Poker Nuts open new online poker room on Playtech network

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NUTS LEAGUE HAS A NEW ONLINE POKER ROOM

UK pub league and Inside Gaming team up on Internet poker venture

Europe's largest pub poker league has launched an online poker room in partnership with managed service provider Inside Gaming. The Nuts Poker League (TNPL) has joined the latter's [iPoker] online poker network which offers more than GBP8 million in guaranteed prizes every month and claims 75 000 unique players from around the world every day.

Players will not only be given an opportunity to play through a variety of special tournaments hosted by the network, but Nuts players will also be invited to play in nightly "Lock In" tournaments which have been specially created to capture the community feel that has already been generated through the landbased events in pubs across the UK.

TNPL found fame last year when managing director Steve Bellis (45), appeared on the BBC program Dragons Den. Steve had two of the five Dragons commit to funding his project to take his poker league to the next level and although he originally accepted the offer, like any good poker player, when it came to the detail he folded. Bellis has never regretted turning down the Dragons offers since he has grown his business into arguably the largest pub poker league in the UK, boasting some 19 000 members.

On any one night, over 600 poker players can be found competing in one of the many pubs that have signed up to the league throughout the UK. Another advantage of taking TNPL online will be to bring other Nuts players from around the UK, to play together in the nightly Lock In tournaments from the comfort of their own home when they can't make it down to the pub.

Commenting on the company's transition to the online market, Bellis said "I have always believed and understood the value of TNPL and although I can respect the expertise and contacts each Dragon could bring to the table, when it came to the crunch, the Dragons wanted too much. We have been looking to combine the pub poker league with an online offering for a while - but it was important that we took our time to find the right partner.

"Inside Gaming has grasped a true understanding of our business and has the flexibility to create bespoke tournaments to suit our players and allow us to continue creating the community environment that we've worked hard to establish."

Inside Gaming provides a fully managed online gaming service, specialising in the deployment and management of online casino, poker and bingo products, which are mostly powered by Playtech.