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Mickey Rourke Headlines Celebrity Bounty Tournament at DoylesRoom - Gambling911 - 28th March 2009

Mickey Rourke Headlines Celebrity Bounty Tournament at DoylesRoom

From 9 ½ Weeks to The Wrestler, no actor has lived the Hollywood dream like Mickey Rourke. Giving his all on the movie set, boxing ring and wrestling mat, Mickey’s true grit and talent are undeniable. Mickey will now take on challengers of another kind, DoylesRoom.com poker players.

DoylesRoom.com today announced the guest list for the DoylesRoom Celebrity Bounty Tournament. Mickey Rourke teams up with returning bounty celebs; billionaire heiress Nicky Hilton and Sopranos star Jamie-Lynn Sigler. New to the celebrity cast is the multi-talented singer and actress, Eve. With over 7 million albums sold, numerous movie roles and a BET, MTV and a Grammy award under her belt, this self-made queen of hip hop is up to any challenge. These 4 celebrity guests join 10-time WSOP winner Doyle Brunson, and poker’s famed educator and statistician, Mike Caro, for a blockbuster evening of poker.

It all kicks off on Thursday, April 2nd at 9:30 pm ET as the star-studded cast takes to the tables and the Celebrity Bounty Tournament begins. For a $27.50 buy-in, players compete in this fast action multi-table Texas Hold’em tournament. One lucky online poker player can win a $25,000 cash prize by knocking out all three key bounties. A handsome $5,000 consolation prize will be awarded if a single player knocks out two key bounties and $500 will be awarded to the player who knocks out any single bounty. First-time players have nothing to lose and everything to gain, as DoylesRoom.com will generously issue a full-refund of their buy-in and fees.

Since 2005, the weekly Doyle’s Bounty is the online poker world’s benchmark for guest bounty style tournaments. Its success has directly contributed to the crossover between mainstream entertainment and the excitement of online poker. (Credit: Gambling911)

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Poker Mag Launches new Poker Academy - 24th March 2009

With Poker being one of the most favoured of all gambling games, it was only a matter of time before professional tutorials were in demand.

One of the first to do so has been the well known poker magazine Bluff Europe, as it announced the launch of its new poker academy. The academy will be a series of tours, where the public are given lectures and advice from professional poker players.

The tour starts on the 4th April and will take place at The Casino of the Empire in London. The lectures are open to all and will cover various concepts in professional poker, including luck and variance, dealing with defeat and bankroll management.

After the lectures there will also be tournaments scheduled for attendees where they will be given direct supervision from some of the best players in the world.

The Editor and Chief at Bluff Europe, Michael Caselli said, “I’m really excited about the pros we have involved, we’ll be announcing who they are shortly, but let’s just say they are huge.”

Bluff also revealed that each series of the tours would be presided over by online poker professionals along with Bluff columnist Alex Rousso.

Alex Rousso went on to say, “This is a great opportunity for poker enthusiasts to learn to improve their games with the help of some of the best players around.”

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European Commission Finds U.S. in Violation of Trade Agreements, by Dan Cypra - Poker News Daily - 27th March 2009

Last March, the Remote Gambling Association (RGA) learned that its complaint filed with the European Commission would be acted on. The complaint stems from the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in 2006, which the RGA charges unfairly discriminates against foreign operators. On Thursday, the European Commission released its preliminary report.

The Commission agreed with the RGA (and many other industry organizations) that the United States is in violation because "the treatment of foreign Internet gambling operators by the U.S. under existing domestic law constitutes a barrier to market access for European companies and is inconsistent with World Trade Organization (WTO) rules," according to a press release on Friday from the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative (SSIGI).

The complaint charges that the United States approves of domestic internet gambling, specifically wagering on horse racing, but shuts out international operators. One such domestic site, TwinSpires.com, has been called into question in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, where Governor Steve Beshear and Justice and Public Safety Cabinet Secretary J. Michael Brown are engaged in legal action to force the forfeiture of 141 internet gambling domain names. On the national level, the SSIGI has watched as Party Gaming Co-Founder Anurag Dikshit admitted to violating the UIGEA and Wire Act of 1961 in a New York court room. Dikshit agreed to hand over a $300 million fine in three installments and risks up to two years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for December of 2010.

SSIGI spokesperson Jeff Sandman commented, "“The European Commission investigation further highlights the need for the Obama Administration and Congress to regulate Internet gambling not only to protect consumers, but in order to restore integrity to the international trade system. The Obama Administration should seek to forge a new direction on Internet gambling, rather than keeping in place a protectionist trade policy that hypocritically discriminates against foreign online gambling operators.” A recent study released by PricewaterhouseCoopers revealed that up to $52 billion could be raised over a 10 year period by taxing and regulating internet gambling in the United States.

E.U. Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton gave her take on the next steps: “It is for the U.S. to decide how best to regulate Internet gambling in its market, but this must be done in a way that fully respects WTO obligations. I am hopeful that we can find a swift, negotiated solution to this issue." Last September, E.U. trade officials arrived in the U.S. on a two week fact finding mission, culminating in Friday's report. The RGA's initial complaint was originally lodged in December of 2007.

Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) was slated to introduce internet gambling legislation in March in the United States. However, with just four days remaining in the month, no bill has been introduced. Frank, who is the Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, has been preoccupied with one of the worst economic climates in the history of the United States. His previous bill to regulate and tax the industry was HR 2046, the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act. The bill, which was introduced in 2007, did not see time on the House floor during the 110th Congress and therefore must be reintroduced for consideration.

The RGA's members include a veritable “who's who” of European internet gambling operators including Betfair, CryptoLogic, Ladbrokes, Microgaming, Playtech, Paddy Power, Party Gaming, and William Hill. The London-based organization is headed by Clive Hawkswood. The SSIGI is based in Washington, D.C.

The European Commission could elect to work out an agreement with the United States directly or seek the intervention of the WTO. The SSIGI even cited U.K. Parliament member David Blunkett, who claimed, "I fully support the call by the E.U. Trade Commissioner, Cathy Ashton, for urgent U.S. action to regularize the trade relationship, respect WTO rules, and to regulate online gambling. This would provide not only fair competition, but protection for individuals and families, and a legal basis on which substantial revenue could be raised at a time of considerable pressure on public finances." The official European Commission report is expected to be released next month.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from the European Commission. (Credit: Poker News Daily)

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Australians Are The Biggest Gamblers In The World - Gambling911 - 26th March 2009

A report out of Canada paints Australians as the biggest gambling degenerates in the world. The report, obtained exclusively by The Sunday Telegraph, shows Australian and New Zealand gamblers spend an average of $435 online every month.

This is five times what punters put through poker machines and has prompted renewed calls for bans on online gambling, which allows people to bet using credit.

The study also found the prevalence of problem gambling was up to four times higher for Internet gamblers than those who used traditional means such as poker machines.

More than 20,000 adults from 105 countries were surveyed for the study, conducted by University of Lethbridge professors Robert Wood and Robert Williams.

"Australian Internet gamblers do report higher average monthly gambling spending than the overall average we observed among our sample," Prof Wood said.

"This would suggest that Australian Internet gamblers do indeed spend more on gambling compared with Internet gamblers from most other countries."

Australian Media Man for Gambling911.com, Greg Tingle, rejoiced at the news.

"Ahoy. This report confirms my suspicions and my own findings... online gambling is red hot in the land down under... Australia. I think this officially marks a gold rush for the promised land. Our phone hasn't stopped ringing, and there's a constant stream of overseas enquires.

"The Australian government's ACMA website blacklist doesn't appear to have slowed down those seeking to make a killing down under. We're seen a trend in more .net ventures taking off and online casinos are generally keeping the "play for free" or "play for money" option. Australian newsrooms are also starting to run more stories regarding the online gambling sector and most are surprisingly balanced stories. We're gladly assisting them on (some) of the inner workings of the online casino industry." (Credit" Gambling911)

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Falling in Love with Pot Limit Omaha, by Sean Gibson - Poker News Daily - 26th March 2009

As a part time professional poker player my history is very similar to a lot of the fellow early 30-somethings I meet in this industry that play either part time or full time for their income. We all started out playing Stud before the Hold’em boom, and then migrated over to No Limit Hold’em as soon as the Moneymaker Effect took over the entire United States at large. We all jumped on Party Poker or PokerStars and decided to grind out (of all things) low stakes Sit & Gos. From there almost universally all of us moved to cash game poker where we’ve all carved out a nice bit of coin grinding out a modest win-rate at the low and medium stakes. All of us remember the days when we all had great win-rates at cash games or amazing ROI numbers for Sit & Gos when the UIGEA was not in effect and the global economy hadn’t done its best impersonation of the Buffalo Bills in the Super Bowl (that’d be a nosedive). In effect, the No Limit Hold’em games are frankly a lot harder than they used to be and good players just have less of an edge than ever.

Now that everyone from top professionals like Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi to the lowliest of goons on internet forums all say the same thing about online No Limit Hold’em, what’s a good player supposed to do to really carve out a great win-rate?Many simply opt for grinding it out, playing hundreds of thousands of hands at a near break-even point and simply live off their rakeback or VIP program. That lowly existence certainly isn’t for those of us who have a competitive edge and aim to get better and actually profit when we put in a session. Is there a game out there with a big edge beyond the micro-stakes?

Players might want to look for the answer into the popular off-shoot of Hold’em: Omaha. As Sammy Farha says, if No Limit Texas Hold'em is the Cadillac of poker, then Omaha is the Porsche. The question that a lot of poker players ask themselves is whether they’re able to handle such a fast and sexy vehicle. The game is a lot more complex than Hold’em, as well as introducing the Hi/Lo variant of the game where there are split pots. But is Omaha really going to boom because of an edge for good players? For the answer I asked some mid-stakes players on various sites.

“I don’t think that PLO Hi/Lo will attract many players in the near future because split pots just seem to keep the fish away,” commented “alavet” a low-stakes Russian player on PokerStars. “I believe the number of players for PLO Hi will definitely expand hopefully another 50% in the next year. Hold’em games are getting too nitty and boring, especially for the higher limits.”

What about the edge for micro-stakes beginners playing Pot Limit Omaha Hi for the first time? Mid-stakes player “stacks_for_sale” gives some interesting insight, “Should NLHE lose its popularity, PLO for sure will be the next wave of poker as a lot of good NLHE players will (and in fact have been) making the transition to PLO. PLO is already big in Europe, and will definitely come before PLO/8 because it is simpler to play. That is to say, because it is played ‘high only’ there are less rules, math, and strategy associated with it than the high-low variant. In addition, Omaha games in general are action games meaning people are playing a wide range of starting hands and hand values change wildly with board texture.”

With the major poker room sites offering plenty of Omaha action for Hi, Hi/Lo, or even Limit, the availability of games for players to jump into is wide. PokerStars regularly runs guaranteed Omaha tournaments every day, and both PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker have regularly populated cash games and Sit & Gos. There is even an Omaha hand tracking utility, although slightly outdated, in PokerTracker Omaha Edition which can be coupled with PokerEV to do all the things any other hand analyzing program can do.

Now that the entire Omaha possibility has intrigued you, where do you go for some good solid Omaha experience and knowledge to give you a leg up on the competition? In the world of published books the most famous book is Sammy Farha’s “Farha on Omaha” which has received poor reviews in Amazon’s book store. The highest rated book in the store is Jeff Hwang’s “Pot-Limit Omaha Poker” which sells for a ridiculously low $10.17 for a new paperback edition of the book. On top of that, the popular online poker training school DeucesCracked.com offers some of the best Omaha online training around.

So is Omaha the new sexy girl at the bar that everyone is trying to hit on? For now Omaha just might be that girl a lot of us are getting the courage to finally get up and ask out on a date to see if she’s our type, hoping she won’t dump us right away. Whether it’s the next boom in poker remains to be seen but in the meantime I’ll keep enjoying my 10BB/100 win rate at the microstakes. (Credit: Poker News Daily)

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Australia Blacklist May Cost Election - Gambling911 - 25th March 2009

The controversy continues regarding Australia's leaked list of blacklisted websites which included, among others, the legal gambling enterprise, Betfair, as well as some online poker portals.

"We didn't know [about the ban]," said Betfair CEO Andrew Twaits. "We've been licensed to operate in Australia for three years and have never received a complaint or any allegation that Betfair locally or globally is not allowed usage by Australians. The global Betfair site is used by Australians every day."

Some 2500 websites were reportedly brandished as "unacceptable for viewing by Aussies". Besides numerous porn websites, there were YouTube links and poker room sites listed as well.

Poker sites on ACMA's blacklist include big names like partypoker.com, fulltiltpoker.com, 888.com, pokerroom.com, pokerstars.com, and mansion.com.

"As many as 400,000 Aussies are playing poker on the Web," an industry spokesperson told Network World, adding the amount gambled could be $US1000 per person every year.

But portal news websites like PokerNews.com were also on the blacklist. It was not immediately known if Gambling911.com was on the list as well.

Even more shocking, a Queensland dental surgery website was also among those blacklisted.

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy, who is pushing for the Web filtering, claimed that porn had been implanted into the dental surgery website by hackers.

"Australians have proven themselves to be very pro active, passionate and rather effective protesters and activists over the decades," said Australia Media Man, Greg Tingle. "Australia is also home many Internet entrepreneurs and self styled publishers."

Tingle added: "Australia is also known for its fearless whistle blowers, likely the most notable being "The Human Headline" Derryn Hinch. Hinch and others have risked (and done) jail to stand up for justice! The Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance, of which I'm a member, have enjoyed some strong successes in protecting the rights of journalists.

"To state the obvious the matter of censorship is of significant relevance and interest to journos and their editors. There's an old expression by a wise man in New York... "News is something, someone, somewhere, doesn't want someone else to know, everything else is PR! Nathan, the Australian government "blacklist" is huge news. It appears that by making websites or whatever "illegal" and "banned" it boosts interest and makes them every more sought after.

"Many industries have thrived in an underground and underworld type environment in the past including some of Australia's (unadvertised) land based casinos, as showcased on Network Nine's 'Underbelly'. Bottom line... Australians do care a rats ass about censorship."

Thus far, Conroy shows no sign of backing down.

Speaking at a Sydney press conference Thursday morning, Conroy said the leaked list would serve only to publicise Web sites that promote terrorism, hate and child porn.

"Does the [leaked blacklist] mean we are going to stop blocking access to the sites? No. People can continue to put up the lists if they are proud to do that," Conroy said.

"It is completely untrue that the leaked blacklist contains political content. This is a list which contains sites that promote incest, rape, child pornography and child abuse.

"If people think [leaking the list] is a victory for free speech, to make available that sort of information, they have a perverse sense of free speech. You can oppose the filter and not be a supporter of child pornography, but equally you can support the filters and still be supporter of free speech. (Credit: Gambling911)

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Asian Poker Tour Announces 12 Day Macau Poker Festival, by Dan Cypra - Poker News Daily - 23rd March 2009

On August 12th, the Asian Poker Tour's (APT) Macau event will kick off from the Galaxy StarWorld Hotel and Casino, tournament officials announced on Monday. Last year, the event ran for just five days. This year, the APT has been granted permission to hold it for more than twice that length of time.

In 2008, the APT Macau Main Event guaranteed $1.5 million, which it claimed was the largest guaranteed prize pool ever offered in Asia. When the smoke cleared, 20 year-old Yevgeniy Timoshenko, who is known as "atimos" in the online poker world, grabbed $500,000 for the win. He bested players from over 40 countries in the process, including Americans Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan, who are second all-time with ten World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets behind Ultimate Bet's Phil Hellmuth. In addition, reigning WSOP Europe Main Event winner John Juanda and National Heads-Up Poker Championship victor Huck Seed were also in attendance last year.

One year ago, the tournament series was acquired by AsianLogic, which is traded on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol "ALOG." At the time of writing, it was trading up ₤0.50 on the day to ₤15.00, a jump of 3.45%. Over the past 52 weeks, the company's stock has traded in a broad range of ₤8.00 to ₤89.75. The APT's ambassadors, known as the "Poker Pack," have helped build the tour's brand name and company's stock price. They consist of Nam Le, Quinn Do, J.C. Tran, Steve Sung, David “Chino” Rheem, and Kwang Soo Lee.

The buy-in for the 2009 APT Macau Main Event will be $4,300. The action gets underway on August 19th with the first of three starting days. The final table, which will be televised, kicks off on August 23rd. APT officials will once again fly Tournament Director Matt Savage in for the event. Savage serves as the officiate of high-profile poker tournaments around the world, including the recently-completed World Poker Tour (WPT) Bay 101 Shooting Star event in San Jose. Its champion, Steve Brecher, received over $1 million for his efforts and defeated popular poker pro Kathy Liebert heads-up.

APT officials are also expecting a wide variety of side tournaments and ring games. The high-stakes HK$1,000,000 (US$130,000) cash game is expected to return. However, a press release distributed on Monday claimed, "With the APT-sponsored poker room at the Starworld now witnessing six-figure pots in games on a daily basis, the stakes will be significantly raised." A schedule of events for APT Macau was not available at press time.

APT CEO Chris Parker commented on the upcoming Macau poker tournaments, “The Asian Poker Tour Macau Festival will feature a side event schedule never seen in Asia before, including several new formats that will stir the curiosity of poker enthusiasts at all levels. We believe Asia’s first festival of poker will establish Macau as an essential stop on the international poker circuit.” Last year's event began on August 27th and ran through the 31st. This year, APT Macau begins on August 12th and concludes on the 23rd.

In 2008, the APT made waves by publicly reaching out to U.S. Olympic swimmer and eight-time gold medalist Michael Phelps, inviting him to compete free of charge. The invitation came as a result of Phelps telling his hometown newspaper, the Baltimore Sun, that he wanted to compete in the WSOP. Although Phelps did not make the flight from Beijing, the site of the 2008 Olympics, a total of 257 players made their way to Macau.

In addition to the festivities in Macau, the APT also held tournaments in January in Manila. The Main Event was won by Neil Arce, a local poker player, who earned $185,000 for his efforts. A total of 262 players turned out for the $2,700 buy-in event, which was held at the Dusit Thani Manila Hotel in Makati City. Amazingly, South Korea's own Steve Yea finished as the runner up in both the Macau and Manila Main Events for a combined $350,000.

iPoker Network rooms, Full Tilt Poker, PKR, Everest Poker, PartyPoker, 888, and Microgaming's 32Red Poker are among those that are scheduled to offer online satellites to the 2009 APT Macau event. (Credit: Poker News Daily)

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UFC May Juggle Online Poker Sponsors, by Dan Cypra - Poker News Daily - 25th March 2009

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) may be ousting Full Tilt Poker as a sponsor, according to multiple sources. In its place, according to MMAFix.com, could be Absolute Poker, which is owned by Tokwiro, also the parent company of Ultimate Bet. Full Tilt continues to have affiliate banners in place on the UFC's website.

MMAFix.com revealed in a post dated on March 23rd, "We received word from multiple inside sources that Full Tilt Poker is 'banned' from the UFC as a sponsor in the octagon or on its fighters. Whether or not this ban is permanent or temporary is not yet known." Gus Hansen, a Full Tilt Pro, recently battled Theo Jorgensen in Copenhagen inside a boxing ring, displaying the edge of the online poker site and some of its pros. In the end, however, he was bested by Jorgsensen.

The advertisement on UFC's website for Full Tilt Poker shows Phil Ivey saying, "I work on my game at Full Tilt Poker." In the place of Full Tilt, MMAFix.com speculated that one of the two Tokwiro-owned rooms would become its newest sponsor. It explained, "It appears as if UltimateBet’s sister site, Absolute Poker, will be part of this deal, although we’re awaiting confirmation. The real shame here is the UFC is screwing over its fighters yet again. Full Tilt was spending good money on sponsorships, and limiting the competition does them no favors."

When approached by Poker News Daily, officials from Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker could not confirm a potential partnership with UFC. Ultimate Bet is the official sponsor of World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) WrestleMania XXV in Houston, sending one lucky customer to the annual spectacle. A total of 317 players entered the final online qualifier, with Alex Cummings emerging victorious from the pack. He took home two tickets to the event in Houston, round trip airfare, three nights' hotel accommodation, CDN $500 in spending money, two replica WWE championship belts, a framed poster, and a pair of commemorative chairs. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity for the Ultimate Bet member.

On sponsoring WrestleMania, Ultimate Bet's own Annie Duke told Poker News Daily, "“As two organizations concerned with providing the ultimate entertainment experience, our Canadian partnership with WWE WrestleMania XXV is a natural fit. Our players are among the millions of loyal and avid watchers of WWE and it’s a privilege for us to give them the chance to play poker to win their way to be part of this marquee event on April 5, while also adding to UltimateBet.net’s reputation for delivering much sought-after prizes.”

On April 18th, UFC will present UFC 97: Redemption, with a headliner of Anderson “The Spider” Silva against Thales Leites. In addition, Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell will battle toe to toe with Brazilian superstar Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. The festivities will take place inside the Bell Centre in Montreal. On May 23rd, UFC 98 will feature a fight between Rashad Evans and Lyoto Machida. Poker players in Las Vegas will be able to stroll over to the MGM Grand Garden Arena to watch the action unfold in person when the event kicks off at 7:00pm local time.

Full Tilt Poker is gearing up for the release of the schedule for its 12th Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS). The slate of events is anticipated to be unveiled today, although at the time of writing, no announcement has been made. Last week, the online poker site ran the first installment of its Friday Night Fights, which pitted Andy Bloch against Gus Hansen. Both are card-carrying members of Team Full Tilt, with Bloch coming out the victor after connectivity issues slowed the action early on. The match-up for this Friday has not been announced. The site regularly holds a Friday Night Fight $500 Knockout tournament that boasts a guaranteed prize pool of $75,000. The $535 buy-in means that each player has a $100 bounty on their head, making it a unique tournament.

On Sundays, Full Tilt runs the Sunday Brawl, another high-stakes bounty tournament with a healthy $350,000 up for grabs. The $256 buy-in sends $200 to the prize pool, $16 to Full Tilt, and $40 as a bounty on each player's head. The Sunday Brawl regularly attracts around 2,000 players, making it one of the largest recurring online poker tournaments in the world.

We'll have more news from the world of UFC as it develops right here on PokerNewsDaily.com. (Credit: Poker News Daily)

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Aussie Blacklist Controversy Escalates

Leaked lists of banned websites "closely resemble" the government's official list, according to Australian insiders

March 25, 2009 (CAP Newswire) -- At first, Australia Communications Minister and Senator Stephen Conroy denied that the recent lists of websites that appeared on Wikileaks (a website dedicated to publishing and commenting on “leaked documents alleging government and corporate misconduct”) had any connection to the Australian government's official watchdog lists.

Now, it appears that he may be changing his story.

"Senator Conroy admitted that the latest list, dated March 18th, 'seemed to be close’ to ACMA’s current blacklist," writes Chloe Lake, Technology Editor for Australia’s news.com.au, in an article from today’s online edition.

(ACMA, or the Australian Communications and Media Authority, is the department that mandates government intervention in that country's media and communications. An official government blacklist of Internet sites would most likely come from this office.)

What was really controversial about last week’s leaked lists, though, was the inclusion of many reputable, widely respected companies among the thousands of pornography and criminal activity-related websites -- including Betfair, the world's largest betting exchange.

Many in the Australian media are understandably upset at the list, and the implications it represents -- that the Aussie government can randomly select which Internet destinations it allows its citizens to visit, without any kind of public hearing on the matter.

“When ‘they’ (‘they’ usually being the government) tell us it’s ... for our own good and to ‘trust us’, it’s time to be concerned,” Media Man Australia’s Greg Tingle told CAP. “The recent actions by the Australian government regarding censorship of the Internet are the sort of actions that inspire riots, something our friends in America and France would be well aware of.

“When things become ‘illegal’ or ‘banned’, the world history books effectively show that these matters become more popular, often more profitable, but less regulated, so that consumer protection measures are reduced or dissolved.”

Mr. Tingle goes on to claim that not only Betfair but also PokerStars and PokerNews are on the published lists, although whether this is true or not is difficult to confirm in an official capacity.

So, the big question comes back to authenticity: Are the lists really the official black lists of the Australian government?

That still hasn't been confirmed -- and perhaps cannot be, given the understandable reluctance of Aussie politicians to claim responsibility for such a controversial topic.

Independent Australian news agency Crikey has been reporting furiously on the topic, publicly calling on Senator Conroy's office to confirm whether or not the new lists were indeed the ACMA blacklist. The jury is still out on whether or not it is, but the lack of an official denial or confirmation is just adding fuel to the fires of controversy at this point.

If there's a silver lining, it's this: Perhaps this storm of criticism will inspire the Aussie government to rethink the very notion of Internet censorship, a concept to which most citizens seem firmly opposed.

Read the Crikey coverage here; and click here to read the news.com.au coverage.

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Banned poker sites make joker of ACMA's Internet blacklist, by Rodney Gedda - Computer World - 23rd March 2009

Banning URLs not a substitute for lack of policing

Less than a week after the federal government's URL blacklist was leaked and caused a furore over the status of online betting company Betfair, Australia's poker industry is now in the firing line over the number of legitimate poker sites that could be banned by the filter.

The Interactive Gambling Act 2001 makes it an offence to provide, or advertise, certain interactive gambling services and online poker is no exception, but that hasn't stopped thousands of Australians for participating in a game of Texas Hold'em over the Web on .com poker sites.

ACMA is responsible for investigating formal complaints made under the Act in relation to prohibited Internet gambling content and is now prepared to filter poker URLs as well.

A representative of a local, in-person poker tournament company who requested to remain anonymous said ACMA's decision to include online poker sites in the blacklist may well be justified if they are operating illegally from the government's perspective, but there are “better ways of doing it than banning URLs”.

“All they need to do it to prosecute one person,” the spokesperson said.

Many Web sites of local in-person poker tournament operators openly promote and link to international online poker sites, apparently in flagrant disregard of the Internet Gambling Act.

“Linking to a .com poker site is illegal, but local poker companies and Web sites do it because no one has been prosecuted yet.”

Poker sites on ACMA's blacklist include big names like partypoker.com, fulltiltpoker.com, 888.com, pokerroom.com, pokerstars.com, and mansion.com.

It may be illegal to run or promote an Internet gambling business in Australia, but that hasn't stopped thousands of Aussies joining the online poker scene – with real money to boot.

“As many as 400,000 Aussies are playing poker on the Web,” the spokesperson said, adding the amount gambled could be $US1000 per person every year.

Furthermore, in a case of what might be seen as the government going too far with filtering, even poker news site pokernews.com was on the blacklist.

“They are included because its technically illegal. ACMA should be doing better things than chasing gamblers.”

So the local legitimate poker industry wants the government to take action, not filter the Internet.

“I don't agree with making online poker illegal, but if they are going to do that why not blacklist them?”

What's the advice for in-person and online poker players? The spokesperson said while many tournaments and operators are not doing anything illegal, many are “looking for a back door into online poker so stick with a reputable company”.

“I'm p...sed off at guys doing it illegally,” the spokesperson said.

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Gambling News Down Under: Australia Website Blacklist Debacle - Gambling911 - 24th March 2009

Evidence is mounting that the list of websites published by Wikileaks is almost certainly ACMA's "secret" blacklist. Senator Stephen Conroy claimed the first leaked list, dated August 2008, was too long to be real. 2395 URLs instead of 1600-odd. However, more recent lists, leaked late Friday night, are another story.

"There's not much if any room for doubt that the Wikileaked lists of 11 and 18 March are anything other than the ACMA blacklist," says Irene Graham, who maintains censorship information website Libertus.net.

Even apart from the giveaway file name, "Websites_ACMA.txt", ACMA' statistics for November 2008 say they added an item "RC-Publication" that month. That means an electronic version of a print publication, like a book or magazine (remember them?), which had been "Refused Classification". It's the only "RC-Publication" item ACMA has ever blacklisted.

When books are banned, it's not a secret. The Classification Review Board's database shows, to choose a completely random example, that on 27 February, 2007, they banned The Peaceful Pill Handbook by Phillip Nitschke and Fiona Stewart.

Mainstream media reported that Nitschke then published the book online in October 2008, hosted outside Australia. The leaked blacklist dated 11 March, 2009, shows the relevant website added on 12 November, 2008 -- the same month ACMA added their solitary banned book to their list. Coincidence? Yeah right.

"This is turning into the Grim Reaper and Y2K of 2009 all in one!" says Australian Media Man, Greg Tingle. "I wouldn't be surprised if this stays one of the hottest news stories in Australia for all of this year. This effects ever man, women and child. The word on the street is that the Australian government has gone to far and will be thrown out of office at the next election." (Credit: Gambling911)

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Australian Gambling News: Tasmania Wants to Force Breaks on Gamblers - Gambling911 - 23rd March 2009

The Tasmanian government wants to reduced the number of people addicted to pokie machines by forcing them to take breaks.

The Treasurer Michael Aird has announced a range of measures to further protect people addicted to poker machines.

They include a mandatory code of practice for gambling, reducing the maximum bet on poker machines.

"The more player breaks you can induce the more you can mitigate player behaviour," Aird said.

"'They' are at at again!" declared Australia Media Man, Greg Tingle. "'They' are wanting to control people's behavior. They are Government and organisations with hidden agendas. ‘They' are sometimes church groups, lobby groups and government spooks. ‘They' are everywhere and amongst us."

Tingle also warns of the language that "They" use in describing the need to control gambling behavior.

"Be watching out for the word ‘mitigate'," he says. "It's another word for ‘Control'. Mitigate - To moderate (a quality or condition) in force or intensity!"

....Good Friday Bets Won't Happen In South Australia: Gambling Minister Tom Koutsantonis says he wrote to UNiTAB, which owns the South Australian TAB, to make clear it is not allowed to take bets on Good Friday.

He says UNiTAB has withdrawn its plan for the Good Friday trial.

"The TAB were about to, for the first time in SA, have a trial. They were going to open a call centre and take internet bets. On Good Friday and Christmas that's illegal in SA and in breach of their agreement," the Minister said.

"If they continued with that trial they could have been open to a $60,000 fine."

....Internet Service Provider Pulls Out of Australia Censorship Trial: Australia's third largest internet provider, iiNet, has withdrawn from the Government's internet censorship trials, saying it could not "reconcile participation in the trial with our corporate social responsibility".

The move comes after the anonymous whistleblower site Wikileaks last week published a leaked copy of the secret Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) blacklist of prohibited websites, which forms the backbone of the Government's censorship policy.

That list included online poker sites.

"The ISP's have started to pull out of the trial, starting with iiNet, now that the Government's real agenda is becoming much clearer thanks to the leaking of information about the list," Tingle said.

"Industry rumours indicate that not only has Betfair been banned but also PokerStars and PokerNews.com I can't wait to find out if our Casino News Media has made the Government's hate list also. They don't always see eye to eye with journalists or gaming entrepreneurs, so I'm betting I'm on the list! I would also bet that if Gambling911 gets a .com.au they will make the list also!"

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Bernard Lee Previews 2009 East Coast Poker Tournaments, by Bernard Lee - Poker News Daily - 22nd March 2009

Over the last few years, people are always surprised that I still live in the Boston area. Poker players repeatedly ask me why I don’t move to the West Coast, specifically Las Vegas, assuming that I would be closer to big poker tournaments.

However, the truth is that I like the East Coast. Not only did I grow up and go to college here, but most of my family still lives on the East Coast. Although it is freezing during the winter, I look forward to going to Boston Celtics games during the bitter cold months (I have had season tickets for over 10 years). During the past decade, I have seen some really lean Celtics teams, but this past season was simply a magical ride. During the playoff run, I was able to attend every game including Game 6 of the NBA Finals. I was on the floor with my wife when the Celtics won, capturing their 17th championship banner.

The season’s run can be summed up by the following formula.
34 + 5 + 20 = 17!

For those outside of the Boston area, it stands for Paul Pierce’s Jersey Number + Kevin Garnett’s + Ray Allen’s = Celtics 17th NBA Championship.

Although I had to come back early from the World Series of Poker (WSOP) to go to a couple of games, it was well worth it. Remember, the WSOP is played every year, whereas the Celtics don’t make the Finals every season (it had actually been over 20 years since the last time they played for the Championship). Let’s hope they have another tremendous run this summer.

Anyway, back to the East Coast poker discussion. With the introduction of the World Poker Tour (WPT) as well as WSOP Circuit events, East Coast players like me can readily compete in numerous No Limit Hold’em Main Event tournaments relatively close to home. With large prize pools attracting top players, East Coast players can compete against very impressive fields for huge sums of money.

Here is sampling of my schedule for the first half of 2009:

JANUARY:
Pokerstars Caribbean Adventure: Although technically on the East Coast, this event is not really that close. However, for Northeastern players who endure very cold winters, the PCA is a nice break from the weather. Additionally, this is the only tournament during the year in which my family joins me, as it is held at the magnificent Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island, Bahamas. This year, the Main Event increased its buy-in to $10,000, which consequently boosted the first prize to $3 million.

Southern Poker Championship: This WPT event (originally called the Gulf Coast Poker Championship back in September of 2007) is held at the beautiful Beau Rivage Resort and Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi. Once again, this tournament series, which has a $10,000 Main Event buy-in, is not extremely close, but is still relatively closer than the West Coast. In this year’s event, which had a $1 million first prize, I had a nice run, making it to Day 3 and finishing in 23rd place.

Borgata Winter Poker Open: Previously a WPT tournament, this event still has numerous preliminary events with huge fields and prize pools. This year, the casino reduced the Main Event buy-in to $3,000 (from $10,000 last year) and guaranteed a prize pool of $2 million. This watershed amount was easily surpassed, as 1,017 entrants participated with a first place prize of over $650,000.

FEBRUARY:
WSOP Circuit Event, Horseshoe in Council Bluffs, Iowa: During the first half of the year, this is the WSOP Circuit event held near the East Coast. Last year, I completed in the $5,000 Main Event and made the final table. After a nice run last year, I plan to return in 2009, hoping to better my fourth place finish.

MARCH:
WSOP Circuit Event, Caesar’s Atlantic City: In back to back months, the WSOP Circuit has an event convenient for East Coast players. In Atlantic City, the WSOP Circuit events often have their largest size fields here on the Jersey shore. The WSOP Circuit usually returns to Atlantic City in December for another event.

APRIL:
Foxwoods Poker Classic: Foxwoods Resort and Casino is the Mecca of poker in New England. Known years ago as the New England Poker Classic, this WPT event has numerous preliminary events ranging from $300 to $5,000, culminating with a $10,000 buy-in Main Event.

MAY:
WSOP Circuit Event, Harrah’s New Orleans: The third WSOP Circuit event held relatively close to the East Coast. Known for its money presentation using a stuffed alligator, this tournament is the final WSOP Circuit event of the 2008-2009 season.

JUNE / JULY:
World Series of Poker: I realize this tournament is not on the East Coast. However, as a poker player, you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. To be a true tournament poker player, you have to head to the WSOP in order to compete for one of the over 50 coveted gold bracelets. This year, in addition to the $10,000 No Limit Hold’em Main Event and the $50,000 HORSE event, the WSOP is having a $40,000 No Limit Hold’em event to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the WSOP.

During the second half of the year, there are also numerous events held on the East Coast including:
• Borgata Poker Open in September (a WPT event)
• World Poker Finals in October/November (a WPT event)
• WSOP Circuits events held in Southern Indiana (usually in October), Chicago area (usually in November), and Atlantic City (usually in December)

So you see, if you are an East Coast poker player, there is no need to call your real estate agent and move out to Las Vegas. The East Coast tournament schedule is alive and well. You can stay here and play in numerous events throughout the year against some of the best players in the world.

Good luck to everyone! The next time you are at a major tournament on the East Coast, please stop by and say hello. (Credit: Poker News Daily)

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Daniel Negreanu Gives Up, Goes Broke on High Stakes Poker, by Tom Jenkins - Poker News Daily - 16th March 2009

Episode three of GSN's "High Stakes Poker" hit the airwaves on Sunday night. The well-known cash game featured the same lineup as during the first two episodes. This week featured a meltdown of sorts for Team PokerStars Pro member Daniel Negreanu, who lost his $200,000 buy-in.

The first hand of the show saw Doyle's Room namesake Doyle Brunson put his entire chip stack at risk. Holding pocket kings, Brunson called a raise to $2,500 pre-flop by Negreanu. Show commentator Gabe Kaplan noted, "Doyle thinks this is an aggressive table. He's hoping to catch someone holding a marginal hand putting in a raise." Eli Elezra made it $13,300 pre-flop holding pocket nines and Brunson shoved for $95,600. The two poker veterans decided to run it twice, meaning that in order for a player to rake the pot, they must win both boards. The first ran out J-7-8-Q-7, giving the win to Brunson. The second came 5-4-3-10-6 with four hearts. Elezra held the only heart, giving him a flush and resulting in a chopped pot.

The show featured very little action by Tom "durrrr" Dwan, who had been featured heavily over the previous two weeks. Instead, much of the buzz was around Daniel Negreanu, who came out on the losing end of a $151,000 hand. In it, Barry Greenstein raised with J-10 on the button and Negreanu called holding A-8 of spades. The flop came 8-9-Q, giving Greenstein the nuts. He led out and bet $5,500 and Negreanu called. The dealer flipped over an ace on the turn. Negreanu checked, Greenstein fired out $15,000, and Negreanu called. The river was a king and Negreanu once again checked. Greenstein bet $50,000 and Negreanu went into the tank before calling. Kaplan noted that, upon seeing Greenstein turn over J-10, Negreanu "is going to see the last thing he thought he would."

Shortly thereafter, Negreanu (A-8) was involved in four-way action to the flop with Brunson (A-9), Greenstein (2-2), and Elezra (K-Q). The four poker veterans saw a flop of A-K-Q, giving Elezra bottom two pair and Brunson and Negreau top pair. Brunson bet $9,000, Greenstein folded, and Elezra called. Perhaps on tilt from the previous hand, Negreanu raised to $24,000. Brunson got out of the way and Elezra called. The turn came a jack. Negreanu checked while acting extremely frustrated and Elezra bet out $35,000, prompting Negreanu to fold. Kaplan explained, "Daniel is making a fundamental mistake that I've never seen him make before: He's giving up."

Coming back from a commercial break, Negreanu spoke on his influences in poker: "The biggest influences on my game are the guys I grew up with: Guys like Phil Ivey, John Juanda, and Allen Cunningham. We were the young guns. We'd go to dinner and discuss strategy."

Another out of character move by Negreanu came after reigning World Series of Poker Main Event Champion Peter Eastgate inadvertently bet $32,000 into a $13,000 pot. Negreanu commented, "You have the wrong color" and then quickly covered his mouth and laughed. Elezra then promptly made it $140,000 and Eastgate folded. Kaplan said, "Daniel really influenced the action in that pot. If Eli didn’t know that Peter bet the wrong amount, he might not have raised and Peter could have won the pot. It was a mistake by Daniel that should not happen in a game like this."

On the final hand of the evening, Negreanu raised with pocket jacks pre-flop to $2,800. Eastgate called with pocket threes, David Benyamine called with pocket fours, and Elezra splashed around with 3-2. The flop came 2-4-7 with two diamonds, giving Benyamine a set. Negreanu was the first to bet, firing $8,000 into the pot. Eastgate called and Benyamine raised to $41,000. Kaplan commented, "Daniel knows that David is capable of making this raise with a hand like A-5 of diamonds." Negreanu called and Eastgate got out of the way.

The turn came the four of clubs, giving Benyamine quads. Benyamine bet $35,000, which Kaplan described as a "really good bet. If Daniel is drawing to a flush, he wants him to continue to draw. If Daniel has an overpair, he wants him to call." Negreanu shoved for $156,200 and Benyamine insta-called, scooping the $416,200 pot. Negreanu asked Dwan if he had $200,000 to reload with and the credits rolled.

High Stakes Poker airs at 9:00pm ET on Sunday nights on GSN. It is followed by an episode of Season VI of the World Poker Tour. (Credit: Poker News Daily)

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Million Dollar Hand on PartyPoker.com - 13th March 2009

PartyPoker.com are offering players the opportunity to win a $1 million jackpot in their “The Million Dollar Hand” promotion.

For every 15 Party Points a player earns they will be given a playing card. Once they’ve earned enough Party Points to build up a 5 card hand they will have the opportunity to win a prize, ranging from $5 if their hand contains a pair to a whopping $1m for a royal flush.

A PartyPoker.com spokesman commented “We have had to insure ourselves against the possibility of multiple royal flushes! All a player has to do is collect points and cards throughout the period.”

The full prize structure is

Royal flush $1,000,000
Straight flush $5,000
Four of a kind $1,000
Full house $250
Flush $100
Straight $50
Three of a kind $25
Two pair $10
One pair $5

All points earned throughout the promotion, which runs until 22nd March, will also count towards Palladium Lounge bonuses. For full details see PartyPoker.com

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PKR the 14th biggest online poker room

20 March 2009

LONDON, England -- (PRESS RELEASE) -- PKR.com continues to grow and is now officially the 14th biggest poker room on the web according to Pokerscout.com, the respected industry source for online traffic rankings.

Eclipsing rival poker room Bodog in the rankings table, the next-gen site – which has only been operating since 2006 – picked up a second Hitwise award at the tail end of 2008 on top of scooping the prestigious eGaming Review award for Hotshot Operator of the Year.

PKR.com received the Hitwise award after gaining the largest market share of visits among all UK websites in the Gambling – Poker category.

Hitwise is the leading online competitive intelligence service, providing insight into the interactions between over 8 million internet users and more than one million websites in the UK. PKR.com saw off major competitors such as Ladbrokes, William Hill and Betfair to claim the top spot.

PKR.com Marketing Director Simon Prodger said, "We are very pleased to win this award, which is representative of the outstanding growth we continue to experience. We have never taken US bets and our UK user-base represents our most local community – to achieve this ranking twice in one year is fantastic."

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InterPoker and ParBet Move to International Poker Network, by Tom Jenkins - Poker News Daily - 19th March 2009

Thursday marks the official move of InterPoker and ParBet from the CryptoLogic Network to Boss Media's International Poker Network (IPN). The move stems from a November agreement between the two networks whereby Boss would absorb CryptoLogic's remaining online poker sites.

The past two days have seen the final rooms on the CryptoLogic Network make their way to Boss. On Tuesday, Extreme Poker jumped to IPN. Yesterday saw the moves of Classic Poker, Opoker, DTD Poker, and BetJacks. Atul Bali, President of GTECH's New Media and Sports Betting Company, commented in a press release distributed on Thursday, “With the addition of six new poker licensees including InterPoker and ParBet, we are significantly increasing the liquidity that can be offered to both the new licensees' players as well as our existing customers' player base. We look forward to further developing our relationship with CryptoLogic and further increasing the size of the IPN over time." GTECH is the parent company of Boss Media and is based in Providence, Rhode Island.

According to a market update issued by CryptoLogic on Tuesday, the move of InterPoker and ParBet on Thursday represents the final "integration of all poker customers." The company will instead focus its efforts on creating industry-leading online casino software. In 2008, it signed on 10 new customers in total, including 888.com, Party Gaming, BSkyB, and GigaMedia. The developers at CryptoLogic rolled out 34 new casino games last year featuring such well-known brands as Street Fighter, Sub-Mariner, and King Kong.

The 2008 calendar year saw CryptoLogic post revenues of $61.5 million, which it claimed was in line with market expectations. Comparatively, revenues were $73.7 million in 2007, meaning a drop of 17% occurred. Two years ago, CryptoLogic posted a net profit of $5.5 million. Last year, the company incurred a net loss of $32.7 million, which it pinned on "write downs of impaired assets, non-recurring restructuring costs, and currency factors." Fourth quarter revenues of $11.7 million in 2008 were half of the $20.4 million that the company posted during the final quarter of 2007.

Information available on InterPoker's website reveals that the process for players involves downloading IPN's new software. Funds will automatically be transferred over. However, My Poker Points (MPPs) will become merely a vestige, as InterPoker and other CryptoLogic players transition to using Frequent Player Points (FPPs).

As a result of the influx of new customers, IPN has grown leaps and bounds. It includes CelebPoker, Fortune Poker Paradise Poker, and Poker Heaven and is currently the ninth largest site worldwide in terms of cash game traffic, according to PokerScout.com. It boasts a seven day running average of 1,900 real money ring game players with a 24 hour peak that is nearly double that amount.

Brian Hadfield, President and CEO of CryptoLogic, commented in the same release, “GTECH and Boss Media are the right partners for CryptoLogic, thanks to their independence and commitment to innovation and technology. This is all part of CryptoLogic’s commitment to a superior experience for our customers and to profitability and growth for our shareholders.” CryptoLogic is traded on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange under the symbol "CRYP." At the time of writing, its shares are unchanged on the day at $4.27. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock has fetched anywhere between $2.00 and $21.97.

Just behind the IPN is the 10th largest network worldwide, the Cake Poker Network. It recently saw the additions of Doyle's Room and Poker Host to its already impressive lineup of PlayersOnly, Lock Poker, and Red Star Poker. Its flagship site is, of course, Cake Poker. Unlike the IPN, the Cake Poker Network accepts customers from the United States, which has helped fuel its growth.

Recent online poker sites that left the CryptoLogic Network included Betsafe, which joined the Ongame Network last month. In December, Sun Poker became a part of the iPoker Network, the largest that does not accept U.S. customers. Playboy Gaming shut down entirely in January. In November, a for-profit online poker room operated by the World Poker Tour (WPT) referred its members to InterPoker; the WPT's site had been part of the CryptoLogic Network. (Credit: Poker News Daily)

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Betfair Banned: CEO Outraged - Gambling911 - 19th March 2009

Following leakage of an Australian "Ban List", Betfair CEO Andrew Twaits expressed outraged with government officials. Twaits was unaware that his company's website had been blacklisted as part of an effort to prevent viewing of child pornography.

"We didn't know [about the ban]. We've been licensed to operate in Australia for three years and have never received a complaint or any allegation that Betfair locally or globally is not allowed usage by Australians.

"The global Betfair site is used by Australians every day."

The implications are enormous. Earlier today, Gambling911.com reported on how the list of websites blacklisted in Australia expanded to over 2300. These included YouTube links and some Christian websites along with online poker portals.

"We're will the madness end? The report stats that Betfair bas been banned in Australia! Is horse racing betting, boxing betting and eating meat pies and driving Holden Cars going to be banned also?" asked Australian Media Man Greg Tingle. "That's the direction things are heading in".

"I will repeat my thoughts on on a worldwide trend when things get "banned"... Citizens (and business) revolved and industries go underground, sometimes generating more money, however the risks increase and consumers and the industry no longer enjoy the same safeguards as it becomes unregulated".

"In addition, matters of insurance can becoming tricky, as an insurance company may be hesitant to insure a business sector which the government of the day deems "illegal". I have a strong suspicion some of the stuff the Australian government is doing is actually illegal. As they say, the law is an ass, and it appears that Australia has too many jackasses in political office at the moment."

Perhaps Tingle was referring to The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, who on Thursday condemned the reported leak and publication of a list which includes prohibited internet addresses.

"The leak and publication of prohibited URLs is grossly irresponsible. It undermines efforts to improve cyber-safety and create a safe online environment for children," Senator Conroy said.

"Under existing laws the ACMA blacklist includes URLs relating to child sexual abuse, rape, incest, bestiality, sexual violence and detailed instruction in crime."

"No-one interested in cyber-safety would condone the leaking of these addresses."

But Tingle believes Conroy is doing more harm than good with such assertions and attempts to censor.

"I predict that these jackass submissions by government are going cause more problems than they cure". (Credit: Gambling911)

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Australia Banning Online Poker Sites - Gambling911 - 19th March 2009

In a leaked report obtained by the website WikiLeaks.com, it was revealed that Australia's list of 2395 "banned website" stretched well beyond the realm of child pornography and "how to murder" websites that most other civilized nations also deem "inappropriate".

The Sydney Morning Herald included - among other things - sites pertaining to gay and straight porn, euthanasia, a few Christian websites and some YouTube links.

But most disturbing of all perhaps: The list included banned online poker portals.

"It does look like there will be several online poker and online gambling sites that will soon be blocked at the ISP level by the Australian Government," suggests the website AintLuck.com.

That said, the Australian government has run into quite a bit of opposition with its plan to block websites.

University of Sydney associate professor Bjorn Landfeldt said the leaked list "constitutes a condensed encyclopedia of depravity and potentially very dangerous material".

He called it "the concerned parent's worst nightmare" as curious children would inevitably seek it out.

"It seems to me as if just about anything can potentially get on the list," Landfelt said.

The blacklist is maintained by ACMA and provided to makers of internet filtering software that parents can opt to install on their PCs.

Colin Jacobs, spokesman for the online users' lobby group Electronic Frontiers Australia, said the leak was not surprising and would only get worse once the list was sent to hundreds of Australian ISPs as part of the Government's mandatory internet filtering policy.

He said the Government could be considered a "promoter and disseminator of links to some pretty unsavoury material".

"The list itself should concern every Australian - although plenty of the material is unsavoury or even illegal, the presence of sites like YouTube, MySpace, gambling or even Christian sites on the list raises a lot of questions," he said.

Australian Media Man, Greg Tingle, expressed deep concern over this issue with Gambling911.com.

"Big Brother is at it again. Telling us what's right, what's wrong, what to read, what not to, what to look at on the web, what not to, what not to say et al. Given I'm a qualified journalist and speaking out against censorship, I guess I should expect to be arrested next."

The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, today condemned the reported leak and publication of a list which includes prohibited internet addresses.

"The leak and publication of prohibited URLs is grossly irresponsible. It undermines efforts to improve cyber-safety and create a safe online environment for children," Senator Conroy said.

"Under existing laws the ACMA blacklist includes URLs relating to child sexual abuse, rape, incest, bestiality, sexual violence and detailed instruction in crime."

"No-one interested in cyber-safety would condone the leaking of these addresses." (Credit: Gambling911)

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Ultimate Bet Sponsors WWE WrestleMania, by Tom Jenkins - Poker News Daily - 15th February 2009

On April 5th, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) presents WrestleMania XXV, which will kick off from Reliant Stadium in Houston, home of the Texans franchise of the National Football League. The annual spectacle is one of the storied events in the wrestling industry and includes an entire week’s worth of activities culminating in the Sunday night event. Online poker room Ultimate Bet recently announced that it is the official Canadian sponsor of WWE WrestleMania.

Annie Duke, who designed the tournament schedule for the Tokwiro-owned online poker site, commented in a press release distributed by Ultimate Bet this week, “We’re proud to partner with WWE on the 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania and to offer one lucky player the ultimate entertainment experience to be part of all the drama and action of this pop culture extravaganza.”

As part of its sponsorship, Ultimate Bet will be hosting online qualifiers for a WrestleMania prize package. It includes roundtrip airfare for two to Houston, Texas, hotel accommodations, $500 in spending cash, and two tickets to the show itself. In addition, the package will also feature meet and greets with WWE stars, two replica WWE Championship belts, and a framed WrestleMania commemorative poster. Qualifiers are only open to Canadian members of Ultimate Bet over the age of 18 years-old. Residents of Quebec are not eligible. This year’s WrestleMania festivities will also feature inductions into the WWE Hall of Fame. The 2009 class is headlined by “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.

The very first WrestleMania was held on March 31st, 1985 at historic Madison Square Garden in New York. The inaugural Main Event featured the tag team of Hulk Hogan and Mr. T defeat “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff. Nikolai Volkoff and the Iron Sheik defeated Mike Rotundo and Barry Windham to become the new Tag Team Champions. Andre the Giant, then in his heyday, defeated Big John Studd. Others on the card included Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, King Kong Bundy, Greg “The Hammer” Valentine, and Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake.

The most recent running of WrestleMania occurred on March 30th, 2008. In a Triple Threat Match for the WWE Championship, Randy Orton defeated John Cena and Triple H to retain his title. The Undertaker bested Edge to become the new World Heavyweight Champion, while a highly-publicized encounter between boxer Floyd Mayweather and The Big Show ended with Mayweather winning by donning brass knuckles. Shawn Michaels defeated “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair and Kane outlasted a 24 man field to become the number one contender for the ECW title.

WWE, which was forced to change its name from WWF following a challenge by the World Wildlife Foundation in 2002, purchased rival World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 2001. The acquisition ended a battle between the two wrestling federations for control of Monday night programming, which pitted WWE’s "Raw" against WCW’s "Nitro." WWE also purchased the rights to ECW.

World Wrestling Entertainment is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “WWE.” It closed trading on Friday down $0.05 to $9.24. It is near the bottom of its 52 week range, $8.76 to $19.86. An article released on Friday by the company noted that it outperformed the S&P 500 Index by 31% in 2008 and handed out a $1.44 dividend to shareholders. Its CEO is Linda McMahon, who has occasionally appeared as an on-screen personality during WWE programming.

Ultimate Bet recently merged player bases with sister site Absolute Poker to form the CEREUS Poker Network. According to PokerScout.com, which tracks online poker room traffic, the CEREUS network is the sixth largest overall, with an average of 2,750 cash game players online. It sits just behind the Ongame Network (2,900) and ahead of Everest Poker (2,600). Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker accept players from the United States. (Credit: Poker News Daily)

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Poker, d'oh - Fairfax - 17th March 2009

Making money in commercial TV is always a bit of a gamble. Especially for a network whose parent company is playing Russian roulette with its bankers. So good luck to Ten's Nick Falloon. Talk is he's replacing Big Brother not with just a cooking show but a new reality concept: live poker. And we were looking forward to repeats of The Simpsons.

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Australia Gambling News: Reports on Playtech, Tabcorp, Bodog - Gambling911 - 15th March 2009

Our man on the scene in Australia reports that business is booming and everyone wants in on the burgeoning online gambling industry. Even with news that certain politicians are trying to block the Internet through filtering systems (now deemed as a "failed attempt"), few operators and affiliates of online gambling seem at all concerned.

Playtech

Tingle, who heads up Media Man Australia and gaming offshoot, Casino News Media, reports a rise in profits and has expanded his online portfolio to 6 website portals (4 specifically gaming), and thus far has managed to avoid the more negative side of news, in an industry known for journalists attacking their own. Tingle's background includes 5 years in journalism, with numerous leading news stories to his name. In recent years Tingle's has expanded on his early successes in the online gaming b2b and publicity side of things, notably with Virgin Games - Virgin Casino, PKR, JackpotCity and some hits and misses with PokerListings. Tingle has just signed up a major new client, William Hill, which is proving to be a most profitable and go ahead venture, and has also struck a considerable deal with the head of Online Gambling Insider.

Tingle advises that he's just putting the final finishing touches on their Marvel Slots Online, ready to capitalize on the recent Marvel Entertainment - Playtech deal (Marvel slots were previously all but exclusive to InterCasino). William Hill now runs off Playtech software, so it stands to reason that a number of Marvel themed slot games will soon be available under the William Hill banner, and quite possible via other casinos employing Playtech software.

PartyGaming and their PartyCasino.com are expected to make more announcements regarding the Playtech and Marvel happenings in the near future industry insiders are saying, and the industry awaits good news or bad news from InterCasino and PartnerLogic, which have been effected by the recent wunderkind deal involving Marvel Entertainment, William Hill and Playtech. We will spare you the actual figures and share prices of InterCasino, Marvel, William Hill and Playtech, but InterCasino is looking down, whist the outlook looks brighter for the latter.

Tabcorp Holdings

Suffering a very public major embarrassment, being stung with a 12 million dollar dud cheque from a well known "chronic gambler" (a former casino "whale" we understand), Tabcorp appear to be spending up big on PR. They are also looking for return on investment of their 475 million revamp of their Star City Casino in Sydney. Their casino chain which also includes Conrad Jupiters on the Gold Coast has been not surprisingly watching out for users of Apple ipod card counting software, some of which is said to be going under a name as "card shark"!

Bodog

Americas and Canadian favorite online casino whipping boy, Calvin Ayre of Bodog infamy is still M.I.A., but numerous residences of his are up for sale in what must be the "fire sale of the century". Bodog was once one of the world's Hitwise and industry sector "top ten" websites, but those days are clearly ancient history, as will be his mansions if the squatters are not removed soon. Tingle believes Bodog could enjoy success in Australia, even with the "ghost of Calvin" since his Playboy image would go over well there. Bodog is expected to make some moves Down Under in the coming year. (Credit: Gambling911)

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PartyGaming Returning to the U.S. Market? - Gambling911 - 14th March 2009

News that PartyGaming, the once largest online poker firm, looks to final settle with the U.S. government has been translated in some circles as the company will be returning to the United States market. They pulled out shortly after passage of the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act in October 2006 and lost millions of dollars in doing so. Their share price was riddled.

PartyGaming PLC reported its annual earnings on Wednesday with a profit of $66.9 million, which was a $25.3 million increase from 2007. Overall revenue fell 1 percent to $472.9 million.

When one looks at PartyGaming, they see a company that is almost stagnant, though not exactly in "survival mode". After all, Party is the 4th biggest online poker room in the world despite losing a lot of footing over the past two years.

"The reality is that PartyGaming was double the size of its nearest competitor, PokerStars, at the time it pulled out of the U.S. market," stated Payton O'Brien, matriarch of the Gambling911.com website. "Saying PartyGaming has lost significant market share is like saying China has lost half of its population. China would still have a larger population than the United States. India would become the new PokerStars in such a scenario."

PartyGaming chief executive Jim Ryan said this week that his company is making "good progress" in its discussions with the U.S. Attorney's office whereby they may have to pay a sizable fine for previously taking bets from online players in America. It is speculated that the fine will be around the $150 million mark, even though co-founder Anurag Dikshit recently plead guilty and must pay a $300 million fine.

As for returning to the U.S. market, that's not likely to happen in the next 12 months as legislative efforts to overturn the UIGEA will take some time, but Party is looking forward to "the right time" when "circumstances allow for a return".

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Harrah’s Releases 2009 WSOP Player Conduct Rules, by Tom Jenkins - Poker News Daily - 13th March 2009

After high-profile incidents in 2008 involving Scotty Nguyen and Phil Hellmuth, Harrah's officials are determined to curb player infractions in 2009 at the World Series of Poker (WSOP). This week, tournament officials introduced player conduct guidelines for the 2009 WSOP, which kicks off in two months from the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

The 2009 WSOP rules, as you would expect, specifically outlaw any form of cheating at the poker tables. These include, but are not limited to, collusion, stealing chips, taking chips from one WSOP tournament and then using them in another, marking cards, switching out cards, "or the use of any kind of cheating device." Examples of collusion include chip dumping, soft play, players overtly or covertly telling each other what cards they have, and "sending or receiving signals from or to another player."

Breaking these and other rules can result in the loss of chips, forfeiture of prize money, or disqualification from the tournament. Infractions that could result in these penalties also include "any statement or action having… an effect prejudicial or detrimental to the best interest of the tournament as determined by Harrah's." Any players acting in "a disruptive or inappropriate manner" could also be subject to ejection from the tournament.

Last year during the $50,000 buy-in HORSE Championship, poker pro Scotty Nguyen acted abusively towards tournament staff. He made comments such as “The only thing I know how to say is nut nut" and harassed cocktail servers constantly. At one point, Nguyen told tablemate Erick Lindgren, a Full Tilt Poker pro, “I tried to protect your hand,” which raised issues of possible collusion. Nguyen later apologized, although the spectacle played out on ESPN. Phil Hellmuth, a front man for online poker room Ultimate Bet, talked down to his opponents fairly openly during the Main Event.

With regards to the use of inappropriate language, the 2009 rules state, "Harrah's prohibits the use of obscene or foul language in any public area of the casino at any time. Any player who uses such language or makes a foul, profane, obscene, or vulgar statement, or speaks abusively or in an intimidating manner to another player, a dealer, or tournament staff member will be penalized."

The excessive celebration rule, which was put in place after Hevad Khan's boisterous run through the 2007 WSOP Main Event, will also return. It states, "Excessive celebration through extended theatrics, inappropriate behavior, or physical actions, gestures, or conduct will be subject to penalty." Khan took sixth in the Main Event two years ago, banking nearly $1 million. He is now a member of Team PokerStars Pro. Another rule on the books includes "repeated etiquette violations." These include touching another player's chip stack or hole cards while in a hand, purposely stalling, or "excessive chatter."

Penalties will range from a verbal warning to ousting from the tournament. Players can also be sidelined for one hand, one orbit, two orbits, three orbits, or four orbits. Poker News Daily columnist Linda Johnson, co-founder of the Tournament Directors Association, stated in a previous interview that many events have gone to penalties that force players to miss hands or rounds. Previously, tournaments had sidelined players for a predetermined amount of time. However, remaining players at the table would speed up or slow down their actions accordingly.

New for 2009 is a database that will keep track of player infractions. In its rules, Harrah's states, "Harrah's will maintain a written log of all penalties issued throughout the duration of the WSOP." The database will allow tournament staff to identify habitual rule violators. In addition, floor personnel will receive extra training in 2009.

Other tournament guidelines include continued enforcement of the "English only" rule, which states that only the English language is acceptable at the table. In addition, rabbit hunting is strictly forbidden. Players must keep their highest valued chips visible at all times and only music-playing devices that are unable to connect to the internet can be used. WSOP officials note that iPhones, iTouch, Treos, and Blackberrys are not allowed at the table.

Finally, those who violate Harrah's code of conduct may see their actions revealed to the general public. The guidelines state, "Any and all violations of this Code of Player Conduct may be publicly disclosed in an effort to deter future violations and to assist other poker tournaments in identifying players who engage in play or any action that is illegal, unethical, or constitutes cheating or collusion in any form." (Credit: Poker News Daily)

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PKR rewards a poker Big Shot

13th March 2009

LONDON, England -- (PRESS RELEASE) -- Swedish PKR stalwart fatboyflex beat off a classy field of 70 participants, including fierce rival Scopey on his way to pocketing over $10,000 in PKR.com's inaugural Saturday Big Shot.

This latest triumph for the 20 year-old deep stack specialist marks the pinnacle of his PKR.com career – his list of achievements including a PKR Open title and numerous final table appearances.

PKR.com forum favourite Discomonkey finished the $500 buy-in event in third spot, continuing the rich vein of form which steered him to the final table of a GUKPT Walsall event last month.

The Saturday Big Shot runs every week on PKR.com with satellites offering the chance to qualify daily for as little as $5. Designed to cater for the experienced player, 20 minute levels and 10,000 starting stacks make for a highly playable tournament which is the biggest buy-in event to be found online on a Saturday night.

PKR Cardroom Manager Neil Wright said, "The very first Saturday Big Shot has proved an attractive tournament for high rollers. With over $34K in the prize pool for the debut, we are looking forward to this event becoming even bigger over the next few weeks."

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PartyPoker Net Revenues Fall 7% in 2008, by Tom Jenkins - Poker News Daily - 11th March 2009

In its end of year results released to the London Stock Exchange on Wednesday, Party Gaming's Net Revenue was up 3% to $472.9 million during the 2008 calendar year in comparison to 2007. PartyPoker, which is the company's well-known online poker room, saw its Net Revenue sink by 7% to $274 million over the same period.

Party Gaming is traded on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol "PRTY." In its earnings release on Wednesday, the company noted that "soft performance in poker [was] offset by solid growth in all other verticals." Online casino revenues for Party Gaming soared 22.2% to $176.0 million in 2008, rising from $144.2 million in 2007. Online sports betting revenues also rose in 2008. For that market segment, Party Gaming reported an 11.9% increase in revenue from $16.1 million during the 2007 calendar year to $18.0 million in 2008.

Party Gaming's Chief Executive Officer Jim Ryan noted in the company's earnings release to the London Stock Exchange, "Our brands and market position are strong and we have a healthy balance sheet with which to execute our business strategy. I believe that we are in an excellent position… to achieve our long-term objective of becoming the world's most valuable online gaming company." The company has plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the 2009 calendar year. During the first five weeks of the New Year, new poker sign-ups numbered 1,494 per week, on average. In the four weeks that ended on March 4th, that number grew to 1,550.

The company attributed its 7% drop in online poker revenues to "increased promotion costs around the launch of the next generation of PartyPoker, a delay in the launch of a new loyalty program, and continued competitive pressures, particularly from sites still accepting U.S. players." PartyPoker vacated the U.S. market after the passage of the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in deference to shareholder interests. PartyPoker ran its second Monthly Million on March 1st and launched brand new software last September.

In December, one of its co-founders, Anurag Dikshit, admitted to violating the Wire Act of 1961 in a New York court room. His decision, which prompted poker legend Doyle Brunson to say he was "appropriately named," sent shockwaves throughout the industry. Dikshit agreed to pay the U.S. Government $300 million and may face up to two years in jail. Sentencing is scheduled for December of 2010. The company also announced on Wednesday that the company is in ongoing negotiations with the U.S. Government. An agreement may help put Party Gaming in good graces with the United States for its transgressions prior to 2006. No timeline for a possible settlement has been given.

Its online casino business has grown due in part to the launch of Saturday Night Fever, Top Gun, Mission: Impossible, The Godfather, Terminator, and Gone With The Wind titles in 2008. The well-known brands helped grow Party Gaming's wagers by a combined $143 million last year. The company also entered into a relationship with CIRSA, which will "seek to exploit online gaming opportunities in Spanish speaking countries." CIRSA is primarily known for its presence in Spain. However, it is also booming throughout Latin America.

Company-wide new player sign-ups from Europe, the Middle East, and Africa were 536,000 in 2008, down 6% from 572,000 in 2007. New players from the Americas were 66,000 in 2008, a drop of 15% from 2007. Asia Pacific sign-ups were 27,000 in 2008, off by 20% year over year. In 2008, the company boasted a total of 26.4 million active players, which was down from 28.4 million in 2007, a drop of 7%.

PartyPoker posted mixed results. The number of average daily players fell 12% to 57,000 in 2008 in comparison to 65,000 in 2007. The number of real money sign-ups dove 22% to 444,000 in 2008 from 573,000 in 2007. However, the number of unique active players rose by 3% in 2008 to 947,000. The company tagged the "exceptional marketing push in the first quarter of 2007 to preserve liquidity immediately following the UIGEA" as the reason for the sharp fall in real money players last year.

Party Gaming has undergone a bevy of changes to its Board of Directors in recent months. Ryan became the company's new CEO in June. The Managing Director of Party Gaming's Board of Directors, John O'Malia, resigned at the end of February. Non-Executive Chairman Michael Jackson was replaced by Rod Perry in August. Finally, Rami Lerner supplanted John Davy last week.

Its stock soared at the close of business on Wednesday after the earnings results were released. PRTY rose 17.75 to close at 249.00. It is inching back towards its 52 week high of 312.000. In November, it had closed below 100. (Credit: Poker News Daily)

*currency figures in Pounds.

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