Online Tourney -- PokerStars.com's World Championship of Online Poker has recently concluded, distributing more than $13 million in prize money to 1,972 competitors. The 15-day event featured a different poker tournament each day and attracted a total of 19,727 people from 82 different countries. The entry fee for the final event—No-limit Texas Hold 'em—was $2,500, but many players won their fees through satellite tournaments with $5.50 entry fees while others won seats by winning tournaments that were entered with accumulated "player points." The top prize of $577,342 for the main event went to "Panella86" from Pennsylvania.
E-mail Marketing -- RedEye, a UK-based electronic customer relations management agency, will extend its segmentation and event-driven e-mail technology to bookmaker William Hill, which plans to use an e-mail marketing campaign to promote and increase conversion rates at its online casino. RedEye will segment William Hill's website visitor database by analyzing visitors' behavioral and transaction histories. It will then tailor different e-mails to target the different types of customers. For example, existing sports bettors may be encouraged to use the online casino, instant play casino players may be encouraged to download the full games, and players who have downloaded the casino software but not yet played will be encouraged to begin playing. Redeye will then use e-mail reporting and campaign measurement tools to determine whether or not the recipient of each mail undertook the desired action.
Floater -- The Philippine Stock Exchange intends to privatize the country's state-owned gambling monopoly operator Pagcor (Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation) through a combination of an initial public offering and a sale of shares to a strategic investor. Speaking during a Congressional hearing on Pagcor's charter, the PSE's President Francis Lim, stated that a Pagcor IPO would attract both local and foreign investors and would therefore serve as a catalyst to greater activity in the capital market. He also pointed out that it would subject the corporation to more transparency and good corporate governance practices and provide a good precedent for other government-owned and controlled corporations. A Pagcor float could raise an estimated US$1.4 billion for the Philippines national treasury.
Arrested -- David Safavian, who only last week resigned from his position as the Bush administration's top procurement official, has been
charged with making false statements and obstructing a U.S. federal investigation into dealings with lobbyist Jack Abramoff—- a major Republican fund-raiser who is under investigation for his role in paying for overseas trips for House Majority Leader Tom DeLay as well as for other federal offenses. Safavian a former chief of staff of the General Services Administration and Abramoff lobbying associate, allegedly concealed the fact that Abramoff sought to do business with the government when Safavian joined him on a golf trip to Scotland in 2002. Safavian is well-known to many in the I-gaming industry because he served as a lobbyist for the Interactive Gaming Council until 2001. At the moment, his involvement in lobbying on behalf of the I-gaming body appears to have no relevance to the case.
WPT Dispute -- WPT Enterprises has filed a law suit against the Travel Channel in a California Supreme Court in an attempt to keep the Travel Channel from interfering with WPTE's potential agreement with another broadcaster regarding WPTE's new television program, the Professional Poker Tour. According to WPTE, an agreement between WPTE and the Travel Channel gives the Travel Channel the right to a 60-day negotiation period with WPTE for any new programming it develops. After 60-days of unfruitful negotiating between WPTE and the Travel Channel, WPTE began discussions with other networks and eventually received an offer from another network. WPTE then submitted the deal to the Travel Channel because the Travel Channel retains a contractual last right to match the deal. The Travel Channel responded by issuing a letter stating that WPTE and the other broadcaster may not legally complete the deal. The Travel Channel's 15-day right to match the deal expires on September 27, and WPTE says it intends to enter an agreement with the other broadcaster if the Travel Channel does not accept the deal.
Quickies -- Sportsbook.com has signed an exclusive one-year gaming advertising deal with HOOTERS Magazine to begin displaying advertisements in the bi-monthly magazine… On October 15th, AbsolutePoker.com will hold a free "Win Your Tuition" Texas Hold'em tournament… French bookmaking monopoly PMU this week awarded its biggest prize ever-- 4.2 million euro (US$5.1 million) prize. The win came from PMU's Nouveau Quinte+ betting system.