Issue N1, 2009

January 7, 2009

Online Poker Room Payment Problems

Rakeback players are angry that they are not seeing payment from one of the newest online poker rooms in the industry, CardSpike Poker. Affiliates of CardSpike have continuously made calls to the poker room to come up with payouts due to players and have been met with vague promises for payment at a later date. Demands were made on poker forums such as Two Plus Two and others for Cake Poker, the platform off which CardSpike operates, to take action against the site. The Poker Affiliates Program has already announced that it is not endorsing the poker room anymore, despite the fact that CardSpike continues to carry the PAP logo. Nat Arem, who shot to fame in the poker world for his role in helping discover the Absolute Poker cheating scandal last year, wrote on his blog: “CardSpike is a rogue skin on the Cake Poker network that has been delaying making payouts for months now. If you're going to sign up for rakeback on the Cake Network, do it either at Cake Poker or Players Only. There are many reputable rakeback operators who run rakeback on these networks.”

ICEi Event to See New Games by Wagerworks

Wagerworks software provider has announced its plans to unveil two brand new games at the upcoming ICEi event that is due to take place at the end of January in the UK. Wagerworks, a subsidiary of International Gaming Technology (IGT), decided that the ICEi was the perfect place to showcase the games, thanks to the massive attendance of people connected to the online gambling industry. Attendees will be able to play the games, Battleship: Search and Destroy and Dungeons and Dragons: Fortress of Fortune, and even stand in line to win a Nintendo Wii! “2008 was a successful year for Wagerworks and our business results reflected a positive step forwards”, said the Director and General Manager of IGT-UK Gaming and Wagerworks, Oliver Lofthouse. “Since joining the company in September, I have recognized the importance of combining top brands together with great game mechanics, in order to deliver top performing games and this will continue to be our focus.” “IGE/ICEi 2009 will be platform to preview the latest of our games and launch the company towards greater success in the year ahead,” added Lofthouse. “I look forward to seeing new and existing customers on our stand at the show.”

GTech Links with Nigerian Lottery Market

The Providence based lottery and games supplier, GTech has announced that it has entered into a lucrative deal with the Nigerian National Sports Lottery. The NSL holds an eight year license to operate the lottery in the African country, with an extension option of another decade. Under the terms of the new deal, GTech will have its own system replace the current NSL lottery system and help with the integration of its own games onto this new platform. The system will link the existing 15,000 lottery terminals spread across the country, as well as another 10,000 which will be built in the course of the next eight years. GTech will also offer technical and marketing support as part of the new partnership agreement. It is believed that the US company will earn revenues of $38 million through this deal. “The Nigerian market has, for quite a long time, been very attractive to GTech”, said the President and Chief Executive Officer of GTech, Jaymin Patel. “Being one of the most populous and fast developing economies in Africa, and occupying a strategic position in the West African sub region, Nigeria provides an opportunity to realize yet another shared vision of positive linkage of our technology and services with sound local capacity, knowledge and expertise.”

WPT Subscription Site Going Strong

With the closure of several subscription poker sites in the past few months, it was refreshing to see news that one such club is still going strong. WPTClub, the online poker subscription site owned and operated by the Nasdaq listed World Poker Tour Enterprises, announced this week that it has paid out its two millionth dollar in prize month. WPTClub works along similar lines to doomed sites such as Zosoz Poker and Fleet Street Games, whereby players pay a set monthly fee of $20 and get to earn themselves points to use as buy-ins to tournaments. Subscription poker clubs were created to allow poker players from the United States to enjoy ‘legal’ poker fun online, simply because no money is paid out directly on games. Industry experts believe that WPTClub is still going strong because it offers its players that little bit extra. Players enjoy 24/7 live chat support, access to top online poker publications and the chance to take part in excellent land-based tournaments such as the World Series of Poker, to name just one.