Optimism on Californian online poker legalisation

March 2, 2014

Delegates at last week’s i-gaming legislative symposium in Sacramento were told by a variety of speakers that momentum is building for the intrastate legalisation of online poker in California, with consensus growing between rival tribal factions that have derailed attempts in the past. One speaker revealed that there are plans for an “informational hearing” by […]

Poker Encore lifebelt for Black Belt poker players

March 1, 2014

Poker pro Neil Channing’s announcement last week that his Black Belt Poker site is to close (see previous reports) has been followed by the news that Karl Mahrenholz’s Poker Encore is to welcome Black Belt Poker players on board. Announcing the deal with Black Belt, Mahrenholz extended an invitation to Black Belt players and commented: […]

Poker ace now down $17 million

February 28, 2014

International poker pro Gus “The Great Dane” Hansen has retained his sense of humour despite being a record $17 million in the red on his high stakes and mainly online poker activities. This week he tweeted: “This downswing has gotten so bad that yesterday I introduced myself as Jean-Robert Bellande!” Hansen was reacting to another […]

Cyprus developer releases free poker app

February 27, 2014

Cyprus-based app developer Cherry Darling has just released v.1.8 of its f.o.c. Ace Of Hearts Casino Poker – a mix of social slot machine and time-based classic poker developed for iOS and Android. The updated app now incorporates: * 4 game modes (free version: 2 game modes) * 2 risk-ladders * 4 mini-games – Blackjack, […]

Poker chief speaks against banning in Illinois

February 27, 2014

John Pappas, executive director of the Poker Players Association action group, addressed the Illinois Senate Executive Committee of the Illinois State Assembly Wednesday, giving an expert opinion on why bans benefit criminal elements.. The Quad City Times reports that Pappas pointed out that Illinois could reap nearly $200 million annually if it becomes the fourth […]

U.S. free-play poker site offer major tournament prizes

February 27, 2014

The Lakeside, San Diego-based Barona land casino is leveraging internet action on its free-to-play Barona Online Poker.com website to run satellites featuring prizes that include seats to the next $10,000 buy-in World Series of Poker main event, which this year has a guaranteed prize pool of $10 million (see previous reports). Taking a leaf from […]

Norwegian politicians brush up on their poker savvy

February 26, 2014

With parliamentary moves for a more liberal approach to poker imminent, two Norwegian MPs have decided it’s time to broaden their knowledge of the game ahead of probable debates on the issue. Per Sandberg and Roy Steffensen have announced that they plan to take part in a poker championship event taking place in Oslo this […]

PPA exec to speak for online poker in Illinois

February 26, 2014

John Pappas, the executive director for the Poker Players Alliance, is to front for the online poker industry today (Wednesday) in a midday address before the Illinois Senate Executive Committee of the Illinois State Assembly. The Executive Committee is holding a hearing to discuss the pros and cons of legalised online poker in Illinois. Pappas’ […]

Infiniti Poker appears to have been short-lived

February 26, 2014

In what appears to be a soft launch gone wrong, players are reporting that the Infinity Poker website has been inaccessible for the past ten days…and the usually voluble operator, Michael Hajduk, has so far not responded to requests for an explanation. The flawed soft launch is one of a series of trouble-plagued false starts […]

Pokerstars hires U.S. public relations agency

February 26, 2014

According to reports in PR Week, Pokerstars has hired the east coast US public relations consultancy W to expand its player base through a broadened appeal. The appointment of W followed a competitive pitch in which the consultants were told the work would involve repositioning Pokerstars as a lifestyle brand, and broadening its appeal beyond […]