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BODOG TO SUPPORT KATRINA VICTIMS
Tournaments planned to raise money for relief agencies
The major US-facing gambling group Bodog.com has announced it will be hosting five daily online benefit poker tournaments for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, with all proceeds going to the Red Cross.
“We are deeply saddened to hear of the many victims caught in the devastating path of the hurricane,” says Calvin Ayre, Founder and CEO of Bodog.com. “So many people have been adversely affected by this natural disaster, and our benefit poker tournament is the least we can do to help ease the pain of those who were most affected.”
Hurricane Katrina has left the U.S. Gulf Coast in ruins, with more than a million people sweltering without power, and thousands of people displaced. Eighty percent of New Orleans is reportedly under water, and the death toll continues to climb. According to preliminary assessments, the damage is estimated to be more than $25 billion.
Bodog is applying its experience in hosting benefit poker tournaments to launch the Hurricane Katrina Benefit Tournaments, running daily Sept. 8-12. Bodog will match and donate all of the players’ fees from the five poker tournaments to the Red Cross hurricane relief fund.
The tournaments are the latest charity efforts by the online entertainment powerhouse.
In July, Bodog teamed with the Fisher House foundation to host “Bodog Salutes the Troops: A Tribute to American Heroes”, a two-day charity concert and poker tournament that benefited the men and women of the U.S. military. Earlier in the year, Bodog was the major sponsor of the LA Lakers Youth Foundation’s Second Annual Casíno Night. A handful of film celebrities, poker professionals and Lakers basketball stars were on hand to compete in the charity poker tournament.
More information on the Hurricane Katrina Benefit Poker Tournaments and the opportunity to sign up will be available at http://www.bodog.com/poker/
HURRICANE KATRINA RELIEF
PokerStars.com tournaments to aid Red Cross
The sheer devastation of this week's Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf states of America has resulted in massive deprivation and suffering among the people of the region, and one of the Internet's largest poker operations, PokerStars.com has launched a fund-raising initiative to try and help the Red Cross deal with the situation.
The site will be running two buy-in tournaments on Monday, Sept. 12th at 9:30 PM Eastern Time ($5+0 NLH) and on Wednesday, Sept. 14th at 9:30 PM Eastern Time ($20+0 NLH)
$.01 of each buyin and rebuy is going to the prize pool, and PokerStars is very charitably 100 percent matching all buyins and sending the money to the American Red Cross.
There'll be cool prizes for the final table finishers and readers can get the detail and follow progress here: http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/2005/08/pokerstars-to-host-hurricane-katrina.html)
or in the special section of the PokerStars tournament lobby.
CONFIRMATION FROM 888.COM - THE FLOAT IS ON
End of this (September) month a strong possibility
The intense speculation that Cassava Enterprises is to float on the London stock exchange has finally been confirmed by the company this week, with a launch date around end September 2005.
Reuters reports that Cassava Enterprises said it intends to seek a full listing on the London Stock Exchange for its online casino 888.com. The Gibraltar-based company confirmed it had appointed London-based HSBC as sole bookrunner, global co-ordinator and sponsor for the float.
The float could value the Internet casino operator at more than GBP 700 million, say informed sources. Cassava runs several online casinos, including 888.com, Pacific Poker and Reef Club Casino.
The flotation is expected to generate big windfalls for the two Israeli families that control more than 90 percent of the company.
Avi and Aharon Shaked own about 70 percent, while the Ben-Yitzhak family owns about 23 percent. The company has 20 million registered member accounts in more than 150 countries.
John Anderson, the company's chief executive, said on a conference call that the barriers to entry in the growing online gaming industry were getting higher, and that 888 Holdings would work to increase its brand recognition.
"You can't pack a laptop and start a business in one or two years," Anderson said. "The number of players is shrinking, but they are getting bigger," he said.
"Today's announcement marks an important step in our goal to become the market leader in the global online gaming entertainment industry and will enable us to increase further our brand profile, recognition and credibility. If you look at our management team it's been around since the start of this industry. It's very strong, very knowledgeable and it's the longest-standing management team of all," he said.
Just over half of the firm's revenues come from the United States where the legality of online gambling is in question. 888 has over 20 million registered member accounts in over 150 countries playing its games in 11 languages.
The company's current first-half operating profit rose by 30 percent to $25.4 million, compared with $19.7 million for the same period in 2004.
The global Internet gambling market generated $7 billion to $10 billion in revenue in 2004, according to various estimates. About 2,500 Web sites offer poker, bingo, sports betting and online-casino games. The online gambling market could be worth some $24 billion by 2009, according to investment firm Christiansen Capital Associates.
Cassava said the float would provide money for acquisitions, hiring staff and enable a partial exit for shareholders.
London has become the de facto listing centre for Internet gambling companies, partly because Britain welcomes online gaming.
Rapid industry expansion, helped by better broadband access and the convenience of playing at home, has fuelled revenue growth at the companies hosting the Web sites.
CRACKING THE SEARCH ENGINES
An ingenious new promo from BTD marketers
The marketing team at Be The Dealer, a P2P white label operation owned by CV on Net have come up with an ingenious competition to not only rev up search engine coverage but give webmasters a little competitive fun in the process.
The group says that the rising stars of online marketing are no longer just professionals with post-graduate degrees, but programmers and webmasters with the knowledge and know-how to optimise a site’s ranking on key-word search engines.
It’s with this in mind that BeTheDealer.com has launched its second Search Engine Optimisation contest for the web’s best and brightest *Engine Crackers.*
The $7,000 MSN Search Engine contest format is simple. Webmasters are asked to optimise their sites for the phrase “Online Casino BTDino”, a search that currently yields no results. On February 26th, 2006, the webmasters who successfully crack the top 50 listings for this phrase will share in the $7,000 prize.
The concept clearly works for BTD. Earlier this year, BeTheDealer Casino sponsored the Google Fortuno Winnero Optimisation Contest, in which hundreds of webmasters took part, generating over 132,000 (and counting) results for the phrase “Fortuno Winnero”.
“SEO is one of the most powerful ways to promote products online, “said Shmuel Ephron, CEO of BeTheDealer. “Our hope is to create an exciting and innovative opportunity for those with the ingenuity to operate these powerful tools.”
Leon Brodsky, CTO of BeTheDealer Casino and competition manager concurs. “With Fortuno Winnero, BeTheDealer discovered the internet’s greatest Googler’s. With BTDino, we’ll uncover the world’s best MSNer’s.”
TELLING IT LIKE IT IS
Internet gambling has a new US champion
Developments at the Internet betting group BetUS.com have led to industry support in the USA from a powerful new voice - ex-state governor Jesse Ventura.
The former governor will appear in radio and print ads debuting this week for the site BetUS.com.
In one, Ventura says: "As governor, Jesse Ventura told it like it is, and now I'm telling you that BetUs.com is the only place to bet."
Federal authorities have declared that Internet gambling is illegal in the United States, and Congress has refused to let U.S. casinos offer gambling online and as a consequence BetUS.com is licensed in Canada and Costa Rica.
"I don't know why I'm being attracted to gambling, considering I don't do it myself very often," Ventura told The Associated Press. He added with a chuckle: "Bob Dole had the pills, Viagra. I prefer to endorse gaming. To each his own. ... It's entertainment."
Mike Foreman, BetUs.com's chief marketing officer, said the company chose the former professional wrestler turned politician partly because of his popularity among 25 to 54 year olds, the site's target demographic.
"It's a very powerful statement that a former governor is willing to endorse our company," Foreman said. "For us and an industry that has been often questioned in the press it gives us a certain level of credibility."
Neither Foreman nor Ventura would disclose the financial terms of the one-year deal.
ZONE4PLAY GOING FOR LONDON AIM LISTING
Technology company already has a $40 million market cap
The name Zone4Play.com is well known in the industry's news columns, regularly reporting new technology supply deals with major players in the online gambling business.
Traded on the Wall Street Bulletin Board with a market capitalisation of $40 million, the Israeli firm is now reported to be planning an issue on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in London.
Company co-founder, president, and CEO Shimon Citron owns 13.6 percent of the stock, and Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball coach Pinhas (Pini) Gershon owns 11.3 percent. Founded in 2001, the company provides technology and software for interactive gambling and games on wireless networks, television, and Internet sites.
ONLINE POWER FOR PADDY
Internet revenues overtake land income
Internet gambling as a viable complementary business for sports betting houses received a ringing endorsement this week with the news that Irish and UK bookmaker Paddy Power had generated most of its current profits away from its high street betting shops for the first time.
The group said its non-retail businesses accounted for 63 percent of operating profits of Euro 17.8 million in the six months to June 30, compared with one-third of the Euro 18.2 million earned last year. The online portion increased by 62.5 percent to a healthy Euro 175.2 million in revenues.
Paddy Power launched online poker operations during the period, enjoying strong growth over summer. The group has 74,000 customers on its online gambling database, with two-thirds in the UK, and operates an online casino as well as telephone betting.
Paddy Power’s Director of Finance, Ross Ivers declared, “We are now reaping the rewards of our strategy of investing upfront in our start-up businesses with our online channel now generating record earnings and set for continued expansion.”
Company spokesmen said that the growth in non-retail businesses helped to shield Paddy Power from the impact of a poor run of results in the big horse races in the first six months of this year when many of the favourites romped home.
BETCORP THE TARGET OF LATEST IPO SPECULATION
Loss into profit in half year to date
Australian Internet gaming group Betcorp is the latest target of rumours speculating that the board may be considering a listing on the London Stock Exchange.
The group delivered a half-year net profit of $2.4 million recently compared to loss of a $2.7 million ($US 2 million) in the prior corresponding period.
Betcorp said the result was comfortably ahead of internal forecasts and reflected a re-positioning strategy undertaken over the past year, but has so far not commented on the reports of a London listing.
THE LEGENDS GATHER
Poker champs gearing up for $15 million pro-shootout at The Palms
Johnny Chan, Chris Moneymaker, Ted Forrest, Kathy Leibert, Layne Flack, Barry Greenstein, Men The Master Nguyen, Freddy Deeb, Thor Hansen, Joe Awada, Antonio Esfandiari, Rene Angeli and more of the top names in Poker will be gathering soon for one of the premier events in world poker.
The Labor Day Pro-Shootout at the Palms in Las Vegas takes place over the Labour Day weekend, Sunday, September 4, 2005 at 1:00 p.m. when ten world-class players will come together to compete for one entry into the tournament that boasts the richest first prize in the game.... the $15 million Quest of Champions.
A sponsored seat into the main event is up for grabs, with the main event slated to begin New Year's week at the Palms Casino Resort.
Angelo Halkias, Pokerquest C.O.O., said, "The field of entrants for the Quest is comprised of Titans from the combined worlds of Poker, Hollywood, and Business."
This tournament has the attention of Hollywood stars such as James Woods, Michael Vartan, and Mimi Rogers and world-renowned poker champions. Daniel Negreanu, Johnny Chan, Amir Vahedi, Phil Hellmuth, and T.J. Cloutier amongst many others have contracted to play as the remaining open seats are quickly being filled by celebrity players from around the world.
The Quest will feature only 100 players, at ten shoot-out tables. The winner from each table advances to the final table. The ultimate winner will take home $15 million dollars, the highest first-place professional poker payout in the history of the sport.
TESTING THE BLUES
Self-diagnose your state of mind...and maybe win a little too!
Feeling depressed? Researchers at The University of Manchester in England are testing our genetic disposition to depression with a unique Internet test.
The website www.newmood.co.uk is the place to go to see how vulnerable you are to depression by identifying the emotions on people's faces and taking a gambling test.
The research team aims to recruit more than 1000 UK volunteers for further tests as part of the five-year, EU-funded project titled rather catchily "NewMood - New Molecules in Mood Disorders." They have already discovered how anti-depressants such as Prozac can affect how the brain reacts to fearful faces and which parts of the brain react to fear.
Professor Bill Deakin explains: "Anxiety is a contagious emotion. When you see other people who are anxious, as a primate you feel anxious as well. Our brains are wired to see anxiety - it makes sure we are safe. This is a fascinating test and, during further testing, we will be able to see which parts of the brain light up, or work harder, when you see a fearful face. Depressed people are more likely to see sadness or fear in a neutral face.
"The gambling test, where volunteers choose from pairs of spinners to 'win' money, will show us which parts of the brain light up when you are working for a reward. Depressed people are less affected by reward and more likely to give up easily as the test goes on."
Volunteers for this research study will be asked to fill in a confidential questionnaire and provide a mouth swab for genetic analysis. The team will then compare the DNA with the questionnaire group data.
"Depression is a common trait like height or body build and, just like those, we suspect there are lots of genes involved. By measuring the important possible factors that can lead to a tendency to depression across a large number of individual people, we hope to find which ones act together to cause depression. Ultimately, this will help us to develop new ways of preventing and treating this illness."
Depression is a common illness affecting 10-20% of the population at some time in their life and is twice as common in women as in men. Treatment can be very effective, but may not help everyone. The causes of depression are a mixture of genetic tendency, personality factors, difficult circumstances and life experiences, and the big challenge is trying to understand how these work together to lead to depression.
The University of Manchester is leading 13 institutions in ten countries in the NewMood project. Four institutions are testing humans and each need 1000 volunteers. Those who take part in this study could win GBP 100 in a prize draw.
HELP ONLINE FOR PROBLEM GAMBLERS
New Zealand site will assist all gamblers to assess their personal risk level
A New Zealand-owned website designed to help gamblers assess their own level of risk was launched this week.
The Gambling Helpline initiative provides a range of online self-assessment tools, including a string of multi-choice questions about gambling habits.
The questionnaire helps gamblers to identify personal vulnerabilities and presents graphs showing how extreme an individual's gambling problem is.
The website also has a questionnaire relating to an individual's level of alcohol consumption and provides an 0800 contact phone number for those it concludes could benefit from assistance.
The site could be valuable to friends or family of those who may have a gambling problem, with assessment tools helping to test well known indicators.
BETCORP LONDON LISTING CONFIRMED
AIM listing likely to raise funds for expansion
Earlier InfoPowa reports that the Australian public company Betcorp was considering a London IPO have been confirmed this week by the company, which has appointed KBC Peel Hunt as adviser.
Betcorp, formerly called Consolidated Gaming Corporation, said that it had decided to investigate a dual listing because London had “...become the leading market for online gaming companies, which have attracted substantial institutional investment”.
The firm has a market capitalisation of less than GBP 20 million and may use an AIM listing to raise funds for expansion. It is expected to float at the end of this year or early next. Analysts believe it could eventually drop its Australian listing altogether.
Betcorp websites offer sports betting, casino and poker, and include BetWWTS.com, BetCasino.com, Cybersportsbook.com and BetBet.com. The companies recently added skill games to their portfolios in a deal with supplier GameAccount.
The group is licensed in Antigua and is currently undergoing a business turnaround led by two British executives: Colin Walker, chief executive and a former director of Ladbrokes, and David Hudd, non-executive chairman who founded Vardon, a quoted UK leisure group.
POKERPLEX TO SPONSOR SEAT TO SWEDISH TOURNEY
Satellites to commence early September
Wagerlogic-powered online poker operation Pokerplex.com has announced that it is to sponsor a seat at the upcoming Swedish land poker event, Malmo Open Poker Tournament which is scheduled for September 16-18.
Satellite tournaments to the Malmo Qualifier will span five week days commencing September 5 with the last tournament taking place on the 9th. Subsequently, successful players will take part in the Malmo Qualifier on September 11 to secure their seat at the Open Poker Tournament in Malmo.
Full details are on the Poker Plex site.
Veteran online casino site takes Best Progressives and Best Jackpots awards
Belle Rock Gaming's lead online casino, River Belle.com has won two top industry awards – ‘Best Jackpots’ and ‘Best Progressive Slots Site’ in the 2005 Best of Online Slots Awards, as voted for by the readers of Strictly Slots Magazine.
River Belle was also the runner up in the ‘Best Video Poker Site’, and gained third place in both the ‘Best Slots Tournaments’ and ‘Most Unique Slot’ site categories.
Another Belle Rock Gaming brand, Jackpot City, cruised to second place in ‘Best Jackpots’.
Strictly Slots is a popular US monthly gaming title, and the announcement of the winners of the 2005 Awards will be published in the October issue.
COOL CASINOS
Green Tie Poker.com launched in July this year and is already attracting positive comments from the player community. Created by players, for players GreenTie is unapologetically male oriented and boasts that it gives men what they want : "....the green, the girls, the glory!" The theme has the look and feel of a men's magazine, augmented by unusual features like Fantasy Tournaments (with prizes like "Beer for a Year" and "Sporting Event Tickets), Virtual Poker Games (a video game, with a virtual Green Tie Girl, built into the site) and a VIP Consierge Service.
GreenTiePoker.com has joined the Excapsa Poker Network, which includes serious sites such as UltimateBet.com and UltimatePoker.com. With a combined customer base of over a million players, the Excapsa network allows players to interact with an international membership.
CASINO CAUTIONS
Once a rogue, always a ....?
Playtech-powered online casinos Indio Casino.com and African Palace Casino.com belong to the First Grand Gaming company licensed in the Netherlands Antilles. Prior to changing to the Playtech platform these operations used Futurebet software...and were the subject of numerous player complaints.
Unfortunately, the questionable behaviour of the management would seem to have remained unchanged, judging by player reports recently of non-payment and non-existent communications. As one of the main player advocate portals in the business said whilst consigning the operations to its Rogue List this week, "Too many complaints - not enough responses."
Joyland crisis continues...
The management at Joyland.com, a Playtech online casino in the Club Dice (Crown Solutions) group continued to bungle the raging dispute over its actions in disqualifiying winnings from legitimate players recently. (see earlier InfoPowa reports)
Long story short, the casino launched a badly thought-out VIP comp point offer which players took up over a period of more than a week. Realising their error, Joyland staff then adjusted the calculation but it remained an attractive proposition and players continued to accept the offer.
Once the magnitude of the screw-up in financial terms (believed to be in the region of $160 000) became obvious, the casino accused (and abused) players for taking advantage of their error and disqualified winnings and comp points earned, seeking to dig itself out by returning deposits only. The crisis deepened when communications channels proved inefficient and allegations of transaction log tampering were made.
The resulting row and complaints by outraged players has spread to prominent message boards and triggered threats of complaints to the licensing jurisdiction, and the intervention of player advocates.
As we went to press, the Joyland posture was showing some signs of softening, a welcome turnabout from the initially obdurate approach and the apparent attitude that players are responsible for what was clearly a casino error.
Lost in translation?
The much criticised online gambling group Gambling Federation was back under the spotlight this week following some allegedly dicky bonus disqualification claims that revolved around whether or not Video Poker was an excluded game for wagerthru' in the T&Cs at Video Poker Classic.com.
A Danish player complained that the Danish T&C, which we reproduce below and which he used as his basis for playing, did not include the game of video poker, thus:
Quote:
Indsatser placeret på roulette, baccarat, craps og sic bo tæller ikke med i wagerkravet. For hver $1 satset på blackjack og pai gow tæller $0.50 med i wagerkravet. Unquote
Unfortunately for the player, the English version did include it, and GFED hammered him those grounds:
Quote:
Bets placed on Roulette, Baccarat, Blackjack, Video Poker, Craps and Sic bo do not count towards the wager requirement. $1 wagered on Pai Gow counts as $0.50 towards the wager requirement
The ommission was possibly an error in translation, but it could have been an expensive one, given the perhaps harsh reputation that Danish players have for being sharp advantage players.
GFED offers a range of language versions on their casinos, and non-English speaking players would be well advised to carefully check that there are not similar discrepancies in their language, as it would appear the casino applies the English T&Cs regardless.
BRIT GAMBLING TV AUDIENCE WANTED
Pokerzone looks for spectators for its new chat show
British gambling medium Pokerzone, the poker and casino life style channel on SKY Channel 226 is looking for a studio audience for a new gambling chat show titled Heads Up with presenter Richard Herring.
The channel is putting together an audience of poker enthusiasts for the new chat show which will be filmed at The Whiteleys Centre in Bayswater, London from mid September and will be aired from Sunday 6th November 2005.
Fusing comedy and poker chat, Richard will be interviewing three celebrity guests per show. Guests will range from poker legends to celebrities such as James Hewitt, John McCririck, Andy Black, Michael Greco, Fiona Foster and Phil Taylor.
All the interviews will have a comedy edge as the guests recount their own experiences and Richard joins in with his own distinctive humour. But the conversation will not be exclusively limited to poker talk as guests are invited to also discuss their lives away from the green baize.
Since the channels launch in May, pokerzone has experienced rapid growth, with weekly figures reaching well over 250,000 viewers.
British readers interested in being part of the audience can register online at www.pokerzone.tv.
CHINESE POKER
If the authorities allow it, this could be a significant market
Poker News published an interesting study of the Chinese potential for poker this week, saying that it is the next logical step for the poker industry. Despite cultural differences, the game is set to take the country by storm as long as it doesn't offend the government.
Apparently a high tech holding company named Dragon Ventures is one of first groups to enter the untapped Chinese poker market with a prospectus that says it acts as an incubator of high-tech companies in the country, offering support in critical functions such as general business consulting, the formation of joint ventures, access to capital, mergers and acquisitions, business valuations, and revenue growth rates.
The company has announced a letter of intent to acquire the exclusive marketing rights for Cardroom.net, giving it advertising rights throughout China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan and a big pay-out if the game takes off in China. It will receive a 40 percent commission on all revenues net of expenses, chargebacks and other miscellaneous transaction fees on all referrals generated by the company.
According to Dragon Venture's CEO Lawrence Wang, there is a lot of attention surrounding the new market and profit possibilities. "We are extremely excited about marketing rights for CardRoom.net. As the popularity of poker explodes in the U.S. and Europe, we believe that the popularity of poker will be gaining traction in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan in the very near future," Wang said in a recent press release.
"We are formulating our marketing strategy with marketing professionals in the gaming industry in China. The economic profits for us could be tremendous for years to come, considering the rapid growth of the online gaming industry in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan."
TOURNAMENT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Forthcoming attractions from major players in the business
Tournaments continue to capture the imagination and support of poker players, and some of the major firms in the business have announced their forthcoming attractions this week.
World Poker Tour announced it will be hosting the second annual Doyle Brunson North American Poker Championship from October 18-21 at this year's Festa al Lago IV being held at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.
It's a $10,000 buy-in event that pulled in 312 players in its inaugural year in 2004, which was won by Carlos Mortensen who took the million dollar prize. This year's event is expected to be fiercely contested with a field of some 500 players.
Elsewhere, Harrah's has announced November 6 as the start date of the 2005 World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions, a $2 million freeroll event, with final table action on November 8. The venue will be Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas
This year's Tournament of Champions will differ from last year's "winner take all" invitational event, which was won by Annie Duke. Players earned points from the start of the WSOP Circuit events from the start of 2005 at Atlantic City. Each stop of the Circuit handed out points to its finishers, and points were awarded as well during the entirety of the World Series.
Only the top 100 players who collected points will be back, attempting to divide up the two million this year among the nine players who make the final table ($1 million will go to the winner).
BOYLEPOKER NOW INVOLVED WITH IRISH POKER CHAMPS
Online subsidiary of Irish bookie to host satellites
PokerEvents, founders of the inaugural Irish Poker Tour, has joined forces with Boylepoker.com to create the first-ever large-payout tournament Ireland, branded Irish Poker Championship.
The contest consists of a series of nationwide events, and to qualify for the series, players will compete in weekly satellites that feed into regional super satellites. Top players from the super satellites will qualify for the national final, appropriately named All Ireland Poker Finals, which will take place in Dublin in January 2006.
The final event has a Euro 1,000 buy-in with an Ireland tournament record Euro 500,000 prize pool. "This will be one of the biggest poker tournaments ever staged in Europe," a spokesman for the event said, claiming that the big payout and size of the three-day final event would attract top players like Marcel Luske, the Hendon Mob, Gus Hansen, and other European poker aces.
The tournament has a capacity of 500 players and will probably be broadcast live on television.
Supporting events will include Euro 500 and Euro 250 buy-ins that will have payouts of Euro 100,000 and Euro 75,000 respectively. In addition to playing in the live events, players can qualify online at Boylepoker.com, a new online poker site from Boylesports that is a member of the Prima Poker Network.
POKER SCHOOL ON TELEVISION
Pro player teaching in FullTilt's latest venture
FullTilt Poker.net has launched a new venture designed to improve player understanding and enjoyment of the Texas Hold 'Em game.
The new half hour TV show promises to entertain and demystify the winning strategies of Texas Hold'Em and premiers on Tuesday, Sept. 27 at 8:30 pm local, with new episodes airing every Sunday at 4:30 pm and repeats on Tuesdays at 8:30 pm.
Titles "FullTiltPoker.Net Presents: Learn From The Pros," the show is to be hosted by Best Damn Sports Show Period's Chris Rose and poker pro Howard Lederer.
The 30-minute, 26-week series explains the nuances of the most popular game on television, and as the series progresses, the pros offer more sophisticated lessons and offer up some of the tricks of the trade for winning big pots.
Throughout the series, members of Team Full Tilt, the respected poker champions behind FullTiltPoker.Net join Rose and Lederer to offer tips and strategy lessons.
"The time is right for an entertaining show about poker that is also truly educational," said Lederer, who has won two WSOP bracelets, two World Poker Tour titles as well as many other tournaments."
The pros take part in roundtable discussions on various poker topics, providing them a rare opportunity to share some of the "inside" stories that have made them legends in the game. The show also offers an interactive component as it provides viewers the chance to email their questions about how to play a hand, or what they should have done in a particular situation and the pros will answer in detail.
MILLIONAIRE BACKGAMMON TOURNEY
Ancient game continues to grow in modern popularity
The ancient Persian game of backgammon has been achieving considerable online popularity recently, and this week received a further boost with the announcement that UKBetting has signed up to be the main sponsor of the upcoming Backgammon Million tournament.
The company plans an online campaign and will help produce TV coverage of the event, which is believed to be the richest backgammon tournament in history. The event is also likely to be broadcast on Sportal, the sports content portal owned by ukbetting, which has relaunched as a live sports TV channel.
KONICHIWA, CARMEN GROUP
Increased focus on the Japanese online gambling market from Carmen Media
Carmen Media Group, the Gibraltar-based casino giant, has clearly locked on to the exciting possibilities of the Japanese online gaming sector in announcing an increased focus on Japan and the launch of Japanese telephone support.
Carmen launched a Japanese language site last year, but has recently upgraded its activities in the region.
Carmen Media’s corporate website has also recently been translated into Japanese, and InfoPowa is informed that the Gibraltar-based Internet gambling group recently sent members of staff to Japan to research marketing opportunities in the region.
Tim Johnson, chief executive of Carmen, is on record as saying that Asia is a key focus area for the company.
“While our key market continues to be the US, we have seen increased emphasis on new market development,” Johnson said. “The Gaming Club Japan is the first fully translated and tailored Microgaming online casino, with more than 120 fully adapted games specifically targeted at the Japanese market.”
The company currently offers email support to its Japanese customers, and plans to launch telephone help lines later this year.
NEW TV SHOW FOR SPORTINGBET
The Odds Squad will have wide appeal
The dominant brand in the Sportingbet gambling group, Sportsbook, has announced the launch of a new U.S. TV show to support its new play-for-free website, designed to circumvent American online gambling reestrictions on advertising.
The show, titled The Odds Squad will be broadcast on US TV network CNBC on Saturday mornings, and will comprise four betting experts who will analyse the week’s upcoming sports match-ups.
The show is produced in association with sportsbook.tv and the website will feature heavily during the show.
Its launch will be backed by a print advertising campaign for the show in the US.
The show is expected to be the first in a series of promotions for the new sportsbook.tv play-for-free site.
Sportsbook.tv is the company’s play-for-free website, which includes sports information, betting tips and advice on casino gaming.
EXPEKT MAKES ITS MOVE
Barely a week after denying it, Expekt changes poker networks
Barely a week after denying that it intended to do so, the Scandinavian sportsbook Expekt has officially signed a deal to join the Tain poker network, departing Prima Poker.
Expekt is positioned to become the largest member of the Tain network, which currently includes Scandinavian sportsbooks pointbet and Scandic Bookmakers.
Erik Ahlberg, chief executive of Tain, said it was a “very exciting” development for his company. “Expekt.com is the market leader in Scandinavia and one of the biggest players in Europe,” he said.
Tain has provided sportsbook software for Expekt since it was launched in 1999 and casino software from when it was launched in 2003.
“We feel that it is only natural to get maximum synergies by moving all our key products to the same provider,” Per-Ivan Selinder, CEO of Expekt.com, said.
Expekt.com will switch to Tain Poker on the 23rd of October, 2005.
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