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PartyCasino News: Escape to Las Vegas with a 5 Star Dream Ticket!

2012-02-03T20:00:00.002+11:00

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Starts: 00:00 ET, 12th January 2012
Ends: 23:59 ET, 26th March 2012

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Star Casino MD replaced for 'behaviour'

2012-02-03T18:49:00.000+11:00

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The managing director of Sydney's The Star casino has been replaced for issues relating to his behaviour, the casino's owner says.

The CEO of Echo Entertainment said today that Sid Vaikunta had left the company.
"Mr Vaikunta's employment has ended after his behaviour in a social work setting," Echo CEO Larry Mullin said in a statement.

Frederic Luvisutto has been appointed in Mr Vaikunta's place. Mr Luvisutto has been managing director of Jupiters Gold Coast since May 2011.

A spokeswoman for Echo Entertainment said she was unable to provide further details.
The Casino, Liquor and Gaming Control Authority is investigating Mr Vaikunta's behaviour, a spokesman for NSW Gaming Minister George Souris told AAP.

The authority later said it had demanded from The Star a full explanation of the circumstances surrounding Mr Vaikunta's departure.

"The authority will be responsible for assessing the suitability of the new managing director to be licensed as a special employee under the Casino Control Act," it said in a statement.

World's Biggest Gamblers; History Of Bets At Casinos - Kerry Packer, David Walsh Et Al

2012-02-03T13:17:00.002+11:00

Lloyd Williams plays blackjack with the late Kerry Packer at Melbourne's Crown Casino

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Want to try your luck at a casino? ... Land based or online - there's all sorts of options out that, but first here's some real life stories regarding whales aka VIP high rollers at casinos, the racetrack and elsewhere.

PS: how about those Aussies - they will bet on anything won't they. World's biggest gamblers we heard.

Zeljko Ranogajec – Bookies beware! Allegedly, the world’s biggest gambler is an Australian billionaire of Croatian descent. After studying law in Tasmania, Ranogajec got a job in a casino where he learnt the tricks of the trade. Starting with an initial stake of hundreds, he went on to win millions on casino betting before turning his attention to horses. He now employs a full staff to compare odds and find him the best bets, putting around $1 billion a year on races around the world.

Kerry Packer – Staying Down Under, the late Kerry Packer was the media-mogul who was a thorn in Rupert Murdoch’s side – and a prolific gambler. This was the man who would happily walk into casinos and wager millions, supposedly losing $28 million in three weeks of gambling while in London. Another time he lost $15 million on the roulette tables, the staff saying he walked out with "no regrets". However, on his better days he has won up to $7 million in one casino betting session. There’s even a legend that Packer made a bet of $100 million dollars on the toss of a coin, but his opponent backed down.

Akio Kashiwagi – Known as ‘The Warrior’, this Japanese businessman became a casino legend before meeting a violent end. A master of baccarat, he regularly wagered $200,000 a time in US casinos, once winning $6 million in one night. However, he wasn’t always so lucky; he died in 1992 after being stabbed 150 times with a samurai sword while still owing casinos millions.

Archie Karas - Perhaps the most extraordinary of recent legendary streaks is possessed by Mr. Archie Karas, a Greek immigrant, who in 1992-1993 had one of the greatest runs in Vegas history. Starting with a borrowed stake of ten thousand dollars, Archie went on a rampage of poker at Binion's Horseshoe, defeating 15 of the world's greatest poker players in head-to-head competition, including World Champions Chip Reese, Stu Unger, Puggy Pearson, and Johnny Chan. When he ran out of poker competitors, Archie headed to the Horseshoe's craps tables where he won millions more. At one point in his run, Archie possessed all of the Horseshoe's $5,000 chips -- over 11 million dollars worth. When the run was over, Archie was up over 17 million dollars between poker and craps, all at the Horseshoe.

Betfred vs Betvictor – The names behind two of the biggest high street bookies were involved in what may have been the biggest sports betting wager in British history. Fred Done of Betfred fame and Victor Chandler of Betvictor bet on the outcome of the Premier League in 2005. Fred and Victor supported Manchester United and Chelsea respectively, so they wagered £1 million, as you do. It was Chelsea who came out on top and Done paid up in one of the best bets we’ve seen; what could be better than two sports betting giants walking it like they talk it?

Steve Whitely – Arriving by bus with a free ticket to watch racing at Exeter, 61-year-old heating engineer Steve Whitely turned a couple of quid into millions back in March last year. He didn’t bother to compare odds or make an effort to find the best bets, he just used his two pounds to make a Tote bet. A few hours later and he was minted after winning the jackpot when he correctly predicted all six of the winners. So, what is Steve’s sage advice to budding punters who want to win millions? “I like racing, yeah, but I don’t know nothing about it, do I?” Cheers Steve.

David Walsh - Not a great deal is know about this Tasmanian - Australian, but he founded MONA - (Museum of Old and New Art). Australian press has described him in a few colourful ways, such as - "multi-millionaire professional gambler and one of the nation's leading art collectors - dismisses himself as "just a privileged guy with a megaphone". He might be right. But the world is about to discover just how wonderful, disturbing, beautiful and occasionally challenging that megaphone is". In the second year of his science degree at the University of Tasmania, he was asked by friends to develop a model that would enable them to win at blackjack in the nearby Wrest Point Casino. When he discovered that the scope for winning at card games was limited he dropped out of his degree and, for most of the ’80s and early ’90s, spent 100 or more hours per week developing a mathematical model that would enable him and his partners to win at other forms of gambling, especially horseracing. This he now pursues on a large scale in a number of countries. There is a network of people involved in Walsh’s outfit, most notably his business partner of 30 years, Zeljko Ranogajec. Walsh met Ranogajec at university where the latter studied law and economics before he too dropped out to pursue a career in gambling. Walsh describes Ranogajec as a “relentless motivator and a loyal friend” who, despite not sharing his interest in art, has provided financial support for his collecting mania “whenever my cashflow dried to a trickle”. As Walsh inelegantly puts it: "I am throwing the shit, he is happy to be the fan. And he doesn’t even like the shit."

Other names whose win/loss positions move in the multiple millions in a single night include Malaysian tycoons Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay and Quek Leng Chan, Indonesia’s Putera Sampoerna, and Hustler founder Larry Flynt.

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2012-02-03T13:16:00.000+11:00

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Entertainment, Gaming, Casino And Celeb And Movie News Update - 2nd February 2012

2012-02-02T23:12:00.000+11:00

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Lyric Theatre At The Star In Sydney To Get 'An Officer and a Gentlemen'...

Riding on the success of live musicals, The Star, currently host to 'Annie', will be presenting the world famous 'An Officer And A Gentlemen' from 18th May.

Based on the hugely successful Academy Award-winning film, this new production has been adapted for the stage. A rich and satisfying story that has endured for generations, An Officer & A Gentleman is a modern day love story.

Star casino sacks top exec over sexual harassment claims...

The GM of The Star casino, Sid Vaikunta, has been terminated.

The chief executive of Echo Entertainment Group, Larry Mullin, said in a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange that "Mr Vaikunta's employment has ended after his behaviour in a work setting".

It is understood the statement refers to one of more incidents of sexual harassment in the workplace.

The annoucement comes just weeks after The Star received a clean bill of health and had its licence renewed by the Casino, Liquor and Gaming Control Authority.

Mr Vaikunta has been replaced by Frederic Luvisutto, who joined The Star from Jupiters Gold Coast.

The Media Man agency and its Casino News Media offshoot wish Mr Luvisutto well in his new role.

WWE Wrestlers To Clean House At Sydney's Allphones Arena 31st August 2012; WWE Gets New Creative and Development VP...

Aussie pro wrestling fans - get ready to rumble with the one and only WWE as seen on Australia's Foxtel.

The world's best professional wrestlers aka "sports entertainers" are going to come down under again and ply their craft in front of some of the world's most passionate and knowledgeable wrestling fans.

WWE Gets New Creative Boss...

No, it's not about John Laurinaitis (Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and Raw interim General Manager).

Ex Reveille and Warner Bros. exec Eric Pankowski has entered the ring at WWE as Senior Executive Vice President of creative and development.

Pankowski had joined Reveille in September as SVP of creative affairs, overseeing syndicated programming. In his new role with sports entertainment powerhouse, WWE, he will be responsible for all TV creative development, including reality and kids programming.

He will also manage WWE's creative writing teams and oversee the sale of programming to networks, studios and other distributors.

"No more bad storylines like what the world witnessed in the dying days of WCW please. WWE needs storylines for the times - as realistic and possible with a pro wrestling based product", a Media Man staffer was overheard.

"Eric is a creative veteran whose knowledge and experience will be a tremendous asset in both the creation of new WWE content as well as enhancing our core product," said WWE exec veep of creative Stephanie McMahon, to whom Pankowski will report.

Stephanie is the daughter of WWE founder and top brass, Vince McMahon.

Pankowski enjoyed 12 years at Warner Bros, culminating in his role as SVP of production company ParaMedia ("Lopez Tonight"). He has also been director of programming at Telepictures ("The Ellen DeGeneres Show").

Media Man and the existing WWE team wishes Eric Pankowski well in his new assignment and is looking forward to seeing results from his contribution.

Casinos Shares Get Boost...

Casino operators Crown and Tabcorp spinoff Echo Entertainment could increase revenue by billions of dollars if they manage to regain share of Asia's growing gambling market, according to a Citi report.

The report cited estimates by Australian tourism body, Tourism Australia, that the contribution by international tourists to Australian casino revenues had fallen from 12 per cent to 8 per cent since 2004, when rival markets opened in Macau, and more recently in Singapore.

"Australia's share of gaming revenue captured in the region of south-east Asia has fallen from 30 per cent to 9 per cent over the past five years," Citi gaming analyst Jenny Owen's report said.

Little wonder Crown Limited top brass James Packer has been so vocal as to the role that Australian land based casinos play in our tourism industry.

Crown and Echo are investing a combined $3.7 billion to entice mainly oriental clients to their casinos.

A 9 per cent share of the regional market would rocket Australian casino revenues to $3.73 billion this year from $3.43 billion in 2011, the report said.

It said that to give an example of the potential gain, a 15 per cent share of the regional market this year would equate to $5.63 billion in revenue for Australia's casinos.

This could add more than $188 million to earnings before interest and tax at Crown and $137 million at Echo, according to Citi, which based the numbers on last year's revenue share for the two firms.

Citi said Echo Entertainment was better positioned to reap any potential jackpot because its casinos were in more attractive tourism markets than Crown.

"Echo has more leverage in our view as Sydney outranks Melbourne as a preferred destination, and Brisbane and the Gold Coast outrank Perth," the report started.

The Media Man agency director owns shares in Crown Limited.

Problem gambling measures to proposed in Australia...

In Australia, the government of Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced that it plans to introduce new measures to tackle problem gambling including a provision that would limit the amount of money a player can withdraw from an in-venue cash machine to $250.

The government revealed that it will propose legislation in the next Parliamentary session that would also require all new poker machines manufactured from 2013 to be capable of supporting pre-commitment and link up with a state-controlled pre-commitment system from 2016.

“We will also continue to work on pre-commitment technology through the COAG Select Council on Gaming Reform,” read a statement from the Gillard Government.

“At this forum in May last year, state and territory gaming ministers agreed to support the required infrastructure for pre-commitment technology in all jurisdictions.

“The Gillard Government understands that many Australians enjoy gambling responsibly but for others it can have devastating consequences. Problem gambling ruins lives and that’s why in November of 2008 we asked the Productivity Commission to inquire into problem gambling in Australia.

“The Productivity Commission found that problem gambling affects up to five million Australians including friends, family and employers of people with a gambling problem. These far reaching impacts are why the Australian Government is delivering genuine long-lasting reforms to help problem gamblers and their families.”

Regarding online gambling, the Gillard Government is planning to introduce legislation that would further ban the promotion of live odds during sports coverage and extend pre-commitment to those offering wagering services over the Internet. There are also measures planned to ‘crack down on online sportsbetting companies offering credit’ and passing ‘stricter limits on betting inducements’ while increasing the powers of the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to enforce any new rules.

“The actions the Gillard Government is taking will be the most significant and far reaching national reforms to tackle problem gambling ever seen in this country,” read the statement from the Gillard Government.

Kerry Packer to be played by Lachy Hulme in Nine mini series...

The role of Kerry Packer will be played by actor Lachy Hulme in the Nine Network's mini-series focussing on the media and gambling tycoon's creation of World Series Cricket.

The Offspring and Hollowmen star will play the role instead of actor Rob Carlton.

Carlton was widely expected to reprise his role in the Nine mini-series after starring as Packer in ABC's acclaimed Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo last year.

However, The Sunday Telegraph reports that Carlton, who received an AACTA Award nomination for playing the mogul, was dumped in favour of Hulme after Nine Entertainment Co chief executive David Gyngell and producer John Edwards witnessed Hulme's audition tape.

Gyngell was reportedly "blown away" by Hulme's impersonation.

Carlton told The Sunday Telegraph: "I had a fantastic time on Paper Giants and was proud of the work I did."

"Obviously I was really looking forward to doing Kerry Packer with Channel Nine and I thought that's what we were all moving towards."

A potential sequel to Paper Giants is tipped for the ABC, however it's not known whether Carlton would reprise his role.

As well as being nominated, Carlton will also present at Tuesday's AACTA Awards which will be televised on Nine at 9:30pm.

Hulme will also star as miner Todd Russell in Nine's Beaconsfield telemovie which will air later this year, also produced by Edwards.

Howzat: The Kerry Packer Story will air later in the year.

Gina Rinehart becomes biggest Fairfax shareholder...

Australia's richest woman, Gina Rinehart, has become the largest shareholder in newspaper publisher Fairfax Media in what could become a play for control of the 181-year-old company.

Ms Rinehart, a mining industry billionaire, had acquired 12.8 per cent of the nation's second-largest newspaper company by late today.

This puts her ahead of Commonwealth Bank's 12.4 per cent, according to IG Markets analyst Chris Weston.

The news pushed Fairfax shares up 7.5 cents, or 10.14 per cent, to a three-month high at 81.5 cents.

Fairfax Media publishers The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian Financial Review and owns a string of radio stations.

Ms Rinehart made her $192 million play at 81.77 cents a share - a 10.5 per cent premium to Tuesday's close - which has increased her stake from 4.9 per cent to just under the 15 per cent ownership limit under current government law.

While neither Ms Rinehart nor Fairfax would comment today, the move has been met by mixed responses elsewhere.

This includes concerns that Ms Rinehart wanted a board seat and influence over editorial content.

Media analyst Peter Cox said there was no way Ms Rinehart was buying into Fairfax as a major shareholder just for a financial investment.

"This has to be driven by her view on politics in Australia," Mr Cox said.

"What's the point of spending that money on it if you're not going to have influence?

"So, I think it's possible she'd want to go on, buy more shares, get greater control and end up as the effective controller of Fairfax."

Ms Rinehart's late father, Lang Hancock, was an investor in Western Australian newspapers The Sunday Independent and the National Miner.

Ms Rinehart, who chairs her privately owned mining company Hancock Prospecting, has been a vocal critic of the Gillard government's mineral resources rent tax (MRRT) and Labor's plan to put a price on carbon pollution.

EL&C Baillieu Stockbroking media analyst Ivor Ries said Ms Rinehart's move on Fairfax was high risk, given he doubted she could influence the board and he doubted that the company would ever return to its profitable heyday.

"She could just be being opportunistic ... she's enjoying the up cycle of mining, media is in a down cycle and she's buying it at the bottom to flip them out in 18 months to two years' time when the media cycle turns better," he said.

Ms Rinehart's personal wealth is believed to have recently doubled to about $20 billion through the sale of a 15 per cent stake in the Roy Hill iron ore project in Western Australia to South Korean corporate giant Posco.

That would mean her investment in Fairfax represents less than one per cent of her fortune, with Fairfax's complete market value only $1.7 billion.

Avatar's James Cameron plans New Zealand move...

James Cameron has snapped up more farmland near New Zealand's capital Wellington, not far from his Oscar-winning colleague Peter Jackson.

Cameron, the director of Titanic and Avatar, two of the highest-grossing films in history, has bought more than 1,000 hectares in the Wairarapa region, around 80 kilometres north-east of Wellington, land information records show.

The area is renowned for its rolling coastal farmland used for beef, sheep and dairy farming, along with vineyards.

News media reports say he paid around $NZ20 million for the two separate properties.

The records show Cameron and his family, who currently live in Malibu, California, plan to "reside indefinitely" in New Zealand, and operate both properties as working farms.

Jackson, possibly New Zealand's most famous export after he directed the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, owns a large estate about 20 kilometres away.

It boasts a 20-metre high castle built on an island in a lake, along with sets from his Oscar-winning films.

Jackson's next film, The Hobbit, the prequel to the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, is due out later this year.

Cameron's property purchases have firmed expectations he will make large parts of two sequels to his 3D science-fiction epic Avatar in New Zealand.

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PartyCasino Wins Media Man 'Online Casino Of The Month' Award

2012-02-02T00:12:00.001+11:00

PartyCasino.com has been awarded the Media Man and Casino News Media "Online Casino Of The Month" award.

PartyGaming's igaming suite has grown a custom to winning awards since they first opened for business in 1997.

The competition for the coveted award was intense again this month with massive bids from both Virgin Casino, PKR Casino and Captain Cooks Casino however there can only be one winner... ladies and gentlemen, that's PartyCasino.com

The award follows PartyPoker's EGR Poker Operator Of The Year and PartyGaming also made the shortlist for EGR Operator Of The Year. Recently PartyGaming's PartyPoker.com also won the Casino News Media "Online Poker Website Of The Month".

The Media Man - Casino News Media accolade is based on a combination of elements including user experience, innovation, trustworthiness, customer service, gameplay, affiliate program offerings, newsworthiness and company values.

PartyCasino.com is one of a number of Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment brands.

The most popular PartyCasino.com games of late include 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 $2 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 Shaaark! SuperBet, Crocodopolis, Alice's Wonderland, Glamour Puss, Super Cubes, Heist, Palladium Slot and Circus Slot.

Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment Co-CEO Jim Ryan has gone on record advising PartyCasinowill 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.

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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.

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Oliver Speidel Wins 2012 Aussie Millions Main Event Melbourne Native Earns $1,600,000 AUD

2012-01-30T19:49:00.002+11:00

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The 2012 Aussie Millions Poker Championship Main Event was the talk of the land based casino and poker world.

With a field of 659 entrants from all around the world turning up at James Packer's Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia. But in the end the title stayed down under, with Melbourne’s own Oliver Speidel emerging victorious.

The 26-year-old banker was well rewarded for his win, taking home a cool $1,600,000 AUD, a diamond-encrusted gold ring, a Rolex watch, and and Aussie Millions trophy.

The $10,600 no-limit hold’em Main Event began on January 22nd, and went for seven days.

Speidel entered the final table second in chips with 3.415 million, likely feeling confidant in his game after making two final tables already at the 2012 Aussie Millions.

Speidel took the chiplead early on at the final table, and continued from there. By the time that play was four-handed, he controlled more than half of the chips in play. Speidel maintained his lead all the way into heads-up play with Kenneth Wong, of Hong Kong.

Wong started the heads-up battle off with a small comeback, but his ambitions of victory were soon history. The final hand was definitely a bit of a downer, with Wong getting the last of his chips in the middle with 9 hearts and 9 clubs, only to find himself in bad shape against Speidel’s A spades A clubs. The board brought was useless, and Wong was eliminated in second place. For outlasting all but one of the 659 entrants, Wong was awarded $1,000,000 AUD.

Here's the details from the seven-handed final table:

Place Player Earnings (AUD) POY Points
1 Oliver Speidel $1,600,000 2,100
2 Kenneth Wong $1,000,000 1,750
3 Mile Krstanoski $610,000 1,400
4 Mohamad Kowssarie $405,000 1,050
5 Patrick Healy $300,000 875
6 Bjorn Li $230,000 700
7 Yann Dion $170,000 525

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Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment CEO Sees Legal Online Gaming In US Soon

2012-01-30T18:30:00.002+11:00

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Legalized online gambling in the U.S. is now a case of 'when', not 'if', Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment PLC (BPTY.LN) Co-CEO Jim Ryan said Wednesday, adding that he expects the foundations to be laid this year.

But speaking at the ICE online gambling conference in London, the co-chief executive advised that establishing it up will take time.

The process of passing legislation, drawing up regulation, vetting and licensing operators will likely last through 2012, he said, and he speculates that actual operations likely won't happen before next year.

Partygaming, which last year merged with Austrian peer Bwin to form Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment, along with other European operators withdrew from the U.S. market in 2006 shortly after then-President George W. Bush signed a bill designed to prohibit U.S. banks and credit card companies from processing payments to gambling websites.

Partygaming paid a $105 million fine as part of a non-prosecution deal with the DOJ (Department Of Justice) in 2009, for admitting indirect contravention of US law, but in anticipation of a relaxation of the rules, Bwin.Party last year inked a joint venture with U.S. casino operators MGM and Boyd to operate online gaming if and when it became legal in the U.S.

Ryan's confidence comes after a recent ruling by the U.S. Department of Justice, which clarifies the scope of the Wire Act, a law that in the past has been used stop online gambling sites. The ruling essentially gives U.S. states the green light to allow gambling within their borders, according to online gambling experts.

Still, Ryan said this doesn't mean the company is in line to recoup any of the $105 million fine.

Bwin.Party and its joint venture partners have already applied for a preliminary suitability review in Nevada which will lay the groundwork for gaining a license there once regulation is agreed.

Ryan also told the press the sale process for its Ongame poker network is very advanced and he expects to be able to announce further news in the not too distant future.

He confirmed recent reports that the company is looking for an executive to head up its payments processing division CQR with a view to ultimately taking it public, but said this was several years away.

He said the company wants to expand its online payments operations outside of the gambling sector to build an online merchant market place, increasing the value of this asset and ultimately realising shareholder value by listing it on the stock market.

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Aussie Millions At Crown Casino, Melbourne: Phil Ivey Wins 2012 Aussie Millions $250,000 Super High Roller

2012-01-29T10:57:00.001+11:00

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James Packer’s Crown Casino continues to host the annual Aussie Millions Poker Championships. Here's the latest on one of the world's most prestigious poker tournaments.

The 2012 Aussie Millions $250,000 Super High Roller commenced on Saturday and went till the wee hours of the morning on Sunday.

Phil Ivey snatched the $2,000,000 first-place prize after defeating Patrik Antonius heads up.

The last live tourney Ivey showed for was back in November for the APPT Macau, but there was no win back then.

First, he placed 12th in the Main Event for $100,000, and then went on to get the largest score of his career by winning the Super High Roller.

The event attracted 16 players, and they all had to buy in with 6 figures - no misprint. The top three spots were set to be paid and a bubble of $800,000.

Among the stars taking part in the event were last year's champion Erik Seidel, last year's runner-up Sam Trickett, Tom Dwan, Jason Mercier, John Juanda and Sorel Mizzi. In addition, the event had a handful of businessmen including Richard Yong, Paul Phua and Winfred Yu.

The first player eliminated was Dwan, who went down at the hands of Gus Hansen. After the elimination of Nick Wong, Seidel busted during Level 5. He exited thanks to $100,000 Challenge winner Dan Smith after his pocket eights couldn't overcome Smith's jacks.

After Yu got out in sixth place and Mizzi in fifth, the largest bubble of the year was set to take place. The two players joining Ivey and Antonius were Daniel Negreanu and Gus Hansen. From that bunch, the only man not doing so well was Negreanu, who turned out to be the bubble boy.

On his final hand, Negreanu was all in from the big blind with the during the 5,000/50,000/5,000 level for around 750,000 after Antonius raised to 100,000 from the button. Antonius called holding two jacks and was able to hold up as the board ran out .

Hansen was the next to go down, collecting $800,000 for his finish after getting all in on the flop with the against Ivey's. Ivey built to full house and then the river completed the board.

When heads-up play began, Ivey held a slight lead with 2.2 million in chips to Antonius' 1.8 million. He won a big pot about 45 minutes into the match to extend his lead to 7:1 before the final hand came up.

Antonius was eliminated in second place. For his runner-up finish, Antonius snatched $1,200,000.

With his win, Ivey leaps over Negreanu into second place on the all-time money list. Even with his long absence from tournaments, Ivey performed awesomely at Aussie Millions. Many think Ivey is the greatest player in the world.

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2012-01-29T10:08:00.003+11:00

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PartyCasino Wins Media Man 'Online Casino Of The Month' Award

2012-01-28T21:04:00.001+11:00

PartyCasino.com has been awarded the Media Man and Casino News Media "Online Casino Of The Month" award.

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The award follows PartyPoker's EGR Poker Operator Of The Year and PartyGaming also made the shortlist for EGR Operator Of The Year. Recently Bwin.Party's PartyPoker.com also won the Casino News Media "Online Poker Website Of The Month".

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World's Biggest Gamblers; History Of Bets At Casinos - Kerry Packer, David Walsh Et Al

2012-01-28T01:46:00.002+11:00

Virgin Bingo launches brand new advertising campaign

2012-01-27T18:42:00.001+11:00

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James Packer and Richard Branson

Wednesday 25th January, 2012: Virgin Games, the leading online gaming company, has launched a brand new television advertising campaign for its bingo site – Virgin Bingo.

The latest advert is part of a £500,000 marketing campaign to run in the first quarter of 2012. It is a new concept for Virgin Bingo and is a departure from its previous animated advertisements. The new ad takes on a Willy Wonka meets Virgin theme. Staged in an imaginary factory where Virgin Bingo is made, a woman is taken on a backstage tour of the fantastical premises where Oompa-Loompas have been replaced by happy, dancing Virgin staff. The new commercial also introduces Virgin Bingo’s new welcome bonus: “Deposit £10 and play with £35”, as well as new exclusive Virgin Group prizes.

The campaign focuses primarily on women aged between 25 and 54 - the core target market for online bingo - with day time scheduling on channels such as Five, a range of Sky UK and ITV digital channels.

The 30 second advert was produced by ABF Pictures with Manning Gottlieb OMD acting as media planners and buyers. The advert is scheduled to run for multiple campaigns throughout the year across both terrestrial and freeview channels.

Simon Burridge, CEO of Virgin Games, commented: “This new advert has a flavour of Willy Wonka for adults about it. It has lots of energy, excitement and fun – just what consumers have come to expect from a Virgin advert.

“We first advertised Virgin Bingo on TV in 2010 and have witnessed fantastic customer acquisition rates as a result. We’ve found that TV advertising is a natural fit for bingo. Consumer trust and a sense of security and familiarity are very important attributes for a bingo brand. Being part of the Virgin brand helps to reassure customers that they are playing with a reputable company, while TV ads raise awareness of our existence and help to reinforce that trust and brand awareness.”

Matt Barraclough, Creative Director at ABF Pictures, commented: “We were thrilled to have the opportunity of working with the Virgin Games team. A brand like Virgin allows us to think bigger and look at online bingo in a different way. We wanted to stand out from traditional bingo commercials and do it in a very Virgin way.

“The commercial itself was produced over three months. The action was captured on green screen and the entire factory backdrop was then created using 3D modelling and animation. The inspiration for the advert was the core Virgin brand values: Fun, Value for Money, Innovation, Quality, Competitive Challenge and Brilliant Customer Service. We combined these values and used iconic Virgin styles to create an exciting and memorable advert.”

Founded in 2004, Virgin Games has over 1,000,000 players and over 295 games on its site. Through the introduction of a custom built Virgin Games platform in 2008, Virgin Games seeks to provide its players with the widest possible choice of casino games.

*Sorry, Virgin Games does not currently accept U.S, Canadian, New Zealand or Australian players. See World Casino Directory.

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Richard Branson

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PartyCasino VS Virgin Casino iGaming "war" continues

2012-01-26T19:55:00.001+11:00

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2012-01-26T19:53:00.000+11:00

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Casino News Media - Media Man - Global Gaming Directory - News Update - 25th January 2012

2012-01-25T23:48:00.002+11:00

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Clubs relieved over pokies backflip...

Clubs across the New South Wales mid-north coast are breathing a sigh of relief after the Gillard Government dumped Andrew Wilkie's pokies reform deal.

Instead of the independent MP's nationwide plan, the Commonwealth has proposed a two-year trial on the pre-commitment technology in the ACT.

The trial in the ACT will begin next year, ahead of possible national rollout in 2016.

The president of Clubs New South Wales for the far north coast and Clubs Taree, Carl Guy, says it will be a good way to test the effectiveness of the system.

"The costs are exorbitant on Wilkie's proposal," he said.

"Our club here [Taree] we'd be talking about $2.2 - 3 million.

"The end result of the trial will determine ... which system they will use and how much it'll cost.

"Irrespective it will cost clubs money to put these systems in which means changing the current machines."

Mr Guy says the trial will reveal the problems that regional clubs across the nation had been complaining about.

"Anything is better than what was proposed by Wilkie," he said.

"A trial, I think, will bring out the issues that the general public and a lot of people don't understand, the ramifications and the good that the clubs do for the community.

"It's just had such a flow-on effect, it was just disturbing for all directors right throughout the industry to think what is the next step."

E-gaming barrier is lifted in U.S...

The U.S. Department of Justice recently decided that the 1961 federal Wire Act only applies to sports-related gambling. This is huge news for the potentially lucrative state-sanctioned online gaming industry. It could pave the path for agreements between legal gaming states or internationally, claims renowned gambling legal expert I. Nelson Rose.

He writes that this virtually eliminates federal anti-gambling statutes. Multi-state lotteries have existed for years, and in any case federal law does not consider poker a lottery. The only laws left are those that go after organised crime, but that requires there be another legal violation.

With intra-state games like legalised poker, many other states may eventually allow some form of online gaming to boost their revenues. That is the main reason why gaming has enjoyed such expansion in the past 15 years.

The key question all operators should ask is: how will it affect us? Will there be opportunities for us to participate in some way? Or will online gaming prove to be a threat similar to home video games, which siphoned off revenues from street and arcade operators after their introduction in the mid-1980s?

OpenBet games update & challenge darts champ Phil the Power Taylor on our stand 5165 at ICE!...

Read on to find out about our latest games releases and the top land-based slots we're converting thanks to our partnerships with Aristocrat, Cool Games & Inspired Gaming

The Hoff
David Hasselhoff, a.k.a. "The Hoff", International Superstar and self-proclaimed King of the Internet, takes you for a spin with this great new game from MX Gaming. "Are you ready to hassle the Hoff? Check out my amazing new slot, packed with pure awesome, and you’ll hear me sing till money pours into your pockets!" The real thrill comes with two highly engaging bonus features: The Hoff Free Spin bonus and The Hoff Walk of Fame bonus. Help the Hoff navigate his high-profile celeb-life-path and make huge winnings along the way. Launching soon.

Geisha
Players have fallen in love with the Geisha, another fantastic game from Aristocrat®, makers of some of the most entertaining slot games in the world. Geisha's original creators developed this popular 5-reel, 20-line game with all the fun, excitement, colours and graphics of the original casino version now available online. Geisha waits for you in her exotic world where dragons roam, lotus flowers bloom, birds soar and majestic mountains touch the sky. Watch Geisha double your wins in the main game feature and even triple them in the free games!

Wicked Winnings II
Ready to get wicked? You'll have a devilishly good time with the online version of this incredibly hot slot game from Aristocrat. Remember, sometimes it's good to be bad - so check out the game that fires up the casino fun no matter where you are! Stick your pitchfork into great features such as Power Pay, for a chance to win 15 free games, and a special respin feature. Wicked Winnings II is the second title we're launching from Aristocrat's comprehensive games portfolio.

Masters Snooker Cashdrop
Having teamed up with renowned sports promoters, Matchroom Sport, Professional Darts Corporation and World Snooker, OpenBet offers a stellar line-up of new casino content including this latest release. Right on cue! Make a break and enjoy the red-hot atmosphere of this stylish slot game. Whether "kissing the pink" or "potting the black", you'll go potty for Masters Snooker Cashdrop. A spot-on game with more than 147 ways to fill your pockets! Are you in the frame?

The Cube
Based on a BAFTA Award-winning ITV1 prime time show on its 4th series, Electracade developed this exciting 20 line slot packed with special effects, 3D challenges based on some of the favourite games from the show and exciting bonus rounds. This game which lets your players take on The Cube is sure to get your players' adrenalin racing and drive incremental revenue to your games site.

Jungle Bucks
Monkey around in the magical world of Inspired Gaming’s latest HD slots game, Jungle Bucks, available online soon thanks to OpenBet and Inspired's partnership. Rich with HD graphics and bonus features, such as Monkey Madness, Rampant Rhino and Lucky Lizard, this game is also progressive-enabled to add jackpot excitement.

Treasure Island
Transport yourself to the magical world of Treasure Island and find the hidden booty to win big prizes. A number one game in the UK and Italian land-based markets, Inspired Gaming's Treasure Island is a bonus feature-rich game with high quality graphics and exciting bonus features. Spin five pirates to win the progressive Chest of Treasure for the ultimate jackpot excitement. Treasure Island is also available in multiple languages and currencies, as with all our games.

Double Dragon
Double Dragon, live and performing well across bookmakers’ retail estates, is coming online due to OpenBet’s partnership with Cool Games. Double Dragon captures the feeling of the Orient with rich graphics and classic casino features players love. The Dragons offer plenty of entertainment, with an innovative awards system rewarding players with free spins, cash awards and mystery bonuses. With beautifully crafted artwork, themed symbols and audio, Double Dragon is a sure favourite.

OPENBET INTRODUCES “THE HOFF” TO CUSTOMERS...

OpenBet Casino unveils new celebrity-branded content with partner, MX Gaming

Fast cars and famous faces meet fame and fortune in the online gaming world as OpenBet announces ‘The Hoff’ as the latest celebrity/big name to join OpenBet Casino. Working in partnership with MX Gaming, OpenBet will launch a fully branded David Hasselhoff slot game and scratchcard that will be available to all customers from early 2012.

Featuring one of the most recognisable faces in television and throughout the world, The Hoff online games will boast a broad demographic appeal with high-octane gameplay, rich graphics and compelling concepts featuring real life imagery and footage of the legendary David Hasselhoff. Aimed primarily at the bingo and casino markets and available in numerous different skins, the main concept of the games will be to help David Hasselhoff’s character along his eternal quest of becoming a millionaire celebrity and will include humorous twists along the way. Various free spins and a super wild feature will also boost player retention and chances of winning the main prize.

Star of iconic shows including Knight Rider, Baywatch, America’s Got Talent and Britain’s Got Talent, “The Hoff”’ and his global appeal will reach fans across the globe and entertain players off air and online. Known as a home to top brands, OpenBet’s leading casino portfolio is looking better than ever. These titles will slot neatly alongside other celebrity games including Baywatch and Hulkamania featuring Hulk Hogan.

David Loveday, Chief Executive of OpenBet, comments; “OpenBet is proud of its leading portfolio of branded content and the introduction of David Hasselhoff’s iconic “Hoff” character is further evidence of the innovative way OpenBet brings interesting content to its customers. The much loved Hoff persona allows OpenBet to bring games that are not only quirky and fun but appeal to a wide range of customers.”

David Hasselhoff, world-renowned actor, singer, producer, enthuses; “The name of the game is to work with the right partners to produce fun and new interesting material. I look forward to working with OpenBet and MX Gaming to give bookmakers, bingo providers and lotteries the opportunity to jump in on the action and rev up gaming audiences far and wide.”

Ike McFadden, Director of Business at MX Gaming, added; "We always look for ways to bring our film and TV experience to the gaming space, but our recent shoot in Hollywood with David was flat-out one of the most fun experiences we've ever had on-set. He's fun, energetic, and the perfect crossover act for the online gaming world."

Fans will have a chance to see him live in an exclusive London engagement 2 March, called “An Evening with David Hasselhoff” where he will debut his new album “This Time Around”.

NYX Gaming Group – providing the buzz at ICE...

NYX Gaming Group, the recently formed software provider incorporating NYX Interactive and NextGen Gaming, to provide a refreshing way to do business at ICE this year.

London, January 19, 2012:

The recent formation of the NYX Gaming Group incorporating Stockholm based NYX Interactive and Sydney’s NextGen Gaming will provide Operators with premium gaming innovation and flexible gaming systems in true partnership. At ICE 2012 not only will the group be showcasing its latest products, but they have enlisted the help of a professional coffee barrister to keep visitors alert during the busy week.

The NYX Gaming Group will be demonstrating several new products, including NextGen Gaming’s newest premium slot title, the 50-line Merlin’s Millions which will soon be available to Operators via new and existing aggregator partners. NextGen are proud of their reputation for delivering exceptional game performance and game longevity that translates into profit for partners and an immersive gaming experience for their players.

Also on show is the new and innovative NYX Bingo product alongside the NYX MOVE mobile gaming system, providing players with the superb functionality of the PC games they’re familiar with on their tablet and mobile devices. Completing the new product offering, ICE will exclusively host the first trade show airing of the group’s Social gaming application which launched in December 2011.

Matt Davey, CEO for the NYX Gaming Group, commented “The tie-up between NYX Interactive and NextGen Gaming creates a refreshing alternative for many Operators and World Lottery Members in the i-Gaming space. We are delighted to be able to showcase NYX innovations alongside new NextGen slot titles at ICE 2012”

Join the new NYX Gaming Group team at ICE on stand 5430.

Web: www.nyxgaminggroup.com

About NYX GG
The NYX Gaming Group has offices in London, Stockholm and Sydney providing flexible gaming solutions to some of the largest World Lottery Association members and gaming operators across the globe. NYX has previously won several awards including “Innovation in Bingo” at the 2010 E-Gaming Review Awards. Both NYX (EMEA) and NextGen (Asia Pacific) have been listed in the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 listings for the respective regions.

NYX Interactive offer a top-level gaming portfolio of gaming products including the leading Bingo solution, built on a fully-flexible account and back office system which supports all parts of an Operator’s business.

NextGen Gaming is the industry’s leading platform agnostic provider of engaging and profitable repeat play Slots, providing entertainment for players and profits for Operators.

Playtech to acquire sportsbook developer...

After purchasing interactive gambling and betting games developer Ash Gaming last month for £23 million, online gaming software designer and supplier Playtech Limited has now agreed a deal to buy the entire issued share capital of Geneity Limited.

Established in 2006, Geneity is an online lottery and sportsbook software provider based in the London suburb of Chiswick and Playtech is set to pay an initial cash consideration of £11 million subject to working capital adjustments with £4 million of this due to be held in escrow for 30 months.

London-listed Playtech stated that a further £4 million will be payable ‘subject to certain agreed deliverables to be provided by Geneity’.

“Sportsbook is often the prime entry point for companies into online gaming,” said Mor Weizer, Chief Executive Officer for Playtech.

“Over the past year the pace of change in the sportsbook segment led us to believe that we needed to acquire experienced developers to immediately give us a market-leading capability. Geneity will deliver a range of features key to Playtech's sportsbook such as in-play betting and a broader range of sports on which to wager.”

Geneity currently has a deal to provide its sportsbook software to Gala Coral Group through to the end of the year while its lottery solution is being utilised by the Health Lottery. Other clients include Betfair and Ladbrokes with the firm reporting unaudited revenues for the year to the end of March of £2.3 million alongside profits before tax of £820,000.

“Geneity is delighted to be joining the Playtech family, the synergies between the respective companies and products are very strong,” said Will Slater, Managing Director for Geneity.
“At Geneity we've created a highly advanced sportsbetting platform with integrated in-play algorithms, per channel pricing and a scalable and modular architecture.

“It's very exciting to be able to offer our sportsbetting platform to a wider audience alongside Playtech's existing best-of-breed products.”

Amaya signs Aristocrat licensing deal...

Server and network-based gaming specialist Amaya Gaming Group has announced that it has entered into a three-year development and licensing agreement with a subsidiary of Australian land-based casino systems supplier Aristocrat Leisure Limited.

Montreal-based Amaya revealed that the deal will allow its Chartwell Technology subsidiary to adapt a number of Aristocrat gaming titles including Wild Panda, Pompeii and Where’s The Gold for use in online and video lottery terminal (VLT) applications.

“The online gaming opportunity is becoming increasingly attractive as a number of jurisdictions around the world are considering regulatory changes that would allow new domestic gaming websites to operate,” said Darcy Krogh, Business Development Vice-President for Amaya.

“This agreement strengthens Amaya’s position by supplementing our existing online gaming content with Aristocrat titles, which are well known among casino customers worldwide.”

Amaya stated that the online titles it will develop based on Aristocrat games are to be subsequently distributed through its virtual and land-based VLT channels.

“Aristocrat’s proven slot content is ideally suited to transition to the online space as our initial titles have shown,” said Gillian Findlay, Online Gaming General Manager for Sydney-based Aristocrat.

“Online gaming is growing rapidly and Amaya’s strong distribution helps expand the reach for our extensive portfolio to more players.”

iGaming Business Wins Best Industry Publication of the Year...

24th JANUARY 2012 (London, UK) - iGaming Business, information provider for the online Gambling Industry, was recognised last night as the Best Industry Publication of the Year 2012 at the International Gaming Awards (IGA). This category is rewarded to the publication that has pushed the boundaries in above-the-line reporting, with innovative special feature highlighting and involving the reader more effectively into the publication.

The organisers of the event explain the merits of the awards 'The International Gaming Awards 2012 is supported and enhanced by well renowned industry insiders as well as gaming clients from all tiers of the gaming world. Listening carefully to the views of gaming clients and industry professionals, we are able to recognise and celebrate the biggest and best charity event of the year with class.'

These awards are bestowed on nominees by expert judges who are deeply involved in the gaming sector, such as the Senior Vice President of Communications/Government Relations at Caesars Entertainment Corp, the Founder and Director of Sportingbet Plc, the Founder & Owner of
PokerScout.com, the Vice President of Public Affairs of the Canadian Gaming Association, the founder of the Interactive Gaming Council (IGC) and many more. This result is a reflection on the readership and scope of iGaming Business magazine.

'Winning was an incredible feeling, especially as we had such worthy competitors for the award.' Explains Alex Pratt, Head of iGaming Business 'But in the end, I'm glad that our efforts to continuously provide the industry with the best analysis, worldviews and high class editorial meant that we came home with the trophy. It makes us as determined as ever to win again next year and keep improving and innovating.'

More information on iGaming Business can be found at www.iGamingBusiness.com

Isle of Man calls renewed...

The Isle of Man government has renewed its calls for potential operators and developers to come forward and declare their interest in applying for the island’s newest casino licence.

The government is due to close its process of seeking expressions of interest for the new casino and five-star hotel on January 31. In previous statements, the government had indicated that hundreds of responses had been received.

“We have been pleased with the number of interesting responses we have received to date,” said John Shimmin, Minister for the Department of Economic Development. “The Isle of Man feels that the time is right to diversify its dynamic and growing economy through the establishment of a permanent hotel and casino resort, providing a further location for gaming activities for residents and visitors alike.”

Tenders submitted will involve consideration by the Department of Economic Development, which will be liaising with Global Betting and Gaming Consultants and the island ’s Gambling Supervision Commission.

“We hope that development of a new hotel and casino will be a catalyst for growing visitor business on the island through the next decade,” said Department of Economic Development Director Tim Craine.

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2012-01-25T16:57:00.001+11:00

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Pokies argy-bargy waste of time, says Julia Gillard - 23rd January 2012

2012-01-23T16:05:00.002+11:00

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PM Julia Gillard is sticking by her decision to pull back from a deal on poker machine aka slot machine reforms, stating there is no point to parliament engaging in political argy-bargy over the issue.

The Prime Minister insists there is insufficient support in parliament's lower house for mandatory pre-commitment, despite her deal with independent MP Andrew Wilkie following the 2010 general election.

Instead the government will fund a trial of the problem-gambling measure across the ACT in 2013 ahead of a possible national rollout in 2016.

The decision has pissed off anti-gambling advocates and Mr Wilkie, who has withdrawn support for the minority Gillard Government.

It is however welcomed by Labor backbenchers who have felt the stress of an awesomely effective campaign war by the registered clubs sector.

Ms Gillard says there is no point in putting Mr Wilkie's measure to the parliament because it does not have the support of the coalition and key crossbenchers.

"We can have all sorts of political argy-bargy and end up with nothing," she told press today.

"Or we could get a piece of legislation through the parliament that will deliver real change."

Other government measures will include limits on ATM cash withdrawals at gaming revenues.

Ms Gillard also flagged the government may be prepared to consider a trial of $1 bet limits on "low-intensity" poker machines.

But she said that measure, proposed initially by Mr Wilkie and backed by the Australian Greens, was the most costly option to address problem gambling.

The Prime Minister has defended the decision to pay ACT clubs at least $37 million to take part in the mandatory pre-commitment trial.

The Government will pay clubs a monthly compensation fee for the year, and is also offering a total of more than $1 million for training, specialist workers and business planning.

It has not ruled out there could be more compensation as the trial is reviewed.

"We need the cooperation of the clubs to have the trial," Ms Gillard said.

"To go down the path ... you don't give them full compensation would equal having no trial."

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Hulk Hogan Pro Wrestling God Tours Casinos; Sports Entertainment News Update, by Greg Tingle

2012-01-23T13:05:00.002+11:00

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Sylvester Stallone Hulk Hogan and Vince McMahon

From Bondi Beach, Australia to Japan, Canada, the USA - most of the world knows of Hulk Hogan.

Who can forget the Hulk-A-Mania Australian tour from a few years ago where he feuded with long time rival Ric Flair, and how about the wrestling angle at the then Star City Casino (now The Star), where it appeared at first that Hogan and Flair went at it for real when Flair implied he "had" Hogan's wife "Jennifer", before Hulk did! Now, that would start a fight and boy did the blood flow. The action was so hot that Seven News decided to purchase the video camera footage from the Media Man agency for a considerable sum.

The red did turn to green, as the old wrestling kayfabe saying goes, but not anywhere near as much as the Australian promoter or Hogan would have prefered.

The arena numbers in Australia were on the downside so much that it was largely responsible for TNA Wrestling deciding not to to ahead with an Australian tour.

The only American (or actually global) pro wrestling - sports entertainment company that he since graced Australian shores is the one and only WWE, headed up by promoter genius Vince McMahon. Once in a while Hogan teases a return to the WWE, and the two do have some line of communication. Take note that McMahon has old Hogan rival Flair getting inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame again (with the other 3 Four Horseman members) the night before WrestleMania, so anything can and does still happen in the WWE. Read up on other recent Media Man WWE news for more on that matter.

This writer would like to see Hogan and Flair both become official WWE spokespersons at some point, but if its to be - they need to make the move soon. Father time is ticking away.

Pro wrestling cousin of sorts, UFC from the MMA world is about to hit Sydney, Australia for a third time, but it ain't wrestling. Note, Brock Lensnar from the UFC and pro wrestling world, has left the UFC recently suffering a loss at the hands of Alistair Overeem at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, USA.

Hardcore pro wrestling fans of the WWF and ECK ilk will likely know this bit of trivia. It was Lesnar that "injured" Hogan's back in 2002 which was the official reason that The Hulk didn't visit down under back then. The back story is that Hogan and McMahon couldn't come to business terms. What's left to say but that's the pro wrestling industry.

Wrestling icon Hulk Hogan was at Speaking Rock Casino and Entertainment Center last week.

Hogan was there for the Micro Championship Wrestling event held at the venue.

Hogan was accompanied by the Nasty Boys, Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags, as well as Ed Leslie, better known as Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, the former WWF Tag Team Champion (having held the title with wrestling legend Greg "The Hammer" Valentine).

Micro Championship Wrestling has a show promoted by Hogan on TruTV. The show, which screens as midget wrestling which has been up and running since August. Note we called them midgets, not dwarfs, so haters lay off ok. Some of the wrestlers also like to be called "little people". Whatever, they are full of excitement, talent and fun, and don't mind sharing it with the world.

Australia's Foxtel doesn't currently get TruTV, so we can't enjoy Hogan's midget wrestling show on the box at this stage, but we're hopeful time will change that. Foxtel is going to soon get a new Factual channel, so there's hope yet wrestling fans.

Hogan is the most recognizable figure in the history of professional wrestling from his success in the business since the 1980s. Hogan's also had many of movies and a host of other high profile shows and projects. Hogan's star power even ecliped "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Gorgeous George (Wagner) and Bruno Sammartino (for you old school wrestling fans out there).

Hogan enjoyed high level feuds with the likes of Andre the Giant, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, Paul "Mr Wonderful" Orndorff, King Kong Bundy, Jake "The Snake" Roberts, "The Magnificent" Don Muraco, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and "Macho Man" Randy Savage.

On the big screen Hogan has starred in "No Holds Barred," "Suburban Commando" and "Mr. Nanny." He has also made appearances in Rocky III and Walker, Texas Ranger. One can argue that current WWE superstars, John Cena, "The Rock" and Steve Austin took off where Hogan finished as far as mixing wrestling and movies. Roddy Piper is widely regarded as the most talented actor that pro wrestling ever produced. From time to time Piper does his famous "Pipers Pit" talk show segment for the WWE as well as helping out a few other smaller wrestling promotions.

Hogan even had his own reality TV show called "Hogan Knows Best.", and it wasn't long before daughter Brooke, did her own "Brooke Knows Best" show.

Hogan became a household name while in Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation (WWF), now known as WWE, which enjoyed a live event in Las Cruces, New Mexico on Sunday at the Pan American Centre.

He is currently signed to the Impact Wrestling - Total Nonstop Action wrestling promotion and has a range of business projects on the go including in the TV, gaming, casino and internet b2b sectors.

Recently, Hogan has made headlines on celebrity websites for his divorce, his son Nick's car crash, daughter Brooke's music career and the pending removal of his world famous moustache (to satisfy some Hollywood movie producers).

Other

Ric Flair is almost as famous as long time rival Hulk Hogan, who along with Flair is currently under contract to Impact Wrestling. Most would argue that Flair is one of the greatest pro wrestlers in history, while Hogan has earned more income from wrestling and wrestling related activities than just about anyone else.

* The writer has a b2b agreement with the WWE (WWE Shop)

* Wrestling legend Andre The Giant gets online slot game via Richard Branson's Virgin Casino.

* Hogan recently released his Kinnect-based "Hulk Hogan's Main Event" game which got mixed reviews from the gaming industry. The game promo goes "Get pumped and bring the pain in the first full-body wrestling game on Kinect for Xbox 360! In Hulk Hogan’s Main Event Hulkamaniacs can train with wrestling icon Hulk Hogan himself. As your mentor, Hulk will help you build your own wrestling personality and school you in the art of showmanship to win over the crowd. Entertain roaring fans with brutal stunts, combos, even devastating chair hits, that will knock your opponent to the mat or out of the ring. The crazier and wilder your motions, the more high impact your wrestling performance is in your living room ring!"

* Hulk Hogan is also tipped to be soon getting his own online slot game. His Hulk-A-Mania game is being developed by Endemol Games. Endemol is the company behind the famous Big Brother franchise, so you know they know about marketing and publicity. The Media Man agency is tipped to soon come to business terms with Endemol.

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PartyCasino News: PartyCasino 5 Star Vegas Dream Ticket

2012-01-22T23:52:00.002+11:00

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Media Man News - Casino News, Entertainment News, Business News...

2012-01-22T22:44:00.001+11:00

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Positive Macau Numbers to Drive Melco Crown Entertainment and MGM Resorts This Earnings Season - 19th January 2012

2012-01-22T21:11:00.002+11:00

Profiles

Casino Casinos World Casino Directory James Packer Melco Crown City of Dreams Altira Macau Lawrence Ho Gaming Crown Casino Asia Asian Gaming Australian Casinos

Five Star Equities Provides Stock Research on Melco Crown Entertainment & MGM Resorts...

NEW YORK, NY, Jan 19, 2012 - Casino stocks have been on the upswing this week as positive news out of China helped drive shares of gaming companies with a heavy presence in Macau higher. China said its economy grew by 8.9 percent in the fourth quarter, which was slower than the previous quarter. Analysts, however, consider these levels "robust," the Associated Press reports. Five Star Equities examines the outlook for the Resorts and Casinos Industry and provides equity research on Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. MPEL +0.27% and MGM Resorts International MGM -0.39%.

According to data published by the Macau Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (GICB), gross gaming and gambling revenues in Macau totalled 269.058 billion patacas (US$33.632 billion) in 2011. MacauHub.com reports that revenues in 2011 were an almost five-fold increase on revenues in 2006 (57.521 billion patacas). Revenues also jumped from 189.588 million patacas in 2010.

By the end of 2011, there were 34 casinos in Macau, 20 of which were owned by Sociedade de Jogos de Macau, three by Venetian Macau, five by Galaxy Casino, three by Melco/PBL Jogos (Macau) and one each by Wynn Resorts and MGM Grand Paradise.

A recent article from Forbes helps explain why Macau continues to grow at such a rapid pace. For example, Macau has initiated a series of initiatives to encourage visitors, Forbes reports. The tiny island investing in new transportation links to ease travel for Chinese visitors. Now, a new railway line connects Macau to Guangzhou in China and a new road bridge links it to Hong Kong.

With China's middle class continuing to expand, Forbes highlights an increase in disposable income in China's population, which is driving the growth of mass market in Macau.

Melco seeking Studio City loan...

Local gaming operator Melco Crown Entertainment is in negotiations with banks to try to raise up to MOP 16 billion in debt to fund the development of long-delayed Macao Studio City project.

According to sources quoted by Bloomberg, the Hong Kong-listed company is seeking a loan of around USD 1.5 billion (MOP 12 billion) and will also issue bonds worth USD 1 billion (MOP 4 billion), Reuters adds Melco is currently negotiating with banks to ensure the financing, in case there are not enough takers. The company is about three to four weeks away from hiring banks, sources said.

A source claims the debt will be used to build up Macao Studio City. Last year Melco Crown’s co-chairman Lawrence Ho Yau Lung said the operator would invest USD 1.7 billion (MOP 13.6 billion) in the development of the Cotai project. He added that construction would commence in 2012 and the property may open in 2015.

But there is still no word on whether Studio City will have a casino. On Wednesday the secretary for Transport and Public Works, Lau Si Io, told lawmakers the introduction of a gaming space at the project has not yet been approved.

“And in order to make it a reality, of course, we would need the necessary gaming tables to make the project financially viable for us,” Ho acknowledged last August. The son of ailing tycoon Stanley Ho Hung Sun said he was confident of gaining authorities’ support.

“Before we even undertook investing in the Macao Studio City project, we had dialogue and communication with various levels of the Macau Government and they have been very supportive throughout the way,” Ho said.

Melco and the other five gaming operators all climbed in Hong Kong trading yesterday on expectations they will benefit from more mainland China visitors during the coming Lunar New Year holiday.

“Investors are expecting the footfall in Macau casinos to rise during the Chinese New Year,” said Edwin Fan, an analyst with Bank of China International in Hong Kong, quoted by Bloomberg.
But the holiday period will come too soon for new resort Sands Cotai Central, which will open “between March 22 and 27,” wrote HSBC Global Research’s Sean Monaghan in an investors note.

The analyst, quoted by Macau Business, believes the resort will account for 28 percent of Sands China’s earnings for 2013.

Melco Crown Jumps to Two-Month High in U.S. on Loan Speculation...

Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. rose to a two-month high in U.S. trading on speculation the Macau casino venture between billionaires Stanley Ho and James Packer is seeking a loan to fund the development of a new project.

American depositary receipts of Melco gained 3.2 percent to $11.18 by 10:41 a.m. in New York, the highest intraday level since Nov. 9. The ADRs, each representing three common shares in the Hong Kong-based company, have increased 6.2 percent over the past three days.

Melco Crown approached banks to finance its Studio City project in the former Portuguese colony city that is the only place in China where public gambling is allowed, according to four people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified as the details are private. The loan may be about $1.25 billion, two of the people said.

Studio City will be an integrated resort with a “theme and demographic focus” aimed at differentiating it from the company’s existing portfolio of assets, according to Melco Crown’s website. The company is about three to four weeks away from hiring banks, the people said.

Melco Crown’s shares gained 2.2 percent earlier today in Hong Kong to HK$28.15, the equivalent of $3.63 per share. The ADRs are trading at a 2.7 percent premium over the Hong Kong stock.

MGM China Leads Gains in Macau Casinos Ahead of New Year Holiday...

MGM China Holdings Ltd. and Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd. led gains in Macau casino operators on expectations they will benefit from more mainland China visitors during the coming Lunar New Year holiday.

MGM China advanced as much as 6.9 percent to HK$11.48, the highest intraday level since Nov. 9, before trading at HK$11.38 at 11:34 a.m. in Hong Kong. Galaxy Entertainment climbed as much as 5.8 percent, its biggest intraday gain since Dec. 1.

The week-long Lunar New Year holiday kicks off on Jan 23 and tourists from mainland China tend to boost gambling and shopping revenue in Hong Kong and Macau during that period.

“Investors are expecting the footfall in Macau casinos to rise during the Chinese New Year,” said Edwin Fan, an analyst with Bank of China International in Hong Kong.

Casino revenue in Macau, the world’s largest gambling hub, rose 25 percent in December to 23.6 billion patacas ($3 billion), as Chinese tourists spent more. Chinese gamblers have fueled growth in the former Portuguese colony, where gambling sales have more than tripled in the past four years.

Wynn Macau Ltd. rose as much as 5 percent and Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. as much as 3 percent.

Sands China Ltd., the Hong Kong-listed unit of billionaire Sheldon Adelson’s Las Vegas-based company, climbed as much as 4.4 percent. SJM Holdings Ltd., Asia’s biggest casino operator by revenue, gained as much as 3.4 percent.

Packer eyes another big investment in Perth casino, as Chinese tourism soars...

Gaming billionaire James Packer is believed to be eyeing another massive investment in Crown's casino in Perth, talking with the state Government about acquiring land for a new hotel and entertainment complex.

According to the Australian Financial Review, Western Australia Premier Colin Barnett is supportive of the idea of another hotel for the listed company.

The report follows the casino group's decisions to change the casino's name from Burswood to Crown Perth, and Packer's comments he wanted to do more build up more attractions such as golf course in the city.

Sources close to the project expect Crown to invest under $1 billion, the paper says.

Housing Industry Association chief economist Harley Dale says commercial has outperformed residential property in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.

"If you were to generalise, you'd say commercial has outperformed there and it's reasonable to take this as another vote of confidence in the medium-term outlook in the WA economy as a whole," Dale says.

Dale says there are signs that hotels, warehouses and the office sector have good growth outlooks, he says.

"At the same time, you seem to continue getting these ticks in the box for aggregate economic conditions in WA, but there are a lot of sectors – such as residential – that are losing out."

Packer last year raised eyebrows by saying Australians over-estimated the effectiveness of their tourism campaigns, and risked ignoring the emerging Asian middle-class.

The Crown Perth plans come as official tourism figures show short-term arrival figures were up 0.8% in the year to November but short-term resident departures soared 8.1% over the same period.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics figures, released yesterday, show that the number of tourists from China rose by 19.7% in the year to November 2011, followed by a 6.3% rise from India, a 3.2% rise from New Zealand and a 1.1% rise from Singapore.

Conversely, tourist numbers from the United Kingdom fell by 6.5%, 5% from the United States, 8.8% from Korea and 9.9% from Japan.

You bet, internet gambling on the rise...

Internet gambling is on the rise, with convenience and accessibility contributing to its popularity, research has found.

The findings follow the largest survey of internet gamblers to date in Australia with more than 6680 people participating in the self-selected, online questionnaire.

Dr Sally Gainsbury, from Southern Cross University’s Centre for Gambling Education and Research, said internet gamblers had significantly more positive attitudes towards gambling.

“People appear to be gravitating towards online gambling because of the availability and the convenience,” she said.

“It can be accessed anytime, anywhere.

“But for people with existing gambling problems, internet gambling may create additional risks.”

Dr Gainsbury said overall the research showed internet gamblers were not more likely to be problem gamblers but they did appear to be at higher risk of developing problems.

She said internet gambling posed particular risks to players; it was constantly available and people could play online in private with relative anonymity.

More than half of the 450 problem internet gamblers responding to the survey said the use of credit cards or internet bank transfers increased the amount they spent compared to less than one in 10 of the 2270 non-problem internet gamblers.

Southern Cross University and the University of Sydney conducted the research.

Anita Hartley at Mission Australia’s North Coast Gambling Counselling Service is not surprised by the research findings.

“Our service is seeing a steady increase of people with online gambling issues and it is a real concern,” she said.

Ms Hartley said she had seen first-hand that it did appear to target the vulnerable.

She said we needed a strong approach to work out sensible safeguards for people, including good government regulation.

“We would encourage the Australian government to take a leading role in influencing the design of global consumer protection standards while online gaming is still in its infancy,” Ms Hartley said.

Internet gambling’s popularity has soared in the past few years with trends indicating an increasing number of people starting to gamble online.

More than half of the survey participants started gambling online from around 2006.

Mission Australia recognises while Australia has a ban on online gaming, Australians can gamble using offshore websites.

“While we do not wish to see a proliferation of online gaming in Australia, we also recognise that a well regulated Australian industry could help to reduce the impact of unscrupulous overseas providers,” Ms Hartley said.

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2012-01-21T21:06:00.002+11:00

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Packer's Melco Crown eyes $2b in new debt - 19th January 2012

2012-01-20T11:24:00.001+11:00

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Casino James Packer Melco Crown City of Dreams Altira Macau Lawrence Ho Gaming Crown Casino Australian Casinos

James Packer’s Melco Crown joint venture, one of the six licensed casino operators in Macau, is looking to raise up to $US2 billion ($1.92 billion) in debt to fund a new project in the former Portuguese colony, according to sources.

Proceeds will finance Melco's plans to build Macau Studio City, a $US2.5 billionn-plus gaming and entertainment resort on the developing Cotai strip, said one source.

The debt funding will feature a loan-cum-bond combo with the loan expected to be for around $US1.25 billion and the US dollar bond for the remainder, according to another source. The borrower is in discussions with banks for the loan financing and is seeking underwritten commitments.

Melco's last visit to the loan markets was in May 2011 when it raised $US1.2 billlion through a dual-tranche financing comprising an $US800 million term loan and a $US400 million revolver. The term loan amortises to 50 per cent and has a two-year grace period. The blended average life is 4.1 years.

ANZ, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Bank of China Macau, Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank were coordinating lead arrangers and bookrunners on the fully underwritten facility. The deal paid top-level blended all-ins of 208-308 basis points over Libor.

In May 2010, Melco raised $US600 million through an eight-year non-call four global bond paying a coupon of 10.5 per cent.

Melco is a joint venture between Mr Packer's Crown and Lawrence Ho, son of the Macau gaming mogul Stanley Ho. Crown has a 33.4 per cent stake in Melco Crown Entertainment, which runs the Altira Macau and City of Dreams casinos.

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International Game Technology to Acquire Social Gaming Company Double Down Interactive

2012-01-19T03:39:00.001+11:00

-Transaction propels IGT into a leadership position within social gaming
-Double Down is anticipated to contribute rapid user and revenue growth
-Combination allows IGT to leverage Facebook distribution channel
-Acquisition estimated to be accretive to IGT's fiscal year 2012 adjusted earnings

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International Game Technology (NYSE: IGT - News), the global leader in the design, development and manufacture of gaming machines and systems products, as well as online and mobile gaming solutions for regulated markets, has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Double Down Interactive LLC – a leading online social gaming company and developer of the popular DoubleDown™ Casino found on Facebook.

Launched in April 2010, the DoubleDown™ Casino is the world's largest virtual casino and one of the top 4 social media games in 2011 as rated by Facebook. According to AppData.com, DoubleDown™ Casino currently has 4.7 million monthly active users, up from 3.3 million in October 2011. With a broad and expanding portfolio, Double Down offers blackjack, slots, slot tournaments, video poker, and roulette to social gamers all around the world.

The total consideration includes $250 million in cash, $85 million in retention payments over the next two years and up to $165 million in cash payable over the next three years subject to Double Down meeting certain financial performance targets. IGT expects to fund the transaction from cash on hand.

The addition of Double Down provides IGT instant size and scale in the fast growing world of casino-style social gaming and is expected to broaden IGT's popular gaming titles beyond the physical casino to Facebook, the world's largest social network with over 800 million global users. This powerful distribution model is anticipated to provide IGT an opportunity to entertain players with consistent, ubiquitous, thrilling gaming experiences across multiple platforms.

"Double Down and IGT share complementary cultures focused on innovation and creativity. Both companies are committed to providing unrivaled quality, service and entertainment to millions of players," said Greg Enell, CEO of Double Down. "Leveraging IGT's Research and Development, global reach, and best-in-class content will provide our loyal player base with an even more robust experience and is expected to augment Double Down's growth trajectory."

"As technological innovations increasingly influence consumer behavior, social dynamics are quickly transforming entertainment and gaming experiences everywhere," said Patti Hart, CEO of IGT. "The addition of Double Down launches IGT into a leadership position in social gaming, extends our global reach through new mediums, and leverages our unmatched expertise in game development. We intend to drive meaningful value from this rapidly growing distribution platform that reaches a new, but complementary, demographic of gamers."

The transaction is estimated to be accretive to IGT's fiscal 2012 adjusted earnings and is projected to close within the second quarter of its current fiscal year. Greg Enell will continue to lead Double Down and the company's operations will remain in Seattle, WA after the acquisition is complete. Through the integration, IGT will operate Double Down with the appropriate level of independence needed to continue to foster exceptional growth.

Completion of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions including, but not limited to, the expiration or termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act. The final purchase price is subject to certain post-closing adjustments.

Conference Call Information
IGT will host a conference call regarding its acquisition of Double Down on Friday, Jan. 13, 2012, at 5:00 a.m. PST. The access numbers are as follows:

Domestic callers dial 888-606-7043, pass-code IGT
International callers dial 1-212-547-0361, pass-code IGT

The conference call also will be broadcast live over the Internet. A link to the webcast is available at the IGT website: http://www.IGT.com/InvestorRelations. If interested parties are unable to participate during the live webcast, the call will be archived until Friday, Jan. 27, 2012 also at http://www.IGT.com/InvestorRelations.

Interested parties who cannot participate at the time of the call may listen to a taped replay of the entire conference call commencing at approximately 7:00 a.m. PST on Friday, Jan. 13, 2012. This replay will run through Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. The access numbers are as follows:
Domestic callers dial 888-568-0521
International callers dial 1-402-998-1495

About Double Down Interactive
Double Down Interactive is the leading casual games developer of "fun to play" casino experiences on the Internet. With veterans from top online game companies, the team is committed to providing consumers an online social casino experience that is unrivaled by anything else available. Anyone can play at the DoubleDown Casino by visiting http://apps.facebook.com/doubledowncasino/ or www.doubledowncasino.com. Double Down Interactive is based in Seattle, Washington.

About IGT
International Game Technology (NYSE: IGT - News) is a global leader in the design, development and manufacture of gaming machines and systems products, as well as online and mobile gaming solutions for regulated markets. More information about IGT is available at www.IGT.com or follow IGT on Twitter at @IGTNews or Facebook at www.facebook.com/IGT.

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties concerning the proposed acquisition of Double Down Interactive, including the expected benefits of the acquisition to IGT and IGT's strategic, financial and operational expectations for its business, including the Double Down business following the closing of the acquisition. Actual events or results may differ materially from those described in this press release due to a number of risks and uncertainties, including, among others, the possibility that the transaction might not close or that the closing may be delayed, IGT's integration of Double Down, its products, technologies and employees may experience difficulties, and the anticipated benefits of the transaction to IGT and its customers might not be realized. More information about potential factors that could affect IGT's business and financial results is included in IGT's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including under the captions "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in IGT's Annual Report on Form 10-K for its 2011 fiscal year, and available on the SEC website at www.sec.gov and on the investor relations section of IGT's website at www.IGT.com. All information provided in this release is as of January 12, 2012 and IGT does not intend, and undertakes no duty, to update this information.

Double Down Interactive LLC, International Game Technology - M&A Call

Operator

Good morning, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to International Game Technology's Conference Call regarding the acquisition of Double Down Interactive. [Operator Instructions] Today's call is being recorded. [Operator Instructions] I would now like to turn the call over to Mr. Matt Moyer, Vice President of Investor Relations. Sir, you may begin.

Matthew G. Moyer

Thanks, Kim. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to IGT's Conference Call regarding the acquisition of Double Down. On the call today are Patti Hart, CEO; and Pat Cavanaugh, CFO.

Before we begin, I'd like to remind listeners, our discussion will contain forward-looking statements concerning the proposed acquisition of Double Down that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual events or results may differ materially from those described in our discussion due to a number of risks and uncertainties. Information about potential factors that could affect IGT's business and financial results are included in our filings with the SEC, including our most recent annual report on Form 10-K and in our press release relating to the Double Down acquisition. All information discussed in this call is as of today, January 13, 2012, and IGT does not intend and undertakes no obligation to update this information to reflect future events or circumstances. With that in mind, I'll turn over the call to Patti.

Patti S. Hart

Thanks, Matt, and thanks to all of you for taking time to join us this morning. Yesterday, we announced our entry into the rapidly growing world of social gaming with our agreement to acquire Double Down Interactive. Double Down is the developer of the world's leading virtual casino found on Facebook. This investment is consistent with our strategic objective to lead the wave of change coming to gaming around the globe. We have always delivered products and innovation across all available distribution channels with the end player experience in mind. The acquisition of Double Down is consistent with our historic approach and allows our games to be accessible to the broader space of players in all relevant format and across all leading edge outlets. The addition of Double Down further solidifies our interactive gaming leadership and is compelling for the future growth of IGT. With more than 1 million daily active users, DoubleDown Casino is attracting more than 10x the average number of daily visitors to Las Vegas, while also delivering positive adjusted EBITDA and is adding users and growing revenues at impressive rates. We will operate Double Down with a level of independence necessary to continue to foster exceptional growth. This transaction marks another important step towards the execution of our plan to prioritize higher growth opportunities that we believe will result in strong returns for our shareholders. The combination of IGT and Double Down is compelling for both companies, but also for gamers around the world and our stakeholders. I'll now turn the call over to Pat.

Patrick W. Cavanaugh

Thanks, Patti, and good morning everyone. As we indicated in our press release, our definitive agreement to acquire Double Down is for a total consideration that includes $250 million paid out in cash, $85 million paid out in retention payments over 2 years and up to $165 million that could be earned subject to the company meeting certain financial performance targets over the next 3 years. The final purchase price is subject to customary post-closing adjustments and is expected to close within this fiscal quarter. The transaction was priced to reflect the value that IGT identified in Double Down based on a variety of factors, including growth rates of the company, financial performance, technology and competency of senior management and is in line with comparable valuations. We expect Double Down to be accretive in our fiscal 2012 adjusted earnings. However, currently it is too early to accurately determine the size of the potential accretion. We currently anticipate including Double Down in our interactive revenues, which are accounted for in our gaming operations line of business. At this time, we are not changing our fiscal 2012 adjusted earnings guidance. With that, I'd now like to turn the call over for questions. Operator?

Question-and-Answer Session

Operator

[Operator Instructions] And our first question comes from Joe Greff with JPMorgan.

Joseph Greff - JP Morgan Chase & Co, Research Division

Pat, Patti, Matt, if you can talk a little with the background of this deal, how was this deal sourced? Was it the competitive situation? You talked about the valuation is in line with some other comparable transactions. Can you help us understand those transactions or what you looked at on a comparative-valuation basis? And then, when you think of strategically what this does for you, what are the returns if this is just a platform for social gaming? And if you can talk about how this might interface with an effort for online poker or online gaming subject to obviously the legislation being passed and all that good stuff?

Patti S. Hart

A lot of step in line, Joe. Thanks for that. That gives us a chance to maybe answer a lot of questions. So I'll add some comments and then let Pat as well. So I mean, as you would suspect, I mean, we have had our eye on the social gaming part of the marketplace for quite some time. Seeing that -- with the regulatory environment currently as it is in the U.S., a need to provide to our customers and to patrons around the globe an experience that is more reflective of what our gaming experience is today with our machine and game experience. And the free play experience in our research just does not provide the kind of compelling entertainment experience that our patrons are used too. So we've had our eye on the social casual gaming with virtual currency for some time. Double Down, you run into everybody at all of these conferences, so Double Down is someone we've had conversations with off and on when it comes to partnerships and sharing content and what have you. And at some point, it turned into a more curious conversation. Strategically, I'll let Pat talk to you about some of the comps in a second, but strategically, this is an important fit for us. It does a number of things. I think it begins to allow us to reach a younger demographic with our core competencies, what we do best, which is create great gaming experiences that include a wager. A wager of some sort of consideration, in this case, it happens to be a virtual currency. To reach that younger demographic and to educate the younger demographic that today doesn't necessarily enjoy our games even when they're in a casino environment. So it allows us to begin to educate, it also allow us to reach the deeper into the social fabric for our core products to really add a social layer to the core gaming experience and in a land-based environment. So it's a real move forward. I believe in convergence and the creation off a true global gaming ecosystem that allows you to play on any device with any sort of currency around the globe. And so, it strategically fits nicely for us. And I think having the opportunity to add the leading virtual casino, if you will, to our portfolio of products is very powerful for us. So Pat, you want to talk about the comps for this.

Patrick W. Cavanaugh

Sure. Sure, Joe. If you look at it, I mean, when we buy anything as most companies, we look at valuation on a number of metrics. And so, if you were to look at this acquisition compared on a DCF or preceding gaming transactions or discount equity value, what you'd find in, and I would highlight obviously the most visible public comp out there recently is Zynga. What you'll find is, we paid a reasonable value for this business. It's obviously more than something we might pay for in our core business just because of the phenomenal growth rates that this segment is experiencing. So you're going to -- you're going to pay up for that. But we feel it's reasonable, and we're excited about the opportunity.

Operator

And our next question comes from Bill Lerner with Union Gaming.

William J. Lerner - Deutsche Bank AG, Research Division

A couple of questions. One is, I guess just technical and the other is more, I guess, more strategic. On the technical, there's -- these numbers of course are floating around out there and reported with frequency about daily users and billings and all this other stuff for sites like this. But the one thing I just wanted to clarify, are you guys talking about -- when these numbers of $140,000 a day in revenue are attributed to Double Down, which we understand are much higher now, are those gross? Are those net? Are those billings? What is that number and helps us model this more accurately is the first question. And then I guess, I have another one for Patti. Just generally speaking, why not -- as we think of the size of the acquisition, $500 million or up to $500 million, tremendous amount of capital, obviously, you have great liquidity, but why not build this yourself, right? I mean, you could -- I believe do a similar deal if not the same or maybe a better deal with Facebook. You've got resources and content. But why not do something like this yourself? These guys, I understand, started this business relatively speaking not too long ago, but is it a race to get this done because of the timing of online poker legislation at the federal or state levels? Or is there something about this that I guess, maybe we're just not understanding?

Patti S. Hart

Yes, so I'll take the second half, and then I'll let Pat talk to you a bit about the billings and gross versus net. Yes, we did as you would imagine, we did a fairly exhaustive make-versus-buy analysis within the company. And I would say it was driven by a couple of things. One is, if you take Double Down as an example, they were founded 2009, so they're about 2 years in to where it is today, and that's kind of building from scratch with a maniacal focus on one thing. And so, the first was a time to market that it was likely longer than 2 years for us to go from scratch inside of a company that already has a product, and we do believe that time to market is important in this particular space. I mean, Zynga is a relatively new company. Double Down is -- most of the players in this market are relatively new. And there's new entrants coming every day. And the first mover advantage in this marketplace really matters because liquidity equals members in this environment. So the more liquidity you have, the more interesting your product is. So the land grab for liquidity will impact product performance over time. So I would say the first was about time to market. The second was really distraction to our core business. I mean, our core business is the most valuable piece of IGT, and to distract from the core business to attempt to build something that was so far removed because the important element of Double Down is the social fabric. Something that we do not have expertise in. So we would have to not only build the expertise, we would have to hire people. It would take us some time, and we felt that it would be hard to do inside the core business. And then from a cost perspective, it didn't look all that different actually. If you look at a 2- to 3-year time window and the hiring of people and the buildup of skills that we thought that it was fairly close from a cost perspective. So we really value the time to market in this one, and that's why we moved now and why we chose not to build it ourself. Pat?

Patrick W. Cavanaugh

Excuse me, Bill, on your technical question around revenue. I think the best way to think about this is, think about it in net bookings meaning less the amount paid to Facebook. And you'll find a few -- if you review Zynga's public filings that's very consistent. I think they're probably the best precedent that we have to go on out there. It's an evolving space, obviously it's new, and so it's evolving on a number of fronts particular from an accounting perspective, revenue recognition is evolving, but also on this gross versus net revenue. And we view this as a B2B to C type business, so net sounds like a more appropriate because the relationship is really between us and Facebook and then to the end consumer. So recording that net relative to the number that you quoted. I know that I saw that in an article out there. I don't know if we really have anything to remark on at this point given that the transaction hasn't closed, but will more to follow as the transaction closes.

William J. Lerner - Deutsche Bank AG, Research Division

Pat, just to clarify, so you're saying net -- so net after Facebook credits or whatever in a quarter was actually called in this business. So net after Facebook is paid is...

Patrick W. Cavanaugh

Correct. Correct.

Patti S. Hart

Yes, it's actually a reverse. It's basically that we generate -- Double Down announcing, we already -- Double Down generates revenues through Facebook and then Facebook remits 70% of the gross revenues to Double Down.

Operator

And your next question comes from Cameron McKnight with Wells Fargo.

Cameron Philip Sean McKnight - Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, Research Division

Patti, a question for you and then I'll have a couple of follow-ups. If we were to speak to some of your customers, let's say MGM, Boyd, Caesars. What do you think's their reaction to this deal would be?

Patti S. Hart

Well, I have actually as you can imagine done that already. So I think it will take them a while to digest it and understand what it really means to them. I think in the case of our friends at Caesars, I mean, they've made a similar acquisition with Playtika, so I mean, they understand the need to be in this -- part of the universe as well. I would say my -- the way I think about it for them is, we spent $500 million of our shareholders' money to add capabilities that will benefit them that will provide them an on-ramp capability in the social gaming space in virtual currency ahead of real money wagering in the United States that we have added some capabilities from a convergence perspective, and that we will be working with them to educate the new generation of gamers in the places that they go to determine their loyalties for entertainment experiences, which is in the social media world. So I believe this is very positive for our existing customers. If we didn't think that, we wouldn't have made the acquisition because that's who we live to serve. So we think it's very positive for them. But on the other hand, this is also an opportunity for us to reach more broadly into a marketplace with our gaming experiences that we're not reaching today in the land-based environment. So -- and hopefully bring those to our customers' doorsteps.

Cameron Philip Sean McKnight - Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, Research Division

Right, sure. And I mean, presumably the cost of developing an online, let's say for example, slot machine, property or product versus one that's designed for a box is vastly lower. What sort of R&D in progress are you guys acquiring with this deal, and specifically I'm referring to the potential to move into mobile apps and indeed other distribution networks and other social networking platforms?

Patti S. Hart

Well, I think the Double Down workforce, very nimble, a business cadence that we'll have to adjust to, I'm sure. And they have every intent to move into mobile apps. All of the places that you interact with the social world, whether it's on your mobile phone or your laptop or your notebook or your iPad. They will -- their intention is to take their product and experience to every place that Facebook touches today. And so, we'll expect that the same will happen in the new environment with us. From an R&D perspective, I think you can assume that they look very similar to any other technology company at their stage in that the lion's share of the operating expenses is R&D because they're just all about making products today. They have very little operating expense beyond that. So we will pick up not only the expense of those folks, but cover it up with revenue and profit, but also the skills, which is something that we need to enter into the new devices that today we're not engaging with.

Chad Beynon - Macquarie Research

Right, great. And then just a final quick question for Pat. Pat, you stated in the release that you expect the deal could be slightly accretive to EPS, presumably that is -- that calculation backs out any of the intangibles that the auditors would require to amortize post deal?

Patrick W. Cavanaugh

That's correct, Cameron.

Cameron Philip Sean McKnight - Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, Research Division

And will you be breaking out or do you envisage you're going to break out interactive going forward, say in fiscal '13?

Patrick W. Cavanaugh

Yes, that's one of the ongoing analysis is, do we break that out. And so, yet to be determined, but there is a reasonable likelihood that, that could happen.

Operator

Our next question comes from Robin Farley with UBS.

Robin M. Farley - UBS Investment Bank, Research Division

I wonder if you could just -- I know you're not prepared to talk about the specific multiples that you're using for evaluation, but can you just give us a sense of, is it an EBITDA multiple or a multiple of revenue or just what is the metric that you have in mind, even if you aren't specifying the number?

Patrick W. Cavanaugh

I would think about it on a EBITDA multiple, Robin.

Robin M. Farley - UBS Investment Bank, Research Division

Okay. And then, so you guys have talked before about your online revenues, including Entraction at the moment totaling less than 5% of revenues. If you now fold in Double Down into that, does that -- do you get over 5% online revenues at that point or not yet?

Patrick W. Cavanaugh

Yes, I would say, yes.

Robin M. Farley - UBS Investment Bank, Research Division

But you -- I guess, you'd be required to break it out if it were over 10% of revenues, but you have some discussion that it's between 5% and 10% of revenues, is that the best way to think about it?

Patrick W. Cavanaugh

Yes, and like I've said earlier, that's an ongoing analysis that over the coming months -- we don't yet own this business, right? There's still a lot to be learned, but that is work underway so...

Patti S. Hart

Yes, and I think Robin, I think that's a good question because it's something that's been on our mind at IGT, and I think the decision will be less driven by rules and regulations that require us to disclose and more driven by our desire to allow you to have a bit more transparency into the kind of things we're doing at IGT and the strategic value that we're providing on a go-forward basis. So that -- I would say our analysis is more around that and then getting the systems cleaned up in a way that we can do that for you. So I think it's an if not ever, it's a when not if, and that's really what we're working through.

Robin M. Farley - UBS Investment Bank, Research Division

That's great. And then the last one question is just -- in terms of the economics to IGT, do you see the growth size you achieved from the acquisition primarily coming from just the addition of users or are there other revenue sources before, in other words, I guess, do you probably see it as a vehicle for adding initial users or taking new users and getting additional revenue streams from the deal?

Patti S. Hart

I think it's combination of both. I think there's some planned new product launches that are adjacent to, if you haven't had a chance to go on your Facebook page and try Double Down, I would encourage you to do that, so there will be really some adjacent products that they've been working on that you can expect to see in the marketplace in a relatively short period of time, and then at the same time, it's about adding more users as well. While the number of users that visit the DoubleDown Casino seems like a large number, it's not when you compare -- when it's compared to the number of people around the globe. So there's a lot of room to go in new users, but there's also a lot of room to go in breath of product. And so, we'll be focused on both.

Operator

And our next question comes from Mark Strawn with Morgan Stanley.

Mark Strawn - Morgan Stanley, Research Division

One question. Just wondering how you think about barriers to entry in the social gaming space in general and maybe how that affects marketing costs, or your expectation for marketing cost and customer acquisition cost going forward and how that will impact margins?

Patti S. Hart

Yes, so barriers to entry, that's -- going back to my earlier statement, I mean, the biggest barrier to entry in this space is liquidity. Speed to market creates huge barriers to entry over time. It's much tougher to come into the marketplace after there's already loyalty built to a particular brand or a particular experience. So I would say liquidity is kind of #1. But also for us in the combination of Double Down with IGT, it will really, I think, another barrier to entry for others will be the speed at which we will be able to put games into the marketplace. We have such a portfolio of games that we have developed over the years sitting on the shelf that can be re-purposed rapidly into this environment, while others will be building from scratch, others that we compete within the social gaming space specifically. So I think at first, it will be about liquidity, which is why going quickly was important to us. And second, will really be about the content that we already have on our shelves.

Mark Strawn - Morgan Stanley, Research Division

And do you see those barriers to entry changing over time and not having an impact on marketing or customer acquisition cost? And are those factored into your assumptions for the deal longer term?

Patti S. Hart

Well, the customer acquisition cost again, we're still in a B2B model, so the customer acquisition cost really we rely on Facebook in this environment for the customer acquisition. So while we will be focused on once the customers are acquired, keeping them and engaging with them at higher levels, the customer acquisition component of it is really not a robust part of this business model. Will we change over time? I mean, in this part of our world, things change daily. So I'm sure they will change and adjust as things -- as the whole business model becomes more robust and more challenged and more mature. But for today, I think for the foreseeable future, it will be these 2 things.

Operator

Our next question comes from Carlo Santarelli with Deutsche Bank.

Carlo Santarelli - Deutsche Bank AG, Research Division

Just one question. When you think about the long-term strategy as you guys venture into online, does this deal serve as the hub of that and we should maybe think about future subsequent deals being kind of the spokes from the wheel around this, or will there be more similar of size, similar of nature types of deals as you try and build a larger presence?

Patti S. Hart

Yes, I mean, we've had a nice presence. I wouldn't say this is our hub. I mean, we have a great hub that exist today and our wager works in interactive business with Entraction as the poker platform. This is another hub that plays through the social fabric and with a different currency than that. But I wouldn't think about it as a hub, I would think about it as a large ecosystem that requires us to have product offerings in various formats, whether it's poker, bingo, casino-style games or sports betting type applications in multiple devices. So think about it as, just void [ph] on multiple devices from your cell phones, your laptop, to a slot machine, to a betting hall and with multiple revenue models, whether it is virtual currency or real money gaming or subscription-like models or advertising-like models. So there's a multiple dimensions from the currency that drives revenue to the actual vertical application to the device used to deliver the experience, and our strategy has been all along to have robust product offerings that cover that wide spectrum.

Operator

And our next question comes from Dennis Forst with KeyBanc.

Dennis I. Forst - KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc., Research Division

I wanted to ask about the senior management. You've got these big retention bonuses. How many people in senior management, and how many people are receiving retention bonuses and what were the terms of the retention bonuses?

Patti S. Hart

Yes, so Greg Enell is the CEO, who I didn't mention, and I should have, of Double Down who we have great respect for and his leadership and the work that he's done there. The retention bonuses are kind of widely distributed. So it's not 1 or 2 people that enjoy this. It is, I think the great value in Double Down has been a few amazing leaders that we have great respect for and Greg and Glenn and Cooper up there. But also in addition, just an amazing workforce, and it takes a village in this environment. And so, we designed a retention plan to respect the workforce broadly.

Dennis I. Forst - KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc., Research Division

And what is the term of the retention bonus?

Patti S. Hart

It's paid out over 2 years.

Dennis I. Forst - KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc., Research Division

2 years.

Patti S. Hart

Yes, based on a number of things, but it's over 2 years.

Dennis I. Forst - KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc., Research Division

Okay. And my other question was about other applications or other platforms where Double Down could go. Are they -- do they have an exclusive deal with Facebook or can you migrate this to other platforms?

Patti S. Hart

Yes, I mean, in the world of social gaming, there's not much called exclusive anywhere. So I mean, today, Facebook is the leading social media company. They have defined it and invented it for all intents and purposes. But there's nothing that would keep us from exercising any other direct-to-consumer distribution platform that has similar characteristics.

Dennis I. Forst - KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc., Research Division

Is that possibility in the near-term?

Patti S. Hart

I would say near-term, depending upon how you define it. I think near-term for us is really to get the transaction closed and then get inside and understand whether expanding to new platforms first is what we'd prefer versus adding new product to the existing platform or focusing on growing users. I think we have a lot of different alternatives. We'll probably do a little bit of each, but I think for now, the Facebook environment is working and it's not exhausted for us with our Double Down friends. So I think focusing on exhausting the existing environment is likely the path.

Dennis I. Forst - KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc., Research Division

Okay Patti, and lastly, you talked about expanding products. Would we see some of IGT's most popular games on Double Down, say in the next 12 to 18 months?

Patti S. Hart

Yes, our core products that are our unbranded products, if you will, can move fairly rapidly. We're in the process of reviewing each of the license agreements to determine whether or not there needs to be adjustments to license or whether current licenses allow or restrict us to take some of the branded product. But I mean, you all know the catalog we have of core products is huge. So this will be a quick introduction of game themes that the gaming community is familiar with into the social environment.

Operator

Our next question comments from Harry Curtis with Nomura.

Harry Curtis - Nomura Securities Co. Ltd., Research Division

Just 2 quick questions following up on the management. First of all, if it's a 2-year retention plan, does that mean that management, the key management, key designers are locked up for 2 years, or is there a longer lockup?

Patti S. Hart

Well, I mean, nobody in the world is locked up. Everybody makes their own choices, but the retention plans specifically are designed for -- to motivate them to remain employed by IGT. Certainly, we would expect that at the end of 2 years, we would have a significant number of employees that would elect to remain IGT employees. But keep in mind also that the performance earn-out, it is a 3-year earn-out. A significant number of employees are also shareholders, so they would participate in the third year payout on the earn-outs, their performance-based earn-out as well.

Harry Curtis - Nomura Securities Co. Ltd., Research Division

Second question is, just going back to Internet poker question. I'm still a little bit fuzzy on how Internet poker fits into your plans for Double Down. It seems -- I don't have a sense of how profitable the social gaming arena really is. And if it's just limited to social gaming, I'm just wondering if you're a kid sitting outside of the candy store, so to what degree do you think that Internet poker fits into the grand scheme of things?

Patti S. Hart

Our traditional Internet poker product is our Entraction product, which is our real money-wagering poker product that has all of the characteristics to manage those sorts of things, for age verification and location verification and what have you. So that's our real money-wagering product, Entraction, and that's integrated into our real money-wagering infrastructure that includes casino games and bingo and sports betting and what have you. The social aspect of Double Down, whether it's with poker or anything else is it's just that. It's a social gaming experience. It's not real money wagering. There is no prize and in return for your consideration. So it is a game, if you will, as opposed to a bet.

Harry Curtis - Nomura Securities Co. Ltd., Research Division

So it's really its own industry is what you're saying, and you think it's just the early stages or the early innings of that industry growth?

Patti S. Hart

Yes, it is. It's an -- I would say it's a very early business model, right? The whole notion of entertaining yourself with virtual currency as opposed to real money, whether it's -- in whatever form you do that on Facebook, gaming isn't the only way you do it. It's certainly at the very, very early stages of developing as a model.

Operator

Your next question comes from Ryan Worst with Brean Murray.

Ryan L. Worst - Brean Murray, Carret & Co., LLC, Research Division

Just a couple of questions, one follow-up Patti. Is Wheel of Fortune available for you guys to use online? Could that be transported to the online environment?

Patti S. Hart

Yes, we -- I mean, we're still in that process as I indicated, we're looking at the brands that we have exercised historically that we've acquired, and we're not through that process yet of working through every single brand and understanding, which move and which don't move. As you -- if you spend any time in social gaming, you'll see that the notion of a wheel is not -- it is frequently used, right? It's not unfamiliar in that environment, so the notion of a wheel, but the brand Wheel of Fortune is something that we're still taking a look at.

Ryan L. Worst - Brean Murray, Carret & Co., LLC, Research Division

Okay. And then could you just talk about, like what needs to change legislatively or otherwise for you to meet your return hurdles? I mean, do we need legalized poker or casino games or do you not even need that for this to eventually grow to meet some return objectives?

Patti S. Hart

Yes, so this, again, similar to our Entraction acquisition. This acquisition was analyzed and entered into assuming no change in legislation in the U.S. around legalized online gaming, including poker. So this is, again, this is our effort to move outside of this current restriction that we're all battling to participate in a gaming experience that has many similarities, but is different, in the actual way the financial transaction takes place.

Ryan L. Worst - Brean Murray, Carret & Co., LLC, Research Division

Okay. And then just one final question. How will you account for the contingent payments Pat? Is it going to be on an annual basis or every quarter, and is it going to flow-through the income statement?

Patrick W. Cavanaugh

Yes, good question, Ryan. It will be on a quarterly basis as you might imagine. And so, will flow-through, so it will be adjustments -- and we'll call out, so that we help you walk through that each quarter.

Operator

And our next question comes from Jeff Gates with Gates Capital Management.

Jeffrey Linn Gates - Gates Capital Management, Inc.

A couple of questions. First, you talked about the relationship of Double Down with Facebook and you said that you are not, Double Down is not necessarily exclusive to Facebook, but can Facebook -- if triple down comes along, can they, can Facebook use whatever they want as well, number one? And number two, if you have more online real gaming, are there any concerns longer-term that, that could cannibalize the virtual currency gaming?

Patti S. Hart

Yes, so the -- as I indicated in the social media space, there's very little exclusivity that exists, and things are not contractual, but they're there more enablement and then you kind of earn your way as you go. I mean, the Double Down and Facebook relationship is very symbiotic. I mean, Double Down creates and generates all of their revenues through Facebook and generates a lot of revenue for Facebook. And in return, Facebook remits 70% of those gross revenues to Double Down. Double Down creates a lot of traffic for Facebook, which allows Facebook then in turn to monetize that traffic for advertising. So that's really the way the relationship works. And again if you go into Facebook and you make your way around and you do some social gaming, you'll see that while Double Down is the most successful casino-style social game, it is not the only social game in Facebook and will likely not be. So will there be a triple down? I'm not exactly sure. I think that the advantage again for us is that Double Down is the leading provider of social gaming with casino-style games. So all the casino-style games. there's a lot of games in Facebook, and you all are familiar with many of them. My family is addicted to Words with Friends, like everybody else. But this is not that style of gaming. This gaming is specific to casino-style gaming. And so, that's the relationship that exists. And you had a second half of your question, I can't remember what it was.

Jeffrey Linn Gates - Gates Capital Management, Inc.

If online gaming gets -- proliferates and becomes more legal, will there be a threat longer term of that cannibalizing the virtual currency?

Patti S. Hart

Yes, I mean, again it's -- I think it is 2 different experiences. It's 2 different -- there are similarities, but different demographics in this user base. So I believe that, will there be some overlap? There'll be some overlap. But will it be a complete -- I mean, who knows maybe virtual currency will cannibalize the real money gaming that exists online today. I mean, I think that they will peacefully co-exist, and they will be different experiences played by different people, and in fact, in many cases, the same players. So the ability to come into your online gaming world and play with virtual currency or real money or playing a subscription model is likely the model that will be successful going forward.

Operator

And our final question comes from Edward Williams of BMO Capital Markets.

Edward S. Williams - BMO Capital Markets U.S.

A couple of questions. Can you give us a sense as to what your monetization rate is like with Double Down in terms of the percentage of daily average users or monthly average users? And then also, can you give us some color as to where those users actually are? What the percentage is in the U.S. market versus some of the other international markets? And then thirdly, you may have sort of met this earlier, but can you give us a sense as to what the growth trajectory is like for bookings?

Patti S. Hart

I'm writing all those down. Just one second. So the monetization rate is not something that we've made public, and I think ahead of closing the transaction probably is not appropriate that we make public, just in the event that something would ever happen and the deal wouldn't close -- it just wouldn't be fair to our friends at Double Down. But having said that, if you, the best public comp is Zynga. And so, I would encourage you to take a look at Zynga. But the monetization rate actually for Double Down is actually a bit better because of the fact that the way the product plays, and the volatility of the casino-style gaming versus something that looks like a less volatile game. They actually exhaust at a faster rate in Double Down than they do in traditional gaming. So you could think about it in the public comp as Zynga escalated a bit on the way they monetize in growth and bookings. In growth and bookings, again, I wouldn't share their private data. They're a private company. And I think it would not be appropriate for us. Suffice it to say that they launched their first product in about a year ago. Robert, am I, right? About a year ago, and you can see, April was it? So just this past April and you can see what their growth has been from the time of launch till today. So a pretty significant growth in a very short timeframe in a marketplace that is still defining itself. So we expect for the forward 12 to 24 months to be very similar in growth from launch to today.

Edward S. Williams - BMO Capital Markets U.S.

Okay. And then, if you were to look at -- if you look at Zynga, so Zynga Poker has been obviously very successful for them for a number of years since they launched it in 2007, 2008. And they're launching Zynga Bingo this year and folding those games into what they call Zynga Casino. How -- obviously, they have tremendous liquidity with a little over 200 million monthly average users. How do you look at taking Double Down and building scale as rapidly as possible given that landscape, that competitive landscape you have with Zynga?

Patti S. Hart

Yes, I actually think having only one competitor is a nice thing. It gives you -- we don't have only one, but I'm saying if all you're doing focusing on Zynga, that maniacal focus I think is actually a positive thing, but it really comes down to -- going back to the core competencies of IGT, which is we build great games. We build really incredible gaming experiences, and what will keep people in and playing is the experience has to be something that's interesting. It has to be valuable enough for them to use their Facebook credits to experience it over and over again. Liquidity will be important, which is why it's very important that we grow numbers and users quickly, but it is about the good gaming experience. It's no different than how we put machines on the floors of casinos around the globe. You have to build the best gaming experience, which is why we think our core competency in the core of IGT is so valuable as we put these 2 companies together.

Operator

That does conclude the question-and-answer portion of the call.

Patti S. Hart

Well, thank you very much. Today is a great day for IGT, but also a great day in the gaming industry as we really take a step forward to add to the gaming ecosystem that we expect patrons around the globe to enjoy and engage with. So thank you very much for your time. We appreciate your interest.

Operator

Thank you. This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect at this time.

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Participants

International Game Technology (IGT)

January 13, 2012 8:00 am ET

Executives

Patrick W. Cavanaugh - Chief Financial Officer, Principal Accounting Officer, Executive Vice President and Treasurer

Matthew G. Moyer - Vice President of Investor Relations

Patti S. Hart - Chief Executive Officer, Lead Independent Director and Member of Stock Award Committee

Analysts

Edward S. Williams - BMO Capital Markets U.S.

Harry Curtis - Nomura Securities Co. Ltd., Research Division

Ryan L. Worst - Brean Murray, Carret & Co., LLC, Research Division

Chad Beynon - Macquarie Research

Robin M. Farley - UBS Investment Bank, Research Division

Dennis I. Forst - KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc., Research Division

Joseph Greff - JP Morgan Chase & Co, Research Division

Jeffrey Linn Gates - Gates Capital Management, Inc.

Carlo Santarelli - Deutsche Bank AG, Research Division

Mark Strawn - Morgan Stanley, Research Division

Cameron Philip Sean McKnight - Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, Research Division

William J. Lerner - Deutsche Bank AG, Research Division

Website Network

Media Man Int

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Casino News Media

Global Gaming Directory

Virgin Casino Releases Andre the Giant Slot Game

2012-01-19T02:02:00.001+11:00

Profiles

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The Andre Goes Wild feature round allows the wild symbol to expand to cover all three positions on the reel. This will only occur if the expansion results in a winning combination. The wild symbol only appears on reels 2 and 4 during the game.

If two or more Andre the Giant logo scatter symbols appear on the reels at any one time this will activate a scatter pay out. The scatter pay out for hitting five scatter symbols is 200 coins. If a player hits three or more scatter symbols then they will trigger the Battle Bout Bonus round.

In this round, the player is giving 10 free spins. Throughout these 10 free spins, Attack symbols are collected and saved for the second phase of this bonus round. These symbols are some of Andre the Giant signature wrestling moves. Once the free spins finish, the player then takes the Attack symbols collected into the next part of the bonus round where they pick an opponent to fight and then unleash the Attack symbols on that opponent.

Opponents include Flame Bro, Jimmy Iron Legs and Voltage Van Zandt. No, Hulk Hogan or Jake "The Snake" Roberts are not in the game, but we hear both of these wrestling icons are interested to have their own slot game, and Hogan's wish will be coming soon later this year.

If Andre the Giant hits the opponent then the player wins bonus credits. If Andre the Giant hits the opponent three or more times then the player can select one of Andre the Giant’s finishing moves to win the bout and earn multiple bonus credits.

The Andre the Giant slot game is available to play Virgin Casino right now and Virgin offer some of the best online casino bonuses on the planet so ring the bell!

*Andre The Giant fans may also like The Incredible Hulk online slot. Hulk Hogan purchased the Hulk naming rights to use "The Incredible Hulk" from Marvel Entertainment in a multi million dollar deal approximately 20 years ago.

*Australian, New Zealand and Canadian players - try other Hollywood and branded slot games at PartyCasino.com

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PartyCasino Wins Media Man 'Online Casino Of The Month' Award

2012-01-18T22:51:00.000+11:00

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2012-01-17T18:16:00.003+11:00

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Sydney's The Star: Stabbing in casino complex shadows - 15th January 2012

2012-01-15T18:12:00.000+11:00

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It's long been known that Australian land based casinos are not a particularly safe place to frequent, however to their credit The Star in Sydney as well as casinos run by competitor Crown Limited (inc Crown Casino), have beefed up security a great deal over the past few years.

Obviously, all the security in the world is sometimes not enough to prevent a serious incident.

Security guards and casino "eyes in the sky" can only do so much.

Police are investigating after a male was stabbed at 'The Star' casino in Sydney in the early hours of the morning.

Emergency crews were called to the scene at around 2am after reports a man had suffered a single knife wound to the back.

His condition is unclear at this stage.

Detectives are reviewing CCTV video to try to identify the attacker.

Australian casino operators are watching the situation closely and most are reviewing their security and emergency response procedures.

James Packer's Crown Casino (direct competitor to The Star) is currently enjoying its Aussie Millions Poker Championship in Melbourne. Over the past 48 hours two poker professionals were thrown out of the tournament for cheating - handing their poker chips to another player. See other Media Man blog reports for full details.

Media Man is following up these and other Australian casino news matters with more details coming in the next 48 hours.

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Poker News Media: Aussie Millions Poker Championship At Crown Casino, Melbourne, Australia

2012-01-14T17:41:00.000+11:00

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If there’s one thing the Australians love more than gambling it’s sport and for them poker is fair game. This means that once the cards hit the felt at the Aussie Millions you can expect a raucous atmosphere from the crowds inside the Crown Poker Room. Indeed, since its inception the Main Event has grown immensely from just 133 runners in 2004, to 681 runners in 2009 and 721 in 2011.

The Aussie Millions is considered to be one of the game’s crowning majors – on a par with the WSOP or the WPT World Championship – and for good reason too. The Melbourne-based tournament is situated in one of the most desirable locations in the southern hemisphere and will again be hosted at the world-class Crown Casino complex, where all manner of poker action will unfold from January 12–30.

As ever the 2012 Aussie Millions schedule will be highlighted by the AU$10,600 Main Event, a five-day behemoth that last year awarded a staggering AU$2 million to winner David Gorr, but that will be just one of the 26 events on offer this year. Perhaps one of the more eye-catching side events taking place will be the $100,000 Challenge – a two-day event that will pit a granite-hard field of the game’s elite against one another for a total prizepool that last year exceeded AU$3,800,000. But while that blue chip tournament may well be out of reach for all but a select few of poker’s established Illuminati, there will be plenty of mid-high-stakes action for the more budget-conscious traveller, as outlined on the schedule at www.aussiemillions.com

Aussie Millions highlights

So, what should you be playing to keep yourself busy in January? Here’s our pick of the action over the fortnight. (All entries are in Australian Dollars.)

January 12–15 - $1,000+100 - NLHE Freezeout

January 16–18 - $1,000+100 - PLO

January 17–19 - $1,100+100 - NLHE Shootout

January 21–22 - $1,500+150 - NLHE Bounty Event

January 22–28 - $10,000+600 - NLHE MAIN EVENT

January 22–23 - $100,000+500 - NLHE $100,000 CHALLENGE

January 23 - $4,750+250 - Chinese Poker

January 25–26 - $2,250+250 - H.O.R.S.E.

January 29–30 - $10,000+500 - 8-Game Mix

Two Poker Players Disqualified from Aussie Millions - 13th January 2012...

Two poker players were nabbed attempting to re-enter a player at the Aussie Millions Poker Championship, resulting in both players being disqualified and banned from Crown Casino.

The Aussie Millions tournament is one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world, and the largest event of the year taking place in Australia. This year's series began with a $1,100 event that saw 274 players participate on the first of three starting day options.

The cheating matter commenced when one player was eliminated early on the first day. A few minutes later, an attentive tournament official recognized the same player sitting at another table with a new stack of chips.

It was then revealed that the player was using another poker players chips to continue in the tournament. After discussion with the player, it was revealed that a second player had realized that he could not play on Sunday, the Day 2 when all three starting day fields will merge together. Realizing this, and noticing that another player he knew had been bounced from the tournament already, he waited for a table break and then handed his stack off to the previous eliminated player.

Once the cunning scheme was uncovered, both players were immediately disqualified from the tournament. In addition, both players have been banned from the Crown Casino for a yet-to-be-determined length of time.

The identities of the two players have not been released, but we suspect that names will go public sooner rather than later.

The 2012 Aussie Millions will feature a total of nine official events, including the Main Event, which will commence on January 22, as well as a $100,000 Challenge beginning on the same day.

In addition, the Aussie Millions will celebrate the 10th anniversary of this tournament by staging a Tournament of Champions on January 21. This event will feature the previous nine event champions in a single-table event, with the winning earning free lifetime entries into the Aussie Millions Main Event.

Aussie Millions Announces Tournament Of Champions To Celebrate 10th Anniversary...

The world famous 2012 Aussie Millions Poker Championship commenced Thursday with the $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em Opening Event. Crown told the press that in celebration of the Aussie Millions’ 10th anniversary, a special Tournament of Champions will be held on Saturday, Jan. 21...one day day before the Main Event.

Tournament officials have confirmed that eight of the nine Aussie Millions champs will attend. Only Alexander Kostritsyn, 2008 winner, will be unable to attend as his partner is due to give birth at that time.

The eight players who will attend are Peter Costa (2003), Tony Bloom (2004), Jamil Dia (2005), Lee Nelson (2006), Gus Hansen (2007), Stewart Scott (2009), Tyron Krost (2010), and David Gorr (2011).

The champions will compete for a "golden ticket," which will award the winner a lifetime of buy-ins to the Aussie Millions Main Event.

"I’m really excited about having all of the former champions return to celebrate our 10th anniversary,” said Christian Vaughan, tournament director at Crown. "This will be the first time Jamil Dia has been back since his win in 2005 and we haven’t seen Peter Costa in many years. It’s thrilling to have all these great players under the same roof and battling it out for a lifetime freeroll at the Aussie Millions.”

The 2012 Aussie Millions features 26 events and runs through Jan. 30.

May the best player win.

Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment's PartyCasino

PartyCasino.com is one of a number of Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment brands.

The most popular PartyCasino.com games of late include 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 War Of The Worlds, Atomic Fruit, Aztec Gold, Sin City, Robin Hood, Shaaark! SuperBet, Crocodopolis, Alice's Wonderland, Glamour Puss, Super Cubes, Heist, Palladium Slot and Circus Slot.

Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment Co 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.

PartyCasino.com and PartyPoker.com customers can also benefit from rewards and bonuses via PartyPoints and the Palladium Lounge. Be certain to check out the PartyCasino selection of promotions this month which are some of the best available in the industry today.

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.

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PartyCasino New Players Get Up To $3000 Sign Up Bonus

2012-01-13T18:10:00.001+11:00

PartyCasino.com new players get up to $3000 sign up bonus

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2012-01-13T17:53:00.000+11:00

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Echo Entertainment tipped to be taken over by Crown Limited - 12th January 2012

2012-01-13T12:19:00.001+11:00

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Casino owner Echo Entertainment is Australia's prime contender to be taken over in 2012 says JP Morgan.

There's a play for Echo Entertainment tipped owner of The Star casino in Sydney, by James Packer's rival Crown casino group - Crown Limited.

"Echo is our highest conviction takeover target for 2012," JP Morgan said.

"Now is the time that Crown has to move if it wants to buy the company at a decent price. Once the (Star casino) capex benefits start flowing through to the bottom line, the share price might be out of reach," it said. Crown already owns a 4.9 percent stake in Echo Entertainment.

A Media Man spokesperson said "James Packer continues to make all the right moves. He will not be repeating any of the same kind of mistakes he made in Las Vegas, USA, a few years ago. Packer and his team have also made themselves more available for news media, knowing that they will get written about anyway. Lately, there's largely only positive news to report and JP even gives the tabloids a bit of fun stuff to run with once in a while also. Packer can also be thankful that his casino investments in Macau are paying off which is helping keep his bottom line more impressive than all other Australian based gaming entrepreneurs".

*the writer is a shareholder in Crown Limited.

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Casino News Media: PartyCasino Big Cash Hunt and Top Floor promotions

2012-01-12T11:34:00.000+11:00

PartyCasino.com continues to offer the world's greatest online casino promotions

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Big Cash Hunt

16th January - 27th January

Play slots and jackpot slots at PartyCasino.com and win £2000 casino bonus in the Big Cash Hunt tournament in January.

PartyCasino is giving you the chance to bag a share of over £130,000 in the Big Cash Hunt. Play any of the slots and jackpot slots at PartyCasino to go shooting up the leader board.

Points earned on slots and jackpot slots during the promotional period will count towards the promotion. Get double points when playing on Circus slot to get the most out of the Big Cash Hunt.

Top Floor

Enter a penthouse full of cash

Starts: 00:00 ET, 10th January
Ends: 23:59 ET, 15th January

You’re about to hit the Top Floor of the casino where you can win more than $10,000 in cash bonuses – this exclusive area is only accessible to VIP players.

Opt in, collect points playing slots and jackpot slots over the next 6 days and you can win one of these prizes:

Points Prize
1,500 $125 cash bonus
3,000 $300 cash bonus
6,000 $600 cash bonus
10,000 $1,300 cash bonus
20,000 $3,500 cash bonus
50,000 $8,000 cash bonus

Earn your points fast for extra cash bonuses

You’ll also be awarded a $500 cash bonus when you’re one of the first 10 players to reach 6,000 points each day for the next 6 days.

Get ready to exploit this lucrative promotion and take advantage of your VIP status to line your pockets!

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2012-01-10T11:44:00.003+11:00

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Casino News Media: Macau's Continued Strength to Drive Melco Crown Entertainment and Wynn Resorts in 2012

2012-01-09T23:59:00.002+11:00

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The tiny island of Macau posted staggering revenue growth in 2011, as the amount collected solely in gaming taxes in Macau is soon expected to be greater than Las Vegas' combined gaming revenues. According to S&P credit analyst Joe Poon, the analyst firm's base-case forecast for the Macau gaming market "is growth in gross gaming revenue of 10 per cent-15 per cent in 2012."

According to data revealed last week by the Statistics and Census Bureau, Macau's economic dependence on gaming has increased dramatically in recent years. In 2010, the relative importance of gaming to Macau's gross domestic product skyrocketed by 8.9 percentage points year-on-year, to 40.9 percent. The Census Bureau said gaming's weight in the local economy increase to 92.6 percent in 2010 from 89.1 percent in the previous year.

Meanwhile in the United States, Florida continues to make strides to become a gaming hotbed. A proposal set to be taken up by the state legislature when it returns to session could allow three Vegas-style casinos to be built in the southern part of Florida. State Senator John Thrasher (R-Jacksonville) remains less-than enthusiastic, however. He says the bill is a bad idea for Florida not only in the year to come, but in the years ahead.

Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, notes that "Florida is considered the fourth-largest gambling state in the nation, but it has let the industry drive policy decisions, and that has produced the worst kind of gaming." Bernstein Research, a leading watcher of gambling stocks, reported last year that "there is currently $3.4 billion of gaming occurring in Florida or $7.4 billion if one includes the lottery."

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Casinos Of The World: Land Based And Online, Casino Awards By Media Man And Casino News Media

2012-01-09T23:26:00.002+11:00

Casinos Of The World: Land Based And Online; Media Man And Casino News Media Awards, by Greg Tingle

Sin City Cleopatra Rambo The Godfather Sinatra The Terminator Thor Saturday Night Fever Unicorn Legend Palladium Slot

World Directory Global Gaming Directory World Casino Directory

Media Man And Casino News Media Awards

Media Man and Casino News Media have awarded their casino award winners and finalists.

Land Based Australian Casino Of The Month: Crown Casino, 2nd The Star (formally Star City Casino), 3rd Burswood Casino, 4th The Reef Hotel Casino (Cairns)

Online Casino Of The Month: PartyCasino.com 2nd Virgin Casino 3rd PKR Casino

*Online casino awards are based on a combination of gameplay, trustworthiness, ethics, customer feedback, affiliate program offerings, word of mouth, customer experience and overall offerings

*Media Man and Casino News Media have been awarding the 'Casino Of The Month' accolade for the land based and online sector since 2009.

Punters, here's 10 of the world's top land based casinos for you to mark down in your travel plans.

Monte Carlo, Monaco: Perched above the Mediterranean and bounded by the French and Italian coastlines on either side, Monaco provides a spectacular and luxurious setting for the wealthy and the wannabees. Home to the Monaco Grand Prix and the legendary Casino de Monte Carlo, this isn't the place for those on a tight budget. The magnificent Casino hosts the annual European Poker Tour and was also the scene of several James Bond Films, including the original "Casino Royale" and "Golden Eye".

Paradise Island, Bahamas: Located just off the shore of the city of Nassau, Paradise
Island is best known for its sprawling 'Vegas-by-the-sea' resort, Atlantis. The resort spans seven acres along a lagoon, where guests can soak up the Caribbean sun and choose from a variety of outdoor gaming areas. When in need of a break from the tables, guests can enjoy the private beach or one of the resorts 20 sunlit pools.

Melbourne, Australia: As Australia's sporting and entertainment capital, Melbourne offers the perfect option for high rollers looking for a local break. Aussies need look no further than Crown Casino on the southern bank of the Yarra River, which is one of the largest casino complexes in the southern hemisphere. The main gambling floor stretches more than half a kilometre and the casino was the first to introduce the new game Rapid Roulette, which allows players to place bets on a personal electronic touch screen connected to a central roulette wheel.

Macau, China: Known as the 'Monte Carlo of the Orient,' and the gambling capital of Asia, Macau now rivals Monaco and Las Vegas as one of the premier gambling destinations in the world. With no less than 33 casinos, in addition to local horse and greyhound racing venues, Macau is perfect for the betting junkie. The Wynn Macau casino is a standout, highlighted by 24-carat gold 'Tree of Prosperity' at the entrance, extravagant water displays and Moon Jellyfish Aquarium at reception.

Baden-Baden, Germany: Situated on the western foothills of the Black Forest and on the banks of the Oos River, Baden-Baden is not your typical casino town. However, in addition to its hot springs and picturesque countryside, the town is also known for its 200-year-old 'Spielbank' casino - the oldest of its type in Germany. With French chateau-style salons rooms named after historical figures such as Madame Pompadour and Louis XV's mistress, the quirky casino provides visitors with a very unique gaming experience.

Las Vegas, United States: With over 1700 licensed casinos in operation, Las Vegas offers the ultimate package for travellers who fancy a flutter. A visit to the famous 'Strip' is a must for any player, whether they're looking for a spin on the roulette table or a game of blackjack - this city has it all. The iconic Caesar's Palace hotel and casino offers 129,000 square feet of casino space plus an endless smorgasbord of entertainment, shopping and fine dining options, including Cleopatra's barge, a floating lounge perfect for a relaxing drink after a jam-packed night on the casino floor.

Manila, The Philippines: With a favourable exchange rate, Manila provides great value for Aussies wanting to live the high-life overseas. The city offers a range of shopping and entertainment options, along with a world-class casino at the Hyatt Hotel. Spread across three levels, the sparkling casino offers the newest in gaming facilities for both hotel guests and visitors, and is just a short distance from Manila's tourist hub.

Sun City, South Africa: Known as 'Africa's Kingdom of Pleasure,' this luxury resort
and casino complex, just two hours from Johannesburg, boasts two large casinos, two 18-hole golf courses and a wildlife reserve. At the extravagant yet picturesque Palace of the Lost City, guests are treated to stunning valley views from the guestrooms, along with exclusive access to the Grand Pool. The nearby Sun City Casino is the entertainment Mecca of the resort, featuring a myriad of gaming options as well as an indoor jungle of native foliage and water fountains.

Atlantic City, United States: Regarded as the US's 'Las Vegas of the East', Atlantic City in New Jersey is renowned for its gambling, shopping and fine dining. Towering above the banks of the Atlantic Ocean, the Trump Taj Mahal casino is an icon of the city, with an on-site shopping district and an abundance of restaurants and bars. The 157,000 square-foot casino is also hard to miss, with 3,500 slot machines and 200 table games. Unveiled in 1990 by a number of celebrities, including the late Michael Jackson, the casino is the second-largest in Atlantic City and well worth a visit.

Genting Highlands, Malaysia: Nestled on the Titiwangsa mountain range, just an hour's drive from Kuala Lumpur and 6,000 feet above sea level, the Resorts World Genting offers 360-degree views of the surrounding countryside. This spectacular resort has first-class accommodation, dining and entertainment, while avoiding the hustle and bustle of a capital city. The on-site casino, which covers 200,000 square feet, is Malaysia's sole gaming venue and is divided into separate themed areas, such as Hollywood and Monte Carlo, for the ultimate gambling experience.

Online Casinos:

PartyCasino.com : The world's leading online casino brand and part of Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment. Play for free or play for money at PartyCasino.com New players get up to $3000 sign up bonus via Media Man.

VirginCasino.com : Virgin Casino is part of Virgin Games. The parent company is Virgin Enterprises Limited, the creation of the world's most famous and celebrated entrepreneur, Sir Richard Branson. Unfortunately the casino does not accept players from many countries due to what is known in legal circles as "grey areas". Most European players can play, but no Americans, Canadians, Australians or New Zealanders.

Captain Cooks Casino : Was once a very popular online casino with Australians and New Zealanders, however we understand these days they can only accept players from a few regions such as Europe, South Africa, Canada and South America.

PKR : Once only a 2D online poker room, they are now more 3D and offer online poker and a good range of online casino games, including classics, Marvel slots and table games.

Media Man's top online casino choice: PartyCasino.com PartyCasino is a multi-time Media Man 'Online Casino Of The Month' winner and have also won awards from EGR. Earlier this year PartyGaming merged with Bwin to create the worlds leading igaming company, Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment.

PartyCasino Gets New Games...

Aztec Gold, Atomic Fruit, Nag's To Riches and Fairies Forest. Check out the new games here.

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Captain Cooks Casino VS Virgin Casino; online casino wars

2012-01-09T14:16:00.001+11:00

Online casino players - check out the latest on the "casino wars" between the likes of Captain Cooks Casino and Virgin Casino, with Microgaming stuck in the middle of it.

Captain Cooks Casino

- Australian, New Zealand and Canadian players welcome; $500 sign up bonus

Virgin Casino

- more games than most casinos; 100 sterling sign up bonus; Sorry, no U.S, Canadian, New Zealand or Australian players

*See Global Gaming Directory

bwin.party enters Danish market; PartyCasino Big Cash Hunt and Top Floor promotions - 4th January 2012

2012-01-09T10:16:00.001+11:00

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The world’s largest listed online gambling operator, bwin.party Digital Entertainment, has launched online poker and casino games in Denmark for Danske Licens Spil, a wholly-owned subsidiary of state monopoly Danske Spil that posted a turnover of $1.8 billion in 2010.

“Building on our recent announcement regarding deals with both MGM and Boyd in the US market, this is another important milestone in the execution of our stated strategy that is focused on securing leadership positions in regulated and to-be-regulated markets,” read a statement attributed to Jim Ryan and Norbert Teufelberger, Co-Chief Executive Officers for bwin.party.

“We are delighted that Danske Licens Spil has recognised our expertise and high standards of business practice and we look forward to building a market-leading customer offer for the Danish consumer.”

Big Cash Hunt

16th January - 27th January

Play slots and jackpot slots at PartyCasino.com and win £2000 casino bonus in the Big Cash Hunt tournament in January.

PartyCasino is giving you the chance to bag a share of over £130,000 in the Big Cash Hunt. Play any of the slots and jackpot slots at PartyCasino to go shooting up the leader board.

Points earned on slots and jackpot slots during the promotional period will count towards the promotion. Get double points when playing on Circus slot to get the most out of the Big Cash Hunt.

Top Floor

Enter a penthouse full of cash

Starts: 00:00 ET, 10th January
Ends: 23:59 ET, 15th January

You’re about to hit the Top Floor of the casino where you can win more than $10,000 in cash bonuses – this exclusive area is only accessible to VIP players.

Opt in, collect points playing slots and jackpot slots over the next 6 days and you can win one of these prizes:

Points Prize
1,500 $125 cash bonus
3,000 $300 cash bonus
6,000 $600 cash bonus
10,000 $1,300 cash bonus
20,000 $3,500 cash bonus
50,000 $8,000 cash bonus

Earn your points fast for extra cash bonuses

You’ll also be awarded a $500 cash bonus when you’re one of the first 10 players to reach 6,000 points each day for the next 6 days.

Get ready to exploit this lucrative promotion and take advantage of your VIP status to line your pockets!

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PartyCasino Wins Media Man 'Online Casino Of The Month' Award

2012-01-08T22:54:00.001+11:00

Casino News Media Website Network Updated

2012-01-08T18:27:00.001+11:00

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Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment directors buy up shares - 3rd January 2012

2012-01-04T17:16:00.002+11:00

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Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment directors Jim Ryan and Geoff Baldwin have snapped up shares in the online gaming firm. The announcement comes on the same day bwin.party launched a number of online poker and casino games in Denmark for Danske Licens Spil (DLS), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Danske Spil group. Danske Spil, which is one of the largest betting and gaming organisations in Europe and 80% owned by the Danish government, already has over 600,000 registered online customers. Baldwin, a non-executive director who joined bwin's board in July last year, made the biggest purchase and bought £156,620-worth of shares at 156.62p each. Co-Chief Executive Officer Ryan took his total stake in the firm to 0.19%.

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2012-01-04T16:09:00.002+11:00

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Annie The Musical Media Preview At The Star: Sydney, Australia

2012-01-04T00:19:00.001+11:00

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Australian broadcasting legend Alan Jones demonstrated his considerable singing skills when he made his musical theatre debut (for the media) Tuesday in a new Australian production of Annie - The Musical.

Jones will star alongside Anthony Warlow, Todd McKenney and Nancye Hayes in producer John Frost's latest show.

The musical marks a return to the role of Daddy Warbucks for Warlow, who played the character in a 2000 production of Annie, about an orphan girl taken in by the multi-millionaire in Depression-era New York.

"It was a wonderful experience then. People say never work with children and animals, but in this case the children were wonderful," Warlow said.

Jones, who will performed a musical number in his role as president Roosevelt, was handpicked by Frost, who advised he had Jones in mind from the early casting days.

"I wanted to pull a rabbit out of the hat in a way," Frost said.

In a video message played at the show's launch on Monday, NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell said he couldn't believe Frost had taken Jones on, "because he never ever takes direction".

Jones talked down his part in the production, requesting news media to direct questions to "the stars" of the show.

He said he just hoped he could do the role justice.

"I have a lot of good people to help me. I hope I'm going to do alright and not let the team down," he said.

Frost, who is the man behind the smash hit Australian productions of Wicked, Chicago and Phantom of the Opera, is confident Jones will not need any acting or singing lessons, despite having no previous theatrical experience.

Frost knows Jones is a safe bet.

"He's full of confidence and he holds a tune well," he said.

"If anything I'd love to put another song in for him, but I can't."

He said the show will be a true performance of the original stage production.

"The timing now is right to bring it back. With a fresh cast, I think it's got a good chance of being a great success," Frost said.

Jones said on his role as US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt ""Poor old FDR, he was a big spender, not necessarily politically akin to me, but I just regard this as fiction, he's history and I'm somewhere in the middle".

"I'm really lucky because (as Roosevelt) I'm in a wheelchair so I don't have to worry whether I'm standing in the right place, or my arm's in the right place, that's someone else's worry," he says.

"There's a whole new language you've got to learn here," he says.

"I thought I'd learnt all my lines and then they tell me, `We've got the linguist coming,' so I've got to learn dialect now!"

Jones knows this is quite the one off, telling news media ""Are they falling over themselves providing new opportunities for me? No."

The battle for the Australian entertainment dollar continues, and certainly Sydney's The Star is going full speed ahead and betting that world class entertainment will remain paramount in the quest to bring more punters to land based casinos and entertainment complexes.

Media blurb we secured...

The timeless tale of Little Orphan Annie is back, giving a whole new generation the chance to experience this classic musical about never giving up hope. Boasting one of Broadway's most memorable scores, including It's the Hard-Knock Life, Easy Street, N.Y.C. and the ever-optimistic Tomorrow, Annie is one of the most awarded and loved musicals of all time. Reprising one of his all-time favourite roles as the charismatic and sophisticated New York ‘zillionaire' Daddy Warbucks, is Anthony Warlow. He will be joined by the ever-popular Nancye Hayes playing everyone's favourite villain, Miss Hannigan. Todd McKenney, Chloë Dallimore and Julie Goodwin also bring their talents to this delightful musical. And in a special treat, radio star Alan Jones will join the cast in the role of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

A MESSAGE FROM PRODUCER JOHN FROST

It gives me great pleasure to bring ANNIE back to Australian audiences. When I produced this show 12 years ago I was overwhelmed by the response it received. ANNIE is such a well known, well loved production that appeals to so many different age groups. Its popularity means that it is staged once a year in many countries around the world, and I have no doubt that the Australian audiences are well and truly ready to see it again.

This time around, I am especially delighted to be able to work once more with Australia's favourite leading man, Anthony Warlow and theatrical legend Nancye Hayes.

To be taking this wonderful show and the star studded cast on tour in 2012 presents a unique and exciting opportunity to reach a new generation of Australians and it gives me enormous pleasure to think that people Australia wide will again be able to experience this special production.

Websites

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Annie The Musical

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Online gambling companies boosted by regulatory change in United States

2012-01-03T23:24:00.001+11:00

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Online gaming companies have having a grand old time as late since US law makers gave the industry an unlikely Christmas surprise.

On December 23, the US Department of Justice announced that its ban on online gambling now applied only to sports betting. It is no longer a wholesale ban on online gambling.

According to analysts the decision clears the way for legalisation of online poker and casino games on a state-by-state basis.

“There now appears to be no Federal law which would prevent the operation of non-sporting gambling,” Numis Securities analyst Ivor Jones said in a note to clients.

He added: “This is a major change in the position of the US DoJ. At the very least it clears the way for State-level online poker legislation.”

“Potentially it opens the way for gambling services to be provided from offshore and this may encourage the US Congress to legislate before the floodgates open.”

Jones advised that there may be no need for a federal law explicitly to make the licensing of inter-State online poker possible.

He thinks that all that may be needed is for a State to license online poker and it would be able to accept players from other states where online gambling is lawful, or not illegal.

The DoJ’s change of heart may be a massive boon to the online gambling industry which was all but dead in the water in the U.S in late 2006 when the government introduced the ban on all financial transactions linked to online gambling.

The news prompted a sector-wide rally with Bwin.Party (LON:BPTY) and Playtech (LON:PTEC) both gaining over 20% since the DoJ announcement. Meanwhile 888 Holdings (LON:888) shares also performed well advancing around 15%.

Ladbrokes (LON:LAD) and William Hill (LON:WMH) have also gained around 7%.

According to Panmure Gordon the biggest beneficiary of the regulatory u-turn will be 888 Holdings.

888 Holdings has a commercial relationship with Caesars Entertainment and the broker says the DoJ decision is particularly pertinent given the state of Nevada passed online poker regulation last Thursday and licences expected to be granted in the Spring.

Panmure has a ‘buy’ recommendation for 888 with a 63p a share price target, which implies some 57% upside from the current price of 40p a share.

The broker said the move by the DoJ would also remove the legacy legal risk from operating casino and poker websites in the US prior to October 2006.

Bwin.Party also has agreements with two Las Vegas operators, Boyd Gaming and MGM Resorts.
In a note to clients today, Daniel Stewart analyst Michael Campbell said that BPTY is well positioned to benefit from State and/or Federal legislation because of these agreements in the US market.

Daniel Stewart’s analysts have a ‘buy’ recommendation on the stock with a 256p target, which implies a potential uplift of around 60% from the current price of 160p.

Given the potential for new business for online gambling in the United States this de-regulation of the industry could be one of the big stories for the leisure and gaming industry this year.

Danske Licens Spil and bwin.party launch online games - 3rd January 2012...

Online gaming group bwin.party has launched online poker and casino games in Denmark for Danske Licens Spil, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Danske Spil.

Danske Spil is is one of the largest betting and gaming organisations in Europe with DKK10.3bn of turnover in 2010.

It is owned by the Danish government (80%), Sports Confederation of Denmark (10%) and Danish Gymnastics and Sports Associations (10%).

A statement by bwin.party co-chief executives Jim Ryan and Norbert Teufelberger said: "Building on our recent announcement regarding deals with both MGM and Boyd in the US market, this is another important milestone in the execution of our stated strategy that is focused on securing leadership positions in regulated and to-be-regulated markets.

"We are delighted that DLS has recognised our expertise and high standards of business practice and we look forward to building a market-leading customer offer for the Danish consumer."

At 8:30am: (LON:BPTY) share price was -3.85p at 160.15p

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2012-01-03T21:40:00.001+11:00

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2012-01-03T16:12:00.000+11:00

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PartyCasino News: Top Floor and Big Cash Hunt Casino Promotions

2012-01-02T22:55:00.000+11:00

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2012-01-02T22:28:00.007+11:00

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2012-01-02T22:28:00.005+11:00

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Australian Casino News: Woman wins $100k after pokies fight; Woman run over by taxi at Burswood Casino

2012-01-02T13:28:00.002+11:00

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Woman wins $100k after pokies fight...

An Adelaide woman is receiving a $100,000 Christmas present after the Adelaide Casino agreed to pay out a pokies win after an 18-month fight.

Cecilia Cubillo played a $1 credit that another person had left in the poker machine when she hit the jackpot.

But her excitement was cut short when the casino told her it would not be giving her the money.

The casino says it is against regulations set by the Office of the Liquor and Gambling Commissioner to pay out abandoned credits, but the casino says the Commissioner has now agreed to review those regulations.

The casino has apologised to Ms Cubillo for any stress and embarrassment and will now give her the money.

It has asked the Commissioner to clarify his position on the use of abandoned credit to avoid similar situations in the future.

Woman run over by taxi at Burswood Casino...

A woman has received serious head injuries after being run over by a taxi at Burswood Casino.

Police are investigating whether she was involved in a separate incident just prior to the crash at 4.30am on Sunday.

The taxi left the scene, however, has since been located by Police Major Crash investigators.

It is unknown if the driver was aware of the incident.

The woman remains in a critical condition in hospital.

Police are calling for anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers.

Lotto tickets to be sold online...

Making lottery tickets available online will fuel gambling addiction, Independent Senator Nick Xenophon says.

SA Lotteries will begin selling tickets on the internet from the middle of 2012.

The arrangement is expected to provide $3 million a year in revenue and has been approved by the South Australian Government.

Credit card purchases of tickets will be limited to $1000 a week.

Senator Xenophon says that is an extraordinarily high cap and will only encourage problem gamblers.

"That's close to average weekly wages and to have it on credit is very problematic.

"If a publican gives you credit at a pokies venue that's a serious criminal offence. Using a credit card to get lotteries tickets really can fuel gambling addiction.

"You're not using your own money, you're using credit. At least if you buy lotto from a newsagent the newsagent can see the whites of your eyes and at least make some judgments... to determine whether they're dealing with a problem gambling.

"But there won't be any such controls with online sales."

Finance Minister Michael O'Brien says careful consideration was given to the decision.

"The SA Lotteries Board have indicated to me that they believe that the regime that is in place for online gambling actually offers higher protection for the potential problem gambler than is the case currently," he said.

"People spend whatever they wish either on the poker machines or on lottery tickets or on the horses, or whatever other form of gambling. Now whether they do that by cash or by cash via a credit card facility, they still spend the money. At least with this particular arrangement, there is a limit."

He says the decision brings the state into line with the rest of Australia.

Woolworths arm takes over pubs...

Grocery giant Woolworths is buying more heavily into the liquor market.

Its pub and bottle shop company ALH Group is taking out long-term leases on 31 pubs located across New South Wales.

Woolworths already operates 27 pubs in the state as the majority owner of ALH Group, which is also Australia's largest poker machine operator.

ALH spokesman David Curry says the buy up boosts the grocery giant's ownership of pokie machines to almost 13,000 nationwide.

He says it has invested in pubs with good trade potential as well as their gaming capabilities.

"There's about 680, it brings the total nationwide to just under 13,000 - proportionately, we don't have a significant percentage of electronic gaming machines - we've only got about 6 per cent of electronic gaming machines in the country," he said.

"Notwithstanding the pokie tax or what's been proposed by the Federal Government, we think the hotels we've actually signed long-term leases to can achieve good trading growth.

"We're looking at injecting further capital into the business and overlapping our management expertise in NSW across those hotels."

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2012-01-01T12:39:00.003+11:00

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2011-12-31T12:00:00.001+11:00

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Gaming - gambling companies happy as U.S. signals end of prohibition; Players rejoice

2011-12-30T22:10:00.001+11:00

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Shares of online gaming firms hit the jackpot after the US Department of Justice revealed it now plans to free them from legislation that should only apply to sports betting.

As industry experts forecast the beginning of the end for online gambling prohibition in the US, Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment jumped 29.7p to 160p, 888 Holdings advanced 3.25p to 39.25p and Playtech 34.5p to 266p.

There is no doubt the new stance on the Wire Act of 1961 marks a huge shift for the Justice Department, which has previously proclaimed all forms of internet gambling – especially the increasingly popular online poker – are illegal.

The Wire Act, which banned gambling via telecommunications across state lines, has also been applied within states to prevent web-based betting.

But in recent months it has become evident the Justice Department was moving away from that strict interpretation.

In April Preet Bharara, the US Attorney in Manhattan, indicted 11 individuals in a crackdown on online poker websites and launched a £1.95bn civil lawsuit against firms including PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, but did not include any Wire Act violations among the charges.

Rather, Bharara alleged the men had violated the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which became law in 2006, and the Illegal Gambling Business Act.

And as the Justice Department now advises that the Wire Act does not apply to online poker, industry followers believe the way is clear for online gambling to proceed within state boundaries.

Broker Investec advised that the states of California, New Jersey, Nevada, Illinois, New Hampshire, Florida and Washington are in advanced discussions to open up gambling across state lines too, with regulation likely to take shape during the upcoming year.

A spokesman for Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment said: "It is an interesting step forward and we will continue to keep a close eye on the situation."

If individual US states are allowed to profit from online gambling, the federal government will soon take an increased interest in controlling and taxing the market rather than allowing a patchwork quilt to emerge.

Bwin.Party brands include PartyPoker, PartyCasino, PartyBets and World Poker Tour.

Other countries whose citizens enjoy online gambling - such as Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Italy are watching the situation closely.

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Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment Profiles; PartyCasino And PartyPoker Get New Promotions And Games

2011-12-30T19:43:00.003+11:00

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2011-12-30T14:36:00.002+11:00

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Alan Jones Joins Cast Of Annie The Musical At Lyric Theatre; The Star

2011-12-30T13:52:00.003+11:00

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Australian broadcasting legend Alan Jones will demonstrate his singing skills when he makes his musical theatre debut in a new Australian production of Annie - The Musical.

Jones will star alongside Anthony Warlow, Todd McKenney and Nancye Hayes in producer John Frost's latest show.

The musical marks a return to the role of Daddy Warbucks for Warlow, who played the character in a 2000 production of Annie, about an orphan girl taken in by the multi-millionaire in Depression-era New York.

"It was a wonderful experience then. People say never work with children and animals, but in this case the children were wonderful," Warlow said.

Jones, who will perform a musical number in his role as president Roosevelt, was handpicked by Frost, who advised he had Jones in mind from the early casting days.

"I wanted to pull a rabbit out of the hat in a way," Frost said.

In a video message played at the show's launch on Monday, NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell said he couldn't believe Frost had taken Jones on, "because he never ever takes direction".

Jones talked down his part in the production, requesting news media to direct questions to "the stars" of the show.

He said he just hoped he could do the role justice.

"I have a lot of good people to help me. I hope I'm going to do alright and not let the team down," he said.

Frost, who is the man behind the smash hit Australian productions of Wicked, Chicago and Phantom of the Opera, is confident Jones will not need any acting or singing lessons, despite having no previous theatrical experience.

Frost knows Jones is a safe bet.

"He's full of confidence and he holds a tune well," he said.

"If anything I'd love to put another song in for him, but I can't."

He said the show will be a true performance of the original stage production.

"The timing now is right to bring it back. With a fresh cast, I think it's got a good chance of being a great success," Frost said.

The battle for the Australian entertainment dollar continues, and certainly Sydney's The Star is going full speed ahead and betting that world class entertainment will remain paramount in the quest to bring more punters to land based casinos and entertainment complexes.

Media blurb we secured...

The timeless tale of Little Orphan Annie is back, giving a whole new generation the chance to experience this classic musical about never giving up hope. Boasting one of Broadway's most memorable scores, including It's the Hard-Knock Life, Easy Street, N.Y.C. and the ever-optimistic Tomorrow, Annie is one of the most awarded and loved musicals of all time. Reprising one of his all-time favourite roles as the charismatic and sophisticated New York ‘zillionaire' Daddy Warbucks, is Anthony Warlow. He will be joined by the ever-popular Nancye Hayes playing everyone's favourite villain, Miss Hannigan. Todd McKenney, Chloë Dallimore and Julie Goodwin also bring their talents to this delightful musical. And in a special treat, radio star Alan Jones will join the cast in the role of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

A MESSAGE FROM PRODUCER JOHN FROST

It gives me great pleasure to bring ANNIE back to Australian audiences. When I produced this show 12 years ago I was overwhelmed by the response it received. ANNIE is such a well known, well loved production that appeals to so many different age groups. Its popularity means that it is staged once a year in many countries around the world, and I have no doubt that the Australian audiences are well and truly ready to see it again.

This time around, I am especially delighted to be able to work once more with Australia's favourite leading man, Anthony Warlow and theatrical legend Nancye Hayes.

To be taking this wonderful show and the star studded cast on tour in 2012 presents a unique and exciting opportunity to reach a new generation of Australians and it gives me enormous pleasure to think that people Australia wide will again be able to experience this special production.

Websites

The Star

Annie The Musical

Lyric Theatre

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2011-12-29T13:50:00.000+11:00

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Online Bingo Players Hit Virgin Bingo as Sales Begin

2011-12-29T10:04:00.001+11:00

Virgin Bingo players benefit from a different kind of sale.

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While most people are hitting Oxford Street, Bond Street and huge department stores like Selfridges and Harrods in order to make the most of post Christmas sales, the online bingo room of Virgin Bingo is hosting its own online bingo sales. This Virgin Bingo promotion will play until Sunday January 1st 2012 in the Marrakesh bingo room with three hourly bingo sessions happening every day.

So players can join Virgin Bingo daily from 10am-11am, 4pm-5pm and then again from 8pm-9pm where for every one bingo card they purchase, they will get one more completely free. In addition to the buy one get one free bingo games, Virgin Bingo want to thank their players for supporting them, that is why they have increased the prize pots of their games, with a lot more £20 and £50 cash pot games taking place during the festive period. Players can purchase their cards in advance while these games will play on 90 ball bingo, meaning there will be at least three winners per game.

New players can enjoy these bingo games by registering an account at Virgin Bingo and by making a small deposit worth £5. Once they have used that money to purchase bingo cards, Virgin Bingo will automatically release a free £25 welcome bonus.

This is the perfect time to sign up at Virgin Bingo because players can enjoy the latest online slots game to come from Cryptologic and DC Comic. An exhilarating version of Wonder Woman is now available that features 5 reels and 50 pay lines, with a minimum 1p bet and a maximum £12 bet per line. The slot game features the Bonus Bet round, Wonder Wild Free Games and the Ares Showdown feature.

Sorry, no U.S, Australian or New Zealand players. See Global Gaming Directory.

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The Star Lyric Theatre To Open Annie The Musical In Sydney

2011-12-28T17:47:00.003+11:00

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The Star, owned and operated by Echo Entertainment, has organised a media call for this coming Tuesday 3rd January at the Lyric Theatre.

We will be attending to cover the ever-popular Broadway musical Annie prior to the official opening night of the show at 7pm on Thursday January 5, 2012.

Three musical numbers from the show will be performed, and afterwards producer John Frost and lead cast members Anthony Warlow, Nancye Hayes, Todd McKenney, Chloe Dallimore, Julie Goodwin and Alan Jones will be giving interviews and be available for photograph opportunities and more.

The musical numbers will be:

It’s the Hard Knock Life – featuring the children’s cast

Easy Street – featuring Nancye Hayes, Todd McKenney and Chloe Dallimore

A New Deal for Christmas – featuring Anthony Warlow, Julie Goodwin, Alan Jones and the ensemble cast.

Based on the popular Harold Gray comic strip “Little Orphan Annie”, the musical Annie burst into popularity in 1977 when it opened on Broadway. After running there for nearly six years, it has played in over 22 countries worldwide including the UK, Argentina, Japan, Germany, Sweden, Spain and Australia. Annie became a smash-hit movie musical in 1982 starring Aileen Quinn, Albert Finney and Carol Burnett that is adored worldwide and a fixture of popular culture references.

Annie is full of toe-tapping hits which have become staples of musical theatre repertoires worldwide and now, 34 years on, it remains one of the most loved and universally appealing musicals of all time.

Annie plays in Sydney until March 25 before a national tour.

It all marks another interesting development in the Australian casino wars, as agency, Media Man has been calling it for a few years now, and it will be interesting to see how Melbourne based competitor of The Star, Crown Casino, responds with their entertainment line up, which is also ramping up on the west coast on Australia with the newly named Crown Perth (formally Burswood Entertainment Centre).

The battle for the Australian entertainment dollar continues, and certainly Sydney's The Star is going full speed ahead and betting that world class entertainment will remain paramount in the quest to bring more punters to land based casinos and entertainment complexes.

Media blurb we secured...

The timeless tale of Little Orphan Annie is back, giving a whole new generation the chance to experience this classic musical about never giving up hope. Boasting one of Broadway's most memorable scores, including It's the Hard-Knock Life, Easy Street, N.Y.C. and the ever-optimistic Tomorrow, Annie is one of the most awarded and loved musicals of all time. Reprising one of his all-time favourite roles as the charismatic and sophisticated New York ‘zillionaire' Daddy Warbucks, is Anthony Warlow. He will be joined by the ever-popular Nancye Hayes playing everyone's favourite villain, Miss Hannigan. Todd McKenney, Chloë Dallimore and Julie Goodwin also bring their talents to this delightful musical. And in a special treat, radio star Alan Jones will join the cast in the role of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

A MESSAGE FROM PRODUCER JOHN FROST

It gives me great pleasure to bring ANNIE back to Australian audiences. When I produced this show 12 years ago I was overwhelmed by the response it received. ANNIE is such a well known, well loved production that appeals to so many different age groups. Its popularity means that it is staged once a year in many countries around the world, and I have no doubt that the Australian audiences are well and truly ready to see it again.

This time around, I am especially delighted to be able to work once more with Australia's favourite leading man, Anthony Warlow and theatrical legend Nancye Hayes.

To be taking this wonderful show and the star studded cast on tour in 2012 presents a unique and exciting opportunity to reach a new generation of Australians and it gives me enormous pleasure to think that people Australia wide will again be able to experience this special production.

Websites

The Star

Annie The Musical

Lyric Theatre

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Nevada approves online poker framework - 23rd December 2011

2011-12-28T11:45:00.001+11:00

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In the United States, the Nevada Gaming Commission unanimously approved a set of proposed regulations on Thursday that would permit companies to apply for licences in order to operate online poker for residents of the western state.

The proposals were widely supported by the industry and require applicants to prove their ability to maintain controls on registration, prevent underage play and establish the location of players before being licensed.

Regulation 5A was one of six draft proposals adopted or amended yesterday by the Nevada Gaming Commission and also addresses what information is to be presented on websites and establishes procedures for record keeping, dispute resolution, fees, taxation and problem gambling notifications.

The Nevada Gaming Commission is already considering applications from six companies in Cantor Gaming, Shuffle Master Incorporated, International Game Technology, Bally Technologies Incorporated, Caesars Entertainment Corporation and the South Point Hotel Casino and officials are optimistic that approving the regulations will lead to technology firms opening operations in Nevada and expanding current business.

The push to legalise online poker in Nevada goes back to mid-March when Las Vegas Assemblyman William Horne submitted his AB258 bill. This proposed legislation was approved by the Nevada Assembly in May before being passed by the Democrat-controlled Nevada Senate and signed into law by Republican governor Brian Sandoval less than a month later.

Yesterday’s public hearing to pass the framework required to implement Horne’s legislation saw no opposition or major amendments as it had already been revised eleven times and state officials now await the repeal of the federal Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) before being able to legally license operators.

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Web gambling gets boost from Obama administration - 26th December 2011

2011-12-27T15:23:00.001+11:00

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The Obama administration cleared the way for U.S. states to legalize Internet poker and certain other online betting in a switch that may help them reap billions in tax revenue and spur web-based gambling.

A Justice Department opinion dated September and made public on Friday reversed decades of previous policy that included civil and criminal charges against operators of some of the most popular online poker sites.

Until now, the department held that online gambling in all forms was illegal under the Wire Act of 1961, which bars wagers via telecommunications that cross state lines or international borders.

The new interpretation, by the department's Office of Legal Counsel, said the Wire Act applies only to bets on a "sporting event or contest," not to a state's use of the Internet to sell lottery tickets to adults within its borders or abroad.

"The United States Department of Justice has given the online gaming community a big, big present," said I. Nelson Rose, a gaming law expert at Whittier Law School who consults for governments and the industry.

The question at issue was whether proposals by Illinois and New York to use the Internet and out-of-state transaction processors to sell lottery tickets to in-state adults violated the Wire Act.

But the department's conclusion would eliminate "almost every federal anti-gambling law that could apply to gaming that is legal under state laws," Rose wrote on his blog at www.gamblingandthelaw.com

If a state legalized intra-state games such as poker, as Nevada and the District of Columbia have done, "there is simply no federal law that could apply" against their operators, he said.

The department's opinion, written by Assistant Attorney General Virginia Seitz, said the law's legislative history showed that Congress's overriding goal had been to halt wire communications for sports gambling, notably off-track betting on horse races.

Congress also had been concerned about rapid transmission of betting information on baseball, basketball, football and boxing among other sports-related events or contests, she summarized the legislative history as showing.

"The ordinary meaning of the phrase 'sporting event or contest' does not encompass lotteries," Seitz wrote. "Accordingly, we conclude that the proposed lotteries are not within the prohibitions of the Wire Act."

The department expressed no opinion about a provision in the law that lets prosecutors shut down phone lines where interstate or foreign gambling is taking place.

Many of the 50 U.S. states may be interested in creating online lotteries to boost tax revenues and help offset the ripple effect of a federal deficit-reduction push.

The global online gambling industry grew 12 percent last year to as much as $30 billion, according to a survey in March by Global Betting and Gaming Consultancy, based on the Isle of Man, where online gambling is legal.

Federal prosecutors in April charged three of the biggest Internet poker companies with fraud and money-laundering along with violations of another federal law, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Act of 2006.

The government outlined an alleged scheme by owners of the three largest online poker companies - Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker and PokerStars - to funnel gambling profits to online shell companies that would appear legitimate to banks processing payments. (Credit: Google News, Reuters)

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Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment Profiles; PartyCasino And PartyPoker Get New Promotions And Games

2011-12-27T10:28:00.001+11:00

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2011-12-27T10:02:00.002+11:00

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PartyCasino Wins Media Man 'Online Casino Of The Month' Award

2011-12-26T10:05:00.001+11:00

PartyCasino Wins Media Man 'Online Casino Of The Month' Award

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PartyCasino.com has been awarded the Media Man and Casino News Media "Online Casino Of The Month" award.

PartyGaming's igaming suite has grown a custom to winning awards since they first opened for business in 1997.

The competition for the coveted award was intense again this month with massive bids from both WPT Casino Captain Cooks Casino, Virgin Casino, PKR and Noble Casino however there can only be one winner... ladies and gentlemen, that's PartyCasino.com

The award follows PartyPoker's EGR Poker Operator Of The Year and PartyGaming also made the shortlist for EGR Operator Of The Year. Recently Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment's PartyPoker.com also won the Casino News Media "Online Poker Website Of The Month".

The Media Man - Casino News Media accolade is based on a combination of elements including user experience, innovation, trustworthiness, customer service, gameplay, affiliate program offerings, newsworthiness and company values.

PartyCasino.com is one of a number of Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment brands.

The most popular PartyCasino.com games of late include 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 War Of The Worlds, Atomic Fruit, Aztec Gold, Sin City, Robin Hood, Shaaark! SuperBet, Crocodopolis, Alice's Wonderland, Glamour Puss, Super Cubes, Heist, Palladium Slot and Circus Slot.

Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment Co 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.

PartyCasino.com and PartyPoker.com customers can also benefit from rewards and bonuses via PartyPoints and the Palladium Lounge. Be certain to check out the PartyCasino exclusive "Cash Machine" that is being championed as one of the greatest online casino promos ever.

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.

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Casino To Be Built On Fiji's Denarau Island; American Multimillionaire Wins Development Contract, by Greg Tingle

2011-12-23T00:26:00.001+11:00

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An American multimillionaire has won the development contract to build a massive land based casino on Fiji's Denarau Island, one of the nations prime tourist destinations for New Zealanders.

Military ruler Voreqe Bainimarama has over-ruled long standing chiefly and church objections to announce that Larry Claunch, who describes himself as an investor, will get an exclusive license to build a casino on the island that will be home to at least 500 slot machines and 54 tables, and they home - lots of happy punters and entertainment lovers.

The well-to-do entrepreneur will also be permitted to construct a smaller casino in Suva.

The regime advertised internationally for expressions of interest earlier this year. New Zealand's well known casino group, SkyCity, was in the mix of those interested.

The license will be held by Claunch's One Hundred Sands Ltd, which will operate the casino with the Snoqualmie Tribe from Washington state and Seventh Generation LLC, a Native American company.

The impressive deal includes a US$290 million ($378 million) five star, 190-room resort on the manmade Denarau Island, which already has several hotels on it and timeshares.

Bainimarama said they would protect the rights and interests of Fijian people. A casino "provides a malleable fusion between the Western ideals of casino gaming with the strong cultural virtues of tribal and community life", he said.

He also pointed out that the casino would provide 800 jobs.

"Fiji does not wish to imitate Las Vegas in the Pacific. Fiji already has a unique brand, one defined by its uniquely pristine environment, tranquillity and world class hospitality."

Claunch advised the casino was "a union of both economic and cultural endeavours".

He also owns Nukudrau, a 19 hectare island in Savusavu Bay.

Claunch is confident he will be able to continue to ride his wave of success into Fiji, despite the casino industry hitting a number of ripples in recent years - a flow on effect from the global economic downturn. Just don't tell Claunch it won't work - he's a winner, and needless to say- his house always wins. Might see you in Fiji.

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Casinos Of The World: Land Based And Online; Media Man And Casino News Media Awards, by Greg Tingle

2011-12-22T21:20:00.002+11:00

Sin City Cleopatra Rambo The Godfather Sinatra The Terminator Thor Saturday Night Fever Unicorn Legend Palladium Slot

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Media Man And Casino News Media Awards

Media Man and Casino News Media have awarded their casino award winners and finalists.

Land Based Australian Casino Of The Month: Crown Casino, 2nd The Star (formally Star City Casino), 3rd Burswood Casino, 4th The Reef Hotel Casino (Cairns)

Online Casino Of The Month: PartyCasino.com 2nd Virgin Casino 3rd PKR Casino

*Online casino awards are based on a combination of gameplay, trustworthiness, ethics, customer feedback, affiliate program offerings, word of mouth, customer experience and overall offerings

*Media Man and Casino News Media have been awarding the 'Casino Of The Month' accolade for the land based and online sector since 2009.

Punters, here's 10 of the world's top land based casinos for you to mark down in your travel plans.

Monte Carlo, Monaco: Perched above the Mediterranean and bounded by the French
and Italian coastlines on either side, Monaco provides a spectacular and luxurious setting for the wealthy and the wannabees. Home to the Monaco Grand Prix and the legendary Casino de Monte Carlo, this isn't the place for those on a tight
budget. The magnificent Casino hosts the annual European Poker Tour and was also the scene of several James Bond Films, including the original "Casino Royale" and "Golden Eye".

Paradise Island, Bahamas: Located just off the shore of the city of Nassau, Paradise
Island is best known for its sprawling 'Vegas-by-the-sea' resort, Atlantis. The resort spans seven acres along a lagoon, where guests can soak up the Caribbean sun and choose from a variety of outdoor gaming areas. When in need of a break from
the tables, guests can enjoy the private beach or one of the resorts 20 sunlit pools.

Melbourne, Australia: As Australia's sporting and entertainment capital, Melbourne
offers the perfect option for high rollers looking for a local break. Aussies need look no further than Crown Casino on the southern bank of the Yarra River, which is one of the largest casino complexes in the southern hemisphere. The main gambling
floor stretches more than half a kilometre and the casino was the first to introduce the new game Rapid Roulette, which allows players to place bets on a personal electronic touch screen connected to a central roulette wheel.

Macau, China: Known as the 'Monte Carlo of the Orient,' and the gambling capital of Asia, Macau now rivals Monaco and Las Vegas as one of the premier gambling destinations in the world. With no less than 33 casinos, in addition to local horse and greyhound racing venues, Macau is perfect for the betting junkie. The Wynn Macau
casino is a standout, highlighted by 24-carat gold 'Tree of Prosperity' at the entrance, extravagant water displays and Moon Jellyfish Aquarium at reception.

Baden-Baden, Germany: Situated on the western foothills of the Black Forest and on
the banks of the Oos River, Baden-Baden is not your typical casino town. However, in addition to its hot springs and picturesque countryside, the town is also known for its 200-year-old 'Spielbank' casino - the oldest of its type in Germany. With French chateau-style salons rooms named after historical figures such as Madame Pompadour and Louis XV's mistress, the quirky casino provides visitors with a very unique
gaming experience.

Las Vegas, United States: With over 1700 licensed casinos in operation, Las Vegas
offers the ultimate package for travellers who fancy a flutter. A visit to the famous 'Strip' is a must for any player, whether they're looking for a spin on the roulette table or a game of blackjack - this city has it all. The iconic Caesar's Palace
hotel and casino offers 129,000 square feet of casino space plus an endless smorgasbord of entertainment, shopping and fine dining options, including Cleopatra's barge, a floating lounge perfect for a relaxing drink after a jam-packed night on the
casino floor.

Manila, The Philippines: With a favourable exchange rate, Manila provides great value
for Aussies wanting to live the high-life overseas. The city offers a range of shopping and entertainment options, along with a world-class casino at the Hyatt Hotel. Spread across three levels, the sparkling casino offers the newest in gaming
facilities for both hotel guests and visitors, and is just a short distance from Manila's tourist hub.

Sun City, South Africa: Known as 'Africa's Kingdom of Pleasure,' this luxury resort
and casino complex, just two hours from Johannesburg, boasts two large casinos, two 18-hole golf courses and a wildlife reserve. At the extravagant yet picturesque Palace of the Lost City, guests are treated to stunning valley views from the guestrooms, along with exclusive access to the Grand Pool. The nearby Sun City Casino is the entertainment Mecca of the resort, featuring a myriad of gaming options as well as an indoor jungle of native foliage and water fountains.

Atlantic City, United States: Regarded as the US's 'Las Vegas of the East', Atlantic City in New Jersey is renowned for its gambling, shopping and fine dining. Towering above the banks of the Atlantic Ocean, the Trump Taj Mahal casino is an icon of the city, with an on-site shopping district and an abundance of restaurants and bars. The
157,000 square-foot casino is also hard to miss, with 3,500 slot machines and 200 table games. Unveiled in 1990 by a number of celebrities, including the late Michael Jackson, the casino is the second-largest in Atlantic City and well worth a visit.

Genting Highlands, Malaysia: Nestled on the Titiwangsa mountain range, just an hour's
drive from Kuala Lumpur and 6,000 feet above sea level, the Resorts World Genting offers 360-degree views of the surrounding countryside. This spectacular resort has first-class accommodation, dining and entertainment, while avoiding the hustle and bustle of a capital city. The on-site casino, which covers 200,000 square feet, is Malaysia's sole gaming venue and is divided into separate themed areas, such as Hollywood and Monte Carlo, for the ultimate gambling experience.

Online Casinos:

PartyCasino.com : The world's leading online casino brand and part of Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment. Play for free or play for money at PartyCasino.com New players get up to $3000 sign up bonus via Media Man.

VirginCasino.com : Virgin Casino is part of Virgin Games. The parent company is Virgin Enterprises Limited, the creation of the world's most famous and celebrated entrepreneur, Sir Richard Branson. Unfortunately the casino does not accept players from many countries due to what is known in legal circles as "grey areas". Most European players can play, but no Americans, Canadians, Australians or New Zealanders.

Captain Cooks Casino : Was once a very popular online casino with Australians and New Zealanders, however we understand these days they can only accept players from a few regions such as Europe, South Africa, Canada and South America.

PKR : Once only a 2D online poker room, they are now more 3D and offer online poker and a good range of online casino games, including classics, Marvel slots and table games.

Media Man's top online casino choice: PartyCasino.com PartyCasino is a multi-time Media Man 'Online Casino Of The Month' winner and have also won awards from EGR. Earlier this year PartyGaming merged with Bwin to create the worlds leading igaming company, Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment.

PartyCasino Gets New Games...

Aztec Gold, Atomic Fruit, Nag's To Riches and Fairies Forest. Check out the new games here.

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2011-12-22T13:42:00.002+11:00

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Australasian Gaming Expo 2012 - Sydney, Australia

2011-12-22T02:28:00.001+11:00

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The latest technology in gaming, gambling equipment and pokies machines will be unveiled at the 23rd annual Australasian Gaming expo.

Venue: Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre, Darling Drive, Darling Harbour

Date: Sunday, August 26, 2012 to Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Around 25 new companies will be exhibiting at the expo this year, taking the total up to 170. As well as the Gaming Equipment you might expect, Categories include Building, Cash Handling, Food Products, Flooring, Furniture, Security and Signage - in what may well be the most complete and up-to-date source of information about Gaming and Hospitality industry supplies anywhere.

About Gaming Technologies Association:

The Gaming Technologies Association is a not-for-profit industry association, established in 1990 for the purpose of promoting the development of the manufacturing resources of Australia. Our members provide technology and equipment to hospitality venues in over 300 jurisdictions around the world. GTA's members are Ainsworth Game Technology, Aristocrat Technologies, Aruze Gaming Australia, Bally Australia, IGT (Australia), Konami Australia, ShuffleMaster Australasia and WMS Gaming Australia. Associate members include Independent Gaming. Affiliate members include eBet Limited, Interblock Asia Pacific, JCM Global, Paltronics Australasia, The Bright Group and Voyager Gaming. GTA hosts and operates the Australasian Gaming Expo

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Internet poker boss says he broke U.S. gambling law - 21st December 2011

2011-12-21T10:13:00.002+11:00

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One of the owners of three of the world's biggest internet poker firms pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a criminal charge of deceiving U.S. banks over the processing of gambling proceeds.

Absolute Poker co-owner Brent Beckley, 31, admitted in Manhattan federal court to conspiring to break U.S. laws against gambling on the Internet. He also pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud.

Twelve people have been charged thus far in the high profile case, including 11 in April when the U.S. government seized the Internet domain names of the three largest Internet poker companies: Absolute Poker, Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars.

Full Tilt Poker owner Raymond Bitar, PokerStars owner Isai Scheinberg and Absolute Poker owners Beckley and Scott Tom were also charged with breaking the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act and other laws.

Beckley told U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald Ellis that at Absolute Poker between 2006 and April 2011 he accepted credit cards from players so they could bet on the Internet. He said he disguised the purpose of the payments.

"I knew it was illegal to deceive the banks in this way," Beckley told the judge.

The bank fraud charge carries a possible maximum prison sentence of 30 years, but under a plea agreement in the court record, Beckley will likely serve a much lesser term of between 12 months and 18 months.

His lawyer, Robert Cleary, declined comment.

The indictment said that between 2008 and 2011 Beckley hired so-called "payment processor" Ira Rubin to help the company avoid U.S. gambling laws. Rubin would process e-checks for Absolute Poker disguised as payroll processing, affiliate marketing and online electronics merchants, according to the indictment.

Rubin, who lived in Central America for years in his attempt to avoid a telemarketing fraud charge, is nearing close to a plea agreement, according to his legal eagle.

Prosecutors said that of the billions of dollars the poker companies tricked U.S. banks into processing, approximately one-third or more of the money went directly to the companies as revenue through the "rake" charged to players on almost every poker hand played over the internet.

The government has also filed a civil lawsuit against the Full Tilt Poker website. They accused self-styled "Poker Professor" Howard Lederer and professional poker champion Christopher Ferguson and others of paying themselves more than $440 million while defrauding other players.

The case is USA v Tzvetkoff et al, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 10-00336.

Not only are online poker and online casino players watching closely, but also online gambling companies which are interested to offer their product to the lucrative U.S market. Just a few of those firms include Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment (owner of PartyCasino.com, PartyPoker.com, World Poker Tour and others), Virgin Games and PKR.

In the meantime some land based U.S casinos are getting deals in place, with Bwin.Party recently getting a well publicised b2b agreement inked with MGM Resorts International.

Business entrepreneurs Donald Trump and Steve Wynn are just two high profile Americans who are supportive of 100% legal online gambling in the U.S. Online poker may become legal in the U.S in the coming year, followed by online casino games however... this prediction has proved wrong year after year on U.S soil, but then again - the subject matter has never been hotter, nor has the U.S government ever need a cash boost to their coffers as much as they currently do.

Some of the most popular games with online players include Cleopatra, Sinatra, Wheel of Fortune, poker, Texas Hold'Em, Blackjack, Video Poker and Roulette. Some online gambling companies offer new players a generous sign up bonus to encourage them to become money players.

In many parts of the world including Canada, Italy, Australia and New Zealand, online gambling is just as popular as gambling in traditional casinos, pubs and hotels.

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Marvel Entertainment Movies Become Games At PartyCasino

2011-12-20T19:50:00.002+11:00

PartyCasino.com Marvel website PartyCasino.com website

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Marvel Entertainment Marvel Comics PartyCasino.com Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment Marvel Slots

Marvel Entertainment fans have recently being enjoying playing their favorite Marvel superhero characters at PartyCasino.com - the flagship casino brand of Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment.

Be The Incredible Hulk, Thor, The Amazing Spider-Man, Fantastic Four and more at PartyCasino.com

You can even go for the lucrative Marvel Hero Jackpot.

Check out Marvel slot games today at PartyCasino, via Media Man, and pick up towards $3000 sign up bonus.

Want more? Check out another Bwin.Party owned and operated online casino, Casino Las Vegas, for even more Marvel heroes.

PartyCasino.com is a multi award winning online casino established since 1997. Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment is listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Download Marvel progressive jackpot slots at PartyCasino.com Pick your legend, save the world and play for cash prizes on the range of Marvel slot games today...download Fantastic Four, Hulk, Spider-Man and Thor.

Swing into action with Spider–Man
Become everyone's favourite web–slinger as you play for $5,000 on up to 25 paylines in the amazing Spider–Man online slot game. Set your spider–sense tingling and you could be one of the lucky players who hit a Marvel jackpot every 30 minutes. Catch Spider–Man in your web today and play for the chance to win a fortune with PartyCasino.

The Amazing Spider-Man is a 5-reel, twenty five-paylines ‘Marvel Jackpot’ slot game with 'Spider web Feature' and The Spider-Man Feature that gives you the chance to win extra cash prizes. The Spiderweb bonus feature occurs when Substitute Spider-Man appears on Reels 2 and 4 only. The Spider-Man Feature round is triggered when 3 or more Scattered Logos appear on the reels left to right. Spider-Man Feature has Venom Feature and Free Spin Feature.

Join forces with the Fantastic Four
Marvel comic legends and blockbuster movie heroes The Fantastic Four now come to you in an action–packed online slot machine. Join the Fantastic Four and be part of the defeat of the evil Doctor Doom in the exciting new game. Play up to 25 lines and you could win $5,000 a spin on your way to saving the universe from destruction.

The Fantastic Four Slot is a 5-reel, 25-paylines slot with a 'Fantastic Four' feature game that awards 'Free Spins'. 3 or more scattered logos anywhere on the screen triggers the 'Fantastic Four' feature round. The game also features 5!!! wild symbols - ‘Mr. Fantastic’, ‘The Invisible Woman’, ‘The Human Torch’, ‘The Thing’, ‘Dr Doom’ Wild symbols substitutes for all symbols other than the “Scattered Logo”.

Feel the power of The Incredible Hulk
It's time to get mean and green as you join the biggest superhero of them all in The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Revenge. The Incredible Hulk Slot Machine has 5 reels, 25 paylines and offers ‘Marvel Jackpot’ and "The Incredible Hulk Feature". Incredible Hulk feature prizes are awarded in the form of Free Spins and win Multipliers. The game also features a wild “The Hulk” logo symbol. "The Hulk" symbol substitutes for all symbols other than the scattered “Explosions” symbol. 3 or more “Explosions” symbol anywhere on the reels triggers the “The Incredible Hulk Feature" round. The prize is doubled when “The Hulk” (wild symbol) substitutes in a winning combination.

Play your part in the legend of Thor
The mighty Thor storms into PartyCasino in this majestic 5–reel, 9–line slots game. Experience the power of the god of thunder and you could win up to 4,000 times your bet.

Thor Slot is a new ‘Marvel Hero Jackpot’ slot machine with a free game feature. The game also features a "Thor" wild symbol which substitutes for all symbols except the “Scattered Logo”. 3 or more “Scattered Logo” symbols anywhere on the reels triggers the free spins in which all wins are tripled.

Marvel Jackpots
Marvel Jackpot actually consists of 3 jackpots at different levels, the levels are - from the lowest - Hero Jackpot, Super Hero Jackpot, and Marvel Hero Jackpot, with the latter being the highest. All 3 jackpots grow progressively as bets are made by players in multiple participating online casinos. For each spin, on any of the Marvel Jackpot games, the house adds a small credit to all running jackpots. All 3 levels in Marvel Jackpot can be won irrespective of hitting any paying combination, while betting any amount on any of the "Marvel Jackpot" slots.

Marvel Jackpot slots is just a part of PartyCasino's massive range of slots and progressive slots, part of the ever–increasing suite of fantastic games. Visit PartyCasino and download the latest games or play games instantly, right on the site.

MARVEL, and all related characters and the distinctive likeness thereof are trademarks of Marvel Entertainment, Inc. and its subsidiaries, and are used with permission. Copyright © 2009 Marvel Entertainment, Inc. and its subsidiaries. Licensed by Marvel Characters B.V. All right reserved.

As Marvel living legend Stan Lee would say, Excelsior!

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2011-12-20T19:48:00.000+11:00

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2011-12-20T13:07:00.001+11:00

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bwin.party Awarded Danish Online Gaming Licences

2011-12-19T19:02:00.001+11:00

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16 December 2011

bwin.party, the world’s leading listed online gaming company, is pleased to announce that it is in the first rank of operators to be awarded online gaming licences by the Danish Gambling Authority.

Having successfully passed all financial, legal and technical tests, the Group has been awarded two separate licences, allowing it to offer online sports betting, poker and casino in Denmark from 1 January 2012. The licenced brands include bwin, PartyPoker, PartyCasino, PartyBets and World Poker Tour.

The successful licence applications and early market entry is in line with Group’s strategy to be a leading operator in all regulated online gaming markets.

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PKR's Caribbean Stud Poker Jackpot Approaches $150,000 - 13th December 2011

2011-12-19T15:57:00.000+11:00

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The progressive jackpot for PKR's Caribbean Stud Poker mini-game has today reached $149,000 and is expected to grow to a record size within the next few days.

The game is available directly through PKR's pioneering 3D room client, and invites poker fans to beat the dealer-s five card Texas Hold-em hand. Players can be eligible for the rapidly rising jackpot by placing a side bet of just $1, with jackpot payouts activated by hitting the highest ranked poker hands.

On 27 November, poker player GVincredible won 10% of the jackpot after hitting a straight flush, turning his $4 stake into $15,838. The Belgian, a regular at PKR's tables since July 2007 with a $1,833 tournament victory to his name, commented “I just couldn-t believe I-d won. I-d already planned to play more poker on PKR in 2012 and to buy a new car, but this makes it much easier!”
PKR's Caribbean Stud Poker mini-game forms part of the award winning operator-s suite of gaming products which includes a revolutionary 3D poker room, innovative 3D casino and sportsbook.

For more information on the Team PKR pro please visit PKR.com

About PKR

PKR.com is a revolutionary new concept in online poker that has changed the way the game is played. Featuring stunning real-time 3D graphics and a uniquely engaging and immersive gaming system, PKR.com brings an unparalleled and previously unseen level of realism to online poker. Developed by some of the brightest stars in the video games and poker industries, PKR.com continues to be the most innovative poker room in the world.

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100 PKR Players Set for BAMMA Giveaway - 1st December 2011

Next-Gen Online Poker Room PKR Offers Up Free Fight Night Hospitality

More than 100 poker players will enjoy the explosive atmosphere at the BAMMA 8 mixed martial arts event in Nottingham on 10 December through a free prize draw at PKR.com In the fourth event of its kind this year, PKR is again offering players the opportunity to meet staff and other players, against the backdrop of one of sport's fastest growing events. The prize draw is open to all PKR members and concludes on Friday 02 December.

PKR became the headline sponsor of BAMMA, Europe's premier mixed martial arts organisation, in January 2011. The online poker site has since welcomed hundreds of its members to BAMMA events in Manchester, London and Birmingham, having offered tickets in free prize draws through the site's busy forum and website.

PKR players who attend the upcoming BAMMA 8 event, which takes place in Nottingham's Capital FM Arena on Saturday 10 December, will enjoy 13 bouts featuring some of the world's top martial artists including light heavyweight champion Jimi 'Poster Boy' Manuwa, who makes his eagerly anticipated BAMMA debut. UFC legend Randy Couture is also rumoured to be making a promotional appearance.

Community Manager Dan Grant commented, "BAMMA events are a fantastic opportunity for our players to meet PKR and each other in a fun and social real-world setting. They'll get to put faces to names they've met at our online tables and meet new poker mates while enjoying the great atmosphere of a thrilling sporting event."

For more information on PKR's BAMMA 8 giveaway, please visit PKR.com

For interviews with top BAMMA fighters including UFC star Nate Marquardt and Tom 'Kong' Watson, please visit: www.pkr.tv

PKR Poker Media Man 'Online Poker Website Of The Month' Runner-Up For December 2011

PKR.com has been awarded the Media Man runner-up for 'Online Poker Website Of The Month'.

The popular online poker website has also been tipped to be a legitimate chance to place first in the coming months, should their excellent service and offerings continue.

Well done to PKR.com

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PartyCasino Wins Media Man 'Online Casino Of The Month' Award

2011-12-19T14:45:00.001+11:00

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2011-12-18T21:08:00.001+11:00

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2011-12-18T20:49:00.001+11:00

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Casino Stocks Report (MGM) (WYNN) (LVS) (CNTY) (MPEL) - 16th December 2011

2011-12-17T17:19:00.001+11:00

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Casinos Gaming Crown Casino Crown Limited MGM Resorts International Wynn Resorts Melco Crown News Financial News Casino News Poker News Entertainment News

MGM Resorts International (MGM) stock moved 0.43% higher to $9.33 per share in today's trading. Stock volume in MGM Resorts International was 5 million shares in the trading session.

Wynn Resorts advanced 1.87% in today's session to $106.54 per share. In the last 12 months, Wynn Resorts has seen a high of $172.58 and a low of $100.51 per share.

Las Vegas Sands Corp moved 1.91% higher to $41.57 per share in today's trading. Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp have traded as high as $51.05 per share and as low as $36.05 in the last year.

Century Casinos advanced 0.87% in today's session to $2.32 per share. 6,800 shares were traded so far in today's session. On average, a total of 14,172 shares are exchanged in CNTY each day.

Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd (MPEL) stock moved 3.11% higher to $8.9909 per share in today's trading. In the last 12 months, Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd has seen a high of $16.15 and a low of $6.1 per share.

*The writer owns shares in Crown Limited

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Virgin Games Gets Pixies of the Forest Online Slot Game

2011-12-17T13:16:00.002+11:00

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Virgin Casino Virgin Games Richard Branson IGT New Slot Games Slots Casino

Virgin Casino is delighted to bring yet another classic slot game to its world famous online casino.

Experience the magic of winning with Pixies of the Forest ™! For only 33 coins, enjoy 99 paylines of Tumbling Reels™.

Check out Virgin Casino today and play Pixies of the Forest or other classic slot games like Cleopatra, Monopoly, Wheel of Fortune, Da Vinci Diamonds or Call of Duty.

This game can be played for free or played for money.

Virgin Casino is owned and operated by Richard Branson's Virgin Enterprises Limited.

*Sorry, no US, Australian, New Zealand or Canadian players. See World Casino Directory

Introduction
For only 33 coins, enjoy 99 paylines of Tumbling Reels™ action in an enchanting world filled with treasure. 3 for 1 betting means you earn 3 active paylines for every 1 coin bet.
With the extremely popular Tumbling Reels™ feature, all winning symbol combinations disappear from the reel window causing replacement symbols to tumble from above. Each of your paylines can potentially earn riches multiple times in the same game.
Pixies of the Forest ™ also features easy-to-follow Connected Lines™. With 3 for 1 betting, you get all 99 Connected Lines™ for only 33 coins!
Get three Bonus symbols on a payline to earn free spins in the Bonus. The Bonus has richer reels than the base, with additional wild symbols on the first four reels.
Experience the magic of winning with Pixies of the Forest ™.

How To Bet
Pixies of the Forest ™ features 99 paylines, which costs only 33 coins to play. You can choose your coin value, which multiplies all payline awards won. You can also use Auto Spin to play the game for you.

COIN VALUE
Displays current coin value as currency. Click the left arrow (with a minus sign) to decrease the coin value. Click the right arrow (with a plus sign) to increase the coin value. Clicking the left and right arrows does not necessarily decrease or increase your coin value by uniform increments. Rather, your coin value adjusts to preset values which represent the most popular bet amounts.

LINES
Displays current number of paylines. Betting is fixed at 99 paylines, which costs 33 coins.

SPIN
Click to spin the reels and submit your bet.
Auto Spin Feature
Auto Spin plays the game automatically for a given number of games at 99 lines and your current coin value. Once you have selected your desired coin value, click AUTO SPIN and choose how many games you want to play. Auto Spin will keep playing the specified number of games until you click the STOP button, you trigger a Bonus, or your balance is insufficient to spin again.

Tumbling Reels™ Feature
All paytable-defined symbol combinations trigger the Tumbling Reels™ feature during regular and Free Spins Bonus game play. All winning symbol combinations are evaluated and values are added to the win meter.
All symbols in winning combinations disappear. All symbol positions on each reel are filled as symbols tumble from above to fill all empty spaces. The game screen is re-evaluated for symbols in winning combinations and values are added to the win meter.
The Tumbling Reels™ feature remains active until no paytable-defined symbol combinations are created as a result of new symbols tumbling from above.
Connected Lines™ Feature with 3 for 1 Betting
A line is considered connected if each of its symbols share a side or corner with the symbols(s) on the neighboring reel(s). There are 99 possible paylines that employ this Connected Lines™ feature and they are all present in Pixies of the Forest™. With 3 for 1 betting, you activate all these 99 paylines for only 33 coins, earning you 3 paylines for every 1 coin staked.

Free Spins Bonus
You can trigger the Free Spins Bonus by getting three Bonus symbols on a wagered payline. Three Bonus symbols on multiple paylines does not trigger the Bonus multiple times. You can only trigger the Bonus once on a given spin.
Once you trigger the Free Spins Bonus, you are prompted to pick one of the Bonus symbols to reveal your awarded free spin count. You can earn 5 to 11 free spins.
The Free Spins Bonus is played automatically. Your coin value in the Bonus is equal to the coin value on the reel spin that triggered the Bonus. The Bonus reels are made richer by adding wilds to the first four reels.
A non-wild symbol must be part of any winning combination.
For example, the following outcome on a payline pays the award for five Ace symbols:
Wild - Wild - Wild - Wild - Ace
Bonus play continues until you have played through your free spins. You cannot retrigger additional free spins in the Free Spins Bonus.

Options
Graphics Quality
Adjust the quality of the graphics to get the optimal animation performance.
BEST mode - Graphics look best, but performance may suffer.
HIGH mode (default) - Optimal graphics and performance setting.
MEDIUM mode - Lower quality but increased performance.
LOW mode - Degraded graphics, but smoothest animation performance is achieved even on slower computers.

Rules and Additional Information
Malfunction voids all pays and plays.
All line pay symbols must appear on a played line and on consecutive reels, beginning with the far left reel.
Only highest winner paid on each payline.
Line wins are multiplied by the coin value.
Coinciding wins on different paylines are added.
Awards are shown in currency.
Bonus symbol appears on reels 1, 2, and 3 in the base game.
Wild symbol appears on reels 2, 3, and 4 in the base game.
Wild symbol appears on reels 1, 2, 3, and 4 in the Free Spins Bonus.
Free Spins Bonus can only be triggered once on a given spin.
Free spins cannot be retriggered in the Free Spins Bonus.
Regardless of your bet size, there is an award cap on any single transaction. See the paytable for details. A transaction includes the results of the Free Spins Bonus plus the outcome which launched the Bonus. If the award cap is reached in the Bonus, the Bonus ends immediately irrespective of any remaining free spins.

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