Media Man News

Tuesday, July 05, 2011

Poker News Media: Rake Free For MTT's!; All Tournament Fees On Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment's PartyPoker Eliminated!

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PartyPoker.com



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Gibraltar – 4th July 2011 - In an unprecedented move, ALL multi-table tournaments (MTT’s) at PartyPoker.com are rake free with all fees eliminated!

This unique offer gives players outstanding value for money - all money paid by the players will go to the prizepool. As an example; $200 (buy-in) + $15 (entry fee) would now be $215 + $0.

A PartyPoker.com spokesman said: “In an industry first, all MTT’s on PartyPoker.com are completely rake free. For example, the buy-in to a main online satellite for the Summer Million, the main event of which takes place on Sunday 7th August, has changed from $600+$40 to $640+$0, while the rake is also waived on all feeder qualifiers. As the rake free period applies to ALL MTT tournaments - qualifiers for events such as WPT Paris and GSOP Manchester also have new structures which incorporate no fees.”

“Fees being waived on MTT’s is just another reason why there has never been a better time to play at PartyPoker.com in a secure environment where prompt payments are guaranteed whether you are a micro or high stakes player. We will continue this outstanding value promotion for as long as we can – we are already pleased with the positive response to this move we have seen from the poker community.”

$0 tournament fees will run for a limited time. See PartyPoker.com Rake Free Tournaments for more information.

Other recently introduced great value promotions include:

*$100,000 freeroll. Make a deposit using bonus code 200JULY and you’ll get automatic entry into a huge $100K depositors freeroll on Sunday 7th August.

*100% reload bonus Top up your account and get 100% extra up to $200. Just deposit using bonus code 200JULY. The 200JULY reload bonus is available until 23:59 on 7th August 2011.

*Summer Million freerolls. Enter daily Summer Million freerolls and play for a Summer Million ticket and a $1,000 prize pool every day for free.

*Keep your VIP status Have you been a VIP at another site? Just email proof to vip@palladiumlounge.com and earn 1,000 points within 15 days and we’ll upgrade your account to VIP status.

*World Domination’ gets underway the 8th July 2011. Conquer 72 cities by earning PartyPoints and pick up freerolls, cash prizes and a potential top prize of $100,000 on the way!

*Welcome bonus of up to $500.


Shares in online gaming firm Bwin.Party surged Friday after competitor Full Tilt had its licence suspended.

A US investigation into the companies founders led the gambling commission of the Channel Island of Alderney to order the firm to stop trading with immediate effect while it conducts its own investigation.

Full Tilt was indicted in the United States for alleged gambling offences, money laundering and bank fraud.

In a research note, UBS analyst Simon Whittington says the news is positive for remaining European poker operators.

He advised: "We estimate that Full Tilt has a 10-15% share of the non-US poker market. With a similar share themselves, we believe Bwin.Party should be a prime beneficiary of any market 'vacuum' created."

Austrian Bwin merged with rival PartyGaming earlier this year. The company is based in Gibraltar, a preferred location for igaming companies due to its relaxed tax laws and well-regulated gambling - gaming system. After their initial surge its shares fell back to close 1.2%.

Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) Share Price Information

Share Price: 151.00 Bid: 151.00 Ask: 151.20 Change: 0.00 (+0.67%)


Preview Of PartyCasino

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In the meantime PartyCasino.com continues to roll out new games and initiatives.

The most popular PartyCasino.com games of late include Sin City, Unicorn Legend, Heist, Circus, Rambo, Palladium Slot, The Godfather, Sinatra, Slotbox, Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Mission: Impossible, The Terminator, Cleopatra, Sinatra, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, The Amazing Spider-Man, Monopoly, Resident Evil, Melon Madness, Wheel Of Fortune and Mega Fortune Wheel.

The PartyCasino.com jackpot is currently approaching the $4 million mark. Players can also compete for The Big One and Marvel Hero Jackpot, playing the Marvel super hero themed online slot games.

PartyCasino's most recent game releases include Sin City, The Sting, Unicorn Legend, Shaaark! SuperBet, Crocodopolis, Alice's Wonderland, Glamour Puss, Super Cubes, Heist, Palladium Slot and Circus Slot.

PartyGaming CEO Jim Ryan has gone on record advising PartyCasino will soon feature more Hollywood blockbuster themed slots. A few in the know journalists and media agents have been recently tipped off that an all time classic movie and TV adaption will be showcased in the PartyCasino portfolio within 1 month. PartyCasino has the world's most impressive line up of Hollywood themed games, and more are just around the corner.

Media Man, Casino News Media and Global Gaming Directory do have a b2b relationship with Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment, as they do with dozens of other companies in the gaming, igaming, media and entertainment industry.

The Big Fat Win

Collect your cut of more than $100,000
Starts: 00:00 ET, 6th July
Ends: 23:59 ET, 18th July

Sin City is now open for business and to welcome you to our most jaw-dropping slot game ever we’ve put together a cache of prizes worth more than $100,000.

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There's Never Been A Better Time to Play at PartyPoker

GIBRALTAR - June 29, 2011 - There's never been a better time to play at leading online poker room PartyPoker.com New offers introduced TODAY include:

• $100,000 freeroll Make a deposit using bonus code 200JULY and you'll get automatic entry into a huge $100K Depositors freeroll on Sunday 7th August.

• 100% reload bonus Top up your account and get 100% extra up to $200. Just deposit using bonus code 200JULY. The 200JULY reload bonus is available until 23:59 on 7th August 2011.

• Summer Million freerolls Enter daily Summer Million freerolls and play for a Summer Million ticket and a $1,000 prize pool every day for free.

• Keep your VIP status Have you been a VIP at another site? Just email proof to vip@palladiumlounge.com and earn 1,000 points within 15 days and we'll upgrade your account to VIP status.

See PartyPoker.com for more information.

Cleaning up at the tables? Fancy a bigger project or just a bit of fun? Your chance to achieve total 'World Domination' gets underway at PartyPoker.com from the 8th July 2011. Conquer 72 cities by earning PartyPoints and pick up freerolls, cash prizes and a potential top prize of $100,000 on the way!

A PartyPoker.com spokesman said: "The premise is simple – divide and conquer! Rome wasn't built in a day but it could be won in an hour! Turn your PartyPoints into cities - the empire building continues until the 31st August or until all cities are conquered. There are 72 cities to conquer and freeroll seats, cash payouts and a top prize of $100,000. Just earn 10 PartyPoints to be randomly awarded a city from 72 available."

"Many of the cities have cash prizes and freeroll seats attached The big money comes in when you can complete all the cities in an entire continent, for example, getting all of Asia wins you $5,000 and Europe will bag you $20,000. Finally, a player who gets every single country has world domination – worth a cool $100,000."

As an incentive to get started, PartyPoker.com give you your first city for just 5 points. Tony G writes from his secret underground bunker at PartyPoker.com

Players can earn up to 100 cities a day throughout the World Domination promotion. Reveal the ones collected by logging in to your Party Account, checking the interactive map and start to accumulate a fortune.

For more information see: PartyPoker.com


Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment Confirms Ongame Poker Network Deal Possibilities

The Ongame poker network is "likely" to be sold, bwin.party has confirmed that a formal process to sell the B2B network is on the way.

The announcement was made earlier today ahead of today’s Annual General Meeting, the first held by the giant since the merger between Bwin and PartyGaming was completed last March.

The statement read "One area of our stated strategy was to recycle surplus assets,"..."We expect that any sale will be completed by the end of the year."

No licensee on the network has yet responded to bwin.party’s announcement, although Betfair’s outgoing CEO David Yu passed opinion on Ongame just yesterday.

Bwin.Party’s AGM statement contains details of a planned share buyback, which will see the company follow the examples of Playtech and Betfair in making such a move, plus news of a progressive dividend policy containing a €30m dividend payout for the year ending 31 December 2011.

As we go to press trading is described as “Broadly in-line with management's expectations,” however analyst James Hollins, of Evolution Securities, advised in a memo earlier today that “The stock remains a Neutral ahead of potentially disruptive German legislation near-term.”

Meanwhile Simon French, of Panmure Gordon, reiterated his firm’s ‘buy’ recommendation, explaining “[We] expect the shares to respond well to the dividend and share buyback news.”

German sports betting proposals in April had seen the share price of bwin.party dive 16% in a day, and a decision on the country’s State Gambling Treaty is expected in October.

Yesterday things turned around following the suspension of Full Tilt Poker’s licences in Alderney - the share price ended the day at 148.2p, an increase of more than 10% day-on-day.


Bwin.Party In Line With Management's Expectations

bwin.party digital entertainment's trading performance since the beginning of April has been broadly in line with management's expectations.

But is says sports margins have been lower than expected due to a favourable run of events for customers in May.

The improvement in new player sign-ups in poker, following action taken by the US authorities against certain of the group's online poker competitors on 15 April, has not had a material impact on poker revenue as new players represent just a small proportion of the overall player base and these companies have so far continued to command significant market share in non-US markets.

Casino continues to perform well while bingo has been slightly softer than expected in the period.

At 8:47am: (LON:BPTY) share price was +0.5p at 148.7p.


Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment Big On Security

The online gaming business PartyGaming has also long since been protecting its players with strong authentication. After all, there is a lot of money at stake – money that the dark forces may want to siphon away. PartyPoker, PartyCasino, PartyBingo and PartyGammon customers register by downloading the PartyGaming customer software. After registration, they can obtain an authenticator called PartySecure from the online store. This is again a Digipass Go 6 that has been completely adapted to the branding of PartyGaming. Here again, a Vacman Controller Server takes over the authentication. “The solution is highly scalable,” stressed a PartyGaming spokesperson. “It can grow with us and effortlessly cope with the growing number of online-players on our platform.”


Australian Tony G Inks Player Representation Agreement With PartyPoker

There's only an elite few poker players who are also extremely astute businessmen, and Australian Tony G is one such ace. Having amassed over $4 million in live-tournament winnings and having a few other healthy income streams the only thing missing from the mans achievements was a major representation deal with a major online site. Enter PartyPoker.com

Tony G in a cunning moving has sold his Tony G Poker official website and IP to the igaming powerhouse giving the Bwin.Party giant access to the website's strong poker player database.

Mr G said he couldn't be more pleased about his new deal and that he is ready to take on all challengers. "I cannot wait to start playing for Team Party on the circuit. I’ve always loved Party and what better way to kick off than at the Aussie Millions. I am also really excited about the Premier League in February ...it is the best event in poker in my eyes. After finishing runner-up and third in the last two years the title has to be mine! I just hope my rivals have the heart and commitment to the game to stop me!"

His new deal incorporates live tournament buy-ins to events around the world and he will play online under the screen name "TonyG." He joins an impressive roster of Team Party players including Mike Sexton, Kara Scott, Ian Frazer, Bodo Sbrzesny, Remy Biechel, Stewart Scott and Felipe ‘Mojave’ Ramos.

The Tony G Poke website will migrate all its players to NoblePoker.com, (a Bwin.Party subsidiary). As part of G's deal, he will continue to run the Sunday Bike Ride, a popular bounty promotion on the site. According to G, this will give Tony G Poker players added value over the long run.

"It’s business as usual for Tony G Poker.com The exciting acquisition of its assets by the PartyGaming will create a larger more flexible and productive playing environment," said the G. So, whether online poker, online casino or other tickle your fancy, the good folks at Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment have your number.

The company is currently expanding worldwide, and growing markets include Australia, Canada, Italy, Spain, and the firm is currently talking turkey with U.S regulators regarding a full return to the U.S market, where its World Poker Tour brand should prove to be the door opener, followed by sports betting and online casino offerings, all under the Bwin.Party banner. It's b2b deals with Marvel Entertainment, Frank Sinatra Enterprises, Paramount Pictures, Dark Horse Comics and International Game Technology are also understood to be giving the powers that be confidence to get negotiations with Bwin.Party to the next stage.

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Sin City

Monday, July 04, 2011

Media Man Movie News: Marvel Entertainment, James Bond, Transformers, Wolverine..., by Greg Tingle - 4th July 2011

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Thor X-Men Wolverine Thor Green Lantern Batman Iron-Man Marvel Entertainment Marvel Comics Marvel Studios Marvel Slots DC Comics Warner Bros Paramount Pictures Hollywood Movies Media Man
Captain America The Avengers Spider-Man Fantastic Four The Hulk Comics Movies


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Thor X-Men Wolverine Thor Green Lantern Batman Iron-Man Marvel Entertainment Marvel Comics Marvel Studios Marvel Slots DC Comics Warner Bros Paramount Pictures Hollywood Movies Media Man
Captain America The Avengers Spider-Man Fantastic Four The Hulk Comics Movies


Marvel Movies Upcoming...

Movie Studio Date

Captain America: The First Avenger Paramount Pictures 7/22/11
Ghost Rider 2 (3D) Sony 2/17/12
The Avengers (2012) Buena Vista 5/4/12
The Amazing Spider-Man Sony 7/3/12
Iron Man 3 Buena Vista 5/3/13

Thor And X-Men First Class Tipped To Hammer Home Results...

Thor and X-Men: First Class got great reviews and we're awesome, and Captain America: The First Avenger seems set to hit the spot to, but big questions remain about Green Lantern, and the vibe is not particularly good. Green Lantern with Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively is getting very reviews. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes has a 23% approval among movie critics, according to the 153 reviews counters. But 72% of the 62,000 plus user reviewers say that they "liked it" with it just premiering in the U.S theaters Friday after a midnight release on late Thursday/early Friday. Comic Book Movie.com indicates are pretty negative on the flick. One reviewer called the movie "inert, artificial and dead on arrival." During the midnight release on Thursday, the film drew $3.35 million 0 the same region that alike movies that were recently released did; X-Men: First Class brought in $3.37 million on June 2nd, and Thor did $3.25 million on May 5th. X-Men: First Class and Thor both had a budget significantly less than Green Lantern; the former had a budget of $160 million while Thor had exactly half the budget of Green Lantern — $150 million. While the flick will likely end up eventually surpassing its budget, the fact the other comic book movies had much less budget isn’t a great result. Ultimately, X-Men: First Class raked in $55.1 million in its opening weekend while Thor did $65.7 million. With this being the third comic book-based movie released in a month-and-a-half and mixed reviews, will Green Lantern under perform this weekend, or will the hardcore - fanboy type audience that has been largely ripping on it, check it out at the cinema?

Our top picks: Thor, and Captain America: The First Avenger looks like a safe bet.

Be it movies, comics or games, we think that Marvel Entertainment leads the pack, followed by DC Comics, with Dark Horse Comics getting a third, based on the positive news leaks and insider tip offs we've been getting.

As Marvel living legend Stan Lee would say, Excelsior!


James Bond: Naomie Harris Finds Next Bond Movie Special...

Actress Naomie Harris thinks the 23rd installment of the James Bond movies will have a "very special" feeling to it. The British actress is apparently a top contender for a leading role in the forthcoming Sam Mendes directed "James Bond" movie, which sees Daniel Craig reprise his role as the iconic British spy. "It would be great to be part of Bond but nothing is confirmed yet. Sam Mendes is an amazing director and a really, really lovely man as well. He's got brilliant ideas. From meeting them, I think it's going to be a very special Bond," contactmusic.com quoted the 34-year-old as saying. Harris is best known for her role as Selena in "28 Days Later" and Tia Dalma in the second and third series of " Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise.

Paramount Pictures Joins Yahoo! Movies to Present the "TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON" Movie U.S. Premiere Event on June 28th Live From New York City; Fans Across the Globe Can Experience the Red Carpet Firsthand by Tuning In Online, Movie Opens Exclusively in 3D at 9PM on June 28th and Worldwide on June 29th...

HOLLYWOOD, Calif., June 27, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Paramount Pictures has teamed with Yahoo! Movies (movies.yahoo.com), the leading website for movie trailers, news and information, to present the TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON movie premiere live from New York City. The live red carpet event will begin airing online, June 28, at 5:30 p.m. EDT. Fans can watch together and share across their social networks, as the red carpet event is streamed free at yhoo.it/transformerspremiere. Fans can get the chance to see some of their favorite celebrities, including the film's director Michael Bay and stars Shia LaBeouf, Josh Duhamel, John Turturro, Tyrese Gibson, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Patrick Dempsey, Kevin Dunn, Julie White, Frances McDormand and Ken Jeong. After watching the live red carpet, fans can head to theaters as the movie opens exclusively in 3D at 9 p.m. on June 28th and everywhere beginning at midnight on June 29th.

Fans tuning in from different time zones around the globe will also have an opportunity to experience the event highlights throughout the following day, subsequent to the U.S. premiere on movies.yahoo.com.

TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON is directed by Michael Bay, written by Ehren Kruger and produced by Don Murphy & Tom DeSanto, Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Ian Bryce. The executive producers are Steven Spielberg, Michael Bay, Brian Goldner and Mark Vahradian. When a mysterious event from Earth's past erupts into the present day it threatens to bring a war to Earth so big that the Transformers alone will not be able to save us. The movie stars Shia LaBeouf, Josh Duhamel, John Turturro, Tyrese Gibson, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Patrick Dempsey, Kevin Dunn, Julie White with John Malkovich and Frances McDormand. It will be released by Paramount Pictures worldwide on June 29th. © 2011 Paramount Pictures Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

HASBRO, TRANSFORMERS and all related characters are trademarks of Hasbro.

© 2011 Hasbro. All Rights Reserved.

For more information, go to www.TransformersMovie.com

Follow TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/TF3Movie

Like us on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/TransformersMovie

ABOUT PARAMOUNT PICTURES CORPORATION

Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment, is a unit of Viacom VIA +2.14% VIA.B +1.75% , a leading content company with prominent and respected film, television and digital entertainment brands. The company's labels include Paramount Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, Insurge Pictures, MTV Films and Nickelodeon Movies. PPC operations also include Paramount Digital Entertainment, Paramount Famous Productions, Paramount Home Entertainment, Paramount Pictures International, Paramount Licensing Inc., Paramount Studio Group and Paramount Television & Digital Distribution. SOURCE Paramount Pictures Corporation

WWE Looking For Next Giant...

WWE top brass have been on the look out for future big time wrestlers in recent months. Enter Australian Josh Taylor, who stands at 6'10" and 385 pounds, and is the latest big man wrestler to be checked out by WWE as he showed his stuff to company officials prior to Friday's live WWE event in Sydney. He is billed as the largest wrestler in Australia. Professional Wrestling Alliance Queensland co-owner Andrew Venables said Taylor is Australia's best chance of success overseas. "He is the heart and soul of wrestling in Australia," Venables said. "If he shows them half the dedication as he has locally then he will make it."

Marvel ous News: Hugh Jackman Says The Wolverine Shoots In October...

The 42-year-old Autralian actor recently revealed to Toronto radio station CHFI when the next Wolverine movie will begin filming "We shoot [The Wolverine] in October, so it will probably come out a year after that," Hugh said. "That’s usually around the timeline." The Wolverine follows the popular X-Men character as he travels to Japan to train with a samurai warrior. The film will also likely star Kelly Hu and Naturi Naughton. A Media Man insider was overheard "Wolverine with Hugh Jackman may potentially be even better than Thor. For the fans and for Marvel that would be excelsior news".

James Mangold May Direct 'The Wolverine' Staring Hugh Jackman...

James Mangold is, according to reports, in final negotiations to direct "The Wolverine" for 20th Century Fox from the screenplay by Christopher McQuarrie. This is the same script that Darren Aronofsky was attached to for a while, and it will take Wolverine, played by Hugh Jackman, to Japan. Fox has been looking at potential directors for a while now, since Aronofsky left the project. There are some complications ahead, though. "X-Men: First Class" is getting better critical and fan response than either of the last two films in the "X-Men" franchise, Fox has a choice to make. With a Wolverine-only movie it would likely be a bit hit and a safe bet, but in the movie business you never know. It's competing with many other superhero flicks. Why have Japan as the backdrop? Perhaps the Japanese people are ready to move forward and enjoy a bit of escapism, after suffering earthquakes earlier this year. For Marvel and Fox it looks like things may be full speed ahead. Right now, there's no date for "The Wolverine," and there's no start-date for production. But if Mangold is indeed the man for the job, things will like get moving more quickly in the very near future.

Getty Images Acquires Peter Carrette Archive...

Sydney, Australia – 30 June 2011: Getty Images, one of the world’s leading creators and distributors of still imagery, footage and multimedia products, today announced that it has successfully completed the acquisition of the Peter Carrette Archive. The collection hails from Icon Images, the Sydney-based photo agency founded by the renowned and, at times, controversial photographer Peter Carrette.

One of the most prolific celebrity photographers of his generation, Carrette has worked with a multitude of personalities, from Russell Crowe to Prince Harry and Angelina Jolie. His archive specialises in celebrity images and has one of the most extensive back catalogues in the world. In addition to Carrette’s own work, the archive also includes contributions from a broad network of international photographers.

“We are thrilled to announce the addition of Peter Carrette’s vast and varied library of work to the Getty Images’ archival collection,” says Stuart Hannagan, Vice President, Australasia and Director of Photography Asia Pacific, Getty Images. “The archive will provide Getty Images’ customers with access to an even broader collection of significant international and Australian imagery, which includes a diverse catalogue ranging from the who’s who of the celebrity world, to war zones in Grenada, El Salvador and Nicaragua.”

Hannagan continues: “Peter Carrette was a pioneer in the field of celebrity photography and his archive further strengthens Getty Images’ Australian, and indeed its international, editorial collection, ensuring that our customers have access to the most comprehensive collection of content all on one platform.”

Carrette, who passed away in November 2010, was known for pushing the boundaries of photojournalism and taking iconic photographs. For his notable beachside image of US soldiers disembarking a landing craft during the 1983 invasion of Grenada, Carrette famously hired a boat to arrive under cover of darkness to ensure he had the best vantage point.

An Englishman who called Sydney’s Bondi Beach home, Carrette counted Australian actor Jack Thompson amongst his close friends. It was Thompson who introduced Carrette to the plight of the Krousar Thmey orphanage in Cambodia, a cause that Carrette supported for over twenty years, helping to build the Krouser Thmey Cambodian children’s charity.

About Getty Images
Getty Images is one of the world’s leading creators and distributors of still imagery, footage and multimedia products, as well as a recognized provider of other forms of premium digital content, including music. Getty Images serves business customers in more than 100 countries and is the first place creative and media professionals turn to discover purchase and manage images and other digital content. Its award-winning photographers and imagery help customers produce inspiring work which appears every day in the world’s most influential newspapers, magazines, advertising campaigns, films, television programs, books and Web sites. Visit Getty Images at www.gettyimages.com.au to learn more about how the company is advancing the unique role of digital media in communications and business, and enabling creative ideas to come to life.

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Australian Gambling News Update, by Greg Tingle - 4th July 2011

Media Man Crown Casino James Packer Tabcorp Holdings Asia Pacific Games NRL Internet City Of Dreams Macau Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment Australia



Australian gambling continues to be red hot. We've got political fun and games, sin tax, a Sin City game, casino developments, revamps, and more. Media Man with the latest and greatest from down under...

MP Xenophon And MP Wilkie Berate NRL Over Poker Machine Battle...

Independent MPs Nick Xenophon and Andrew Wilkie have lashed out at the National Rugby League for its new advertising campaign denouncing the Federal Government's proposed poker machine reforms. The NRL has joined the campaign against the proposal to force punters to register and set daily betting limits. An advertisement attacking the changes and featuring league great Steve Mortimer will be broadcast at football games for the rest of the season. The NRL says clubs will have to spend $3 billion on technology to update machines that force punters to register and set daily betting limits. It says it will cost each club $100,000 per poker machine to install new technology. But Senator Xenophon says many machines already have the capability, and it will only cost $1,000 for those machines that do not have the technology. "If you want to play a high loss machine, where you can lose thousands of dollars an hour, then you'll need to sign up for pre-mandatory commitment," he said. "But for the overwhelming majority of those that play poker machines, people don't put more than a dollar per spin, it won't affect them by having a low intensity machine where the losses are much lower than current machines. Senator Xenophon says the NRL's advertising campaign is based on lies. "It's a bit rich for the NRL to be lecturing people about gambling issues when they haven't got their own house in order when it comes to gambling scandals," he said. "The NRL should get their own house in order before they start lecturing the rest of us about what should be done about gambling policy." And Independent MP Andrew Wilkie, who designed the reforms, says the NRL has shown a disappointing lack of leadership in its decision to join the campaign against the reforms. He insists it is only clubs with a lot of problem gamblers who will be hurt. "Who could possibly argue that it's OK to continue relying on the cash from problem gamblers," he said. But the NRL says the survival of many of its football clubs are threatened by the Government's proposed poker machine reforms. NRL chief David Gallop says clubs play a vital role in attracting kids to rugby league. "Last year, clubs ran 1,130 junior rugby league clubs, and donated $40 million to help fund the purchase of football jumpers, shorts, socks, trophies, insurance, medical kits, referee outfits and ground development," he said. "There are any number of gambling options in the community but none which contribute to the community in the way that the clubs movement does. "Our concern is that these measures will not prevent problem gambling but that it will severely damage rugby league and other community sports." Clubs Australia president Peter Newell says the reforms cost too much to implement and would devastate clubs. "To the best of my knowledge, league clubs would lose anywhere between $1 and $2 billion if this were to go ahead," he said. "In any case it's not sustainable from a revenue point of view or from a capital point of view."In return for his support on the floor of Parliament, Wilkie won the Government's backing for the introduction of mandatory pre-commitment technology for all gamblers playing the pokies in clubs, pubs and casinos. But Clubs Australia declared "open warfare" on the Government, saying the changes will cost jobs.

NRL Joins Pokie Fight...

The NRL has joined a campaign to pressure the Federal Government into dumping plans for a cap on daily poker machine bets. The Government has promised to bring in a mandatory pre-commitment scheme under its deal with Tasmanian independent MP Andrew Wilkie. The scheme would to force gamblers to set an upper-spending limit before using high intensity pokies. The NRL will screen an advertising campaign warning against the reforms at football games for the remainder of the season. The campaign will feature former Bulldogs captain Steve Mortimer, who also once led the NSW State of Origin team. The move follows action by Clubs Australia, which has warned the new controls over poker machines will hit the economy hard. Clubs Australia chairman Peter Newell says the cap would starve rugby league of the financial support it relies on from the clubs. "Clubs have donated some $300 million to rugby league over the last four years," he said. "Mandatory pre-commitment, just to install it, will cost conservatively $3 billion for the industry and it will reduce its revenue by up to $6 billion." The industry wants the scheme to be voluntary. The Government also wants to set withdrawal limits for ATMs in pokie venues. Small clubs with 15 or fewer poker machines will be exempt from proposed gambling restrictions until 2018.

NRL Pro Pokies...

NRL clubs have joined the fight against pokie reforms, amid claims the game will be "forever changed for the worse" by the federal government's scheme. Former Doggies captain Steve Mortimer will head up a campaign against the proposed laws to force punters to register and set daily betting limits. The NRL campaign will air on the big screen at NRL games for the remainder of the season. NRL CEO David Gallop said clubs not only provide NRL teams with about $25 million each year but also play an important role in attracting kids to the game. "Our concern is that these measures will not prevent problem gambling but that it will severely damage rugby league and other community sports," Mr Gallop said in a statement. Last year, clubs ran 1130 junior rugby league clubs, and donated $40 million, he said. ClubsAustralia executive director Anthony Ball said if the government pushes ahead with the scheme the game of NRL will be "forever changed for the worse". "This new technology is a slap in the face of clubs, its members and the millions of people who love the game of rugby league," he said. "The government should be supporting sport, not killing it."

Former NRL star Steve Mortimer joins ‘It’s un-Australian’ pokies campaign...

Clubs Australia has recruited former NRL star Steve Mortimer to be the popular face of its controversial “It’s un-Australian” campaign to pressure the government on its plans to impose a daily poker machine bet limit. According to leading Australian newspapers the campaign aims to inform the public that the financial security of rugby league will be placed under threat if betting limits are imposed. The ads are to air in a week’s time, and will run until the end of the footy season. They will also be screened at State of Origin fan sites – First Fleet Park and King Street Wharf in Sydney and on the Gold Coast – and intend to reach a combined audience of 1.5m.


Press Release: NRL Clubs Speak Out Against Govenment Pokies Licence...

NRL clubs have thrown their weight behind registered clubs in their fight to stop proposed Federal Government laws forcing pokie players to register for a card and set daily bet limits.

A new ad campaign featuring former Bulldogs and NSW State of Origin captain Steve Mortimer will air on the big screen at NRL games for the remainder of the season to an estimated audience of 1.5 million footy fans, denouncing the Government’s mandatory pre-commitment technology.

The joint NRL/ClubsAustralia campaign highlights what rugby league, its fans and its future players will lose when clubs are forced to spend $3 billion installing mandatory pre-commitment technology on poker machines.

Leagues clubs in NSW, the ACT and Queensland fund NRL teams to the tune of $25 million every year with another $15 million donated to junior football. More than 400,000 junior and seniors play rugby league for a leagues club funded team.

ClubsAustralia Executive Director Anthony Ball said if the Federal Government pushes ahead with mandatory pre-commitment the game of rugby league will be forever changed for the worse.

“Clubs are crucial to the health and success of rugby league in NSW, ACT and Queensland. This new technology is a slap in the face of clubs, its members and the millions of people who love the game of rugby league.

“It’s clear this technology, which forces punters to register for a license to put even just a few dollars through the pokies, will starve rugby league of the financial support it has received from clubs for almost 100 years.

“The Government should be supporting sport, not killing it through a backroom deal with a Tasmanian Independent MP who doesn’t know the first thing about the importance of clubs to rugby league.”

NRL CEO David Gallop said that clubs played an important role in attracting kids to the game.

“Last year, clubs ran 1,130 junior rugby league clubs, and donated $40 million to help fund the purchase of football jumpers, shorts, socks, trophies, insurance, medical kits, referee outfits and ground development,” he said.

“At the same time licensed clubs continue to play a vital role in the success of clubs in the Telstra premiership.

“There are any number of gambling options in the community but none which contribute to the community in the way that the clubs movement does.

“Our concern is that these measures will not prevent problem gambling but that it will severely damage rugby league and other community sports.”

Former Bulldogs Grand Final winning captain and the first NSW Origin winning captain Steve Mortimer said he is furious with the Federal Government for selling out rugby league to the Independent MP Andrew Wilkie.

“Rugby league is the greatest game of all. It provides so many children with the opportunity to play junior sport, to learn the importance of team work and prepares them to be good citizens in adulthood,” he said.

“Of course, many also dream of one day becoming a professional footballer.

“This technology on the poker machines will strip rugby league and other junior sports of hundreds of millions of dollars of support the clubs have always provided.

“Our sport would never recover from that sort of blow. That’s a legacy that should send shivers down the spines of Labor MPs,” he said.

Aristocrat Leisure And Clubs Australia Fire Up Gambling Debate...

The Australian gambling debate continues to roll on, with Aristocrat Leisure being the latest gambling company to weigh in with proposals as to how they think that the problem could be more easily regulated. Many see their proposal as one that is stuffed with self-interest though – including the man heading up the inquiry, MP Andrew Wilkie. The proposals put forward by Aristocrat Leisure encompassed many different points, but the one that was the most talked about was their idea for a “machine based” solution to end the problem of gambling addiction in the country.
This was due to their belief that a monitoring system – an idea muted by the government recently – wouldn’t be achievable by the government’s target of 2012, mainly due to the complexity of the task. In fact, their submission stated that this wouldn’t even be possible by 2014, therefore putting the whole overhaul of the system back by 2 years. The main reason why pro-reform figures see this announcement in a suspicious light is due to the fact that Aristocrat Leisure say they would roll out this system as part of their normal replacement cycle, which means that they would not have to interrupt operations in order to comply with any future regulations. This would obviously save the company huge amounts of money and would therefore ensure that their business remains a viable one through the period of change. In response to this scepticism, Aristocrat Leisure stated that a new pokie games machine retails at about $25,000, whereas implementing a software upgrade would cost them just $3000 per machine. This, they said, means that their suggestion in fact would cost them more to implement – therefore meaning that they have taken a cut in profits in order to assist those with gambling problems. In addition to Aristocrat Leisure weighing in with their argument yesterday, Club Australia also joined the chorus of businesses opposing the methods that the Australian government want to introduce to curb gambling problems. In a long statement they essentially said that the Australian government have underestimated the amount of work and logistics that will need to go in to setting up the system that they have proposed. They also stated that the system will have a hugely detrimental affect on the smaller clubs in Australia, who current only see about $25 worth of profit a day from each machine that they own. This, they say, means that the disputed figure for the amount of money the government thinks a machine will lose per day under new regulations - $1.50 – will actually represent a large percentage of income for these clubs. The final results of these inquiries are still very much in the balance, with both sides seeing significant numbers of support being gained in recent weeks. Stay tuned as the weekly saga continues. "Mr X" (satire) is not ready to give up, not quite yet anyway.


$700m Stadium To Be Built Next Door To Perth's Burswood Casino...

James Packer's Burswood casino in Perth will reap massive benefits from a final decision by the Barnett government to build the state's new football stadium on its doorstep. Premier Colin Barnett yesterday defied the recommendations of a taskforce to announce the $700 million multi-purpose stadium would be built at Burswood on the banks of the Swan River. He said another $300m would be spent upgrading infrastructure to improve access to the site, which is a brief walk from the casino. That includes a new pedestrian bridge over the Swan to link the CBD to the area so people can walk to the stadium, a new four-platform rail station, possible ferry access and road realignments. The Premier conceded the plan would benefit the casino, which is midway through a $500m upgrade, including installing hundreds more gaming machines after an agreement last year to pay the government a $20m fee and higher taxes in return for the expansion. Barnett said he had not discussed the stadium with Packer, except in a brief "casual" conversation when he told him it was the favoured site and likely to be built there. "He (Mr Packer) said, 'That will be good', and that was about it'," the Premier said. Construction of the new 60,000-seat football stadium will not begin for several years, and is not expected to be finished until early 2018. Barnett said the facility would be world-class and become the centrepiece of a new entertainment precinct. It would also cater for concerts and other sports. A spokesperson for Burswood said the group had not been asked for any financial investment in the relocation and construction of the stadium. Barnett pointed to the state's scandal-plagued WA Inc era as the reason for not asking Crown to contribute. "I . . . have a very long memory of the scandals in West Australian politics, and you don't mix business with public investment," he said. But Labor spokesman Roger Cook criticised the project, and said it was "a triumph for Colin Barnett's arrogance". "I think it would be extraordinary that the government would put a major piece of social infrastructure, upgrade all the road and rail infrastructure in the area, without approaching the casino for a contribution" towards the cost," he said.

Online Gambling Review Goes Ahead...

The last main link in the chain to online sports betting in Australia - betting during a match...could soon be lifted and deliver lucrative royalties to major sporting codes under changes being considered by the Australian government. Australia's major sports bodies, including the NRL, AFL, tennis and cricket, are lobbying hard to end the online in-play betting ban and the Gillard government has agreed to review the law. The move comes just 12 months after the government rejected a recommendation by the Productivity Commission to allow the "liberalisation of online gambling", and amid growing community concern about the link between gambling and sport. The Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy has been instructed to review Australia's online gambling laws and in-play betting is expected to be a key focus. Australia's major sports are calling for online gambling laws to be eased. ''Australia is the only jurisdiction in the world that allows online wagering on sport but at the same time prevents punters from using the internet to place in-play bets,'' a recent anti-corruption report adopted by major sports bosses said. ''The prohibition on in-play betting limits the funding opportunities available to Australia's sports. On international soccer markets … about 75 per cent of bets are made in-play, while for tennis about 90 per cent.''
The Australian Crime Commission has warned online gambling ''is an identified money laundering risk and increasingly is also acknowledged as a risk for revenue and taxation fraud''. In a submission released by a federal parliamentary committee also considering online gambling, the commission also warned ''Australia's criminal networks are able to identify and exploit opportunities for profit'' and ''this makes professional sport an attractive target''. ''It is well established that horse racing in Australia has been infiltrated by organised crime, with significant amounts of money being laundered through the horse racing industry,'' it found. ''This is occurring despite significant resources being devoted to monitoring the integrity of racing.'' The report found the integrity of professional sports had been compromised internationally, citing:

-Italian mafia and the fixing of soccer matches in Series A.

-Eastern European criminal groups fixing soccer matches.

-Russian organised criminal groups in soccer and ice hockey.

-Chinese organised crime or triads in large scale illegal gambling and match fixing of soccer throughout south-east Asia.

The commission said "the use of online gambling to facilitate criminal activity, predominantly money laundering, is a key vulnerability". A spokesman for Communications Minister, Senator Stephen Conroy, said Australia's interactive gambling laws had not been reviewed since 2005. "Given this and the rapid changes in technology, the government felt it was time for a comprehensive look at the effectiveness of the legislation."

Punters, er readers, stay glued to Media Man reports for more "can't miss" information on Australian pokies, gaming and casino wars.

*Media Man http://www.mediamanint.com is primarily a media, publicity and internet portal development company. They cover a dozen industry sectors including gaming. Media Man also publishes Media Man News

*The writer owns shares in Crown Limited

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Sunday, July 03, 2011

Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment VS The World, by Greg Tingle - 3rd July 2011

Profiles

Sin City PartyCasino.com Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment Hollywood Slots Comics
PartyPoker.com



Profiles

Sin City PartyCasino.com Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment Hollywood Slots Comics Dark Horse Comics iGaming

Shares in online gaming firm Bwin.Party surged Friday after competitor Full Tilt had its licence suspended.

A US investigation into the companies founders led the gambling commission of the Channel Island of Alderney to order the firm to stop trading with immediate effect while it conducts its own investigation.

Full Tilt was indicted in the United States for alleged gambling offences, money laundering and bank fraud.

In a research note, UBS analyst Simon Whittington says the news is positive for remaining European poker operators.

He advised: "We estimate that Full Tilt has a 10-15% share of the non-US poker market. With a similar share themselves, we believe Bwin.Party should be a prime beneficiary of any market 'vacuum' created."

Austrian Bwin merged with rival PartyGaming earlier this year. The company is based in Gibraltar, a preferred location for igaming companies due to its relaxed tax laws and well-regulated gambling - gaming system. After their initial surge its shares fell back to close 1.2%.

Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) Share Price Information

Share Price: 151.00 Bid: 151.00 Ask: 151.20 Change: 0.00 (+0.67%)


Preview Of PartyCasino

PartyCasino.com has the most frequent game launches in the industry and offers over 160 games, including over 100 slots. PartyCasino.com pays out easily over $10 million EVERY DAY to players. “The Big One” is structured as a five-tiered pool. The highest tier—Colossal Cash—seeds at $1.5 million, the biggest online jackpot seed in the industry, and currently stands at over $1.6 million.

Profiles

Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment PartyCasino.com PartyPoker.com PartyBets.com PartyBingo.com Gamebookers.com Movies Sin City

In the meantime PartyCasino.com continues to roll out new games and initiatives.

The most popular PartyCasino.com games of late include Sin City, Unicorn Legend, Heist, Circus, Rambo, Palladium Slot, The Godfather, Sinatra, Slotbox, Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Mission: Impossible, The Terminator, Cleopatra, Sinatra, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, The Amazing Spider-Man, Monopoly, Resident Evil, Melon Madness, Wheel Of Fortune and Mega Fortune Wheel.

The PartyCasino.com jackpot is currently approaching the $4 million mark. Players can also compete for The Big One and Marvel Hero Jackpot, playing the Marvel super hero themed online slot games.

PartyCasino's most recent game releases include Sin City, The Sting, Unicorn Legend, Shaaark! SuperBet, Crocodopolis, Alice's Wonderland, Glamour Puss, Super Cubes, Heist, Palladium Slot and Circus Slot.

PartyGaming CEO Jim Ryan has gone on record advising PartyCasino will soon feature more Hollywood blockbuster themed slots. A few in the know journalists and media agents have been recently tipped off that an all time classic movie and TV adaption will be showcased in the PartyCasino portfolio within 1 month. PartyCasino has the world's most impressive line up of Hollywood themed games, and more are just around the corner.

Media Man, Casino News Media and Global Gaming Directory do have a b2b relationship with Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment, as they do with dozens of other companies in the gaming, igaming, media and entertainment industry.

The Big Fat Win

Collect your cut of more than $100,000
Starts: 00:00 ET, 6th July
Ends: 23:59 ET, 18th July

Sin City is now open for business and to welcome you to our most jaw-dropping slot game ever we’ve put together a cache of prizes worth more than $100,000.

With leaderboard cash prizes and double points for the taking, all you have to do is spin Sin City or any of our slots and jackpot slots to stake your claim for a share of this formidable haul of prizes.

Double points when you spin Sin City

Don’t forget, every time you play Sin City during the promotional period you will get double the amount of points you would normally earn. Now there’s absolutely no reason for you to stay away from Sin City.

Make a name for yourself in Sin City

Lose yourself in Sin City and discover a slot game we’re certain will blow you away.

Based on the infamous graphic novel series, this unique slot is packed with dark humour, shocking visuals and, most importantly, free spins, multipliers features and five unforgettable bonus games. Wreak enough havoc in Sin City and you can win 1,000 times your line bet in the normal game and up to 8,000 times your line bet in the free spins feature.

Pay Sin City a visit today and see if you can make a killing.

Websites

PartyCasino.com

PartyPoker.com


There's Never Been A Better Time to Play at PartyPoker

GIBRALTAR - June 29, 2011 - There's never been a better time to play at leading online poker room PartyPoker.com New offers introduced TODAY include:

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• Keep your VIP status Have you been a VIP at another site? Just email proof to vip@palladiumlounge.com and earn 1,000 points within 15 days and we'll upgrade your account to VIP status.

See PartyPoker.com for more information.

Cleaning up at the tables? Fancy a bigger project or just a bit of fun? Your chance to achieve total 'World Domination' gets underway at PartyPoker.com from the 8th July 2011. Conquer 72 cities by earning PartyPoints and pick up freerolls, cash prizes and a potential top prize of $100,000 on the way!

A PartyPoker.com spokesman said: "The premise is simple – divide and conquer! Rome wasn't built in a day but it could be won in an hour! Turn your PartyPoints into cities - the empire building continues until the 31st August or until all cities are conquered. There are 72 cities to conquer and freeroll seats, cash payouts and a top prize of $100,000. Just earn 10 PartyPoints to be randomly awarded a city from 72 available."

"Many of the cities have cash prizes and freeroll seats attached The big money comes in when you can complete all the cities in an entire continent, for example, getting all of Asia wins you $5,000 and Europe will bag you $20,000. Finally, a player who gets every single country has world domination – worth a cool $100,000."

As an incentive to get started, PartyPoker.com give you your first city for just 5 points. Tony G writes from his secret underground bunker at PartyPoker.com

Players can earn up to 100 cities a day throughout the World Domination promotion. Reveal the ones collected by logging in to your Party Account, checking the interactive map and start to accumulate a fortune.

For more information see: PartyPoker.com


Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment Confirms Ongame Poker Network Deal Possibilities

The Ongame poker network is "likely" to be sold, bwin.party has confirmed that a formal process to sell the B2B network is on the way.

The announcement was made earlier today ahead of today’s Annual General Meeting, the first held by the giant since the merger between Bwin and PartyGaming was completed last March.

The statement read "One area of our stated strategy was to recycle surplus assets,"..."We expect that any sale will be completed by the end of the year."

No licensee on the network has yet responded to bwin.party’s announcement, although Betfair’s outgoing CEO David Yu passed opinion on Ongame just yesterday.

Bwin.Party’s AGM statement contains details of a planned share buyback, which will see the company follow the examples of Playtech and Betfair in making such a move, plus news of a progressive dividend policy containing a €30m dividend payout for the year ending 31 December 2011.

As we go to press trading is described as “Broadly in-line with management's expectations,” however analyst James Hollins, of Evolution Securities, advised in a memo earlier today that “The stock remains a Neutral ahead of potentially disruptive German legislation near-term.”

Meanwhile Simon French, of Panmure Gordon, reiterated his firm’s ‘buy’ recommendation, explaining “[We] expect the shares to respond well to the dividend and share buyback news.”

German sports betting proposals in April had seen the share price of bwin.party dive 16% in a day, and a decision on the country’s State Gambling Treaty is expected in October.

Yesterday things turned around following the suspension of Full Tilt Poker’s licences in Alderney - the share price ended the day at 148.2p, an increase of more than 10% day-on-day.


Bwin.Party In Line With Management's Expectations

bwin.party digital entertainment's trading performance since the beginning of April has been broadly in line with management's expectations.

But is says sports margins have been lower than expected due to a favourable run of events for customers in May.

The improvement in new player sign-ups in poker, following action taken by the US authorities against certain of the group's online poker competitors on 15 April, has not had a material impact on poker revenue as new players represent just a small proportion of the overall player base and these companies have so far continued to command significant market share in non-US markets.

Casino continues to perform well while bingo has been slightly softer than expected in the period.

At 8:47am: (LON:BPTY) share price was +0.5p at 148.7p.


Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment Big On Security

The online gaming business PartyGaming has also long since been protecting its players with strong authentication. After all, there is a lot of money at stake – money that the dark forces may want to siphon away. PartyPoker, PartyCasino, PartyBingo and PartyGammon customers register by downloading the PartyGaming customer software. After registration, they can obtain an authenticator called PartySecure from the online store. This is again a Digipass Go 6 that has been completely adapted to the branding of PartyGaming. Here again, a Vacman Controller Server takes over the authentication. “The solution is highly scalable,” stressed a PartyGaming spokesperson. “It can grow with us and effortlessly cope with the growing number of online-players on our platform.”


Australian Tony G Inks Player Representation Agreement With PartyPoker

There's only an elite few poker players who are also extremely astute businessmen, and Australian Tony G is one such ace. Having amassed over $4 million in live-tournament winnings and having a few other healthy income streams the only thing missing from the mans achievements was a major representation deal with a major online site. Enter PartyPoker.com

Tony G in a cunning moving has sold his Tony G Poker official website and IP to the igaming powerhouse giving the Bwin.Party giant access to the website's strong poker player database.

Mr G said he couldn't be more pleased about his new deal and that he is ready to take on all challengers. "I cannot wait to start playing for Team Party on the circuit. I’ve always loved Party and what better way to kick off than at the Aussie Millions. I am also really excited about the Premier League in February ...it is the best event in poker in my eyes. After finishing runner-up and third in the last two years the title has to be mine! I just hope my rivals have the heart and commitment to the game to stop me!"

His new deal incorporates live tournament buy-ins to events around the world and he will play online under the screen name "TonyG." He joins an impressive roster of Team Party players including Mike Sexton, Kara Scott, Ian Frazer, Bodo Sbrzesny, Remy Biechel, Stewart Scott and Felipe ‘Mojave’ Ramos.

The Tony G Poke website will migrate all its players to NoblePoker.com, (a Bwin.Party subsidiary). As part of G's deal, he will continue to run the Sunday Bike Ride, a popular bounty promotion on the site. According to G, this will give Tony G Poker players added value over the long run.

"It’s business as usual for Tony G Poker.com The exciting acquisition of its assets by the PartyGaming will create a larger more flexible and productive playing environment," said the G. So, whether online poker, online casino or other tickle your fancy, the good folks at Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment have your number.

The company is currently expanding worldwide, and growing markets include Australia, Canada, Italy, Spain, and the firm is currently talking turkey with U.S regulators regarding a full return to the U.S market, where its World Poker Tour brand should prove to be the door opener, followed by sports betting and online casino offerings, all under the Bwin.Party banner. It's b2b deals with Marvel Entertainment, Frank Sinatra Enterprises, Paramount Pictures, Dark Horse Comics and International Game Technology are also understood to be giving the powers that be confidence to get negotiations with Bwin.Party to the next stage.

Profiles

PartyGaming PartyCasino PartyPoker PartyBingo Circus PartyCasino Marvel Slots The Big One Melon Madness Casino World Poker Tour PartyCasino Promotions
Sin City

Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment To Sell Ongame; Bwin.Party Gets New Games And Promotions, by Greg Tingle - 1st July 2011

Profiles

Sin City PartyCasino.com Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment Hollywood Slots Comics
PartyPoker.com

PartyCasino, PartyPoker And Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment News

Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment To Sell Ongame

The world’s largest listed online gambling operator, Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment, has begun the formal process of selling its Ongame Network Limited business-to-business subsidiary with completion expected before the end of the year.
Gibraltar-based Bwin.Party was born in late-March following the union of online betting and gaming provider Bwin Interactive Entertainment with PartyGaming and declared that the sale of Ongame was part of the ongoing integration process.
“One area of our stated strategy was to recycle surplus assets,” read a statement from Bwin.Party.

“As part of this process, and having taken some initial soundings from interested parties, we have commenced a formal process to sell Ongame’s business-to-business operation that is one of the world's leading online poker networks with a state-of-the-art technology platform.

“Since the completion of the merger that took place on March 31, we continue to make progress on implementing the plans that we had prepared prior to completion. As a result, we remain on-track to deliver the full €55 million of annualised synergies by 2013 as previously announced.”

Bwin.Party also revealed in a pre-close trading update that its business was trading in-line with management expectations ‘although sports margins have been lower than expected due to a favourable run of events for customers in May’.

“The improvement in new player sign-ups in poker following action taken by the US authorities against certain of the group's online poker competitors on April 15 has not had a material impact on poker revenues as new players represent just a small proportion of the overall player base and these companies have so far continued to command significant market share in non-US markets,” read the statement from Bwin.Party.

“Casino continues to perform well while bingo has been slightly softer than expected in the period.”

Finally, Bwin.Party stated that its board of directors has adopted a ‘progressive dividend policy’ that is set to start with a payment of €30 million for the year to the end of December while its share buy-back programme, which will remain in place for one year, currently has access to €75 million from existing cash resources.


Frank Miller's Sin City Comes To The World's Largest Online Casino


Casino News Media: Frank Miller's Sin City Comes To The World's Largest Online Casino

Profiles

Sin City PartyCasino.com Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment Hollywood Slots Comics

Gibraltar - 17th June 2011 - Following up on last week’s release of Frank Miller’s Sin City: The Hard Goodbye at Digital DarkHorse comes more exciting news around this legendary title. Sin City has now entered the online gaming world, with a new game at PartyCasino.com This new five-reel, fifty-line slot features art and story from the widely acclaimed series by comics legend Frank Miller.

When Sin City originally appeared in Dark Horse Presents: Fifth Anniversary Special in April 1991, it was clear that the face of the comics medium had changed forever. Since that time, Miller’s groundbreaking comics noir has found its way into the public consciousness with toys, games, and even a feature-length motion picture. Frank Miller’s Sin City remains one of the most stylized works in the history of the medium, drawing heavily from film noir, including its use of shadow and stark backgrounds. The black-and-white comic was perfectly suited to the original format of Dark Horse’s flagship anthology, with occasional spot usage of primary colors added to later volumes and editions.

"Frank Miller’s Sin City is a very different slot to any other we have launched in recent times. The striking artwork and mature content mean this isn’t a game for the faint hearted," said a spokesman for PartyCasino.com

There are five featured games, which win the player free spins and multipliers: “Straight to Hell,” “The Hard Goodbye,” “He Never Screams,” “Deadly Little Miho,” and “Just Get Warmed Up.” The games feature the series’ main characters: Hartigan, Nancy, Miho, Marv, Kevin, the Yellow B*stard, and Dwight. The game includes mature content and scenes of violence, nudity, and depravation.

PartyCasino.com has the most frequent game launches in the industry and offers over 160 games, including over 100 slots. PartyCasino.com pays out easily over $10 million EVERY DAY to players. “The Big One” is structured as a five-tiered pool. The highest tier—Colossal Cash—seeds at $1.5 million, the biggest online jackpot seed in the industry, and currently stands at over $1.6 million.

About Dark Horse Comics

Since 1986, Dark Horse Comics has proven to be a solid example of how integrity and innovation can help broaden a unique storytelling medium and establish a small, homegrown company as an industry giant. The company is known for the progressive and creator-friendly atmosphere it provides for writers and artists. In addition to publishing comics from top talent like Frank Miller, Mike Mignola, Neil Gaiman, Gerard Way, and comics legend Will Eisner, Dark Horse has developed such successful characters as the Mask, Timecop, and SpyBoy. Additionally, its highly successful line of comics and products based on popular properties includes Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Aliens, Conan, Emily the Strange, Tim Burton, Trigun, Serenity, and Domo. Today Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent comic-book publisher in the US and is recognized as one of the world’s leading publishers of licensed comics material.

SIN CITY, FRANK MILLER’S SIN CITY and all characters therein and all depictions thereof are trademarks of Frank Miller, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ©2011 Frank Miller, Inc. All Rights Reserved.


Profiles

Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment PartyCasino.com PartyPoker.com PartyBets.com PartyBingo.com Gamebookers.com Movies Sin City

In the meantime PartyCasino.com continues to roll out new games and initiatives.

The most popular PartyCasino.com games of late include Sin City, Unicorn Legend, Heist, Circus, Rambo, Palladium Slot, The Godfather, Sinatra, Slotbox, Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Mission: Impossible, The Terminator, Cleopatra, Sinatra, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, The Amazing Spider-Man, Monopoly, Resident Evil, Melon Madness, Wheel Of Fortune and Mega Fortune Wheel.

The PartyCasino.com jackpot is currently approaching the $4 million mark. Players can also compete for The Big One and Marvel Hero Jackpot, playing the Marvel super hero themed online slot games.

PartyCasino's most recent game releases include Sin City, The Sting, Unicorn Legend, Shaaark! SuperBet, Crocodopolis, Alice's Wonderland, Glamour Puss, Super Cubes, Heist, Palladium Slot and Circus Slot.

PartyGaming CEO Jim Ryan has gone on record advising PartyCasino will soon feature more Hollywood blockbuster themed slots. A few in the know journalists and media agents have been recently tipped off that an all time classic movie adaption will be showcased in the PartyCasino portfolio within 1 month. PartyCasino has the world's most impressive line up of Hollywood themed games, and more are just around the corner.

Media Man, Casino News Media and Global Gaming Directory do have a b2b relationship with Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment, as they do with dozens of other companies in the gaming, igaming, media and entertainment industry.

The Big Fat Win

Collect your cut of more than $100,000
Starts: 00:00 ET, 6th July
Ends: 23:59 ET, 18th July

Sin City is now open for business and to welcome you to our most jaw-dropping slot game ever we’ve put together a cache of prizes worth more than $100,000.

With leaderboard cash prizes and double points for the taking, all you have to do is spin Sin City or any of our slots and jackpot slots to stake your claim for a share of this formidable haul of prizes.

Get paid in The Big Fat Win

Muscle in on your share of The Big Fat Win by opting in from 6th July and earning points when you play Sin City or any of our slots and jackpot slots during the promotional period. Palladium VIP members will be fighting it out for more than $60,000, while non-VIP players have over $40,000 to play for.

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There's Never Been A Better Time to Play at PartyPoker

GIBRALTAR - June 29, 2011 - There's never been a better time to play at leading online poker room PartyPoker.com New offers introduced TODAY include:

• $100,000 freeroll Make a deposit using bonus code 200JULY and you'll get automatic entry into a huge $100K Depositors freeroll on Sunday 7th August.

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• Keep your VIP status Have you been a VIP at another site? Just email proof to vip@palladiumlounge.com and earn 1,000 points within 15 days and we'll upgrade your account to VIP status.

See PartyPoker.com for more information.

Cleaning up at the tables? Fancy a bigger project or just a bit of fun? Your chance to achieve total 'World Domination' gets underway at PartyPoker.com from the 8th July 2011. Conquer 72 cities by earning PartyPoints and pick up freerolls, cash prizes and a potential top prize of $100,000 on the way!

A PartyPoker.com spokesman said: "The premise is simple – divide and conquer! Rome wasn't built in a day but it could be won in an hour! Turn your PartyPoints into cities - the empire building continues until the 31st August or until all cities are conquered. There are 72 cities to conquer and freeroll seats, cash payouts and a top prize of $100,000. Just earn 10 PartyPoints to be randomly awarded a city from 72 available."

"Many of the cities have cash prizes and freeroll seats attached The big money comes in when you can complete all the cities in an entire continent, for example, getting all of Asia wins you $5,000 and Europe will bag you $20,000. Finally, a player who gets every single country has world domination – worth a cool $100,000."

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Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment Confirms Ongame Poker Network Deal Possibilities

The Ongame poker network is "likely" to be sold, bwin.party has confirmed that a formal process to sell the B2B network is on the way.

The announcement was made earlier today ahead of today’s Annual General Meeting, the first held by the giant since the merger between Bwin and PartyGaming was completed last March.

The statement read "One area of our stated strategy was to recycle surplus assets,"..."We expect that any sale will be completed by the end of the year."

No licensee on the network has yet responded to bwin.party’s announcement, although Betfair’s outgoing CEO David Yu passed opinion on Ongame just yesterday.

Bwin.Party’s AGM statement contains details of a planned share buyback, which will see the company follow the examples of Playtech and Betfair in making such a move, plus news of a progressive dividend policy containing a €30m dividend payout for the year ending 31 December 2011.

As we go to press trading is described as “Broadly in-line with management's expectations,” however analyst James Hollins, of Evolution Securities, advised in a memo earlier today that “The stock remains a Neutral ahead of potentially disruptive German legislation near-term.”

Meanwhile Simon French, of Panmure Gordon, reiterated his firm’s ‘buy’ recommendation, explaining “[We] expect the shares to respond well to the dividend and share buyback news.”

German sports betting proposals in April had seen the share price of bwin.party dive 16% in a day, and a decision on the country’s State Gambling Treaty is expected in October.

Yesterday things turned around following the suspension of Full Tilt Poker’s licences in Alderney - the share price ended the day at 148.2p, an increase of more than 10% day-on-day.


Bwin.Party In Line With Management's Expectations

bwin.party digital entertainment's trading performance since the beginning of April has been broadly in line with management's expectations.

But is says sports margins have been lower than expected due to a favourable run of events for customers in May.

The improvement in new player sign-ups in poker, following action taken by the US authorities against certain of the group's online poker competitors on 15 April, has not had a material impact on poker revenue as new players represent just a small proportion of the overall player base and these companies have so far continued to command significant market share in non-US markets.

Casino continues to perform well while bingo has been slightly softer than expected in the period.

At 8:47am: (LON:BPTY) share price was +0.5p at 148.7p.


Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment Big On Security

The online gaming business PartyGaming has also long since been protecting its players with strong authentication. After all, there is a lot of money at stake – money that the dark forces may want to siphon away. PartyPoker, PartyCasino, PartyBingo and PartyGammon customers register by downloading the PartyGaming customer software. After registration, they can obtain an authenticator called PartySecure from the online store. This is again a Digipass Go 6 that has been completely adapted to the branding of PartyGaming. Here again, a Vacman Controller Server takes over the authentication. “The solution is highly scalable,” stressed a PartyGaming spokesperson. “It can grow with us and effortlessly cope with the growing number of online-players on our platform.”


bwin.party digital - AGM Statement - 30th June 2011


AGM Statement

Pre-close Trading update and Distribution Policy


Highlights

Ø Current trading broadly in-line with management's expectations

Ø Board has adopted a progressive dividend policy commencing with a dividend of €30m for the year ended 31 December 2011

Ø Share buy-back programme of up to €75m from existing cash resources

Ø Integration on-track to deliver €55m of annualised synergies by 2013

Ø Ongame B2B network to be sold


At the Company's AGM to be held in Gibraltar later today, the Board of bwin.party will be issuing the following statement to shareholders.


Trading and Regulation update

The Group's trading performance since the beginning of April 2011 has been broadly in-line with management's expectations, although sports margins have been lower than expected due to a favourable run of events for customers in May. The improvement in new player sign-ups in poker, following action taken by the US authorities against certain of the Group's online poker competitors on 15 April 2011, has not had a material impact on poker revenue as new players represent just a small proportion of the overall player base and these companies have so far continued to command significant market share in non-US markets. Casino (Paris: FR0000125585 - news) continues to perform well while bingo has been slightly softer than expected in the period.

The pace of regulatory change shows no signs of slowing down as governments around the world embrace the market reality that online gaming is an increasingly popular form of entertainment for adults. Recent developments include in Italy, where cash game poker and casino games are expected to become licensed next month, and in Spain where the proposed regulatory framework is expected to include all products. In Germany, Schleswig-Holstein's proposal to regulate and license all forms of online gaming has been approved by the European Commission and this legislation is now being considered by the State Parliament. An alternative proposal, as put forward by the other 15 Länder, has yet to receive approval from the European Commission.

In the United States there have been a number of fresh efforts to regulate internet poker at both a federal and state level, driven by US consumers' desire to continue to play games online following the enforcement action taken by the Department of Justice in April 2011 and also by widespread support for regulation by the land-based industry. The Group is encouraged by these efforts.


Integration update

Since the completion of the merger that took place on 31 March 2011, we continue to make progress on implementing the plans that we had prepared prior to completion. As a result, we remain on-track to deliver the full €55 million of annualised synergies by 2013 as previously announced.


Sale of Ongame B2B

One area of our stated strategy was to recycle surplus assets. As part of this process and having taken some initial soundings from interested parties, we have commenced a formal process to sell Ongame's Business-to-Business operation that is one of the world's leading online poker networks with a state-of-the-art technology platform. We expect that any sale will be completed by the end of the year.


Distribution Policy

Following the announcement on 15 April 2011, the Board has undertaken a comprehensive review of its capital and distribution policy. This review considered the investment needs of the business over the next few years given the expected changes to the Group's operating environment, together with the Group's significant net cash position, strong cashflow characteristics and long-term earnings potential.


Taking these factors into account, the Board is pleased to announce that it will:


Ø Commence a dividend at the half year results to be announced on 31 August 2011; and


Ø Implement a share buyback programme, subject to market conditions and shareholder approval at today's AGM, of up to €75m. This programme will remain in place for one year and all shares purchased under the programme will be cancelled.


In relation to the dividend the Directors have adopted a progressive dividend policy whilst maintaining an appropriate level of dividend cover, as measured against the Group's free cashflow. This policy reflects the strong cashflow characteristics and long-term earnings potential of the Group whilst retaining sufficient resources to fund ongoing operating requirements and continued investment for long-term growth.


For the year ended 31 December 2011, the Directors intend to pay out €15m as an interim dividend payable in October 2011 and €15m as a final dividend payable in May 2012. Thereafter, the Directors intend to target a payout ratio of no less than 30% of normalised annual free cashflow with the interim dividend representing approximately half of the total annual dividend.


Poll Results

The full results of the poll votes regarding the 16 resolutions to be put to the meeting, of which two resolutions (15 and 16) are special resolutions, will be announced later today.

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