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PokerTek Gets Backing

Back in August, ICP had made a first investment in PokerTek when they bought the 565,000 shares of common stock for the price of 85 cents per share. Now, news has it that ICP Electronics Inc. was the one to buy the 120,000 shares of its common stock that were available for the price of 90 cents per share.

ICP Electronics, the company based in Taipei was founded back in 1997. Its company aim is to market and sell its products and services to those companies specialising in electronics and technology.

The software-development company PokerTek markets electronic tables for up to 10 players for the standard Texas Hold ’Em game. Their systems, such as PokerPro work on dealing cards and keeping the statistical information on the games played. They also display them on private screens to their players and showing the general information on a large screen in the centre of the table while enabling the customers to set up accounts for betting.

Such a system is intended to increase the casino revenue by elevating the number of hands made per the hour and thus dropping the overall poker rooms HR and human related costs.

Student loans being gambled away

When it comes to problem gambling, students are the new high on research statistics with many gambling away their student loans in the name of the game. This new research has been drawn up by a charity organisation Gamcare, which has been dealing with various gambling addicts. In fact it seems that more than a third of the people they deal with are actually students and at a young age between 18 and 25.

Director of Student Services at the University of Lincoln, Judith Carey commented; “Students receive their loans and then play games like poker as they think that it is a game of skill, but can quickly get themselves into financial trouble as gambling can often get out of hand.” Carey has stated that she is faced with many students who are suffering from financial problems as a result of gambling.

This trend is definitely on the increase. Gamcare’s Adrian Scarf says; “Young people enjoy the buzz of gambling and over a period of time they might have fun, but the house always wins.” Scarf sees poker as becoming a consistent problem amongst young people, due to the media and constant appealing online promotions.

In fact many are seeing the internet world as being the perfect habitat for these addictions as it fuels the gambling problems, moreover attracting and enticing gamblers to stay home and gamble on their own night after night.

Many students are seeing online poker as an easy way to make money while being at school or Uni. What starts out as a hobby soon becomes an addiction with many of them losing control over their self judgement and not knowing when to stop. With just 10 % of all gambling addicts actually reaping a profit, this becomes a dangerous game of chance with the probability of losing tournaments being the likelihood event. Many of these students cannot keep affording playing online, which results in them dipping into their own students’ loans and wanting more money.

As a result of this, Student Services are now dealing with many people who have reached financial problems after various gambling sessions. Not many students go to GamCare directly asking for help but the need is soon apparent when Student Services get so many requests for the extension of student loans.

According to Gamcare; Gambling in moderation is key and knowing when to stop is essential ut not always easy to practice. In need of help, Gamcare do offer advice on their website www.gamcare.org.uk as well as Student Support who offer help and guidance when in need of managing student finances.

Giancarlo Fisichella acts for PartyPoker in hometown Italy

Party Poker have just entered into an agreement with Formula 1 Italian front man Giancarlo Fisichella. The latter will be representing Party Poker through Italy, together with PartyPoker’s new “pro” poker team of players. This mixed team’s goal is to further establish the game around the world.

Giancarlo Fisichella is not part of the poker pros, but known worldwide as one of the more famous Formula1 drivers. He drives under Ferrari’s branch currently standing in for Felipe Massa after the accident he had earlier on this year.

Party Poker will be promoting their brand as number 1, most recognized online gaming company in the world. Given the way things work in Italy when it comes to poker legislations, Fisichella was the perfect fit to attract the Italian media and promote PartyPoker.

During the Sports Challenge IV filming back in June this year Giancarlo Fisichella had already represented Party Poker with the latter seeing potential in this business relationship. Fisichella is known for his friendly and sympathetic nature but also for his fearless attitude while racing at top gas and while playing poker tables.

Fisichella is not the first sportman who likes his poker game, such as former English national football striker Teddy Sheringham who won some poker tournaments and participated in the the World Series of Poker Europe and European Poker Tour London. This also goes for tennis star Boris Becker, Swede hockey star Mats Sundin, powerboat racer Sami Selio, Dutch Fatima Moreira de Melo and French rugby superstar Sebastien Chabal. All the above have been contracted through PartyPoker to represent their evergrowing brand.

With still many sports legends out there, one is to wonder who will get the next contract with Party Poker, PokerStars or FullTilt. All this sports with poker partnerships means more media coverage and exposure for the poker game with all the online operators reaping on the result.

Fr. Andrew Trapp is the “Poker Playing Priest”

Fr. Andrew Tapp, a.k.a The Poker Playing Priest will be appearing on PokerStars.net in an aim to win the Million Dollar Challenge. He will be showing his poker skills hoping to win in aid of the service of building of new Church building. This building will be the new Church where Fr. Andrew and the Pastor will be celebrating Holy Mass if the plan succeeds.

All his winnings will be donated to the building fund. The show will be aired on Sunday, Oct. 11, directly after NFL on FOX coverage when Father Trapp will be joining the other qualifiers from around the country hoping to win the grand prize of $1,000,000 in the PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge.

Fr Andrew commented;

‘Even if I didn’t win any money, it would be an opportunity for people across the country to see that there are still young men choosing to be priests, and that one can be joy-filled and have fun as one serves God. Poker is one of my hobbies. I play it with family and friends. It’s a way for people to come together, have fun and enjoy each other’s company. There’s no moral issue.’

When questioned, he quoted that the Catechism of the Catholic Church has addressed the issue of games of chance such as Poker clearly in Par. 2413: “Games of chance (card games, etc.) or wagers are not in themselves contrary to justice. They become morally unacceptable when they deprive someone of what is necessary to provide for his needs and those of others. The passion for gambling risks becoming an enslavement. Unfair wagers and cheating at games constitute grave matter, unless the damage inflicted is so slight that the one who suffers it cannot reasonably consider it significant.”

The locals of the St. Michael Catholic Church parish in Garden City, South Carolina are all supporting and praying for their “Poker Playing Priest” and have come to view him as a local celebrity. They have given him the nickname of “Father Rambo” due to his poker skills as well as in paintball.

28 year old, Father Trapp was ordained to the order of Priest in 2007 and is known for his energy, love for the Lord and joy in his priestly ministry to the faithful. He started playing poker with family and friends and then heard about the PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge game show. He then considered entering a specially designated online tournament at PokerStars.net.

This was followed by his entry video, which can be viewed below

The Church Pastor and his Bishop, the Most Rev. Robert Guglielmone gave Father Trapp their blessing and the latter flew to Los Angeles. Armed with his own skill, his prayers and many faithful supporters, the priest will also be coached by four-time WSOP bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu.

The next step is to beat one of the celebrities in an opening round “heads up” match and if that goes well, he would then progress to face off against a Team PokerStars.net Pro for a chance at winning $25,000.00.

News update on Pitbull Poker Scandal

Pitbull Poker, the online poker website has finally released an official announcement following all the rumours and closure of operations. The announcement was a direct call to all their players –

“It is with great sadness that we have closed Pitbull Poker. To cash out your balance, please e-mail support@pitbullpoker.com.”

This triggered off the Pitbull players and the online poker circuit in general. Besides this clear announcement, there was also the following – “Pitbull Poker recommends the following Gaming Websites” and this was followed by a recommendation of five affiliate banners for other online gambling websites and poker networks. These recommended sites include Cake Poker and PokerStars.

Pitbull Poker was viewed by many as the biggest operator on the network with competitors such as BetEd, BetCascade, PlayFast, 5Dimes and Golden Arch Poker.

Many wrote in the forums following this online poker news and even more speculations started off. It started to seem like the owners, Baronowski and CO are doing this with the aim of maybe raising funds through these affiliate referrals in order to pay players. We will know more about this soon…

The independent online poker site monitor, PokerScout had already announced that no action was taking place on the network and Flash Poker Network.com, the host for Pitbull also did not elaborate further on the operation on goings. Flash Poker Network was founded in 2004 in San Jose, Costa Rica and now holds their offices in San Pedro. Unfortunately the future of this network is not secure anymore but hopefully they will get back to business. To their credit, they are the ones who developed the Flash instant-play technology that includes both multi-lingual and multi-currency facilities. 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo, 7 Card Stud, Omaha Hi/Lo, Omaha, and Texas Hold’em.

Daniel Negreanu bashing UltimateBet on Radio Show

Daniel Negreanu, who is a Team PokerStars player was invited to the Hardcore Poker Show to make a response to a statement by Phil Hellmuth on the show. Negreanu started out with some good old trash talk about Hellmuth’s sponsor UltimateBet.

“Personally i don’t think they should exist anymore considering what happened at UltimateBet. I don’t feel we owe them any favors.”

The statement by Phil Hellmuth that made Negreanu so upset was related to Harrah’s opening their own online poker room.

We at Onine Poker News have to agree with Daniel on the point that a person like Phil Hellmuth should have no right to speak up against Harrah’s trying to get in to the online poker industry while still being part of one of the most shady poker rooms ever.

EPT bans Luke “FullFlush1” Schwartz

The European Poker Tour has reportedly banned out poker pro Luke “_FullFlush1” Schwartz from the remaining season of the EPT. The only initial reason he was in the tournament was because his friend Eddie Hearn had put in a good word for him and got him to enter the event but this did not last long.

Schwartz was participating in an attempt to win the Main Event but only made it to Day 2 play before he lost the tournament. He then proceeded to go and get a sandwich but then complained when it was time to pay. He kept insisting that he was entitled to a free sandwich as he regarded himself as a VIP customer. The casino did not agree to this and the argument progressed till finally Schwartz was walked with security out of the venue and also told he would be banned from all remaining EPT events for this season.

It seems like this was not a first for Schwartz as he was also banned from other multiple poker venues such as the Vic Casino in London because of his controversial attitude and after he refused to take off his hat. He was also banned from using the Full Tilt Poker chat feature after he passed some nasty comments online.

He is known for being very outspoken like when he made snide remarks about poker pro Tom “durrrr” Dwan. Schwartz said he disliked Dwan because he seems ‘geeky’ and ‘gay’. We wonder what is next for Luke Schwartz but we are sure this was not the last time his cockiness gets him into trouble.

Two New POKER Rooms Join Microgaming

Microgaming, well-known as the online gambling software and poker network provider is now establishing itself even stronger with its two new operators for its Microgaming Poker Network. These 2 new poker rooms are Mansion88 and 5050Poker.

The 5050Poker website and Microgaming venture is a joint response after there was such a high demand from the Microgaming players who wanted better player liquidity. Mattias Eriksson, Chief Executive commented, “Our players wanted the chance to play against a truly global opposition on a platform that offered improved game and tournament selection as well as greater liquidity. We listened to and acted on their demands and set about investigating a move to a software partner that would enable us to realise our ambitions for growth. Having thoroughly considered all available options, Microgaming was undoubtedly the best fit and we are convinced that operating within its Poker Network will prove a positive move for our player base.”

This new online poker operation is an added feature to Mansion88 who are based in the Philippines and focus on the Asian gaming and already have various quality gaming entertainment services. Mansion88’s company’s poker director commented, “Microgaming’s excellent customer support and local presence made the decision to appoint them as our software provider very easy. By working together, I believe we can continue to raise our profile within the rapidly growing Asian markets; we look forward to a long and successful partnership.”

Microgaming is based on the Isle of Man and has been very successful recently with a record achieved for its Bad Beat Jackpot. CEO Roger Raatgever, was quoted: “Our ability to provide poker in more languages than any other network is crucial in helping our operators grow, and our partnership will enable both operators to cement their position as leading brands within their respective markets.”

Pitbull Poker situation deteriorates

Many already know Pitbull Poker was defunct with their offices closing and the company CEO placed under arrest. Further to this; they have reportedly done shady things against their customers, players who are now seriously considering taking legal action against them.

The company had allegedly utilized superuser account in clients’ money and the company executives had hastily closed up shop with the CEO placed under arrest as well as charged with fraud.

Last week some employees said they saw Kevin Baronowski, a manager high up at Pitbull, together with some other guy “Jordan” taking computers out of the Costa Rican headquarters and were consequently taken away by police once the police were informed. After this Pitbull stopped showing up online and no games were running.

Many playing customers have been ripped off and are now searching legal action with many having lost from $250 till $7500. Amongst them is “JC Hawk” who reportedly lost $100,000 on the Pitbull site. Many said this amount might be exaggerated and amounts have not been confirmed.

Meanwhile, the former employees who have not been paid are also planning to sue the company. People close to the company like former manager Brenes commented; “From what I heard, it was shut down. There was a rumor that it was back, but it’s shut down. Never a partner, associate, director, or in any way related to the ownership of Pitbull Poker, Pitbull Casino, or Pitbull Partners. I was an employee hired to manage the network and support operations in whatever [ways] necessary.”

Brenes has in fact denied being involved in all this and that he was not included in the financial sector of the company. Pitbull is an international company which means getting a legal finalisation will take long; more news will follow.

Pokerstars breaks one more record

September 6th marks a new record in online gaming as PokerStars is trying to set a new first. The schedule involves 307 016 individuals playing simultaneously on a set 42 814 virtual tables.

PokerStars already broke the Guinness Book of Records a while ago and they will now overtake their own set record by over 100 000 players. PokerStars.com also holds the current world record for the largest played ever online and land-based poker tournaments back in July when they were host to 65 000 players during one single tournament.

PokerStars is already renowned for being the leading and world’s biggest online poker site at the moment and plans to set a new record while highlighting the continuous increase and demand for online gaming and it s international popularity.

They are also showing to the online world how technologically advanced and capable their software is as it deals with over 300 000 players simultaneously. PokerStars currently boasts a global membership of over 27 million players and has revealed that through the years they have dealt an astounding 33+ billion hands of poker since their official launch in 2001.

Right now all new players who enter the PokerStars marketingcode during the signup process will get up to $600 for free. There has never been a better time to join the largest online poker room in the world.

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