Top players recruited to go after women's event glory

The competition is heating up at all levels of the projected 8 000 player World Series of Poker this year, and the Ladies Event is no exception. 888 Poker has announced its sponsorship of a lean and mean women's team that includes European players with formidable credentials.

On the way to Las Vegas this summer as part of 888 Poker's challenge are Tiffany Williamson, the Gutshot regular with a 2005 main event 15th place to her name; diamond winning Eunice Waterfield, winner of 888.com Women's Poker UK Open; Rhowena Colclough, who is taking The Mansion Poker Dome event by storm, and respected poker player Veronique Gourdon. Team members are not Internet qualifiers, but part of a professionally managed team carefully selected by 888 Poker for high impact and exciting play.

Last year Hollywood superstar Jennifer Tilly took the WSOP ladies bracelet. This year looks set to be an even tougher event, with socialite Paris Hilton and award winning film star Jennifer Anniston rumoured to be taking part.

"After the success of our Women's Poker U.K Open we thought it time to give something back to Ladies Poker," said Jonny Natas of 888.com. " There is no reason whatsoever that women cannot become major contenders in live poker, and this form of team sponsorship has potential to develop towards future women's poker tours."

The 888 Poker team will travel to Las Vegas on July 6 and go straight into a poker boot camp presided over by Irish poker legend Padraig Parkinson, who will conduct an intensive two day training session to fine tune the players' skills.

Any way the cards are cut, Extreme Poker is a thriller...

Inter Poker.com's unique and innovative marketing vehicle Extreme Poker has to be one of the biggest attractions around in online poker, with previous games by top players taking place underwater and on freezing Arctic icefields. This year it's literally going to take off to new heights with a sky-high game that will also be a real downer for the losers.

We're talking Loser's Leap here, where international champions like Phil "Unabomber" Laak and Scott Fischman, together with four more players still to be named will clamber aboard an airplane for a really high stakes game. Climbing to an altitude of 10,000 feet over Las Vegas (where else?) the competitors will play Texas Hold 'Em with some unique penalties - when a player is knocked out of the game, he’ll be tossed out of the plane. Wearing a parachute, hopefully!

The last player left aboard is the winner of the tournament.

Details of Loser's Leap are still being planned, but the flying table will include one or more persons who will earn their place through Web qualifiers at InterPoker.com. The tournament will last until someone has all the chips — and the plane to himself — or when the plane has to return for base for refuelling, whichever is the sooner.

Juha Helppi won the first Extreme Poker challenge, barely beating out Laak before his tank of air ran out at a table sitting on the bottom of the Caribbean. This winter, Robert Varkonyi, the 2002 World Series of Poker main event champion, won the next Extreme Poker Challenge - sleeveless, to boot - on an ice shelf near Finland’s city of Kemi.

The latest technology in video slots, Spanish 21 BJ and a great new video poker variant now available

The Trident group's premier online casinos King Neptune's Casino (www.kingneptunescasino.com) and Trident Lounge Casino (www.tridentloungecasino.com) are again among the first online casinos on the Web to offer the latest top quality games from the development studios of leading provider Microgaming.

This month's regular new game releases feature unusual adaptations of the Wild and Bonus concepts across a range of four games: the Mad Hatters and Starscape video slots, Spanish 21 Multi-hand Blackjack and Bonus Deuces Wild video poker.

Star of the latest releases is a major 5 reel, 30 pay-line video slot branded Mad Hatters, which is themed on the famous and quirky tea party from the Alice in Wonderland fable. This is a nutty tea party with a difference, where with a little luck and good interactive judgment players really can have their cake and eat it!

It's a game with some unique "firsts" for online gaming, with a variety of winning ways on more pay-lines and up to 50 free spins, and innovative Extra Wild and additional Wild features over and above Pick a Bonus, Scatter, Free Spins, Multiplier and Wild opportunities.

Backing the fast action on this dynamic and compelling new game is the Mad Hatter's Tea Party theme, presented through pinpoint-sharp and brightly coloured graphics that introduce weirdly garbed guests, scrumptious pastries, fragrant teas and all manner of cute and mysterious figures.

Look out for the crazy cuckoo, because this activates an on-screen bonus feature where the player can choose three out of five birds and add the wins to pay-line rewards. And those wins can be pretty insane - up to 11 100 coins. Hope for the rabbit in the magician's hat that is our Scatter symbol, too because the appearance of these across the reels activates the Free Spin function where players can rack up the most free spins ever in a game on the Internet... up to 50. Scatter wins are multiplied by the total bet, and wins within those free spins are multiplied by x2.

All of these features can contribute to the cashier cage bottom line, with up to $50 000 a possibility on the base game, another $50 000 achievable on the free spins multiplier and to top off this tempting cake, a bonus cherry of up to $2775. And there are plenty of lesser amounts to reap in between. Play can be for as little as a cent or as much as the high roller maximum bet of $75.

The second video slot on the release list this month is Starscape, a future themed game which uses truly stellar graphics to create a huge galactic presence around an exceptionally smooth-running 5 reel, 25 payline format with a host of entertaining features, all designed to give an out of this world playing experience.

Starscape has Wild, Scatter, Pick a Bonus and Mystery Multiplier features, all delivering repeated chances to add value to bottom line winnings and presented on Viper - the most complete, player-friendly gambling platform on the Internet.

The high detail space-age theme on this game leaves players star-struck with brilliantly coloured Saturn and its rings, giant Jupiter, fast moving icy asteroids and a fire-storming Sun so real that the heat is almost palpable! The Bonus screen that appears when the huge Scatter spacecraft glide majestically across the reels, triggering a giant window into the vastness of space is especially noteworthy, with 25 interstellar map grids to find a mystery multiplier that hyperdrives wins by up to 20 000 coins.

This beautifully presented video slot has a maximum jackpot that can blast the player to $70 000 in the base game, with a further $37 500 achievable on bonuses, all accompanied by a planet load of thrills and excitement that will keep players engaged for light years!

The latest video poker in this month's game releases is like having 4 Jokers in a pack of cards - the four deuces (or 2) cards are Wild.

This online thriller is branded Bonus Deuces Wild video poker, a game that has proved immensely popular among land casino gamblers. Any deuce can substitute for any other card of any other suit - it really is like having four Jokers in the pack, and it gives a new and very appealing twist to a great casino standard.

When a player has one or more deuces in a final hand, the outstanding Viper software will automatically assign it a suit and value to give the highest possible payout with reference to the other cards held. This player-friendly facility ensures that it is a lot easier, and much faster to create potentially winning hands.

The screen layout on Bonus Deuces Wild video poker has been developed with the video poker player front-of-mind and features an uncluttered design with large, easily read cards dealt with smooth precision from the 52 card deck. The paytable is generous, with the top ranking hands winning 5 000 coins on a Royal Flush, 2 000 on 4 deuces with an Ace and 1 000 on 4 deuces together.

Played at 5 coins a hand, in the range 0.25c to $5 a pop, the maximum bet is $25 a hand, and at that level the jackpot could deliver a generous $25 000. The game also features a Gamble opportunity where up to $3 200 can be won.

Microgaming's final game in this month's releases has been developed as a result of keen demand from the online player community for a Spanish 21 Blackjack game in the high action multi-hand BJ gamestyle.

Spanish 21 Multi-hand Blackjack is played as a hole card game with 8 Spanish card decks consisting of 48 cards each (the regular 52 cards without the 4 tens) The game is a faster paced multi-hand version of a popular single hand blackjack genre, giving players the option of betting on up to 5 hands at the table.

Blackjacks pay 3 to 1, Insurance 2 to 1 and the Dealer stands on all 17. There is a player payout bonus on this game, too - Spanish 21 Multi-hand Blackjack awards this whenever the player reaches 21, with the amount dependent on the number of cards taken to get there, and on condition there has been no doubling down.

The fine graphics on the game are in appropriate full colours, with all controls easily and logically to hand and the rules of the game upfront on the table. This is a game that caters for a wide range of playing styles and bankrolls, and players can gamble from denominations as small as $1 a hand right the way up to a high rolling $200. The chip pile resizes to make up the current bet with the least possible number of chips.

Gala's gambling platform impresses the judges

It's no small feat for an online gambling company to win a competition judged by executives from some seriously large land gambling casinos, but that's what Gala Group and its software and games developer achieved last week.

The group's Gala Gaming Platform, developed by Inspired Broadcast Networks, won the top award in the "Top 20 Most Innovative Gaming Technology Products in 2005" before a panel of judges that included top managers from the giant MGM Mirage and Ameristar Casinos.

Inspired developed the open server-based gaming and betting platform for Gala and its roster of casinos, bingo halls and betting shops.

Sister company CTXM contracted by online payments company

Udo Yosha's Com Tec Co group companies CTXM and EcoCard were collaborating closely this week in the development of a new software platform for the online payment operations of the latter.

CTXM will use Canadian payment technology firm Incredipay for the back-end of a system for EcoCard that lets users fund their accounts through private and personal bank accounts, bank transfer or credit card.

EcoCard Ltd. is a member of the Com Tec Co Group (Luxembourg), a group of companies with international expertise in financial services, IT and entertainment ventures. CTXM is a software development company providing IT consulting, games development and development services to specific business domains from development centres in Riga, Latvia and Minsk, Belarus.

Both companies are part of Luxembourg company Com Tec Co, founded by Yosha, who has degrees in industrial engineering (IT systems) and business management from Tel-Aviv University.

New horizons for Silverman

Strong rumours doing the rounds this week are that GoneGambling marketing whiz for the past 5 years, Debbee Silverman is on the move and will shortly be teaming up with a major online gambling group to work on a new project.

The popular Silverman, who is widely respected as a dedicated and effective professional marketer and knows just about everyone worth knowing in the business refused to give more detail to InfoPowa but confirmed that she is about to make a career change.

"This is a great career opportunity with wide horizons for me and I'm seizing it with both hands, although I will of course be sad to leave GoneGambling which has been the focus of my business life for the past 5 years," she said.

Silverman said it was not appropriate at present to disclose where her new management responsibilities would lie but that this would be announced soon.

and over at BetWWTS....

After an eleven year tenure Jessica Davis, Chief Operations Officer at BetWWTS.com has left the company. Davis was with the offshore betting firm from its earliest years and played a major role in building it into one of the foremost offshore sports betting establishments in the Caribbean.

BetWWTS.com began as World Wide Tele Sports on the island of St. Marten in 1992 before transferring operations to Antigua the following year. It was one of the first sports betting establishments to be licensed by the Antiguan government.

Davis's career had some tough patches. In late 2004 InfoPowa reported that the then WWTS head honcho Simon Noble had resigned, followed soon after by Davis. It was rumoured at the time that a major shareholder then intervened, and that Davis was rehired. Shortly afterward the then incumbent Betcorp CEO Richard Barker suddenly resigned "with immediate effect" followed by the chairman, John Priest in the wake of reportedly poor business results and a profit caution that was unacceptable to the board. Davis's name recently came up in relation to news reports of anti-online gaming moves by the American authorities.

Davis's future plans have not been announced, but the parting from BetWWTS is reported to have been amicable.

BetWWTS.com is currently under Australian and British management as part of BetCorp PLC.

InteractiveTV betting platform launched by NDS

Digital pay-TV games and technology developer NDS launched the first interactive TV betting platform in Italy this week in partnership with Sky Italia.

The new platform gives Sky Italia´s viewers to access to the betting products of Italian bookmakers Snai and Italbet through their TV sets and the ability to place bets through both bookmakers, provided they have a valid account.

NDS developed the technology infrastructure and tools for the project, with the betting platform linked directly to the bookmakers´ back-end system, from where it converts the relevant data into a broadcasting signal sent to the users´ set-top boxes. Once a bet is placed the data is encrypted and sent through a telephone line back to the bookmakers, and users then receive a confirmation receipt on their TV screens.

Jesper Knutsson, vice-president of interactive TV at NDS, said: "Our middleware provides SKY Italia´s customers with a full range of sports bets that are normally only available through a betting shop or online. This should open the market to more casual bettors, who may not otherwise have participated in these activities."

NDS has also launched two new interactive TV games for the Italian market, "Kick-Off" and "Goleador". Kick-Off lets players take free-kicks with the option of passing the ball to a team-mate or shooting directly for goal. With admirable timing, the software ensures that during the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Italian fans can play as the Italian team, facing the teams that the national squad will be competing against in the competition.

In Goleador, players receive a pass from one of their team mates and they must shoot or head the ball into the goal in order to score points. SKY Italia customers will be able to play both games for a cost of Euro 1.50 per day.

Everyone wins here, owners claim...especially the marketers

For the past two months it's the site more and more people have been talking about, and with over 55 000 unique visitors a month and still climbing it's not surprising that the DonkeyLotto concept is capturing the attention of the public and the marketing fraternity alike.

Owners Jeremy Enke and Brandon Berndt reckon that the reason for its runaway success has been simple: it's entertaining and there's a chance for everyone to score on prizes....or audiences.

“The concept is just so simple; everyone benefits," says Berndt. "The advertisers get an incredible return, and the visitors get to win plenty of unbelievable prizes funded by the investment in the site, and at the same time we have given our members a place to come hang out and have fun in the Donkey Lotto Forums."

In addition to conventional advertising, DonkeyLotto.com allows advertisers to sponsor contests, and major online gambling companies like Golden Palace.com are already on the site.

Bring in the beers and the snacks - 32 hours of telecast poker is on the way!

Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. announced this week that ESPN will telecast 32 hours of original programming of the 2006 World Series of Poker Presented by Milwaukee's Best Light.

The ESPN telecasts will be aired every Tuesday at 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. Eastern Standard Time beginning July 18 and continuing through October 31.

In addition to the regular telecast schedule, poker fans will - for the first time ever - have the opportunity to see the Main Event's final table live. For a suggested retail price of $24.95, poker fans can purchase for their TV screens or computers The World Series of Poker Live! - a new pay-per-view special starting at 3 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, August 10. The live coverage will continue until the champion is crowned.

"ESPN's live coverage will be an historic first for the game of poker," said Jeffrey Pollack, Commissioner of the WSOP.

Produced under the ESPN Original Entertainment (EOE) banner, this year's WSOP will be covered by up to 25 cameras, as well as an overhead camera that will travel the length and width of the tournament area.

The specially constructed final table used throughout ESPN's coverage will incorporate up to 10 "pocket cams" in the table's rail to show viewers the players' cards, and a "rabbit cam" under the table next to the dealer may show viewers the card that would have been dealt next should a player fold.

In 2005, the World Series of Poker on ESPN enjoyed its longest presentation ever averaging a 1.3 rating for more than 1.1 million viewing households. It has been EOE's highest-rated series for the past three years.

Pharaohs Poker Palace claims first poker via webcam

Pharaohs Poker Palace claimed this week that it is set to become the first online poker room to offer live interactive poker play over the Internet.

Using proprietary software on a new dynamic poker platform, the company is about to offer the webcam-based service as an optional, complementary facility available to all players, in an effort to help move poker to the next level of competition and social interaction.

In his concept "Super System 2", the legendary Doyle Brunson suggested that “...just a couple of years down the road, you may well be able to see real opponents on your screen. Poker will be like a video conference, and you’ll be able to focus on the players across the table from you and read them…tells will be everywhere, and then full-scale psychological warfare will come to the online poker battlefield - and nothing will be missing.”

Brunson's suggestion was prescient, suggesting the adoption of webcam technology as standard future practice, and the opportunity to engage in the type of interaction he describes will be available shortly, says PPP.

Pharaoh’s Poker Palace intends to make the facility completely optional at all tables, allowing players an opportunity to become acquainted with the concept. After the introductory period, however, a subset of tables will be designated as “webcam only”. At these tables, all players will be required to have a webcam on themselves to play, creating a level playing field for those wanting to see and be seen.

The majority of Pharaoh’s tables will remain open to webcam and non-webcam players, allowing the option of using either live video or a static avatar. Pajamas are still a viable option for either set of players, so long as they are not offensive.

Pharaoh’s Poker Palace opened its site to the public for beta testing on June 15 this year, and plans to launch real-money tables next month. Once they are live, the site will be offering real-money depositors free webcams, to help ensure that hardware is not an impediment to players being exposed to the next level of internet poker.

An unlikely but powerful partnership for heart health

The Internet's largest poker site, Party Poker.com has announced it is to partner with the international women's magazine Elle to sponsor a women's charity team in the upcoming World Series of Poker Ladies Event starting July 9.

Competing under the title "Queens of Heart" the team will be captained by WSOP bracelet winner and Hollywood actress Jennifer Tilly and will play for the American Heart Association's Go Red for Women campaign.

The rest of the team constitute a dazzling array of top celebrity and professional women poker players, including Lisa Tenner, actress Shannon Elizabeth, poker professionals Anne Spinetti, Kristy Gazes, Alison Worth, Karina Jett, Maureen Feduniak, Linda Johnson, Jan Fisher, Jennifer "Jennicide" Leigh, Wendeen Eolis, "King Of Vegas" star Katie Porrello, Irina Cornides and documentary director Susan Genard, Lori Sale, Hillary Kerr, and Leslie Eichner.

The main goal of the team is to raise awareness on heart disease as the number one killer of women today, and each member of the team has agreed to donate a percentage of any winnings to AHA, which will be supplemented by an equivalent donation up to $5 000 for each player from the sponsors.

"I'm pleased to help bring awareness to a disease that affects so many women globally," Tilly said. "Now when I play on the 'Queens of Heart' team to support the American Heart Association's Go Red for Women movement for this year's Ladies Event, it will mean so much more to me personally."

Forewarned by Online Casinos.com, major network takes on failed Check 'n Raise obligation to players

The major Ongame - Poker.com network moved with commendable speed over the weekend in addressing the failure of one of it's member sites, Check 'n Raise Poker, to meet it's WSOP sponsorship promises to players.

Late last week InfoPowa reported on the unusual case of poker site Check 'n Raise.com reneging on a promise to 10 winning players to sponsor them to the next World Series Of Poker final.

Several players were fortunate enough to win tickets to WSOP events through a series of promotions run by Check 'n Raise. But the exhilaration and thrill of winning such a prize was short-lived when Check 'n Raise reneged on their part of the deal, sending the unfortunate players an email informing them that the operator was unable to meet the cost because: "....our cash flow did not allow us to set aside sufficient funds from the time that you won your seat in March."

One disgruntled player posted on the issue at the Casinomeister portal, which was picked up and an InfoPowa report on the incident soon appeared on several news sites

As the weekend ended, a Poker.com staffer spotted the report on the news pages at portal Online-Casinos.com and contacted the owner, Jan Balslev, informing him that the matter would be handled by the network.

Good to his word, Poker.com then posted the following on the Casinomeister and Online-Casinos.com sites:

QUOTE:

Poker.com, has generously offered to provide the WSOP packages won by ten ChecknRaisePoker.com members who have been told that ChecknRaisePoker.com is unable to fund their World Series of Poker prize packages as previously won through their website promotions.

According to various reports surfacing on online gaming news sites, ten ChecknRaisePoker.com members that had won World Series of Poker seats have been informed that their prize packages are not to be honored. Via an email from ChecknRaise management they have instead been offered a series of small payments over the coming months.

Poker.com has attempted to contact ChecknRaisePoker.com management by email and telephone to confirm this situation and offer to cover the prize costs, but as yet have been unable to get a response.

Both the tournament entry fee and spending money according to the terms of each promotion will be provided by Poker.com if any of the affected players come forward.

Poker.com Director of Gaming, Paul Cherry said, "I don't want to comment too much at this time, as we are yet to obtain confirmation that the reported situation is accurate. But if the story is accurate, we are happy to help these players however possible."

"From most players' perspective, this is a chance of a lifetime, and I can't think of anything more upsetting than to be told you are not going to Vegas, after having already won the prize. It's only a few weeks away and the players may have already planned and paid for their travel arrangements."

"Our own players are like family to us and we'd hate to see these ChecknRaise players miss out due to no fault of their own. That's why we are offering to help them get to Vegas as a part of the Poker.com family and enjoy the trip they have won and earned. A trip that includes the chance to win a World Series of Poker bracelet!"

"I know that at Poker.com we keep all guaranteed tournament prizes and player funds in escrow, separate from operational funds to avoid such a situation ever occurring." Mr Cherry said.

Poker.com has released this information in an attempt to resurrect the WSOP dreams of the ten players affected. If you have contact information for any of these players, please forward this offer to them and ask them to contact marketing@poker.com to arrange their compensation package. Spread the word to help us make sure that these players get the World Series of Poker experience that they deserve. UNQUOTE

The admission by Check 'n Raise that it was unable to meet its obligations due to cash flow inadequacies will cause many potential poker players to take a cautious approach to this operation, but that has been admirably balanced by the Ongame network quickly and generously acting to protect the interests of the 10 disappointed players.

Online Casino News courtesy of InfoPowa