Personalised Bracelets to be awarded to WSOP winners

For the first time ever, the World Series of Poker (WSOP) will be awarding unique personalised bracelets to the winner of each of the 57 official WSOP tournaments to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the WSOP.

On Tilt Designs Pty. Ltd will be creating branded apparel, headwear and accessories to cover players from “head to wrist”. The centrepiece of marketing the collection is the sponsorship of WSOP bracelets for the Las Vegas and European events, for which On Tilt selected Master Artisan and jewellery designer Steve Soffa.

“It’s a tremendous honor to be tasked with creating the foremost trophy for poker players worldwide,” said Soffa.

Andrew Couldridge Wins UKIPT Nottingham

Andrew Couldridge has defeated the second biggest field in live UK poker history to win the PokerStars.com UK and Ireland Poker Tour at Dusk Till Dawn in Nottingham to win £80,000 and a £5,300 ticket to the EPT in London.

As the final table assembled this afternoon, Couldridge was fourth in chips out of the final eight. Play started off cagey for the first hour, with overnight leader Owen Robinson extending his chip lead. Graham Giles was the first to go all-in, but wasn’t called. The next hand saw Piotr Majewski all-in under the gun, again no one called.

Poker Business: 888 Down 10% after Disappointing Update

One of the biggest fallers of the day on the UK stock market – and unrelated to the Greek crisis – is 888, down nearly 10% after a disappointing quarterly update.

The online gaming group has lost 9.3p to 84.5p and is topping the fallers in the mid-cap FTSE 250 index. It said operating income for the first quarter had risen 21% to $69m, with a 24% increase in registered customer accounts. But it added that trading so far in the second quarter had been disappointing in casino, poker and bingo, with daily average revenue around 13% below the average in the first three months of the year.

It has started a cost cutting programme across the group, but added that its financial position was strong enough to “exploit M&A opportunities when they become available.” It is apparently in advanced talks about a couple of bolt-on acquisitions.

Poker aux Etats-Unis : Nouvelles lois instaurées dans l’Idaho après une descente de police lors d’une partie privée

Suite à une descente de police survenue lors d’une partie privée au Twin Falls Senior Center dans l’Idaho (Etats-Unis), de nouvelles lois viennent d’être instaurées pour l’Etat par les legislateurs afin d’arrêter ce genre d’actions périmées dans le futur.

La police a donc interrompu une partie entre 20 pensionnaires du centre, un rendez-vous hebdomadaire organisé chaque vendredi depuis plus de quatre ans. Les joueurs, payant un buy-in de $20, profitait de l’événement pour se socialiser et passer le temps. Aucun d’eux n’a eu l’occasion d’attendre que la première main ne soit distribuée, la partie fut arrêtée et les gains saisis, alors que ces derniers étaient d’ordinaire toujours redistribués pour une bonne cause.

Isildur1 and the PartyPoker Big Game IV – A PR Stunt?

The media frenzy that surrounds Isildur1 continues to grow on an almost daily basis. The mysterious Swedish player appeared from nowhere on Full Tilt Poker’s high stakes tables to take the poker world by storm. His swings from huge profits into huge losses are the stuff of legends already and any news about Isildur1 quickly becomes hot property.

Step forward the PartyPoker Big Game IV and, recently sponsored PartyPoker Pro, Tony G. An offer was extended to Isildur1 to attend the Big Game IV. Tony G was to put up the money, airfare and accommodation for Isildur1. After a few days it seemed the Swede had accepted the offer and we’d all finally get to the see the face of the man behind the name.

Online Poker to be a Felony in Massachusetts

Online poker players in the US state of Massachusetts look set to be cast into the wilderness as authorities there annnounced plans to make the online game a felony with their borders.

Section 36 (v) of a 172-page bill appears to explicitly criminalize all forms of Internet gambling, including online poker. The bill is being fast-tracked through the Massachusetts legislature this month. Whilst online players were reeling from the news, casino based players may find more playing options arriving in future, as plans to expand gambling in the state, offering two casino licenses for at least $100 million each and four slot-machine licenses for a minimum of $15 million, were also announced.

iPhone Poker? The Future’s Bright!

Poker on iPhone’s and other “smart phones” has never really been something to shout about. However, mobile network Orange are set to change things with the launch of their own poker App in April.

Alongside the poker, Orange are set to introduce a whole new series of games developed by the company for the iPhone.

Playtomo was also launched by Orange this week which apparently ‘integrates directly into social networks’ which is described as a way of securing bragging rights on mobile games! Those games include versions of Breakout, Suduko and Tetris amongst others.

Poker Robbery in Austin, Texas

A poker robbery in Texas might sound like something from the wild west but the reality is that poker robberies are happening in the modern age, just ask EPT players from Berlin earlier this month!

The latest heist happened during a poker game in Austin. 24 regulars settled down to their usual game on the west side of Travis County, late last night. In the early hours an armed gang stormed the building, apparently armed with AK47s, firing their weapons into the air.

Players were forced to lay face down as the robbers stole money, wallets, keys and phones before making their getaway.

Allan Baekke Wins EPT Snowfest

High up in the mountains of Austria the latest leg of the European Poker Tour came to a conclusion last night as Danish player Allan Baekke won the EPT Snowfest.

546 poker players made their way to the snow covered venue for a week of fun in the white stuff… oh and there was the small matter of taking part in a very valuable poker tournament too. Although, for the last couple of days of the event, most of the competitors could’ve given up any hope of winning the tournament as Allan Baekke simple ran over the rest of the field.