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16th Oct
2006
Roy Brindley keeps us up-to-date on the Poker
Tour
Email :
Roy on any
subject. |
US move a shock to
all
News that the US Congress had passed legislation, by 317 votes
to 93, making it illegal for banks and credit-card companies to make payments
to online gambling sites took industry watchers and investors alike by
surprise.
Already shaken by the arrest of David Carruthers of
BetonSports and Peter Dicks from Sportingbet many had expected the legislation
to fail.
The new law only requires a signature from President George W
Bush, is the worst crisis yet faced by the youthful online gambling industry in
its short but eventful existence.
Three of the biggest players said
they would pull out of the United States in response to legislation passed by
US Congress. PartyGaming, which runs the market leading poker site
Partypoker.com, saw its shares fall 58 percent – one of the biggest falls
ever seen on the FTSE100 – while rivals 888 Holdings and Sportingbet fell
by 35 and 60 percent respectively.
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 Dicks comes home
A New York judge cleared Peter
Dicks, the former chairman of Sportingbet, to return to the UK after New
York’s governor declined to sign a warrant extraditing him to Louisiana,
where he is charged with illegal online gambling.
Dicks was arrested at
Kennedy International Airport on September 6th after customs officials
discovered that he was wanted by Louisiana State Police.
In explaining
why he did not sign the warrant, New York Governor George Pataki said his
state’s law only permitted extradition if the accused person was
physically present where he is accused of breaking the law.
64-year-old
Dicks had not been in Louisiana in decades and the charges there revolved
around his activities in Britain.
Eight US States have laws prohibiting
Internet gambling: Washington, Nevada, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, South
Dakota, Michigan and Oregon.
It is believed they have issued US
Immigration with a wanted list of up to 300 names, all of which are board
members of online gaming sites who have taken bets from their citizens.
The Louisiana warrant issued in May charged Dicks with gambling by
computer, a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $25,000 fine.
Prima no
more
Despite considerable marketing the Prima Poker brand the South
African poker software provider has re-branded and changed its name to the
Microgaming Poker Network.
Sportsman closes
The Sportsman,
the first UK national daily newspaper to be launched for two decades when
unveiled this spring, has closed after less than seven months. Unlike rival
publication, the Racing Post, the Sportsman featured poker heavily and many
card players will be left disappointed at its closure.
London Clubs
buyers bought out?
Harrah’s, the world's biggest casino group,
which is bidding for London Clubs International, has itself received an
audacious $15 billion takeover approach from venture capitalists.
IIf
Apollo Management and Texas Pacific pull off their coup at the Caesar's Palace
and Rio Casino owner, it will be one of the biggest-ever leveraged buyouts.
News of the bid in Las Vegas came through on the day the Office of Fair
Trading approved Harrah’s £280 million takeover of LCI but that deal
is still far from settled with LCI's biggest shareholder, Malaysian gambling
giant Genting, undecided whether to accept.
LCI’s flagship venue
is the Fifty Casino in St James’s, which has become a favoured red-carpet
hangout since it reopened last year. Only last month, it hosted a charity poker
event attended by celebrities including Sting and Hugh Grant.
French
FA red card betting sites
Toulouse is the second French football team
which has been forced to remove their sponsor’s logo from their strip.
Online casino and poker firm 888.com had seen their logo worn by Toulouse
players but that was bizarrely changed to ???.com following a the French
League’s decision to ban its clubs from advertising any form of gambling
and online betting
Who cares
about history?
America’s anti-poker crusade is being led by
prosecutors in Louisiana, one of seven US states that expressly outlaws online
gaming. Louisiana’s attempt to prevent people playing poker is ironic when
you consider the game is a direct descendent of a French game called Poque, a
name derived from the French verb pocher, to bluff, and it originated on
Mississippi steamboats leaving French-speaking New Orleans. That’s right:
New Orleans in the state of Louisiana.
Laddies Poker success to be
repeated?
Following the success of its first venture into racehorse
ownership Ladbrokespoker have purchased their second racehorse whose ownership
will be split into shares to be won by their online poker players. The new
purchase is a yearling filly by Australian sprinter Choisir out of Break of Day
and, like her predecessor, Laddies Poker, who finished fifth in the valuable
Goffs Million race at the Curagh in September earning € , she will be sold
at the end of the season with all revenue divided amongst
shareholders.
PPT on hold again
The Professional Poker Tour,
has postponed events planned for Foxwoods (November 7th-8th) Bellagio (November
29th-30th). A spokesman said: “While we continue to negotiate the
broadcast of the second season, we have decided to delay these tournaments for
the benefit of players who need to make long-term travel arrangements as well
as the league itself. We expect to resume filming in 2007.” The PPT
has been besieged by problems from the outset with the first season of the PPT
was not broadcast in America for over 16 months after its conclusion following
legal problems while no PPT events were played in the latter part of 2005 or
2006.
Mac a go
Partypoker has announced their software is now
compatible and can be used on/with Mac computers.
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