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CEREUS ONLINE POKER NETWORK SOLD
2010-08-27
Little known e-gaming company buys Tokwiro's internet poker network
Taking many industry observers off-guard late Thursday was a press release from the largely unknown e-gaming firm Blanca Games revealing that it has acquired the interests of the Cereus poker network formerly owned by Tokwiro Enterprises and including well established if at times controversial sites Absolute Poker.com and UltimateBet.com.
The release did not provide details of the consideration paid or conditions for the sale, although industry sources have since confirmed that a supporting press release from Tokwiro can be expected soon. The network is unlikely to have been a cheap buy, as the deal is understood to cover all network operations, intellectual property, software, and branding rights for the constituent sites.
The Khanawake Gaming Commission, which licensed and regulated the sites, has apparently given its blessing to the deal.
The press material includes quotes from Blanca Games CEO Stuart Gordon, whom it describes as an experienced e-gaming executive, who said: “The acquisition of Cereus is a significant opportunity for us. Cereus is a major platform of well-managed assets. Over the past few years, it has created new brands, like UB.com, that are extremely well-positioned in the most desirable demographic in our market: players in the 20s and 30s age brackets.
“From our perspective, we have acquired a large, sophisticated online gaming operation with state-of-the art capabilities, ranging from compliance to business intelligence to online marketing to customer service. We see a tremendous growth opportunity in this deal and beyond, as Blanca seeks additional acquisitions in the market.
“We are confident that the Cereus Network has found an excellent home in Blanca Games. Over the past several years, Cereus has developed into an outstanding platform, which is poised for significant growth. This transaction will benefit Cereus players and employees alike. We expect no changes in the playing experience on the Cereus sites, except for the improvements that will likely be the long-term result of this transaction.”
According to internet sources, Gordon founded BingoMania.com and Helix Gaming International, and has licensing from both the Kahnawake Gaming Commission and Antigua.
Gordon has intimated that no major changes are presently contemplated in either staffing, policies or technology at Cereus. Clearly with an eye on the historical furores at Absolute Poker and UltimateBet (see previous InfoPowa reports), Gordon said: “We intend to leverage the existing strengths of the Cereus Poker Network, particularly in the areas of security and customer service. Although we are impressed with many of the new security features on the Network today, security is and will remain our top priority.”
A GOOD MONTH'S POKER FOR BUKARA
2010-08-23
Bosnian player takes down Cyprus High Roller Freezeout
Bosnian poker pro Perica Bukara, who is now based in Germany, is enjoying a profitable August, having just taken down the $373 207 main prize in the $25 000 buy-in Full Tilt Poker Cyprus Classic High Roller Freeze-Out event.
It was Bukara's biggest win to date, but not his first this month; on August 6 he scored $37 000 for a 6th placing in the Unibet Open main event, and on August 11 another $20 000 in the Pokerstars EPT Estonia where he achieved a 14th placing.
In the three day High Roller event, Bukara faced some tough opposition after the original field of 36 entrants had been distilled to a final table of nine comprising Carter Phillips, Ziv Caspi, John Dolan, Sam Trickett, Jon Turner, David Benyamine, Andrew Feldman and Ori Miller.
The competition was intense, with the final tablers all fighting to make the top five positions, where the money started.
Down to three-handed action it was Bukara, Miller and Feldman who battled it out for four hours until Feldman was bundled out by Miller, leaving the heads up to Miller and Bukara, with the latter holding the chip lead. That didn't last long as Miller took it and held the advantage for most of the heads up.
It wasn't enough, however; Bukara kept up a determined assault on the chip leader, and with some fortunate cards managed to take control of the game and ultimately prevail.
Miller's talent and style were rewarded with a second placing check for $207 337.
Still in Cyprus, the Full Tilt Poker Merit Cyprus Classic Main Event kicked off this week, with Day 1a and 1b entries of 180 players, each ponying up the buy-in of $5,000 + $400 for 20,000 in tournament chips, with a re-buy or add-on facility available at any stage of the first five levels for an additional 20,000 in tournament chips.
Day 1b ended Saturday with 60 survivors, who will be combined with the 80 still standing from Day 1a when the action resumes Sunday.
The overall chip leader is Day 1a chipleader, EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final Champion Nicolas Chouity with 119,600. Good finishers from Day 1b included WSOP 2010 final tabler John Nolan on 95 400 and Internet whiz Sorel Mizzi on 90 225.
MORE ONLINE POKER CASH SEIZED IN THE UNITED STATES
2010-08-18
$13.3 million settlement reached with processor
Federal prosecutors continue to go after financial processors in their attempts to stifle online poker, reports Forbes Business, revealing that the authorities reached a settlement worth $13.3 million Tuesday with Ahmad Khawaja, together with his firms, Allied Wallet and Allied Systems.
The settlement brings to a close a year-long issue that began when the FBI seized the $13.3 million in June 2009 (see previous InfoPowa reports).
Officials alleged that the funds constituted proceeds of operating an illegal gambling business that were deposited between January 2009 and May 2009 in an account at Goldwater Bank in Scottsdale, Arizona. Those funds were traceable to PokerStars, the world’s biggest online poker firm, and other offshore online gambling companies, and include “proceeds of the illegal transmission of gambling information and operating an illegal gambling business," court documents reveal.
Forbes reports that the funds were linked to allegations of money laundering by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan, with some of them traceable to wire transfers from outside the U.S. by individuals who knew that the funds represented the proceeds of the illegal transmission of gambling.
Isle of Man-based PokerStars issued a statement following the settlement in which it said: “PokerStars does not condone efforts by processors to conceal the nature or purpose of funds used to play online poker. PokerStars has taken steps to ensure that processors properly disclose the nature of their business to their relevant financial institutions.”
Forbes notes that PokerStars has long maintained that it offers for-money online poker play to U.S. players in accordance with legal opinions from several U.S. law firms that state it is not violating U.S. law.
"Department of Justice officials have for years taken the position that facilitating for-money online poker violates U.S. law, making no distinction between online sports betting - clearly illegal - and online poker playing. Still, the fact that prosecutors have not moved directly against the online operators has suggested to some that the government’s position is weak," the publication observes.
Despite the UIGEA, PokerStars continues to dominate the U.S. market for online poker, making it the world’s biggest online gambling firm, with estimated annual revenue of $1.4 billion and some $500 million in profits.
ZYNGA POKER IN ASIAN MOVES
2010-08-18
Expanding in the US, social games developer is building up a stake in Asia, too.
The San Francisco-based internet social gaming developer Zynga has made its Zynga Texas Poker offering available in China as well as on Facebook in Hong Kong and Taiwan this week, with a localised version playable in traditional Chinese or English - part of a continuing drive into the Asian market, reports Techcrunch.
The gaming giant recently bought Japanese gaming startup Unoh, took a $150 million investment from Japan’s SoftBank Capital, acquired Chinese game developer XPD Media and set up a Beijing office (see previous InfoPowa reports).
Zynga Poker, the company’s first ever social game, launched in July 2007 and is currently the third most popular game on Facebook, attracting 28 million players every month. On an average day 375 000 Zynga Poker players are simultaneously playing together live across the internet in 100 countries.
Techcrunch reports that the game itself simulates playing poker in a social gaming environment. Users enter a casino lobby and can play at any table or join friends for a game. Players choose from casual Hold ‘Em tables, tournament play or VIP tables. A leader board shows players how they compare in chip ranking to other players and allows players to send or receive gifts.
"As an incentive for users in Hong Kong and Taiwan, Zynga Texas Poker players will automatically receive a complimentary stack of 8,888 Vegas-style Poker chips to play games with. Additionally, this month, Zynga is offering a grand prize for the “ShootOut” tournament that allows local players to compete for a prize of $880,000 Taiwanese dollars. Zynga is also giving away a trip to Las Vegas to a user," Techcrunch informs.
The publication notes that recent moves in Congress to legalise online gambling in the United States could deliver a further boost to Zynga's popular poker offering, and in the Asian region a release to the Japanese localised market would seem to be a logical next step.
Zynga was founded in July 2007 by Mark Pincus, Michael Luxton, Eric Schiermeyer, Justin Waldron, Andrew Trader, and Steve Schoettler
PKR 2.0 IS A MAJOR UPGRADE FOR ONLINE POKER SOFTWARE
2010-08-16
Complete top-to-bottom re-development of a 3D fave
The UK and Alderney licensed 3D online poker site PKR.com has undergone a number of software upgrades since it launched in 2006, but the biggest re-development to date has just been completed with the launch of the company’s v. 2.0.
PKR was among the forerunners in interactive 3D graphics and fully customisable avatars, and the new software builds on this popular foundation in its latest incarnation, which retains features like avatar body language, expressions, chip tricks and poker tells.
The playability has been enhanced in the new software, which now boasts a range of new features including a multi-table option enabling action on up to nine tables simultaneously without switching screens - up to six of these in 3D. Players can view all nine or switch between tables, add national flags, and increase button and chat size, among other preferences.
PKR's head of development Leon Walters says: "The whole look and feel has changed. We've designed it from the ground up. It's much more accessible and fun to use.
"We listened to what poker players said about the multi-tabling and have responded to that. It's quicker, slicker…far more attractive.
"It looks much more contemporary. We're developing lots of industry firsts, lots of tournament and cash game innovations."
With over 3 million registered players globally, PKR has a wide audience with diverse priorities to satisfy, and the updated site now features an innovative game finder 'wizard', a completely new lobby where players can set personal filters and designate favourites, and an in-game stats centre.
The developers have also included new features like tournament chip stack graphs, new table layouts and bet button options.
Walters notes this week: “It's very easy to say 'don't fix what ain't broken' and people are naturally resistant to change, but we felt that the look and feel of PKR v1 was getting rather tired. It's four years old after all.
“More significantly the technology that we built the old User Interface with was getting out of date and made introducing changes to the game became very labour intensive.
PKR have posted a video on the new software at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR8VFD0dJXM