In the world of online poker – there has been so much drama taking place ever since April 15th last year. That is 15th April 2011 – now more infamously known as Black Friday. We have all heard of Black Friday, but the biggest impact this day probably had was for Full Tilt Poker (FTP). This brand unfortunately had made some huge mistakes in their management of the site, and despite the fact that they had grown into the second biggest online poker operator still doling out services to the USA marketplace; they also crashed the hardest. Sometimes it is true what they say – "the bigger they are, the harder they fall".

Anyway, not to harp on what was a huge misfortune for the FTP brand and thousands, and thousands of members who could not withdraw their funds from the site.PokerStars also took a knock on black Friday, and unsurprisingly bounced right back. This was chiefly because PokerStars was positioned properly to hit the European market hard after the loss of their USA fan-bases, and because they had their fiduciary responsibilities taken care of.

Now after eighteen months and a whole lot of heartache for FTP fans, and owners; their biggest rival in the online poker industry has taken the steps to save their collective bacon. What this also means is that 600 Irish employees, might not all lose their jobs completely.
How is this relevant to two online poker sites?

Well, despite what the rest of the world might think, the world of online poker is no longer a niche product. It has grown into a mainstream industry, together with most forms of online gambling over the past decade and a half. Today more people gamble online than (we would hazard a guess), than gamble in live casinos.

This knowledge tells us that because it is such a huge industry, there must be people employed to help run it. The World Wide Web might be clever, but at this point in time, people still need to be employed to make sure that the job gets done. The Company that provided IT handling and software development for FTP is situated in Cherrywood, Co Dublin, they are called Pocket Kings, and FTP was probably one of their biggest clients. With 600 Irish employees on the job, while we are not sure who will be re-hired, or fired, but at least these jobs are no longer so much at risk. Obviously some staff has already been let go.

The Irish Times, and other Irish-based newspapers have been spreading the news, so, we believe that it is good news.

In another aside, while criminal charges were filed against owners of both Full Tilt Poker, and PokerStars which caused Black Friday, and it is PokerStars that have done the deal with the DoJ, we would love to be privy to what the deal entails. However, we believe that it is highly unlikely that we will ever know what truly went on behind closed doors. PokerStars took a huge gamble, it’s bound to pay off, because gamble is what they do best.

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.

Luc Besson’s production company includes Titan Poker in its latest movie From Paris with Love.

From Paris with Love is an action packed film from director Pierre Morel (District 13 and Taken) starring John Travolta and Jonathan Rhys Meyers. The film was co-written and produced by the critically acclaimed French Director Luc Besson. It was Mr. Besson’s production company that chose to partner with Titan Poker and feature the online poker room in the film.

The film focuses on James Reece (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), a low-level CIA operative who dreams of becoming a bona fide agent and seeing some real action. His first senior-level assignment has him partnered with Charlie Wax (John Travolta) – a trigger-happy, wisecracking, loose cannon who’s been sent to Paris to stop a terrorist attack. Charlie drags James through the Parisian underworld on a shooting spree that has James wishing he could go back to his cushy desk job, until James discovers that he is a target of the same crime ring they are trying to bust and realizes there is no turning back…

Titan Poker gets its big screen exposure in a scene in which one of the film’s characters is playing online poker. From Paris with Love was released on February 5th in the US and will hit screens in France on February 17th.

As a promotion for the release of the film, Titan Poker’s French site will be holding an exclusive From Paris with Love Tournament in which players can win up to $5,000. The site will also be giving away merchandise and tickets to the film at different intervals throughout the tournament.

It’s time to get ready to rumble for a shot at poker stardom as BoDog announced today details for the Bodog Poker Open IV. The fourth installment of the popular tournament series takes place Nov. 1 – 8, 2009, and this time it offers two parallel, week-long series: the "Contender Series," consisting of lower-stakes buy-ins, and the higher-stakes "Championship Series," with $60,000 in added prize money and guaranteed media exposure for the champion.

"With the Bodog Poker Open IV, Bodog.com is giving online poker players of all levels a chance to strike it rich and gain major exposure as the next Bodog Poker Open Champion," says Bodog.com Poker Pro David Williams. "It takes a great deal of patience and skill to run deep in this tournament, and any poker player who can take down the Championship Event deserves not only the huge cash prize, but also the recognition that comes along with it."

The Bodog Poker Open IV Championship Series kicks off Sunday, Nov. 1 at 4pm EST with the first of seven events. The series culminates on Sunday, Nov. 8 at 4pm EST with the Championship Event, featuring $25,000 in added prize money. The last player standing will not only walk away with the top cash prize and the title of Bodog Poker Open IV Champion, but will also be prominently featured in an international poker publication and on Bodog.

Buy-ins for the seven events of the Championship Series range from $50+$5 (rebuy) to $470+$30 for the Championship Event. Bodog is adding additional prize money to all events, giving players exceptional value for their tournament dollars.

The Bodog Poker Open IV Contender Series runs during the same time period and features all the action of the Championship Series but with smaller buy-ins. The winner of each Contender Series tournament receives a seat to the Bodog Poker Open IV Championship Event (T$500), while the remaining eight final table players get a seat to the Contender Series Championship Event (T$50) on Sunday, Nov. 8, at 5pm EST. Bodog.com is adding $2,500 in cash to the prize pool of the Contender Series Championship Event.

"With the chance to rise through the ranks, from contender to Bodog Poker Open IV Champion, the Bodog Poker Open IV promises to be one of the biggest and best poker tournament series in Bodog’s 15-year history," says Bodog Poker Pro David Williams.

To learn more about Bodog Poker Open IV, visit: Bodog Poker

Titan Poker Player Wins First European Championship of Online Poker Tournament

In the first tournament of the 14-day, $4.55 Million Guaranteed Prize series, a 21-year-old Titan Poker veteran from Canada displayed his considerable poker skills.

A 21-year-old student from Canada pocketed $52,500 and first prize at the opening event of the fourth European Championship of Online Poker (ECOOP IV), which kicked off on May 25 at popular online poker room Titan Poker.

Player “ch0ppy”, a two-year veteran at Titan Poker, outlasted 1,125 other avid online poker players in the $250,000 Guaranteed Prize No Limit Texas Hold’em tournament. The ECOOP IV event was the first of 14-nights of online poker action, which culminate with a $1,500,000 Guaranteed Prize Main Event on June 7. A total of $4.55 Million in prizes is guaranteed to winning players over the two weeks of online poker tournaments at Titan Poker.

Qualifying satellite tournaments for the ECOOP IV events are being staged daily at Titan Poker. The ECOOP IV tournaments (ECOOP IV) offer a wide variety of poker games, including Texas No Limit Hold’em, Limit Hold’em, 7 Card Stud, Pot Limit Omaha and Omaha Hi/Lo. Poker buy-in amounts vary to meet every player’s budget.

Titan Poker’s first ECOOP series was staged in December 2007 and players competed over ten days for their share of $2,500,000 in cash prizes. In May 2008, ECOOP II was staged with a grand total of $3,600,000 in guaranteed prizes at the ten nights of tournaments. Staged over fourteen days between November and December 2008, the third ECOOP tournament series distributed more than $4,150,000 in prizes to winning online tournament players.