of 7000 starters.
“I did okay,” he says. “After two 14-hour days, I lasted seven hours into day three, so it was 35 hours at the table. I was really happy.”
Fenech, 44, plays a first-rate hand too. Days before his comeback fight against Azumah Nelson earlier this year, he was up until 4.30am, winning a major poker tournament in Melbourne.
“I needed some sleep for the fight, but I kept doubling up, so it went on until I won. I called people the whole day to tell them. It was more exciting than any fight. I knocked out a lot of guys (in the poker). If that hadn’t happened, I would have used my left hook.”
Warne and Fenech are now in that unfamiliar place all sportsmen occupy: the transitional phase between sport and life largely beyond it. Warne, 39, has quit international cricket, but is clearly energised by the Indian Premier League (his team, the Rajasthan Royals, won the inaugural title), various business interests, his charity foundation and poker.
No more “fat boy” headlines for him either: he’s been exercising for months and, at 87kg, is the picture of good health.
Fenech trains fighters in his own gym and is heavily involved in charity work. He’s obviously enjoying poker, which is as far removed from the blood and guts of the ring as possible. It’s a long way from his days as a rabble-rouser.
“I try and ensure I’m an everyday guy,” says the former three-time world champion who fought with the fury and power of a mini-Tyson.
“But in the late ’80s, early ’90s, I didn’t like myself much. I had too much success, things got to my head. I got a bit carried away, but I quickly changed that. Although I’ve done some great things in boxing, I never thought I was better than anyone else.
“The real heroes are the mums and dads who look after handicapped kids. That’s why I help with the Special Olympics.”
Warne reckons he’s been lucky. He’s pleased how he retired from international cricket — “to walk off with Glenn McGrath was a real honour” — and he can pick and choose how to occupy himself. He has multiple business interests, but it’s poker he can’t get enough of.
He talks animatedly of his approach, with much the same enthusiasm he brought to his leg-spin art. “You’ve just gotta hang in there and maximise when you get a good hand,” says Warne, who was once fined for sending an SMS in the middle of a poker game. “It’s no use having the best hand and everyone folds all the time. You’ve got to find a way to make it work. Also, the beauty of poker is that anyone can play — they can be chairmen, CEOs or car salesmen. The mixture is good fun.”
And the pressure? Warne eats it for breakfast. “A lot of people don’t want the ball to come to them in cricket. I was very lucky: I wanted the ball. That’s in my nature. If there was one run to win, one wicket to get, I wanted the ball in my hand. I’m an aggressive cricketer and I’m an aggressive poker player.”
The other appeal is travel. As the captain of 888.com’s world team, he gets to visit new places and is seldom away from home for more than a week, a welcome change from three month-long cricket tours.
Warne loves the revolution cricket finds itself in, saying the popularity of Twenty20 cricket fits perfectly with our “super-fast culture”. He just wishes the ICC would get its head around IPL cricket and embrace it rather than fight it.
For all that, Warne says international cricket, more particularly Test cricket, must have primacy. “If you ask any top player, what they want is to be regarded as a top Test player. It’s the ultimate test of discipline, fitness, skills, technique and stamina.”
Warne loved his time as captain-coach of the Rajasthan Royals. He took a famously relaxed attitude to the role. Armed with a beer or a cold drink, players typically gathered around the hotel pool to discuss how to construct an over, how to work a batsman or how to read a scenario.
Warne sticks to his belief that coaches are overrated at international level. “Don’t need ’em,” he says. “At that level, it’s all about attitude and the way you think. All that happens in international cricket is your attitude changes. It’s nothing to do with technique. You have b ad days, you have good days — that’s sport. Hopefully if you’ve prepared right and have the right attitude, you’re gonna be okay.”
He’s looking forward to the year-end cricket series between Australia and SA. “I think Australia will do well in the one-day stuff, but the Tests will be very interesting, very exciting.”
If cricket seems in robust health, Fenech paints a dreary picture of boxing. “It’s on the way out,” he says. “It’s all about mixed martial arts in the US. Until someone in boxing makes competitive fights from day one, boxing’s gonna go backwards.”
He cites the example of the upcoming “superfight” between Oscar De La Hoya and Manny Pacquiao, the most exciting fighter in the sport.
“Oscar’s best weight was at light-middle and Manny’s best is featherweight, and they say Manny has a great chance to win. Come on! And they’re paying these guys 20-30-million.
“The last big fight was Oscar against Floyd Mayweather — and neither of them had a mark on their face afterwards. The other day, Australian Billy Dib was carrying on like a fool after beating your guy (Zolani Marali). I felt ashamed for the Aussie — he lost every round. He’s an embarrassment to the sport. Decisions like that turn people off the sport.”
He says he would have loved to fight Brian Mitchell. “I respect him, he was a great fighter. .. but none of them wanted to fight Azumah the way I did.”
Pointing to Warne, he says the reason they’re mates is because “we’re both winners.”
“You reckon?” asks Warne.
“You betcha,” laughs the fighter.
Media Man Australia Profiles
Shane Warne
Jeff Fenech
888.com
Poker
Poker and Casino News
Playtech throws dice into the television market, by Alistair Osborne - The Telegraph - 3rd September 2008
Playtech, the designer and licensor of software for the gambling industry, unveiled plans to branch into the television market as it posted a strong rise in half-year profits.
The company, whose clients include Paddy Power, Betfred and PartyGaming, said it would use its $1.75m (£987,000) purchase of the assets of MIXTV to launch roulette games on the Sky and Virgin channels.
"It extends our distribution channel, gives us access to additional licensees and allows us to cross-sell to our existing licensees," said Mor Weizer, chief executive. Playtech currently has 60 casino and poker licensees.
Mr Weizer held out the prospect of a vastly bigger acquisition as he was quizzed by analysts over how the group intended to spend the $222m raised in June in a placing at 520p a share.
Playtech said it was undertaking due diligence on an un-named marketing company, with which it already works. Mr Weizer said any deal would be "significant" and "earnings accretive".
Total revenues jumped 85pc to $81.4m, with casino income up 78pc to $58m and poker rising 109pc to $22m. Pre-tax profits increased from $26.1m to $37.9m.
Mr Weizer said part of Playtech's growth would come from quickly establishing a position in newly regulated markets, such as Italy, where the group has struck licensing deals with the two biggest gambling companies - SNAI and SISAL.
Playtech is closely following regulatory developments in other countries, including Spain, France, Poland and South Africa.
The dividend jumped from 6.1 cents to 12 cents. The shares rose 6½ to 541½p.
Media Man Australia Profiles
Poker and Casino News
Casino News Media
Playtech, the designer and licensor of software for the gambling industry, unveiled plans to branch into the television market as it posted a strong rise in half-year profits.
The company, whose clients include Paddy Power, Betfred and PartyGaming, said it would use its $1.75m (£987,000) purchase of the assets of MIXTV to launch roulette games on the Sky and Virgin channels.
"It extends our distribution channel, gives us access to additional licensees and allows us to cross-sell to our existing licensees," said Mor Weizer, chief executive. Playtech currently has 60 casino and poker licensees.
Mr Weizer held out the prospect of a vastly bigger acquisition as he was quizzed by analysts over how the group intended to spend the $222m raised in June in a placing at 520p a share.
Playtech said it was undertaking due diligence on an un-named marketing company, with which it already works. Mr Weizer said any deal would be "significant" and "earnings accretive".
Total revenues jumped 85pc to $81.4m, with casino income up 78pc to $58m and poker rising 109pc to $22m. Pre-tax profits increased from $26.1m to $37.9m.
Mr Weizer said part of Playtech's growth would come from quickly establishing a position in newly regulated markets, such as Italy, where the group has struck licensing deals with the two biggest gambling companies - SNAI and SISAL.
Playtech is closely following regulatory developments in other countries, including Spain, France, Poland and South Africa.
The dividend jumped from 6.1 cents to 12 cents. The shares rose 6½ to 541½p.
Media Man Australia Profiles
Poker and Casino News
Casino News Media
Virgin's poker phase, by Mark Tran - The Guardian - 25th November 2005
As news reaches us that Richard Branson is joining the card table, Mark Tran asks Virgin Poker to show its hand
If internet gambling is like the wild west, then Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Poker is the latest cowboy to swagger into the saloon.
Virgin Poker, relaunched this week - complete with a poker party at Sir Richard Branson's home in Holland Park - admits it is a latecomer to internet gaming. But it is banking on the full resources of the Branson business empire to ensure its success.
"Virgin Poker will use the resources of sister companies throughout the Virgin group to add new value to our players' experience," Simon Burridge, the chief executive of Virgin Games, told reporters and poker enthusiasts wedged tightly into a marquee in Sir Richard's garden.
After that pitch, followed by champagne and superior canapes - spoonfuls of risotto, miniature pails of fish and chips, lamb meatballs, salmon on toast and cubes of deep fried camembert - the guests took their allocated seats to play Texas Hold'em.
The last man and woman standing from about 50 players would win a weekend to Sir Richard's new digs in Marrakech. Guardian Unlimited unfortunately made a very early exit, its pair of sevens and kings going down to a flush.
Although a relative tiddler in the online poker world, Virgin Poker believes it will shake things up thanks to benefits available from the company's other business. Players will be able to accumulate Virgin air miles and loyalty points that can be cashed in for Virgin products. There will be also prizes such as Virgin flights and weekend trips to the entrepreneur's Marrakech home.
The site will include blogs by players, poker writers and enthusiasts, and a poker school that includes live online tutorials to take newcomers through the basics of the game. Virgin Poker is particularly keen to attract people who have never played before - poker virgins - by emphasising the light-hearted side of the game.
"We want to make poker accessible," said Joshua Morris, a product marketing manager. "There will be no intimidation factor as we are going after the mass market."
But the site will not be open to US players as Virgin does not want to leave itself open to any legislation that might ban online gambling. The company says its software will block users from the US. Despite staying out of a potentially huge market, Virgin Poker believes there will be plenty of takers in the UK and the rest of Europe.
Virgin Group brushes aside notions that it may have missed the boat on internet poker, currently dominated by PartyGaming, owner of Party Poker, the world's largest poker site. PartyGaming, based in Gibraltar, made its debut on the London Stock Exchange in June, when it was valued at £4.64bn, the biggest UK debut in five years.
But PartyGaming shares dropped by almost a third in September after it warned future market growth could slow. That setback has prompted commentators to say that the internet poker bubble has burst. Even so, revenues at PartyGaming soared in the first six months of 2005. Revenues soared to $437.4m (£237.7m), from $241.5m a year ago, while profits rose to $186.3m from $146.6m.
With those kinds of numbers it is no wonder that Sir Richard, the billionaire with a sideline in ballooning, wants to join the saloon.
Virgin plans to have Virgin Poker on its trains and planes - the discount airline Ryanair also has plans for in-flight gambling - to make the most of a captive audience - although there will be loss limits.
As one Virgin executive said: "We don't want anyone landing in Las Vegas down £25,000. It's not a great way to start a holiday."
Media Man Australia Profiles
Virgin Poker
Virgin Games
Virgin Casino
Poker and Casino News
As news reaches us that Richard Branson is joining the card table, Mark Tran asks Virgin Poker to show its hand
If internet gambling is like the wild west, then Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Poker is the latest cowboy to swagger into the saloon.
Virgin Poker, relaunched this week - complete with a poker party at Sir Richard Branson's home in Holland Park - admits it is a latecomer to internet gaming. But it is banking on the full resources of the Branson business empire to ensure its success.
"Virgin Poker will use the resources of sister companies throughout the Virgin group to add new value to our players' experience," Simon Burridge, the chief executive of Virgin Games, told reporters and poker enthusiasts wedged tightly into a marquee in Sir Richard's garden.
After that pitch, followed by champagne and superior canapes - spoonfuls of risotto, miniature pails of fish and chips, lamb meatballs, salmon on toast and cubes of deep fried camembert - the guests took their allocated seats to play Texas Hold'em.
The last man and woman standing from about 50 players would win a weekend to Sir Richard's new digs in Marrakech. Guardian Unlimited unfortunately made a very early exit, its pair of sevens and kings going down to a flush.
Although a relative tiddler in the online poker world, Virgin Poker believes it will shake things up thanks to benefits available from the company's other business. Players will be able to accumulate Virgin air miles and loyalty points that can be cashed in for Virgin products. There will be also prizes such as Virgin flights and weekend trips to the entrepreneur's Marrakech home.
The site will include blogs by players, poker writers and enthusiasts, and a poker school that includes live online tutorials to take newcomers through the basics of the game. Virgin Poker is particularly keen to attract people who have never played before - poker virgins - by emphasising the light-hearted side of the game.
"We want to make poker accessible," said Joshua Morris, a product marketing manager. "There will be no intimidation factor as we are going after the mass market."
But the site will not be open to US players as Virgin does not want to leave itself open to any legislation that might ban online gambling. The company says its software will block users from the US. Despite staying out of a potentially huge market, Virgin Poker believes there will be plenty of takers in the UK and the rest of Europe.
Virgin Group brushes aside notions that it may have missed the boat on internet poker, currently dominated by PartyGaming, owner of Party Poker, the world's largest poker site. PartyGaming, based in Gibraltar, made its debut on the London Stock Exchange in June, when it was valued at £4.64bn, the biggest UK debut in five years.
But PartyGaming shares dropped by almost a third in September after it warned future market growth could slow. That setback has prompted commentators to say that the internet poker bubble has burst. Even so, revenues at PartyGaming soared in the first six months of 2005. Revenues soared to $437.4m (£237.7m), from $241.5m a year ago, while profits rose to $186.3m from $146.6m.
With those kinds of numbers it is no wonder that Sir Richard, the billionaire with a sideline in ballooning, wants to join the saloon.
Virgin plans to have Virgin Poker on its trains and planes - the discount airline Ryanair also has plans for in-flight gambling - to make the most of a captive audience - although there will be loss limits.
As one Virgin executive said: "We don't want anyone landing in Las Vegas down £25,000. It's not a great way to start a holiday."
Media Man Australia Profiles
Virgin Poker
Virgin Games
Virgin Casino
Poker and Casino News
Virgin Poker launches Facebook poker app, by Darren Davidson Brand Republic - 25th February 2008
LONDON - Virgin Poker has developed a Facebook application which allows users to play Texas Hold'em for free.
The application has been developed by Virgin Poker in partnership with Playzu, the online poker company.
Facebook users can join a table of six and play for points, with every winning hand counting towards a place on a leader board.
The top 25 players every day will be invited to take part in a free weekly tournament via a unique sign-up code. The weekly tournament offers prizes from other Virgin brands such as Virgin Atlantic Air Miles.
Simon Burridge, chief executive of Virgin Games, said: "With social networking now a fundamental part of our players' lives, Facebook's focus on entertainment and community provides the perfect opportunity to bring the fun and social element of Virgin Poker to a new market."
The application gives users the ability to create their own avatar in the games, with accessories ranging from cigars and hats to tattoos and glasses.
There are also comedy video clips integrated into the application, which can be played when users are waiting for a hand to be played, and users can set up a private "invite only" game with other Facebook members.
Darius Ziatabari, Playzu founder, said the company would continue to add features to the application to improve the user experience: "We are poker players at heart and want people to have the most fun possible without having to pay for it."
The moves comes as big advertisers begin to incorporate Facebook, which has 8.5m UK users according to Nielsen Online, into their marketing plans.
Earlier this month, Mars launched a voucher scheme on the social networking site enabling users to collect vouchers for the confectionery brand, and last week Marmite launched a branded group.
Media Man Australia Profiles
Virgin Poker
Texas hold' em
Virgin Games
Virgin Casino
Poker
Poker and Casino News
Casino News Media
LONDON - Virgin Poker has developed a Facebook application which allows users to play Texas Hold'em for free.
The application has been developed by Virgin Poker in partnership with Playzu, the online poker company.
Facebook users can join a table of six and play for points, with every winning hand counting towards a place on a leader board.
The top 25 players every day will be invited to take part in a free weekly tournament via a unique sign-up code. The weekly tournament offers prizes from other Virgin brands such as Virgin Atlantic Air Miles.
Simon Burridge, chief executive of Virgin Games, said: "With social networking now a fundamental part of our players' lives, Facebook's focus on entertainment and community provides the perfect opportunity to bring the fun and social element of Virgin Poker to a new market."
The application gives users the ability to create their own avatar in the games, with accessories ranging from cigars and hats to tattoos and glasses.
There are also comedy video clips integrated into the application, which can be played when users are waiting for a hand to be played, and users can set up a private "invite only" game with other Facebook members.
Darius Ziatabari, Playzu founder, said the company would continue to add features to the application to improve the user experience: "We are poker players at heart and want people to have the most fun possible without having to pay for it."
The moves comes as big advertisers begin to incorporate Facebook, which has 8.5m UK users according to Nielsen Online, into their marketing plans.
Earlier this month, Mars launched a voucher scheme on the social networking site enabling users to collect vouchers for the confectionery brand, and last week Marmite launched a branded group.
Media Man Australia Profiles
Virgin Poker
Texas hold' em
Virgin Games
Virgin Casino
Poker
Poker and Casino News
Casino News Media
Friday, September 12, 2008
Aristocrat switches its US leadership - Fairfax - 12th September 2008
Poker machine maker Aristocrat Leisure has appointed a new head in North America, replacing its previous boss with its head of European, Middle Eastern and African operations, Nick Khin.
Aristocrat said that Tim Parrott, the incumbent president and chief executive Officer of its American operations, had left the business after two years with Aristocrat's executive team.
The company said Mr Khin had driven Aristocrat's expansion into new markets, particularly Spain where the company will be launching its new casino style arcade games later this month.
"The EMEA region has reported record revenue (up over 50 per cent) and profitability (up 140 per cent) over the past two years, with the company significantly increasing its overall market share and presence in the region," Aristocrat said in a statement.
Media Man Australia Profiles
Poker and Casino News
Poker machine maker Aristocrat Leisure has appointed a new head in North America, replacing its previous boss with its head of European, Middle Eastern and African operations, Nick Khin.
Aristocrat said that Tim Parrott, the incumbent president and chief executive Officer of its American operations, had left the business after two years with Aristocrat's executive team.
The company said Mr Khin had driven Aristocrat's expansion into new markets, particularly Spain where the company will be launching its new casino style arcade games later this month.
"The EMEA region has reported record revenue (up over 50 per cent) and profitability (up 140 per cent) over the past two years, with the company significantly increasing its overall market share and presence in the region," Aristocrat said in a statement.
Media Man Australia Profiles
Poker and Casino News
Poker News Updated
Media Man Australia Profiles
Poker and Casino News
Poker
Poker Celebrities
Australian Casinos
Casino Travel
Casino News Media
Media Man Australia Profiles
Poker and Casino News
Poker
Poker Celebrities
Australian Casinos
Casino Travel
Casino News Media
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Virgin’s Affiliate Programme Short-Listed - 4th September 2008
Online casino VirginGames.com has been short-listed for the Affiliate Programme of the Year distinction at the fourth annual eGaming Review Industry Awards.
The Awards are considered one of the premier online gaming events of the year and are judged by an independent panel consisting of some of the most experienced practitioners from every segment of the sector. This year there are 18 distinctions up for grabs with the final winners announced on September 19 at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel.
The first time it has every been nominated for the Affiliate Programme of the Year award, VirginGames.com is one of only four companies short-listed and nominees are judged on innovation, creativeness, marketing strategy and overall effectiveness.
“We’re delighted to have made it to the final table of the 2008 eGaming Awards,” said Pierrick Leveque, Head of Affiliates for VirginGames.com.
“It is an honour to be short-listed in the Best Affiliate Programme of the Year category alongside Everest, Centrebet and Ladbrokes.
“More importantly, it is a testimony to the quality and commitment of the affiliates who have decided to partner with us since we launched last year. We work hard to ensure our affiliate operations match VirginGames.com’s reputation as an online gaming operator. In that regard, our presence in this year’s shortlist is very uplifting.”
VirginGames.com recently voted the Best Gaming Affiliate Programme prize at the affiliate marketing industry’s a4u Awards 2008, the most prestigious affiliate awards ceremony in the UK.
Media Man Australia Profiles
Virgin Games
Virgin Casino
Casino Affiliates
Poker and Casino News
Casino News Media
Online casino VirginGames.com has been short-listed for the Affiliate Programme of the Year distinction at the fourth annual eGaming Review Industry Awards.
The Awards are considered one of the premier online gaming events of the year and are judged by an independent panel consisting of some of the most experienced practitioners from every segment of the sector. This year there are 18 distinctions up for grabs with the final winners announced on September 19 at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel.
The first time it has every been nominated for the Affiliate Programme of the Year award, VirginGames.com is one of only four companies short-listed and nominees are judged on innovation, creativeness, marketing strategy and overall effectiveness.
“We’re delighted to have made it to the final table of the 2008 eGaming Awards,” said Pierrick Leveque, Head of Affiliates for VirginGames.com.
“It is an honour to be short-listed in the Best Affiliate Programme of the Year category alongside Everest, Centrebet and Ladbrokes.
“More importantly, it is a testimony to the quality and commitment of the affiliates who have decided to partner with us since we launched last year. We work hard to ensure our affiliate operations match VirginGames.com’s reputation as an online gaming operator. In that regard, our presence in this year’s shortlist is very uplifting.”
VirginGames.com recently voted the Best Gaming Affiliate Programme prize at the affiliate marketing industry’s a4u Awards 2008, the most prestigious affiliate awards ceremony in the UK.
Media Man Australia Profiles
Virgin Games
Virgin Casino
Casino Affiliates
Poker and Casino News
Casino News Media
Sunday, September 07, 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)