You Lucky Chance Casinos - Online Casinos for US Players

Building on the momentum of the past year, the Poker Players Alliance announced this week that it will drop a fundraising "money bomb" on July 1st in order to raise additional funds leading up to a crucial vote this summer on legislation to license and regulate online poker.

A money bomb is when an organisation asks all of its members and supporters to make a financial donation - of any amount - to the group on one specific day. The PPA hopes to raise $25,000 from its over one million members throughout the United States.

"We would not be where we are today without the support and dedication of the poker community. Yet, there is much more to be done to assure that every American has the right to enjoy a game of poker from their computer, in a casino or at their kitchen table," said Alfonse D'Amato, chairman of the PPA.

"This unique fundraising effort is another way for our members and all players to demonstrate to lawmakers the broad support for online poker, while at the same time helping PPA continues its advocacy efforts."

As a reminder to donate on July 1st, players can visit the website to download the event to their calendars. Even if individuals are not members of the PPA, they are able to donate for this drive and will not be required to become a member.

The world's largest online poker provider, Pokerstars, may be prepared to tangle with the confused US legal system, but when it comes to French players the operator is playing it strictly by the book.

Judging by website notifications and comment this week on well-informed poker message boards like 2plus2, Pokerstars has now excluded French players from its main site, directing them instead to a dedicated Pokerstars.fr French site which is licensed with regulator ARJEL.

The decision has not found general favour among players, mainly because by confining their activity to action between French players, it reduces player liquidity. The new French system is similar to that deployed by Italian regulators, where operators can only provide their services to Italian players on an Italian dedicated site.

Pokerstars' action keeps it within the requirements of France's newly liberalised gambling laws.

French visitors to the main Pokerstars site were served with a pop-up notification advising them of the decision and informing them that their account balances were safe and immediately available for withdrawal, or they could transfer to the Pokerstars.fr site.

"We will be running free tournaments on PokerStars.fr this weekend to win seats to live French Poker Series events." PokerStars revealed, adding that the move, was "mandated by law".

It is perhaps too early to assess the impact of the French players' exit on the main Pokerstars site, but it is known that during the last Pokerstars Spring Championship of Online Poker series there were well over 27,000 French entries, or 6% of the total entries during the tournament. French players took home $1.62 million in prizes in the series.

Pokerstars is not the first to exclude French players, and follows Sportingbet, William Hill and Betfair in taking this decision.

Online gambling companies using the .net advertising strategy will be heartened by a New Zealand court's ruling that such advertising is not an inducement to gamble, and that live poker tournaments are a form of competition and therefore not illegal in a gambling sense.

Dot net advertising involves promoting websites that do not in themselves provide gambling, although they may promote the brands of operators.

The case before Justice David J Harvey was brought by the New Zealand government's Department of Internal Affairs, which complained that a company titled TVWorks, the owner of television stations TV3 and C4, had carried .net play-for-free advertising for Pokerstars, a major provider of gambling services, reports Poker News this week.

The government alleged that this promoted the activities of an overseas gambling operator or induced New Zealanders to gamble on offshore sites.

The court's findings were that:

The Pokerstars.net website is not promotion of a gambling operator, promotion of gambling overseas, or likely to induce New Zealanders to gamble overseas.

The Pokerstars.net website is not a gambling website nor is it synonymous with Pokerstars.com.

The Asia Pacific Poker Tour is not "gambling" as defined by the legislation because it is a competition, with an entry fee, which has prize money at the end of it (as opposed to the payment of consideration, based on the outcome of the game).

Dismissing the prosecution's argument on .net advertising in the case, Justice Harvey noted:

"Firstly, the nature of the material in the advertisements made it clear that what was being advertised was free websites that do not involve gambling.

"Secondly, the .com website is not mentioned at any time. Unless the user knew of the existence of the .com website, no association could be made between PokerStars and that particular website.

"A third reason for rejecting the suggestion that .net and .com sites involve a distinction without a difference lies in the very internet itself... the navigational realties of the internet mean that there is a very significant difference between web addresses of any nature, be they .net .com and .org even although they may be associated with a similar domain name."

Poker News reports that in reaching his conclusion Justice Harvey relied heavily upon the expert industry evidence presented by Damon Rasheed of PokerNews and iBus Media Consultancy and Professor Roger Marshall, who provided expert evidence on the advertisements themselves.

Damon Rasheed said upon hearing the Court's decision: "Justice Harvey's ruling was a common sense result for the industry that will have widespread implications especially for those jurisdictions with similar legislation, such as Australia and the US, were the distinction between .net advertising and gambling has yet to be the subject of legal challenge".

In Malaysia, which is struggling to contain the high demand for gambling services by its citizens in spite of extensive police action, the Information, Communication and Culture Minister has opined that the best way to counter illegal gambling is to set up a structure to license and control it.

The Business Times reports that Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim has proposed the formation of a government commission to monitor and control licensed gambling in the country.

He said the commission could help the government regulate and reduce illegal gambling activities where bets reported to be worth RM10 billion a year are being made on illegal sites.

"If the gaming licence can be implemented correctly according to certain rules, we will be able to curb illegal gambling," the minister told a visiting delegation from the Indonesian Journalists Association in Kuala Lumpur Wednesday.

He said allowing sports betting was not something new compared to horse racing and lotteries.

"It should be regulated... it should not be the subject of discrimination. We need to be objective and identify the social rights of non-Muslims (to gamble) in the country," he said.

In recent times the subject of licensed gambling has come into sharp focus following discussions on the possibility, with anti-gambling groups and mainly Muslim religious bodies opposing the idea.

The Chinese government has continued its heightened assault on internet gambling with the announcement that more websites have been blocked on government orders. The Ministry of Public Security informed the Beijing Times newspaper that over the past week alone it has blocked 1,461 overseas websites offering online gambling.

"Rampant illegal gambling still lingers in many areas of the country, especially since the opening of the 2010 World Cup, adding to the public's concerns," a Public Security spokesman said.

The big story from the 41st World Series of Poker as the tournament moves into its 27th day is that international star Phil Ivey, who did not seem to be creating fireworks in the many events he has entered, has fired up to win his eighth WSOP gold bracelet.

Continuing our daily reportage on the various events, Ayaz Mahood has emerged the victor in his endurance test of a heads up against Ernst Schmejkal in event 35, the $10,000 buy-in Heads-up No-Limit Hold'em World Championship.

Mahmood, who is a Texas resident, won nine consecutive heads-up matches over four tough days and against some of the world's best to take home his first bracelet and $625,682.

The two played a best of three format, with the first clash an epic heads up between Mahmood and Schmejkal that lasted for almost six-and-a-half hours - the third-longest in WSOP records. The second and decider was a lot faster as Mahmood used a significant chip advantage to despatch his opponent, obviating the need for a third match.

The two finalists survived an original stellar 256-player field that included formidable players like Tom Dwan, Andrew Lichtenberger, Issac Baron, Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein, Howard Lederer, Andy Bloch, Phil Ivey, Jonathan Little, Terrence Chan, Sorel Mizzi, Scott Clements, David Williams, Phil Gordon and Bertrand Grospellier.

Venessa Rousso looked like a surefire winner at one point, leading the final eight contestants, but it was not to be, and it was Mahmood who stood up from the table at 5am Tuesday to claim the victory.

Tuesday evening saw Day 3 action completed at level 23 in event 36 - the $1,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em competition, with the tenth spot elimination of Daniel Carbonari setting up the final table of nine, led by Sebastien Roy on 1,867,000; Timothy Beeman on 1,788,000 and Daniel Fuhs on 1,251,000.

38 survivors from an entry field of 3,102 returned to the tables Tuesday afternoon, chasing chip leaders John Clancy (774,000) and Josh Goldstein. The action was fast and furious, and the final table nine were reached in under five hours, with great players like Svetlana Gromenkova. John Clancy, Peter Traply and Josh Goldstein all falling by the wayside.

This week's winner attracting the most publicity was victorious in event 37 - the $3,000 buy-in H.O.R.S.E., where Phil Ivey finally managed to nail down his eighth WSOP bracelet against truly top quality opposition.

The final table was like a who's who of top players, featuring Jeffrey Lisandro, John Juanda, Bill Chen, Kenneth Aldridge, Chad Brown, David Baker, Albert Hahn and Ryan Hughes; between them holding 18 WSOP gold bracelets and over $14 million in WSOP and circuit winnings.

Ivey ended a tough day by overcoming heads up opponent Bill Chen to claim fourth spot with Erik Seidel on the highly respected list of players who have won the most bracelets at the World Series.

Ivey was among the experienced and talented 25 surviving players who sat down on the third day of the H.O.R.S.E. competition. It appeared to be the stud games that gave him the best opportunities, and Ivey certainly despatched at least five of the final table players as the game progressed, and dominated the heads up to win the bracelet and $329,840.

26 players reported for a third day of excitement Tuesday afternoon in event 38, a $10,000 buy-in Pot-Limit Hold'em World Championship contest, with Peter Jetten leading a field that started Day 1 numbering 268 hopefuls.

Surviving along with Jetten were experts like Marco Traniello, Noah Boeken, Sandra Naujoks, Amnon Fillipi and Amit Makhija, although like Jetten none would still be standing by late evening Tuesday.

4 players were left at that stage with chip counts as follows:

Valdemar Kwaysser 3,730,000
Konstantin Bucherl 1,915,000
James Calderaro 1,650,000
Matt Marafioti 700,000

In the run-up to the final four, the eliminations occurred like this:

Dani Stern Eliminated in 5th Place ($161,934)
Tom Marchese Eliminated in 6th Place ($123,264)
Peter Jetten Eliminated in 7th Place ($94,394)
Blair Rodman Eliminated in 8th Place ($72,754)
Alexander Kuzmin Eliminated in 9th Place ($56,404)

In event 39, a $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em Shootout, a field of almost 1,400 players was down to 140 as Day 2 started Tuesday afternoon Vegas time.

Ten hours later the field was down to just 16, with the most recent three survivors advancing to the final including Michael Pesek, Annette Obrestad and Justin Scott.

Vladimir Schemelev on 260,000 currently leads the last 24 players left alive in event 40 - the $2,500 buy-in Seven-Card Razz competition, which attracted a field of 365 and late Tuesday night was well into Day 2.

The successful Russian player was being chased by Maxwell Troy (235,000) and Frank Kassela (208,000), with the most recent eliminations including previous main event champion Joe Hachem, Hasan Habib and Allen Bari.

160 players started Day 2 action Tuesday afternoon, with only 24 still in late night action as InfoPowa went to press.

Last year, event 41 - the $1,500 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better contest attracted 762 entrants, and official figures this week indicate that the event this year has improved on that at 847.

Among them are poker luminaries like Ari Engel, Scott Seiver, Barny Boatman, Barry Shulman, Erick Lindgren, Erica Shoenberg, David Williams, Andy Black, Kevin McPhee, Kathy Liebert, Justin Young, Jonathan Little, Bill Chen, Shannon Shorr, Perry Friedman, Lee Childs and Neil Channing.

Day 1 action started Tuesday afternoon and by late into the night had been completed, with 171 players left, headed by Mike Chappus on 133,400, Barry Greenstein (83,000) and Spencer Lawrence (79,500).

Almost every online casino offers some type of welcome bonus to new players. The money gives players something to wager with right away. It usually comes in the form of a match bonus, where a certain percentage of the player’s deposit it matched by the casino.

Captain Cooks Casino has an interesting take on the welcome bonus, though. In their unique no-deposit welcome bonus, players are given $500 and 60 minutes to make as much money as they can. No deposit is necessary. It’s as simple as that.

Here’s how it works. As soon as you sign up for a real-money account at Captain Cooks and click the “play now” button associated with the $500 welcome bonus, a timer starts counting down from 60 minutes. You are given $500 to wager with and during that hour, you try to make as much money as you can. Any money you make you get to keep. Any money you lose doesn’t matter, because it comes from the free $500, rather than your own money. This promotion is separate from normal pay, so you don’t get to carry over any of the unused $500.

There are, as always, a couple stipulations. First, you must wager at least 20 times during the 60 minute period in order to keep your winnings. That shouldn’t be a problem. The other one is that before your winnings from this promotion can be transferred to your real-money account and withdrawn, you need to purchase at least $50 in your real-money account.

This unique welcome bonus combines your favorite games with the excitement of a timed tournament. It’s kind of like those game shows where players run through the supermarket, filling their carts with stuff that they will get to keep at the end, once the time runs out.

To take part in the $500 welcome bonus, visit Captain Cooks Casino.

Tonio Fenech, Malta's minister of finance has explained why the island government has been creating EU waves by opposing a common definition of "online gambling", which has caused delays and some disruption of attempts to agree on what constitutes internet gambling throughout the trade bloc.

The Times of Malta reports that Fenech was pressed by Labour MP Alfred Sant on Malta's stand, and replied that government saw "ulterior motives" in the proposed definition. Fenech said that government had viewed it as an attempt by some member states to protect their gaming monopolies, but that Malta had seen through the 'ulterior motives'.

Fenech said some other EU countries wanted to retain state monopolies on legal gambling and had concocted definitions to this end.

The European Court of Justice had recently allowed some national restrictions because of money laundering and other illegal activities, but Malta's laws already took care of this, he added.

Asked whether Malta's objection to the definition could be an obstruction to legal gambling, Fenech said the two issues were unrelated.

The Isle of Man-based online gambling software provider Microgaming inked a deal this week with a major Central and Eastern European gambling and entertainment group, Fortuna Entertainment Group N.V., to which it will supply a full online casino system.

FEG is licensed in Malta through subsidiary Fortunawin Gaming Ltd and will brand the new enterprise FortunaWin.

The agreement will give FortunaWin access to Microgaming's quality suite of internet casino software and games, providing online players with the latest gaming experience.

Jaroslav Kulenda, head of casino at FortunaWin said: "We are committed to offering our players the very best in online casino entertainment, and Microgaming is the obvious partner in helping us achieve this goal. We are delighted to be entering into this new partnership and look forward to offering our players access to Microgaming's extensive library of cutting edge games."

Fortuna Entertainment Group is a Dutch company reputed to be the largest odds betting provider in Central and Eastern Europe, and its operations include sports betting, live betting, lotteries, a casino and a special kind of lottery called 'Top Goals'.

In addition to its land activities, the group offers its products through the internet, telephone and text messaging, and the originally Dutch company has grown into a multinational group which currently operates in the Polish, Slovakian, Croatian and Hungarian markets.

Roger Raatgever, CEO, Microgaming said this week: "We are extremely pleased to welcome yet another exciting new addition to Microgaming's ever expanding network of online casino operators. Microgaming currently powers the world's busiest and most profitable online casinos, and we will be working closely with FortunaWin to ensure its players enjoy the best possible casino experience."

Video-sharing Youtube owner Google is allowing licensed UK gambling and betting companies to run display campaigns on YouTube in Britain for the first time, with Ladbrokes the first to sign up, reports New Media Age.

Gambling firms will be allowed to air age-restricted campaigns, including pre-roll, on the YouTube home page, on video pages and within brand channels, although the content will only be displayed once a viewer has verified he or she is over 18.

YouTube account holders with a given age of over 18 will also be served the ads.

Ladbrokes is the first UK gambling brand to use the new Youtube facility, airing a click-to-play campaign through the TBG Digital agency.

The move continues Google's relaxation of previously restricted forms of advertising in the UK; in late 2008 restrictions on paid search gambling terms on gambling were lifted.

Google industry leader James Cashmore told NMA the company is confident ads will only reach over-18s, and that the industry and regulators will be happy with the restrictions in place.

"We've been in discussions with brands and agencies about this for more than two years," he said.

Cashmore said while Google has been talking to GamCare, it hadn't yet told the gambling support group about the extension of ads on YouTube.

All ads with run through the newly re-branded Google Display Network, which replaces the Google Content Network.

Cashmore said the name change reflected how display is central to the Google ad offering. "Display makes up a significant proportion of the Content Network, so it made sense to change," he said.

French Canadian Miguel Proulx and Northern California pro Matt Keikoan are the latest proud bracelet holders as the 2010 World Series of Poker rolls on, delivering a stream of big money and star-power fuelled excitement at the Rio in Las Vegas.

Proulx took down a marathon event 28 $2,500 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha tussle, besting a starting field of 596 hopefuls and a final Day 3 survivor list of 12.

Proulx accounted for most of the action as the final table was formed and then whittled down to the heads up, in which he faced L.J. Klein at a chip disadvantage, doubling up into a more competitive position and ultimately beating him with a nut flush.

Along with the $315,311 main prize, Proulx picked up his first WSPOP bracelet, leaving LJ Klein with the runner-up prize of $195,147.

Northern California pro Matt Keikoan won his second WSOP bracelet (the first was in 2008 in a $2,000 NLHE competition) after three tough days in event 29, the prestigious $10,000 buy-in Limit Hold'Em World Championship.

He did so against many of the top names in the game who had created a star-heavy entry field of 171 players for the event. Terrence Chan, Matt Hawrilenko and Greg Mueller provide good examples of the quality of the field.

On the final day, 13 survivors started out on a 15 hour endurance test that ended in just two men facing off.

The 5 hour heads up in the early hours of the morning pitched Keikoan against Daniel Idema and was characterised by talented and disciplined play by both contestants, but in the end the day and the bracelet was Keikoan's, along with a first prize paycheck of $425,969, bringing his career earnings to well over $3.2 million.

Plucky Idema collected a second placing check for $263,244 from the cashier.

Day 3 of event 30, the $1,000 buy-in No Limit Hold'em contest was still in progress late evening Friday Vegas time when InfoPowa went to press.

The massive entry field of 2,394 that started three days back had been reduced to a mere 5 players, with chip counts as follows:

Christopher Gonzales 4,380,000
David Wilkinson 2,200,000
Billy Griner 1,600,000
Mike Ellis 1,250,000
Martin Jacobson 980,000

Earlier, the final table eliminations were Jeff Cohen in 9th Place ($42,790), Chris Kastler in 8th Place ($55,814), Jason Hallee eliminated in the number 7 spot ($73,719) and William Kakon busted out in 6th Place ($98,605).

Surviving players in event 31, the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. competition, have had a couple of early morning endurance tests as the field of 827 was brought down to only 7 players late evening Vegas time on Day 3.

Day 2 ended at 3am with 24 players still in contention, many of them highly respected - and feared - experts in the game. Chip leader Konstantin Puchkov made a successful last minute run up to the top as Day 2 ended, and remained in the top three chip counts as Day 3 ground into late evening action with 7 players left and a good chance of another very long night.

At that stage, Dustin Leary held a convincing lead of over a million chips, with closest rival Puchkov on 636,000 and Al Barbieri in third on 591,000.

Friday was also Day 3 for players in event 32, the $5,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em Six Handed event, where 116 survivors from an original field of 568 started in the afternoon, with the money bubble set at 54th spot and a total prize pool of $2,669,600.

The event proved to be a magnet for top players, and Day 3's start saw Christian Harder (in the chip lead), Dave "Devilfish" Ulliott, Phil Ivey, Isaac Haxton and Jennifer Harman all taking their seats, representing a serious challenge for the $667,433 winner's share of the prize pool.

Tournament officials informed players that if the field was not reduced to six players by ten levels, the competition will be retired and continue for an additional day.

By 10.40pm Vegas time Friday night there were still 31 players in action, led by Paul Sheng on 980,000, with nearest challenger Sanghyon Cheong on 570,000 and Bruno Lainais on 510,000.

482 players registered for event 33, a $2,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em Omaha contest, with last year's winner Rami Boukai back to defend his title but unfortunately suffering elimination on Day 1. He was in good company - Daniel Negreanu, Eli Elezra, Dan Heimiller, Max Pescatori and Alexander Kostritsyn all made their exits before the day was over.

Friday afternoon saw 126 survivors back for Day 2 action, with Justin Smith holding the most chips, well ahead of the opposition, which included players of calibre like Victor Ramdin, Andy Black and Jeff Lisandro.

By late evening Friday 41 players remained in the event, led by Josh Tieman on 325,000, well ahead of nearest opponent Chris Reslock (173,400).

The entry field for the $1,000 buy-in Seniors No-Limit Hold'em - event 34 - topped 3,141 this year, eclipsing the registration lists for last year, when 2,707 players entered.

"Oklahoma" Johnny Hale gave the shuffle up and deal call, prefacing it amusingly with a George Burns-esque, "I'm glad to be here today. At my age, I'm happy to be anywhere."

Tournament director Jack Effel handed over the Golden Eagle award, recognising all past champions, and the cards were soon in the air Friday afternoon.

Some 706 contestants were still going at it hammer and tongs by late Friday evening, with Kenny Milam holding the chip lead at 53,200, chased by Michael Hirschensohn (43,000) and Tom Schneider (38,000)

Another prestigious event kicked off Friday afternoon - number 35, the $10,000 Heads Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship, which has an entry field capped at 256 players.

The cap was easily met by a star-studded entry field that included a strong internet component among a list of Phil Ivey, Sorrel Mizzi, Victor Ramdin, Ashton Griffin, Gavin Smith, Blair Hinkle, Faraz Jaka, Tom Dwan, Antonio Esfandiari, John Juanda, Annette Obrestad, British aces Sam Trickett and James Dempsey, Andy Bloch, Carlos Mortensen and Jason Mercier.

By 10.40pm local time Friday, the Day 1 players still standing were down to 128, with the departure list including Mark Muchnik, Jay Rosenkrantz, Blair Hinkle, James Mackey and Barry Greenstein.

Among those already through to the third round are Maxim Lykov, Anton Kozlovskly, Andrew Feldman and Faraz Jaka.