08.15.2008 | 8:20 am | Poker, News, casinos, gambling
It was announced yesterday that the groundbreaking London-based online poker room, PKR.com, surpassed other leading online gambling companies such as Betfair, and one of the leading UK gambling company Ladbrokes, in terms of the number of clients it attracted last year.
This is an especially remarkable achievement due to the fact that PKR.com has not yet celebrated its second birthday – its second anniversary is in fact on Sunday, August 17th. This clearly shows the potential for innovative online gambling websites to grow and expand, surpassing their more traditional rivals – and certainly indicates that the online gambling field in the UK is set for further expansion, with even more unique and original companies setting up every week.
In the last 12 months alone, over 1.1 million people have signed up to PKR.com, taking their total membership to the astonishing figure of 2 million in less than 2 years. This makes the site the fastest growing online gambling internet resource which does not accept US players, and the second fastest growing overall in the world – clearly showing the increased interest from Europe in the online gambling sector. The incredible growth of PKR.com was illustrated last month where the site surpassed Betfair and Ladbrokes to become the 15th busiest network worldwide for ‘real money’ internet poker.
Alongside the growth in clientele has come an expansion of the brand itself – it has launched a television series, PKR TV, which reaches a potential audience of 15 million people across Europe, as well as its own magazine, entitled Stacked, and the launch of the loyalty program Club PKR, which rewards regular customers with bonuses and hints and tips on how to succeed in their games. Whilst this expansion is impressive, Managing Director Simon Prodger is realistic about the future, saying that the company’s aim for next year is simply to “build on our achievements and keep looking forwardsâ€.
08.14.2008 | 8:17 am | News, gambling
Singapore’s largest licensed gaming manufacturer, Weike Gaming Technology, today announced the appointment of Andrew Mason as the new Head of Gaming Development. Weike Gaming Technology is not only the largest gaming manufacturer in Singapore, but the only manufacturer of gambling machines, electronic gaming tables and online gambling software in Malaysia and Singapore.
he new appointment should lead to a prosperous career for Mason, as well as a widening of the Asian gambling market through the Westernisation that Mason can offer the company. Mason is also highly qualified, having graduated with a Bachelor in Science with a major in Mathematics, and with several years of work experience as Game Design Manager at Stargames, the Australian slot machine corporation. It is rumoured within the industry that he has been personally responsible for the enormous success Stargames have experienced in the past few years.
This experience and intelligence will certainly set Weike in good stead to expand out of the Asian market across the world – perhaps enhancing the gaming experience of many gamblers across the world, particularly in the online field. This is due to the planned expansion of Weike into the online market, with their current knowledge of the casino market behind them. This will also help to expand the company from the Asian market.
Mason is equally as optimistic for the future of the company, saying that “I am ecstatic to join Weike, and moving to Singapore is one of my boldest career moves to date. I strongly believe in living Asia, breathing Asia and understanding Asians, and this is particularly vital for designing games meant for Asian marketsâ€. It seems that the new partnership will be of equal value to both the enterprising Mason and the rapidly expanding company – heralding new and exciting developments both in the online market and the regular casino industry.
08.13.2008 | 8:15 am | Poker, News, casinos, gambling
The world’s largest provider of online poker and casino software, Microgaming, announced today that it has signed a contract with the successful online casino Unibet in order to allow the online gaming site to access the popular Microgaming casino platform. This statement comes after the announcement by Unibet that they are switching to a new URL, widening access to the website as a whole – and thus is beneficial not only for the gambling website, but also for gaming provider Microgaming. This follows Unibet’s 2006 decision to join the Microgaming Poker Network, and their recent renewal of this poker deal on a multi-year basis. The partnership between these very successful enterprises looks set to go from strength to strength.
This move will see Unibet players given access to some of the most advanced games in the online gambling industry, such as Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, The Osbournes and Hitman – which are three of the gaming industry’s biggest licensing deals. Additionally, traditional casino games will also be provided, such as poker and blackjack, which boast some of the largest jackpots in the market – for example, the progressive total in the Microgaming Progressive Jackpot Network is currently at $6 million, and the four-tiered “Mega Moolah†winnings are not far behind at $3.3 million.
The CEO of Unibet, Peter Nylander, has stated that the decision to further the partnership with Microgaming was easy - “Since joining the Microgaming Poker Network, we’ve enjoyed a strong working partnership, and so this decision has actually been straightforward. Microgaming’s Casino software has an outstanding reputation in the industry for delivering cutting edge, graphic rich games, and one of the most reliable platforms in the business – critical when running any online operation.†In addition to these exciting developments, Unibet will also retain their original URL, meaning that the company has expanded. The partnership between these two gaming giants is set for a bright future.
08.12.2008 | 5:58 am | News, casinos
It was yesterday revealed that the worrying slump in both the number of gamers and the revenue produced by gambling in Atlantic City has continued into July. For the popular casino resort city, this is a real blow because July is traditionally the peak of the gaming season, where tourists from all over the United States and the rest of the world flock to casinos for their summer vacation. It had been hoped that the previous popularity of gambling tourism in the summer months would turn around the slump that the casino industry has seen this year – but the crisis shows no signs of letting up.
The official figures from the New Jersey Casino Control Commission speak for themselves – the 11 casinos in Atlantic City took in $438.7 million in revenue at slot machines and gaming tables, which is a 6.6% decline from last year’s figure of$469.8 million in July 2007. This was even more of a setback when combined with June’s figures, which charted an 11% decline from last year’s figures, which suggests that a weak summer is virtually unavoidable. It also appears that 2008 will follow the trend of 2007 in declining revenue overall. It is down by 6.6% to $2.7 billion overall.
Analysts have suggested plenty of reasons for the enormous slump in past years, including the rise of the online gambling industry, which makes gambling tourism superfluous as gamers can now access huge jackpots from their own homes, without having to pay for travel and lodging expenses.
Additionally, the credit crunch has been blamed for the reluctance of tourists to splash out on expensive gambling holidays. The rising price of gas is a major reason or the decline of United States gambling tourism, as it has caused both rises in fuel for cars and planes. Another more complex reason may be the partial smoking ban implemented in Atlantic City, which has acted as a deterrent for those who smoke as they are banned from casinos whilst smoking. With so many reasons, the slump shows no sign of letting up.
08.11.2008 | 5:55 am | Poker, News, Poker Stars, casinos
Last month, the winner of the one of the major 2008 World Series of Poker events gave in his notice in his boss’s office at Archer Technology in order to pursue a professional poker career. Whilst usually, this would be regarded by an employer as foolish, Grant Hinkle has already proven his potential in the gambling arena through his amazing win at the WSOP summer tournament – and has already made an estimated $1million from gambling winnings. It’s no wonder that everyone is right behind Hinkle’s decision to turn professional - including his wife, Kim.
Since his victory in the No-Limit Hold’Em event on 4th June, which earned him an estimated $831,462 after 3 days and 40 hours of poker, Hinkle has become a celebrity in the gambling world. After the ESPN broadcast of the event, Hinkle says he is being recognised in the street by total strangers, and contacted by many of his former classmates whom he hasn’t heard from for years. After that sort of recognition, Hinkle says that the decision to turn pro was easy – “It’s something that I’ve thought about for a while… I just never felt it was the right time to make the jump. With my wife being self-employed, I just didn’t think we wanted to be put in the situation where we didn’t have at least one steady stream of income. But the World Series changed all of that.â€
Hinkle is taking this opportunity very seriously – he’s keeping up a strict routine throughout his day to ensure he doesn’t lose focus on the game. In the morning, he checks his email and then scouts for cash games to play online, and these are regimented throughout the day so that the levels of difficulty increase as he goes. He tracks his play very closely and refreshes his hand history with his brother, who is also a high-level poker player. The change that Grant Hinkle has experienced since winning the World Series of Poker this summer has been absolutely astounding.
08.8.2008 | 6:57 am | News, casinos
As Steve Wynn - owner of several prestigious Las Vegas Strip casinos - prepares to staff his newest enterprise, the Encore, it is increasingly clear that his bad reputation as a boss shows no signs of disappearing. The negative feeling towards employment in a Wynn casino is thought to be the main reason for the lack of interest by Las Vegas citizens in working for the new Encore resort.
This bad reputation began two years ago, with Wynn’s announcement that his casinos were enforcing a ‘tip-share’ policy, which meant that dealers had to pool their tips and then share them with their supervisors. This was unpopular with dealers as they have far more interaction with customers than supervisors, and have to work to gain the tips in the first place – whereas supervisors are automatically guaranteed a share in the profit. After the announcement that the new Encore resort would also enforce this ‘tip-share’ policy, many leading analysts have discussed the possibility that tipped workers are unlikely to leave their jobs to apply to work at the Encore – meaning the potential employment base for the new resort comes solely from existing Wynn employees who are used to the policy.
Las Vegas dealers also share this point of view, with Al Maurice, a dealer at the MGM Mirage who assisted the Wynn Las Vegas in their appeal to the union about the ‘tip-share’ policy last year, saying that he “can’t see any experienced dealer working in a decent casino giving up what they have to go over to Encore… I believe he will have to settle for a lot of inexperienced help straight out of dealers’ school or from minor casinosâ€. However, despite this bleak outlook, the Encore has already received 24,000 applications by the third day of hiring – suggesting that although Steve Wynn’s poor reputation may make it hard to find a good calibre of employee, interest is certainly not scarce.
08.7.2008 | 6:58 am | Poker, News, casinos
It was revealed today that the leading software developer CryptoLogic, which develops programs for the global Internet gaming market, has signed a three-year contract with the Gaming Media Group Ltd. – to formulate a new brand of Internet casino software. The news is of especial interest as it brings together two of the largest Internet gaming corporations in Europe – with the Gaming Media Group owning both Europe’s largest dedicated television gaming network and the major poker room website, PokerHeaven.com.
Under this contract, the popular online casino games that CryptoLogic develop in the next three years will be licensed in five languages and distributed under the Gaming Media Group’s online gambling websites. In return, the Gaming Media Group have agreed to grant exclusivity to CryptoLogic for the full three years’ duration of the contract – meaning the games of CryptoLogic will be the only ones licensed and distributed by the Gaming Media Group. In this way, the contract is seen as balanced and mutually beneficial.
This is seen as a major step in the development of the CryptoLogic brand, clearly reflected in the confident statement of CEO and President of the company, Brian Hadfield – “We promised swift action to take CryptoLogic to the next level of online gaming, and our new relationships with leading brands such as the Gaming Media Group show that we are executing our planâ€.
Hadfield is justified in his upbeat approach – the Poker Channel, the television channel owned by the Gaming Media Group, currently broadcasts to over 15 million people across Europe, with 65% of its viewers also visiting an online gaming site every day. Additionally, their website PokerHeaven.com is one of the most prominent online gaming brands today, having witnessed the fastest expansion in online gaming history since its conception three and a half years ago. This contract looks set to be the start of a very exciting new partnership.
08.6.2008 | 7:00 am | News, casinos, gambling
It was announced today by the Colorado Secretary of State that a proposal to raise bet limits, extend casino opening hours and add games in Colorado’s three casino towns will appear on ballots in November, named as Amendment 50.
The three casino towns involved have been named as Cripple Creek, Black Hawk and Central City, areas which span two counties.
The measure would allow these towns to increase the maximum $5 bet to $100 – twenty times the current amount, and would also enforce 24-hour opening for casinos, instead of the current 2am closing time. Roulette and craps games would also be offered, alongside traditional games such as poker and blackjack.
It is clear from these somewhat drastic alterations that the bill is intended to expand the casino industry in Colorado, making it more profitable and more widely available to citizens. The status of the bill as an amendment suggests that it has already garnered a significant amount of support, as roughly 76,000 valid signatures have to be submitted with a proposal in order for it to be added to a ballot as an amendment.
However, the measure must first face a statewide vote in November if it is to pass to the later legislative stages of the process. If successful in the statewide vote, the measure must then face area-specific votes in Gilpin and Teller counties, where the casino towns in question are located.
The measure is seen as a positive one for the Colorado government as well, due to the fact that through taxation, it could generate an additional $5million or more a year for the state. The government have stated that, from this additional income, 78% of the money would be ploughed into state community colleges, with just 22% going to the casino towns – clearly showing the priorities of the state with regards to education. Overall then, this measure looks set to be a success.
08.5.2008 | 7:01 am | casinos
One of the world’s largest video poker and table-game-oriented online casinos running today, the Wild Jack Online Casino, announced last week its new plans for a unique new style of online poker. Provisionally entitled ‘Jacks’ or ‘Better Level-Up Poker’, the new interface will bring more suspense and even bigger wins to the Wild Jack Online Casino, reaffirming its position as one of the leading members of the Jackpot Factory Group.
The premise for the new game is simple – players will advance through levels as they win games, with every level raising the stakes higher. This high-risk, high-win strategy will see some players reaping rewards of up to 8 times their original bet. This thrilling new slant on traditional online poker is guaranteed to be a success, due to the simplicity of the idea and the potential for extremely high wins. Marketed as ‘video poker with a twist’, it is also a logical addition to the games repertoire of the Wild Jack Online Casino because it is based on their original video poker interface. This means players will feel at ease with the newly advanced technology available in the form of ‘Level-Up Poker’.
The game also includes several exciting features to further enhance the gaming experience – for example, the Free Ride feature automatically allows players to advance to the next level, even in the event of a loss. The already popular Gamble feature will allow players the chance to double their winnings by selecting a card of a higher value.
The company have high hopes for the new interface, with David Brickman, Vice President of Player Affairs with the Jackpot Company, saying in a joint statement with the online casino that “Jacks or Better is a classic video poker game and a favourite among Wild Jack players - this new Level-Up variation is sure to please. Wild Jack features over 50 different video poker games, and the launch of this new game strengthens its position as the leading poker and table games casinoâ€.
08.4.2008 | 7:03 am | Poker, News, casinos, gambling
It was announced yesterday that the leading online gambling website, UltimateBet.com, has signed on to sponsor the casino night organised by Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria and her husband Tony Parker, in aid of their charity Eva’s Heroes. The charity aims to enrich the lives of those with developmental challenges, and to help both children and adults with special needs integrate and make the most of today’s society. The charity event is formally named ‘The First Annual Tony and Eva Parker Celebrity Casino Night’, and it is hoped that it will live up to its title by providing a glamorous and fun-filled A-list evening.
UltimateBet.com are equally as hopeful for the event, with Phil Hellmuth, an UltimateBet professional, saying “I’m incredibly excited that the popularity of poker is able to help such an important cause and I’m unbelievably honoured to be associated with this charityâ€. Hellmuth is on board to present the event, which will be held at Pedrotti’s North Ranch in San Antonio, Texas.
The tournament will provide players with a buffet dinner, $10,000 of poker chips for the Texas Hold-Em tournament, and an additional $2,000-worth of chips for all other casino games. The winner of the poker tournament will win a seat in the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event in Las Vegas, giving them the chance to compete with professionals – and the involvement of UltimateBet can again be seen here, as this prize was a donation from the online casino. In addition, they have donated an Aruba Poker Classic prize package to the tournament, which includes a head-to-head poker game and private tuition with Phil Hellmuth at his personal suite in Aruba.
The star-studded event is expected to be covered by leading news corporations such as Access Hollywood, Extra and Entertainment Tonight. With the influential backing of UltimateBet, as well as celebrity involvement, it is hoped that the event will raise as much money as possible for Eva’s Heroes.
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