Poker News May 19th, 2008
Huge settlement a poker in the eye for Aristocrat
POKER machine maker Aristocrat Leisure is believed to have agreed to pay between $150 million and $170 million to settle a landmark class action brought by shareholders, who argued the company six years ago failed to keep the market fully informed.
The payout, which will be confidential until it is revealed to the Federal Court next month, will be the largest by an Australian company to its investors.
The settlement came after the market closed yesterday, and at the eleventh hour of the case, as Federal Court judge Margaret Stone was nearing a decision in the long-running and bitterly fought legal action.
If it is approved by Justice Stone at a hearing in about six weeks, it is believed the payout will largely be funded by Aristocrat’s insurers.
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“Panicked” Stays Calm, Wins Bodog Sunday $100k Online Poker Tourney
Online poker player “Panicked” took home the $23,600 first-place prize last night in Bodog’s $100,000 Guaranteed online poker tournament. (Bodog Beat Image)
Once again, a horde of online poker players showed up in the Bodog Poker room last night to battle it out for one of the biggest guranteed pots in online poker in the Sunday $100,000 Guaranteed online poker tournament. After the 708-player field was whittled down, the final table revealed several newcomers and multiple $100k final tabler “JohnnyGstaks.” Once the melee had settled though, it was “Panicked” who managed to do the opposite of his screen name and stay calm and patient to win the $23,600 first-place prize.
Meskwaki Poker Tables Open Soon To Teens
Gamblers under age 21 will soon be able allowed to place poker bets at the Meskwaki casino.
The Meskwaki tribal council approved the change, which would allow 18 to 20-year-olds in poker games.
The change takes effect on June 1 at 12:01 a.m.
The casino has 15 poker tables and will not have a financial stake in the poker games but hopes the games will attract more customers to the casino.
Players under 21 will be required to wear a security bracelet.
Viva Las Vegas at Sky Poker
Sky Poker is giving up to ten players the opportunity of a lifetime with their Viva Las Vegas promotion.
To give yourself a chance of winning one of Sky Poker’s $17,000 packages all you need to do is log in on a Wednesday night and qualify in one of the many different satellites on offer.
Each $17,000 package includes the following -
* Flights for 2 people
* 15 nights hotel stay in the heart of Las Vegas whilst the World Series of Poker 2008 Main Event takes place
* $10,000 Dollars to buy your way into the WSOP 2008 Main Event
* $2,000 spending money!
Turning Stone Resort & Casino Poker Boss Jason DiBenedetto
Turning Stone Resort & Casino poker boss Jason DiBenedetto may have a cure for those under 21 blues, the I’m-too young blahs among poker buffs.
It’s the fact a player only has to be 18 to play in the poker room at the mid-state New York resort owned by the Oneida Indian Nation near Syracuse.
“This for us is huge,” he says, noting that there is not another casino for about 200 miles in any direction. “We get a lot of the players that don’t have anywhere else to go because of the age factor, except to the Internet.”
For some of the Turning Stone’s bigger events, players come to the casino’s poker room from all over the country, even the world.
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European Poker Tour (EPT) 4 Draws to a Close
The fourth season of the European Poker Tour is now over and a North American has won the Grand Final for the third year in a row. In 2006 19-year-old Jeff Williams triumphed over a field of 298 players to take down the first prize of 900,000 Euros. Last year the numbers dramatically increased to 706 and it was Gavin Griffin who walked away with the trophy and a prize of 1.8 million Euros.
This year the numbers were up again and online qualifier Glen Chorny, a 22-year-old from Canada, outlasted 841 other players to pocket the 2 million Euros first prize. Glen finished thirteenth in the Pokerstars.com Caribbean adventure earlier in the year and has been playing online professionally since January. He went into the eight-man final as chip leader, and with just three players left he held a massive advantage, which left Hungarian Denes Kalo and Maxime Villemure (another Canadian) to fight it out for second place.
Online Poker Cheater Mizzi is Sorry & Sponsored
If the name Sorel Mizzi rings a bell, it could be due to his online poker successes over the last several years as “Imper1um.” Or the name might sound familiar because of a cheating scandal that overshadowed his career in the late months of 2007.
Mizzi and former managing editor of Bluff Magazine Chris Vaughn were accused of seat selling, which involved Vaughn going deep in a Full Tilt tournament, then selling his seat to Mizzi who went on to win it for nearly $200,000. After the players’ initial denials of any wrongdoing, Full Tilt investigated, disqualified the winner, and banned both players from the site. Subsequently, Mizzi and Vaughn admitted to the cheating and apologized. On February 20, 2008, Betfair Poker, part of a betting exchange network located in the United Kingdom, announced that 21-year old Mizzi was the newest member of Team Betfair, a sponsored team of players that includes 2008 World Series of Poker Europe champion Annette Obrestad. Betfair does not accept U.S. players on its site and pegged the signing of Mizzi, not even six months after he admitted to cheating in an online tournament, as a proud accomplishment.
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America Online is offering six free WSOP seats
Internet provider America Online announced that it will be providing six seats to the World Series of Poker main event through online freerolls and games.com.
The freeroll poker tournaments will continue through June 15, with six lucky players going to Las Vegas in July.
According to online-casinos.com:
The AOL tournament will run over the course of six weeks. Each week, players will participate in free daily qualifying tournaments to earn their way to a Sunday winner-takes-all tournament. The winners will receive an entry and travel accommodations from within the United States to the 2008 World Series of Poker No-Limit Texas Hold’em Championship slated to begin July 3, 2008 at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
Online Casino Pays Out Largest-Ever Win
SportingBet last week went the extra mile to congratulate winning player Mr K Vasileiadis for his win on a €27 (£21) slot machine that netted him €940,966 (£748,290).
The generous casino flew Mr Vasileiadis to London, along with five of his friends and family, to toast his winnings and of course receive them. After, the lucky group were taken to lunch.
“This is a huge win and I am delighted for Mr. Vasileiadis,” said Sportingbet’s CEO. “He is a loyal and valued customer and I am sure he will enjoy spending the money.”
SportingBet was among the first online gaming companies in the world, and remains one of the largest today. The website is used by over 30 countries and celebrates its 10th birthday this year.
Mr Vasileiadis said that although the winnings will make a pleasant difference to his life he has no plans to leave his job. However, his fiancé said that their wedding would now likely be bigger and sooner than planned.
Titan Poker’s Upcoming Events
Asian Poker Tour Super Sat
Monday, May 19, 2008 at 20:00 GMT+1
Buy-ins = $250 + $18
Satellites from $3 + $0.30
$6,000 Prize Package
Four packages guaranteed!
Here is your LAST CHANCE to play poker in the Far East in this exciting tournament!
ECOOP VIP Satellite
Titan Poker and TonyGPoker
Thursday, May 22, 2008 at 20:30 GMT+1
Open to VIP players (Gold and up) who generate 10,000 Points between May 15 and May 20.
2 winners will get entries to ALL ECOOP II events ($3420 value each)
VIP players - don’t miss your chance for a quick entry to all ECOOP action. Earn at least 10,000 Points by the end of Tuesday!
ECOOP II #1 $250,000
Friday, May 23, 2008 at 19:00 GMT+1
Buy-ins = $200 + $15
Satellites available
Hold’em No Limit
$250,000 in guaranteed prizes and an ECOOP II bracelet to the winner!
This is the first ECOOP II tournament - get into the action to win huge cash prizes!
New Players $2,000
Titan Poker and TonyGPoker
Tonight, May 23, 2008 at 20:00 GMT+1
Freeroll tournament to players who qualified during week of May 15-21.
Eligible players have been notified.
New Players $800
Titan Poker and TonyGPoker
Tonight, May 23, 2008 at 20:00 GMT+1
Freeroll tournament to players who qualified during week of May 15-21.
Eligible players have been notified.
ECOOP II #2 $100,000 R/A
Saturday, May 24, 2008 at 19:00 GMT+1
Buy-ins = $100 + $9
Satellites available
Pot Limit Omaha Hi Lo Rebuy
$100,000 in guaranteed prizes and an ECOOP II bracelet to the winner!
This is an exciting ECOOP II tournament - get into the action to win huge cash prizes!
WSOP Side Events Super Sat
Saturday, May 24, 2008, at 20:05 GMT+1
Buy-ins = $200 + $15
Satellites from $2.50 + $0.20
$6,500 Prize Package
Winner(s) will receive entry to two World Series of Poker No Limit Hold’em events in Las Vegas!
Find great action at Titan Poker
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