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GTECH G2 and Spielo Join the List of Firms Hoping to Acquire Nevada Interactive Gaming License

March 23, 2012

GTECH G2 and Spielo, the firms forming the gaming division of Lottomatica, are the latest to file applications for interactive gaming service provider license in Nevada. The applications have been submitted to the Gaming Control Board of Nevada for Spielo International Austria, Spielo International Canada and Spielo International USA as well as GTECH G2’s St. Minver and Boss Media. Spielo has earlier been given Nevada licenses, while GTECH G2 is committed to US based casinos Seneca Nation of Indians (New York) and Barona Band of Mission Indians (California) for the development of their websites.

Types of licenses offered by Nevada Gaming Commission

Toward the end of last year the Gaming Control Board of Nevada announced that they will officially accept interactive gaming license applications. The board offers 4 types of licenses – license to function as an interactive gaming service provider, license to function as a service provider looking for a percentage in revenue from gaming, license to offer interactive games and license to create products associated with interactive gaming. Applications for all the types of licenses are available on the agency’s website.

The long list of applicants queued up for Nevada Gaming Commission license

The list of Nevada Gaming Commission license applicants is a long one. GTECH G2 and Spielo are the most recent firms to join the list. Other major providers hoping to acquire an interactive gaming license from the board include Bally Technologies, 888 US Limited/888 Holdings plc, Boss Media AB, ACEP Interactive LLC, Boyd Gaming, Aristocrat Technologies, IGT, Monarch Casino, Caesars Entertainment, BP Gaming Entertainment Inc (a bwin.party subsidiary), MGM Resorts Online LLC and many more. Most of these firms have applied for a service provider, manufacturer or operator license.

In a recent address Walther Bugno, CEO and president of Spielo International, stated that Nevada license application is a major step in the company’s iGaming strategy for the United States. He further added that GTECH G2 and Speilo are among the most trusted names in the regulated markets across the globe. The companies have provided end-to-end interactive gaming products to over 1500 clients across 5 continents. Bugno also hinted that Playtech, one of the leading software providers in the online gaming industry, is also on the verge of filing an application for Nevada Gaming Control Board license.

Fertitta Interactive LLC, another well known firm in the online gaming industry and the owner of Station Casinos in Las Vegas and the UFC, recently announced that it had filed an application with the Gaming Control Board of Nevada for expansion of its online poker service in the region. Some time back the company acquired CyberArts Licensing LLC, an internet gaming provider specializing in online poker. The takeover took place soon after the deal to form a strategic alliance with FTP (Full Tilt Poker) fell through following Black Friday.

As far as gaming regulation is concerned, Nevada has always been looked upon as the leader. With the Nevada Gaming Commission officially accepting interactive gaming license applications, it is hardly a surprise that almost all the major player want in.

Epic Poker League’s Bankruptcy Saga Continues

March 21, 2012

Epic Poker, which was declared bankrupt by its parent company, Federated Sports and Gaming, was in the news again recently when reports surfaced that a court rejected the company’s reorganization plans. Clarifying the issue, Jeffrey Pollack, the executive chairman of Federated Sports mentioned that neither the budget nor plans for reorganization have been rejected by the courts.

Creditors of Epic Poker

According to bankruptcy filings, Epic Poker League owes over $5 million to more than 100 creditors. The maximum amount is owed to 2 firms – All In Production and Pinnacle Entertainment. All In Production is the company which sold the Heartland Poker Tour to Epic Poker. Other big creditors of Epic Poker include a law firm called Kirkland & Ellis, a television production house, 411 Productions, Savage Tournaments and a public relations company, Rogers and Cowan.

The creditors’ list also includes a few small poker companies, a charitable institution for disabled children in the US and a few independent contractors.

Court Documents Reveal Unpaid Acquisition and Big Loans

According to court documents, Federated Sports and Gaming has paid millions of dollars for the acquisition of Heartland Poker Tour – the only profitable business of the company. The acquisition deal was settled at $2.95 million. Heartland Poker Tour which holds poker tournaments across 15 US states was acquired by Federated Sports in June 2011. The Heartland Poker Tour started its operations in 2005 and conducted its 100th event recently. The events in the Heartland Poker Tour are broadcast to over 100 million homes in the US every week.

Federated Sports borrowed money from Pinnacle Entertainment through a Secured Promissory Note. $2 million was borrowed from Pinnacle of which $1 million was used for clearing debts owed to All In Production. After receiving the payment, All In Production made an extension of the due date for the remaining debt to 31st March, 2012. The due date for the money owed to Pinnacle was 29th February, a day after which Federated Sports and Gaming declared itself to be bankrupt. The declaration held back All In Productions from taking back the ownership of Heartland Poker Tour.

A budget submitted by Federated Sports and Gaming recently revealed that the company used about $458,092 from the operations of Heartland Poker Tour to clear employee salaries.

Re-Organization Attempts

David Goldberg, the CEO of Federated Sports stated that re-organization proposals have been submitted to the bankruptcy court, which is considering the matter. A formal plan for re-organization has not yet been submitted, but the company provided quite a few motions to the court. A proposal has been submitted regarding the use of cash collateral for which the company will require the consent of its creditors.

2 Tournaments Canceled by Epic Poker League

Three live poker tournaments were conducted by Epic Poker this year, each offering $400,000 as prize pool. Due to the re-organizing attempts by Federated Sports, the 4th and 5th tournaments might now be canceled. The 5th tournament had announced a prize pool of over a million dollars, which was to be distributed among the top 25 players of the event.

Play Titan Poker Tournaments for Less Now

March 15, 2012

You don’t have to spend a lot of money on tournament buy-ins anymore. Titan Poker, one of the leading online poker sites in Europe, is having a Super Sale of buy-ins for its popular online tournaments. Starting from April this year, the poker site will allow its members to enter its tournaments for as low as $5.50. Read more

Freeroll Tournaments for You This Weekend

March 14, 2012

There can never be a dull moment if you enjoy playing poker online. The online poker industry is always abuzz with a variety of tournaments, which include the freerolls. These tournaments are perhaps the best if you want to earn some good money without spending anything at all. All you need is to be good at poker and play away to glory at the final table. This week, three poker sites – Carbon Poker, Poker Host and Lock Poker – are hosting special freerolls for their new members. How do you participate in them? Just create an account on these sites and make a deposit, and you are ready to roll.

Special ‘Card Player’ freerolls

In collaboration with Card Player, which is a poker news site, Lock Poker, Carbon Poker and Poker Host will be holding special freeroll tournaments this weekend. These freerolls will be exclusively offered to all their new members who have registered with them through the Card Player site. The freeroll tournaments will take place on March 16, 17 and 18.

Lock Poker freeroll

The first freeroll will take place at 9:00 pm EST, on March 16, 2012. The event will be hosted by Lock Poker and the top five players will get a cash prize of $530 each. But that’s not all. Winners will also be given free entry to event no. 68 of the Poker Maximus tournament, which has a guaranteed prize pool of $200,000.

Poker Host freeroll

Poker Host, which is operated by SBG Global, will be hosting the second freeroll tournament. The freeroll tournament will take place on March 17, 2012, at 3:00 pm EST. If you are among the top 8 players in this freeroll, you could win a cash prize and also be a part of the Poker Maximus tournament. The top three players in this freeroll will get a cash prize of $530 each and enter event no.68 of the Poker Maximus tournament. Players ranked between 4 and 8 will each get a cash prize of $109 and entry to the Poker Maximus event no. 67, with guaranteed prizes of $200,000.

Carbon Poker freeroll

The last freeroll will be hosted by the popular poker site, Carbon Poker. This event begins and 3:00 pm EST on March 18, 2012. Carbon Poker will be giving away $109 each to the top ten players of this freeroll. Along with that, the site will also be offering them free entry to the Poker Maximus event 67, where the first place winner gets at least $50,000.

Register now and get exciting bonuses

To qualify for these lucrative freerolls, you have to register on these sites via Card Player. While Lock Poker and Poker Host offer an initial deposit bonus of upto $750, Carbon Poker offers upto $600. All these sites are a part of the Merge Gaming Network, which is a reason they offer free seats to Poker Maximus, one of the biggest poker events hosted by the gaming service provider. So don’t delay anymore. Register and use the bonus participate in these freerolls and you could win bigger, guaranteed prizes offered in the Poker Maximus Events.

PokerStars to Hold Weekly $5000 Freerolls Till April

March 12, 2012

Always offering something exciting to its members, PokerStars is a site that never disappoints you. The online poker room is back this month with more freerolls, which will take place through April 25, 2012. PokerStars recently announced that it will be hosting $5,000 freerolls every Wednesday in March and April this year, and will be giving away more than $65,000 worth cash as prize money. Considering that amount of traffic the online poker site attracts, we can say that the competition for the prize money is going to be tough. And if you want a piece of that prize pool, you should get registered on PokerStars today and start playing today.

About the Wednesday freerolls

PokerStars, in collaboration with PokerNews, will be hosting special $5,000 freerolls every week. Starting March 14, 2012, the online poker room will be hosting special freeroll tournaments on every Wednesday till April 25, 2012. The freeroll will be held at 2:00 pm ET. To be able to participate in these freerolls, all you need to do is get registered with the site and start playing cash games to earn VPPs offered by the site. Players who earn at least 20 VPPs during the week before the freeroll tournament will be eligible to participate in the events.

Also, players have to register with PokerStars through the PokerNews website. To enter the freerolls after registration, they should use an ID available on the news site.

Cash prizes to be won

The $5,000 cash prize that PokerStars is offering every week will be divided among players depending upon the number of points they earn in the freeroll. In addition to the $5k for the top players, PokerStars is also giving away an additional $7,500, which will be divided among the top 15 players on the leader board. The person earning 100 points will be the winner, followed by the runner up with 90 points and second runner-up with 80 points.

The player with the highest points will take home $1,500, while the second player will get $1,150 and the third place holder gets $950. Players ranking between 4 and 7 will get an amount between $800 and $500, and the remaining players will get an amount between $400 and $50, depending on their rank.

Using PokerStars bonus to earn points

Register with PokerStars and make a deposit today, and you could get a bonus of upto $600 for the initial deposit. But remember, to qualify for these special freerolls, you have to register with PokerStars through the PokerNews site. To start earning the VPPs or VIP Poker Points, all you need to do is use that bonus amount and play as many cash games as you can on the site. Be sure to earn at least 20 VPPs during the qualification period, which is the previous week for a particular freeroll. For example, if you want to participate in the freeroll on March 21, you should earn the necessary VPPs between March 12 and March 18.

The first freeroll will take place this Wednesday, March 14, 2012. Register today and start playing these freerolls, and you could take a good portion of the $67,500 that PokerStars is giving away as prize money.

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