Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

PartyGaming Buys WPT for a Comeback

Sunday, November 15th, 2009

PartyGaming has officially announced that they will be acquiring the World Poker Tour WPT. Now one of the biggest online gaming companies in the world, PartyGaming, has gotten a little bigger, as they’ve bought one of poker’s most familiar and sought after brands. PartyGaming recently acquired WPT Enterprises, the gaming company controlling the World Poker Tour.

Party gaming paid out a whopping $12.3 million down payment plus $3million each year for the next 3 years. The World Poker Tour package included the WPT brand along with all company interests as well as intellectual property in the WPT tour events that were staged in Europe and the United States. One crucial part of this deal is the worldwide broadcasting rights that were assured to the new owners with the ownership of the WPT club.

The WPT was clever at getting around online gambling laws in the US, while PartyGaming had backed out all together. When players subscribe to club WPT, they provide their registrants with benefits such as commercial discounts and a chance to play for prizes in poker tournaments. The tournament system is based on points that are purchased by players from their subscription, not actual cash money, so it doesn’t fall under the illegal sector. They offer a wide range of tournaments and cash games available in exchange for the tournament points players acquire by playing on the site. The gaming website operates under state sweepstakes laws, which are permitted in most states. In fact, the 16,500+ customers within club WPT reside in a total of 37 US states.

The combination of WPT and Party Gaming will create a massive database with over 12 million US players that will now be back under the supervision of PartyGaming. These players will be the focus to promote club WPT, as the plan is to get PartyGaming back into the US online gambling industry and to introduce a WPT casino site and a WPT poker site in Europe, where PartyGaming rules the roost.

This puts PartyGaming back into a very powerful position, close to that of which they walked away from three years ago following the enactment of the UIGEA. Even if the US government fails to regulate online gambling, PartyGaming is back in the US, even if covertly.

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Twitter is Cheaper than Therapy for the Poker Brat

Thursday, June 25th, 2009

Phil Hellmuth has been venting on Twitter, like many other WSOP poker players have been this month, but for the Poker Brat, it’s a bit more than just venting about how bad someone smells. He may be actually saving money on some long-needed therapy. However, it may be the anger and stress of his game that made him such an effective player. Now, after winning 11 WSOP bracelets, Hellmuth just can’t seem to get the 12th one on his arm. This may be a result of the realization that his negativity has been a negative factor in his game. Perhaps, though, yelling at his opponents may have been good for his game after all.
Here are some recent Tweets he’s made on Twitter:

Jun 19th, 3:41 a.m.:

“Only ended day with 11,200, but I feel like i have over 100,000!! Played absolutely great poker, and was perfectly calm!!”

June 19th, 3:10 p.m.:

“I am out of stud 8 or better, but I played great poker. I expect great things to happen tto me now”

June 20th, 3:19 a.m.:

“Just hit gym and did 2 Things: 1. got rid of todays frustration 2. got my mind focused on what i need to do tomorrow…”

In Event #38 at the 2009 WSOP, Hellmuth finished 17th and won $8,019. His total winnings for this year aren’t even up to $25,000 yet. As Ace King put it on Gambling911, “For Hellmuth, winning $25,000 at the World Series of Poker is like going home from the Price of Right with the refrigerator when he could have had the Cadillac.”

Last year, he brought home more than $240,000. In 2007 he went home with $740,000+, and in 2006 he won over a million dollars at the WSOP.

After raging on Alex Keating in Event #38, Hellmuth walked off with 16th place. His Tweet on that game was a little more ferocious: “Finished 16th, and did not shake ‘Alex’s hand-for only second time in fifteen years i didn’t. kid was completely weird and inappropriate!” But he’s at least moving up in the leader board as he’s getting his frustrations out at the table.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

ChipMeUp Sells Poker Shares

Sunday, June 14th, 2009

What’s hotter than the Vegas Strip during the WSOP? ChipMeUp.com is an online site that stakes poker players in live and online tournaments. Now people can bid on shares of poker players staked in tournaments around the world. What’s more is that you can now get a stake in the WSOP. For only 3% of Phil Ivey’s stake in event #8 win, which equals about $9.33, bidder “1000cuts” earned almost $2,000 when Ivey won the bracelet.

Players and fans can buy and sell percentages of their favorite players poker games in online and live tourneys. At ChipMeUp, Bidders participate in auctions with no-reserves that offer a wide range of poker tournaments, as well as shares in poker-themed vacation packages and other stuff. It’s like a poker eBay. Register for free and fund your ChipMeUp account right from your online poker account. Try it out just for the fun of the healthy competition.

There’s more than just WSOP stakes, though. There are dozens of other smaller auctions like the $25 Full Tilt Shooter auctions that go for under $1. The administrators of the site are very available to answer questions posted on the ChipMeUp forum. They are also on top of rule breakers and blacklist those users who do not contribute positively to the site, ensuring that all players achieve the most from the revolutionary website.

Due to the great member ratings and customer service, and the very helpful and active forum, ChipMeUp membership has really shot up and is seeing a steady influx of new and repeat users. 1% of Ivey’s potential 2009 WSOP Main Event winnings, which could be up to a $40K value, sold for less than $2; however, Phil Ivey is not affiliated with ChipMeUp, nor does he endorse or sponsor the auctions. It’s just something fun to for poker fans!

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Pennsylvania Hopes to Be the Next Vegas

Friday, June 12th, 2009

Are you ready for an East Coast city with Las Vegas style? William DeWeese, Pennsylvania State representative, believes that Pennsylvania may take off as the East Coast equivalent to Vegas. With the problems that Atlantic City casinos have been faced with, which are now struggling due to the economy and other factors (like competition from neighboring states), DeWeese feels there is not a better time than the present to allow full-scale gambling in the style of Las Vegas in Pennsylvania, but he has felt this way for some time now.

DeWeese brought his proposal for table game gambling last year, he was defeated. Back again this year, DeWeese will attempt to persuade Pennsylvania lawmakers that table games could make the difference between gaining (or losing) their competitor’s customers over in Atlantic City.
DeWeese says, “I really feel like I have more wind behind my back this time. Revenues are down, taxes are not bringing in that much. The physical challenges for the Keystone State are so achingly difficult that any new possible revenue has to be considered.”

Gov. of Pennsylvania, Ed Rendell, is not against table games, but has made it clear what he is for. He wants all 14 up-and-coming slot parlors to be up and running prior to table gaming being facilitated. This goal, however, may still be quite a bit far off.

Chuck Ardo, Rendell’s spokesman, says, “The governor will consider all the options available to him to close the budget gap, but again, he believes it is too soon to consider the expansion of gaming to table games.”

DeWeese feels that the state should act fast, though, as neighboring states are building casinos at a faster rate and will beat Pennsylvania to the punch, leaving Pennsylvania behind the times.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

New Studies of US Gambling Revenues Reveals Hope

Thursday, June 11th, 2009

The American Gaming Association (AGA) recently released a study that revealed US casino revenues fell dramatically in 2008, but they do admit there is hope for the land-based US gambling industry.

With information and figures gathered from commercial casinos in 12 US states, the outcome revealed gambling revenues dropped an average of 4.7% over the last year. The total annual revenue of $32.5 billion had fallen by almost $1.6 billion in 2008.

The economy has affected every industry including the gambling industry. Conclusions drawn from the study have indicated that the current global economic state of recession has affected gambling in casinos as much as it has other recreational industries. These “economic reasons” are largely to blame for the main cause of decreased leisure spending by many Americans in general.

In addition to the economies problems, there are other external factors such as the smoking bans that have been enacted in many US land-based casinos. Smoking bans have deterred many frequent gamblers from returning to local casinos, but a study put together by the American Gaming Association does indicate that there may be hope for the casino industry in the near future as the economy stabilizes more and more.

President of the AGA, Frank Fahrenkopf, states that the numbers had appeared to even out towards the end of 2008, and furthermore, he feels the worst is now in the past for troubled casinos. Additionally, some states that have new casino markets such as Pennsylvania-with their new racetrack casinos bringing gamblers in from neighboring states like hurting New Jersey’s Atlantic City, did report a rise in their yearly revenues.

The month of June brings hope though, with the World Series of Poker bringing bodies and business into Las Vegas, which is sure to increase revenue and profit overall for the 2009 reports.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

President Obama Upsets Vegas & WSOP Players

Friday, May 29th, 2009

Twittering is not allowed at the tables of the 2009 World Series of Poker, in Vegas, but players will be Twittering from Vegas if they can get there. The same day the pros were scheduled to arrive in Vegas, President Barack Obama decided to make a visit to Vegas as well.

The presidents arrival created flight delays, hindering players from getting there at there scheduled times and players remarks on twitter were a wide variety of opinions of being stuck on an airplane, due to the President’s surprise arrival.

Tiffany Michelle’s Tweet stated: “It’s not everyday you get 2 watch Air Force One & Mr. President land at the Vegas airport. Guess it makes my delayed flight 2 LA suck less.”

Maria Ho, quoted on Twitter: “President Obama just landed in Air Force One at McCarran Airport in Las Vegas delaying our flight for an hour!”

Oscar Goodman, Vegas Mayor, was shocked to hear that Barack had arrived in Vegas at all, especially during the 2009 WSOP. Other local Politicians are unsure what to think of the President’s decision to show up at this event. Obama had already downed many other companies for spending money to send their employees to this event. So who is wasting whose money?

“You can’t get corporate jets, you can’t go take a trip to Las Vegas or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayer’s dime,” Obama said earlier this year. This came after Wells Fargo decided to use taxpayer money for a fancy kush casino party. The mayor and other politicians have asked for an apology from Mr. Barack. “That’s outrageous, and he owes us an apology. He owes us a retraction,” said the Mayor of Las Vegas.

Jim Gibbons, Nevada’s governor is not happy either, as he will not even speak to the President without receiving restitution. “While I appreciate the offer (to meet with the President), I am not interested in a handshake and a hello from President Obama,” Gibbons said in a statement. “I am interested in an apology and plan to undo the damage the president did.”

Four hundreds meetings and events have been canceled in Vegas, costing the local economy over $1 million dollars in revenue. After all the uproar we find out that Obama was in Vegas to support his fellow government official at a local fundraiser.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »