At The Races Rolls Out Online Casino, Poker Sites
British racing and betting channel At The Races on Wednesday announced the launch of a Web site that it hopes will become the No. 1 online casino and poker room destination for European race bettors. Licensed in Alderney and powered by gaming software company Wagerworks, At The Races Casino (www.attheracescasino.com) offers over 50 non-download games with a 100 percent signup bonus. Users can play for real money or for fun.
WPT Hits $100 Million Mark
In just under three years since hosting its first tournament, the World Poker Tour has crossed the $100 million mark in prize money. Steve Lipscomb, president and founder of WPT Enterprises, Inc. called it a "truly astonishing" success story. "We have lifted poker from a backroom game to a sport that is churning out a whole new generation of respected professional players making their living by competing in our tournaments around the world," Lipscomb said. "One hundred million dollars is just a mind-boggling number, and it sends a message that the WPT and poker are here to stay. If you look back at the PGA, it took more than 30 years to reach $100 million in prize money."
Londoncasino.com Goes Live
Malta-based Vegas Interactive this month launched Londoncasino.com, a CWC Gaming-powered online casino featuring live dealers, real cards and real tables. It takes advantage of speedier broadband connections and streams enhanced video and audio over the Internet from a live supervised gaming floor located in Costa Rica.
Golden Palaces Testicular Feat
Continuing with its tradition of unique purchases through online auction site eBay, Golden Palace has announced that it was the high bidder in an auction to be named the king and queen of the Conconully Testicle Festival. GP won the auction with a high bid of $1,225 and will become royalty at the festival, held in Conconully, Washington. The package includes a private chalet for three nights, royal crowns, a gift basket from local merchants, all meals for three days, a pontoon party boat ride for six, four event shirts, paddle boats and more.
Bluff Magazine on the Air
Bluff Magazine has debuted a new radio show available through Sports Byline USA and Sirius Satellite Radio. "The Bluff Magazine Poker Hour" airs every Wednesday at 9 p.m. EST and includes news, insight and interviews from the world of poker. The show is hosted by poker enthusiast and sports radio/television personality Nick Geber and long-time poker player Dirty Wally and caters to the burgeoning nationwide enthusiasm for the sport. It also goes out on the American Forces Radio Network, supporting U.S. troops around the world.
Liebert Joins Forces with Party Poker
Fresh on the heels of a victory in a made-for-TV Battle of the Sexes poker tournament, Kathy Liebert has been introduced as the official spokeswoman of PartyPoker.com. Liebert prevailed over 11 men and women in GSN's "Poker Royale: Battle of the Sexes," claiming a $100,000 first prize and female supremacy in a traditionally male bastion. She assumes her roll of spokeswoman just in time for "PartyPoker.com Million IV," which will take place on a ship cruising the Mexican Riviera. The tournament, which will include Liebert and 750 other hopefuls vying for a prize purse in excess of $7 million, is being filmed for the World Poker Tour on Travel Channel.
Poker in Paradise
ParadisePoker.com says its first ever "Masters Online Championship," held March 1-6, was a huge success. The weeklong celebration featured a series of tournaments and events in which players competed for cash and prizes. The highlight was a No Limit Texas Hold'em tournament with a prize pool valued well over $1 million. Preliminaries took place exclusively online, and 10 finalists were flown to a mystery paradise location to play the remainder of the tournament face-to-face.
ESPN's Poker Club
ESPN has debuted "ESPN Poker Club," a multifaceted poker initiative spanning ESPN.com, ESPN Wireless, ESPN Books and ESPN Enterprises, the company's new business development arm. The first stage commenced with the club's debut at ESPN.com, which includes the network's new free online poker game. In coming months the network will launch a wireless poker game; a poker-related book from ESPN Books by syndicated poker columnist Steve Rosenbloom; DVDs of the 2004 World Series of Poker and the ESPN Original Entertainment series "TILT"; and a line of high-end poker-related consumer products.
Yahoo Denies Plans for Poker Site
Yahoo! adamantly denies recent rumors that it has plans to launch a real-money online poker room. Representatives for Yahoo! UK told Reuters that the company has not started development of a real-money poker site and has no plans to launch anything of that nature during 2005. The company insists there are no plans to launch any poker product beyond its current play-for-fun offering. This position could change, however, if the UK Gambling Bill succeeds in becoming law before May. The new law would create a licensing regime for Internet gambling.