Industry News

Norway Edges Closer to Online Poker Ban

The Norwegian government has moved a step closer to implementing an Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA)-style ban on online gaming.

It recently submitted a formal proposal to parliament which is believed to include the banning of payment processors from conducting business with online gaming sites, as well as measures which could lead to Norwegian Internet Service Providers being forced to block gambling sites.

Norske Tipping is the state monopoly which runs and regulates gambling in Norway and it will benefit greatly from any attempt to block competition from outside its jurisdiction, although the European Commission will look at any new legislative measures to ban online gaming unsympathetically having already enacted legal measures against other EU countries such as Sweden who have prohibited competition in this area.

Dutch Professor Says Poker is "Skill Game"

Acclaimed Dutch professor Ben van der Genugten, an expert in statistics and probability, has called on the Dutch Supreme Court to reclassify poker as a game of skill, removing the "game of chance" status it has held since 1998.

In his recent farewell speech at the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, he outlined a formula he had helped develop that clearly showed poker to be a game of skill, and while other games such as fantasy sport had been more recently classified as a game of skill, poker remained a more skillful game according to the formula, yet retained its "game of chance" status.

His statements received significant coverage in the Dutch media including newspapers De Volkskrant, De Telegraaf and Spits.

Italian Online Poker Market Expands

Playtech, owner of the iPoker network, has inked its fourth Italian deal, signing up Cogetech, which it will supply with its suite of poker games. The company has signed similar deals with Sisal, Eurobet Italia, and Snai since the market for online poker opened up in Italy in early September.

The company is being joined in the burgeoning market by Boss Media which said it intends to develop a network in the country with its partner Lottomatica Scomesse.

Poker Trillion Abandons Legal Action Against Boss Media

Poker Trillion, the online poker room has halted its legal action against its former network Boss Media. The short statement made in late September simply said, "Trillion Limited (POKERTRILLION.com) announces that they have withdrawn all claims made against Boss Media and related parties ending the legal dispute between the companies."

Previously, on Aug. 18, the company released a statement saying a Maltese court had ordered the seizure of Boss Media servers. CEO Andy Pyrah, said at the time, "Today's decision will, in effect, bring down Boss Media's operation in their licensed jurisdiction of Malta on September 18, and any partner still on the Boss (IPN) Poker Network at this stage will see their service closed down, too."

The following day Boss Media responded stating Poker Trillion's comments were "reckless", and that they were "an attempt to support a legal action that is without merit and initiated as retribution for their dismissal from the Boss Media network."

Poker Trillion left Boss Media in April 2008 and joined the Everleaf Gaming Network.

Gus Hansen's Former Website Up For Sale

Danish poker site, ThePlayr.com is now for sale on SitePoint.com. The site was launched on the Danish Market in September 2007, and began expanding internationally earlier this year. According to the Alexa ranking, since its launch, it quickly became the biggest poker news site and second largest poker community site in Denmark.

ThePlayr.com was associated with Gus Hansen and the Gus Hansen brand, and was filled with exclusive Hansen material including Gus TV, Gus Tracker, and Gus Hansen's Poker Academy. This association came with the site's partnership with FullTiltPoker.com.

This partnership has ended and the site will be sold stripped of all material related to the Full Tilt pro.

Gus Hansen said, "I have been very happy to get close to my fans during our ThePlayr adventure, but it has to work behind the scenes, and under the current circumstances, we have agreed to call it quits."

The international site has not seen much success, so has not been updated since June, and the Italian site is now basically inactive. However, ThePlayr.com has 4,500 members and its newsletters have 100,000 subscribers.

In the past, it has had on average 35,000 unique visitors and 335,000 page views per month, with the number of unique visitors increasing to 70,000 during peak months. The site has also made $310,000 from its affiliation with FullTiltPoker.com, and is third in Google's page rank.

Poker is "Sport," Says UK Advertising Standards Authority

The Advertising Standards Authority in the UK issued adjudication against a recent PokerStars poster advertisement. The ad, which featured Daniel Negreanu with text next to the picture stating, "Poker is a sport of courage, conviction and confidence. Play for free at the world's largest poker site."

A complaint about the by-line suggested that, "courage, conviction and confidence" were irresponsible and exploited the susceptibilities of children, that the description of poker as a sport was misleading, and that references to "courage, conviction and confidence" linked poker to toughness and resilience, and implied that gambling could enhance those qualities.

The ASA did not uphold the first two complaints stating, "We considered that, in the context of the ad as a whole, the phrase "courage, conviction and confidence", although of general appeal, was unlikely to appeal particularly to children.

"We considered … that poker was a well-known card game, and that the description of poker as a sport was unlikely to materially mislead members of the public about the nature of game. We also considered that the definition of 'sport' as a game, pastime or recreational activity was a definition that could be applied to poker.

However, it did uphold the third complaint and deemed that the ad should not be used in its current form again saying, "We considered that 'courage, conviction and confidence' were attributes that demonstrated mental toughness or resilience, and would be seen as admirable qualities by the target audience of 21- to 44-year-old men. We also considered that the claim implied not only that those qualities were needed in order to play poker, but also that success at poker would therefore enhance those qualities."

PKR TV Ad Breaches Rules and is Banned

3-D online poker room PKR fell foul of the UK Advertising Standards Authority for a recent ad which the Authority deemed to "glamorise the risks involved with gambling" and was "irresponsible."

The ad, showed computer generated players at a poker table with a voice over saying, "I've come in over the top of pot-sized raises with middle pair. Bluffed under the gun with four runners behind me. Folded pocket kings on a hunch. I've survived bad beats, sick draws, and cold decks."

A smartly dressed character at the table then laughed and pushed a large stack of chips into the middle of the table as the voice over continued, "And I've played through fields of thousands to make the final table. Here I come."

After receiving a complaint the ASA investigated the advert and concluded that while the ad "was unlikely to be of particular appeal to young people and was unlikely to exploit their aspirations or credulity," nor did it, "imply that gambling was a way to gain recognition or admiration," but it did "glamorise the risks involved with gambling" and was "irresponsible."

The ASA said the ad should not be broadcast again in its current form.

DOXXPoker Joins Entraction Poker Network

Swedish poker network Entraction has signed DOXXpoker.com, a new online poker room run by East European bookmaker DOXXbet. The new poker room will focus its efforts on Slovakia, Russia, Poland, Romania, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Greece, Serbia, and Bulgaria.

DOXXpoker has a Maltese license and Stefan Svec, casino and poker manager at the company said, "Our target markets have strong player communities and our priority will be to increase the positive awareness of poker, co-operating with several National Poker Associations starting in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The strong knowledge about additional markets in Eastern Europe will provide excellent opportunities to promote our online sites."