Online poker provider PokerTime to become private site

Online poker site PokerTime announced Thursday that it will begin to move toward becoming a private network starting immediately.
The site said it hopes to differentiate itself from the Microgaming Network, but it will continue to use Microgaming software.
According to a press release:
Initially, PokerTime will begin   …full article

PartyGaming appoints new CEO

PartyGaming, the parent company of Party Poker, named a new chief executive officer today.
Jim Ryan, who has 22 years of experience in internet gaming, was given the position, according to a story at pokernews.com:
Previously, he was CEO of St. Minver Limited, the largest operator of   …full article

MGM at Foxwoods set to open Saturday

MGM at Foxwoods is set to open this Saturday, adding a new 30-story presence to the Connecticut resort and casino.
According to a story at pokernews.com, the MGM Mirage and Pequot nation venture costs $700 million and includes “restaurants, clubs, high-end stores, state-of-the-art meeting facilities, and   …full article

World Poker Association holding first conference before WSOP

The World Poker Association is holding its first-ever conference on May 28 in Law Vegas, just before the start of this year’s World Series of Poker.
The WPA has made its mission “to promote poker as a sport by advocating professionalism and uniform rules and standards   …full article

PokerStars offering bonuses to those affected by delayed eChecks

PokerStars addressed the situation surrounding delayed eChecks that has affected many of its customers.
PokerStars has now said it will be giving bonuses to its players that have been affected by the eCheck problem.

WPT reports more losses

World Poker Tour Enterprises, Inc. released its 2008 first quarter financial results, which showed a net loss of $2.8 million.
The good news: Revenues were up 10 percent from the same time period last year.
According to pokerpages.com:
Business highlights for the quarter included the delivery of seven   …full article

UB player wins second Bad Beat Jackpot in two months

An Ultimatebet player hit the poker site’s ‘Bad beat Jackpot’ for the second time in less than two month, according to a story at poker-king.com.
‘dhc2lovr’ won the bad beat jackpot on Tuesday for $448,920.71 — the same player, according to other posts on poker forums,   …full article

Online gaming giants on list of Britain’s richest people

Some of the leaders of online gambling and poker in the United Kingdom are some of Britain’s richest people, according to a recent report at igamingbusiness.com.
The Sunday Times’ 20th annual survey of Britain’s richest individuals has revealed that the leading figures in the UK’s gaming   …full article

Bodog signs Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo

Bodog Poker announced the signing of pro Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo today.
Bonomo is a well-known and profitable online player, but he’s perhaps best known for being caught using multiple accounts to enter the same online multi-table tournaments.
He’ll represent Bodog at poker tournaments, according to a story   …full article

P5s’ Nat Arem: More news coming on AP and UB cheating

Pocket Fives administrator Nat Arem, one of the people responsible for uncovering the superuser scandal at Absolute Poker, said in a post at P5s that more details likely will be uncovered regarding cheating at AP and UltimateBet and said he wouldn’t blame people who don’t   …full article

Kahnawake tribe: Canada missed opportunity to cash in on online poker

Officials for the Kahnawake tribe in Canada, which operates a number of online poker and gambling sites, said last week that Canada and the province of Quebec declined opportunities to partner with the Tribe years ago.
According to pokernews.com:
Addressing a session on aboriginal gaming this week,   …full article

More players having problems with eChecks

With the removal of ePassporte in the United States as a method of getting money on and off of poker sites, Americans have been turning to eChecks on PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker.
One big problem: A lot of players have not been receiving their withdrawals   …full article

April is a bad month for casino stocks

U.S. gambling enterprises traded on the stock market saw their value tumble 2.5% in April because of the slowdown in the American economy.
Eight out of 10 gambling stocks lost ground on the Applied Analysis Gaming Index, according to a Las Vegas Review-Journal story at majorwager.com:
The   …full article

PartyGaming has solid first quarter, but slow start to second

Online poker and gambling company PartyGaming saw 21% revenue growth in the first quarter of the year and is optimistic for all of 2008, despite a weak April.
Analysts were less optimistic for PartyGaming’s prospects, however.
According to a Reuters UK story:
PartyGaming, which runs the PartyPoker and   …full article

Trump: A.C. casinos should sue over smoking ban

Donald Trump said Thursday that casinos in Atlantic City should sue over a smoking ban recently approved by the city council.
Trump says the ban creates a competitive disadvantage for Atlantic City gambling establishments.
According to an Associated Press story at majorwager.com:
The real estate magnate, chairman of   …full article

WPT stock falls to new low, worth less than cash balance

The news simply doesn’t get any better on the financial side for the World Poker Tour.
WPT stock closed at $1.26 on Thursday, giving the company a value of $25.82 million. The WPT has assets and cash in hand totaling $31 million.
According to poker-king.com, WPT stock   …full article

Annie Duke returns to UltimateBet

UltimateBet announced Annie Duke is returning as a consultant to oversee its tournament schedule.
Duke had originally helped design UB’s software.
According to cardplayer.com:

“Annie Duke has a proven track record of not only playing the game, but also knowing exactly what online poker players want to   …full article

China stops casino growth in Macau

China has said it won’t allow more casino licenses in the booming gambling market of Macau.
Macau is perhaps the most profitable gambling market in the world, and that includes Las Vegas, according to a story at majorwager.com
The story, which was originally printed in the Las   …full article

Gambling ad yanked for claiming to improve sexual prowess

A new law in England led to an advertisement in the London Times being pulled because it portrayed gambling as improving sexual prowess.
The Advertising Standards Authority pulled the advertisement for online casino Paddy Power because it linked gambling to “seduction, sexual success and enhanced attractiveness.”
According   …full article

Lee Jones to join CardRunners

Former PokerStars manager Lee Jones is joining CardRunners.com as the poker training site’s CEO.
Jones had been the “executive host” for the European Poker Tour before taking the new gig. The move now aligns him with Full Tilt Poker, since CardRunners recently inked a deal with   …full article

Calvin Ayre to retire from Bodog

BodogLife issued a press release today confirming the retirement of founder Calvin Ayre from the company. The move had been rumored in online gaming circles for some time, but the official announcement came only today. Ayre also posted a brief blog entry discussing   …full article

Stock prices tumble for Vegas casinos

Tuesday was a bad day for the major Las Vegas casinos, as many of their stock prices took big hits.
The stock losses came a day after MGM Mirage said it was going to be laying off more than 400 workers.
According to a story at majorwager.com,   …full article

PKR.com gets attention with 25,000 square-foot banner

PKR.com, a 3-D online poker site, is using some unorthodox tactics to attract attention and customers — the latest is a 25,000 square-foot banner advertising the site.
The giant banner has been flown over London three times already.
According to pokerpages.com:
The giant banner is three-quarters the size   …full article

MGM Mirage to lay off hundreds

MGM Mirage, which is the largest casino operator in Las Vegas, has reported that it will lay off about 440 employees.
The layoffs will occur mostly in management at the corporate level, MGM Mirage reported Monday.
According to a story at majorwager.com:
MGM Mirage President and COO Jim   …full article

ePassporte officially out of online poker in U.S.

After a weekend of uncertainty and speculation, the online money transfer service ePassporte has officially said it will no longer provide transactions for Americans using the service for online poker.
The news is bad for United States citizens, who lose another option to easily get money   …full article

Some doubt remains about ePassporte pulling the plug on U.S.

While it seems likely that ePassporte is pulling out of the U.S. market, there is still a glimmer of hope for American online poker players.
Yesterday, rumors began swirling that the money transfer service ePassporte would no longer be able to serve U.S. customers, which seemed   …full article

Trump: No A.C. smoking ban

Earlier this week Donald Trump came out vehemently against the proposed smoking ban in Atlantic City that is being considered by the city’s council.
Trump, who obviously has a vested interest as a casino owner in the city, has threatened legal action if the ban is   …full article

WPT stock continues nosedive

Stock prices are down to just $1.53 for the World Poker Tour (WPTE on NASDAQ), according to pokerkingblog.com; that is less than a tenth of the price it sold for just three years ago.
The company, once valued at more than $700 million, is now valued   …full article

PokerStars adds Gavin Griffin, Chad Brown

PokerStars has signed two new pros to its roster: Gavin Griffin and Chad Brown.
The signings bring PS’s list of pros to 25 players, which includes Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein and three World Series of Poker main event winenrs in Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer and   …full article

Wall Street Journal Europe: U.S. should regulate online gambling

The Wall Street Journal Europe published an opinion piece yesterday stating that the U.S. should legalize online gambling and poker.
The publication addresses many of the negative impacts of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.
According to the WSJE piece, reprinted at pokerpages.com:
We have our differences with   …full article

Indictments handed out in Borgata sports book case

Indictments have been issued against 24 participants in a sports book that was allegedly run out of the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa poker room.
The Atlantic City operation was halted last November by law enforcement officials. It is believed more than $60 in illegal sports   …full article

Harrah’s Entertainment to change its name to Caesars

Harrah’s Entertainment has decided to change the company’s name to Caesars Entertainment Corporation.
Harrah’s, which puts on the World Series of Poker, will still be used as a brand name on casinos.
According to pokernews.com:
CEO Gary Loveman said, “Adoption of the name Caesars Entertainment Corporation will provide   …full article

Pacific Poker’s parent company posts good ‘07 numbers

888 Holdings PLC, owner of Pacific Poker, announced its preliminary 2007 year end financials, and the news was good.
Net gaming revenue for its non-United States continuing operations grew by 36% from 2006, with 106% profit over the same time period.
Like many online casinos and poker   …full article

Massachusetts gambling ring cracked

A Massachusetts gambling ring that made more than a million dollars a year was effectively shut down by law enforcement officials on Tuesday.
Two dozen search warrants were executed through the state to seize evidence in the case.
According to a story at WCVB Channel 5 out   …full article

Detroit casinos feeling the pinch

Revenues in two of Detroit’s three casinos are down when compared with the same time period last year, according to a report Tuesday to the Michigan Gaming Control Board.
MGM Grand Detroit posted increased revenues from March 2007 vs. March 2008, but both MotorCity and Greektown   …full article

Atlantic City to ban smoking in casinos?

Atlantic City’s city council will try to ban smoking on casino floors today.
This is the second time in two years that the issue will come before city council.
According to majorwager.com:
An ordinance scheduled to be introduced Wednesday night would still let smokers light up, but only   …full article

Man accused in Atlantic City stabbing makes court appearance

Vicente Perez made his first appearance in court today on charges of aggravated manslaughter after the stabbing death of Arthur Prince outside of a poker room at Trump Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City.
Perez, 57, of Macon, Ga., could serve 10 to 30 years if   …full article

Poker game leads to stabbing death in Atlantic City

A disagreement at a poker table led to a stabbing death Saturday at the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort in Atlantic City.
According to a story at majorwager.com:
Vicente Perez, 57, of Georgia, began arguing with another man at a Taj poker table, Vitale said. They stepped   …full article

PokerXFactor acquires PokerFox

PokerXFactor.com, the online poker training center, announced the acquisition of competitor PokerFox.net. The move means that Chris “pokerfox” Wallace and Adam “hatfield13″ Stemple will be joining PokerXFactor as instructors.
According to a press release from PokerXFactor:
The acquisition of PokerFox.net will add over 200 videos of advanced   …full article

Dealer pleads guilty in case where $7M stolen from casinos

A card dealer pleaded guilty in San Diego on Wednesday to leading an operation that stole $7 million from casinos.
Lawyers believe this may be the largest cheating scandal ever broken up.
According to an Associated Press story from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:
Phuong Quoc Truong, 42, known as   …full article

Online poker developer not worried about proposed Canada ban

GigaMedia Limited, which develops and licenses online poker and casino software, said in a statement that it was not worried about the possibility of a ban of online poker and gambling in Canada that may be on the way. Canada has been considering laws —   …full article

Study: Massachusetts loses gambling revenue to neighbors

Just last week, the Massachusetts House of Representatives shot down a bill that would have licensed casinos in the state. A timely study may have some rethinking that decision.
The study by researchers at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth found Massachusetts residents spent $1.1 billion at gambling   …full article

Mike Sexton becomes National League of Poker Spokesman

Mike Sexton, a poker professional most famous as the voice of the World Poker Tour, has signed with the National League of Poker to become their spokesman.
NLOP is a free play site where players can win cash and prizes, one of several that sprung up   …full article

FTP and CardRunners have new solution for “pro” problem

Full Tilt Poker and CardRunners have offered a proposed solution to try to quell some of the grumblings about the recently signed deal between the online poker site and the online poker education/training site.
First the backstory.

Navajos set to build first casino in New Mexico

Leaders of the Window Rock tribe of the Navajo Nation announced Thursday that they were planning to build their first-ever casino in Church Rock, New Mexico.
Construction is slated to start in April, with the casino hoping to open this fall.
According to a story from the   …full article

WPT show moves to GSN; collaborative Web site launched

The World Poker Tour has left the Travel Channel behind after five years with the network, and moved to GSN, announced WPT Enterprises public relations manager Lyndsay LaGree today.
The 6th season premiere will be broadcast at 9 pm, Monday, Mar. 24th, bringing with it   …full article

Poker Players Alliance names directors in each state

The Poker Players Alliance recently announced directors have been appointed to head their efforts in each of the 50 states in the United States.
The move was made to help the PPA more effectively insert itself into discussions and legislation regarding poker on the state level,   …full article

EU may take action against US over gambling prosecutions

IGaming Business is reporting today that the European Union is apparently considering action against the United States over the issue of the US engaging in discriminatory prosecutions of foreign online gambling interests. Excerpt:
European online gambling companies such as PartyGaming and Bwin Interactive Entertainment have   …full article

Full Tilt allows more than one account for CardRunners players

Full Tilt Poker recently announced a deal with the Web site CardRunners.com that will have many of its top young poker players join the online poker site to play. The biggest news to come out of this, beyond the signing itself, has been a change   …full article

Full Tilt adds Team Cardrunners to its team

Team CardRunners and Full Tilt Poker have joined forces, with Cardrunners signing a deal with the online poker site to have its players play exclusively at FTP.
Team CardRunners consists of Taylor “Green Plastic” Caby, Andrew “muddywater” Wiggins, Brain “sbrugby” Townsend, Brian “Stinger885″ Hastings, Eric “p3achy_keen”   …full article

UltimateBet responds to cheating allegations

UltimateBet released a press release today concerning allegations that one of its members, “NioNio” may have been cheating in some way while playing on the site. There are also rumors about other players.
In a statement that was released on 2+2, UltimateBet talks about the allegations:

World Poker Tour claims $10M loss

A year ago, the World Poker Tour was quickly growing and making money.
A year later, the company, traded on NASDAQ, is reporting a loss.
Revenues for the WPT were down almost 25 percent to $21.7 million in 2007 as compared to 2006. Revenues were reported at   …full article

Court releases decision in iMEGA vs Department of Justice

Judge Mary L. Cooper, of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, released her decision today regarding the lawsuit brought by gaming lobbying group Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association (iMEGA) that aimed to prevent implementation of the UIGEA.
The official   …full article

Politico: Momentum shifting to online gambling regulation

An article published today on political news site Politico.com took a positive view on the potential for a near-term legislative solution to the issue of online gambling regulation. Politico cited the increasing support for Barney Frank’s legislation, the re-introduction of Jim McDermott’s bill to   …full article

Garber steps down as head of PartyGaming

Party Gaming CEO Mitch Garber informed the company last night that he was resigning from his position. In a conference call today with reporters, Garber revealed the decision and also made it clear that Party was continuing to negotiate with the US Department of   …full article

Washington Post: Internet gambling regulations flawed

The Washington Post ran a story today that summarized public comments on the regulations proposed by Treasury and the Fed in connection with the UIGEA. The story concludes what many industry observers have been saying since the law passed in October 2006 - regulation   …full article

Microgaming (Prima) issues update on Tusk skin terminations

The Microgaming poker network (also referred to as the Prima network) released a followup statement yesterday clarifying the situation involving their decision to terminate the licenses of nearly 30 Microgaming network skins earlier this week, including well-known rooms such as Battlefield Poker, Red Nines, and   …full article

Full Tilt software update: Tournament dollars and lobby notes added

Full Tilt Poker released a major software upgrade yesterday that apparently contains several significant changes to the backend of the client. While those changes may be largely invisible to users, other changes released in the update should be hits with players.
The two major upgrades   …full article

Microgaming / Prima network cuts off nearly 30 skins

According to a statement apparently released by Microgaming, the poker network has cut off the nearly 30 poker room skins associated with software licensee Tusk Investment Corporation as a result of solvency issues currently facing Tusk.
The statement was reportedly communicated to players who were experiencing   …full article

Possible issues with TridX poker network

A thread on CasinoMeister’s forums raises some concerns about rooms on the TridX network that, if legitimate, should be worrying to any players with funds on rooms connected to that network.
The thread details a lack of communication from support, issues with cashouts, and a host   …full article

HBP: Excellent summary post of coverage of Absolute scandal

A growing number of bloggers and various other poker news sources are refusing to let the Absolute Poker cheating scandal die, and we say more power to them. One example of such a source: Hard-Boiled Poker, which published an excellent summary post on the   …full article

Poker Player’s Alliance spent $900,000 on lobbying in 2007

Online poker lobbying group the Poker Player’s Alliance spent over $900,000 on lobbying activities in 2007, according to disclosure forms released earlier this month by the US Senate. The PPA counts nearly 800,000 poker players among its member ranks.

Svenska Spel reports a profitable 2007

Svenska Spel, Sweden’s gambling monopoly, announced its 2007 revenues. Profits increased significantly from 2006 numbers, with a nine percent overall increase to $834 million, but revenues specifically from online poker contributing to a nearly 40 percent increase in Internet and mobile phone gambling.
Jesper Kärrbrink   …full article

Antonio Esfandiari hired by the WPT to do something or other

The WPT has apparently decided that their model for success relies on fewer tournaments and more hype - at least that’s one conclusion you could draw from today’s announcement that the World Poker Tour has hired Antonio Esfandiari to be the ‘face of the WPT   …full article

Update: Bodog domain dispute heats up

It looks like the conflict between gaming / entertainment conglomerate BodogLife and 1st Technology, LLC is coming to a head yet again. This week witnessed two dispatches from BodogLife, a press release and a blog entry from BodogLife owner Calvin Ayre, both of which   …full article

Report issued on attacks against gambling Web sites

More has been learned on the attacks that have plagued gambling and poker Web sites – among them Full Tilt Poker — this week.
A Web site called shadowserver.org, which tracks hacker activity globally, said the Distributed Denial of Service attacks are being caused by a   …full article

Casino interests funneled at least $8 million into political activities over the last year

Two reports published recently highlighted the significant financial influence the gambling industry seeks to exert over both federal legislation related to gambling and the outcome of political campaigns in the US via campaign donations.
First, a report from the Associated Press asserts that The American Gaming   …full article

Doyle Brunson backs Obama for president

According to a blog post by Doyle Brunson in his blog over at PokerRoad, the poker legend is throwing his support behind Barack Obama. Excerpt:
During this poker cash game lull, I am on this race for President like stupid is on Britney Spears. I   …full article

Betfair adds Sorel Mizzi to roster of sponsored pros

The rumors and speculation surrounding the impending announcement of Betfair’s newest sponsored pro addition ended yesterday, when the company revealed at a press conference that the newest Betfair pro was none other than Sorel Mizzi, better known to some bu his internet handles “Imper1um” and   …full article

Full Tilt victim of distributed denial of service attacks

Poker forums have been buzzing for the last week or so with threads about the unusual downtime experienced by online poker room Full Tilt Poker. Today, several sources are reporting that the downtime was not the result of an internal issue, but rather the   …full article

Mike Matusow joins instructor roster at PokerSavvy+

Online poker training service PokerSavvy+ announced a major addition to their coaching roster last week - none other than well-known poker professional Mike ‘The Mouth’ Matusow.
Matusow joins the already impressive roster over at PS+, including Ansky, WPTHero, Fisherman, Ike and Tribefan9. Matusow’s move marks   …full article

PokerScout: DoingPoker utilizing bots to boost traffic?

Popular player traffic reporting site PokerScout ran a piece earlier this week about their suspicions regarding the use of bots at online poker room Doing Poker.
Doing Poker is a new room that is not part of a network.
PokerScout was careful to note that the suspicions   …full article

Gambler sues William Hill over excessive losses

Graham Calvert has filed a 2 million pound lawsuit against bookmaker William Hill, claiming that the site didn’t follow through on its promise of excluding Calvert from placing wagers with the company after Calvert requested a ban.
William Hill, like most sites, offers players some form   …full article

Card Player publishes survey of European online poker industry

CardPlayer.com published a handy cliff notes to the current political state of online poker in Europe, where the legal picture is understandably muddled as the EU tries to piece together a coherent policy out of the wildly varying approaches taken by member nations.
The Cardplayer article,   …full article

WPT announces TV broadcast schedule for Season 6 on GSN

The World Poker Tour announced the upcoming broadcast schedule for Season 6 of the poker tournament series today. This season, the WPT is leaving its long-time home at the Travel Channel and showing instead on the Game Show Network, also home to the popular   …full article

World Poker Tour downsizing live schedule?

Pokerati is reporting that the World Poker Tour live tournament schedule, set to be released next week, will feature significantly fewer tournaments than 2007’s schedule.
The tournament rumored to be cut are primarily Las Vegas stops.
Excerpt from Pokerati:

Action Jeff returns to Cardrunners

Well-known tournament specialist Jeff ‘Action Jeff’ Garza has returned to online poker training site Cardrunners.com. Garza has contributed videos to Cardrunners in the past, and the press release announcing the addition made it sound like he’ll be back as a regular contributer this time   …full article

Idleminer releases hand grabbers for Bodog and OnGame

Popular online poker software maker Idleminer, known primarily for programs that allow you to download observed hands in a Poker Tracker-compatible format, announced today the release of hand-grabber software for Bodog and OnGame.
The Bodog software is a full version; the OnGame is currently in public   …full article

US Government: WTO settlement information classified

Ed Brayton is reporting over in his blog today that the United States Government has apparently decided to classify information regarding recent WTO settlements with the EU, Canada and Japan over the issue of online gambling, claiming that the settlement text needs to be   …full article

Absolute Poker purchases Vegas Poker 24-7

Several Vegas Poker 24-7 affiliates were notified this week that the company has reached an agreement to merge with Absolute Poker. By the terms of the agreement, Absolute Poker will be taking over ownership of Vegas Poker 24-7. The company apparently plans to   …full article

iMEGA website back online, blame placed on hosting company

Lobbying group iMEGA, known to most poker players as the organization that has sued the US Government in an attempt to prevent implementation of the UIGEA, has apparently resolved whatever issues led to the shut down of their website late last week.
The following explanation was   …full article

Betfair demands return of computer-glitch payouts

The Telegraph published a story following the “Ocean’s 14″-style payout error last month in which a glitch in Betfair’s system led to a few hours of some players getting more money in their accounts than they ought to. Betfair appears to be putting the onus   …full article

Whither iMEGA?

The Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association, better known as the iMEGA portion of iMEGA vs the UIGEA, appears to be having at least technical problems, if it hasn’t vanished completely.
Last seen here at Part Time Poker news in mid-November, the waxing and waning group   …full article

ESPN: Clean up online poker now

ESPN.com ran an article this weekend that focused largely on Josh Field as a window into the integrity and overall health of online poker. Field, better known to many as JJProdigy, is a controversial figure in the online poker world due to his well-documented   …full article

Fire closes down Monte Carlo, Las Vegas Blvd; cause unknown

Fox News Las Vegas is reporting that a massive fire broke out earlier today on top of the Monte Carlo, forcing evacuation of the hotel and the lockdown of Las Vegas Blvd from Tropicana to Harmon.
The cause of the fire is as yet unknown.   …full article

World Poker Tour launches Club WPT, real money online poker room open to US players

The World Poker Tour, a business at the center of the live poker revival in the US, announced plans today to further extend its influence into the online poker arena with the introduction of ClubWPT, a subscription-based poker room that will allow members to compete   …full article

Hillary Clinton: Online poker supporter?

The Las Vegas Sun published an article last week that provided a brief summary on the major Democratic presidential candidate’s positions on online gambling. Of the three front-runners, the state position of Hillary Clinton seems to be the most favorable for the online poker   …full article

Complaint lodged against Germany’s Internet gaming ban

An official complaint has been lodged with the European Commission against Germany’s recent online gaming ban. Sigrid Ligné, Secretary General of the European Gaming and Betting Association, a not-for-profit group composed of Europe’s leading online gaming operators, said, “The German Interstate Treaty is incompatible with   …full article

Kahnawake Grand Chief “extremely disappointed” with UK white list rejection

Grand Chief Michael Ahríhrhon Delisle, Jr. responded yesterday to news of the Kahnawake exclusion from the United Kingdom’s list of approved Internet gaming advertisers. Antigua and Barbados were also excluded for the present, while Tasmania joined the list on its second attempt. Excerpt from   …full article

Antigua misses out on UK “white list” license

The United Kingdom declined this week to add either Antigua and Barbuda or the Canadian Kahnawake Mohawk Territory to its gambling advertisement white list.
The UK Gambling Commission did approve the previously rejected Tasmania for advertising in the UK, which Antigua Director of Gaming Kaye   …full article

Deadline to request Neteller funds approaching

Neteller still has approximately $13 million waiting to be claimed by former US account holders, the company announced late last week. $81 million has already been paid, with the remainder held in trust accounts and awaiting claimant requests. Withdrawals of owed funds through the Neteller   …full article

Dani ‘Ansky’ Stern publishes call to action regarding integrity and poker

Well known high-stakes pro Dani ‘Ansky’ Stern published an open letter on major online poker forums today where he challenged those responsible for the image of the game to take a stand against threats to the public perception of poker’s integrity.
The letter, which   …full article

New ‘Superuser’ allegations raised, this time against Ultimate Bet poker

Right on the heels of the release of the KGC report detailing the involvement of Absolute Poker in the largest reported cheating scandal in online poker history, a new set of allegations is making the rounds at the major online poker forums. This time,   …full article

Absolute Poker responds to Kahnawake Gaming Commission Report

Absolute Poker released a statement today that they no doubt hope will be the final chapter in the largest (reported) cheating scandal in online poker. In the statement, Absolute responded to the findings of a Kahnawake Gaming Commission Report published earlier this week that   …full article

Absolute Poker’s owner’s owner tied too closely to Kahnawake?

Pokerati reported today that Chuck Barnett, one of the Board of Supervisors for the Kahnawake Territory, has confirmed that Joe Norton is the owner of Absolute Poker. Ownership of Absolute Poker has been a tangled web.
Lou Kreiger received a call-in on his podcast show, Keep   …full article

Absolute Poker: Kahnawake Gaming Investigation report complete

The Kahnawake investigation into the Absolute Poker debacle has concluded. A summary of its report follows.
The Kahnawake Gaming Commission made the following findings:
1. For an approximately 6-week period beginning Aug. 14, nine user names compromised Absolute Poker and used software to view the “hole cards”   …full article

UltimateBet.com adds to language options

From English, German, and Swedish, UltimateBet has expanded their site skins to include 12 more languages.
The new site is now available in Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Quebec French, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Czech, Japanese, and Chinese.
Although most poker players around the world are capable   …full article

William Hill abandons development of NextGen gambling platform

The Guardian Unlimited is reporting today that William Hill has decided to scrap development of its NextGen platform. NextGen, internally developed by William Hill, was intended to revolutionize the way William Hill interacted with customers. Instead, the project has been abandoned nearly a   …full article

WPT Ladies announced today

The World Poker Tour has added a women-only league and tournament circuit to meet the increase of women in what has traditionally been a male pasttime. The WPT Ladies No Limit Texas Hold ‘Em tournament circuit will have buy-ins ranging from $300 - $1,500, with   …full article

Online poker network Dynamic Gaming Systems allegedly shutting down

Sources are reporting today that online poker network Dynamic Gaming Systems (DGS) has shut its doors, leaving the status of accounts of players on the network in question.
DGS includes rooms such as Jungle Poker, Big Juicy Odds, Wingows Poker and OKUSA Poker.
The initial report of   …full article

Online poker rooms shattering traffic records in 2008

Online poker got off to a fast start in 2008, as several rooms and the industry as a whole experienced record highs of real-money simultaneous players in the opening days of the new year.
Traffic-watch site PokerSiteScout is reporting that on January 7th, the total combined   …full article

Flamingo Las Vegas management pushing against possible unionization

Dealers at Wynn Las Vegas decided to unionize after management started taking their tips, and now dealers at the Flamingo say that management there is threatening to take their tips if they unionize.
A dealer at the Wynn said that Flamingo Las Vegas President Don Marrandino   …full article

Online poker training site Deuces Cracked upgrades, adds pr1nnyraid to roster

DeucesCracked.com, an online poker tutorial site, announced this week a major upgrade to their site capped off by the addition of the 3-bet.net coaching team to the Deuces Cracked roster, including well-known high stakes player Krantz (aka pr1nnyraid).
HighStakesDB recently listed Krantz as the largest no   …full article

Pokerati: PokerBowl money problems

Dan Michalski over at Pokerati wrote about the inaugural PokerBowl and some apparent ongoing financial problems today. Excerpt:
I guess maybe we shouldn’t be surprised when a tournament that relies on too many freerolls and forgets to take any juice runs into a financial clusterflubbing.   …full article

Women in Poker Hall of Fame inauguration next month

There’s a Women in Poker Hall of Fame now, and its first members will be inducted next month at an awards ceremony.
“There are many amazing women who have blazed the trail for women to enter this predominately male venue. We want to honor them for   …full article

Australia’s “clean feed” to be gambling-free, slow Internet

Australia’s recently elected prime minister, Kevin Rudd, who ran on a Labor Party platform promising to bring high-speed Internet to the country, is now pushing for a plan which experts say will actually slow down the Internet.
“Australia has fallen badly behind our competitors,” said Rudd   …full article

Last year for Tao of Poker? Pauly talks about calling it quits

Popular poker blogger Paul ‘Dr. Pauly’ McGuire, best known to most online poker players for his writing over at Tao of Poker, published a lengthy post today that raised the possibility of 2008 being the end of the line for McGuire’s involvement in poker, at   …full article

Judge rules that gambling pact between Florida and Seminole Tribe can move forward

Forbes.com reported today, via the Associated Press, that a US Federal Judge has ruled against Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum and his attempt to block a recently signed gambling agreement between the Seminole Tribe and the state of Florida.
The root of McCollum’s complaint is that   …full article

T6 Poker: More questions from the community, Tony G responds

Questions continue to arise surrounding the credibility of new online poker room T6 poker. While there have yet to be any specific and substantial accusations of impropriety raised against the company, an apparently growing group of player are citing numerous concerns regarding the company’s   …full article

Colorado considering poker and gambling expansion

Colorado state representative Rep. Al White reportedly plans to introduce a measure that would alter Colorado gaming laws. White’s measure would seek to, among other things, remove the standing $5 bet limit currently in place at Colorado casinos and to allow casinos to operate   …full article

2008 Grosvenor UK Poker Tour schedule

The 2008 schedule for the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour was recently released.
The tour, sponsored by Blue Square Poker, consists of nine legs stretching from January through mid-November, with the Grand Final taking place in London from Nov. 24-30. Prize monies have been announced to be   …full article

Petition drive for Ohio’s “single site” casino begins today

A casino petition drive spearheaded by MyOhioNow kicked off today in The Buckeye State.
An article on the official website states that the plan “guarantees a $600,000,000 destination casino/resort that would employ nearly 5,000 Ohioans and generate approximately $200,000,000 in tax revenues that would be   …full article

Card Player changes Player of the Year criteria for 2008

Card Player’s new rules for its 2008 Player of the Year qualifications are available in a column by Bob Pajich. Pajich supplies the entire list, pointing out which are changes from 2007.

The championship events of the following international tourneys all count toward POY standings: European   …full article

Lightning Poker gets poker table patent

Lightning Poker has announced its success in receiving a patent for its electronic poker table.
Patent number 7,306,516 has been awarded by the US Patent and Trademark Office to protect the innovative center screen, which Brian Haveson, Lightning Gaming’s CEO, calls “a key component to   …full article

Tony G responds to controversy surrounding T6 Poker

Professional poker player Tony ‘Tony G’ Guoga responded today on his blog to charges, raised on various poker forums, against online poker room T6 Poker. Guoga recently signed a one-year deal to endorse the room.
Questions about the credibility of T6 were first raised by   …full article

Two Plus Two launches poker podcast series

Leading online poker forum 2+2 announced today a new branch in their always-increasing array of poker products with the launch of a weekly internet radio show. The publisher rolled out the first installment in their 2+2 PokerCast series, a podcast that looks to feature   …full article

Poker Stars sets new traffic record for an online poker room

Leading online poker room PokerStars reached a milestone last week when it became the first room to break the threshold of 20,000 simultaneous real money players. PokerStars, which had lagged behind PartyPoker before US legislation forced Party to exit for the American market, is   …full article

Harrah’s sale receives desired approval by National Indian Gaming Commission

The last regulatory hurdle has been cleared for the largest casino sale ever, with the Apollo Investment Corporation Texas Pacific Group set to finalize purchase of Harrah’s Entertainment early next year.
Harrah’s made the announcement in a December 24 press release:
Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc., today announced that   …full article

WTO reaches compensation decision in online gambling dispute between US and Antigua

The World Trade Organization released their arbitration report regarding the conflict between Antigua and the US today. The report detailed the compensation that Antigua is entitled to as a result of its successful complaint against the US. As a result of its successful   …full article

Remote Gambling Association files complaint with EU against the US over gambling restrictions

The battle between international online gambling companies and the United States Federal Government entered a new venue today when industry lobbying group Remote Gambling Association (RGA) filed a formal complaint against the US Government with the EU.
According to its website, the RGA “represents most of   …full article

The Economist offers fairly positive survey of the growth of poker

UK publication The Economist published a piece this week that surveys the recent worldwide growth of poker, with extended analysis on the factors driving the growth and the challenges the industry faces from legislative and judicial corners.
The piece pays special attention to the modern arsenal   …full article

Financial Times: Banks warn that UIGEA compliance will be impossible

An article published today in the Financial Times captured the general attitude of the banking lobby toward the UIGEA - namely, that the industry finds the legislation unworkable in the current legal and political climate in the US.
The banking industry has generally been unsupportive of   …full article

EU and US apparently reach settlement in online gambling dispute

Various sources are reporting this morning that the United States and the European Union have reached an agreement regarding the compensation the US will provide to the EU for violation of WTO policies.
The WTO ruled earlier this year that the US had violated WTO agreements   …full article

Full Tilt Poker releases major software upgrade

Online poker room Full Tilt released a major software upgrade today, with a number of nice (albeit small) new features, including auto-rebuy options for ring games, SNG rematches, login history and more.
A Full Tilt representative posted this summary of the changes in a thread on   …full article

Evening Standard: UK investors souring on online poker

Online poker, once viewed as a can’t-miss investment by speculators in the UK, is apparently losing some of its luster in the financial community. That’s the basic thesis of an article published today on thisismoney.co.uk, a division of The Daily Mail / Evening Standard.
The   …full article

WSOP releases 2008 schedule, dedicates HORSE championship title to Chip Reese

Two big announcements from the World Series of Poker this week, both having to do with their flagship summer tournament series at the Rio.
First up, the announcement of the 2008 World Series of Poker Schedule. The big news: this year will feature eight, count   …full article

CardPlayer and PokerSavvy partner to launch new online poker training site

Popular poker magazine CardPlayer and online poker rewards site PokerSavvy announced today that they have partnered in the launch of a new online poker training site.
The new site, a section of CP branded as CardPlayer Pro, features a video selection powered by PokerSavvy. Members   …full article

Poker Stars considering cash-game freezeouts with hole card exposed replay

PokerStars is apparently considering introducing what would be a unique play format in the world of online poker - a higher-stakes cash game freezeout that would possibly involve some of their sponsored pros and be replayed after the match with all hole cards exposed.
A PokerStars   …full article

Chris “BluffMagCV” Vaughn fired from Bluff Magazine

Following the Full Tilt tournament scandal where he sold his account to Sorel Mizzi in the late stages of the FT Million Guaranteed, Bluff Magazine has terminated Chris “BluffMagCV” Vaughn as Managing editor. Excerpt from their announcement:
Bluff Media, publisher of Bluff Magazine, has   …full article

Poker Stars releases beta version of Mac client

In a move long-awaited by industry watchers, online poker giant PokerStars announced late this week that they had released a version of their popular poker room software designed to run natively on Macs.
The software is being classified as a beta release, and it does lack   …full article

Nat Arem publishes new installment of Absolute Poker trip report

Nat Arem, the founder of thePokerdb and one of the key figures responsible for bringing the truth of the Absolute Poker cheating scandal to light, released another installment today of his ongoing trip report series that chronicles his visit down to the Absolute Poker offices   …full article

Funding methods FirePay, payTru shutting down next week

Online poker players received news this week that two payment methods will soon no longer be available. First to bow out was payTru, whose users recently got this email advising of the end of the card program at Poker Stars.

We regret that the ability   …full article

10th edition Internet Gambling Report issued

Clarion Gaming has released the 10th edition of its Internet Gambling Report.
Over twice the size of the average novel, at 660 pages, the report is a comprehensive legal guide to almost every aspect imaginable related to online gaming.
Clarion’s press release gives details:
Founded by internationally   …full article

UIGEA introducer in pocket of horse racing industry

Representative Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, an originator of the unpopular UIGEA, said J.Todd of Perspectives Weekly in his webcast last week, has received $37,000 in donations from the National Thoroughbred Horseracing Association since 2003.
Horseracing is exempt from UIGEA regulations, and Goodlatte, the, according   …full article

Cantor Gaming to offer poker with 24hPoker

Cantor Gaming is the latest to sign on with the 24hPoker network. Following the agreement signed just this week, Cantor will begin to offer poker on its sites, beginning with pub-casino.co.uk at January’s end.
24hPoker CEO Peter Astrom said,