APAC POKER

PokerStars opening live poker room in Macau

2008-05-23T07:15:00.000-07:00

PokerStars announced today it is going live in Macau, opening up its first live poker room in the Grand Waldo Hotel and Casino in Cotai.
The poker room will official launch Friday, opening its doors to a 250-person capacity room that will offer cash games and weekly tournaments. To christen the new room, PokerStars will host a No-Limit Texas Hold'em Charity Poker Tournament to raise money for the earthquake victims in Western China.
The suggested minimum donation to enter is $2,000 HKD, which will give players a chance to compete for $150,000 HKD in prizes, including entries to the $25,000 HKD Asian Pacific Poker Tour Macau event in September.
"PokerStars is committed to the development of poker in Asia. Although Macau has become a gaming powerhouse, it was only with the incredible success of the Asia Pacific Poker Tour last November that Texas Hold'em poker started growing there," said Joe Hachem, former World Series of Poker Champion and member of Team PokerStars Pro.
"PokerStars planted the seeds and now this beautiful poker room is going to be the garden where future champions learn to play. I wouldn't be surprised if the next World Champion comes from Macau or elsewhere in China."

The charity tournament will be the first event of the Macau Poker Cup hosted in the new poker room. The Macau Poker cup is a series of poker tournaments scheduled through the weekend, including a $1,000 HKD Deep-Stack event and a $10,000 HKD Red Dragon tournament.
The PokerStars poker room will also be home to the first of many satellites to the Asia Pacific Poker Tour's second season of events.
The second season of the APPT will begin at the Grand Waldo Casino Sept. 1-6 with the APP Macau Event that will have a $10,000,000 HKD guaranteed prize pool. The full season schedule has not yet been released.
"Poker has grown tremendously in Asia and we are very excited to be driving that growth, particularly as we were the first to produce live poker in Macau," said Jeffrey Haas, president of the Asia Pacific Poker Tour.
"After the success of the PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour last November, a tremendous poker boom has resulted in Hong Kong and Macau - but it's just starting. The significance of the PokerStars Macau poker room on Asia will likely parallel the effect that Chris Moneymaker had on the USA when he won the 2003 WSOP."
Gary Wollard, general manager of the Grand Waldo Casino echoed those sentiments.
"The arrival of poker as a gaming option in Macau's casinos will encourage more people to come and enjoy all Macau has to offer," he said. "We are delighted to have a company with the reputation of PokerStars to manage what is sure to be a very successful and popular poker room."
More information about the PokerStars Macau poker room can be found at PokerStarsMacau.com.

By Sarah Polson

Some Interesting Data From Partygaming's Annual Report

2008-05-12T06:52:00.000-07:00

However there were extremely interesting nuggets of information buried deep in the report that give some insight into both Partygaming's operation, and the industry as a whole.

In no particular order, here are the pieces of information that I found most interesting:

-Partygaming's poker revenues were up just 10% from 2006 to 2007, while casino and sportsbetting revenue growth was up 188%

-company revenues were up from $325 million in 2006 to $457.8 million in 2007. $26.6 of the $132.8 million in revenue growth came from their poker operations

-35% of company revenues came from non-poker activities

-924,700 unique and active poker players in 2007 generated a total of 808k in daily poker revenues

-the "yield per active player day" for poker fell to $12.4 in 2007, down from $17.7 in 2006. "Yield per active player day" I believe refers to the amount of gross rake that an active player generates each day that they are active on the site. Partygaming blames this drop on higher value non-US players migrating to sites that still allow US players

-considering that Pokerstars has roughly 2 1/2 times the market share that Party Poker has, and presumably a much higher yield per player, you can only imagine how much money Pokerstars is raking on a daily basis

-average of 1,341 new poker signups per day in the first four weeks of 2008, and an average of 1,428 signups per day in the five weeks after

-$1.7 million in "bad customer debts" in 2007

-$24.7 million paid for "web hosting and technical services" in 2007

-they employ 300 software engineers and associated staff-they employ "over 200" customer service representatives

-"60% of all customer service emails answered within 120 minutes, and 80% of all phone calls answered within 20 seconds

"Why is Mitch Garber leaving the company after May of 2009? This might have something to do with it:-Mitch Garber was given a six million dollar signing bonus in 2006-annual salary of $1.05 million

-787k "annual bonus"-179k in "allowances / benefits", that I believe include his rental place in Gibraltar, which costs $150k a year

-$7.9 million realized via the exercising of options in 2007, making for a total of $16.4 million in income and benefits in 2007 for Garber

-Party Poker tried to re-negotiate their deal with the World Series of Poker, as they wanted to focus on "Non-US markets only". Obviously they couldn't come to a deal, and Everest Poker stepped in and took over

-after the announcement of the UIGEA, Party Poker had $69.9 million dollars tied up in payment processors that was considered to be "at risk" (payment processors pulling out of the US market, closing up shop, etc). Partygaming wasn't sure how they were going to recover this money, and figured that they wouldn't be able to get any of it back. This was money for already-completed transactions. Partygaming said that they only managed to recover $2.7 million dollars of this original $69.9 million-An average hand of poker on Party Poker lasted 38 seconds in 2007, down from 39 seconds in 2006-only 26% of players who sign up for poker accounts are still active after 6 months; this number further drops to 21% after 12 months-ring games generated 70% of gross poker revenues in 2007

-Is Pot Limit Omaha catching up to Texas Hold'em in terms of popularity? Maybe not. 94% of total poker revenues were derived from people playing Texas Hold'em in 2007, up from 90% in 2006-a total of 1,200 employees work for Partygaming-the company is unaware of any upcoming resolution of their discussions with the United States Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York-$9.6 million generated in 2007 from "inactive fees and similar items" (presumably deposit fees, withdrawal fees, etc)

-535k active casino players in 2007, 168k active sports bettorsAgain, some pretty interesting data contained within this report. The things that really stuck out for me were:1. How much Mitch Garber is paid2. How much Pokerstars must be grossing based on some of the data contained in Partygaming's annual report3. The amount of cash that Partygaming wasn't able to recover from payment processors after the UIGEA was passed4. The amount of gross poker revenues that are derived from Texas Hold'em (I had thought that Pot Limit Omaha was gaining some ground, I guess not)

http://www.poker-king-.com/

Online Gambling in South Africa( VC-ASIA, new VC-SA?)

2008-04-26T05:39:00.000-07:00

Internet gambling firms target SA April 20, 2008

By Wiseman KhuzwayoJohannesburg -

South Africa is soon to become a target for internet gambling operators from Europe as the country's gambling laws are made more accommodating.

Online or interactive gambling is still illegal in South Africa under the National Gambling Act, but this situation is about to change with the imminent passing of the National Gambling Amendment Bill. The bill is presently before the national council of provinces, having already been approved by the national assembly.Under current legislation, online gamblers in South Africa can be fined up to R10 million or be jailed for up to 10 years.

British sports betting and gaming entrepreneur Victor Chandler, chairman of the Victor Chandler International group, confirmed this week that he intended opening shop in South Africa in the very near future. Headquartered in Gibraltar, the group's operations include a sports book, poker rooms and a casino.Also this week, Bloomberg reported that Bwin Interactive Entertainment, based in Vienna, planned to enter the sports betting markets in South Africa, Spain and Ukraine.

The news agency gleaned this information from Austria's Wirtchaftsblatt newspaper, which did not say who its source was.Bwin is Europe's biggest sporting and gaming operator. Kevin O'Neal, a spokesperson for the company, said he was surprised to see Bloomberg speculating so widely. "I would not like to comment," he said. "We like to keep things under wraps until we are ready, for competition reasons.

"Chandler told Business Report this week that the gambling market in South Africa had great potential, with a rapidly growing middle class and rising use of the internet in sport, gaming and casinos.He said of Bwin's possible move to South Africa: "Wherever we are, they are. Sometimes they follow us, sometimes we follow them."The Victor Chandler group has a turnover in excess of £1 billion (R15.5 billion) and has more than half a million customers in 160 countries.Chandler said the cost of setting up operations would be between £200 000 and £300 000.

Marketing costs would be dependent on the size of the operation, as would the number of employees, which would depend on whether the operations were online or telephonic, he said.
Despite online gambling being illegal in South Africa there are many gambling sites, mostly operating from outside our borders, that are aimed at luring local punters.These include the Silver Sands Casino, Jackpot Cash Casino, Casino Las Vegas, Amber Coast Casino, Giant Vegas Casino, Windows Casino, and African Palace Casino.That online gambling in South Africa was illegal was affirmed by the Pretoria high court in November 2006. It dismissed an application by Casino Enterprises of Swaziland to have Gauteng residents gamble online.

The casino had taken the Gauteng and the national gambling boards, as well as the minister of trade and industry, to court. The basis of the application was that although the gambling was done on computers in Gauteng, the gambling was taking place in Swaziland.In his ruling, Judge Willie Hartzenberg said it was recognised that gambling could be a great source of revenue for the Gauteng province, which, if spent wisely, could improve standards of living.He said: "One thinks of licensing of casinos and of a levy on turnover. All monies spent on casino gambling must contribute to the coffers of the state or province."In dismissing the application, Hartzenberg said: "It is difficult to see why the Swaziland legislation, in terms of which the plaintiff obtained its casino licence, can have extra-territorial operation.

In other words, why actions of the plaintiff within the borders of the Republic are sanctioned by the Swaziland licence."Trade and industry minister Mandisi Mpahlwa told the national assembly in September that the National Gambling Amendment Bill sought to protect society from the negative effects of gambling, protect minors from exposure to gambling, and prevent gambling from being a source of crime and a channel for money laundering.

Mpahlwa said the bill provided for everyone engaged in interactive gambling to be registered with a licensed interactive gambling provider. Strict verification procedures that were compliant with the Financial Intelligence Centre Act would need to be followed.Statutory requirements, such as obtaining sworn statements from players that they were 18 years or older, would ensure that minors did not have access to interactive gambling.

Source: http://www.busrep.co.za

The Deal Movie Trailer

2008-04-24T08:41:00.001-07:00

Asians Under Attack

2008-04-24T05:58:00.000-07:00

So, the APT event is gonna kick off really soon and basically this update is a little too late. I was imagining that if I hadnt come back to Malaysia, chances are I would be playing in Manila. Nonetheless, donating another $2500 to our rapidly growing poker industry in Asia. So maybe I can call my lucky. No, I mean good luck to all players who are making their way to The Fort, Manila. Well, if they manage to get out of the International Ninoy Aku yada yada Airport, Jupiter class.

Go brothers, go sisters, go Filipinos! Its round one Asians VS the world, so who do you think will win?

P/S: Just a little note, prior to my previous experience in Manila, I was dissapointed with the food, another let down for the epicureans-My suggestion: stick to fancy restaurants or your own food. Never try the third option, starve doesnt count.

Break time!

Buy-in: $2500
Dates & Location
27th May to 1st June
The NBC Tent, Fort Bonifacio Global City, Manila
Player Cap: None.

APT first leg in Manila

A sian Poker Tour, the original and largest poker tournament in Asia, recently announced that the first leg of this year’s tour will be held in Manila, Philippines on May 27th to June 1st, 2008.

Recently acquired by AsianLogic through its subsidiary ESL, the Asian Poker Tour event in Manila boasts a US$1,000,000 prize pool with a very competitive US$2,500 player buy-in. It is expected to attract the region’s leading poker players as well as personalities from the poker world.

The APT event in downtown Manila is by far the biggest poker event to be held in the country.

The popularity of poker in the Philippines has been growing steadily. Evidence to this is the growing number of poker events being held in Manila and in key provincial cities such as Cebu and Davao. New poker rooms are consistently being opened in Manila and Davao to cater to the emerging poker-playing public.

"Poker is booming in Asia and no where is it faster than in the Philippines," said Mr. Chris Parker, AsianLogic CEO. "It is quite appropriate that we should hold our first tournament of the year of the new Asian Poker Tour here in Manila.

"The Philippine leg of the APT is expected to attract at least 400 poker players from around the world, ranging from amateurs to top class professionals. There will also be plenty of local players with land based satellites being held in the major cities throughout the Philippines.

This year, APT will hold four major tournaments in Asia. Aside from the Manila event, the APT is also scheduled to hold events in South Korea, Macau and Singapore.

Source: http://www.asianpt.com/