Issue N1, 2008
January 3, 2008
PokerStars.com Breaks Industry Record
It is not every day that records are broken in the gambling industry, and so there was much cause for celebration when one of the leading poker rooms on the net, PokerStars.com announced that it had managed to lure over 20,000 simultaneous ring players to its site this week. PokerStars, a Kahnawake-licensed site, tried to achieve this amount over the last few months and last week, the number of players actually reached 19,900. The previous record was held by Party Poker with 16,960 players. The numbers are recorded by an online casino player tracking company.
Ironically, it is thanks to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act that PokerStars.com has managed to reach such impressive numbers. Before the Act was signed into law in October, 2006, rival site, Party Poker, dominated a large part of the US market. However, when the UIGEA came into effect, Party Poker, as a publicly trading company, was forced to make a dramatic exit from the market. Many US players, seeking a reputable site for their gaming activities, turned instead to the privately-owned PokerStars, which continues to serve this customer segment until today.
German Anti-Gambling Law Kicks in New Year
Another European country has taken the necessary steps to change its legal constitution to prevent its citizens from gambling online at unauthorized sites. After a unanimous vote, all 16 of Germany’s states voted to begin the implementation of its anti-gambling laws on January 1st, 2008. Under the new laws, gambling advertising would be severely curbed and ISP’s will be asked to block foreign gambling sites and financial transactions between these sites and German banks. The laws are thought to have been put in place to protect the state-run lottery and a limited number of local gambling companies.
Germany’s controversial new law has been met by fire by a number of parties. The European Union has blasted the country for failing to meet its EU free trade treaties, and has threatened to take the necessary steps against the country. In addition, many gambling companies that have been operating in Germany with valid licenses – some of them issued by the then East German government itself – have refused to halt their operations and have vowed to continue. Companies such as Bwin and Fluxx AG have declared the new laws ‘illegal’ and said they would challenge it in the German courts.
Betting Terminal Adopts BackgammonMasters Software
It is not very often that we see land-based gambling companies approaching online companies to supply them with software, although this phenomenon is becoming more common as the line between online and offline gambling begins to blur. This week was a case in point, when it was announced that the London-based software company, Betting Terminal, had signed a deal with the online backgammon site, BackgammonMasters. The latter is set to provide its popular custom-designed poker software to Betting Terminal, which, in turn, will introduce the game to a large number of gambling terminals that it operates around the world.
The first step of the deal will see BackgammonMasters’ famous Texas Hold ‘em poker game, together with other games from its games lobby, integrated into 100 betting terminals scattered across casinos, coffee shops and bars in Croatia. Players will be able to choose from public or private play, and an expansion to other multiplayer games is envisioned for the near future. Betting Terminal will also develop a support application that will be able to serve users of the 100 Croatian machines simultaneously. Players will be able to open an account with BackgammonMasters.com through the betting terminals and pay through a number of channels convenient to them.
Automated Poker Table Earns US Patent
One of the latest crazes in land-based casinos these days is the automated poker table. These machines take the place of regular dealers and can be found in many locations all over the world, including Europe and Macau. This week it was announced by the major developer of automated poker tables, Lightening Poker, that one of its products has earned a US patent. The unique feature on this poker table is its table monitor that provides gaming data to up to ten players around the table.
The Lightening Poker product is distributed exclusively by industry leader, Shuffle Master and has become increasingly popular among casino owners who see the many advantages to these machines. For one, the automated poker table solves the problem of a severe shortage of casino staff in the industry today. In addition, it has been found that many players, especially younger players who were weaned on online poker, actually prefer the faster pace of an automated table. It seems that these players love the idea of combining action packed poker with the social experience found at a regular brick and mortar establishment. Many of the most popular poker games, such as Texas Hold ‘em and Omaha Hi/Lo can be found at these tables, which also support casino jackpots.