08.20.2008 01:36 PM
Once upon a time, there was a site called Poker.com. Great name, but the poker site never took off and was subsequently auctioned off for 20 million dollars. After that, it was no longer an online poker site, but rather an online poker info portal. When players tried to sign up, they were directed to a new room called Carbon Poker. This week, Carbon poker/Poker.com, sent out an e-mail stating they were changing to something called PDCPoker.com. But, as it turns out, after much confusion among affiliates, Carbon Poker will remain the same and PDCPoker is just an additional skin of Carbon, and both of these entities have absolutely nothing to do with Poker.com. Got it? Not sure I do, but I’m not sure I care, either. Good PR job, guys.
08.19.2008 06:52 PM PokerTrillion C.E.O Andy Pyrah announced this week that PokerTrillion's case in the First Hall Court on Malta has resulted in a judgment authorizing seizure of the Boss Media Malta Limited and Boss Media AB servers, and that these servers must cease being used for any commercial activity as from 18th September 2008. The judgment denied Boss the right to appeal.
Boss Media fired back today stating, “Poker Trillion’s recent comments are a reckless attempt to support a legal action that is without merit and initiated as retribution for their dismissal from the Boss Media network. To be clear, player funds are not affected by the current proceedings. All players’ funds are held separately under the control of the Malta Lotteries and Gaming Authority and cannot be seized by any court.
“Poker Trillion is a former customer of Boss Media who was terminated because of rake back violations. They have since then repeatedly tried to disrupt the Boss Media business through the dissemination of groundless rumors. In April 2008 Poker Trillion alleged in a press release a claim that among other things, Boss Media player funds were frozen. The allegations were false but typical of the type of tactics employed by Poker Trillion.”
Boss Media went on to state they are currently exploring various legal options and that they have high-performance back-up systems in place to ensure continued service to all their customers and players.
08.14.2008 01:57 PM
Just over a month before the 2008 WSOP Europe kicks off at Empire Casino in Leicester Square, the square will play host to the largest poker festival in the UK this weekend. Poker in the Park will host over 25,000 poker enthusiasts in Leicester Square for free hourly poker tournaments, lectures from the biggest stars of the game, photo opportunities and autographs with pro poker players, exhibitions from top name card rooms, and Las Vegas-style showgirl entertainment.
The poker pros in attendance will be a who's who of the UK poker scene, including Dave "Devilfish" Ulliott, Liv Boeree, Mark Goodwin, and Neil Channing. The event will also feature several live tournaments put on by a number of local London poker leagues and European Media and will include The Sky Poker Cup, The SubTV Student Poker League Cup, The LondonPubPoker.co.uk Trophy, The Royal Surrey Trophy, The Nuts Poker League Challenge, The LondonPokerMeetup.co.uk Cup, to name a few.
The festival is designed to show how popular and supportive the poker scene is in London as the city has become one of the premiere poker cities in the world and will continue to prove that as it hosts the 2008 WSOP Europe in mid-September.
If you want a chance to head to London and play against the best players the poker world has to offer, then check out Bodog's WSOP Europe online satellites. Qualifiers for the Two Seats Guaranteed World Series of Poker Europe Semifinal are running daily for as little as $1. The WSOP Europe package consists of a seat to the WSOP Europe Main Event, plus roundtrip airfare, high-end car service to and from the airport, luxury hotel accommodations, spending money and exclusive Team Bodog player gear and apparel, all valued at $24,000.
08.13.2008 02:14 PM Actor Ben Affleck, Poker Pros Andy Bloch and Bary Greenstein to Attend; Sponsorships Available
Poker players from across the nation will team up at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, CO, to play poker and raise funds for paralyzed veterans. Hosted by the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), “Poker at the Ballpark,” a charity poker tournament, will take place Tuesday, August 26th on the club level of Coors Field. All proceeds will go directly to the Paralyzed Veterans of America.
“PPA is honored to host this charity poker tournament and looks forward to raising a lot of money for these American heroes,” said former Senator Alfonse D’Amato, chairman of the PPA. “This is a great opportunity to harness the popularity of the game of poker in order to raise much needed funds for those who have fought to protect our country and our individual freedoms – paralyzed vets.”
Confirmed to participate in the PPA charity tournament are Hollywood star and poker aficionado Ben Affleck as well as professional poker players Andy Bloch and Barry Greenstein. A VIP reception begins at 9:30pm, and tournament play begins at 10:00pm.
Corporate sponsorships are available and include access to a VIP reception as well as recognition on all event signage and collateral materials. Individual seats at a tournament table are also available. For additional details on sponsorship, etc. can be found here.
The tournament grand prize is a 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event buy-in, valued at $10,000.
08.12.2008 04:27 PM
Natalie Teltscher, who goes by the username TheVOid, withdrew her lawsuit against PokerStars when confronted by the evidence Stars had compiled in its investigation into the matter, and finally admitted she had not been the player on the account during the 2007 World Championship of Online Poker in which she won 1.7 million dollars. PokerStars.com disqualified her and ruled that the remaining finalists move up one place on the winning table, and as a result, Teltscher had launched litigation in court on the Isle of Man.
08.11.2008 01:41 PM
The inaugural season of the Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT) wrapped up over the weekend in Punta del Este, Uruguay, when Jose Miguel Espinar captured the title, crystal trophy and $241,735 in prize money.
Heading into the final table, Espinar was in third place behind Canadian Gylbert Drolet and Brazilian Alexandre Gomes with his eventual heads-up opponent, Costa Rican Alex Brenes, sitting in fifth. After three quick eliminations, three of which were sent home courstesy of Espinar, the chip counts had changed dramatically. Gomes fell victim to Brenes, going home in fourth, putting the Tico's chip stack almost equal to the Spaniards. This almost equalit in chips led to a four-hour marathon long heads-up battle, which finally ended when Espinar flopped a pair of kings to take it down. Brenes won $126,625 for second.
08.08.2008 07:13 PM Reuters is reporting Two U.S. lawmakers, Rep. Robert Wexler, a Florida Democrat, and Rep. Steve Cohen, a Tennessee Democrat, have urged the U.S. Justice Department to suspend its investigation of European Internet gambling companies for possible criminal violations that occurred before Congress passed a law in 2006 to crack down on online gambling.
The two lawmakers warned U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey in separate letters the issue could lead to a potentially damaging trade spat between the United States and the European Union at the World Trade Organization.
"In all likelihood, this issue will escalate and I understand could result in WTO action focused specifically on how the U.S. government enforces its laws. I cannot see how that can be in the interests of this country," Wexler said in a letter to Mukasey on Wednesday.
European Internet gambling companies lost billions of euros in market value after Congress moved to shut down the U.S. market (UIGEA) by making it illegal for banks and credit card companies to make payments to online gambling sites.
08.04.2008 12:24 PM
The PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) returns September 2008, with a guaranteed prize pool of $30,000,000, that’s double the total guarantee of last year, making it the biggest online poker tournament series in the world.
There are a total of 33 different events, covering a wide range of poker games, including Hold’em, Omaha, Stud, Razz, HORSE, 2-7 Draw and more. Each event has a huge guarantee prize pool, with many reaching more than $2,000,000.
The series culminates with the $10,000,000 guaranteed Main Event, September 21. With cash prizes this big and a bracelet for the winner of each event, the WCOOP is THE series to be a part of. Don’t miss out on taking your seat!
You can buy in directly to any WCOOP event, or win your seat via one of the many PokerStars satellites running now. To register, click on PokerStars, in the lobby click ‘Events’ and ‘WCOOP’.
The 2008 WCOOP runs from September 5-22. Go to PokerStars for the full schedule of events.
Satellites for the 2008 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker will be running the remainder of the summer, with cash qualifiers starting from $2.20 and FPP satellites from just 100 Frequent Player Points. Stars is running multi-table satellites, Sit & Go satellites, and Steps qualifiers.
To register for a WCOOP satellite tournament, open the PokerStars lobby, click ‘Events’ and ‘WCOOP’. You can also use the Event Filter to quickly find the exact satellite you are looking for. Go to ‘Events’ and ‘WCOOP’, click the Event Filter and enter the details you want to find.
07.31.2008 01:00 PM
Forbes recently published an article entitled, “Feds Hound Bodog.” The article erroneously claims "the U.S. government recently seized $24 million from bank accounts linked to Bodog, the giant, illegal-under-U.S.-law Internet gaming operation founded by Canadian tycoon Calvin Ayre." Bodog refutes this allegation and their official response is copied below:
Good afternoon,
An article was recently released on Forbes.com that creates several misimpression's that the Morris Mohawk Gaming Group feels compelled to clarify for our customers.
As most of our customers already know, all operators outsource payment processing functions to third parties and these payment processors are subject to regulatory constraints wherever they operate, and, occasionally in the US, are subject to legal action because of the uncertain legal environment there.
However, the seizure of funds from these US payment processors was mischaracterized in this article, which refers to two specific legal cases against US processors. Rightly or wrongly, the article does not make a clear distinction between these cases, which, as a result, paints a misleading picture.
The facts are these: the first of these cases – relating to a seizure of funds from a processor known as JBL Services – happened some time ago and has absolutely nothing to do with the current payment processing challenges being experienced in the US. The constraints being experienced by payment processors in the US are universal in that region and not specific to any particular processor or site. Also, note that not one single player failed to get paid when this processor was disrupted.
The second case refers to a payment processor known as Zippayments.com and seizure of funds from this processor’s bank accounts in Nevada. The article falsely implies – but notably does not go so far as to state - that $9.9M seized from Zippayment’s Nevada bank accounts were funds on account for “Bodog”. This is simply false.
Processing partners with whom the Morris Mohawk Gaming Group does business are sophisticated organizations that are perfectly clear as to the actual facts of these cases and their contexts. They are unfazed by such media hype and Morris Mohawk wishes to ensure that its customers are similarly informed. Customer deposits are safe and every player has and will always be paid.
Alwyn Morris
C.E.O.
Morris Mohawk Gaming Group