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Sky Poker Wraps Up Play the Nation Tourney

A celebration of quality UK online poker wrapped up this week after Sky Poker’s Play the Nation tournament came to an end.  Throughout February, the online poker room encouraged players from different regions in the UK to play for Cash for Points boosters and pitting regions against one another.  Players from Wales, Scotland and the South West, as well as seven other regions, went head to head with one another, vying for top place in Sky Poker’s Play the Nation tournament.

Throughout February, players were pampered with a host of bonuses and special offers, starting with a GBP 5 bonus and continuing on to other specials which kept players well rewarded.  Players who entered the bonus code PLAY, were treated to entry into the Cash for Points scheme, with the objective being to hit at least 500 Poker Points during the month in order to qualify for the bonus.

The South East region proved to be the most active at Sky Poker, and won top place in the Play the Nation competition.  Second  place was Northern Ireland and ROW and third was London.

All players from these top three regions were treated to booster bonuses by the end of February, as follows:  Players from the South East received 100% Cash for Points, players from Northern Ireland received 50% Cash for Points, while Londoners received a 25% Cash for Points bonus boost.

The Play the Nation competition at Sky Poker certainly managed to bring players together according to their region, driving a friendly but competitive spirit and boosting play at one of the UK’s top online poker sites.

Sky Poker continues to provide the UK with a reputable online poker destination, offering players the chance to pay in their own currency and ensuring that the highest levels of fairness and security are maintained at all times.

Dusk Till Dawn Increases size of March Deepstack

Dusk Till Dawn, the Nottingham-based poker club, has revealed that they will be enhancing their regular GBP 500 Monthly Deepstack tournament which is due to take place this weekend by increasing the guaranteed prizepool to a whopping GBP 250,000.

The March Monthly Deepstack will be awarding the biggest payout for a GBP 500 buy-in tournament in the history ofUKpoker as a result of this increase in the guaranteed prize funds with the winner receiving GBP 75,000 at the very least.

The regularMonte Carloevent has been replaced by the Monthly Deepstack due to the fact that Dusk Till Dawn is oversaturated with tournaments in the GBP 1,000 buy-in price bracket during March.

The popular 500 Deepstack, is a GBP 500+GBP 60 buy-in event that will take place this weekend at the Nottingham-based club with its increased guaranteed prizepool.

Simon Trumper, Dusk Till Dawn’s live poker director, revealed that they had penciled in a GBP 1,000 Monte Carlo event with a GBP 250,000 GTE but after reviewing their schedule for March and April they realized that it was very congested at that buy-in level.

Trumper added “we also wanted to ensure that ourMonte Carloplayers still get the opportunity to play for a £250,000 prize pool, so the best way to keep everyone happy seemed to supersize the £500 Deepstack GTE to £250,000 but keep the buy-in.”

There are two starting days for the 500 Deepstack with Day 1a kicking off at 14 00 on Friday, March 2 and Day 1b commencing at 14 00 on Saturday, March 3.

Due to the fact that the 500 Deepstack is a re-entry tournament like the majority of the Dusk Till Dawn majors, players who lose their 30,000 starting stack on Day 1a will have the opportunity to re-enter with a full stack on Day 1b.

2012 PokerPlayer UK Tour

A two-day festival of poker is due to kick off the best low-stakes tour inBritain, the PokerPlayer UK Tour.  The festival is due to be held at the Grosvenor G Casino inNewcastleon April 21, 2012.

PokerPlayerUKhas joined forces with two live poker giants, namely Grosvenor Casinos and the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour. 

Although last year the PokerPlayer UK Tour took its tour bus around the UK in order to host five wonderful events with massive prize pools, this year it will be offering a couple of super GBP 100 buy-in poker festivals with each two day tournament taking place at some of the leading casinos in the UK and will be giving players a taste of the GBP 1 K main event at a much lower cost.

Players who do not wish to spend too much can sign up for the PokerPlayer UK Tour’s three seat GTD freeroll to Event 1 on Sunday, March 11, 2012.  Grosvenor Poker.com is also hosting a five seat GTD Online Final on Sunday, March 18, 2012 with GBP 500 added.

Additional satellites will also be running on GrosvenorPoker.com in addition to the PokerPlayer password protected qualifiers.  There will also be live satellites that will run at the venue.

Grosvenor Casinos, the PokerPlayer UK Tour’s new sponsor has promised that this year’s tour will be bigger and better than the previous tour.

Players can join the festival inNewcastleby participating in the following –

Freeroll Qualifier!
When: Sunday, March 11 at 7pm
Buy-in: Free (with $1 rebuys)
Prizes: Three seats to Newcastle GTD

The Big One!
When: Thursday, March 15 at 8pm
Buy-in: $3.30
Prizes: 15 seats to $16.50 Online Final

Online Final $500 Added!
When: Sunday, March 18 at 6pm
Buy-in: $16.50
Prize: Five seats to Newcastle GTD plus $500 added

Each dealer-dealt PokerPlayer UK Tour main event will have a starting stack of 10k, a slow structure and will run over a period of two days.  In the money players will return on day 2 while the winner of each leg will be awarded a seat in the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour main event.

Robbie Williams Launching New Online Poker Site

Robbie Williams, popular member of the pop group “Take That” has been criticized by anti-gambling campaigners and fans for planning to launch a new play money online poker site.

There is good reason for their criticism as it is a well known fact that Robbie is a former drug and alcohol addict and it is felt that the 37 year old will be raking in cash from vulnerable addicts.

According to Robbie’s site “RobbieWilliamsPoker.com is where poker players and Robbie William’s fans play each other to score great prizes and create the craziest avatars.  This is NOT a Gambling Offer.  You play in all games with virtual game money with no value”.

Among the prizes on offer at Robbie’s new site are Robbie Williams gig tickets, Robbie Williams merchandise and the opportunity to meet Robbie Williams in person.

Anti-gambling campaigners, however, say that although the site, which is due to launch this year, claims that the main focus is having “fun”, some of the games do cost money.

Tessa Munt, Liberal Democrat MP, told the Daily Mirror that she was outraged by the news that Williams would be making money from addicts as he himself was once addicted to antidepressants and the online poker site would target his fans which include children, directly.  She added that she felt that the money he makes should go to addiction charities.

One of Robbie’s fans wrote on his official website saying that he wondered how many families the online poker site would ruin and that he was under the impression that Robbie understood what addiction was all about.  Another fan wrote saying that the fact that he is taking advantage of vulnerable people for financial gain does not sit right with her.

The Robbie Williams Poker site describes itself as the “new home for free fun poker” but then goes on to say that “many tournaments require a buy-in to participate”.

A spokesman for Robbie Williams said that the idea was still very much in its early stages.

Entraction Poker Renamed by IGT Poker

Nevadabased gaming manufacturer, International Gaming Technology, has announced that it has rebranded its recently acquired Entraction platform which will in future be known as the IGT Poker Network.

International Gaming Technology is aiming to attract leading online poker sites to the new IGT Poker Network.

In March, 2011, International Gaming Technology made headlines when it paid in excess of $115 million for the purchase of the Swedish online gambling company which proved that IGT was absolutely ready to make a huge impact in the online gambling world while only adhering to licensed and regulated markets.

Following the purchase of Entraction, International Gaming Technology immediately ceased offering online poker to citizens of several countries where online gaming is still seen as problematic, such asIsrael,Turkey,RussiaandNorway.

International Gaming Technology rolled out the newly rebranded IGT Poker Network at the ICE Totally Gaming expo that took place at the Earls Court Exhibition Centre inLondonbetween January 24 and January 26, 2012.

A press release with regard to Entraction Poker being renamed by International Gaming Technology read “This is the first show where we will be able to demonstrate the full range of products and services which our recent acquisition of Entraction has enabled us to do.”

All the Entraction products were shown under the International Gaming Technology brand and the attendees at the conference saw how IGT’s Poker Network is a serious and competitive alternative for existing poker operators.

International Gaming Technology also announced that it would pay $250 million in cash and a further $85 million in retention payments in order to purchase Double Down Interactive, which is the leading virtual casino operator on Facebook.  IGT has also undertaken to pay up to $165 million which will take the deal’s value up to $500 million, depending on Double Down’s performance and hopes to get a foothold in the social gaming industry through this deal.

Zynga to enter Real-Money Online Poker and Gambling Market

Zynga Inc. has announced that it is currently involved in negotiations with potential partners in order to enter the real-money online poker and gambling market.

Zynga was founded by Mark Pincus in July 2007 with a mission to transform the world through virtual social goods and is now responsible for social network games such as Zynga Poker and FarmVille.

Although the company is based in San Franciso, Zynga Poker is also hugely popular amongUKpoker players and is at present the biggest online poker game in the world.  There are at present seven million people playing Zynga Poker off social networking sites such as Facebook each and every day.

Zynga Poker is currently played with virtual money and the group is hoping to offer real-money poker games and tournaments by endeavoring to enter the world of online poker.

Zynga Inc.’s attempt to enter the world of online poker follows the US Department of Justice’s announcement that intrastate internet gambling is not a violation of federal law.

Although the state has not yet licensed any operator which may offer online poker services,Nevadais currently the onlyUSstate allowing online gambling in the form of poker.

Zynga Inc. issued a statement reading “We know from listening to our players that there’s an interest in the real money gambling market. We’re in active conversations with potential partners to better understand and explore this new opportunity.”

Despite the fact that Zynga Inc. is a brand name that is already familiar among millions of people, especially Facebook users, it is still very important for Zynga Inc. to form a partnership as the fact that it is a non-gambling company could limit its chances of becoming a leading license holder once the federal laws change in the country.

In order to reduce its dependence on the Facebook platform, Zynga is planning to develop an independent platform, Zynga Direct.

Lock Poker Signs Melanie “Callisto” Weisner

Lock Poker has announced that it has added Texan native Melanie “Callisto” Weisner, to its prestigious LockPRO ELITE team.

Lock Poker, long considered a rising star in the world of online poker, has revealed that 25 year old Melanie has worked her way up the online poker tournament tables from scratch and now specializes in MTTs and heads-up sit ‘n’ gos on the virtual felt.   Over and above her live earnings, Melanie has already accumulated over $1.2 million in online tournament winnings.

A former musical theatre student at NYU, Melanie started realizing her potential at online poker rooms after discovering the game through her younger brother’s success online and then focused on heads up poker, which became her specialty due to the large number of hands that she was able to play with.

Today, Melanie “Castillo” Weisner is known as an online poker professional and one of the industry’s most respected heads up players.  Her biggest online achievement has been receiving number one ranking for heads up sit and go tournaments players across all ranked sites.

Melanie has had a huge number of deep runs in live major events around the world with five cashes in last year’s World Series of Online Poker and an increasing number of European Poker Tour Ladies Event titles.  The Global Poker Index which ranks the top 300 live tournament players around the globe today has ranked Melanie at #84.

Jennifer Larson, Chief Executive Officer and owner of Lock Poker said “Melanie is a perfect fit for Lock. She is passionate, relentless in her dedication to the game and incredibly intelligent. Players like Melanie give us the true insight into the product and player experience that we need to become the best. Partnering with our players is the true path to greatness.”

Melanie revealed that she is excited to be joining a team of world-class players and talented peers such as Matt Stout, Leo Margets and Chris Moorman and is looking forward to representing Lock around the world.

Lock is the world’s most innovative online gaming brand and continues to bring a fresh perspective to this exciting industry.

UK Full Tilt Online Poker Players advised to Call Police

British online players of Full Tilt Poker who believe that they may be a victim of crime have been advised by regulators to report the matter to the police.

The Alderney Gaming Control Commission (AGCC) was forced to revoke Full Tilt’s license in September, 2011, after more than a week of hearings which were held behind closed doors.  This was as a result of Full Tilt’s numerous violations and the fact that it had fundamentally misled the AGCC about their operational integrity.

The Alderney Gaming Control Commission recently released a statement saying that at the request of the police, it will “continue to log incoming player complaints” and will make all records available to the authorities.

The AGCC has, however, advised players that it does not have the authority to “intermediate or arbitrate on player issues or disputes with Full Tilt” any longer.  All players who have not had money due to them returned by Full Tilt Poker are therefore required to contact their local police  where all the reports will be coordinated centrally.

Full Tilt’s players have been given the following options on the Commission’s website.

“1. Full Tilt has been requested to provide a specific player contact: this is awaited and will be incorporated here upon receipt.

2. Any player who believes they are a victim of crime, as a result of their dealings with Full Tilt, should in the first instance contact their own local police in their country of residence and report the matter to them. These reports will then be coordinated centrally.

3. It is understood that a number of civil actions have been initiated by players against Full Tilt, some as class actions representing multiple players by UK, US and Canadian lawyers. Details of the firms concerned can be found through internet search.”

It is hoped that should the deal between French investor Groupe Bernard Tapie and the US Department of Justice go ahead allowing them to acquire Full Tilt for $80 million, then theUSauthorities will dismiss all civil complaints.  It is hoped that all players will then be repaid shortly after that.

Belgium Approval given to Online Poker Sites

PokerStars.be is one of three online poker sites to be given approval by the Belgian Government to offer their real money services to gamblers.  Any unauthorized sites will be blocked by the country’s ISP’S in accordance with the new gambling laws inBelgium.

AfterBelgiummade its plans to regulate the online gambling market public, PokerStars, the world’s largest poker site, signed a partnership with Circus Groupe, which includes Namur Casino, making it possible for both companies to offer online poker under the regulation of the Belgian Gaming Commission.  This resulted in Poker Stars meeting the conditions set by the Belgian Gaming Commission and being granted approval this week.

Joining forces with Circus Groupe enabled PokerStars to work with a licensed partner inBelgiumwith lots of experience in land-based poker while the Namur Casino will be in a position to offer the Belgian market the most successful online poker platform.

The other two sites that received approval to operate are Partouche.be and Casiono77.com.

In accordance withBelgium’s new Gambling Act, only approved sites are entitled to offer real-money online poker and the country’s largest internet service providers have been ordered to block all other unauthorized sites.

Online poker sites such as Party Poker and the iPoker network have criticized the Belgian Gaming Act and referred to it as “unenforceable” until such time that taxation regime issues have been resolved.

Sander Siezen, marketing manager for PokerStars in theBelgium,Netherlandsand Luxembourgh region, stated that PokerStars.com and the Circus Groupe are logical partners with CasinoDeNamur.be, having the largest live poker events offering inBelgium.  He added that Poker Stars is also the world’s largest poker site, organizing the largest live poker series, the EPT.

The new regulations that came into effect on January 1^st inBelgium have not clarified the issue of taxation on winnings, leaving many players wondering exactly how much they will be required to pay the government if they hit a windfall.

Players can Win Big in Party Poker Winter Million

Party Poker has announced that it will be hosting one of the biggest online tournaments of 2012 this February.

Players will have an opportunity to start their new year in style with Party Poker’s Winter Million as the poker room will be guaranteeing a $1 million prize pool that will offer life-changing prizes.

The Winter Million tournament is due to take place at Party Poker on Sunday, February, 5, 2012 and will be played in a championship format with a buy-in of $600+$40.

Party Poker has already begun offering qualifiers from as little as $1 as it is hoping to get as many of their players as possible to participate in this great $1 million event.

The online poker room, which is currently one of the three largest poker rooms, has also announced that all its multi-table tournaments will be “rake free” starting at the stoke of midnight (ET) on New Year’s Day for the entire month of January, 2012.  This will result in 100% of players’ money going directly into the prize pool without any fees being paid across the entire multi-table tournament schedule.

Party Poker is also offering its players an opportunity to cash in on a very generous reload bonus as well as a $50,000 free-roll this January.

Existing players wishing to receive this reload bonus of $100 up to $100 are required to deposit at least $50 during January, 2012, using the bonus code ‘RAKEFREE”.

Players using the bonus code “RAKEFREE” and making the minimum reload deposit will also have a chance to participate in the huge value $50,000 “Depositors’ Free-roll” which is due to take place at Party Poker on Sunday February 5, 2012 at 1100 ET.

Party Poker offers new players different welcome bonus options such as a $25 free bonus with their first deposit by using BONUS CODE: 0PR25 or 20% up to $100 with their first deposit by using BONUS CODE; OPR100.