Sunday, March 28, 2010

PartyGaming Eyes French With PMU Deal; Global Strategy Sees Punters And Government's Win, by Greg Tingle - 27th March 2010

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PartyGaming is aiming to take advantage of the newly regulated online gambling market opening up in France by inking a deal with Pari Mutuel Urbain (PMU) to provide an online poker offering to the French horse racing betting group.

The deal which is understood to be similar to b2b agreements PartyGaming has signed in Italy and Denmark, enables the company to operate its world famous PartyPoker website – provided it wins a licence in the regulated market – as well as power PMU’s poker offering.

Players on both sites will be brought into one poker liquidity pool.

Jim Ryan, PartyGaming’s chief executive, said the company intended to strike other B2B poker deals in France. "The objective is to have the largest poker liquidity pool in France," he said.

PartyGaming declined to disclose terms of the deal. PMU, which has signed up Paddy Power as its partner in sports betting, last year made turnover of €9.3bn and has 6.5m customers.

Wyn Ellis, analyst with Numis, advised the deal could add £5m to 2011 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation. "Party has a scale that has allowed it put people and resources into multiple markets to allow it to exploit the changing regulatory environment," Mr Ellis said.

Burt Paul Leyland of Collins Stewart said while the deal would give Party a leading place in the French market, it would not obviously drive revenue.

PartyGaming would have to absorb the loss of revenues coming out of France in the unregulated market, he said, adding that, given the proposed tax rates in the new regime, "Party could easily still be a net loser".

Ryan remains upbeat and positive, emphasising revenues coming out of France were small and that the opportunity for PartyGaming to advertise in France was crucial. "I don’t share the view that we can expect ebit margins to shrink," he said.

France plans to open the new market in time for the start of the World Cup in June. Under the new regime, the PMU is protected by regulations that require bets on horse racing to be pari-mutuel, but fixed-odds betting is allowed on sports.

PartyGaming's global strategy continues to take shape. A return to the United States this year, or next, would likely be the firms jackpot, however they continue to make progress in many regions. Other countries that Party are keen to expand into include Australia, India and South America.

The company's amicable settlement with the U.S Government last year, exceeding $100m, is tangible proof of financial stability and willingness to go the extra mile as to adapt to the market, while satisfying crucial legal requirements. Party's financial strength and positive result for the United States coffers has not gone unnoticed by Government bean counters across the globe. Clearly Party have far greater resources and experience than most of their would be competitors. Mainstream brands Virgin (Games) and Sega are also looking to expand internationally, but in the case of Virgin its more of a non gambling product push. In the eyes of most media and gaming analysts, PartyGaming is way ahead of the pack, with only Harrah's Entertainment giving them a real run for their money in the U.S.

Ryan sees a number of mergers and acquisitions on the cards. Industry buzz of late is that Party may be about to secure a deal with a major Canadian based poker tour brand, and such a deal would add to Party's poker tour portfolio headed up by the World Poker Tour.

"With some acquisitions and major B2B deals already under our belt, we plan to do more in 2010 and I believe we are on course to meet our objective of becoming the world's most valuable online gaming company."

PartyCasino.com remains a big hit for Party and its customers, with Hollywood branded games such as the Sinatra slot, Rambo, The Terminator, Mission: Impossible and Saturday Night Fever enjoying record popularity. The deal with Marvel Entertainment also continues to serve Party, its partners and customers well, and let us not forget upcoming Marvel films, Thor and Spider-Man, that will further propel the Hollywood themed games.

Party is also utilizing the strength of other world class non gaming brands to stand out from the pack. This month PartyCasino players have a chance to win a Porsche playing slot games, a promotion most other competitors would die for.

Australians can currently play virtually all PartyGaming brands including PartyCasino.com, PartyPoker.com, WPTCasino.com, WPTPoker.com, PartyBingo.com, PartyGammon.com and PartyBets.com

Shares in PartyGaming rose ½p to finish at 329.3p on Friday.

*The writer has a b2b agreement with a number of PartyGaming brands, as they do with dozens of companies in the gaming, media and entertainment sector.

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Saturday, March 27, 2010

PKR Poker Springfest 2010 - 26th March 2010

It’s time for PKR’s Springfest!

This awesome series kicks off on Friday 26th March lasting almost two weeks with more than $130,000 worth of prizes waiting to be won!

Springfest’s 11 events will be giving players the chance to test their online poker skills in a range of exciting formats which include: Deep stacks, Bounty events, Omaha, Rebuys and Terminators all featuring in this year’s line-up.

In addition to this, the festival will also feature a special PKR Live IV freeroll.

Players that enter at least 6 out of the 11 spring fest events will be able to enter the tournament where three PKR Live IV packages will be up for grabs. These great packages include your ticket, travel to London and expenses!

PKR Marketing Manager Erika Schwartz said, "Springfest is a staple on the PKR calendar and player response is always fantastic. This year’s calendar of events is really exciting, with lots of variation, playable structures and very affordable buy-ins."

You can buy in direct or play satellites in order to take part in the Springfest events, check the PKR lobby for more details.

Be also sure to check out the PKR Casino slots and new sports betting, all part of the unique PKR experience.

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Friday, March 26, 2010

Poker Playing Students Suspended From School Down Under, by Greg Tingle - 26th March 2010

An Aussie clan of school students has been suspended for "gambling" during class hours in a development that many parents, students and members of the press have labelled a massive over-reaction for playing cards, on school grounds no less.

Seven (unlucky) students, from Western Cape College’s Aurukun campus, were nabbed while betting cash on the card game and were punished on Wednesday. It is not known who won the game or who was leading at the time of the bust, nor the pot at stake.

Education leaders have been especially critical of the sanction, saying such a punishment should only be used out for bullying and violent offences.

Media Man thinks it may be a different case if the students had wagged school, hit the "local" (pub - hotel) and were playing the pokies! Let us not forget that playing cards also requires skill and usage of the brain.

The move could have far reaching consequences for the parents who receive welfare payments under the Cape York Welfare Reform program.

Under the CYWR program, if a student is absent from school three times in a term without a reasonable excuse payments can be docked.

It is unknown how long the students will be banned from school.

Opposition education spokesman Bruce Flegg said the punishment didn’t fit the crime and believed the focus should have been on "rehabilitating" the card loving students.

"I would prefer to see such a punishment used for bullying and violence," he said.
"I wonder how letting kids miss out on school is a good thing. It’s a victimless crime, I would’ve thought some sort of guidance would’ve be an appropriate thing."

Child psychologist Frances Quirk said while the school needed to prove "gambling" was not acceptable, she questioned the merit in suspending them.

"Schools handing out suspensions on its own is not likely to be a deterrent," she said.

"I’d prefer to see intervention and discussion with the children, asking them if they know gambling is risky and if they’re doing other risky things. There’s better outcomes for children if you sit them down and look at how you can change the activities they’re engaging in."

An Education Queensland spokesman confirmed the students had been suspended.

"Seven students have been suspended from the Western Cape College’s Aurukun campus," he said.

Media Man says the harsh punishment has resulted in this matter becoming a local, national and now, international news story.

Readers minds might flick back to Betfair babe, Annette Obrestad, who goes under the nickname, "Annette_15". Betfair was warned by the UK advertising authority (Advertising Standards Authority) that such campaigns, tags and tactics et al going in the public domain may potentially encourage underage gambling, poker engagement and the like.

Poker is almost universally recognised as primarily a game of skill, as ruled in court rooms around the world. In fact recently as reported in Gambling911, Lithuania ruled that poker is in fact a sport.

Media Man is currently investigating if TNA pro wrestler Kevin "Big Sexy" Nash, formally known as "Vinnie Vegas", is or was a formidable poker player. Many celebrities present themselves as very poker and casino savvy, but few actually are.

Poker and gambling news remains red hot in the Asia Pacific - Australian region, as two days ago revelations surfaced in The Australian newspaper that cricket great Shane Warne is fronting an "illegal" (in Australia) poker brand (888) and that an Australian government "probe" was on the way. Some legal aspects of poker, gaming and igaming were also covered this past Wednesday at iGaming Business Down Under conducted at Sydney's Star City Casino. Media Man filmed some of the event and had more than one legal eagle in attendance.

Casino News Media and Media Man Online Poker Room of the Month: PartyPoker, WPTPoker and PokerStars (a 3 way tie!) PKR Poker, the 3D poker room was runner up.

Readers, ladies and gentlemen, young (not too young) and old, thank you for your loyalty and patronage. We, Media Man (and Google News) appreciate it, and that's no bluff. Keep it legal, and keep it fun. As rock icon Alice Cooper screams, Schools Out!

*Greg Tingle is a special contributor for Gambling911

*Media Man http://www.mediamanint.com is primarily a media, publicity and internet portal development company. They also run a poker news website portal Poker News Media.

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Wednesday, March 24, 2010

PartyPoker Women's World Open IV Underway - 23rd March 2010

London – The PartyPoker.com Women’s World Open IV is underway in London today, running from the 23rd – 24th March 2010.

To keep up to date with the latest news see PartyPoker.com

Play is expected to run until midnight tonight.

The 24 player $3,000 buy-in tournament features a total prize pool of $72,000 and a six-seat final table. The top two players from each of the three deep-stacked eight handed heats carry their chips through to the final table. Starting stacks for the heats are 200,000, with blinds starting at 1,000/2,000. Taking part are Team PartyPoker.com’s Kara Scott, who will also spend time in the commentary box, plus and the one and only Annette Obrestad. Joining them are Women’s World Open III winner Aisling Collins and last year’s runner-up, Kim Wooka from Japan. Other confirmations include Laurence Grondin, Maria Demetriou, Christine Klecz, Pippa Flanders and season two winner Soraya Homam.

Commentary will be provided by Jesse May, who will be joined by both Annette Obrestad and Kara Scott in the booth. Presenting duties will be shared between the glamorous pairing of Kara Scott and Tatjana Pasalic. Coverage of the Matchroom Sport organised event will first be broadcast on Five in the UK later this year and then distributed internationally.

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Saturday, March 20, 2010

Australian Casino And Poker News: Overseas Passenger Terminal And Burswood Casino Packs Em In, by Greg Tingle - 19th March 2010

It's been a huge 24 hours in the Australian casino, employment, poker, media and social and community entrepreneur sectors.

Billionaire Inc Connection...

James Packer's Burswood Casino aka Burswood Entertainment Complex, based in Perth, Western Australia, is on a roll. Poker and online poker continue to do massive numbers, and Crown Limited (Crown Casino and Burswood Casino etc al), PartyGaming's PartyPoker, Media Man and Gambling911 are in the thick of the action.

Must be magic that Packer and Perth mining magnate, Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest are weaving. "Twiggy" have brought his infectious can-do attitude, work ethic and Aussie humour in spades to Sydney. Yep, the Billionaire, understood to now be Australia's Richest Man, still has the common touch.

Packer and Forrest were in Sydney last night, at the Overseas Passenger Terminal, joined by 500 power players in the Australian business, political and entertainment arena to officially welcome in GenerationOne. For the record, Media Man had to report from the sidelines as the event was jam packed, but did have the pleasure to speaking to some execs very close to the powers that be...and they were pleased to hear of our assistance to groups such as Githabul people, Yuggera tribe, Deadly Awards, Friends of Malabar Headland and Virgin Unite, and mentioning that we owned shares in Crown Casino didn't seem to hurt the cause!

Movie stars Cate Blanchett and Russell Crowe attended last night, where movers and shakers exchanged ideas (plus gossip) and saw their palms projected onto the sails of the Opera House in a show of support. Us Aussies are likely giving the Las Vegas Strip and Atlantic City a few free ideas!

The story that Media Man and Gambling911 collaborated on and broke worldwide, has dominated Google and Google News for the past 24 hours or so, and shows no sign on slowing down for the weekend... a favorite time for punters, both in Australia and around the globe.

The GenerationOne movement has also triggered us to open up negotiations with the state and federal government to see how we here at Media Man may qualify to take on a couple of suitable indigenous peoples as contract staff to assist our business endeavors... could be for photography, video, graphic arts or internet portal development.

Australia New Zealand Poker Tour

The event is the toast of the town in Perth, ok, that may be talking it up a notch, but you get the idea.

Burswood Casino, PokerStars and the online poker community, not to mention bars,
restaurants, taxis and limousines are sure doing well out of it. All the action also means that Burswood will need to keep staff numbers high, which is good news for GenerationOne, but fortunately those infamous plastic handcuffs have yet been witnessed on site.

Insiders advise over 60 players got through day 1b at the PokerStars ANZPT Perth Main Event. Mr Yu-chang Cheng leads as the only player from the flight with over 100,000 in chips.

Many of Australia’s best poker players attended with PokerStars pros Tony Hachem, Eric Assadourian and Grant Levy all surviving with pretty average chips.

Joel "Strong Play" Dodds who continues his roll with ANZPT to sit in third chip position with 97,600 and APPT Sydney champion Aaron Benton returned strongly from a short stack to concluded with 74,900 chips. ANZPT Adelaide champ Rennie Carnevale gets to Day 2 with 47,550.

The ANZPT Perth Main Event attracted 222 players, beating the previous record for a Perth event - 142 players. The top prize is $132,750.

Here's the numbers as of time to publication

Top ten chip counts:
Nik Lackovic – 104,625
Yu-chang Cheng – 101,425
Joel Dodds – 97,600
Dominic Sinagra – 93,350
Aaron Wilson – 90,950
Kelvin Beattie – 90,125
Christopher Evans - 87,600
Tu Le – 84,425
Jimmy Wong – 77,925
Aaron Benton - 74,900

So punters, be casino, poker or community assistance being your passion or poison, as you can see its been a massive period for casino, poker and entertainment news down under.

Wait, there's more!

GenerationOne - The Numbers Build

In the next report we expect to be able to give more updates on the amount of jobs GenerationOne is generating. New South Wales premier Kristina Keneally, already has 2229 jobs earmarked for indigenous people, Packer has approx 100, "Twiggy" with multiple thousands, and Media Man has put aside 2 contract jobs for locals. It's more paperwork, but the end result is worth the effort.

Mr Packer has employed 60 indigenous workers and is looking for 50 more. Like many, he had always wanted to do more in the area and Mr Forrest had shown him how.

"It's not about rich people can do more, or poor people should get off their backsides, or government should get out there … It's about all Australians", Mr Forrest said.

"People tell me, 'This is just another campaign.' I say show me the 20,000 (promised jobs so far) in any other campaign."

Readers, have fun playing your games of preference, and be assured that we will continue to support the readership and community who support us.

Let's hear it again for the Australian - American connection... Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi Aussie Aussie Aussie USA USA Aussie Oi Aussie Oi USA Oi Oi Oi!

* Greg Tingle is a special contributor for Gambling911

* The writer owns shares in Crown Limited

* Media Man http://www.mediamanint.com is primarily a media, publicity and internet portal development company, operating in over a bakers dozen vertical markets

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Thursday, March 18, 2010

Potential Deal in the Works for Canadian Poker Tour Purchase by Online Poker Company - 17th March 2010

According to CNN Money, there is a potential deal being offered for sponsorship of the Canadian Poker Tour or an outright purchase of the organization by an unnamed online poker company. Poker News Daily has been in contact with Kelly Kellner, Chief Executive Officer of Heads Up Entertainment International, which owns the tour and other poker-related entities, and has been able to confirm that there is an offer on the table.

In the CNN Money article, Kellner was quoted as saying, “For competitive reasons, the online poker company wishes to go unnamed at this time. As the online poker market becomes more competitive, our brand name and our market become more and more valuable. As a result of these negotiations, the numbers here can get very large, very quickly.” Heads Up Entertainment has built the Canadian Poker Tour to encompass over 50 casinos across Canada and also reached into the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, and cruise ships on the high seas of the Caribbean. In total, Heads Up Entertainment provides over 600 casino-based poker events through its partnerships.

In a discussion with Poker News Daily, Kellner stated that the offer was something that he knew would be coming. “Was it out of the blue? Yes and no,” Kellner said in an exclusive interview with Poker News Daily. “We have always figured that the Canadian Poker Tour would be an attractive candidate for acquisition by someone. The management here at Heads Up Entertainment has realized that, with our development of our relationships with casinos and our building of the CPT brand and our other poker outlets such as Canadian Poker Player Magazine and Canadian Poker Player Television, we might be on track for something like this in 18 months to two years.”

“When we started discussing the idea in more depth on Friday with this online poker outlet,” Kellner continued, “we realized that it was happening way before we thought it would.” The CNN Money article states that Heads Up Entertainment, through the ownership of the Canadian Poker Tour, Canadian Poker Player Magazine, and the recently launched Canadian Poker Player Television, has the ability to reach over 40 million people across the North American landscape.

Last year, the former ownership of the World Poker Tour (WPT), World Poker Tour Enterprises, sold the eight year old company to the online gaming giant Party Gaming for $12.3 million. While that was a sizeable amount, WPT management turned down a reported $36.5 million offer from Mandalay Media prior to accepting the Party Gaming offer. The potential discussions by Heads Up Entertainment and the unnamed online poker outlet could lead to another such battle.

Kellner, while not disclosing the online company who could become the potential sponsor or new owner of the Canadian Poker Tour, stated that the deal being discussed was “well into the seven-figure range.” He offered no timetable for the Tour regarding this proposal and indicated that, at this moment, the company was preparing for the next installment of the Canadian Open Poker Championships this fall. In the past, the tournament has featured such popular Canadian players as Gavin Smith and Brad “Yukon” Booth and other top professionals such as Phil Hellmuth, Joe Hachem, Phil Laak, Jennifer Tilly and Antonio Esfandiari. Kellner also stated that the popular Canadian Heads Up Championship (an event won in 2008 by former World Champion and 2009 National Heads Up Poker Championship winner Huck Seed), will be back on the schedule this year.

As of press time, there have been no details released regarding the potential deal for the Tour. “We have built the CPT and other parts of the company through offering the best of everything to our players, from tournament structures to other tournaments and cash games to entertainment outside of our events,” Kellner stated. “We certainly hope that is maintained by the entity that has made the offer to us if,” Kellner emphasized, “we decide to accept the offer.” (Credit: Poker News Daily)

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Monday, March 15, 2010

Australia's Jupiters Casino On The Gold Coast Opens World Class Poker Room, by Greg Tingle - 15th March 2010

Not one to be bias, despite owning shares in Packer's Crown Limited (and none in Tabcorp), we have a look at what's news with our "friends" up Surfers Paradise way at Conrad Jupiters (soon to be dropping the "Conrad" tag)... maybe something to do with Conrad Black...

The poker room at Jupiters Hotel and Casino on the Gold Coast opened for business this past Wednesday night. We hear it was quite the cocktail party, apparently with a few cocks and tails doing the rounds ala Las Vegas Strip, or Macau for that matter.

The VIP's - A, B and C listers were invited to try lady luck on the greens and bet heavy thanks to the advent of "pretend" money, which is even better than "Lucky Money" for those following the Harry K Owes Owes Crown Casino 1 Million Bucks story.

Back to positive PR, Robbie Vail, GM of tables that the rooms was part of Jupiters multi-million dollar make over where the likes of Kerry Packer, Mel Gibson, Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Greg Norman and many more whales and dolphins tried their luck. No mention of Harry K or James Packer however.

We wish em good luck in the true spirit of competition. If they go well enough Bondi's James' might even have another go at scooping up Tabcorp, if The Price Is Right.

*Greg Tingle is a special contributor for Gambling911

*The writer owns shares in Crown Limited

*Media Man is primarily a media, publicity and internet portal development company

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Friday, March 12, 2010

Poker Babes: Maxim Men's Magazine Top 20 For 2010

Men's magazine Maxim have released their 20 hottest poker babes.

The list mainly consists of Hollywood celebs who have had minor poker involvement such as charity tournaments, however there are a handful of poker babes who can also play well, and even a couple of champions!

Vanessa Rousso enjoyed a win at the EPT Grand Final High Rollers and was runner-up at the NBC National HU Championship and has made 11 final table appearances. Her total tournament cashes are 2.5 million dollars.

Jennifer Tilly and Shannon Elizabeth are two celebrities known also as passionate players. Jenn has a WSOP bracelet and both have made the semifinals at the NBC National HU Championship.

Tiffany Michelle's biggest brag is 17th place and $334,000 at the World Series of Poker 2008 Main Event.

Us, we like Kara Scott from PartyPoker.com and remain very high on Paris Hilton, Jenny McCarthy and Pam Anderson.

Cameron Diaz
Heather Graham
Jenna Fischer
Jennie Garth
Jennifer Love Hewitt
Jennifer Tilly
Jenny McCarthy
Joanna Krupa
Lacey Chabert
Laura Prepon
Mena Suvari
Odette Yustman
Pamela Anderson
Rosario Dawson
Sarah Silverman
Serinda Swan
Shannon Elizabeth
Tiffany Michelle
Traci Bingham
Vanessa Rousso

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Monday, March 08, 2010

World Poker Tour New Websites By PartyGaming

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Crown returns to profit in first half - 26th February 2010

Casinos operator Crown Ltd is cautiously optimistic about the second half of the financial year, after moving back into first half profit with "satisfactory" growth at Australian casinos.

Crown on Friday reported a net profit from continuing operations of $115.3 million for the six months to December 31, 2009 compared to a $409.7 million loss in the prior comparable period.

The previous corresponding period's result included a $547.5 million writedown on stakes in casinos in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, which were affected by the economic downturn in those countries.

After stripping out the impact of non-recurring items and the variance in the theoretical win rate against high-rolling gamblers, Crown's normalised net profit for first half of 2009/10 was $145.6 million, up three per cent on the normalised figure of $141.4 million in the prior corresponding half.

Crown chief executive Rowen Craigie said the overall results for Crown's casinos in Melbourne and Perth - which have been the focus since last year's writedowns on the overseas assets - were "satisfactory".

The first half had been strong but had tailed away later in the half due to a softening in consumer sentiment and a greater-than-expected impact of refurbishment and expansion programs at the Crown casino in Melbourne and the Burswood casino in Perth.

Mr Craigie declined to provide specific outlook for the second half, but said consumer sentiment had picked up in January and February, the replacement of the raised floor in the main casino at Burswood would be completed by April, and Crown was set to open its third hotel, the Metropol, at the Crown complex in Melbourne in March.

However, disruption due to refurbishment of the Teak Room at Crown casino in Melbourne would continue until August.

"And what the economy is going to look like over the next four months is obviously going to be a factor as well," Mr Craigie said.

"We've started the second half with the main gaming floor growing at close to twice the rate where we finished the first half and non-gaming is up as well.

"There are some things to look forward to, but obviously like others we are cautious about where the economy is going."

Mr Craigie said main-floor gaming revenue at Burswood and Crown grew by about three per cent in January and February 2010 compared to the prior corresponding period, and non-gaming revenue lifted about seven per cent.

Mr Craigie also said Crown was not intending to sell its gaming interests in Macau.

Crown holds a 35 per cent stake in Melco Crown Entertainment (MCE). Crown's share of MCE's result for the first half was a loss of $48.1 million.

Crown saw long-term potential for growth in the Macau market given its exposure to China, and MCE had announced that overall performance in January had been pleasing.

Mr Craigie said the US gaming market was still in difficulty and Crown had not considered any activity there in the last six months.

"The US market is still very depressed, Las Vegas continues to suffer declines in revenue and the other states which have allowed gaming are experiencing similar sorts of difficulty," he said.

Mr Craigie said that in the first half, renovations at Crown Melbourne and Burswood had affected main floor table revenue.

But the casinos achieved record turnover in high-roller gambling, which rose 22.9 per cent to $23.4 billion.

Non-gaming revenue had recovered and grew 4.5 per cent in the half.

In August last year, Crown said its principal efforts in the 12 months following would be to focus on enhancing Crown's Australian operations and to work with its joint-venture partners to optimise the value of our Macau and other overseas investments.

"We have made progress on those fronts during the past six months, and this will continue to be our focus," Mr Craigie said.

Crown declared an interim dividend of 18 cents per share, in line with the prior corresponding period.

Crown shares were 17 cents higher at $8.00 at on Friday.

Sunday, March 07, 2010

Tiger Woods Turns Down $75 Million Offer From Paddy Power Poker; Online Poker And Gambling Firms Looking For Celeb Edge, by Greg Tingle - 7th March 10

Media Man reports it's been a big year for The Tiger, and an equally huge year for the online poker and gambling sector.

Tiger Woods has just turned down a $75 million sponsorship offer from the online firm Paddy Power.

Paddy Power enjoys a strong position in the Irish sector and has aspirations to kick big goals in a number of overseas regions.

Various news sources and wires such as TMZ and Poker News Daily report "Tiger Woods just blew off a $75 million endorsement offer from an Irish gambling company – and that is how you know you’re rich." It was a long term deal, but tiger has recently made it clear what his major priorities are.

In other celeb - poker news, five-time NBA champion Dennis Rodman has signed with Cake Poker Network site Only Poker. Rodman is managed by Prince Marketing Group, as is fellow NBA legend Earvin "Magic" Johnson, wrestling legend Hulk Hogan and boxing legend Smokin' Joe Frazier.

PartyGaming's PartyPoker.com is said to be delighted with their poker celeb and pro signings including Aussie's Stewart Scott and Tony G, Canadian-Brit Kara Scott, German Dragan Galic and Italian football living legend, Francesco Totti.

Mike Sexton, Poker Hall of Famer remains the face of Party's World Poker Tour, which PartyGaming purchased last year.

PartyPoker is not currently accepting American players, but is taking on Aussies. PokerStars continues to accept Americans, Canadians, Aussies, and just about anyone else, as does PKR Poker.

Media Man can report that PartyGaming an a number of other online poker and gaming brands have their eyes and ears open to sign the right celebs and celebrity poker and sports starts as the high stakes business of online poker and casino continues.

These developments come as many governments of the world are considering fully regulating the online poker and casino industry.

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Thursday, March 04, 2010

PartyPoker, World Poker Tour and PartyGaming News, by Greg Tingle - March 2010

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PartyGaming's PartyPoker and World Poker Tour brands Huge News And Promotions Month


WSOP Qualifiers Underway At PartyPoker

Gibraltar – 3rd March 2010 PartyPoker.com is giving its customers the chance to play at the World Series of Poker® in Las Vegas for free. That’s right: win a $14,000 WSOP® package to the most famous poker event on the planet for absolutely nothing!

PartyPoker.com has just introduced a comprehensive range of qualifiers for the showpiece in Las Vegas, starting with irresistible daily freerolls. The qualifiers are online now and run until 13th June. The main $700+$50 satellites take place every Friday at 18.00ET and Sunday at 15.35ET, where one in 20 players will win a $14,000 WSOP package.

A PartyPoker.com spokesman said: “A comprehensive schedule of qualifiers for packages are now online. PartyPoker.com is offering more seriously cost effective ways to qualify for the WSOP than ever before. It doesn’t get much better than winning a package for absolutely nothing!”

All winners will be rewarded with a prize package worth $14,000. Each package includes:

$10,000 WSOP® main event buy-in
$2,000 spending money
Hotel accommodation and hospitality

All package winners will also be invited to join our exclusive WSOP® poker seminar when they get to Vegas. If they attend, they’ll receive expert advice, tuition and tips from Team Party, which includes successful players like Mike Sexton, Tony G, Kara Scott, Ian Frazer and other top pros.

Please note:

The main event at WSOP® 2010 will run from 5th to 17th July and be held in Las Vegas, USA

Players must be at least 21 years of age in order to be able to play at the WSOP®

Prize packages are non transferable and no cash alternative is available. By playing for and winning one of our WSOP® packages you declare that you are able to travel to the event in question, including being able to obtain any and all documents required for travel to that destination

The PartyPoker.com poker seminar will be attended by at least one of PartyPoker.com’s Team Party group of professional players; attendance will be finalised closer to the date of the WSOP® depending on the pros’ individual schedules

Please see our standard promotional terms and conditions

“World Series of Poker”® and “WSOP”® are registered trade marks of Harrah’s License Company LLC. No license, affiliation, sponsorship or endorsement is claimed, or should be inferred from the use of these trademarks here. PartyGaming is not licensed by or otherwise affiliated with Harrah’s License Company LLC or the World Series of Poker® in any way.


PartyPoker Signs Italian Football Star Francesco Totti

PartyPoker has just enhanced its presence in the Italian online poker market after signing AS Roma captain and national football legend Francesco Totti to represent the famed poker site.

The Italian World Cup-winning footballer started playing for Roma’s senior side at the age of sixteen, and with 188 goals to his credit has now become the number-one goalscorer and most capped player in the club’s history. The 33 year-old Italy striker officially retired from international games on 20 July 2007 in order to concentrate his efforts with Roma but has since signalled he would be prepared to play at the 2010 World Cup Finals in South Africa, should he be needed.

As an official PartyPoker representative, Totti’s duties will include taking part in various advertising campaigns to promote the site, as well making celebrity appearances at PartyPoker.it online tournaments.

Following the news of his signing with PartyPoker, Francesco Totti said: “I have faced many challenges in my career and I always apply myself with skill, intelligence, loyalty and passion. You need all these abilities for poker and it is also a game that excites me and is a lot of fun. Thanks to PartyPoker.it, I am able to combine my passion for sport and the challenge of poker.”

PartyPoker seemed delighted with their new signing, and a PartyPoker spokesman commented: “We expect Totti to become the most capped player and number one goalscorer in our history. He is one of the greatest football players of his generation - the question is now will he be one of the greatest poker players of his generation too? What Totti strives for he normally succeeds in achieving! He is a huge signing.”

PartyPoker is a relative new comer to sponsoring professionals however has since made up for lost time, and has recently added poker pros Dragan Galic, Mike Sexton, Kara Scott, Tony G, Ian Frazer, Felipe “Mojave” Ramos, Bodo Sbrzesny and Remy Biechel to Team PartyPoker.


World Poker Tour Rake Race

$23,000 WPT Race on PartyPoker Top spot in the WPT Race Final awards a spectacular package to the WPT Grand Prix de Paris, from May 8 through 13 on the Champs Élysées at the Aviation Club de France!


The Gladiator

Gladiator promotion returns to PartyPoker. This time, the festivities run from March 3rd to April 1st and up to $7,500 in cold hard cash is on the line. The Gladiator’s payouts are based on the number of PartyPoints you rack up during the promotion on a daily basis. Accumulate 10 PartyPoints during just five days of the promotional period and you’ll gain entry into a high-stakes $10,000 freeroll. Players who earn 2,000 points for 25 days will be living the high life to the tune of a $7,500 cash prize.

There are $15,000 and $25,000 freerolls – both capped at 10,000 players – that will be held during the Gladiator promotion. Also up for grabs is a $12,500 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event package. Players who earn 2,000 points every day during the 30-day promotional event will jet set their way to Las Vegas to compete in the 2010 WSOP Main Event. The $12,500 package includes the tournament’s $10,000 buy-in, $1,000 in spending money, and hotel accommodation.

Points don’t have to be earned on consecutive days, so earn them at your leisure while you face off in the Coliseum against the Gladiator. PartyPoker’s website explains, “For example, if you earn 10 points every day for 10 days, take five days off, and then earn 10 points on 10 more days of the promotion, you’ll get the prize for earning 10 points on 20 days.” That feat would be worth $15 and comes your way as a cash prize courtesy of PartyPoker. You can log into your PartyPoker account to check your progress as the month continues.

Now, it’s time to explain the fine print. First, the Gladiator is an opt-in promotion. Players who win the WSOP package can exchange it for $10,000 in cash and those who head to Las Vegas are obligated to don PartyPoker gear while playing in the Main Event. Last year, PokerStars pro Joe jcada99 Cada banked a healthy $8.5 million after winning the Main Event, outlasting Maryland woodsman Darvin Moon heads-up.

PartyPoker, which does not currently accept players from the United States, is looking forward to the third running of its popular points-based contest: “The Gladiator is back and the rewards are greater than ever before. This promotion is about spreading play over a period of time for maximus rewards! It is simple and offers great value and we encourage players to challenge themselves and take a closer look.” During the Gladiator’s last running, Crown Casino Aussie Millions prize packages were up for grabs.


The Gladiator - more details

PartyPoker has announced the triumphant return of ‘The Gladiator’ and for one month only the popular online poker site will become a coliseum! As part of the promotion players can earn up to $7,500 in addition to WSOP (World Series of Poker) main event packages.

From 3rd March until 1st April who reaches the minimum target of 10 party points for five days will be able to claim entry into a $10,000 free roll. The more days a player wins points over the larger the prize will be, up to $7,500 cash!

Those most dedicated PartyPoker fans will be rewarded the most. For example if you earn 2,000 points everyday for the full 30 days, you’ll secure yourself a $12,500 WSOP Main Event package which includes: the buy-in, hotel, hospitality and spending money!

A PartyPoker spokesman said: “The Gladiator is back and the rewards are greater than ever before. This promotion is about spreading play over a period of time for maximus rewards! It is simple and offers great value and we encourage players to challenge themselves and take a closer look.”

What’s also ultra impressive is that players don’t even need to earn points on consecutive days to win big prizes. The site will simply count up the number of days targets have been made during the promotion. You can keep track of how many points you’ve picked up so far in ‘The Gladiator’ promotion by checking your Party Account. Points are not removed from player accounts after the promotion either; they all count towards Palladium Lounge targets.


Monthly Million

Also returning to PartyPoker is the Monthly Million, which will play out this Sunday, March 7th. The Monthly Million attracted a starting grid of 1,584 players in February, which means that it fell about $50,000 short of its $1 million guarantee. The tournament takes place on the first Sunday of every month.

Players receive a starting stack of 20,000 chips in the Monthly Million and the price of poker goes up every 20 minutes. Antes kick in during the sixth level of play, when the blinds are 250-500. Qualifiers for the Monthly Million are taking place continuously on PartyPoker and you can win your way in for as little as $1.


David Benyamine Wins PartyPoker Premier League IV - February 2010

Frenchman David Benyamine took down the fourth PartyPoker Premier League title, defeating embattled pro Luke “Full_Flush” Schwartz heads-up. Benyamine earned $476,000!

Team PokerStars Pro member Daniel Negreanu and Full Tilt's Roland de Wolfe qualified via heads-up matches for the six-handed final table. Negreanu outlasted J.C. Tran in his heads-up encounter, while de Wolfe bested PartyPoker pro Ian Frazer. At the final table, each player began with 10,000 chips for every point they had accrued during Premier League play. Consequently, Unabomber Poker frontman Phil Laak lead over the rest of the field with 480,000 chips, 100,000 ahead of Benyamine’s second place stack of 380,000.

After bleeding chips at the final table, however, including running a set into Negreanu’s flush, Laak was the first casualty. He called all-in pre-flop with pocket tens and was up against Benyamine’s A-K. An old fashioned race would determine the winner of the 300,000-chip pot and the flop came Q-4-2, keeping Laak’s wired pair in front. However, Benyamine spiked an ace on the turn to pull away for good.

Shortly thereafter, de Wolfe departed in fifth place from the PartyPoker Premier League IV final table. He committed his final 240,000 chips with A-J offsuit pre-flop and Negreanu came along with pocket nines. The flop came down K-9-3, giving Negreanu a set, and a seven on the turn left de Wolfe drawing dead. A meaningless ace hit on the river and de Wolfe exited stage right. The hand moved Negreanu into the chip lead with four players remaining.

Negreanu then ran pocket sevens into Schwartz’s pocket kings to drop down to 131,000 in chips. He’d hit the rail after pushing with Q-5 of clubs on a board of K-9-Q with two clubs. Benyamine called with K-9 for top two pair and the turn was another king, giving Benyamine the win in the hand with a boat. Negreanu took fourth place in the Premier League, which emanated from the M Casino in Vegas.

Third place went to the lone online qualifier, Giovanni Safina. The Italian put his money in ahead, as his A-7 was well in front of the K-3 of Schwartz. With the latter in a gambling mood, the flop came 5-Q-6, keeping Safina out in front. The turn was a jack, leaving Schwartz drawing to a king or three on the river. Sure enough, a three peeled off, sending Safina out and setting up a heads-up showdown between Benyamine and Schwartz. The latter entered as better than a 2:1 chip leader.

Benyamine doubled up early with K-10 against K-7 to climb back into the running. On the final hand, the money went into the center with Benyamine holding Q-8 against Schwartz’s Q-2 on a flop of Q-5-3. Schwartz pushed all-in and Benyamine tanked before finally making the call, leading to an eruption from the youngster. According to coverage found on PokerNews, Schwartz commented, "Why'd you slow roll? That's an easy call." The board filled out 7-6 and Benyamine took down the Premier League title.

Payouts were given for Premier League points and final table finishing position. Accordingly, the final PartyPoker Premier League IV shook out as follows:

1. David Benyamine - $476,000
2. Luke "Full_Flush" Schwartz - $258,000
3. Giovanni Safina - $158,000
4. Daniel Negreanu - $132,000
5. Roland de Wolfe - $114,000
6. Phil Laak - $146,000
7. Ian Frazer - $52,000
8. J.C. Tran - $40,000
9. Phil Hellmuth - $38,000
10. Yevgeniy "Jovial Gent" Timoshenko - $32,000
11. Vanessa Rousso - $32,000
12. Tony G - $22,000

Following his win in the unique tournament series, Benyamine told Matchroom Sport organizers, “It feels really good winning a title; I’m still not used to doing it. The whole time, I never thought about winning. I just wanted to do what I thought was right. I know people always say that when they win, but it’s true.”


PartyGaming

PartyGaming is the parent company of World Poker Tour which they purchased last financial year.

PartyGaming is widely regarded as the world's most successful igaming company and is listed on the London Stock Exchange. The company was established in 1997. PartyGaming's brands including PartyPoker, World Poker Tour and PartyCasino has won a number of industry awards and commendations from entities such as eGaming Review, Gambling Online Magazine, Casino News Media, Poker News Media and Media Man.

Websites

PartyPoker.com World Poker Tour website WTP Casino website Club WPT PartyCasino.com

Thursday, February 25, 2010

PartyCasino VS Virgin Casino - online "war" between iGaming powerhouses, by Greg Tingle - 25th February 2010

PartyCasino VS Virgin Casino - iGaming and gaming sector heats up - United Kingdom, Australia, Italy, Japan, Germany, South America, India, South Africa and beyond

PartyGaming - Asia Pacific - Australian focus, planning on return to United States; Hollywood themed games and tie ins with World Poker Tour owned brand, Asian Poker Tour collaboration, Maintains lead as world's leading online casino brand

Virgin Games - planning on expanding both Gambling and non gambling gaming products; Plans to add over 100 new games within 12 months

Hundreds of game titles are available to play now at both PartyGaming's PartyCasino.com and Richard Branson's VirginCasino.com

Punters take note...PartyCasino.com can be accessed in most of the Asia Pacific including Australia and New Zealand, and hotspot, Tasmania, while Virgin Casino can not currently be accessed in those regions. Both companies are looking to soon be able to offering paid games to the United States, in a race which numerous experts say PartyGaming is winning. PartyGaming also owns and operates the famous World Poker Tour (which is available to American punters).

Background

PartyCasino.com VS VirginGames.com

Background to the war...

The "war" between igaming rivals PartyCasino.com and Virgin Games heats up further with the news hot off the press that Richard Branson's Virgin Games will be getting more smash hit games including the King Kong slot.

In addition Richard Branson's Virgin Games is planning a non gambling service: A World Of My Own (AWOMO), which will be able to provide gamers with a cutting edgy technology service in basically all parts of the world, including in regions where traditional online gambling is not permitted. The strength of the Virgin brand, combined with Virgin's track record of success in new ventures and technology stack the odds in favour of the launch being a huge success. Virgin and competitor, PartyGaming, also have very strong news media, igaming, political and business connections.

Virgin's AWOMO is currently in beta testing, and is expected to launch the complete product in the third quarter of this year.

PartyGaming is pushing the interactive elements of its gaming with "Live Dealer", "Casino Calendar" and "Avatar" type technologies just around the corner.

The Casinos

Both online casinos are world class. PartyCasino.com has won the Casino News Media Online Casino of the Month title a number of times and Virgin has made the shortlist for the past 3 months. PartyGaming has won a number of eGaming Review awards and commendations over the years including Socially Responsible Operator Of The Year and Operator Of The Year. PartyCasino.com offers rewards program PartyPoints, while Virgin offers V*Points.

The main point of difference for many potential players is that PartyCasino.com accepts Australian players while Virgin currently does not. PartyCasino also offers a wider variety of multi language and multi currency options. Both casinos offer play for free or play for money options.

Jackpots

Party offers Gold Mega Jackpot, The Big One, Marvel Hero Jackpot and Super Hero Jackpot

Virgin offers MegaJackpots, Marvel Hero Jackpot and Super Hero Jackpot

Virgin Enterprises Limited is one of the world's most successful companies as is PartyGaming. PartyGaming is listed on the London Stock Exchange and was established in 1997. Virgin Games was established in 2005 and Virgin Enterprises was founded by Richard Branson in 1970.

If your ready for action, excitement and fun, check out Party and Virgin without delay.

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Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Crown Casino Aussie Millions Poker Championship kicks off, by Greg Tingle - 16th January 2010

Melbourne, if not the whole of Australia, has poker fever, thanks to casino king James Packer's brainchild, "Aussie Millions".

Media Man long time friend, associate and eyes and ears of the industry, Keith "Bendigo" Sloan, tipped us off that it would be huge and he was right on the money.

Let's start with some big picture stuff.... poker has been widely acknowledged in a court of law as primarily a game of skill. Sure, there's some luck involved, but over time on measured tests, the skill factor comes through. This is a key point in some of the arguments put forward by the Poker Players Alliance. Folks, professional poker is big business and is also a form of sports tourism, something that's been picked up on by the Victorian government, but something Australia's Labor government is still trying to grasp. Maybe it will be covered in the Aussie version of "Casino Jack"!

Let it be said from the get-go that Crown's Aussie Millions gives some much needed balance into the news media coverage of Australia's casino sector, which has been copping a bit of a battering of late. Crown's connection with tourism, sports tourism and high rollers is undisputed, and the powers that be at Crown do give back to society in a number of capacities, some of which is reported and other elements that are done on the quite. It was impossible to miss Warnie and Joe Hachem on Network Ten's 7PM project last month.

It's a given that when so many whales, high rollers and the like are in town, there's vast financial resources not far from felt.

The Salvation Army and Unicef are just a couple of worthy causes that Crown and the powers that be have assisted over the years.

This year sees a reported 1,143 entrants have a punt at Aussie Millions...a record for major poker tournaments in Australia.

A $1,143,000 prize pool will be split amongst the top 108 players, with first place set to collect the first Aussie Millions Gold Championship Ring over $200,000 in cash.

Numerous big names were in attendance for day one including Tony G, Clonie Gowen, Sorel Mizzi, David Saab, Jason Gray, Paul Khoury, Kenneth Damm and 2005 WSOP Champ Joe Hachem. Players who returned to the felt for a second chance included Tony Dunst , Emad Tahtouh, Billy Argyros, Lee Nelson, Josh Field, Ben Delaney, Andrew Jeffreys, Leo Boxell, Amanda De Cesare, Tino Lechich, James Akenhead and 2009 Aussie Millions Champion (and PartyPoker sponsored) Stewart Scott.

Nick Haidaris has emerged with the chip lead of 165,300. Eighty-three players remained from Day 1's starting field. Those back for Day 2 include David Saab, JP Kelly, Antonis Kambouroglou, Brendan Edmonds, Con Tsapkounis, and Jim Sachinidis.

Players not back for day 2 include Tony Dunst, 2009 Aussie Millions Main Event Champ Stewart Scott, Emad Tahtouh, Barny Boatman, Matthew Pearson, Rayan Nathan, Joe Hachem, Tony G, Lee Nelson, Billy Argyros, Jonathan Karamalikis, Michael Guzzardi, James Akenhead, Ben Delaney, and Sorel Mizzi.

Day 2 at Crown Casino kicks off at 12:30 p.m where approximately 200 players will be giving it all they have in their quest for the championship.

Media Man encourages players (and management) on a winning streak to continue to give back to society, and of course the world is aware of those less fortunate including in Haiti which was recently rocked by an earthquake. Casinos and big gaming companies have much bigger resources than most, so let's see if they can even come close to helping to the extent that they did when the Aussie Victorian bushfires hit last March.

*The writer holds shares in Crown Limited
*The writer is the founder and director of Media Man
*The writer is a special contributor for Gambling911

Friday, January 08, 2010

PokerStars Announces North American Poker Tour, by Dan Cypra - 7th January 2010

Look out, North America! Long absent poker events sponsored by PokerStars, the continent will host the North American Poker Tour (NAPT) beginning on January 20th at the Venetian, with another stop planned for Mohegan Sun.

Model Joanna Krupa, who was introduced to the PokerStars family during the fourth installment of the “PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge,” will serve as the NAPT’s on-screen host. A television deal is in the works and PokerStars officials have employed 411, the same company that produces the World Series of Poker (WSOP) on ESPN, to create each episode. The identity of a television partner should be released in the next two weeks.

PokerStars players from the United States and Canada currently have to hop on an airplane and travel to far away lands for PokerStars-sponsored tournaments. PokerStars-backed series include the European Poker Tour (EPT), Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT), Russian Poker Tour (RPT), Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT), Italian Poker Tour (IPT) Czech-Slovak Poker Tour (CSPT), Australia New Zealand Poker Tour (ANZPT), and U.K. and Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT).

At the Venetian in Las Vegas, the final tournament of the casino’s Deep Stack Extravaganza will be the $5,000 buy-in NAPT Main Event. The fun in Sin City will take place from February 20th to 24th and side events will also play out. From Las Vegas, PokerStars NAPT officials will travel 2,600 miles due east to Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut. The tournament series in the popular East Coast casino will see its Main Event held from April 7th to 11th as the kickoff of a brand new poker festival.

Negreanu commented in a press release furnished by the world’s largest online poker site, “I'm really looking forward to the launch of the NAPT. PokerStars.net has done an excellent job sponsoring meaningful tournaments around the world with the EPT, LAPT, APPT, and various other local tours – and it’s exciting to see them coming to my home town of Las Vegas! With the addition of the NAPT, I'll have a chance to play some tournaments on home soil and I'm very excited about that.” 2009 WSOP Main Event champion Joe Cada and Team PokerStars Pro member Vanessa Rousso are among the bevy of site pros who are expected to turn out.

Technically, the first tournament of the NAPT was the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, which is ongoing from the Atlantis Resort and Casino across the harbor from Nassau in the Bahamas. Satellites to the Venetian and Mohegan Sun tournaments will take place on PokerStars, which happily accepts players from the United States. Besides Cada, other WSOP Main Event champions to call the site home include Chris Moneymaker (2003), Greg Raymer (2004), Joe Hachem (2005), Peter Eastgate (2008), and Tom McEvoy (1983).

In North America, the NAPT will compete against several longstanding brands such as the World Poker Tour (WPT) and WSOP Circuit. The WPT is in the midst of filming its eighth season, the first with the backing of Party Gaming, which purchased the rights to the series in October. Poker Hall of Fame member Mike Sexton and actor Vince Van Patten continue to bring the WPT to life each week on Fox Sports Net. The WSOP Circuit has been crisscrossing the United States since 2004, stopping at various Harrah’s properties along the way. Circuit staffers are now camped out in Tunica, Mississippi for the fifth stop of the 2009-2010 season. The series gets underway in the Deep South on January 20th from Harrah’s Tunica.

Krupa has graced the covers of a handful of brand-name magazines, including “FHM,” “Maxim,” “Playboy,” and “Stuff.” She appeared on Season 9 of the ABC reality series “Dancing with the Stars” and also tested her sports skills in the network’s “Superstars.” Krupa defeated 9/11 first responder Mike Kosowski on the fourth episode of the “Million Dollar Challenge;” Kosowski would later go on to defeat Negreanu and earn the $1 million grand prize.

Additional stops for Season 1 of the NAPT will also be announced. (Credit: Poker News Daily)

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Thursday, December 24, 2009

PokerStars New Guinness World Record - December 2009

This is your chance to play in the largest online poker tournament in history, and be part of a Guinness World Record. We’re aiming to beat our previous World Record of 65,000 players, set in July 2009. And with a buy-in of just $1, it’s easy for everyone to take part.

Here’s what you need to know about the Guinness World Record attempt tournament:

Sunday, December 27 at 14:45 ET

$300,000 guaranteed prize pool

$1 buy-in

More players than our previous World Record of 65,000, set July 19, 2009

Registration is now open!

Satellites available in a range of buy ins

To find the tournament, go to the PokerStars Lobby and select ‘Tourney’ and ‘All’ or ‘Special’. You can also use the Tourney Filter in the Lobby to search for the tournament name. To use the filter, open the PokerStars Lobby and enter the word ’record’. The Filter will then search all tournaments and provide you with the relevant results.

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Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Poker News Media: Season 2 Dates Announced For The Pokerstars.Net Australia New Zealand Poker Tour (ANZPT) - 21st December 2009

The PokerStars.net Australia New Zealand Poker Tour (ANZPT) is pleased to announce the first six events of its second season. Stops have already been confirmed in Australia and New Zealand.

The first event of Season 2 is in Adelaide, South Australia, from February 9 to 14, 2010 at the beautiful SKYCITY Adelaide Casino.

Perth will follow as a new venue on the tour from March 17 to 21. “We are thrilled to be part of the ANZPT,” said Jason Barry, General Manager of Table Games at Burswood Entertainment Complex “We feel this is just what our players have been waiting for and we expect big numbers will take part in the first PokerStars.net ANZPT Perth tournament.”

PokerStars.net launched the ANZPT, Australia and New Zealand’s first poker tour, in February 2009. Overnight the tournaments became the most successful in each region, welcomed enthusiastically by both local players and visiting poker pros keen to take on the Aussies and Kiwis while seeing the region.

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Monday, December 14, 2009

PartyPoker Offering 25 Aussie Milllions Prize Packages, by Jessica Welman - 12th December 2009

Ever since the popular online poker room PartyPoker signed 2009 Aussie Millions Main Event winner Stewart Scott as one of its sponsored pros, it has gone out of its way to promote both online and brick and mortar poker in Australia.

This weekend, PartyPoker is offering players a chance to win one of 25 seats in the 2010 Aussie Millions Main Event for just $600. On Sunday, December 13th, the site will host two separate online satellites, one for citizens of Australia and New Zealand and one that is open to the rest of the PartyPoker customer base. Both will feature a $600 + $40 buy-in, although many players will have won their way into the tournaments for much less since the site has been running micro-satellites.

The Aussie-only tournament will give away five tournament packages, each valued at $12,000. The package includes buy-in to the AUD $10,000 Aussie Millions Main Event, hotel accommodations at the Crown Promenade in Melbourne, and $500 to be put towards travel expenses. The tournament will begin at 2:45am ET.

The open field tournament will get underway a little later in the day at 2:30pm ET. It will reward seats to the top 20 finishers and offer a slightly more lucrative version of the Aussie Millions prize package. In addition to the buy-in and the hotel accommodations, the package will also include $3,500 to cover travel expenses. Should a non-Aussie take part in the early tournament, PartyPoker will not offer any additional money to cover travel expenses. Conversely, if a player from Australia or New Zealand wins one of the $15,000 packages, they will still receive the full $3,500 to cover travel.

Stewart Scott commented on the satellite tournaments in an official statement from PartyPoker: “I’ve been playing at PartyPoker.com for five years. These great packages are an amazing opportunity for other players to play in this huge tournament. Claiming the Aussie Millions title has been the highlight of my career and I’d love to see another PartyPoker.com player take the title.”

PartyPoker gave away 96 seats to the Aussie Millions in November as part of the site’s Gladiator promotion. The players who earned at least 1,000 PartyPoints each day in November won their way into the event and the site doled out even more seats as part of a series of online tournaments featuring Scott.

Scott is the reigning Aussie Millions Champion and the first local player to win the tournament since it took on its new moniker and became one of the premiere events on the international tournament circuit. In January, Scott defeated a field of 681 players to take down the AUD $2 million first place prize. Peter Rho of Las Vegas finished in second place and earned AUD $1 million. Other past winners of the Aussie Millions include Alexander Kostritsyn of Russia and Team Full Tilt member Gus Hansen. Last year’s event also played home to one of the biggest live cash games in history with a minimum buy-in of AUD $1 million.

The previous Aussie Millions event boasted a guaranteed first place prize of AUD $2 million. The Crown Casino is expecting an even larger turnout than 2009 and the tournament’s official website is predicting more than 800 runners in the upcoming Main Event. There will also be a host of side events, including an AUD $100,000 buy-in High Rollers Event, a Heads-Up Event, and several Pot Limit Omaha events. In total, the Crown will offer 20 different tournaments from January 14th to 31st, including the Main Event, which will run from January 24th to 30th. (Credit: Poker News Daily)

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Friday, December 11, 2009

25 LUXURY AUSSIE MILLIONS PACKAGES GUARANTEED AT PARTYPOKER THIS WEEKEND

25 LUXURY AUSSIE MILLIONS PACKAGES GUARANTEED AT PARTYPOKER.COM THIS WEEKEND!

Gibraltar – 10th December 2009 – This weekend marks the last chance to qualify online at PartyPoker.com for the 2010 Aussie Millions in Melbourne. Seen as one of poker’s majors, the Main Event is a highlight of the world live circuit and the leading online poker room is going completely Aussie crazy this Sunday!

PartyPoker.com is offering the chance to win one of 25 luxury Aussie Millions main event packages. These fantastic dream trips will be up for grabs in two amazing $600+40 satellites on Sunday 13th December. One will be timed to suit Australia and New Zealand-based players at 02.45ET with FIVE packages guaranteed worth $12,000, while the other is scheduled at 14.30ET to give players from the rest of the world the chance to win one of 20 guaranteed packages worth $15,000.

PartyPoker.com Australia Ambassador Stewart Scott is the defending champion and there is a chance to emulate his success in Melbourne next year. Stewart said: “I’ve been playing at PartyPoker.com for five years. These great packages are an amazing opportunity for other players to play in this huge tournament. Claiming the Aussie Millions title has been the highlight of my career and I’d love to see another PartyPoker.com player take the title.”

Scott, 37, from Queensland, Australia, made history in January 2009 by becoming the first Australian in the modern era to take down the Aussie Millions Main Event, scooping US$1,865,724. Scott is a loyal member of PartyPoker.com’s VIP club the Palladium Lounge. He made his debut representing the leading online poker room at the PokerNews Cup in Melbourne earlier this month.

Scott is married with one daughter and started life as a gourmet chef in Adelaide, with a period running a small IT business as he honed his skills online. He made his first impact on the live circuit in 2006 by winning a satellite series at SkyCity Casino in Adelaide that awarded him a $30,000 package for the WSOP Main Event. Stewart is a popular figure on the Australian poker circuit and is well known for his relaxed attitude but killer instinct at the table.

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

World Series of Poker”® and “WSOP”®, WSOPE”® are registered trade marks of Harrah’s License Company LLC. No license, affiliation, sponsorship, or endorsement is claimed, or should be inferred from the use of these trademarks here. PartyGaming is not licensed by or otherwise affiliated with Harrah’s License Company LLC or the World Series of Poker®, in any way.

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Thursday, December 10, 2009

Game's growth has been great, and it'll only get bigger, by Joe Hachem - 5th December 2009

With the grand final of the PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tournament (APPT) rolling into Sydney this week attracting poker players from across the world to the Star City's brand-new poker room, it's an interesting time to reflect on how far poker has come in Australia.

Just 23 years ago there was no poker being played in casinos in this country. As one of the most high-profile and high-stakes casino games, poker is now so prevalent in Australian casinos that it's difficult to believe that it only first hit the floors in 1987.

Even Crown Casino, widely regarded as having the premier poker rooms in this country, only introduced the game in 1997.

Obviously we are yet to reach the heights of popularity that the sport has achieved in America, where every major tournament is televised and attracts thousands of live spectators, but the popularity and the competitors continue to grow.

For a professional player, I always hope we'll get to that point. The growth so far has been satisfying as the standard of the events available in Australia continue to improve, as we attract more international talent as well as retaining our best home-grown players.

I believe the popularity and exposure has come from the internet in the past eight years, as online poker is a great way to learn, polish your game, and even compete in some serious tournaments.

This has led to a culture of amateur and professional poker players coming home from work to practice a few hands, or squeezing in a turbo play game during their lunch break. It's made poker accessible, fun and fast for a wealth of people who may never have considered stepping into a casino.

Once players do make the move from online to live it's the tournament that is king. Australia's tournaments just keep getting better and better. We are finally boasting a schedule of tournaments throughout the year that can hold their head up among the internationals and give a professional a serious challenge. From the Aussie Millions and this weekend's Pokerstars.net APPT, (the largest poker tour in the region) to smaller events that still offer a genuine challenge like the ANZPT, a professional player could quite happily now play a full season in this country and boast an impressive record of events.

For the past two years an Australian has won the PokerStars.net APPT - in 2007 Sydneysider Grant Levy became the first Aussie to win a million dollars on home soil, then in 2008 another Sydney boy, Martin Rowe, repeated the feat.

I'm hoping that the improved tournaments will continue to nurture local talent, so I hope to be there at the final table taking place on stage in the Star City Sports Bar with full viewing capabilities, tomorrow. With more great local wins, more impressive local talent, more people throwing their support behind the scene and more challenging and exciting tournaments, who knows where we'll be in another 20 years.

Until next week, pass the sugar.

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Tuesday, December 08, 2009

PARTYPOKER STEWART SCOTT AUSSIE MILLIONS SPECIAL THIS WEEKEND: PARTYPOKER PROMOTIONS

**The PartyPoker.com Monthly Million is a $1 million guaranteed online poker tournament every first Sunday of the month. The next Monthly Million takes place on Sunday 6 December at 12.45 ET (17.45 GMT, 18.45 CET) and features a championship blind structure. The buy-in is $600+$40 but the diverse qualifying paths means you can join the qualifiers from as little as $1. The wide range of qualifiers includes $64+$4 daily satellites with a total of 18 seats guaranteed per day, a MEGA Friday $50+$5 satellite that guarantees 20 seats and Super Satellite Saturday qualifiers with a $32+$3 buy-in and a total of 18 seats guaranteed that day. The paths into the Monthly Million are many – check out PartyPoker.com

STEWART SCOTT AUSSIE MILLIONS SPECIAL THIS WEEKEND

Gibraltar – December 3rd 2009 – The final Stewart Scott Aussie Millions Special qualifier on PartyPoker.com takes place this weekend on Sunday 6 December at 03.05 ET (19.05 AEST) with a buy-in of $6+$1.

In this tournament PartyPoker.com will be giving away seats to Aussie Millions qualifiers. First place will win a $640 seat, second place gets a seat at the $128 qualifier, while third will claim a $70 qualifier seat. Top ranking players will also receive prize money from the buy-in pool and there’s also a $70 bounty if you’re the player who knocks Stewart out.

Stewart said: “I warmed-up by winning the bounty tournament on Tuesday and look forward to hosting this tournament which offers a great value route into the 2010 Aussie Millions!”

Stewart also plays in the $64+$6 Aussie Millions ANZ Friendly Satellite Qualifier at 04.05 ET (19.05 AEST) every Tuesday and Thursday. There’s a $70 bounty on Stewart’s head if a player eliminates him.

For more information on the many paths to Melbourne, including PartyPoint and freeroll options, see PartyPoker.com. As ever, PartyPoker.com provides diverse qualifying structures, which can start from as little as just $1.

PartyPoker.com is offering the chance to win one of 25 luxury Aussie Millions main event packages. These fantastic dream trips will be up for grabs in two amazing $600+40 satellites on Sunday 13th December. One will be timed to suit Australia and New Zealand-based players with FIVE packages guaranteed worth $12,000, while the other is scheduled to give players from the rest of the world the chance to win one of 20 guaranteed packages worth $15,000.

For more information see: PartyPoker.com

Scott, 37, from Queensland, Australia, made history in January 2009 by becoming the first Australian in the modern era to take down the Aussie Millions Main Event, scooping US$1,865,724. Scott is a loyal member of PartyPoker.com’s VIP club the Palladium Lounge. He made his debut representing the leading online poker room at the PokerNews Cup in Melbourne in September. Scott is married with one daughter and started life as a gourmet chef in Adelaide, with a period running a small IT business as he honed his skills online. He made his first impact on the live circuit in 2006 by winning a satellite series at SkyCity Casino in Adelaide that awarded him a $30,000 package for the WSOP Main Event. Stewart is a popular figure on the Australian poker circuit and is well known for his relaxed attitude but killer instinct at the table.


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

World Series of Poker”® and “WSOP”®, WSOPE”® are registered trade marks of Harrah’s License Company LLC. No license, affiliation, sponsorship, or endorsement is claimed, or should be inferred from the use of these trademarks here. PartyGaming is not licensed by or otherwise affiliated with Harrah’s License Company LLC or the World Series of Poker®, in any way.

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