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Iowa Internet Poker Bill On Senate Calendar
Iowa State Senator Jeff Danielson’s bill seeking to legalize internet poker within the Hawkeye State has been successfully placed on the State Senate Calendar.
The bill will now be called Senate File 2275 after the online poker bill successfully passed two legislative committees next week. The new version of the bill was placed onto the State Senate Calendar on Monday.
The End of Epic?
Parent company files for bankruptcy
Less than one year into its debut season, the Epic Poker League has hit an almighty rough patch after parent company Federated Sports & Gaming (which is also responsible for the Heartland Poker Tour) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
In a message posted on FS&G website this week, former World Series of Poker commissioner and Epic Executive Chairman Jeffrey Pollack announced that FS&G needs ‘a new start’.
The decision to file for Chapter 11 will mean the Epic Poker League will go on an indefinite hiatus, and League Commissioner Annie Duke sent a letter to EPL players to explain the situation, claiming ‘it is our full intention to complete Season One of the EPL’.
‘Our goal is to keep the Epic Poker League and all of our key initiatives – the Global Poker Index, epicpoker.com, the Epic Poker game on Facebook and the Heartland Poker Tour – moving forward with a continued spirit of innovation,’ added Pollack.
But while no one likes to see a poker tour going through difficulties in what is a tumultuous time for parts of the industry, one player has not been too downhearted. Daniel Negreanu’s been a vocal critic of the tour since it launched late last year, and in a tweet to his 156k followers, Kid Poker said ‘a poker world without Howard/Annie in it is definitely much closer to paradise. Time reveals the shady…’
The EPL has been beset by difficulties in its short existence. When Chino Rheem became the tour’s first champ last August, he was put on probation just a few weeks later after fellow pros lined up to reveal Rheem’s gambling debts and reputation as a ‘scammer’.
And with two EPL events left to go in the tour’s maiden year, it’s looking more like a question of if, not when, they’ll ever see the light of day.
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US Government Indicts Calvin Ayre and Bodog
The US government has indicted flamboyant billionaire Calvin Ayre, the founder of online gambling operator Bodog who for years has dared the US to try to stop him from taking bets from US customers.
The US Department of Justice began a campaign in 2011 to crack down on Internet gambling sites serving US clients, unveiling indictments and domain seizures in April 2011 for two of the world’s largest online poker sites — Full Tilt and PokerStars — amid charges of flaunting US anti-gambling laws as well as wire fraud and money laundering.
Similar charges were just unveiled against Ayre and other Bodog executives, with allegations that they oversaw the movement of more than $100 million in funds to and from customers in the US. Laws passed in late 2006 in the US made it illegal for banks to knowingly do business with online gambling sites, which serves as the basis for the US government’s case against Ayre and others as far as the lengths they went to to hide the fact they were moving money to and from US clients.
Some industry analysts were shocked that it had taken the US government this long to go after Ayre; unlike the poker sites that were previously indicted (which is a slight grey area as no specific laws make playing online poker illegal in the US) the case against Ayre and Bodog was seen as more clear-cut since Bodog’s primary business was online sportsbetting, which is illegal under various US laws.
Ayre made himself a very visible target as well, openly mocking the US government’s attempts to shut down his business and continuing to market and advertise Bodog as a US-friendly gambling site.
Ayre claims to have retired from Bodog’s operations and the seizure of the Bodog.com domain will have little impact, as it hasn’t been used actively by the company for years. The company has transferred its brand to a new company named Bovada as far as its North American operations, while it continues under the Bodog brand in other markets around the world.
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Details Emerge About Beach Life Jackpot Winner
24 February 2012
More details have emerged about the recent winner of the Beach Life online progressive slots jackpot, which reached a record $8,211,488 before it was
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Macau Continues to Boom in 2012
18 February 2012
Macau picked up in January 2012 where it left off in 2011, with its casinos turning in a very strong performance and a record flow of Chinese gamblers
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New TV Series Luck Gets Out of the Gates Fast
13 February 2012
The new original HBO series Luck starring Dustin Hoffman has gotten off to a good start, with HBO renewing it for a second season after the premier on
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Pennsylvania Poised to Pass Atlantic City in 2012
13 February 2012
Atlantic City is still struggling to regain some of its former shine amid steadily declining gambling revenues, with Pennsylvania poised to pass it in
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Online Gambling Dead in DC Before it Even Begins?
07 February 2012
The District of Columbia was the first area in the US to change its laws to allow for online gambling for residents back in 2011 but the effort may be
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2012 WSOP Schedule Announced
01 February 2012
The official schedule for the 2012 World Series of Poker (WSOP) has been announced, which will feature 61 different tournaments with the $10,000 buy-i
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Sergio Aguero Nets Manchester City Sports Punters £70,000 with Paddy Power
Manchester City punters were singing the praises of Sergio Aguero and top bookmaker Paddy Power Saturday night after the Argentine striker’s second half goal triggered a massive £70,000 payday for City fans.
While the ink was still wet on the deal that sees Paddy Power as Manchester City’s official online betting partner, generous Paddy wasted no time enhancing betting odds on Sergio Aguero scoring anytime in Saturday’s match against Blackburn from 1/2 to an irresistible 4/1.
More than 500 City punters could not believe their eyes when they saw Paddy’s super-generous offer which was exclusively promoted on mcfc.com, twitter and Facebook.
The deal will see Paddy Power and the Club collaborate across a wide range of commercial activities. As part of the deal – running until the end of the 2012/2013 season – Paddy Power will offer their market-leading range of innovative betting products to Blues fans via the Manchester City website and also a specially created City microsite.
Paddy Power has built up a strong reputation for their value-based customer offering, and has pioneered the concept on the football ‘Money-Back Special’, which frequently results in losing bets being refunded to their customers. Continue..
Bodog.com seized
Canadian owner indicted
Bodog.com has become the latest site to feel the long arm of the law in the US after the Department of Homeland Security seized the domain name on February 27.
The site, which has not been operating commercially for several months, was shut down by authorities chasing more than $100 million in funds.
Four Canadian’s associated with the site, including founder Calvin Ayre, have been indicted, and according to authorities, users of the site were sent at least $100 million by wire and cheques from 2005 to 2012. The site allegedly moved funds from Bodog’s accounts located in Switzerland, England, Malta, Canada and elsewhere to pay winnings to its users.
Each of the four men indicted face up to five years in prison for conducting an illegal gambling business and 20 years for money laundering, while Bodog.com faces a possible fine of up to $500,000 for gambling and money laundering.
‘The BodogBrand became aware late on 27th February that the domain Bodog.com had been seized by US Homeland Security. This domain is not currently in use by the BodogBrand or any Brand Licensee and has not been in use since the Morris Mohawk Gaming Group (MMGG) switched its operations from Bodog.com to Bodog.eu in May 2011,’ BodogBrand confirmed via email this week.
‘The BodogBrand.com revoked its licensing agreement with Morris Mohawk Gaming Group (MMGG) on December 15th 2011 after publicly stating it would do so in July 2011. It is equally important to state that Bodog UK, Bodog Europe and Bodog Asia have never taken bets from the US.’
The site is said to be ‘consulting with its legal advisors with a view to having the domain returned.’
But while the outlook looks bleak for Bodog and its users, the Bodog.co.uk and Bodog.eu have been unaffected by the Department of Homeland Security’s actions.
PokerPlayer will bring you more news on Bodog as and when we have it.
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Bally Buys ChiliGaming B2B Platform
Las Vegas-based slot machine manufacturer Bally Technologies announced last week that it has purchased the business-to-business platform of ChiliGaming, which lets customers offer online casino games, poker, and sportsbetting in both real-money and play chip formats.
Bally plans to integrate the ChiliGaming technology into its existing slots and casino management products, giving its casino clients a chance to offer a full range of gambling options to their guests, whether playing online or at a brick-and-mortar casino.
In a press release concerning the deal Bally also spoke to other attractive elements of the deal: “Bally Technologies has also obtained an experienced team of industry veterans from within the online gaming industry, which will help our customers optimize their use of this platform,” said John Connelly, Vice President of Business Development at Bally.
ChiliGaming had recently been in the news when it announced it had struck a deal with the Golden Nugget Casino in Las Vegas to offer free online poker to US residents, with an eye towards offering real money games if US laws change to allow for it.
The Bally deal is just one of several different acquisitions and partnerships announced as brick-and-mortar casinos and gambling companies position themselves to take advantage of the laws in the US regarding online gambling changing. Despite anti-gambling laws passed in late 2006 to try to stamp out online gambling, many operators remain highly interested in the US market, one of the world’s largest for gambling.
Shuffle Master is rumored to be in advanced talk to buy Ongame Network from bwin.party while IGT previously purchased Entraction Network to bolster its own online offerings. Caesars signed a deal with 888 in early 2011 and MGM and Boyd entered in to an agreement with bwin.party later in the year to work together to provide a wide range of online gambling products.
Philadelphia 76ers in the Spotlight as NBA Basketball Betting Finally Resumes
Nobody knows exactly what has been going on with the Philadelphia 76ers this season, but it has worked. Not only are they first in a half-decent Atlantic Division, they have hung with the Eastern Conference’s best all year long. Now the success has started to translate over to the NBA basketball betting line.
Have the first few months of the season been a legitimate demonstration of what the Sixers bring to the table? Though they squeezed into the playoffs last spring, the success they have enjoyed over the course of the 2011-12 campaign is something new.
This Tuesday, as players flock back to work after the All-Star Break, the Sixers will travel to Michigan for a run-in with the unpredictable Detroit Pistons. With 30/1 betting odds of winning the NBA championship – compared to Detroit’s 500/1 mark – Philadelphia is the obvious favorite heading into the game, but that is what makes the matchup so intriguing.
Not only is Detroit hard to gauge – they have beaten Orlando once and Boston twice, yet continue to sit in the basement – but the jury is still out on Philadelphia as a contender.
Though their record has pushed them to the top of their division, NBA basketball odds makers and fans alike are reluctant to buy in to a club whose leading scorer averages just over 15 points per game.
PopCap Games Launches Facebook Casino Game
Gaming software developer PopCap Games has announced the release of “Lucky Gem Casino”, a casino style game available for play on Facebook.
The game will have seven free to play slot games that will feature themes from other PopCap Games including “Chuzzle”, “Zuma”, “Bookworm”, and “Bejeweled”. Lucky Gem Casino will make use of the social aspect of Facebook, allowing players to compare winnings, share game content, and chat with other friends.
Commenting on the game’s release, PopCap Vice President of Publishing Dennis Ryan said “Casino-themed social games are one of the fastest growing genres on Facebook. The strength of PopCap’s game brands and the quality of the Lucky Gem product combined with our experience in luck-based games outside of Facebook means we are perfectly positioned to deliver the ultimate online free casino game experience – PopCap style.”
Details Emerge About Beach Life Jackpot Winner
The Beach Life jackpot had soared over the last few months, nearly doubling its previous record of $4.8 million (which was hit in July 2007) as more and more players piled into Playtech-powered online casinos trying to score a huge payday at the popular progressive jackpot game.
The increased attention and play saw Beach Life click higher at an amazing rate, adding millions more to the jackpot total over the last month before it was finally hit on February 12 by a player from Scotland.
While his name hasn’t been revealed, other details have emerged about Britain’s biggest ever online progressive jackpot winner, who was playing at Betfred’s online casino when he hit the enormous jackpot.
In his 20s, he claimed to be unable to sleep after being woken up by a barking dog in the neighborhood and decided to try his luck at online slots, hitting up King Kong slots first at £1 per spin and making £250.
He decided to try to spin that up into even more, switching over to Beach Life; that turned out to be a very wise decision as it just took six spins at Beach Life before he hit the jackpot worth $8,211,488!
The jackpot is the third largest ever won at an online casino and starts 2012 off with a bang after a busy 2011 with multiple winners of big progressive jackpots at Mega Moolah and other popular progressives.
The newest jackpot winner will be flown on a private jet to meet Betfred founder Fred Done to pick up his winnings, with Done having the following to say about the big jackpot win:
“As a bookmaker I get a real thrill out of turning somebody into a multi-millionaire at the click of a mouse. The jackpot has been growing for a while now and we were all hoping that it would be a Betfred.com customer that won this life-changing jackpot. It just goes to show that it’s always worth trying your luck!”
Peter Eastgate joins Betfair
Back in 2008, Peter Eastgate had the world at his feet. $9m the richer thanks to a dramatic Main Event victory and the newest member of PokerStars Team Pro, it seemed the only way was up. But after a self-enforced hiatus from the game, many believed the Dane had turned his back on poker for good. Think again. This week, Eastgate announced his return after signing a new deal with Betfair.
Since that win in 2008, Eastgate has cut the figure of a man tired with poker. By his own admission, when he started playing poker for a living ‘it was never my goal to spend the rest of my life as a professional poker player. My goal was to become financially independent. I achieved that by winning the WSOP main event in 2008’. And even when he did turn up at the tables, he struggled to reclaim the same Main Event form of old.
‘In the 20 months following my WSOP win, I feel that I have lost my motivation for playing high-level poker along the way, and I have decided that now is the time to find out what I want to do with the rest of my life. What this will be, I do not yet know. I have decided to take a break from live tournament poker, and try to focus on Peter Eastgate, the person. I want to thank PokerStars, my friends and family for their support over the last 20 months, and for their support in my decision to take a break from poker.’
Outside of his Main Event win, Eastgate has pocketed ‘just’ $1.9m. But the 26-year-old is keen to reach the top once again, saying ‘I had a 10 month hiatus where I didn’t play poker and then I felt the lust to play poker again because I still enjoy the game and there’s still a lot of challenges to the game. I’m not by any means the best player in the world so there’s still a lot of challenges’.
Eastgate joins the UK’s own John Tabatabai and former Full Tilt pro Hans Martin Vogl at Betfair, and you can expect him to be mounting a challenge for poker’s biggest titles throughout the year.
If you fancy watching his first interview as a Betfair pro, click here
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