Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Frank Sinatra Land Based Casino To Close But Sinatra Slot Lives On At PartyGaming, by Greg Tingle - 1st April 2010

A Nevada casino once owned by legend Frank Sinatra and patronised by Hollywood stars and mobsters has closed due to plunging gambling rates and competition from the Vegas strip.

Media Man and Gambling911 investigate, as we mix it up with Hollywooders, journos, academics and mobsters...

Associations with the likes of Marilyn Monroe, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Junior has not been enough to save the Cal Neva Lodge Casino from the distressed US land based casino industry.

The casino, situated on Lake Tahoe near the California border, last year saw its revenues fall to approximately 50% of what they enjoyed in 1992 allowing for inflation, tipped Mr William Eadington, director of the Institute for the Study of Gambling and Commercial Gaming at the University of Nevada.

Other local casinos continue to close or have downsized, unable to compete with Las Vegas, not in good shape itself – and the growing number of gambling resorts on Native American Indian reservations.

"The realities are when you have that kind of decline the weakest operators typically get pushed out," advised Mr Eadington. "The older, tired casinos and the Cal Neva is a great example, don't have much to offer for gaming."

Understood to be America's oldest licensed casino, the Cal Neva opened for business in 1926. The Cal Veva enjoyed its peak in the early 1960s when it was bought by Sinatra, reportedly in partnership with Sam Giancana, a Chicago mobster.

Adding a 35-seat celebrity showroom and rooftop helicopter pad, Samy and Frank ensured film stars, singers and Mafiosi enjoyed its blackjack games and roulette tables.

A network of underground tunnels, built to smuggle alcohol during Prohibition, allowed the VIP guests to move around the establishment without being seen by the general public.

Monroe actually spent the last weekend of her colourful life at The Cal in 1962 as a guest of the infamous 'Rat Pack' actor Peter Lawford and his wife.

Various stories circulate as to why the blond goddess was there. One story goes on to say she discussed making a film with Dean Martin and to patch things up with her second husband, baseball icon Joe DiMaggio, yet another Cal Neva regular. The other side of the story we learn is that a 1999 biography claimed Monroe was brought there to be threatened not to reveal her Mafia links, drugged in her cabin and photographed in compromising positions! Another Cal Neva rumour claims she used the resort for a tryst with John F Kennedy.

Staff concede the resort has traded off its colourful history but Guy Rocha, a former Nevada state archivist, said it would not register with younger gamblers. The hotel and restaurant remain open, but the tables, slots and other gambling activity are history.

"The Cal Neva doesn't capture people's imagination the way it once did," he said.

The Sinatra name is however alive and strong on the internet. Media Man has created an online tribute (with the help of Wikipedia) which is found here
http://www.mediamanint.com/profiles/sinatra.html and an authentic Sinatra online slot game, developed by 'The Games Studio' of PartyGaming fame is also showcased. Frank Sinatra Enterprises came to business terms with PartyGaming last year and the slot game has proven to be one of the most popular of all time, even competing with the legendary Cleopatra, developed by IGT (International Gaming Technology) and WagerWorks. Gangster and mob related games are some of the most popular found anywhere in the world. 'The Godfather' franchise also has an online slot game and rumours are circulating that Australia's late Kerry Packer (code named "The Goanna" in The Costigan Commission report) may also get the same treatment.

PartyGaming is also currently rumoured to be in discussions with the Canadian Poker Tour aka HeadsUp Entertainment, as well as enjoying M&A talk with Bwin and others. This past week PartyGaming inked a b2b multi year deal with Pari Mutuel Urbain (PMU). Party will provide its poker product to its horse racing website. Party continues its global strategy with France, South America, India, the U.S and Australia in its sights.

Media Man remains optimistic about America's igaming industry growth, having created http://www.americangamingnews.com and http://www.hollywoodslotgames.com

A Media Man insider was overheard, "If only the U.S igaming market would open up sooner rather than later. We could kick some major goals under Gambling911 and the Sly Stallone - Arnie connection guidance. I guess we will have to stick mainly to poker and sports betting in the U.S sector for now, but when things change those Gambling911 guys, PartyGaming and the Media Man crew might just take over Vegas and Atlantic City... we could back door it in via Canada and North America with those Canadian Poker tournament guys. It will be just like the good old days, and you know history repeats my friend".

*Greg Tingle is a special contributor for Gambling911

*Media Man http://www.mediamanint.com is primarily a media, publicity and internet portal development company. The firm covers approximately a dozen business vertical markets including gaming and igaming

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Tuesday, March 30, 2010

PartyCasino Wins Media Man Online Casino Award, by Greg Tingle - 31st March 2010

PartyCasino.com Wins Media Man Online Casino Award

PartyCasino.com has been awarded the Media Man and Casino News Media "Online Casino Of The Month".

PartyGaming's igaming suite has grown a custom to winning awards since they first opened for business in 1997.

The competition for the coveted award was intense again this month with massive bids from both WPTCasino.com, Captain Cooks Casino, Virgin Casino, Betfair, PKR and Noble Casino however there can only be one winner... ladies and gentlemen, that's PartyCasino.com

The award follows PartyPoker's EGR Poker Operator Of The Year and PartyGaming also made the shortlist for EGR Operator Of The Year. Recently PartyGaming's PartyPoker.com also won the Casino News Media "Online Poker Website Of The Month".

The Media Man - Casino News Media accolade is based on a combination of elements including user experience, innovation, trustworthiness, customer service, gameplay, affiliate program offerings, newsworthiness and company values.

PartyCasino.com is one of a number of PartyGaming brands.

The most popular PartyCasino.com games of late include Rambo, The Godfather, Sinatra, Slotbox, Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Mission: Impossible, The Terminator, Cleopatra, Sinatra, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, The Amazing Spider-Man, Monopoly, Resident Evil, Melon Madness, Wheel Of Fortune and Mega Fortune Wheel.

The PartyCasino.com jackpot is currently approaching the $2 million mark. Players can also compete for The Big One and Marvel Hero Jackpot, playing the Marvel super hero themed online slot games.

PartyCasino's most recent game releases include Melon Madness, SlotBox, Rubik's Slot, Beat The Bank, Sands Of Fortune, Tarzan, High Noon and Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.

PartyGaming CEO Jim Ryan has gone on record advising PartyCasino will soon feature more Hollywood blockbuster themed slots. A few in the know journalists and media agents have been recently tipped off that an all time classic movie adaption will be showcased in the PartyCasino portfolio within 3 months. PartyCasino has the world's most impressive line up of Hollywood themed games, and more are just around the corner.

PartyCasino.com and PartyPoker.com customers can also benefit from rewards and bonuses via PartyPoints and the Palladium Lounge. Be certain to check out the PartyCasino exclusive "Cash Machine" that is being championed as one of the greatest online casino promos ever.

Media Man, Casino News Media and Global Gaming Directory do have a b2b relationship with PartyGaming, as they do with dozens of other companies in the gaming, igaming, media and entertainment industry.

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Monday, March 29, 2010

PartyPoker Introduces The Inaugural Online Cash Game Championships (OCGC); Action Starts 5th April 2010

PartyPoker.com Introduces The Inaugural Online Cash Game Championships (OCGC); Action Starts 5th April 2010

Gibraltar – 29th March 2010 – PartyPoker.com is delighted to give notice that in April they will be hosting the inaugural Online Cash Game Championships (OCGC). This will be the world’s first online cash game championships and shuffle up and deal is called on the 5th April.

A PartyPoker.com spokesman said: "We are very excited about this online poker first! Anyone can claim the crown: you don’t have to be a regular at the high-stakes tables. It’s a long, hard road to victory with $250,000 waiting to be won, the tables are sure to be packed this April. But, when the dust has settled, only the most skillful cash players will take the plaudits."

The competition is divided into seven levels. At each level, players will need to play 400 hands in a day with the most profitable players advancing towards the final table which takes place on 7th May. As the participants progress through the levels, cash prizes will be added and both the stakes and the quality of the opposition will increase. The first stage of this epic challenge runs from 5th to 9th April on PartyPoker.com’s $0.50/$1 no-limit hold’em cash tables.

Please note that customers have to opt in to take part in the Online Cash Game Championships. Players have to opt in before the end of level one (5-9th April).

See: Partypoker.com for more information and schedules

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Saturday, March 27, 2010

PartyGaming Eyes French With PMU Deal; Global Strategy Sees Punters And Government's Win, by Greg Tingle - 27th March 2010

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PartyCasino.com PartyPoker.com WPTCasino.com WPTPoker.com PartyBingo.com PartyGammon.com PartyBets.com

PartyGaming is aiming to take advantage of the newly regulated online gambling market opening up in France by inking a deal with Pari Mutuel Urbain (PMU) to provide an online poker offering to the French horse racing betting group.

The deal which is understood to be similar to b2b agreements PartyGaming has signed in Italy and Denmark, enables the company to operate its world famous PartyPoker website – provided it wins a licence in the regulated market – as well as power PMU’s poker offering.

Players on both sites will be brought into one poker liquidity pool.

Jim Ryan, PartyGaming’s chief executive, said the company intended to strike other B2B poker deals in France. "The objective is to have the largest poker liquidity pool in France," he said.

PartyGaming declined to disclose terms of the deal. PMU, which has signed up Paddy Power as its partner in sports betting, last year made turnover of €9.3bn and has 6.5m customers.

Wyn Ellis, analyst with Numis, advised the deal could add £5m to 2011 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation. "Party has a scale that has allowed it put people and resources into multiple markets to allow it to exploit the changing regulatory environment," Mr Ellis said.

Burt Paul Leyland of Collins Stewart said while the deal would give Party a leading place in the French market, it would not obviously drive revenue.

PartyGaming would have to absorb the loss of revenues coming out of France in the unregulated market, he said, adding that, given the proposed tax rates in the new regime, "Party could easily still be a net loser".

Ryan remains upbeat and positive, emphasising revenues coming out of France were small and that the opportunity for PartyGaming to advertise in France was crucial. "I don’t share the view that we can expect ebit margins to shrink," he said.

France plans to open the new market in time for the start of the World Cup in June. Under the new regime, the PMU is protected by regulations that require bets on horse racing to be pari-mutuel, but fixed-odds betting is allowed on sports.

PartyGaming's global strategy continues to take shape. A return to the United States this year, or next, would likely be the firms jackpot, however they continue to make progress in many regions. Other countries that Party are keen to expand into include Australia, India and South America.

The company's amicable settlement with the U.S Government last year, exceeding $100m, is tangible proof of financial stability and willingness to go the extra mile as to adapt to the market, while satisfying crucial legal requirements. Party's financial strength and positive result for the United States coffers has not gone unnoticed by Government bean counters across the globe. Clearly Party have far greater resources and experience than most of their would be competitors. Mainstream brands Virgin (Games) and Sega are also looking to expand internationally, but in the case of Virgin its more of a non gambling product push. In the eyes of most media and gaming analysts, PartyGaming is way ahead of the pack, with only Harrah's Entertainment giving them a real run for their money in the U.S.

Ryan sees a number of mergers and acquisitions on the cards. Industry buzz of late is that Party may be about to secure a deal with a major Canadian based poker tour brand, and such a deal would add to Party's poker tour portfolio headed up by the World Poker Tour.

"With some acquisitions and major B2B deals already under our belt, we plan to do more in 2010 and I believe we are on course to meet our objective of becoming the world's most valuable online gaming company."

PartyCasino.com remains a big hit for Party and its customers, with Hollywood branded games such as the Sinatra slot, Rambo, The Terminator, Mission: Impossible and Saturday Night Fever enjoying record popularity. The deal with Marvel Entertainment also continues to serve Party, its partners and customers well, and let us not forget upcoming Marvel films, Thor and Spider-Man, that will further propel the Hollywood themed games.

Party is also utilizing the strength of other world class non gaming brands to stand out from the pack. This month PartyCasino players have a chance to win a Porsche playing slot games, a promotion most other competitors would die for.

Australians can currently play virtually all PartyGaming brands including PartyCasino.com, PartyPoker.com, WPTCasino.com, WPTPoker.com, PartyBingo.com, PartyGammon.com and PartyBets.com

Shares in PartyGaming rose ½p to finish at 329.3p on Friday.

*The writer has a b2b agreement with a number of PartyGaming brands, as they do with dozens of companies in the gaming, media and entertainment sector.

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Friday, March 26, 2010

PKR Poker Springfest 2010 - 26th March 2010

It’s time for PKR’s Springfest!

This awesome series kicks off on Friday 26th March lasting almost two weeks with more than $130,000 worth of prizes waiting to be won!

Springfest’s 11 events will be giving players the chance to test their online poker skills in a range of exciting formats which include: Deep stacks, Bounty events, Omaha, Rebuys and Terminators all featuring in this year’s line-up.

In addition to this, the festival will also feature a special PKR Live IV freeroll.

Players that enter at least 6 out of the 11 spring fest events will be able to enter the tournament where three PKR Live IV packages will be up for grabs. These great packages include your ticket, travel to London and expenses!

PKR Marketing Manager Erika Schwartz said, "Springfest is a staple on the PKR calendar and player response is always fantastic. This year’s calendar of events is really exciting, with lots of variation, playable structures and very affordable buy-ins."

You can buy in direct or play satellites in order to take part in the Springfest events, check the PKR lobby for more details.

Be also sure to check out the PKR Casino slots and new sports betting, all part of the unique PKR experience.

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PartyGaming News - 26th March 2010

PartyGaming Plc (PRTY LN) The U.K. gambling website operator has signed an alliance in online poker with French gambling company Pari Mutuel Urbain. The shares gained 6.1 pence, or 1.9 percent, to 328.8.

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Thursday, March 25, 2010

Poker Playing Students Suspended From School Down Under, by Greg Tingle - 26th March 2010

An Aussie clan of school students has been suspended for "gambling" during class hours in a development that many parents, students and members of the press have labelled a massive over-reaction for playing cards, on school grounds no less.

Seven (unlucky) students, from Western Cape College’s Aurukun campus, were nabbed while betting cash on the card game and were punished on Wednesday. It is not known who won the game or who was leading at the time of the bust, nor the pot at stake.

Education leaders have been especially critical of the sanction, saying such a punishment should only be used out for bullying and violent offences.

Media Man thinks it may be a different case if the students had wagged school, hit the "local" (pub - hotel) and were playing the pokies! Let us not forget that playing cards also requires skill and usage of the brain.

The move could have far reaching consequences for the parents who receive welfare payments under the Cape York Welfare Reform program.

Under the CYWR program, if a student is absent from school three times in a term without a reasonable excuse payments can be docked.

It is unknown how long the students will be banned from school.

Opposition education spokesman Bruce Flegg said the punishment didn’t fit the crime and believed the focus should have been on "rehabilitating" the card loving students.

"I would prefer to see such a punishment used for bullying and violence," he said.
"I wonder how letting kids miss out on school is a good thing. It’s a victimless crime, I would’ve thought some sort of guidance would’ve be an appropriate thing."

Child psychologist Frances Quirk said while the school needed to prove "gambling" was not acceptable, she questioned the merit in suspending them.

"Schools handing out suspensions on its own is not likely to be a deterrent," she said.

"I’d prefer to see intervention and discussion with the children, asking them if they know gambling is risky and if they’re doing other risky things. There’s better outcomes for children if you sit them down and look at how you can change the activities they’re engaging in."

An Education Queensland spokesman confirmed the students had been suspended.

"Seven students have been suspended from the Western Cape College’s Aurukun campus," he said.

Media Man says the harsh punishment has resulted in this matter becoming a local, national and now, international news story.

Readers minds might flick back to Betfair babe, Annette Obrestad, who goes under the nickname, "Annette_15". Betfair was warned by the UK advertising authority (Advertising Standards Authority) that such campaigns, tags and tactics et al going in the public domain may potentially encourage underage gambling, poker engagement and the like.

Poker is almost universally recognised as primarily a game of skill, as ruled in court rooms around the world. In fact recently as reported in Gambling911, Lithuania ruled that poker is in fact a sport.

Media Man is currently investigating if TNA pro wrestler Kevin "Big Sexy" Nash, formally known as "Vinnie Vegas", is or was a formidable poker player. Many celebrities present themselves as very poker and casino savvy, but few actually are.

Poker and gambling news remains red hot in the Asia Pacific - Australian region, as two days ago revelations surfaced in The Australian newspaper that cricket great Shane Warne is fronting an "illegal" (in Australia) poker brand (888) and that an Australian government "probe" was on the way. Some legal aspects of poker, gaming and igaming were also covered this past Wednesday at iGaming Business Down Under conducted at Sydney's Star City Casino. Media Man filmed some of the event and had more than one legal eagle in attendance.

Casino News Media and Media Man Online Poker Room of the Month: PartyPoker, WPTPoker and PokerStars (a 3 way tie!) PKR Poker, the 3D poker room was runner up.

Readers, ladies and gentlemen, young (not too young) and old, thank you for your loyalty and patronage. We, Media Man (and Google News) appreciate it, and that's no bluff. Keep it legal, and keep it fun. As rock icon Alice Cooper screams, Schools Out!

*Greg Tingle is a special contributor for Gambling911

*Media Man http://www.mediamanint.com is primarily a media, publicity and internet portal development company. They also run a poker news website portal Poker News Media.

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Australia's Crown Casino To Get $212 Million Revamp Creating Jobs, by Greg Tingle - 26th March 2010

Crown Casino, iconic Australian tourism icon, is to receive a revamp that will keep the demanding high rollers happy, and at the same time create hundreds more jobs.

Crown's most upmarket (and most expensive) area is to get a $212 million facelift to satisfy up whales, dolphins and the high roller type client who often prefer more luxurious casinos overseas. Good thing Mr James Packer also has the City Of Dreams in Macau, which is also on a roll at the moment.

The Mahogany Room upgrade will include 11 new private gaming salons installed and the Crown villas will also be refurbished to match standards found anywhere in the world.

A G5 Gulfstream jet, customized for casino high rollers, will be added to the casino's two existing jets at the cost of a cool $30 million.

Crown CEO David Courtney told the press that the casino planned to introduce an extra 26 tables in the new gaming club and expand the world famous Mahogany Room by 50 per cent.

Thirty-five new tables have already been introduced on the ground level game floor as part of the 150 extra tables granted by the Victorian Government in its agreement with Crown's king of the castle, James Packer.

Four new private gaming suites will allow individual high rollers to gamble by themselves, have their own massage and dining rooms and be waited on by butlers. It's all very much like the James Bond type of thing, but for real, for the elite who can afford such luxury.

Mr Courtney said the upgrade was necessary to help attract international gamblers from other, more modern and luxurious casinos in Asia.

"The competition for high-end gaming customers is intense. We need to make these investments. This is a continuation of our three or four-year program to upgrade. The timing is important to upgrade our rooms and facilities."

The upgrade follows amendments to the Crown licence, negotiated with the Government and ratified by Parliament last year. The business deal allows more gaming tables and a higher tax on gaming machines.

Anti-gambling activist Tim Costello attacked the project with remarks such as "Crown gets whatever it wants. It has extraordinary power."

The presidential suite on level 39, which has housed high-profile figures such as former U.S president Bill Clinton, Pavarotti, Barbra Streisand Katie Holmes, and Tom Cruise (Mission: Impossible, Top Gun) will move to level 38 and take up the entire floor.

At the same time Crown is looking into who to best adapt to the online gaming world. The company enjoyed some success last year with referrals from online poker brand, PartyPoker, a PartyGaming offering, for their Aussie Millions Poker Championship.

Media Man has suggested the addition of a Kerry Packer, Ned Kelly and Underbelly themed games to be incorporated into Crown's overall online-offline strategy, citing that punters want to see more slots than existing Cleopatra, Black Rhino, Big Red, Wheel Of Fortune and the like.

Crown Casino is also pro actively involved with movement, GenerationOne, an initiative to help created upwards of 50,000 jobs for Indigenous Australia. Thus far Packer's created 200, mining magnate mate, Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest with 2000, NSW government committing over 2000, and Media Man earmarking 2 part time positions. Speaking at the iGaming Business conference at Sydney's Star City, Media Man advised that employment for people has to come from somewhere, and that casinos and the gaming industry do enjoy significant resources, some of which go a long way to providing sustainable employment, tied in with the travel and tourism sector.

The casino rooms revamp project is on track to be completed in the first half of 2012.

*Greg Tingle is a special contributor for Gambling911

*Media Man http://www.mediamanint.com is primarily a media, publicity and internet portal development company

*The writer owns shares in Crown Limited

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Wednesday, March 24, 2010

PartyPoker Women's World Open IV Underway - 23rd March 2010

London – The PartyPoker.com Women’s World Open IV is underway in London today, running from the 23rd – 24th March 2010.

To keep up to date with the latest news see PartyPoker.com

Play is expected to run until midnight tonight.

The 24 player $3,000 buy-in tournament features a total prize pool of $72,000 and a six-seat final table. The top two players from each of the three deep-stacked eight handed heats carry their chips through to the final table. Starting stacks for the heats are 200,000, with blinds starting at 1,000/2,000. Taking part are Team PartyPoker.com’s Kara Scott, who will also spend time in the commentary box, plus and the one and only Annette Obrestad. Joining them are Women’s World Open III winner Aisling Collins and last year’s runner-up, Kim Wooka from Japan. Other confirmations include Laurence Grondin, Maria Demetriou, Christine Klecz, Pippa Flanders and season two winner Soraya Homam.

Commentary will be provided by Jesse May, who will be joined by both Annette Obrestad and Kara Scott in the booth. Presenting duties will be shared between the glamorous pairing of Kara Scott and Tatjana Pasalic. Coverage of the Matchroom Sport organised event will first be broadcast on Five in the UK later this year and then distributed internationally.

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Tuesday, March 23, 2010

PartyCasino News: Avatar type technology and innovation at PartyGaming's PartyCasino, by Greg Tingle - March 2010

Avatar type technology and innovation at PartyGaming's PartyCasino; More out of this world game experiences at PartyCasino.com and PartyPoker.com

PartyGaming's PartyCasino.com, established since 1997, is widely acknowledged as the world's biggest and best online casino... a big claim, we know.

Evidence... hundreds of games... slots, table games, skill games, poker and more.

Exclusive Hollywood blockbusters... Rambo, Saturday Night Fever, Sinatra, Tarzan, High Noon, Top Gun, Resident Evil, The Naked Gun, Mission: Impossible.

Classic slots like Cleopatra, Monopoly, Cluedo, Wheel Of Fortune...

Marvel super hero fans? Don't just watch the movies, play the games! The Incredible Hulk, Thor, The Amazing Spider-Man and Fantastic Four. Excelsior!

Rewards... PartyGaming's PartyPoints and Palladium Lounge

Trust and credibility... listed on the London Stock Exchange and winner of numerous igaming and business awards and commendations including eGaming Review "Operator Of The Year" and Casino News Media "Online Casino Of The Month"

Easy for players... multi currency and multi language, and PartyCasino is available for most European, Canadian, South African, South American and Australian customers. Go Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi!

PartyGaming also own and operate the world famous World Poker Tour, a claim only one igaming operator can make... that's PartyGaming. Check out WPTCasino.com and WPTPoker.com

Play for free or play for money. Feel the excitement at PartyCasino.com

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Sunday, March 21, 2010

Poker Named An Official Sport in Lithuania

On March 20, the official ruling body of Lithuanian sports, the Department of Physical Education and Sports issued an official decree recognizing the Lithuanian Sports Poker Federation as an official sports federation, opening the doors for further development of poker as a sport in Lithuania.

This recognition is extremely important because it will allow the LSPF to organize noncommercial poker tournaments outside of casinos in Lithuania. This is sure to boost poker's popularity in the country.

“This is extremely important step in our work,” Andrius Tapinas, president of the Lithuanian Sport Poker Federation, said. “We are receiving congratulations from many of our colleagues abroad and I know that we are breaking thick ice with our progress for similar international initiatives.”

WPT Hollywood Poker Open Attracts 143 Players - 21st March 2010

A quaint field of 143 players turned out for the World Poker Tour (WPT) Hollywood Poker Open. The event marks the WPT’s first ever trip to Hollywood Casino Indiana, located just outside of Cincinnati, Ohio.

Topping the field after Day 1 is Eric Froehlich, a sponsored pro of Full Tilt Poker. Froehlich amassed a stack of 149,400 chips and doubled up after flopping a set of kings against another player’s set of jacks. The K-J-7 flop spelled disaster for Froehlich’s opponent and he moved to 50,000 in chips before tripling his total as the day wore on. Froehlich made the final table of the 2009 Foxwoods World Poker Finals, taking fourth place for $232,000. He holds two World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets, which came by virtue of winning a $1,500 Limit Hold’em event in 2005 and a $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha with Rebuys tournament one year later.

Froehlich told WPT Live Updates Hostess Jacque following his Day 1 domination, “I’m looking forward to getting some sleep. I took the red eye in from Las Vegas and that was not the best decision I’ve ever made in my life. We got in today at 9:00am and I was so sick. I put my chances of playing the tournament after flying in today at less than 50%.”

Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka, who has dominated the live poker scene in recent months, holds a stack of 144,425 chips entering Day 2. Jaka is fresh off an 18th place showing in the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star event last week and made two final tables on the roving tournament series in 2009. Jaka took fifth in the PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) High Roller Bounty Shootout for $95,000.

Tyler Smith sent Greg “FBT” Mueller packing on Day 1 of the Hollywood Poker Open. Mueller committed his stack late in the day with pocket queens on a board of K-9-6-K-K for kings-full. However, Smith held the case king in the deck for quads and sent Mueller packing. Smith ended the day with 58,625 chips, good for the 20th largest stack overall.

Jason Mercier, a card-carrying member of Team PokerStars Pro, selected six players in a poker fantasy draft against Full Tilt Poker’s Gavin Smith. Cash in the bet is doled out for players who make the money and reach the final table. Mercier has a stable of younger pros that includes Joe Serock, Josh Arieh, Tom Marchese, Keith Ferrera, Steve Levy, and Nick Grippo. Smith selected a group of poker veterans including Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little, Erick Lindgren, Erik Seidel, Brock “t soprano” Parker, Len Ashby, and Chris Bell.

Here’s how the top 10 stacks in the Hollywood Poker Open look after Day 1:

1. Eric Froehlich – 149,400
2. Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka – 144,225
3. Mike Mustafa – 114,050
4. Gevork Kasabyan – 89,500
5. Jess Yawitz – 87,875
6. Shawn Buchanan – 81,125
7. Billy Pilossoph – 79,425
8. Richard Pflum – 79,275
9. Carlos Mortensen – 78,600
10. Larry Lipman – 75,000

Other notable names who remain in the field include:

11. Ty Reiman – 73,450
12. Andrew “luckychewy” Lichtenberger – 69,400
17. Erick Lindgren – 62,750
28. Bryan “badbeatninja” Devonshire – 52,150
39. Brock “t soprano” Parker – 45,325
42. Prahlad Friedman – 43,575
48. Jack McClelland – 36,500
49. Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler – 34,750
62. Brian “SNo0oWMAN” Hawkins – 29,700
63. Dwyte Pilgrim – 29,625
64. Hasan Habib – 29,000
70. Eric “Rizen” Lynch – 26,575
75. Erik Seidel – 23,450
78. Kathy Liebert – 22,500
82. Jason Mercier – 17,325
83. Hoyt Corkins – 16,025
90. Vanessa Rousso – 11,200
93. David Williams – 9,900

The tournament will award a grand prize of $391,000, the smallest top payday for a North American WPT event since the 2006 Canadian Open. The top player in that tournament took home $222,000. (Credit: Poker News Daily)

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PartyCasino News: PartyCasino and WPT Casino Get New Online Slot Games: Rubiks Slot, Slotbox, Sands Of Fortune, Beat the Bank and more - March 2010

PartyCasino.com and WPTCasino.com, both owned and operated by PartyGaming, have just released some great new online slot games.

New players can get up to $500 bonus.

Play for free or play for money. Multi language and multi currency. The casinos offer the exclusive PartyGaming PartyPoints rewards system providing players with world class rewards and bonuses.

Rubiks Slot

Rubiks game is a fixed odds game based on the popular Rubik’s Cube® Puzzle. The player selects the stake and then presses the Play button and gets wins based on how many lines and/or sides get completed on the 3 visible sides after the cube is automatically rotated several times. All wins are paid as per the paytable. Rubik's game also introduces Free Plays. Free Plays is triggered when all six letters in the Rubik's logo are highlighted, in which the player is awarded free plays and extra cubes.


Slotbox

Line up a fortune in Slotblox. Take a classic, line-building puzzle game, remove the stress and add plenty of chances to win lots of cash. That’s Slotblox.

Slotblox couldn’t be simpler. When you start playing different shaped blocks fall down the screen into your game grid. Don’t worry about controlling the blocks, the game does that for you.

You can build your way to big money when these blocks create cash-winning lines. Winning lines then disappear, creating more space in the grid and giving your further chances to win.

Get a winning line with the special ‘magic’ blocks and you’ll trigger the free plays feature where’s there’s double money to be won.


See if a fortune’s about to fall your way.

Sands Of Fortune

Sands of Fortune is a five-reel, nine-paylines slot game with a bonus feature game that gives you the chance to win extra prizes. Random number of picks of up to 5 is awarded. You get to select any 1 door in each pick to reveal a prize. 3 or more BONUS symbols appear anywhere in view triggers the bonus feature.


Beat the Bank

Beat the bank is a five-reel, twenty-paylines slot game with a 'free game' and a ‘Beat The Bank’ feature. The Free Games Feature is triggered when Thief appears any where on reels 2, 3 and 4 at the same time. 15 free games are awarded, during which all prizes are tripled, except for Beat The Bank feature win, even though it is triggered during Free Spins. The feature can be retriggered when Thief appears any where on reels 2, 3 and 4 at the same time. The Beat The Bank Feature is awarded when 3 or more Scattered Safe occur anywhere.

Thief appears on Reels 2, 3 and 4 only and substitutes for all other symbols except Scattered Safe.


PartyCasino.com is a multi time Casino News Media - Media Man - Global Gaming Directory Online Casino Of The Month winner and WPTCasino.com is a Casino News Media - Media Man - Global Gaming Directory Online Casino finalist.

PartyGaming is widely regarded as the world's leading igaming company. They are listed on the London Stock Exchange and were established in 1997.

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Saturday, March 20, 2010

PartyGaming still in M&A talks: Eyes return to United States - March 2010

Online gambling group PartyGaming, the firm behind PartyCasino.com, PartyPoker.com, PartyBingo.com, PartyBets.com, Cashcade and World Poker Tour, said it remained in talks over potential deal opportunities and was optimistic about a possible return to the United States as its 2009 earnings beat expectations.

"We are certainly in discussions with a few parties on a number of different opportunities," Chief Executive Jim Ryan told reporters.

However, he stressed that talks remained at a preliminary stage and declined to comment on the size or identity of the companies PartyGaming is talking to.

Analysts say the online gaming industry is fragmented and rife for consolidation and PartyGaming has been linked to a possible merger with Austria's bwin.

"There are a list of suspects who one would expect us to be talking to given that our focus is consolidating the online gaming sector," Ryan said.

PartyGaming said earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) from continuing operations fell to $135 million from $144.2 million the year before, reflecting a decline in poker revenues.

That was ahead of the consensus forecast of $133.3 million, according to a poll of analysts supplied by the company.

PartyGaming's poker revenues have been hit by competition from online gaming businesses which continue to offer services to U.S. based players despite the industry being made illegal in that country in 2006.

Ryan said he was encouraged by recent moves in the U.S. to overturn the legislation. U.S. congressmen Barney Frank and Jim McDermott are attempting to push through a new bill to regulate the industry. They argue that, if it was introduced, it would generate tax revenues of about $42 billion over ten years.

PartyGaming has already reached agreement with U.S. authorities which will protect it from being prosecuted over its past activities there.

Ryan said the settlement will make it easier for PartyGaming to re-enter the U.S. market and also clears the way for it to engage in M&A activity.

"We are talking to a number of U.S. entities about doing business with them when the U.S. market regulates. It's positioned us for growth from an M&A perspective and, from an operational perspective, I think it's our ticket back into the United States."

Other operators such as 888 and Sportingbet have yet to reach a deal with the Department of Justice.

Ryan said he thinks the U.S. is moving closer to re-opening to online gaming companies.

"We're hearing rumors that we're going to get support from the land-based operators for online gaming so it seems like momentum is building," he said, adding it was "not impossible" new legislation could be introduced this year.

Shares in PartyGaming, which have risen by 17 percent in the last 3 months, were up 0.13 percent to 303.4 pence at time of publication.

"PartyGaming is remarkably well prepared for a whole variety of changes. Although there is no new information on a possible game-changing acquisition, we believe it is more likely than not," said Numis analyst Wyn Ellis.

An insider said "PartyGaming is also said to be in a leading position to secure the Canadian Poker Tour, which could be another strategic way into the U.S market and beyond. Party also own and operate the World Poker Tour which has the strong potential to become bigger than the World Series of Poker and European Poker Tour put together. Poker and online poker generally remain more government and media friendly than pure casino and online casino products, so Party has an edge in that department also".

More news as it come to light.

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Friday, March 19, 2010

Australian Casino And Poker News: Overseas Passenger Terminal And Burswood Casino Packs Em In, by Greg Tingle - 19th March 2010

It's been a huge 24 hours in the Australian casino, employment, poker, media and social and community entrepreneur sectors.

Billionaire Inc Connection...

James Packer's Burswood Casino aka Burswood Entertainment Complex, based in Perth, Western Australia, is on a roll. Poker and online poker continue to do massive numbers, and Crown Limited (Crown Casino and Burswood Casino etc al), PartyGaming's PartyPoker, Media Man and Gambling911 are in the thick of the action.

Must be magic that Packer and Perth mining magnate, Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest are weaving. "Twiggy" have brought his infectious can-do attitude, work ethic and Aussie humour in spades to Sydney. Yep, the Billionaire, understood to now be Australia's Richest Man, still has the common touch.

Packer and Forrest were in Sydney last night, at the Overseas Passenger Terminal, joined by 500 power players in the Australian business, political and entertainment arena to officially welcome in GenerationOne. For the record, Media Man had to report from the sidelines as the event was jam packed, but did have the pleasure to speaking to some execs very close to the powers that be...and they were pleased to hear of our assistance to groups such as Githabul people, Yuggera tribe, Deadly Awards, Friends of Malabar Headland and Virgin Unite, and mentioning that we owned shares in Crown Casino didn't seem to hurt the cause!

Movie stars Cate Blanchett and Russell Crowe attended last night, where movers and shakers exchanged ideas (plus gossip) and saw their palms projected onto the sails of the Opera House in a show of support. Us Aussies are likely giving the Las Vegas Strip and Atlantic City a few free ideas!

The story that Media Man and Gambling911 collaborated on and broke worldwide, has dominated Google and Google News for the past 24 hours or so, and shows no sign on slowing down for the weekend... a favorite time for punters, both in Australia and around the globe.

The GenerationOne movement has also triggered us to open up negotiations with the state and federal government to see how we here at Media Man may qualify to take on a couple of suitable indigenous peoples as contract staff to assist our business endeavors... could be for photography, video, graphic arts or internet portal development.

Australia New Zealand Poker Tour

The event is the toast of the town in Perth, ok, that may be talking it up a notch, but you get the idea.

Burswood Casino, PokerStars and the online poker community, not to mention bars,
restaurants, taxis and limousines are sure doing well out of it. All the action also means that Burswood will need to keep staff numbers high, which is good news for GenerationOne, but fortunately those infamous plastic handcuffs have yet been witnessed on site.

Insiders advise over 60 players got through day 1b at the PokerStars ANZPT Perth Main Event. Mr Yu-chang Cheng leads as the only player from the flight with over 100,000 in chips.

Many of Australia’s best poker players attended with PokerStars pros Tony Hachem, Eric Assadourian and Grant Levy all surviving with pretty average chips.

Joel "Strong Play" Dodds who continues his roll with ANZPT to sit in third chip position with 97,600 and APPT Sydney champion Aaron Benton returned strongly from a short stack to concluded with 74,900 chips. ANZPT Adelaide champ Rennie Carnevale gets to Day 2 with 47,550.

The ANZPT Perth Main Event attracted 222 players, beating the previous record for a Perth event - 142 players. The top prize is $132,750.

Here's the numbers as of time to publication

Top ten chip counts:
Nik Lackovic – 104,625
Yu-chang Cheng – 101,425
Joel Dodds – 97,600
Dominic Sinagra – 93,350
Aaron Wilson – 90,950
Kelvin Beattie – 90,125
Christopher Evans - 87,600
Tu Le – 84,425
Jimmy Wong – 77,925
Aaron Benton - 74,900

So punters, be casino, poker or community assistance being your passion or poison, as you can see its been a massive period for casino, poker and entertainment news down under.

Wait, there's more!

GenerationOne - The Numbers Build

In the next report we expect to be able to give more updates on the amount of jobs GenerationOne is generating. New South Wales premier Kristina Keneally, already has 2229 jobs earmarked for indigenous people, Packer has approx 100, "Twiggy" with multiple thousands, and Media Man has put aside 2 contract jobs for locals. It's more paperwork, but the end result is worth the effort.

Mr Packer has employed 60 indigenous workers and is looking for 50 more. Like many, he had always wanted to do more in the area and Mr Forrest had shown him how.

"It's not about rich people can do more, or poor people should get off their backsides, or government should get out there … It's about all Australians", Mr Forrest said.

"People tell me, 'This is just another campaign.' I say show me the 20,000 (promised jobs so far) in any other campaign."

Readers, have fun playing your games of preference, and be assured that we will continue to support the readership and community who support us.

Let's hear it again for the Australian - American connection... Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi Aussie Aussie Aussie USA USA Aussie Oi Aussie Oi USA Oi Oi Oi!

* Greg Tingle is a special contributor for Gambling911

* The writer owns shares in Crown Limited

* Media Man http://www.mediamanint.com is primarily a media, publicity and internet portal development company, operating in over a bakers dozen vertical markets

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Thursday, March 18, 2010

Potential Deal in the Works for Canadian Poker Tour Purchase by Online Poker Company - 17th March 2010

According to CNN Money, there is a potential deal being offered for sponsorship of the Canadian Poker Tour or an outright purchase of the organization by an unnamed online poker company. Poker News Daily has been in contact with Kelly Kellner, Chief Executive Officer of Heads Up Entertainment International, which owns the tour and other poker-related entities, and has been able to confirm that there is an offer on the table.

In the CNN Money article, Kellner was quoted as saying, “For competitive reasons, the online poker company wishes to go unnamed at this time. As the online poker market becomes more competitive, our brand name and our market become more and more valuable. As a result of these negotiations, the numbers here can get very large, very quickly.” Heads Up Entertainment has built the Canadian Poker Tour to encompass over 50 casinos across Canada and also reached into the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, and cruise ships on the high seas of the Caribbean. In total, Heads Up Entertainment provides over 600 casino-based poker events through its partnerships.

In a discussion with Poker News Daily, Kellner stated that the offer was something that he knew would be coming. “Was it out of the blue? Yes and no,” Kellner said in an exclusive interview with Poker News Daily. “We have always figured that the Canadian Poker Tour would be an attractive candidate for acquisition by someone. The management here at Heads Up Entertainment has realized that, with our development of our relationships with casinos and our building of the CPT brand and our other poker outlets such as Canadian Poker Player Magazine and Canadian Poker Player Television, we might be on track for something like this in 18 months to two years.”

“When we started discussing the idea in more depth on Friday with this online poker outlet,” Kellner continued, “we realized that it was happening way before we thought it would.” The CNN Money article states that Heads Up Entertainment, through the ownership of the Canadian Poker Tour, Canadian Poker Player Magazine, and the recently launched Canadian Poker Player Television, has the ability to reach over 40 million people across the North American landscape.

Last year, the former ownership of the World Poker Tour (WPT), World Poker Tour Enterprises, sold the eight year old company to the online gaming giant Party Gaming for $12.3 million. While that was a sizeable amount, WPT management turned down a reported $36.5 million offer from Mandalay Media prior to accepting the Party Gaming offer. The potential discussions by Heads Up Entertainment and the unnamed online poker outlet could lead to another such battle.

Kellner, while not disclosing the online company who could become the potential sponsor or new owner of the Canadian Poker Tour, stated that the deal being discussed was “well into the seven-figure range.” He offered no timetable for the Tour regarding this proposal and indicated that, at this moment, the company was preparing for the next installment of the Canadian Open Poker Championships this fall. In the past, the tournament has featured such popular Canadian players as Gavin Smith and Brad “Yukon” Booth and other top professionals such as Phil Hellmuth, Joe Hachem, Phil Laak, Jennifer Tilly and Antonio Esfandiari. Kellner also stated that the popular Canadian Heads Up Championship (an event won in 2008 by former World Champion and 2009 National Heads Up Poker Championship winner Huck Seed), will be back on the schedule this year.

As of press time, there have been no details released regarding the potential deal for the Tour. “We have built the CPT and other parts of the company through offering the best of everything to our players, from tournament structures to other tournaments and cash games to entertainment outside of our events,” Kellner stated. “We certainly hope that is maintained by the entity that has made the offer to us if,” Kellner emphasized, “we decide to accept the offer.” (Credit: Poker News Daily)

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Tuesday, March 16, 2010

PartyCasino Brings Back The Porsche Promotion!

PartyCasino Brings Back The Porsche Promotion!

Get Out Of My Dreams! Get Into My Car!

Gibraltar – 16th March 2010 – PartyCasino.com, the world’s largest online casino, is pleased to announce the return of its Porsche Promotion! If the Gold Mega Jackpot is won between 18th – 31st March 2010 the player who earns the most PartyPoints by playing the Gold Mega Jackpot games: The Godfather, Mega Fortune Wheel, Super Joker, Super Mystic, Super Fortune Wheel and Super Star wins the sports car!

There is a leaderboard running through PartyAccount and if the jackpot is won within two weeks one of PartyGaming’s Palladium Lounge VIP hosts will call with the news that the Porsche has been won. If the Gold Mega Jackpot is not won between 18th – 31st March cash prizes will be awarded to players 1st – 600th on the leaderboard with a total value of $80,000.* For more details and terms and conditions please see your individual PartyAccount.

Players ranked 1st – 5th will be rewarded as follows: 1st - $15,000, 2nd - $12,500, 3rd - $10,000, 4th - $7,500, 5th – 9th - $1,000. Hotspots for every 10 ranks between 10th and 300th pays $750 cash bonus. Hotspots for every 10 ranks between 310th and 600th pays $250 cash bonus.

A PartyCasino.com spokesman said: "The Porsche promotion is back and if someone doesn’t win a flashy car there is still going to be real cash rewards for customers! If the Gold Mega Jackpot doesn’t take your fancy then Colossal Cash, the biggest online jackpot seed in the industry, currently stands at over $2.5 million – it really is a big one!"

At the start of 2010, PartyCasino.com launched the largest progressive seeded jackpot in the online gaming industry in the form of ‘The Big One’ and introduced classic slot Melon Madness. The Big One is structured as a five tiered pool. The highest tier - Colossal Cash - seeds at $1.5m, the biggest online jackpot seed in the industry. Melon Madness is designed to be a classic 30 line video slot. Play is fast and the free spin feature is played in-reel.

PartyCasino.com now offers over 140 games, including 100 slots, and pays out easily over $10 million EVERY DAY to players. The world’s largest online casino continues to expand rapidly. The record Gold Mega Jackpot was hit with a fateful spin at 20.42ET on December 2nd 2009. The stake was $45 on popular PartyCasino.com Gold Mega Jackpot game, the Mega Fortune Wheel. The screen exploded with congratulations and colour as ‘gamago’ turned $45 into a record busting $4,978,336.62!

PartyGaming Plc is the world’s leading listed online gaming company. The Group is a constituent of the FTSE 250 share index and the FTSE4Good Index Series, which measures the performance of companies that meet globally recognised corporate responsibility standards. PartyGaming’s shares are listed on The London Stock Exchange under the ticker: PRTY

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Monday, March 15, 2010

Australia's Jupiters Casino On The Gold Coast Opens World Class Poker Room, by Greg Tingle - 15th March 2010

Not one to be bias, despite owning shares in Packer's Crown Limited (and none in Tabcorp), we have a look at what's news with our "friends" up Surfers Paradise way at Conrad Jupiters (soon to be dropping the "Conrad" tag)... maybe something to do with Conrad Black...

The poker room at Jupiters Hotel and Casino on the Gold Coast opened for business this past Wednesday night. We hear it was quite the cocktail party, apparently with a few cocks and tails doing the rounds ala Las Vegas Strip, or Macau for that matter.

The VIP's - A, B and C listers were invited to try lady luck on the greens and bet heavy thanks to the advent of "pretend" money, which is even better than "Lucky Money" for those following the Harry K Owes Owes Crown Casino 1 Million Bucks story.

Back to positive PR, Robbie Vail, GM of tables that the rooms was part of Jupiters multi-million dollar make over where the likes of Kerry Packer, Mel Gibson, Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Greg Norman and many more whales and dolphins tried their luck. No mention of Harry K or James Packer however.

We wish em good luck in the true spirit of competition. If they go well enough Bondi's James' might even have another go at scooping up Tabcorp, if The Price Is Right.

*Greg Tingle is a special contributor for Gambling911

*The writer owns shares in Crown Limited

*Media Man is primarily a media, publicity and internet portal development company

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Saturday, March 13, 2010

Poker News Media: Police: Suspect in poker heist released

BERLIN — Berlin police said Saturday they had released a man previously suspected of taking part in the storming last weekend of a poker tournament in which armed robbers made off with euro240,000 ($328,000) in jackpot money.

A spokeswoman for Berlin police — who did not give her name in keeping with department policy — said the suspect had been set free due to a lack of evidence. The suspect, who was detained late Friday, denied throughout several hours in questioning having taken part in the heist at the Grand Hyatt hotel in the capital.

Police declined to identify the man or give any further details, citing the ongoing investigation.

German authorities have been hunting for four suspects who, armed with guns and machetes, stormed the poker tournament in broad daylight last Saturday in downtown Berlin, stunning the participants and the audience.

Images of the masked men were captured on surveillance cameras.

According to the European Poker tour, the jackpot for the tournament stood at euro 1 million ($1.36 million).

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Friday, March 12, 2010

Australia: Internet In Peril as Big Brother Is Still Watching, by Greg Tingle - 13th March 2010

Gaming, news media, entertainment and freedom of expression fans, your Internet is in danger, at least if you're one of our Australian readers.

The folks down under in Australia have spoken loud and clear...for almost a year now... they don't want their internet (or coffee as a general rule), filtered by the powers that be in the Australian government.

This most important of news stories has been covered in considerable detail by Media Man, Gambling911, and many of the world's leading news outlets.

What's at stake? Human rights and censorship, and that's just the tip of the iceberg folks.

Media rights watchdog Reporters Without Borders has now listed Australia along with Iran and North Korea in a report on countries that pose a threat regarding internet censorship.

Paris-based RWB (Reporters Without Borders) put Australia and South Korea on its list of countries "under surveillance" in its "Internet Enemies" report delivered last Thursday.

Australia was listed for the government's plan to block access to websites featuring material such as rape, drug use, bestiality and child sex abuse. Gambling911 and Media Man do not support those vices, however we do believe that if people want to enjoy online poker, casino games and even a bit of regular porn, they should be able to! You're beloved Maxim, FHM, Penthouse and Playboy Poker Babes could even be in danger of becoming "illegal"!

Detractors are saying that the plan is a seriously misguided measure that will harm civil liberties by blocking a broader range of content than just "net nasty" content.

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has advised he plans to introduce legislation by the end of next week that would require ISPs to block a blacklist of "refused classification" websites for all Australians.

It is not currently certain if the government will meet this deadline; a spokeswoman for Senator Conroy said the legislation would be introduced "after it has been considered by caucus and cabinet".

The inclusion on "Internet Enemies" follows the naming of Senator Conroy as the "Internet Villain Of The Year" last July at the Internet Service Providers' Association annual awards in London, a honour that Sen. Conroy shrugged off.

The latest report was of particular interest to Aussie campaigner Peter Coroneos, the MD of the IIA (Internet Industry Association), who told the press that it showed the international reception to the proposed internet filter.

"This regrettably puts Australia on notice that, despite the Rudd Government's best intentions, any mandatory filtering policy is likely to be perceived internationally in ways that will not benefit our reputation as a free and open society," he said.

"It will likely be used by less open societies as a vindication of their internet censorship regimes, despite any domestic attempts to draw distinctions. Mandatory filtering is mandatory filtering by whatever colour it is painted."

Senator Conroy's spokeswoman defended the internet filtering, advising RC content is already prohibited in physical media distributed offline.

"Under Australia's existing Classification regulations this material is not available in newsagencies, it is not on library shelves, you cannot watch it on a DVD or at the cinema and it is not shown on television," she said.

There's hope yet however...Whether the internet filtering scheme gets up will likely depend on the position of the Liberal party, as the Greens have already pledged to oppose the legislation.

The opposition has yet to come to a final position on the matter but in a speech to the Grattan Institute earlier this week shadow treasurer Joe Hockey said the policy was "likely to be unworkable in practice". He expressed concerns that the scope of blocked websites could be expanded in the future and said it was up to parents, not governments, to regulate their childrens' internet use.

A spokeswoman for Hockey said today that the shadow treasurer's comments should not be interpreted as confirmation that the opposition would oppose the filtering legislation, as a decision had not yet been made at this this time.

In South Korea, the RSF report added, "draconian laws are creating too many specific restrictions on web users by challenging their anonymity and promoting self-censorship".

"These countries are worrying us because they have measures that could have repercussions for freedom of expression on the internet," RSF secretary general Jean-Francois Julliard said at an internet rights award ceremony on Thursday.

Russia and Turkey were also added to the watchlist, which is a stage below RSF's top "Enemies of the internet", the countries it considers the 12 worst web freedom violators.

These include Saudi Arabia, Burma, China, North Korea, Iran and Vietnam.

"The world's largest netizen prison is in China, which is far out ahead of other countries with 72 detainees, followed by Vietnam and then by Iran, which have all launched waves of brutal attacks on websites in recent months," RSF's report said.

A senior manager of Google, David Drummond, said there was an "alarming trend" of government interference in online freedom, not only in countries that are judged to have poor human rights records.

He pointed to Australia's plans as a classic example, saying that there "the wide scope of content prohibited could include socially and politically controversial material".

The Australian case "is an example of where these benign intentions can result in the spectre of true censorship".

"Here in Europe, even in France, at this very moment, some are tempted by this slippery path of network filtering."

As recently as last month, after Senator Conroy called on YouTube to censor videos in accordance with his filtering scheme, the search giant's head of policy in Australia, Iarla Flynn, said: "The scope of RC is simply too broad and can raise genuine questions about restrictions on access to information. RC includes the grey realms of material instructing in any crime from [painting] graffiti to politically controversial crimes such as euthanasia, and exposing these topics to public debate is vital for democracy."

Gambling911 and Media Man International are advising Aussie punters to enjoy online poker and casino games while they can at websites such as PartyPoker, PartyCasino, PKR, PokerStars and Betfair.

Management at Gambling911 is hopeful that their own website (which reports on poker, gaming, gambling, sports betting and politics) doesn't end up being banned by the Aussie government.

A little birdie has told us that the Australian government should expect more attacks on their own websites in retribution, and rumours are circulating of more protests being arranged on Australian soil, and one disturbing report of a public riot being organised. Stay tuned for more on this developing situation.

*The writer is a special contributor for Gambling911

*The writer is a member of Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance and the National Press Club

*Media Man is primarily a media, publicity and internet portal development company

http://www.mediamanint.com

Greg Tingle, Gambling911.com

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Thursday, March 11, 2010

Australian News Media, Gaming And Human Rights Under Et Al Under Attack By Aussie Government - Australia Iran North Korea Connection

Gaming, news media, entertainment and freedom of expression fans, your internet is in danger, at least if your one of our Australian readers.

The folks down under in Australia have spoken loud and clear...for almost a year now... they don't want their internet (or coffee as a general rule), filtered by the powers that be in the Australian government.

This most important of news stories has been covered in considerable detail by Media Man, Gambling911, and many of the world's leading news outlets.

What's at stake? Human rights and censorship, and that's just the tip of the iceberg folks.

Media rights watchdog Reporters Without Borders has now listed Australia along with Iran and North Korea in a report on countries that pose a threat regarding internet censorship.

Paris-based RWB (Reporters Without Borders) put Australia and South Korea on its list of countries "under surveillance" in its "Internet Enemies" report delivered last Thursday.

Australia was listed for the government's plan to block access to websites featuring material such as rape, drug use, bestiality and child sex abuse. Gambling911 and Media Man do not support those vices, however we do believed that if people want to enjoy online poker, casino games and even a bit of regular porn, they should be able to! You're beloved Maxim, FHM, Penthouse and Playboy Poker Babes could even be in danger of becoming "illegal"!

Detractors are saying that the plan is a seriously misguided measure that will harm civil liberties by blocking a broader range of content than just "net nasty" content.

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has advised he plans to introduce legislation by the end of next week that would require ISPs to block a blacklist of "refused classification" websites for all Australians.

It is not currently certain if the government will meet this deadline; a spokeswoman for Senator Conroy said the legislation would be introduced "after it has been considered by caucus and cabinet".

The inclusion on "Internet Enemies" follows the naming of Senator Conroy as the "Internet Villain Of The Year" last July at the Internet Service Providers’ Association annual awards in London, a honour that Sen. Conroy shrugged off.

The latest report was of particular interest to Aussie campaigner Peter Coroneos, the MD of the IIA (Internet Industry Association), who told the press that it showed the international reception to the proposed internet filter.

"This regrettably puts Australia on notice that, despite the Rudd Government’s best intentions, any mandatory filtering policy is likely to be perceived internationally in ways that will not benefit our reputation as a free and open society," he said.

"It will likely be used by less open societies as a vindication of their internet censorship regimes, despite any domestic attempts to draw distinctions. Mandatory filtering is mandatory filtering by whatever colour it is painted."

Senator Conroy's spokeswoman defended the internet filtering, advising RC content is already prohibited in physical media distributed offline.

"Under Australia’s existing Classification regulations this material is not available in newsagencies, it is not on library shelves, you cannot watch it on a DVD or at the cinema and it is not shown on television," she said.

There's hope yet however...Whether the internet filtering scheme gets up will likely depend on the position of the Liberal party, as the Greens have already pledged to oppose the legislation.

The opposition has yet to come to a final position on the matter but in a speech to the Grattan Institute earlier this week shadow treasurer Joe Hockey said the policy was "likely to be unworkable in practice". He expressed concerns that the scope of blocked websites could be expanded in the future and said it was up to parents, not governments, to regulate their childrens' internet use.

A spokeswoman for Hockey said today that the shadow treasurer's comments should not be interpreted as confirmation that the opposition would oppose the filtering legislation, as a decision had not yet been made at this this time.

In South Korea, the RSF report added, "draconian laws are creating too many specific restrictions on web users by challenging their anonymity and promoting self-censorship".

"These countries are worrying us because they have measures that could have repercussions for freedom of expression on the internet," RSF secretary general Jean-Francois Julliard said at an internet rights award ceremony on Thursday.

Russia and Turkey were also added to the watchlist, which is a stage below RSF's top "Enemies of the internet", the countries it considers the 12 worst web freedom violators.

These include Saudi Arabia, Burma, China, North Korea, Iran and Vietnam.

"The world's largest netizen prison is in China, which is far out ahead of other countries with 72 detainees, followed by Vietnam and then by Iran, which have all launched waves of brutal attacks on websites in recent months," RSF's report said.

A senior manager of Google, David Drummond, said there was an "alarming trend" of government interference in online freedom, not only in countries that are judged to have poor human rights records.

He pointed to Australia's plans as a classic example, saying that there "the wide scope of content prohibited could include socially and politically controversial material".

The Australian case "is an example of where these benign intentions can result in the spectre of true censorship".

"Here in Europe, even in France, at this very moment, some are tempted by this slippery path of network filtering."

As recently as last month, after Senator Conroy called on YouTube to censor videos in accordance with his filtering scheme, the search giant's head of policy in Australia, Iarla Flynn, said: "The scope of RC is simply too broad and can raise genuine questions about restrictions on access to information. RC includes the grey realms of material instructing in any crime from [painting] graffiti to politically controversial crimes such as euthanasia, and exposing these topics to public debate is vital for democracy."

Gambling911 and Media Man International are advising Aussie punters to enjoy online poker and casino games while they can at websites such as PartyPoker, PartyCasino, PKR, PokerStars and Betfair.

Management at Gambling911 is hopeful that their own website (which reports on poker, gaming, gambling, sports betting and politics) doesn't end up being banned by the Aussie government.

A little birdie has told us that the Australian government should expect more attacks on their own websites in retribution, and rumours are circulating of more protests being arranged on Australian soil, and one disturbing report of a public riot being organised. Stay tuned for more on this developing situation.

*The writer is a special contributor for Gambling911

*The writer is a member of Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance and the National Press Club

*Media Man is primarily a media, publicity and internet portal development company
http://www.mediamanint.com

Poker Babes: Maxim Men's Magazine Top 20 For 2010

Men's magazine Maxim have released their 20 hottest poker babes.

The list mainly consists of Hollywood celebs who have had minor poker involvement such as charity tournaments, however there are a handful of poker babes who can also play well, and even a couple of champions!

Vanessa Rousso enjoyed a win at the EPT Grand Final High Rollers and was runner-up at the NBC National HU Championship and has made 11 final table appearances. Her total tournament cashes are 2.5 million dollars.

Jennifer Tilly and Shannon Elizabeth are two celebrities known also as passionate players. Jenn has a WSOP bracelet and both have made the semifinals at the NBC National HU Championship.

Tiffany Michelle's biggest brag is 17th place and $334,000 at the World Series of Poker 2008 Main Event.

Us, we like Kara Scott from PartyPoker.com and remain very high on Paris Hilton, Jenny McCarthy and Pam Anderson.

Cameron Diaz
Heather Graham
Jenna Fischer
Jennie Garth
Jennifer Love Hewitt
Jennifer Tilly
Jenny McCarthy
Joanna Krupa
Lacey Chabert
Laura Prepon
Mena Suvari
Odette Yustman
Pamela Anderson
Rosario Dawson
Sarah Silverman
Serinda Swan
Shannon Elizabeth
Tiffany Michelle
Traci Bingham
Vanessa Rousso

Profiles

Poker Babes

Casino Babes

Babes

Poker

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Global Gaming Directory

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Tuesday, March 09, 2010

PartyGaming News: PartyCasino and WPT Casino Get New Online Slot Games: Rubiks Slot, Slotbox, Sands Of Fortune, Beat the Bank and more - March 2010

PartyCasino.com and WPTCasino.com, both owned and operated by PartyGaming, have just released some great new online slot games.

New players can get up to $500 bonus.

Play for free or play for money. Multi language and multi currency. The casinos offer the exclusive PartyGaming PartyPoints rewards system providing players with world class rewards and bonuses.

Rubiks Slot

Rubiks game is a fixed odds game based on the popular Rubik’s Cube® Puzzle. The player selects the stake and then presses the Play button and gets wins based on how many lines and/or sides get completed on the 3 visible sides after the cube is automatically rotated several times. All wins are paid as per the paytable. Rubik's game also introduces Free Plays. Free Plays is triggered when all six letters in the Rubik's logo are highlighted, in which the player is awarded free plays and extra cubes.


Slotbox

Line up a fortune in Slotblox. Take a classic, line-building puzzle game, remove the stress and add plenty of chances to win lots of cash. That’s Slotblox.

Slotblox couldn’t be simpler. When you start playing different shaped blocks fall down the screen into your game grid. Don’t worry about controlling the blocks, the game does that for you.

You can build your way to big money when these blocks create cash-winning lines. Winning lines then disappear, creating more space in the grid and giving your further chances to win.

Get a winning line with the special ‘magic’ blocks and you’ll trigger the free plays feature where’s there’s double money to be won.


See if a fortune’s about to fall your way.

Sands Of Fortune

Sands of Fortune is a five-reel, nine-paylines slot game with a bonus feature game that gives you the chance to win extra prizes. Random number of picks of up to 5 is awarded. You get to select any 1 door in each pick to reveal a prize. 3 or more BONUS symbols appear anywhere in view triggers the bonus feature.


Beat the Bank

Beat the bank is a five-reel, twenty-paylines slot game with a 'free game' and a ‘Beat The Bank’ feature. The Free Games Feature is triggered when Thief appears any where on reels 2, 3 and 4 at the same time. 15 free games are awarded, during which all prizes are tripled, except for Beat The Bank feature win, even though it is triggered during Free Spins. The feature can be retriggered when Thief appears any where on reels 2, 3 and 4 at the same time. The Beat The Bank Feature is awarded when 3 or more Scattered Safe occur anywhere.

Thief appears on Reels 2, 3 and 4 only and substitutes for all other symbols except Scattered Safe.


PartyCasino.com is a multi time Casino News Media - Media Man - Global Gaming Directory Online Casino Of The Month winner and WPTCasino.com is a Casino News Media - Media Man - Global Gaming Directory Online Casino finalist.

PartyGaming is widely regarded as the world's leading igaming company. They are listed on the London Stock Exchange and were established in 1997.

Websites

PartyCasino.com

WPTCasino.com

Tiger Airways (Not Woods) Offers Private Flights To Singapore New Casino, by Greg Tingle - 10th March 2010

Singapore budget air carrier Tiger Airways will provide a chartered aircraft that will exclusively fly foreign guests visiting the city's first casino resort. Perfect to fly casino whales and would be's... dolphins, into gambling heaven... or hell.

The airline advised it signed an agreement with Resorts World Sentosa under which the casino operator will take over the lease of the aircraft.

The plane will be staffed by pilots and cabin crew from Tiger Airways, and we understand no gambling (or sex in the washroom ala Australia's "Mile High Hostie") will be permitted mid flight.

"Yet to be named, the private flight service, operated by Tiger Airways, will have an aircraft operating as a dedicated charter service for Resorts World Sentosa, transporting guests between Singapore and other cities around the region," it says.

The service is scheduled to start late this year.

Resorts World Sentosa has opened Singapore's first casino, which is part of a $US4.4 billion ($A4.9 billion) complex that also includes a Universal Studios movie theme park, premium hotels, restaurants and convention facilities.

Media Man and Gambling911 understands that by law the casino has to provide a range of services, thus becomes a "hotel - resort - theme park" scenario, but the lions share of the income comes straight from the casinos, and the whales and dolphins that visit. Aw well, we all have to make a dollar, and we wish punters good luck at Resorts World Sentosa.

*The writer is a special contributor for Gambling911

*Media Man is primarily a media, publicity and internet portal development company. The Media Man group includes Media Man, Media Man Australia and Media Man Asia

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