Poker machine king Bruce Mathieson wins
May 22, 2008
BILLIONAIRE pokies king Bruce Mathieson is bracing for the loss of up to 2000 machines under a Brumby Government industry crackdown.
But a decision to hand pokies venues a greater share of profits means he will still become even richer.
Gaming Minister Tony Robinson has revealed the Government is investigating laws to prevent Mr Mathieson from owning or managing more than 35 per cent — or 4813 — of the state’s pub pokies beyond 2012.
The powerful hotel baron, who now controls 6768 machines in partnership with supermarket giant Woolworths, will also be stopped from owning, managing or associating himself with pokies in sporting and community clubs.
Ashland poker club shut down
May 20, 2008
A state agency’s ruling that a poker club’s activities violated state law led to the shutdown of the gaming business.
The Oregon Department of Justice’s Charitable Gaming Unit said that some membership dues and fees charged by The Downtown Poker Club were outside the rules established for social gaming clubs. Following that ruling, the Ashland Elk’s Lodge, which owns the building on Will Dodge Way, declined to renew the poker club’s lease.
The club was funded by each member paying nightly table fees of $20, which were collected by taking a small percentage of each pot played, also known as the “rake.” Any money collected in excess of $20 per player was placed in a player’s fund to be redistributed among the players through parties and refreshments.
Because the club was not making a profit from these fees, and only paying for rent, expenses and improvements, Russell Bjerke, co-owner of the Downtown Poker Club, had previously said he felt the practice was legal.
The state disagreed.
Play Texas Hold’em. Get up to $100 Free with First Cash Deposit.
Skill-based games are U.S. legal. DuplicatePoker.com
Huge settlement a poker in the eye for Aristocrat
May 19, 2008
POKER machine maker Aristocrat Leisure is believed to have agreed to pay between $150 million and $170 million to settle a landmark class action brought by shareholders, who argued the company six years ago failed to keep the market fully informed.The payout, which will be confidential until it is revealed to the Federal Court next month, will be the largest by an Australian company to its investors.
The settlement came after the market closed yesterday, and at the eleventh hour of the case, as Federal Court judge Margaret Stone was nearing a decision in the long-running and bitterly fought legal action.
If it is approved by Justice Stone at a hearing in about six weeks, it is believed the payout will largely be funded by Aristocrat’s insurers.
Poker Time Goes Private
May 16, 2008
PokerTime will start to go private, with the aim of becoming a completely private Poker Room in the near future. However, they will continue to use Microgaming’s tried-and-trusted software as they believe that it is the very best available.
From 15 May 2008, all of their Hold‘Em tables with stakes of $1/$2 and below will move onto a private network. At this point, nothing will change with regards to their high-stakes tables.
“By moving our small-stakes tables onto a private network we’ll be able to immediately add value to our mass market. Our focus will be on successfully growing this community,” explains James Grant, Customer Relationship Manager of PokerTime. Read more
Poker pro offers game tips
May 15, 2008
There may be no better example that gambling continues to grow as a leading recreation for adults than the poker boot camp on Wednesday at the San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino.That’s right, a camp for adults to spend $500 for a day of learning from esteemed poker pro Annie Duke.
It was a bill to pay for Josh Woods, a 25-year-old San Bernardino man who has been playing poker in casinos for about a year.
“I was losing a lot of money at poker so I thought, `Why not spend some money to learn that I’d just lose instead,”‘ Woods said.
It was only a few hours into the camp and Duke had already filled the heads of Woods and 15 others with a dizzying amount of game theories and mathematical concepts - and they all loved it.
“She’s looking at it from angles that I didn’t even know were relevant,” Woods said.
It might seem that $500 is a lot to spend on a poker education, but poker clearly has come a long way.
PKR to Produce Advanced Poker Magazine for its Players
May 14, 2008
PKR announced it has signed a year-long deal with Dennis Publishing to produce a quarterly magazine aimed at advanced PKR poker players, with an inaugural issue coming June 2008.
It will be distributed free of charge to an international selection of PKR customers.
The name of the magazine has not been revealed yet. Dennis Publishing already publishes a range of gambling titles, including Inside Poker and Poker Player.
Tim Farthing, commercial director at Dennis, said: “Dennis Publishing has already established themselves as the world’s leading gambling publisher. This perfectly places (us) to bring PKR into the print spectrum as we have a long and successful working relationship with them.”
Simon Prodger, marketing director at PKR, added: “PKR has been a great success in the digital world, and we are pleased to offer our online players more content with this new print magazine. This partnership is a good opportunity to enhance the relationship our brand has already formed with our loyal players and to build on the huge success of our online output.”
World Poker Association holding first conference before WSOP
May 13, 2008
The World Poker Association is holding its first-ever conference on May 28 in Law Vegas, just before the start of this year’s World Series of Poker.
The WPA has made its mission “to promote poker as a sport by advocating professionalism and uniform rules and standards of conduct, and by helping to create increased economic opportunities for players,” according to its Web site.
According to Bluff Magazine:
The conference will open with the first-even WPA membership meeting where the slate will include the election of Directors of the WPA for the new membership year, which begins June 1. Nominees include Adams, Michael Binger, Doyle Brunson, Joe Hachem, Jesse Jones, Thomas Kremser, J.J. Liu, Victor Ramdin, Blair Rodman, Roger Saad, Harry Thomas Jr. and Roy Winston.
“The conference is a winning trifecta ticket, allowing members to sharpen their tournament skills, network at the must-be-seen opening cocktail party, May 28 and then prove their bragging rights in the WPA Mega Satellite, May 29,” said WPA Chairman Wendeen H. Eolis.”
Historic ’03 hand changed poker forever
May 12, 2008
Can you believe it’s been five years since Chris Moneymaker, an accountant from Tennessee playing in his first live tournament, arrived in Las Vegas as an unknown and left as a poker icon?
Qualifying online at Pokerstars for only $39, Moneymaker participated in the 2003 World Series of Poker (WSOP) main event, outlasted 838 other players and inspired generations of poker enthusiasts. This aptly named young gentleman fulfilled the dream of every aspiring poker player to become WSOP world champion.
Now, thousands of amateur poker players make the pilgrimage to Las Vegas each summer to compete in the WSOP main event. Read more
Main Menu
Headlines
CGN Specials!
Room Reviews
