Portals -- A new online poker portal called Poker Christa (www.pokerc.com ) allows visitors to post reviews of poker rooms so that players can better choose which sites are right for them. The site's administrator moderates reviews to ensure that only legitimate feedback is listed, and its staff plans to eventually review many online poker sites with a standard test. . . . A new U.K.-based bingo portal, OnlineBingo.co.uk, lists and reviews what it considers the best British bingo sites. The site features comparisons of bingo sites and makes distinctions between single-player and multi-player sites.
Poker Software -- Online poker software developer Full House Entertainment has finished the first phase of beta testing on Full House Poker V-1.3. The company says it has been generating interest in the software and obtaining feedback by directly contacting players on forums. Full House is on track for a full launch next month.
A Fleeting Branding Opportunity -- The owners of a stadium in Boston are seeking a new corporate naming rights partner, but for now they're auctioning off daily naming rights for what was formerly the Fleet Center on eBay. It should come as no surprise that GoldenPalace.com won the right to rename the stadium on Wednesday by bidding $35,099. By placing the winning bid, Golden Palace is allowed to put signage in the arena and on the jumbotron and to change the name on the arena's Web site and automated call center. . . assuming, of course, that the owners approve the name that the online gambling company chooses. In the last week Golden Palace has also won eBay auctions for ad space on the cleavage of two women (one is a size 42GG, the other a supermodel and ex-wife of baseball star Jeff Bagwell) and on the bellies of two pregnant women and one fat radio disc jockey.
Farewell -- Derek Jeffrey, the man appointed in July 2004 to lead the British Casino Association through a time of booming business under the new gambling bill, has resigned as chief executive of the organization. BCA chairman Penny Cobham said the job "no longer had the scope it promised last July. He would be presiding over a much reduced industry compared to what had been promised." The Association announced yesterday that it was embarking on a plan to kill the proposed U.K. Gambling Bill because it feels the policy is unfair to existing casinos.
Easy Office Pools -- A company called Rocketpool.com has launched a Web site that provides users with a free and easy way to create and manage office pools. The site sends out customized invitations and manages wagers, and after the pool is concluded it automatically calculates the pot and sends out notification of results to players.
CYOP Poker -- CYOP Systems International Inc., which develops online skill-games and services, is currently testing online multi-player systems for poker and bridge. CYOP says it will soon make the games available for cash play in jurisdictions such as the United Kingdom, where poker and bridge are considered games of skill rather than games of chance. The games will only be available on a play-for-fun basis in North America.
Patriot -- U.S. President George Bush asked Congress yesterday to renew the controversial Patriot Act because certain key elements of the bill are scheduled to expire at the end of the year. The Act was passed shortly after Sept. 11, 2001 to give law enforcement officials greater powers of surveillance and has faced much opposition from civil liberties groups and privacy advocates who claim it threatens personal freedoms.