Business & Financial
Cake Poker Announces Major Software Upgrade
Cake Poker, one of the leading online poker networks, has announced a major new software upgrade.
The update to its 2.0 client will feature improvements in speed, stability, navigation and graphics.
Jamie Gold Poker Room Opens at the Tropicana
2006 World Series of Poker Main Event winner Jamie Gold kicked off the opening of the Tropicana poker room, which is named after him, Friday February 17, 2012.
Patrik Antonius Coming to PartyPoker….Sort of
Finnish poker pro Patrik Antonius may be on his way to finding a new home…if only for a brief moment.
Following the shutdown of Full Tilt Poker late last year, Antonius and over a dozen other poker pros have been left without promotional deals.
Ladbrokes Punters Bet £13 billion in 2011: Poker Revenues Down 25 Percent
Ladbrokes reported strong returns for 2011 with punters staking £13 billion in 2011 and profit per shot increased 6.9 percent over 2010.
Gaming machines drew almost £10.5 billion, up 13.7% on a year earlier while over-the-counter betting enjoyed £2.5 billion in bets placed.
Zynga Stocks Fall After 4th Quarter Disappointment
NEW YORK (AP) — Investors sold off shares of Zynga on Wednesday after the company behind the most popular Facebook games fell shy of high expectations for its first earnings report as a publicly traded company.
Zynga Inc. of "FarmVille" and "CastleVille" fame reported better fourth-quarter results than what Wall Street was expecting, at least according to the average estimate compiled by FactSet. But Barclays analyst Mark May said the results fell short of some recent, more bullish expectations.
PokerAddict.net Warning: Do Not Deposit on Everleaf Poker Network
PokerAddict.net is the latest industry news site to blast the Everleaf Gaming poker network for its sudden withdrawal from the U.S. market, suggesting it has more to do with liquidity issues than with a seizure of funds confirmed this past October.
Everleaf Poker Should Never Have Been Allowing Washington State Citizens to Play
We have finally learned after days of speculation that Everleaf Poker’s woes come from transmitting funds for online poker to and from the state of Washington. It is the only state in the U.S. to make playing Internet poker a Class C felony and has done so since 2009 when the investigation into a payment processor utilized by Everleaf had commenced.
Title 18 U.S.C 1084(b) was cited in the seizure affidavit issued by the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington.
U.S. Secret Service Targeted Everleaf Poker Payment Processor in Washington State
The news website Diamond Flush Poker confirmed that the U.S. Secret Service field office out of Seattle, Washington had been monitoring a payment processor utilized by Everleaf Poker since early 2009.
The Seattle entry into the investigation into online gambling payment processors is nothing new.
Nevada Casino Tax Hike Would Result in 7500 Lost Jobs
(AP) CARSON CITY, Nev. — An initiative to raise the top tax rate on Nevada's highest earning casinos is not economically sustainable by the industry and would lead to thousands of direct and indirect job losses, according to one gambling analyst who called the proposal a "wolf in sheep's clothing."
"We estimate the gaming tax increase would result in 7,500 or more lost jobs in Nevada, a notable step backward," Bill Lerner of Union Gaming Group said in a client's note.
Nevada leads the nation in unemployment, bankruptcies and foreclosures.
Bingo Slot Machine Hybrid Slingo Announced by Zynga for Facebook
Zynga has licensed the rights to make Zynga Slingo, a Bingo slot machine hybrid, which will bring the game to Facebook effective immediately, Wednesday February 15, 2012.
Lock Poker Welcomes Two New Pros: Jason Lee and Tim West
Lock Poker is thrilled to announce the new additions to their LockPRO ELITE team: Jason Lee and Tim West.
Jason spent his College years at the University of Florida, He stumbled upon the game of poker when he stopped by a group of friend's home game. Describing himself as "horrendous" at the time, Jason quickly fell in love with the game and became engulfed in the study of the game. Through hard work, long nights and some help from friends, he quickly found himself among the upper ranks of online poker professionals. The rest is history.
Everleaf Poker Down a Mere 12 Percent After U.S. Market Pullout
The Everleaf Gaming Network has seen just a 12 percent drop off in its overall traffic in the past week after shutting out U.S. players according to PokerScout.com.
The small online poker network appears to be relying heavily on its acquisition of an Italian player pool last year.
Zynga to Post 4Q results
(Associated Press) - Zynga will show whether it was able to further boost its rapidly growing number of followers, as well as its profit and revenue as a publicly traded company, when the online game maker reports fourth-quarter results Tuesday.
It will be Zynga's first quarterly report since going public in December. Analysts, on average, expect the San-Francisco company to post earnings of 3 cents per share on revenue of $302.1 million, according to a poll by FactSet.
Minted Poker Rep Back Pedals on Funds ‘Seizure’ Claims
Following a rather abrupt exit of the Everleaf Gaming Network from the U.S. poker market and subsequent announcement by one of its online card room representatives that the U.S. Government had seized funds, that very same rep now claims the aforementioned seizure never happened. More so, he denies ever making such an assertion despite the post being made by him on a public forum.
Probability Seeks Nevada Online Gambling License
Probability plc, a UK-based mobile gaming company, is the latest to apply for a license in the state of Nevada that would ultimately permit it to feature real cash games.
Probability has over 5 years experience specialising in mobile gaming, with around 1m UK customers and over half a billion transactions on our proprietary m-gaming platform so far. It allows customers to play a variety of casino games including slots and Bingo! Games can be played on over 8,000 types of mobile phone from mid-1990′s Nokias to the latest iPhone and iPad devices.
No Lovin’ for Luvin Poker as It and Others Must Find New Network to Serve US
Following an abrupt announcement (or lack-there-of) by the Everleaf Gaming poker network that it will no longer be serving U.S. players, a few dozen of its skins may be looking for new homes. Most of these online poker rooms were relatively small.
Everleaf Gaming Skin Luvin Poker: ‘DOJ Did Not Seize Our Funds’
In what has been a hectic and harrowing 48 hours for customers of the Everleaf Gaming Network, finally some clarity came from Jennifer Winters, a spokesperson for what is widely believed to be the network’s second largest room, Luvin Poker.
Winters sent out an email to customers of the online card room essentially denying initial reports that the Department of Justice had seized the company’s funds as previously reported.
World Poker Exchange Shuts Down
In an ominous sign of things to come at World Sports Exchange, the struggling online poker site’s World Poker Exchange has announced it is closing its doors for good.
WSEX.com has engaged in slow payouts over the past two years and is believed to owe players close to one million dollars.
At last check, the online poker room only had an average of 10 reach cash players at any given time during the week.
The following message was sent out to customers and affiliates on Friday.
Churchill Downs Buys Bluff Media
Churchill Downs Incorporated announced today that it acquired the assets of Bluff Media, an Atlanta-based multimedia poker content, brand and publishing company. Terms of the sale were not disclosed.
Bluff Media's assets include:
-- the industry-leading poker periodical, BLUFF Magazine;
-- BLUFF Magazine's online counterpart, BluffMagazine.com;
-- ThePokerDB, a comprehensive online database and resource that tracks and ranks the performance of poker players and tournaments;
Golden Nugget Latest to Launch Free-Play Online Poker Site With ChiliGaming
The Golden Nugget Casino in Las Vegas will be the second Sin City property to launch a free-to-play online poker site in so many months.
Full Tilt Poker Suitors Now Having Doubts: Postpone Re-Launch Date
French firm Group Bernard Tapie (GBT) is now doubting the viability of Full Tilt Poker, once the second largest online poker room in the world.
The company revealed FTP’s financial woes were much worse than originally believed. Group Bernard Tapie accuses Full Tilt Poker pros of owing approximately $17 million to the firm.
Everleaf Leaves US Market
The Everleaf Poker Network has left the US market and there are questions regarding the solvency of this poker network and whether customers in the rest of the world are safe playing here.
While a representative from Everleaf’s largest online poker skin, MintedPoker, suggested on Thursday that this is due to the current legal environment, others have speculated that the company could be having cash flow issues, perhaps brought on by a payment processor shutdown. It should be noted that Everleaf has been slow paying customers outside the US over the past month.
Vegas Stripped: South Point Casino Reality TV Show Debuts on Travel Channel (Video)
Vegas Stripped debuted on the Travel Channel last night (February 8, 2012) at 10 pm PST. It is a reality show that looks behind the scenes of the inner workings of Las Vegas’ South Point Casino.
Patriots Owner Robert Kraft Makes Out Big With Caesars IPO...And Wynn?
Among those who benefitted from Wednesday’s debut of Caesars Entertainment on the Nasdaq trading platform was none other than New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
While Kraft may have suffered a pretty huge loss Sunday, his luck changed with the Caesars IPO and his $1.3 million stake. Shares rose dramatically Wednesday afternoon.
World Sports Exchange $700k Behind on Payouts (Video)
SBR Forum video analyst Peter Loshak breaks down the latest sportsbook industry news with troubled World Sports Exchange (WSEX.com) at the forefront.
Caesars Begins Trading Wednesday: Goes Public and Floated with 1.4 Million Shares
Casino giant Caesars Entertainment Corp. went public on Wednesday (February 8, 2012), with its stock price surging 71 percent after completing an initial public offering.
The IPO was significantly reduced from its 2010 attempt.
William Hill Becomes Official Sponsor of England Football Team
The United Kingdom’s largest bookmaker, William Hill, has been confirmed as an official sponsor of the England football team.
Peter Daire, the FA's Head of Sponsorship, said:
"We are delighted to have William Hill on board.
PartyPoker has Biggest Cushion Between It and iPoker Network Since Summer
PartyPoker has pulled far ahead of the iPoker Network to take firm control of the number two spot for most trafficked online poker rooms in the world. Since the shut down of Full Tilt Poker last June, Party and iPoker have alternated between the number two and three spot. Until recently, the highest peak difference between the two rooms was around 250 average real cash players.
Zynga Rigging Poker Games?
The world’s largest online poker room, Zynga Poker, is being accused of rigging poker games.
The free-to-play poker application came under fire on social news website Reddit.com by a former contractor.
From PokerUpdate.com:
Record Breaking Run Continues at 888
LONDON (SHARECAST) - Online gaming solutions provider 888 said trading in 2012 has continued at record levels, building on the strong performance in the final quarter of 2011.
Fourth quarter revenue was up 28% to $91m from $71m in the corresponding quarter of 2010.
As at 31 December 2011, 888 had 10.6m casino, poker and sport registered customer accounts, excluding those running virtual "try before you buy" accounts, representing an increase of 22% from 31 December 2010.
