The A$2 700 buy-in PokerStars.net Australia New Zealand Poker Tour (ANZPT) concluded at the Crown Casino in Melbourne this week with a victory for Chris Levick, a high profile Australian entrepreneur who has launched a number of poker rooms and the successful Oz Poker Tour over the past three years. Levick won his place in the tournament on a free roll, making the occasion even more memorable for him.

It was a clash between business and the media in the heads up, where Levick faced runner-up Heath Chick (30), a poker journalist and commentator. When Levick was declared the winner, it was his third cash - and first win - in a major live tournament, with the A$158 050 main prize taking his career winnings to date to A$169 668.

The two were survivors of an initial field of 218 hopefuls that included seasoned players and 61 online qualifiers.

Levick dominated the final table, eliminating six of his nine opponents to take a four-to-one chip lead into the heads up. Nevertheless, Chick gave him a good run for his money in the exciting final game to a great Australian and New Zealand occasion, and for his effort was rewarded with a second placing prize of A$103 550.

In the final hand, Levick button raised to 150 000, Chick re-raised to 300 000, Levick pushed all-in and Chick snap-called with [qh] [qc]. Levick’s [ah] [jh] needed help, and it duly arrived on a flop of [8c] [as] [3c]. The board ran out [3h] [6c] and the title was Levick’s.

The entertaining New Zealand edition of the international magazine Stuff reported last week on an all-in poker wedding sponsored by the Christchurch Casino in a “To Have and To Hold” innovative promotion for poker couples.

The promo saw nine engaged couples playing for two-and-a-half hours over the weekend with the main prize a sponsored wedding, followed by a 7 day Las Vegas honeymoon at the MGM Grand.

The winners were Hollie and Perry Vogel, both in their early twenties, who fast-forwarded their September 2009 wedding plans on winning the tournament and were married right away.

With a stack bolstered by Hollie’s winnings from a Queens and nines full house, it took Perry just 10 minutes of heads-up play to land a tournament-winning pair of aces. Those cards defeated a pair of fives and saw Perry, 21, and Hollie, 22, married three hours later.

Perry’s poker skills were honed in friendly games, while Hollie took a crash course in poker books before the tournament.

Manila-based and First Cagayan licensed Haydock Sports has launched its Asian-facing Bodog88.com website, complete with a live dealer casino by Entertasia, and in English and Chinese language options.

The launch is the fruition of a deal signed earlier this year between Bodog and Haydock Sports with the Asian market in mind. Haydock’s 9play brand has now been absorbed into the better known Bodog offering.

The Bodog Brand is licensed exclusively in Asia to Haydock Sports Limited, which has been operating in Asia since 2006. It is headed up by the former Managing Director of Asia for Victor Chandler Ltd, Ian Dunning.

The move into the Asian market follows a Bodog agreement some 18 months ago to license its North American brand to the Morris Mohawk Gaming Group based in the Mohawk territory of Kahnawake, and lead by Olympic kayaking champion Alwyn Morris.

Players have characterised the T&Cs on progressive jackpots at a number of online gambling websites as predatory this week as the forum row over Joyland Casino and player SylvieP continues to reverberate around the Internet (see previous InfoPowa report).

Briefly summarised, the issue involved a Canadian player who hit the jackpot for $4 188 719.98 playing the Beach Life progressive slot at Joyland - a Playtech powered brand which is now (but was not at the time of the big win) part of the William Hill Online group following the major Playtech-Will Hill deal earlier this year.

The “win” was widely publicised as one of the biggest jackpots ever paid out. The sad thing is that the player only received about half of the winnings.

It turns out that the Terms and Conditions under which the player gambled at Joyland specified a maximum payout of $9 000 a month. This would mean that SylvieP would have to be around for the next 39 years to collect her full winnings!

Playtech presumably made the full jackpot payment to Joyland’s owners, whom Trading Markets.com identifies as Six Digits Trading, allegedly associated through a trust with businessman Teddy Sagi….who is a major shareholder in Playtech.

Long story short is that following some email exchanges through hotmail addresses the player felt pressured to agree to a payment of half the jackpot to ensure that she was paid immediately and in one tranche.

SylvieP recalls: “Feeling like there was no way out of this I decided to go ahead and collect only $2,3 million (half the prize) plus bonus which was $61 000 in VIP points because I was not getting anywhere and I felt that the VIP manager was not honest because he was changing and using words one day and the next day there was always something else. So to collect most of my winnings and make sure I was getting it I did as per their request.

“I was forced to collect what they offered to a total sum of $2,3 million I was so upset that on our last conversation I requested a witness and also recorded the whole conversation when all the sums and terms were discussed with them in order to finanlise the 2,3 mill. I made the VIP [casino representative] talk and asked him how much was my total winnings how much I had lost as per their requests and my bonus points? He summarised it and he stated at the end that he had erased my account balance, after which I tried to re log in and was unsuccessful. I guess they have blocked my account.”

Since this incident, the Joyland brand along with the playerbase (but not the actual company, we are informed) was transferred to William Hill Online as part of the “Purchased Assets” in a widely reported major deal with Playtech (see previous InfoPowa reports)

But William Hill have washed their hands of the affair, judging by statements made to Casinomeister owner Bryan Bailey by a Will Hill exec.

Playtech has thus far been less than forthcoming when approached by Bailey, leaving some major question marks over what happened here:

1) Is it Playtech policy to allow licensees to do what they like with the progressive prize once it has been paid to them by the network? A full payout is what players anticipate when they hit the big one - not offers of half the prize or payments to eternity.

2) Where is the missing almost $2 million left after the player was only paid half the prize? And to whom should it rightfully belong? Joyland? Playtech’s progressive network?

The storm of criticism that has swirled around this issue has resulted in players and webmasters on information sites gearing up to compile a list of those online casinos that have this sort of constraint on payments of progressive jackpot prizes, so that players can be warned in advance to carefully check the relevant T&C before deciding whether they wish to play the progressives at a particular establishment.

Thus far, the nascent list contains the following:

32Vegas
Goldenpalace
WilliamHillcasino
playgate
carnavalcasino.com
eurogrand
casinotropez
zodiacbingo
majesticcomet.com
grandplaycasino.com
rubybingo.com
bettercasino
city club casino

Obviously in touch with player sentiments and the developing list, two online casinos, Betfred and Bet365 have assured players that they will honour the expectation that any progressive jackpot won will be paid out without delay and in full.

This issue has triggered investigations of online casino T&Cs across the Internet as the list is developed, and could have important implications for progressives providers which pay jackpots in one tranche and immediately like Cryptologic and Microgaming…and perhaps in a negative sense for those that do not.

The Irish newspaper The Independent reports that Betjacks.ie has been finally launched following a new contract signed only last year. This latest on-line gambling site expects to attract customers mostly from Ireland, the United Kingdom, South Africa and Canada.

Conceived by two ICT veterans back in 2006, Betjacks.ie is Ireland’s first and only dedicated on-line betting and gaming site that uses the latest gaming platform. Messrs. Brian Nesbit and Eamon Garland say their company offers a rich media experience and excellent peer-to-peer gaming applications fully compatible with the next generation of networking solutions.

The managing director of Betjacks.ie, Mr. Damien Levingston, says that when they decided on putting up a new site, they mainly focused on creating a unique user-friendly experience that will develop loyalty and easier communication feedbacks from end users. of loyalty and communication with the end user.”
Using Cryptologic’s latest software called WagerLogic, this new site offers a wide choice of the most popular on-line sports betting, casino games, all poker variants and even bingo games. The technical director of Betjacks.ie, Mr. Garland, assures clients and members that they will get the best possible deals when playing at his site. Fairness and integrity will be the hallmarks of this site, he added. As a step further towards those goals, Betjacks.ie has partnered with the developers of the top gaming industry platforms in conjunction with well-respected payment solutions providers to give all players a totally safe, exciting, fun and wholly secure gaming environment.

Games software developer Wideload Shorts is soon to launch for Microsoft Xbox 360 Live Arcade a new poker game branded Texas Cheat ‘Em, which will support avatars, party chat, online multiplayer, matchmaking and high score tables for a full-spectrum online play experience.

Wideload punts the new offering as: “There’s No Limit to the fast-paced, frenetic fun in Texas Cheat ‘Em. This game is a new take on the classic Texas Hold ‘Em rules, turning an average online poker table upside down by layering party games and other gambling minigames on top of the basic rules, and allowing players to cheat to win.

“Cheating is fundamental in Texas Cheat ‘Em! Cheat attacks are earned by players through more than a dozen minigames, so time usually spent waiting for others to deal or bet in online poker is replaced with loads of fun as players hoodwink their opponents. The game offers single-player as well as multiplayer options for up to eight players for a truly unique and robust gameplay experience.

The Netherlands has been fertile ground for hosting a series of affiliate conferences geared towards the online gambling community. But the Dutch Government over the past year has begun cracking down on the activity itself, taking a stance similar to that of the United States. Known for its tolerance of prostitution and pot, Holland wants to protect its own state run casino - the Holland Casino.

The European Union, expressing discord with America for its stance on Internet gambling, is beginning to realize they must first harness their own. Holland is a member of the European Union.

The EU has initiated an investigation into Dutch efforts to stop banks processing payments for online betting services, the Telegraaf reported on Friday.

‘The European Commissioner has asked the appropriate services to start an investigation into the banking blockade,’ a spokesman for commissioner Charlie McCreevy told the Telegraaf. ‘As far as we are aware, the Netherlands is the only country in Europe to do such a thing.’

Holland’s justice ministry ordered banks to stop accepting transactions for Internet gambling services or face potential legal action.

A survey in January said the Dutch are spending €450m a year on illegal internet gambling.

Yesterday, British online betting group Betfair said it was taking legal action against the Dutch ban on Internet gambling which it claims breaks single market rules.