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Blom is Back!

After taking a three-month break from poker, Swedish online poker phenomenon Vikto “Isildur1” Blom is back. After 21-year-old Blom disappeared back in September from PokerStars, rumors abounded about whether or not he had some dispute with the online poker site or had even possible moved to another site.

Others speculated that Blom had taken up with another Swede, sharing an online poker account, only to become elusive once again. Back in January of this year, Blom finally revealed his identity at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) after being unknown since his emergence on Full Tilt Poker in September of 2009.

None of this, however, was the case. Blom reappeared at the PokerStar tables to play mostly at the $100/$200 Pot-Limit Omaha games when he experienced a very successful 12-hour online poker session with no less fervor than before his sabbatical. He managed to successfully wrangle with Terken89, Jeans89, Phil Galfond, and FakeLove888 (rumored to be Patrik Antonius, famed Finnish online poker star. Blom also took $241K form VietRussian.
By the end of the session, Blom was up more than $600K.

Negreanu to Go on Poker Sabbatical

Canadian poker pro Daniel Negreanu recently expressed that he was physically and mentally drained after a two-month European trip in Europe, which ended with the EPT San Remo in which he busted out on Day 1a.

Negreanu wrote of this unfortunate loss, “I played good for the first three hours or so, then just collapsed and had no interest/energy to continue. I was spent, and played terribly, hoping to either get lucky and double up, or catch the next flight home. I can’t remember the last time I mailed in a tournament like that, but I just didn’t have it.”

Apparently his motivation is still lacking since returning home, still unfocused at the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic where he was knocked out on Day 2. So, in light of all of this, Negreanu has decided to take a break from poker and concentrate on himself. He currently does Bikram Yoga every day and is reading “A New Earth” by Eckhart Tolle, which he says, “advocates present moment awareness and the dismantling of the ego as the path towards awakened living.” He is also delving into some charity work for “Threesquare,” a Nevada charity with the purpose of feeding the hungry.

This year, Negreanu’s assessment of his tournament results includes six cashes that netted $1.5+ million, which he gained all but about $86K on two $100K buy-in events that he says were the “only two really good results in what was otherwise a bad year for me tournament wise.”

How long he’ll be breaking from poker is unknown, but hopefully he will be happier with his 2012 results after his poker sabbatical.

Google TV Adds Zynga Poker

Zynga Poker, with a current active membership of around 30 million players is now going to offer its online poker app to Google TV, as Google TV hopes to get more people utilizing the Web TV service.

The Zynga brand, which is home to the ever popular Farmville and Mafia Wars Facebook apps, is readying itself for a $900+ million public offering.

Google TV is no available on Blu-ray players, Sony TVs, and the Logitech Revue companion box, Google TV, owned by Google, is hoping to get more consumers on board with their recently added Android Market apps to their Google TV offerings. Zynga Poker is one of those Android-based platforms, and it is free to download.

Players of Zynga Poker can play Texas Hold ‘em with other players from around the world in tournaments and VIP tables. Much like other Facebook app games, players can send each other gifts such as poker chips, and they can chat together as well. Now by incorporating Google TV, the game becomes even more social and accessible. Users can also purchase other virtual items to increase their status and move up levels (like Farmville).

In a blog post published by Google, Zynga said, “Especially optimized for playing poker from the comfort of your own couch, Zynga Poker for Google TV features custom graphics and a new way to control the game with the Google TV remote. Up the ante and play Zynga Poker from just about anywhere, whether you’re commuting to work or taking a break to connect with friends.”

Zynga Poker was added to its Google+ Games last August, along with 15 other initial launches. Google invested at least $100 million into Zynga in hopes that users would spend more time on their social network and off of Facebook.

MGM Resorts Cracks Down on Trademarked Domain Names

Website domain names circuscircuspoker.com, luxorpoker.com, bellagioonlinepoker.com, ariapoker.com, mandalaybayonlinepoker.com, excaliburpoker.com, and mgmpoker.com were registered back in 2002 and 2005, but MGM Resorts International is now taking legal action to sue the two companies and four individuals for trademark infringement.

In efforts to avoid confusion in the future should online poker become regulated and legalized in the US, MGM is cleaning house ahead of time to eradicate these websites.

The lawsuit claims that MGM casino names used in the domain names are widely recognized due to the billions of dollars MGM has spent to promote and advertise their brands, and the defendants are attempting to benefit from MGM’s investment. According to the suit filed, the companies and individuals who registered these domain names had the intention of profiting off of the “substantial fame, goodwill and consumer recognition” of the land-based casinos owned by MGM.

The suit goes on to say, “The defendants have or have had a bad faith intent to profit from their registration of the domain names,” charging the defendants with “cybersquatting.” This term is defined as using other business’s trademarks in order to profit online.

“The defendants have done nothing more than tack on the descriptive terms ‘poker’ or ‘online poker’ to each of the MGM marks to form the domain names. Accordingly, there is no question that the domain names are confusingly similar to the MGM marks,” MGM Resorts’ Lewis and Roca LLP attorneys say. The legal document submitted to the judge requests an order to temporarily restrain the domain owners from using these names.

Named in the suit are Shahram Kolahzadeh, resident of Zimbabwe and owner of ariapoker.com; Evan Krentzman from Woodland Hills, California, bellagioonlinepoker.com; Roberto Ciamillo, Shelby Township, Michigan, circuscircuspoker.com; Adam Majewski, McKinney, Texas, excaliburpoker.com; PokerSons, London-based company, mgmpoker.com and luxorpoker.com; and RevNet, Hackensack, New Jersey, mandalaybayonlinepoker.com.

PokerStars Launches Corporate Blog

The new PokerStars corporate blog has recently been launched which promises to keep the public informed about current news, updates, and views on the business and the industry with posts from all types of PokerStars employees including customer service reps, product managers, software engineers, as well as PokerStars executives. Being introduced at the cusp of the company’s 10^th anniversary (on December 18^th PokerStars will turn 10), the PokerStars corporate blog will open up the company to the public, after keeping a rather low corporate profile in the past. It will show how the company will evolve to the next phase of growth as the Internet poker industry goes through changes.

In the inaugural post, Eric Hollreiser, Head of Corporate Communications, writes about the company’s dedication to the business. He says, “During our first decade, we kept a fairly low corporate profile; preferring to keep our heads down, our eyes focused on innovation and our ears tuned-in to the hops and concerns of our growing number of customers. That dedication has helped us become the leading poker company in the world and helped us set the standard in delivering customer service to online poker players.”

He goes on to explain how the PokerStars brand will from here on out be more transparent in an effort to better communicate with “customers, communities and constituencies who often have questions about us” now that the industry is and will continue to be changing so much in the future.

Hollreiser then goes on to answer one of the most frequently asked questions of PokerStars corporate regarding how the company maintains player funds and accounts. Mentioning Full Tilt’s inability to pay players after Black Friday, he says that this has been a key concern for PokerStars. He then sheds light on what he can without legal limitations.

First, he explains that real money player funds are kept in a separate account from operational funds, describing it as a “wise and conservative business strategy” that allowed for a higher level of customer service. Furthermore, PokerStars’ license is with the Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission (GSC), which requires the strictest in gold standard regulation. Player-owned funds, both deposits and winnings, are protected from operating funds and held in segregated bank accounts.

Another method of protecting player funds that PokerStars uses to ensure players can always access their money whenever they want to is by insuring player funds when payment processors delay monies, sometimes up to a few weeks. To keep this issue from affecting players, PokerStars makes daily transfers from the operating accounts to the segregated player accounts, so that the player never has to wait and the company takes on the risk of the delay. And this process is all scrutinized by the regulators that license the online poker site, so it’s all on the up and up.

On a daily basis, the Treasury Department reviews player transactions to ensure that there is more than enough to cover player balances. And this is all reviewed by regulators, and the Isle of Man GSC, which has the power to audit at any time.

And in closing, Hollreiser says, “It’s these kinds of protections that have enabled us to refund more than US$125 million to US players since April 15.”

Further posts on the PokerStars corporate blog will no doubt be interesting to read.

Richest Poker Tournament Ever Expected to Hit Macau in 2013

According to recent reports, a brand new poker tournament, the Macau Pro Am Open, which has high-stakes players everywhere squirming in their seats, may be in Macau’s future come spring 2013. What makes this poker tournament so exciting? The prize pool is set at $100 million—the highest prize pool ever in the history of poker—both online and off.

American businessman William Murray to GamingToday says that various Chinese companies are collaborating now on this massive tourney. The prize pool is said to be set at $100 million, but the tournament would still run even if it only made a $65 million prize pool. The first place finisher would receive up to $25 million in winnings.

What makes the Macau Pro Am Open even more exclusive is that it will only allow about 500 players to register. The ideal player field would be 33% US, 33% Far East, and %33 from other parts of the world, such as Europe. Participants would be expected to buy-in at around $200K in order to make the $100 million prize pool.

December 2011 PartyPoker Bonus Code

Poker Bonus

This December at PartyPoker, new players will receive a 100% poker bonus on all deposits up to $/£/€500. All you have to do to secure this bonus is make a new player account at PartyPoker with the PartyPoker Bonus Code500PS. Then make a deposit and begin playing real money poker. You will earn PartyPoints by playing cash games and tournaments. These points are needed to clear your bonus. As you earn points, your bonus will deposit into your account in 10 equal installments, and you’ll have 60 days to earn the complete bonus amount. For every dollar you pay into tournament fees and every dollar you bet at a cash game, you’ll earn 2 PartyPoints. If you are playing in US or Canadian dollars, you’ll need to earn 6 times the bonus amount in points; if you are playing in Euros, its 8 times; and if you’re playing in Sterling, earn 9 times the bonus in PartyPoints.

World Domination

It’s not too late to get in on the World Domination promotion at PartyPoker, going on through December 31^st. Now through the end of the year, dominate as many global cities as possible to collect instant prizes. To conquer a city, you’ll need to earn 10 PartyPoints (the first city only needs 5 PartyPoints). For every 10 points, you’ll randomly be awarded one of the 72 various cities. Conquer countries and continents for even bigger prizes. You can earn up to 100 cites every day!

Winter Million

This promotion is set to carry on through February 5, 2012, and offers every player the opportunity to get in on a tournament with a million dollar prize pool for as little as $1. Qualifiers are running as you read this, and the Main Event takes place on February 5^th.

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