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GigaMedia Limited has announced it is teaming up with major sports betting company Victor Chandler to expand its existing Everest Gaming platform. The new product, Everest Bets, will deliver what the two companies call "a broader, richer gaming and entertainment experience." Everest Poker is already a major poker site, having been named Poker Operation of the Year by e-Gaming Review for the last two years running, and making a name for itself as a sponsor of the World Series of Poker. GigaMedia entered into the partnership with the betting giant after surveys showed that a significant percentage of Everest Poker players also engage in sports betting. Bob Cahill, head GigaMedia's gaming software business, called the Gibraltar-based Victor Chandler "a sports betting legend with an enormous, thriving business and an unsurpassed reputation for honor and integrity." Victor Chandler Chief Executuve Michael Carlton praised the new partnership, saying "We are confident we can deliver a product to excite their current poker and games customers. The sports betting product will offer all popular sports in many European languages, and complement Everest's superb poker and casino offering."
The Czech Republic's five biggest bookmakers are set to receive permits from the country's Finance Ministry to introduce online gambling, Radio Praha has reported. The licenses are set to be issued on January 5th, after years of lobbying by bookmakers. Fortuna is believed to be one of the five companies to receive a license. Company executive Tomas Bahnik told Radio Praha the deal was all about creating parity. "We are sad and bitter that foreign Internet betting companies are allowed to operate in the Czech Republic without any control. There is no legal restriction. So basically they operate in this country illegally. So we want to have the same opportunities as foreign companies," he said. Bahnik said that foreign companies currently make millions of Euros a year from Czech consumers, without having to pay any taxes. He added that the willingness of local companies to comply with regulations helped in bringing the government on side. "Our main goal is to control the situation," Bahnik said. "If someone wants to bet through Fortuna on the Internet, they must register in a bricks and mortar office and show their ID...We don't accept credit cards but only regular payment cards because we don't support gambling and gamblers and we don't want people to become addicted to Internet betting. That's something foreign companies don't do." The timing of the deal has extra significance, given that the Czech Republic is set to take over the rotating presidency of the European Union on January 1st.
Steve Wynn is not one to back down from a challenge, not when he's riding the crest of the wave. Wynn Resorts Ltd. the mega-successful hotel and casino company is set to officially open the Encore on the Las Vegas Strip. Going big In spite of a smattering of calls for caution in the hotel and casino industry, not to mention the global credit crunch, Wynn is fully confident that his new Encore resort will continue to add shine to the Wynn name. And it's a big investment for the Wynn group - a $2.3 billion price tag for the 2000 room hotel-casino in the heart of the famed Las Vegas Strip. Solid Positive thinking and a healthy financial profile make Steve Wynn confident that the new Encore venture is going to succeed. Backing up his words is his company's balance sheets which reflect the best performance in a declining industry. Wynn's company showed approximate stock drops of 50% compared with MGM Mirage's more than 80% and Las Vegas Sands 90% stock-price declines. While competitors are selling off chunks of their empires for greater liquidity, Wynn Resorts is dropping anchor and investing in new ventures. Las Vegas Sands tycoon Sheldon Adelson, for example, has laid off thousands of workers in the Macau venture and even pumped a billion dollars into his company. All the while Wynn has judiciously invested and managed his mega portfolio. Encore It's grand, yet intimate and elegant. The Encore is an opulent 2000 room tower and casino with all the trappings of top-class entertainment. At the Encore, all the razzmatazz of typical Vegas style casinos can be found. It's a bold move in testing times, but all the signs are positive.
The Poker Players Alliance's Congressional Ratings Website, Ccongressionalpoker.com, is designed to aid advocacy efforts for the poker and gambling community. The Website allows user to enter their zip code to find the Poker Player Alliance's ratings for their local U.S. senators or congressmen. According to the guide, a congressman receives an A+ if they have actively worked to protect poker rights. An A is achieved for being a supporter of online poker rights (co-sponsor of HR 2046, HR 2610, supporter of HR 5767 and/or HR 6870). An A- is achieved for voting against the Internet Gambling Prohibition and Enforcement Act (the bill that became the UIGEA) without taking any other action. A legislator receives a B for co-sponsoring HR 2610 (the Internet gaming study bill) and/or signing a pro-online poker UIGEA regulation comment to a federal agency. Getting a D means the legislator voted for HR 4411, but took no other action. F and F- obviously fall into the category of opposing online poker rights either passively or actively, while a question mark means the congressman has no voting record on the matter. Data is more limited for senators, hence why far more senators than congressman receive a question mark as their grade. An A means the senator signed a UIGEA letter in favor of the PPA. The 10 senators who voted against Sen. Kyle's anti-gambling 474* all receive A +. Once again, an F is given to the high number of legislators either co-sponsoring ant-Internet gaming legislation or working actively against gambling (or what the PPA call "anti-poker extremists)".
There are plenty of payment methods, for sure. Players often have an account with one and seek online casinos that accept it. As long as it's one of the bigger payment providers (NETeller, Moneybookers come to mind), that's not a problem. Others may have accounts with several payment methods, or use a credit card and other solutions that are just too simple and require no separate account. To these, we are glad to report, new payment options have now been added. The new services are: Giropay caters to players making deposits in Germany. Online gamblers can use GiroPay to make instant online deposits directly and securely from your bank, and there is no registration involved. Nordea is very much the same, only it's catered to Swedish and Finnish players. eps is another geo-targeted service, available to Austrian players. eNETS caters to players from Singapore. POLi, last of the five payment methods, is only available for Australian players. All of the above payment methods come with an automatic 10% or even 15% bonus, so there is another advantage to checking them out, other than reliability, ease of use and security in doing so, as can be expected from such services provided by Moneybookers. Where to play? Europa Casino has added all five payment solutions to its casino..
The fifth season of Poker After Dark gets under way in the US late Monday night on NBC, continuing until the end of the week. The first episode, entitled "Close but no Cigar", involves six contestants, all of whom have made it to the final table of past World Series of Poker Main Events but have yet to win a title. Each of the six players will put $20,000 into the pot to compete, with the winner walking away with all $120,000. Player profiles Irishman Andy Black, who placed fifth in the 2005 WSOP Main Event behind Joe Hachem, will be competing in the first episode. Lee Watkinson, the eighth-place getter from the 2007 Main Event, will also be there. Former kindergarten teacher Dewey Tomko has finished runner-up twice at Main Events - in 1982 and again in 2001. Tomko's length career, in which he has won three WSOP bracelets, saw him inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2008. David Williams came second at the 2004 Main Event and won a bracelet in 2006 in a $1,500 buy-in Seven Card Stud tournament. Allen Cunningham is arguably the most successful of the competitors on the program, with five WSOP bracelets to his name as well as a fourth-place finish at the 2006 Main Event He has won over $10 million over the course of his career. Mike Matusow finished ninth at the 2005 Main Event and sixth at the 2001 Main Event. He has three WSOP bracelets to his name. Going to air Poker After Dark goes to air at 2:05 AM US Eastern Time each night this week, ending with a special feature on Saturday night in which host Leeann Tweeden will go through highlights of the tournament.
Midwest Gaming won the 10th and last casino license in the U.S. state of Illinois on December 22, giving it the right to go ahead with plans to build a casino in suburban Des Plaines, near O'Hare International Airport. Three of the five members of the Illinois Gaming Board approved the license, while one voted against and one abstained. Midwest beat out two other proposals in the process. According to local news reports, the company - run by billionaire developer Neil Bluhm - Is planning a 50,000 square-foot casino for the site.
Poker legend Doyle Brunson has blasted Anurag Dikshit, writing in his blog that the PartyGaming founder is appropriately named. Dikshit pleaded guilty earlier this month to violating the US federal wire act, admitting to having used the wires to transmit bets and wager information on interstate commerce. He agreed to forfeit $300 million, and faces a maximum sentence of two years in prison. "Dikshit was one of the owners of Party Poker and became a multi-billionaire when Party went public," Brunson wrote. "It looks like he would feel a sense of obligation to online poker, the industry that made him a rich man. Instead, he folded up like an accordion and pleaded guilty to breaking some kind of mystery law." "It certainly created some ill will from the other online poker sites. I personally can't imagine what was going through his mind when he made the decision," he wrote. Poker hall of famer Brunson, who has 10 World Series of Poker bracelets to his credit, including two Main Event titles, is an influential voice in the poker industry, making his opinion heard via the blog, which is hosted on his Web site, Doyle's room.
After months of intense debate in government, the green light is finally given to embark on the development of a casino industry in the islands of Taiwan. The Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) compiled a detailed report pointing to the need for developing a casino industry in Taiwan. Among others, the industry is likely to employ some 5,000 full-time workers plus an additional 15,000 temporary workers. Knock-on effect Development of the casino industry will yield increasing revenues to the hotel industry which will boost tourism and employment creation prospects. Of equal importance to the authorities however are the revenues to be gained from taxing and regulating the casino industry in Taiwan. For now though, the feeling is that the casinos will be developed on the periphery islands of Taiwan. There is one prerequisite which must be met however: all casinos must be developed as part of holiday resorts. The thinking is that this will help boost tourism revenue and generate significant employment prospects for Taiwanese citizens. Those in favor of Taiwan lifting the ban on gambling are numerous and moves are afoot to get the process kick started as soon as possible.
Online Gambling Insider has announced its online gambling awards for 2008, with VIP Slots Casino taking out the most prestigious award. VIP Slots won the award for the best online casino of 2008. The Website is operated by the English Harbour Group and powered by Vegas Technology. Also amongst the online casino category, Ladbrokes won the award for best UK online casino, while Online Vegas Casino was named the best new casino for 2008. Poker Rooms were yet another category. PokerStars added to a successful week in which it also broke a new world record for largest online poker tournament, when it took out the award for best online poker room.
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