Online Gambling News

Over £1,000,0000 in prize money up for grabs during September’s poker festival

With over 50 events and over £1,000,000 in prize money, the London Poker Festival will position the UK capital at the centre of the poker universe this September. Bluff Europe Magazine has brought together eight different card rooms to create a special calendar of events that includes tournaments and cash games to suit all pockets, parties, comedy nights, a Black Belt Poker Academy and the British Poker Awards. The calendar will be dominated, however, by eight exciting main events.

First up is the LCI UK Poker Tour, which makes it’s first ever stop in London, at the Casino at the Empire from 12 to 16 September. This main event is a £200+£20 tournament with a whopping £50k guaranteed that kicks off on 14th.

On 13th, the Unibet Open flies into town and sets up camp at Aspers in Stratford, bringing with it all the parties and fun events that have become the signature of this unique tour. The main event is a €1,500+15 NLH freezeout.

That’s followed by the Big Bluff Club’s “Big Five-O” tournament, also a £200 freezeout with a massive £50,000 guaranteed. It’s a deepstack, too – with a 50k starting stack and a 50-minute clock.

On 17th, we have the British Poker Awards, a ceremony to honour the movers and shakers on the UK poker scene, at the HMS President on the Thames. Voting is now live at www.thebritishpokerawards.com and tickets are available at www.thebritishpokerawards.eventbrite.co.uk for £20 each.

Next, the GUKPT Main Event comes to the Vic on 20th for a £1,000 + £70 NLH Main Event freezeout with a 20,000 starting stack and a one-hour clock. It’s a three-day event supported by a host of mid-level side events and satellites to the main.

Then, after a year’s hiatus, the English Poker Open comes to the Fox Poker Club from the 18th to 21st September. This year, the English Poker Open is a £2,000+£180 entry event with a £250,000 guaranteed prize pool and is sponsored by RakeTheRake.

If that’s too rich for your blood, low stakes fun abounds at the Western September Festival in W3, with a £150 + 3 NLH tournament with a £17,500 guarantee. Finally, leg 12 of the Superstack Tour hits the Bluff @ The Mint card room. Low entries and good structures are what this series is all about, and this event is a pleasingly affordable £150 + £15.

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Whether or not it was a huge bluff that PokerStars was buying out what was left of Full Tilt Poker (FTP) remains to be seen. There was massive excitement surrounding this topic just before the World Series Of Poker took place, but now the fuss seems to have died down. Popular opinion has it that the PokerStars/FTP Deal was only pie in the sky, and nothing much more. But of course, just as the possibility of the deal was conjecture, so, too is this opinion; but stranger things have been known to happen.

Discussions do however appear to have faded into the background. Rumour had it that PokerStars had been working with the U. S. DoJ to see if they could realize what Group Bernard Tapie could not. According to certain poker professionals who are in-the-know – these talks have ‘fizzled out’ – were "only hope and nothing more."(Matt Glantz).

Obviously it is wishful thinking for the online poker community to want this matter to be resolved. Any deal that any poker company might make with the US DoJ would have a vested interest for former poker players at FTP. It is no secret that the website was grossly mismanaged, and that millions of dollars worth of player funds were not been paid back to its members. The chances that these members will ever get their money back are indeed incredibly slim, despite the fact that there are half a dozen class action lawsuits still pending against FTP. We know that this deal would have brought some hope to FTP former-members, but there are huge problems involved for any online gambling or other company to attempt to rescue FTP from the morass.

First off we know that FTP’s Ray Bitar has faced the charges for Black Friday indictments, and plead not guilty; but PokerStars founder – Isai Scheinberg has not faced up to any charges, and does not intend to plead. This would probably be a pre-requisite for any DoJ deal, and PokerStars wants to avoid any leadership prosecutions. The Department of Justice (DoJ) is unlikely to decide not to pursue their criminal case against both Scheinberg and executive Paul Tate.

Even more telling with regards any discussion deal is the fact that there is no Federal landscape for online poker in the USA – so there is no ‘nationwide’ environment for PokerStars to get back into. Currently state-by-state individual changing of online poker laws is taking place, but the wheels of power are turning slowly, and there is not a great deal of incentive for PokerStars (a massive online poker offering in Europe) to offer ’íntrastate’ online gambling to the USA. Although to get a foot in the door; the efforts may be worthwhile. But then again, it would be smart business for big USA brands such as Caesars to keep this brand out of the USA, and Caesars as well as other big gambling brands have a lot of political influence.

Betting shops and online sports betting sites are gearing up this summer for what could be their biggest windfall yet. It is time for the Summer Olympics again and this year these take place in London, UK which has a sophisticated online and live gambling infrastructure. It is a well-known fact that the Brits love a sports bet, and the ‘proposition’ wager is extremely popular too. Tons of British betting brands can’t wait to get their hands on your money, but then again if you win on long odds, chances are you too will make some good money.

For example if you want odds on whether a UFO will be sighted during the London Olympics, William Hill will offer those odds (these are 1,000-to-1; in other words place a £1 bet and win £1000 if a UFO is spotted). Just so that you know – the UFO has to be spotted flying (or floating) over the Olympic stadium during the opening ceremony, in order to win this bet.

No matter – excuse the pun – how odd the wager might be, these are on offer. So, as well as odds across twenty-six different sports, punters will be placing bets on whether the Olympic torch bearer will trip and fall as they reach out to light the Olympic Flame. Proposition bets on possibilities outside of sporting events are just as much fun – if not more so – than betting on our favourite sports themselves.

From diving to synchronised swimming; football to fencing; sprints to marathon runs, industry gambling experts are offering the odds. A spokesperson for William Hill – Joe Crilly – said they cater for most punters tastes. What’s even better this time however, is that gamblers don’t have to leave the comfort of their own home or local pub to place a bet today. The rise and rise of sports betting online from mobile phones, allows them to bet on the run, or from their most relaxed position in front of the telly, from their favourite arm-chair.

William Hill is encouraging punters to dream up any bet they possibly can, and Ladbrokes, another bookmaker has advertised 11,000 different wagers for the Olympics. Bets include if the games will go over budget, how many ‘Golds’ will be earned by the British team, will the Olympic park be able to supply enough condoms, and what the chances are of spotting a British athlete eating a Big Mac.

Really long-shot odds of 250-to-1 are on offer that all of the 4 x 400-meter relay teams drop the baton in the final. Oh and, they are also placing proposition bets on Boris Johnson. As you may or may not know, he is the flamboyant Mayor of London who is always up to exotic antics. The wager is paying 33-to-1 that he accidentally brushes past the Olympic torch and lights his hair on-fire. Of course with the notoriously wet London weather this might never happen, but Ladbrokes is also paying 50-to-1 that it will rain every day. Well, let’s hope not, but bet on it and you could be in for winning some bucks.

William Hill might be one of the biggest bookmaking brands in the UK, but when they heard that the USA might be making online gambling legal in the near future, they were madly keen to get into this market. First off, gambling online will start intrastate, and this means individual states will be responsible for making their own laws in this regard.

One of the first at the starting gate for state-legislation was Nevada, and William Hill took a very big gamble by investing $53.25 million in three Nevada gambling concerns. These acquisitions are; Brandywine Bookmaking, American Wagering Inc and Club Cal Neva Satellite Race and Sportsbook.

It appears as though this gamble has paid off and will continue to pay off big time, as the need to supplement state coffers through additional tax revenue schemes, spreads like wild-fire throughout the USA. Nevada state administration has ensured that they are now legal to offer online gambling licenses, and William Hill is one of the first to be granted a license from the Nevada Gaming Commission.

William Hill has a wealth of experience in the online gambling business; this brand is not only about High Street retail betting shops. They have been offering super services online for a good deal of time in the UK. The UK as we know has a well-developed infrastructure for the Internet gambling industry. They offer online sports betting, online bingo, a casino, virtual gaming such as Rugby Union, snooker and more; poker, financials, skill, mobile, Arcade and Vegas-type games. UK customers have developed an eclectic and sophisticated taste for these types of games, so, William Hill is well placed in Nevada to offer a superior online service.

It made good sense for this brand to get into the US at the very beginning, as getting a foothold in the US market while legislation is under review, is the way to make sure they get in on the ground-floor with a chance to win. Online gambling was extant in the USA prior to 2006; however, the promulgation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Act (UIGEA) changed all of this. So, essentially the USA is six years behind the UK in relationship to this virtual industry – we all know just how fast technology advances, so, they are way behind.

This is a significant step by William Hill as the ban is expected to be relaxed in the future state-by-state. To date we have no idea if UIGEA will change Federally, but according to Federal Government. It is up to each state to decide whether they wish online gambling to be made legal.

The acquisitions of the three Nevada-based gambling concerns were dependent on the outcome of the William Hill license applications being granted. Now that this has taken place, we can expect it to be all systems go. Obviously the sooner they get websites up and running, the sooner they can expect a return on their investment.