Archive for July, 2010
One online casino is reporting huge profits for the year so far. 32Red, one of the largest online casinos, reported that revenue was up a record 34 percent in the first quarter of 2010.
32Red features a casino and poker rooms, but says that the casino is the most profitable and has seen record growth in the past year. It reports that 12,000 new players have joined the site, accounting for a 26 percent increase in players. Overall, players are spending a bit less at the casino, but because there are more players, the casino has record earnings anyhow.
The company’s CEO says that good branding and marketing have helped the company become one of the stronger online casinos.
“We believe that the 32Red brand and its core values continue to provide us with the tools to penetrate the online and mobile casino market successfully,” said Ed Ware, CEO of 32Red. “The group has further strengthened its balance sheet and, having repaid all outstanding bank debt, will increase marketing spend during the second half of the year.”
The site’s many playing opportunities include poker and casino games as well as online bingo, online rummy and sports betting.
Residents of British Columbia will be able to play soon in the province’s government-run casino www.playnow.com.
The online casino is the first casino in North American run by a government entity. Although it might be the first, those behind it say it might not be the last.
“British Columbia might be the first jurisdiction in North America to offer games, but I can predict that it won’t be the last,” said Rich Coleman, the minister of Housing and Social Development. His office oversees the British Columbia Lottery Corporation.
Many states and cities in Canada and the United States have discussed the possibility of opening and running online casinos and poker rooms recently, but British Columbia is the first to do it. Coleman said the Canadian province would not any longer “stand on the sidelines” while losing revenue to the many off-shore website that Canadian residents play.
“The hard reality is this – that activity is not going away,” Coleman said.
The revenue from the casino will be directed to the province’s general fund, which could help close a C$1.7 billion deficit this year.
Globally, the online gaming industry generates $20 billion in revenue annually, and it’s estimated that Canadian residents contribute $100 million to that total. The new gaming site run by the province will only accept bets from resident of British Columbia.
Poker players in France aren’t taking new laws there sitting down. Ok, they are sitting down, but they aren’t being quiet about it.
Recent changes to poker laws in France have added additional fees for the poker proprietors, and those companies are passing the fees along to the players, leaving many angry and frustrated because the fees, they say, cut well into their profits.
The French government is collecting a 2 percent tax on all tournaments, re-buys, and cash games. The taxing will be across the board, even on hands that fold. The poker companies say they can’t absorb this cost themselves, so are passing the fees along to the players as an extra rake.
Players at PokerStars and other sites are in protest mode. Many players argue that having to pay the extra 2 percent rake puts poker playing as a luxury rather than a fun, harmless hobby. They say that the extra rake might mean that the number of hands available will drop by as much as 25 percent.
So, in a kind of tea party fashion, French players are sitting out games while still occupying seats. These modified “sit ins” are orchestrated when players log into their accounts and occupy seats. They don’t buy in, however, instead choosing to sit out hands. The hope is that the French government (along with the poker sites that can lobby the government) will see the problem and lift the rake, or at least decrease it.
True to its promise, the 2010 World Series of Poker has turned into a surprising event where the favored players are out of contention and surprising players remain.
Phil Ivey, who attracted a crowd when he first arrived at the tournament, found himself out of contention over the weekend. The player who is seen as a huge celebrity in poker circles found himself out of the tournament within one hour of the second day of play.
Other surprises include the ouster of Doyle Brunson, who received an ovation from the crowd as he left the Amazon room at the Rio Casino in Las Vegas. Other notable surprise exits include Chris Ferguson, Andy Bloch, J.C. Tran, Freddy Deeb, Cyndy Violette, Joe Cada, and Alexander Kravchenko.
Poker legend Johnny Chan is still alive.
While some of the celebrities from the non-poker world did well on days one and two, many of them have been eliminated from play. Still in the hunt, however, is actor Gabe Kaplan, known best for his role as the teacher in the sitcom “Welcome Back, Kotter”. He holds the distinction of being the celebrity from the non-poker world who has placed highest at any WSOP. He came in 13th at the 1991 WSOP.
Actor Hank Azaria was also still doing well by Wednesday in the 2010 WSOP Main Event. He was ranked at the middle of the pack.
It’s rush week at Full Tilt Poker one of the best online poker sites. No, you don’t have to do anything crazy to get into the fraternity; this rush week is all about Full Tilt’s famous Rush Poker, and it’s a week full of chances to make it big.
Rush Poker is a different concept offered by Full Tilt (www.fulltiltpoker.com). When players are playing Rush Poker, they can move quickly from hand to hand, never having to wait until others at a table have finished playing a hand. Once you’ve played your hand, you are immediately and virtually moved to a new table, where a new hand is just being dealt. Rush Poker gives players a chance to play more hands faster.
This week, you earn points for every hand you play, whether you play in ring games or tournaments. Earn enough points and you could earn a $250 cash bonus. Aside from that motivator, all players who end up at the Rush Poker tournament final table will be entered into a $50,000 freeroll.
There are different award levels offered each day during Rush week, and if you reach your daily points goal each day, you qualify for a bonus.
To play, either log into your Full Tilt Poker player account or sign up for a new one. Click on your “promotions” link and then access the Rush Poker lobby. For more information, visit Full Tilt Poker’s Rush Poker rush week rules page at http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/rush-week/rules.
Grand Vegas has opened their doors and are now accepting players from around the world including all USA Players.
Grand Vegas offers players a $555 welcome bonus with a 100% match. They currently accept all major forms of deposit options including visa, mastercard and amex credit cards.
You can read our full grand vegas casino review.
They currently have over 100+ casino games to choose from including one of the largest selections of slot machines of any new online casino.
If your thoughts about casinos naturally run to the smoky and stinky kind, a new partnership might change that perception. The Vapor Corp., an electronic cigarette company, recently announced sponsorship of several poker players.
Capitalizing on the current popularity of the World Series of Poker, Vapor announced the sponsorship of six players, a sponsorship that will result in each player wearing Vapor’s Fifty-One or Krave logos when competing.
“This is Vapor Corp.’s first foray into sponsorships,” said Kevin Frija, the company’s president and CEO. Frija said one of the company founders was a WSOP bracelet holder, who became aware of electronic cigarettes at a poker tournament.
“We have come full circle and believe that our products are a natural fit for poker players and casinos everywhere,” Frija said.
The poker players who will soon sport Vapor logos include Michael Mizrachi, Robert Mizrachi, David Rheem, Isaac Galazan, Paul Wolfe and Noah Boeken.
The fact that the sponsorship deal was announced right before the WSOP’s Main Event began is not lost on the company. In celebration of the tournament and the new partnership with poker players, the company is offering a special deal to the first 100,000 customers who sign up. This is definitely showing how popular poker is outside of the usual Las Vegas casinos and online poker sites where most pros have sponsorship deals with.
The current World Series of Poker Main Event is officially the second largest in history. After players finishing registering Thursday, the total player count stood at 7,319 for a total prize pool of more than $68 million.
The biggest WSOP Main Event was in 2006, when 8,773 players entered play and the prize pool was $82 million. That year, Jamie Gold won the big title and a $12 million payday.
This year, 747 players can win cash prizes. The player who comes in 747th will take home just over $19,000 while the big winner will take home a cash prize of nearly $9 million.
Some players who aren’t known to the poker world are excited to find themselves playing alongside both poker and entertainment royalty. Some have found themselves seated at tables with poker greats like Phil Ivey and Doyle Brunson. Joe Hachem, Andy Block, Vanessa Rousso, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Gordon, Barry Greenstein and many others are also playing in this year’s Main Event.
Some celebrities who have surprised and delighted poker players with their presence include Jason Alexander, Emmitt Smith, Hank Azaria and Shannon Elizabeth. Alexander charmed players at his table with his easy banter and silly jokes. He also called for a massage just 10 minutes into his table play.
Play in the Main Event will continue until mid-July when the final table will be determined.
PokerStars announced two new Team PokerStars pro members. One is a likely candidate and the other a surprise.
David Williams is a seasoned and relatively well known poker player who’s known mostly for his No Limit Hold’em performances. His live tournament winnings are nearly $8 million. He took second at the 2004 World Series of Poker Main Event and took nearly $3.5 million home. He recently won the World Poker Tour championship and a cash prize of $1.5 million.
Though Williams has huge live tournament winnings, he’s no stranger to online play. He won a World Championship of Online Poker title in 2009 for a cash prize of $107,000.
A less likely appointment to Team Poker Stars is Vanessa Selbst, a student at Yale Law School. Selbst graduated from Yale with a degree in political science and says she’s been a lifelong fan of all kinds of games, from which her love of poker grew. Though she’s been playing for just a few short years, she has $1.6 million in live tournament winnings.
Selbst has made a showing at a WSOP final table (in 2006) and has one WSOP bracelet to her credit. This spring, she took the top spot at the PokerStars North American Poker Tour stop at the Mohegan Sun. Her cash winnings in that event were $750,000 and she was officially on the poker radar.
Both players are often found playing at PokerStars.com and play under the names “dwilliams” and “V.Selbst” respectively.
All eyes are officially on the World Series of Poker, if they weren’t already. The main event began Monday and promises to bring an interesting finish to a WSOP that has already been surprising.
During day one play, former bracelet winners fell, and a number of celebrity players stayed in the game. 2003′s main event champion Chris Moneymaker ended the day with 100,000 chips, while notable favorite Greg Raymer was booted after just one round of play.
The celebrities didn’t fare as well as the pro poker players. Long time poker fan of Ray Romano did well until the evening, but after the dinner break found himself out of the game. Actor David Alan Grier made it through day one, but with only 6,000 chips. NBA player Shawn Marion, of the Dallas Mavericks, nearly made it through day one play but was booted at the end of the night.
The main event is the culmination of several weeks of poker play at the Rio Casino in Las Vegas. It is slated to end July 17. The event just prior to the Main Event was the Ante Up for Africa celebrity tournament, held over the weekend. Professional poker player Phil Gordon, who plays for Team Full Tilt Poker, took first in that charity tournament. Actress Shannon Elizabeth came in a close second.
