Industry News

PartyGaming and bwin Merger a Step Closer
PartyGaming and bwin shareholders cleared the way for the merger of the two companies in late January by voting through all resolutions approving the move.
The companies will become one entity, known as bwin.party digital entertainment plc, on March 31, 2011.
Jim Ryan and Norbert Teufelberger, the proposed co-CEOs of the enlarged group, said in a statement, “[The] shareholder meetings were a key milestone in the overall process, putting the transformational merger of our two companies well on the way to Completion. We are delighted that both sets of shareholders have overwhelmingly recognised the strategic, operational and financial benefits of creating the world’s largest listed online gaming company.” ♠

iPoker 2010 Revenue Down
iPoker, the online poker network of Israeli plc Playtech, saw revenue drop 19 percent in 2010. Poker revenue fell to €27.4 million at December 31, 2010 from €33.8 million in 2009.
In the final quarter of 2010 poker revenue was down 30 percent to €5.9 million compared to the final quarter of 2009 when it was €8.4 million.
However there was a glimmer of hope in the accounts in the form of a three percent increase in poker revenue from the third quarter to the fourth quarter 2010.
Furthermore total revenue at the company, which includes casino and bingo businesses, was up 24 percent in the year to December 31, 2010 to €142.3 million from €114.8 million in 2009.
Last year saw Playtech launch regulated poker and casino products in Finland for the state-run operator RAY. From November 29 to December 21, 60,000 players registered.
The company also lost a major client in Victor Chandler Poker which moved to the Entraction network. ♠
Smart Phone Poker Apps Grow
Hot on the heels of January’s announcement that bwin was launching an iPhone application, online poker network Microgaming said it would launch a real money mobile poker app on the rival Android platform before the end of March 2011.
The real money app would be available to all operators on the network and Lydia Melton, head of poker at Microgaming said, “For years now, industry experts have speculated on the mobile market’s possibilities for gaming, and every year has proven disappointing in terms of customer uptake and variety of software, particularly for poker; that is about to change.
“The technology is ready, the software is ready, and we believe the players are ready as well. The future is here. We are extremely excited about this release.”
The Android platform is hosted on popular mobile devices such as the HTC Desire smart phone and Samsung Galaxy tablet. ♠
Ongame Network Grows Casual Players
Austro-German online poker network, Ongame, says it has grown recreational players on the network by eight percent in the six months (to mid-January 2011) since it introduced its new rake model, Essence.
It also said regular players’ net winnings had increased but did not quantify by how much.
Fredrik Kjell, head of poker at Ongame, said, “We always knew Essence was revolutionary as a concept, but it is of course reassuring and great to see that it is working as intended.
“With Essence, we have turned the tide on poker’s aging business model. We now have it black on white that Essence helps create an even healthier ecosystem, in a way that is unique for the entire poker industry.”
Ongame is owned by bwin which will merge with PartyGaming by the end of March 2011. ♠

London Poker Club For Sale
A “large private members poker and gambling club” in London, England is up for sale with an asking price of £1.1 million.
The 8,260 square foot central London club has a turnover of £1.8 million and net profit of £300,000 according to details posted on businessesforsale.com.
The sales pitch states that, “The club offers cash poker games, some of which with un-limited pots. There are 2 tournaments a day, catering for every skill level from new members to seasoned veterans of the scene, and regular events that are streamed live across the club AV facilities and internet.
“The club has grown rapidly by focusing on value for money, and a friendly approach to all comers. This enables the club to have a large eclectic mix of members, with all levels of disposable income invited.
“The membership database has now surpassed 8,000, with around 500-800 customers through the door on an average week, and approximately 50 new membership applications per week. This clearly puts the club at the top of the league in terms of Private Membership clubs, and means there is zero competition in the capital offering the same service, atmosphere and business model.” ♠
Domain Names
Remain Big Business
Canadian domain, Poker.ca, became the most valuable .ca domain on the Internet when it sold for more than $400,000. Not only that, it is rumoured that Poker.ca was bought by a well-known poker player who already owns one of the largest poker affiliates.
The man behind the purchase wishes to remain anonymous for now but did answer some questions asked by Poker.ca.
Regarding the story behind the purchase, he said, “The story is actually pretty amazing. In the midst of a private high-stakes poker tournament, along with several of the greatest names in poker, we got to talking about how online poker is getting bigger every day, especially in Canada.
“When the final hand began, I decided that if I were to win (which I frankly wasn’t expecting by that time), I’d take the cash and buy Poker.ca. Who knew that I’d actually end up winning the game? So here I am.”
Elsewhere online gambling site 888.com has bought web domain Poker.com.au for US$100,000 and will use the address to direct people to “a seriously exciting new poker revolution” which is “coming soon” according to a statement.
The price however was lower than expected due to restrictive laws on advertising gambling in Australia.
One expert said the price could have been 10 times what was paid if gambling advertising were allowed in Australia. ♠

Sweden and UK Clamp Down on Poker
Newspaper reports in January suggested authorities in both the UK and Sweden were about to launch a crackdown on online gaming operators, including poker sites, who may be bending the rules in those jurisdictions.
The Daily Mail in the UK reported that culture secretary Jeremy Hunt was on the war path to prevent overseas operators advertising in the UK in a move which the paper suggests could drive hundreds of foreign firms out of the country.
In Sweden, financial daily Dagens Industri claimed Skatteverket (the Swedish tax authority) was planning to investigate online poker companies which claim to be based overseas but nevertheless ran much of their business operations out of Sweden. ♠

Entraction Enters Chinese Market
Swedish gaming operator Entraction has announced its first business-to-business deal outside of Europe with an exclusive agreement to provide its poker software to a new Chinese gaming network.
The new network is a joint venture between a Chinese and European company. It will develop a local gaming platform based on Entraction’s software.
Peter Åström, chief executive officer of Entraction said, “This is a ground breaking project for Entraction as it is our first deal outside Europe. The flexibility and scalability in Entraction’s poker system makes us an attractive supplier in new markets.” ♠

Microsoft to Release Xbox Poker
Microsoft has confirmed it is set to release Full House Poker for Xbox Live Arcade.
The game features play money buy-ins and can be played in single mode, heads up, or in online tournaments featuring up to 30 players at a time including turbo tournaments called Microsoft Heat.
Players earn XP (X points) for winning and cashing in tournaments and can use them to move up levels and unlock rewards such as new poker table skins and avatar clothing. The game will be available for Windows 7 and Xbox Live.♠

‘Jungleman12’ Gets Revenge on ‘Isildur1’
Viktor “Isildur1” Blom continued his downswing late January after taking on Dan “jungleman12” Cates at $50-$100 no-limit hold’em on PokerStars.
The duo began the session playing tables of $25-$50, but eventually moved up to stakes of $50-$100. Cates, who was down money from the $25-$50 tables, secured a net profit of about $40,000 for the session after doubling the stakes.
Blom was in the red about $100,000 on the day online and was unable to gain any consistency in his first six weeks of being a member of Team PokerStars Pro. He was down at this point about $300,000 since joining the online site.
Blom was ahead at one point in the match with Cates (who goes by “w00ki3z” on PokerStars). At one of the five tables they were battling on, Blom was up about four buy-ins on his opponent.
However, the lead didn’t hold up for long. One of the biggest hands of the session occurred when Blom shoved for about $10,000 on the river with K-10 high and was picked off by second pair.
The trash talking during their marathon duel on virtual felt was intense at times. Isildur1 called his opponent’s play in the session a “joke”, and at one point said, “i play this session untill i bust u or u quit.”
The session ended poorly for Blom, as he lost a massive $40,000 coin flip near the conclusion of the match. Cates had six-bet all in from the button with the A♣ K♠ and was called by the J♥ J♦ of Blom. The flop brought a king, and the pair held to give Cates the 400-big-blind pot.
Cates and Blom have some history at the nosebleed stakes. The Maryland native was one of Blom’s victims late in 2009, when the then mysterious Swede was in the midst of one of the most historic runs in the history of poker. In December of that year, Cates and Blom sat down for an intense heads-up battle. When it was all over, Cates had lost $500,000.
Just over a week later, at the end of January, Isildur1 defeated Cates by a margin of $51,196 in the third installment of the PokerStars SuperStar Showdown.
The match consisted of 2,500 hands played across four $50-$100 no-limit hold’em tables. The winner of the SuperStar Showdown promotion is the player who shows either a profit after 2,500 hands or wins all of their opponent’s match bankroll.
Cates wrote on his Twitter following the match, “could have played better and had some better cards.. gg.”
The match was aggressive from the start, as the lead changed multiple times throughout the battle. Cates was at one point in the black $60,000, but things didn’t go his way toward the end of the contest. ♠
Kagome Kagome Dominates Phil Ivey
Kagome Kagome won $145,000 from Phil Ivey in about 100 hands of $3,000-$6,000 limit hold’em on Full Tilt Poker in January.
Ivey left the session with a stack of $36,000, while his German opponent, whom Ivey has said is superior at limit hold’em, sat with about $383,000 when the duel was over. The loss brings the eight-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner’s lifetime deficit versus the 21-year-old to more than $500,000.
Although Ivey had an immensely profitable session playing limit deuce-to-seven triple draw (see below), the previous seven days had him in the red about $400,000 on the virtual felt. He unsuccessfully took on Dan “jungleman12” Cates at $300-$600 pot-limit Omaha. The largest pot of the session was a massive $270,000 confrontation, where all the money went in on a A♥ J♥ 8♣ flop. Cates held the A♠ A♦ 3♥ 2♥ for top set and a flush draw. Ivey exposed the A♣ 7♣ K♥ 10♥ for a superior flush draw, plus a double gut-shot straight draw.
According to Card Player’s Omaha Odds Calculator, Cates’ hand holds up about 58 percent of the time with top set. The players elected to run it only once, and the board bricked out for Ivey. Cates scooped the quarter-million-dollar pot.
In addition to the action at the nosebleed limit hold’em and pot-limit Omaha tables there was some intense friction created at the rarely played $2,000-$4,000 limit Omaha eight-or-better.
The game, which featured Patrik Antonius, Gus Hansen, and NEKOTYAN, ended in a $450,000 win for Antonius. NEKOTYAN was massacred at the hands of the Finnish poker pro, and he also provided funds for Hansen, who was a small winner in the match. ♠
Phil Ivey Ruling 2-7 Triple Draw
January also saw Patrik Antonius and limit hold’em specialist Kagome Kagome (formerly IHateJuice) sit down at the virtual felt for some $3,000-$6,000 action. The biggest pot of the session went to Antonius, helping him secure a small win for the day against his fixed-limit nemesis.
The large confrontation started when Kagome Kagome had the button and raised to $6,000. Antonius just called with the 4♠ 4♥. The flop came 10♥ 10♦ 4♦, and Antonius checked. Kagome Kagome bet $3,000, and Antonius check-raised. Kagome Kagome made it $9,000, and Antonius called.
The turn brought the 7♣, and Antonius checked. Kagome Kagome bet $6,000, but Antonius check-raised to $12,000. Kagome Kagome called. The J♥ landed on the river, and Antonius bet out. Kagome Kagome called and mucked when Antonius exposed his boat. The Finnish pro raked in the $66,000 pot. ♠
Palmer Takes $350,000 From Patrik
Nosebleed regulars Scott “URnotINdanger2” Palmer and Patrik Antonius did battle at $500-$1,000 pot-limit hold’em and pot-limit Omaha on Full Tilt Poker. The short match ended with Palmer in the black nearly $200,000 against Antonius.
The largest pot of the session was a $352,000 monster, where all the money went in on the turn with Palmer holding two pair plus flush and straight draws — leaving Antonius desperately looking for a miracle.
Here is a look at the hand:
The Scenario:

The Action:
The confrontation started when Antonius raised to $3,000 from the button. Palmer three-bet to $9,000, and Antonius four-bet to $16,000. Palmer called. The flop came 9♣ 4♥ 3♣, and Palmer checked.
Antonius bet $32,000, and Palmer called. The turn brought the J♥. Palmer bet $96,000 into his Finnish opponent. Antonius moved all in for about $130,000 total, and Palmer quickly called.
The hands were exposed, and it was revealed that Palmer had a strangle hold on the hand with his two pair and multiple draws. According to Card Player’s Omaha Odds Calculator, Palmer’s hand holds up about 88 percent of the time on the turn.
Both players elected to run it twice, and each time was of no help for Antonius. The first river brought a meaningless K, and the second run yielded a Q, giving Palmer a straight. The Maryland native raked in the $352,000 pot. ♠
Palmer Wins $250,000 From Dwan
Nosebleed regulars Scott “URnotINdanger2” Palmer and Tom “durrrr” Dwan put in a lengthy 3,000-hand session, lasting more than seven hours in january. The duo played a mixture of pot-limit and no-limit at stakes of $300-$600 on Full Tilt Poker, and when it was all over, Palmer was in the black nearly $250,000.
The duel went back and forth for awhile, until Palmer pulled ahead late in the match. The cash game pro won several pots worth more than $200,000 against the member of Team Full Tilt, en route to dominating the pot-limit
segments of their match.
Dwan had started 2011 with a win of more than $100,000 against Jared “harrington25” Bleznick but hit a snag when he sat down at the virtual felt to face Palmer.
Here is a look at the largest hand during URnotINdanger2 vs. Durrrr: game
The Action:
The confrontation started when Dwan raised to $1,800 from the button. Palmer three-bet to $5,400, and Dwan called. The flop came 9♠ 9♣ 4♠, and Palmer bet $6,000.
Dwan raised to $16,800, and Palmer called with his nut-flush draw. The turn brought the A♣, giving Palmer top pair and Dwan a flush draw. Palmer checked, and Dwan bet $23,600. Palmer just called, and the 2♠ landed on the river. Palmer checked, and Dwan moved all in for about $66,000. Palmer called and was good against the failed river bluff of his opponent. The Maryland native raked in the $224,481 pot.
According to Card Player’s Texas Hold’em Odds Calculator, Palmer’s hand holds up about 80 percent of the time on the turn. ♠