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GTECH G2 Side Games Added to PKR.comOnline poker rooms have realized that by offering their players additional games on the side it will add to their appeal and keep their players from moving to other sites. PKR.com, the Alderney-licensed three-dimensional online poker site has, therefore, sealed a deal with interactive gaming software and services provider GTECH G2 in terms of which it will join more than 40 other sites, including Unibet.com, Ladbrokes.com, BetClic.com and Bwin.com to provide the online poker site with a wide range of instant side games. GTECH G2 is the interactive subsidiary of GTECH Corporation which is one of the leading American gaming technology and services firms. All GTECH G2’S instant-play miniature and side games are developed by its UK-based Dynamite Idea team. Players at PKR.com are now able to offer their players a selection of at least 20 different and exciting instant play mini and side games which are bound to keep them entertained for hours. These titles include three of the provider’s most popular instant-win side games, Aces High, Triple Chance Hi-Lo and Casino Dice as well as keno, slots, Bar X games and many others. Speaking on behalf of PKR.Com, the site’s Chief Executive Officer, Malcolm Graham said "We've found that many poker players enjoy side games as a great way to pass the time when they're between hands or waiting for a tournament table to fill up”. We're sure that providing top quality instant play and instant win miniature games will increase our customers' playing time and increase player value," he added. "We chose G2's games because they are simply some of the best performing games available." PKR.com was the winner of the Poker Operator of the Year at the eGaming Review Awards Ceremony that took place in London recently, beating many contenders that included Party Gaming, 888 and William Hill Online. The online poker site was launched in 2004.

PKR.com, the Alderney-licensed three-dimensional online poker site has, therefore, sealed a deal with interactive gaming software and services provider GTECH G2 in terms of which it will join more than 40 other sites, including Unibet.com, Ladbrokes.com, BetClic.com and Bwin.com to provide the online poker site with a wide range of instant side games.

GTECH G2 is the interactive subsidiary of GTECH Corporation which is one of the leading American gaming technology and services firms.  All GTECH G2’S instant-play miniature and side games are developed by its UK-based Dynamite Idea team.

Players at PKR.com are now able to offer their players a selection of at least 20 different and exciting instant play mini and side games which are bound to keep them entertained for hours.   These titles include three of the provider’s most popular instant-win side games, Aces High, Triple Chance Hi-Lo and Casino Dice as well as keno, slots, Bar X games and many others.

Speaking on behalf of PKR.Com, the site’s Chief Executive Officer, Malcolm Graham said “We’ve found that many poker players enjoy side games as a great way to pass the time when they’re between hands or waiting for a tournament table to fill up”.  We’re sure that providing top quality instant play and instant win miniature games will increase our customers’ playing time and increase
player value,” he added.  “We chose G2’s games because they are simply some of the best performing games available.”

PKR.com was the winner of the Poker Operator of the Year at the eGaming Review Awards Ceremony that took place in London recently, beating many contenders that included Party Gaming, 888 and William Hill Online.

The online poker site was launched in 2004.

UK & IRELAND POKER TOUR GALWAY DELAYED

The PokerStars.com UK & Ireland Poker Tour Galway main event was due to commence on Thursday 2^nd December, 2010, in the west of Ireland kick-starting Season 11 of the Poker tour.

However, due to the “big freeze” that has hit many parts of northern Europe this week many airports and roads have been rendered impassible thus making it very difficult for those travelling to the event.  The season opening stop could therefore not get underway on the planned day and Kirsty Thompson, spokesperson for the United Kingdom & Ireland Poker Tour revealed that due to the severe weather conditions including very heavy snowfall, they had no option but to postpone the event.

Thompson apologized for having postponed the event by one day but stated that it was the most sensible and fair option because many of their players would have had tremendous difficulty reaching Galway on time for the schedule.

As a gesture of goodwill to all those players who had braved the cold weather and managed to arrive in Ireland on time PokerStars held a €10,000 freeroll in the main tournament area at the Radison Blu Hotel, Galway on Thursday for all the players who had registered in the main event.

The PokerStars-sponsored second season of the tour was due to play out between 2^nd December to 5^th December and the four-day €1,000-€100 buy-in Main Event will in all probability still attract the finest poker players from all over the continent with a €250,000 guaranteed prize pool being offered.  Play was due to kick-off at midday on Friday, 3^rd December, 2010 at 12 pm with the final table set to end on Monday, 6^th December, 2010.

The UK & Ireland Poker Tour offer big prize pools, tournament titles and seats for the London Grand Final are up for grabs at every event and Season 11 is bound to be a huge event.

Second WSOP Bracelet for Sale this month on eBay

A second piece of sporting history is currently up for grabs on eBay after $1,500 Razz World Series of Poker (WSOP) winner’s bracelet that was won by American player Paul “Eskimo” Clark in 1999 was put up for sale on online auction site eBay.com.

Earlier this month former World Series of Poker Main Event winner, Peter Eastgate, put his 2008 championship bracelet, featuring 291 diamonds, up for auction.  This WSOP bracelet was sold via the leading online auction site for $147,500.

Clarke’s gold bracelet is currently available on eBay for $2,800 and bids on this unique and collectable piece of poker memorabilia will be accepted from now until the auction ends on 1^st December at ten o’clock in the morning Los Angeles time.  The bracelet weighs 117.1 grams and is about eight and one-quarter inches in length.  It does not, however, feature 291 diamonds like Peter Eastgate’s bracelet and has only the words “World Series of Poker 1999” on the face.  It is, therefore, unlikely that it will fetch anywhere near the $147,500 that the Dane’s diamond-encrusted bracelet was eventually sold for.

A statement from the unnamed seller, who is listed as being based in Donegal, Ireland on the popular auction site read “This is an exquisite piece of gold jewelry that rarely comes on the market”.

Peter Eastgate plans to donate the proceeds from the sale of his gold and diamond championship bracelet to the children’s charity UNICEF.

Although Eastgate originally listed the bracelet at $16,000 the online auction, that attracted 116 bids, sold the bracelet that is made from 168 grams of 18-karat white gold and 291 diamonds for $147,500.

24-year-old, Eastgate, from Denmark, earned the bracelet together with $9.15 million for topping a field 6,843 players during a $10,000 buy-in No Limited holdem World Championship held in 2008.  Eastgate has since retired from poker.

PokerStars.com Restricts Chinese Players

PokerStars, the world’s most popular online poker room, has announced that it has recently taken a drastic move by placing new restrictions to limit Chinese players’ access to the website in an attempt to curtail collusion between players in China.

Chinese players will in future not be permitted to play in the same sit-and-go tournaments together and only one single China-based player at a time will be allowed to play on a ring game table in order to prevent conspiracies among cheats.

This drastic move has been taken by PokerStars after experiencing huge problems with Chinese players conspiring amongst each other and the site has sent out an email to all its players in China, advising that the new restrictions would be implemented on all players from that part of the world, with immediate effect.

The casino uncovered a similar conspiracy involving China-based players at its double-or-nothing games a few months ago after which it instituted a similar rule.  This resulted in PokerStars being forced to refund their clients’ accounts with over $2.1 million in order to compensate affected players.

PokerStars has advised its players based in China that they are able to play at any ring game that they wish but that once they are seated, no other player from their country will be allowed to join the table and if any other player from their country is already seated, they will not be able to join that particular table until they leave.  Players were also advised that PokerStars regretted the inconvenience caused but that this new policy has been implemented in order to enhance the reputability of the games.

PokerStars.com is one of the most popular and top quality poker sites in the market today.  It provides the highest level of customer service and offers a superb online poker experience as well as the most tournament and game variety and traffic on the net.

Peter Eastgate Auctions off WSOP Bracelet

Peter Eastgate, the former professional poker player, made an announcement last week that he intended auctioning off the bracelet that he won at the 2008 World Series of Poker.

The 25 year-old Dane has already put the bracelet up for auction on eBay and some die-hard poker fans are not exactly happy about the situation as they feel that it is a complete disregard for this World Series of Poker bracelet.

However, Eastgate has revealed that although he is still extremely proud of his title he never wears the bracelet as he does not ever wear any jewelry and thought that by auctioning the bracelet and watches and giving a hundred percent of the profits to UNICEF, a lot more people will hopefully benefit from the jewelry.

The bracelet has a reserve price of $16,000 and anyone interested has until 25^th November to place a bit at eBay.com.  The bracelet is described as a “unique piece” that is made from 180-carat white gold “paved with 291 diamonds on the face” with the words “World Series of Poker 2008” hand-painted in silver alongside suits of black and red cards.

There have already been 39 bids on the item, with a current top bid of $45,100.00.

Peter Eastgate was the youngest player ever to win a World Series of Poker main event bracelet and managed to hold onto that title for a year until Joe Cada broke the record in 2009.   Eastgate has amassed more than $11 million in live poker tournament winnings, thanks mostly to the World Series of Poker and he enjoyed more success after the 2008 World Series of Poker main event by coming in 2^nd place at the London Open Poker Stars EPT – Season 6, when he won over $1.3 million and has during this year won almost $300,000 in live poker tournaments.
 

Bet365 Offers Beginners’ Races

Bet365 Poker knows how daunting online poker can sometimes seem to new players and the Poker Room is therefore giving those players who join Bet365 Poker five free chances to win a share of $2,500 in exclusive Beginners’ Races.

Bet365 Poker has specifically designed the Beginners’ Races for new players so as to enable them to sit down at the tables and find themselves playing with other fresh faces.  The Beginners’ Races are limited to tables with maximum stakes of £/$/€ 0.25/0.50.  Players at these tables will therefore not need a huge sum of money in their account in order to get involved and can pick up a lovely top price of $150 if they should succeed in winning a race.

In order to be eligible to win a prize from one of the Beginners’ Races, players are required to open an account and thereafter Opt in to this promotion by visiting the relevant page at the Bet365 Poker website.  This will enable players to be automatically entered into the current race and participate in the next four Beginners’ Races.  Therefore, players who are unable to win on their first attempt are able to have another try as soon as they please.

All raked hands that are played at qualifying tables in any of the Beginners’ Races at Bet365 Poker will be monitored and the 100 participants who have played the most raked hands will win cash prizes, which will be awarded as follows:-

 1^st place wins $150

 2^nd place wins $135

 3^rd place wins $120

 4^th place wins $105

 5^th place wins $90

 6^th place wins $80

 7^th place wins $70

 8^th place wins $60

 9^th place wins $50

10^th place wins $40

11^th to 20^th place wins $30

21^st to 40^th place wins $25

41^st to 60^th place wins $20

61^st to 100^th place wins $10

Players have an opportunity to win a prize in all five of the Beginners’ Races as there is no limit to the number of prizes that can be won.

2011 Tournament Schedule Released by Grosvenor UK Poker Tour

The 2010 Grosvenor UK Poker Tour is almost nearing its conclusion with the £1,000 Main Event in Blackpool having just ended, the Grand Final taking place between 18^th and 28^th November 2010 and the Champion of Champions Festival ending the tour between 1^st and 5^th December 2010.

Meanwhile, the organizers of the 2011 Grosvenor UK Poker Tour, the UK’s biggest poker tour, have already announced the monthly dates across Britain and Ireland. 

The 2011 season will kick off with a seven-day £1,000 Main Event in Manchester early next year.  Other £1,000 Main Events will take place at Walsall, Blackpool, Coventry and Luton between April and November 2011.

Following the great success of the “Summer Series” of events earlier this year, the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour has confirmed that this event will be repeated next year.  The small buy-in events and twin location caused poker frenzy across the UK and attracted huge numbers and guaranteed prize pools.

The first stop of the series will be held in Brighton and Dundee between May 12 and May 15 followed by further legs in Bolton and Plymouth in June and Sheffield and Southampton in July.  The Grosvenor UK Poker Tour has also announced that the first poker tournament date, namely the £1,000 Main Event, will take place in November 2011.

London will host a £1,500 Main Event at the London Victoria in March and the showpiece £2,500 Grand Final will take place later in the year.  The two week event will also feature a £2,500 World Heads Up Championship that will be played out between November 21 and November 4.

The Grosvenor UK Poker Tour organizers have also confirmed that there will be an extra £200,000 offered in prize money and that the highest finishers on a newly implemented leader-board will also receive a £75,000 bonus.  Participants can earn points at all the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour Main Events and other important side events.

Scotty Nguyen gives his view on Modern Poker Players

Scotty Nguyen, five time winner of the World Series of Poker bracelet and repeat poker hall of fame nominee, has revealed that he feels as though the new generation of poker players rely too much on luck instead of on skill.

Nguyen claims that there are many different ways that people are playing Hold’em Poker today compared to the game that was played back in the old days when everyone played “right”.  At present there are numerous people playing on luck rather than on skill and in the process they are taking many more chances.  He does not feel that this change affects him as much as it does the other players and said “To me it really doesn’t matter because I love the challenge.” 

The Vietnamese-born poker legend added that he is not afraid of the new generation and on the contrary, they fear him.  He added that one cannot beat the game if you fear someone but you can beat the game if they fear you.

Scotty Nguyen was born in Vietnam and fled to Taiwan at the age of 11 where he spent almost 3 years living in a refugee camp while waiting for a sponsor family from the United States.  He arrived in the U.S. at the age of 14 and was introduced to casino poker in Southern California after taking a job as a poker dealer in order to make ends meet.  Scotty observed the winners and losers and learned a lot from them.  He soon established himself as a formidable player by using his skill and new-found knowledge.

Scotty has since accumulated over $11,250,000.00 in live poker winnings and 47 1^st place finishes under his belt.  He has also cashed in over 250 live tournaments and amongst his many other wins, holds 5 W.S.O.P bracelets.  He currently resides in Las Vegas and communicates on a daily basis with his fans on Twitter.

PKR Signs Up 4 Millionth Player

Next generation poker site PKR.com reached a very significant milestone last week when it signed up its 4 millionth member making it one of the most popular online poker rooms available in the United Kingdom.

PKR.com was launched in August 2006 and despite having extended their services over the years to include live events and raising the bar for online poker graphics that resulted in every growing demand, the site has always been able to provide its customers with high quality entertainment and superior customer service.

Yet another highlight of PKR.com was the launch of its French site PKR.FR a few months ago as well as the release of its biggest software updates since its’ launch.

Simon Prodger, Marketing Director for PKR.com stated that this is a great accomplishment for them and a real achievement especially in view of the fact that they do not take players from the USA.  He added that it has been a great year for PKR.com and they look forward to celebrating many more milestones in the future.

The London Calling Poker Festival Main Event started on Thursday 4^th November and was held at the Fox Poker Club in London’s Shaftesbury Avenue, in association with PKR.  Buy-in to the two day main events was £300 + £25 entrance fee.  Amongst those who booked their seats to the event was Scott Shelley, the recent WSOPE bracelet winner and former PKR employee, turned PKR Pro and Hendon Mob’s Barney Boatman.

On 12^th November PKR will return to the Fox Poker Club for the beginning of PKR Live V which is a two day main event that starts on 13^th November.  The event officially kicks off on Friday 12^th with a PKR Live Drinks Reception.

In order to enter the PKR Live V main event, players are required to qualify online at PKR.  Satellites start from as little as under $5.

PKR.com is currently offering an incredibly generous 100% bonus to new players on their first deposits up to $800.

New Software Update Released at PartyPoker

Party Poker, one of the biggest poker rooms in the world recently revealed that it has released a software update featuring some stimulating concepts. 

“Show a Card” and “Rabbit Hunting” have been introduced to the site as well as anonymous heads-up tables which gives players an opportunity to play poker without an avatar or moniker, thus preventing any previous history or statistics being available to an opponent.  Those online players utilizing poker software tools such as Holdem Manager and PokerTracker will not have access to any of their opponent’s details allowing the playing field for non-software users to be leveled.

Unlike playing in a brick-and-mortar casino the anonymous heads-up tables concept does not give players a chance to ever know who they are competing against which is a welcome change for those players who have turned into multi-tabling robots who know every statistic.

Two other new features added to the PartyPoker site are “Rabbit Hunting” and “Show a Card” which both add lots of enjoyment for the casual as well as for the serious player. 

“Rabbit Hunting” is an exciting addition to PartyPoker that was originally made available on the Merge Gaming Network. Players get a chance to see what the following card on the board would have been with this feature and even though the card does not change the result of the hand, it manages to add some intrigue to the game.

Many high-stakes games appearing on television as well as some brick-and-mortar card rooms worldwide have the “Show a Card” option and PartyPoker players will now have the ability to turn over one card during heads-up play so as to play mind games with an opponent.  This tactic is very popular as players are unable to ascertain whether their opponent is bluffing or on a draw and knowing one’s opponent’s hole cards can be both helpful and confusing.