G'day punters, celebrities, journos, high rollers - casino whales, gambling millionaires and billionaires, poker sharks, entertainment news junkies, media tycoons, politicians, insiders, outsiders, legal eagles,... one and all. You know who you are. Seems just about everyone is a celebrity, or knows a celebrity these days. God know the poker world is full of them. This is our Aussie celebrity special, featuring Aussie celebs from the world of media, gaming, poker and more, and even a few ring-ins for good measure. Media Man and Gambling911 with celebrities you love to love, and even a couple you love to hate...
Shane Warne...And Liz Hurley...
Warnie and Liz look to be in love, with each other and with Twitter. The spinner is hanging out for a game of poker or "poke her" with Liz, almost begging for Hurley Burley to come down under for a face to face. The couple have taken to Twitter like ducks to water. Warne and Hurley's developing romance is good fodder out for their almost half a million Twitter followers. They are now publicly planning her trip Down Under. The poker - fashion babe might be in Australia within weeks. Hurley has been tweeting about her new parrot, Ping Pong. "I'm getting jealous of ping pong! Think it's time you left ping pong alone for a while & come visit me in Australia," Warne tweeted. "No need for jealousy SW, she's not getting any cuddles or kisses!" Hurley replied. The model brunette is teaching the parrot to talk and Saints fan Warne has urged her to teach it the St Kilda club song.
"Don't forget advance Australia fair !!!! In tune too please ping pong . . . Ps organized kangaroos and koalas for your trip," he wrote. The affair between the former spinner and the movie - poker babe went public in December and the pair were busted on a romantic weekend in LA earlier this month. Both have bounce back, and judging by the Tweets, can't wait to bounce, fly and play together. Is it an Aussie expression... a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush? Never mind. Tweet me at twitter.com/mediamanint
Russell Crowe: Ex Kiwi (On Defending His South Sydney Rabbitoh's Star City Casino Deal)...
"The football club is a completely different organisation from the leagues club. We don't have any control over what the leagues club does; they run their own game." Crowe then went on to defend the move by pitching Star City as primarily an entertainment precinct and putting forward society benefits from gaming revenue, of which there is some truth in. Entertainment is the name of the game, and its broken into sub sectors. "This is an entertainment venue in general; it's not just about gaming. Let's get real about this situation; we're living in a state where they're telling us that the revenue from poker machines is paying for our hospitals. What we're talking about here is about a connection between two organisations that are all about entertainment, that are all about the future of Sydney." Souths chief executive Shane Richardson seconded the views put forward forward by NRL chief executive David "Gambling" (MM satire) Gallop this week that the association between sport and gambling "is as old as sport itself". "Let's be honest no sport in the world could ignore it, we're not holier than thou, the NFL, the English Premier League, wherever it is, there's gambling. As David Gallop said all along, it's going to be there, it's a major part of what sport is whether we like it or not and we've got to be part of it to have some sort of control over it." Crowe did concede that his own personal beliefs on gambling were at odds with the deal and recognised that problem gamblers were an issue of concern. "I don't like them (pokies). I'm not a fan of them; I've made that clear in the past. "But in life I am a gambler. The fact that I took on South Sydney underlines that." Media Man and Gambling911 congratulate both the Rabbitohs, Crowe and Tabcorp's Star City for taking a bet on this. Life is a gamble, just don't let it get the better of you, and always have fun... on and off the field. Work hard and play harder!
Julian Assange...
He is possibly Australia's most notorious public figure in a strange sort of way. Hero or Villain? Guess it depends on who you ask. If you ask Prime Minister Julia Gillard we think you know the answer! This weekends' The Australian newspaper fueled rumours that the James Bond franchise might like to have an Assange type in an upcoming flick. The journo penned...Ian Fleming could have turned the WikiLeaks boss into a villain in a James Bond novel. Given the pervasiveness of the Bond myth, it is no surprise that Assange, like Osama bin Laden before him, should be likened to a Bond villain. He has been labelled many things both positive and negative, from champion of free speech to cyber-terrorist. Perhaps the strangest, and for many fans of popular culture most glamorous, epithet applied to Julian Assange is that of Bond villain. Moreover, it is an epithet that has found widespread media acceptance. The connection has been made in blogs and especially tabloid newspapers, and equally it has surfaced in such diverse publications as Britain's The Guardian, The Financial Times and the US's The Washington Post. The most conspicuous parallel between Assange and the fantasy world of Ian Fleming's James Bond involves the Bond villain's lair. The WikiLeaks HQ, known as the Pionen data centre, is a remodelled Swedish nuclear bunker set in a granite mountain face. Special thanks to Simon Caterson at News Limited. We like your work mate.
Elle Macpherson...
The once former flame of Brit gambling tycoon Damian Aspinall has got busy again as of late. Elle Macpherson and Cate Blanchett were guests at the major bling event for the Portofino range at a dinner in Geneva yesterday. They were joined by Lost's Matthew Fox - looking heavier and a bit ratty in a Brad Pitt-style Catweazle beard - plus Kevin Spacey, Ronan Keating and more. We're sure it was a fun event. And we're sure all received a special gift.
Damian Aspinall (James Packer Mate) To Sell Aspinall's Casino In Britain Following Bad Luck!..
Damian does business with Australia's James Packer, but its possible that soon that may come to an end. The Brit has had relationships with glamorous women, including the TV presenter Donna Air, Elle Macpherson and Naomi Campbell. He confirmed the scale of the club’s debts but said it was not unusual for a casino business. He said: “You are talking about a business that has £250 million a year drop (the money staked by its clients). So it is a bit circular. You are looking at unlucky years. That is the business we are in.
“Anyone in the business with high value VIP tables will have years when you do well and years when they don’t do well because it is volatile." Asked about the house’s performance last year, he added: “That’s completely normal. You are talking about a volatile business.” He said over a 10-year period Aspinall’s was winning 18 per cent of the money gambled at its tables. But he added: “You have years when you do nine per cent and years when you do 24 per cent.” The most recent available accounts for the club are for 2009 and Mr Aspinall said the club was now doing better. He said that despite his plan to move away from the elite clubs founded by his father such businesses would not die out. “I think there is a future. You have got to be grown up about those sorts of investments. You lose £10 million one week, and win £8 million the next. It is part of the business. When you lose these amounts it is a knock for the casino concerned, but you have weeks like that. We also had a week where we won £11 million in six days. It is big numbers these days. The winners could be three people over a number of days, it can be one person in one night. There are plenty of players all over the world who have won and lost that sort of money in a night."
Mel Gibson...
American law enforcement sources say Summit Entertainment which is distributing Aussie Mel's upcoming movie, "The Beaver" - gave Mel the final cut of the movie on DVD. Mel screened it at his home, and at 10:45 AM put the DVD in his mailbox so a courier could pick it up and return it to Summit. The DVD was rumoured to go missing in action, not Mel!
Hugh Jackman...
Hugh Jackman, Oprah Winfrey, Halle Berry and Marisa Tomei Among Oscar Presenters...Tony Award winner and previous Academy Awards host Hugh Jackman will be part of this year's Oscar ceremony, according to the Associated Press. Jackman will be a presenter at the 83rd Academy Awards. Other presenters currently include Sandra Bullock, Jeff Bridges, Oprah Winfrey, Halle Berry and Marisa Tomei. Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2010 will be presented Feb. 27 at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center. The awards will be televised live by the ABC Television Network beginning at 8 PM ET. James Franco and Anne Hathaway will co-host this year's ceremony. Jackman, who was seen on screen in "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," earned a Tony Award for his work in the Broadway musical The Boy From Oz. He is also known for his film roles in the "X-Men" trilogy, "Someone Like You," "Swordfish," "Kate and Leopold," "Van Helsing" and the recent "The Fountain" and "Happy Feet" (in voice). His stage credits also include Trevor Nunn's staging of Oklahoma! at Britian's National Theatre and award-winning work in productions of Sunset Boulevard and Beauty and the Beast.
John Travolta...(As John Gotti)...
Travolta was at Amici restaurant in Brentwood a few nights ago. He wasn't giving much away about taking the role. But Marty Ingels, Executive Producer of the movie was much more direct, stating Travolta will play the lead role in the movie, "Gotti." Leaks tell us James Franco has been approached to play John Gotti, Jr. Bang! Hit us up for an update soon.
David Gyngell...
Gyng is tipped to be very shortly flying to the U.S to test the waters re the upcoming float on the stock market on his CVC. Nine Entertainment's private equity owners will assess the health of the local equity and advertising markets this month. After which, they will decide the date for a $5 billion listing of the television, magazine and digital group. According to market sources, Nine's owner, CVC Asia Pacific, is yet to decide on the listing date although most observers expect the debt-laden group to test the waters as soon as April if global equity markets remain relatively strong. Management, including newly installed chief executive David Gyngell, will travel to the US next month to gauge the interest of potential offshore investors.
Celebrity Poker Pros: Tyron Krost And Stewart Scott: Celebrity Stars Going Down In Ratings; Direct Response To Poor Showing In Aussie Millions 2011
These couple of poker celebs were on fire at some point, but lately a shower has been thrown on their parade. Both are former Aussie Millions champs - Krost from last year, Scott from 2009. Fellas, time to win some big games again or you might not even be thought as celebs any more. Start performing or might those sponsorship deals with PartyGaming's PartyPoker.com dry up?
Van Marcus...
Poker pro Van Marcus, currently in Melbourne for Aussie Millions, is the chap who has his red rare Ferrari nicked from the Crown valet parking last year, in a story that generated massive international headlines. In the past days Marcus has been seeing driving around Melbourne in what looks to be the same card, but this time reportedly with a hot blonde or brunette in the passenger seat. Hows the ride girls?
Australian Chris Hemsworth Plays Father To Thor; Anthony Hopkins Is Thor!...
The Aussies and Brits are teaming up again in film, thanks to our friends at Marvel Entertainment. The industry is abuzz for Aussie Hemsworth and Brit Hopkins. Hopkins has portrayed so many notable characters from history, literature, and the arts, that it’s no surprise we will see him in yet another role of stature. In this year’s hotly anticipated Paramount Pictures and Marvel Entertainment epic adventure Thor, he will be Odin, the major god of Norse mythology, and father to Thor, (played by Australian Chris Hemsworth). The film is based on the Stan Lee comic book version, and directed by Kenneth Branagh. Excelsior! Marvel Entertainment: Don't just buy the comics and watch the movies, play the games at PartyGaming. May the power of Thor be with you.
James Packer And Co...
Marketing and gaming advisers to James Packer have leaked that they see merit in having an Aussie Millions branded online slot game. They saw the popularity of Cleopatra and Sinatra in an online environment, and well as PartyGaming's World Poker Tour slot in land based casinos. They have not confirmed a Kerry Packer themed slot game, with some concerns it may be a uncomfortable proposal for one or two of the Packer family, however many punters and insiders think that Kerry would have loved the idea, and further would have loved the concept that a slot game will his likeness via tribute slot would actually make Crown Limited money. PartyGaming, WMS and IGT are keen to talk turkey with Crown Limited with their online plans, which may also compliment what's in store for the further development of Packer 50% owned Betfair. Who is tipped to the the contract? We think PartyGaming, based on their strong US land based casino deals, ink still drying over the last few days, but you will just have to keep watching the space.
As they say on TV, I'm a celebrity - Get Me Out Of Here!
Online Casinos, Online Poker and Sports Betting...
Ok readers, we hear you... you also want to know some of the best places to play online (that accept Aussies) if your in or around the Asia Pacific - Australia (including Tassie) and New Zealand, so here it is...
PartyCasino.com
Captain Cooks Casino
Betfair (sports betting only)
PKR.com (poker, slots including Marvel slot games and sports betting)
PartyPoker.com (online poker at one of the world's most respected poker rooms and gaming brands)
Profiles
Australian Casinos
World Casino Directory
Global Gaming Directory
Casino Travel
Casinos
Australia
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Take the time to research and learn games before placing down money
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If you have a bet, please bet with your head, not over it, and for God's sake, have fun.
*Greg Tingle is a special contributor for Gambling911
*Media Man http://www.mediamanint.com is primarily a media, publicity and internet portal development company. Gaming is just one of a dozen sectors covered
*the writer owns shares in Crown Limited and Ten Network Holdings
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