Industry News

America to Avenge 2005 Defeat?



Matchroom Sport has announced the USA Versus Europe Cup – last year sponsored by FullTilt, staged at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas, and won the Tony G led "Team World" (on that occasion, it was USA Versus The World) – will take place on Dec. 15.



Bowmans Improves



Bowmans.com has completely revamped its web site, as well as other products, in response to a customer-feedback questionnaire. It is claimed that the restructured site "now provides a totally new experience in betting, casino and poker, by giving customers what they want."



Gamers will also notice that banking is more straightforward, thanks to a suite of online deposit and withdrawal facilities provided by NETELLER, Citadel, and CLICK2PAY. Furthermore, customers will be able to manage their money easily with the one-click access to online statements. Instant around-the-clock live support, new loyalty schemes, and access to a massive community of online players are also at hand.



Slick Sick Advertising


VirginPoker came up with a promotional partnership with Virgin Atlantic on all flights to Las Vegas during the 2006 World Series of Poker.


All passengers on Virgin Atlantic flights to Las Vegas from London's Gatwick airport were able to pick up an exclusive Las Vegas survival guide and VirginPoker merchandise. VirginPoker barf bags – carrying the slogan, "We don't want you to chuck in your hands" – were also present on all flights. Tasteful!



WPT on the Line



WPT Enterprises has licensed its brand to London-based mobile gambling service provider 3G-Scene Limited for a joint mobile phone gaming offering.



3G-Scene is providing WPTE with product design, management, and sales for WPTE's hold'em multiplayer poker game, which will soon be available on select mobile phone providers in the UK.



The partnership with 3G-Scene is part of a plan to extend WPTE's expanding Internet-based businesses, which includes the company's general web site, www.worldpokertour.com, its real-money international gaming website, wptonline.com, and its subscription-based poker games on mobile carriers around the globe.



Now Brenes Stars



Humberto Brenes has joined the roster of sponsored players at Team PokerStars, where he will represent the online giant at numerous poker tournaments.



Known as the "Godfather of Costa Rican Players," Humberto has won two World Series of Poker gold bracelets and has placed in the money at more than 40 major tournaments.



Humberto's breakout year was 2002, when he won the Jack Binion World Poker Open championship in Tunica, Mississippi, taking home more than $500,000. In 2003, Humberto finished second at the L.A. Invitational, while in 2004 he finished second in the Bellagio Five-Diamond World Poker Classic, followed by a third-place finish at the Foxwoods Poker Classic.



PokerStars now sponsors 15 players, headed by former world champions Joe Hachem, Greg Raymer, and Chris Moneymaker. John Duthie, Wil Wheaton, Steve Paul-Ambrose, Barry Greenstein, Vanessa Rousso, Lee Nelson, Luca Pagano, Isabelle Mercier, Victor Ramdin, Tom McEvoy, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, and Humberto Brenes complete the lineup.



Playtime for Playboy



CryptoLogic is to provide its poker software to Playboy's Internet poker site, which will target markets around the world, excluding the United States.



"Our poker site will use a similar marketing model to the Playboy casino site by offering unique 'money can't buy' promotions for players, such as Playboy merchandise, invitations to Playboy-hosted events, and trips to the legendary Playboy Mansion," said a spokesman.



Furthermore, the corporation has announced a partnership with Moneymaker Gaming to develop and produce its first-ever Playboy Poker Camp. The camp will feature instruction from some of poker's top players, including Layne Flack and Jim "Krazy Kanuck" Worth.



Additionally, the poker camp includes nightly poker tournaments with prizes of more than $100,000 and events with Playboy playmates, all of which culminate with a lavish party at the Playboy Mansion.



With instruction for beginners to advanced players, packages start at $4,999 for the four-day, four-night event. The first camp will be held in January 2007 at Morongo Casino Resort and Spa, near Palm Springs, California.



"Chris Moneymaker has built the strongest brand in poker today, and we are thrilled to team up with him to create an incredible poker camp such as this," stated Sarah Haney of Playboy Enterprises Inc.



Considering Playboy has clearly stated it will not be taking customers from the U.S., using a California venue for such a camp has to be considered somewhat surprising, as is an all-American lineup to promote and work on it.



Sportsman in Administration


The fledgling Sportsman newspaper has been put into administration. The daily UK paper was launched in March of this year to target horse racing fans as well as the newly emerging sector of online sports and poker.



Andrew Andronikou and Peter Kubik, of UHY Hacker Young, have been appointed joint administrators of Sports Betting Media Ltd, publisher of the Sportsman newspaper.



Party's £70 Million Sports Bet



PartyGaming, parent company of PartyPoker, moved in on the online sports-betting market after snapping up Gamebookers for around £69.5 million.



A PartyGaming spokesman said the cash deal would bring sports-betting expertise in the form of 90 Gamebookers staff members and the opportunity to sell its PartyPoker and PartyCasino games to more than 50,000 active Gamebookers customers.



Formerly Bulgarian owned, Gamebookers has no presence in the U.S. and recently signed a deal to be the main shirt sponsor for the "Canaries" football team.



The beneficiary is not Norwich City, but the French premier league side Nantes Atlantique, also known as the Canaries.



What is a Breach of the Interstate Wire Act?


Online poker and gaming sites were in a state of pandemonium following the arrest of BetonSports Chief Executive David Carruthers at the Dallas airport.



The arrest created extreme nervousness throughout the online gaming industry over the prospect of executives from other companies being caught in the crackdown by the U.S. government on what it views as an illegal activity – namely a breach of the 1961 Interstate Wire Act.



But what is wire fraud? Well, the Interstate Wire Act of 1961, which prohibits the operation of certain types of betting businesses in the U.S., begins: "Whoever being engaged in the business of betting or wagering knowingly uses a wire communication facility for the transmission in interstate or foreign commerce of bets or wagers or information assisting in the placing of bets or wagers on any sporting event or contest, or for the transmission of a wire communication which entitles the recipient to receive money or credit as a result of bets or wagers, or for information assisting in the placing of bets or wagers, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both."



The law has been interpreted by some to mean that all online gambling is illegal; however, it is open to interpretation.



First, some argue that the phrase "in the business of" means that only businesses, not casual bettors, are affected. Second, others claim the law covers only sports betting, and not other forms of gambling such as poker. Third, inasmuch as the Act was drafted in 1961, it was intended to cover telephone betting, meaning it is also ambiguous as to whether it should cover the Internet.



Other laws make betting on "games of chance" illegal, but again, proponents of online poker claim the game is not one of chance, but of skill, so it should not be covered by the legislation.



WTO Investigates


The World Trade Organization has waded into the row over online gaming and agreed to investigate accusations by the Caribbean state of Antigua and Barbuda, which is home to several online gambling groups, that American restrictions on Internet gambling are unfair and breach trade rules.