Genius Poker

Poker Industry Targets the Immensly Huge Chinese Market

Cultural boundaries cannot bind a game such as poker. It is a known fact that in today's times, players from around the world are vying with each other online.  In its quest for larger avenues of revenue, Poker is crossing geographical and cultural boundaries. The latest country to be taken by storm, by this game, is China. One of the first companies to enter the Chinese Poker market, is Dragon Ventures. This company has recently acquired teh exclusive marketing rights for Cardroom.net. This move gives Dragon Ventures, advertising rights throughout China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The company will rake in a 40 percent pay-out on net profits, chargebacks and other transaction fees on all referrals generated by the company. Pokernews.com reports:

According to Dragon Venture's CEO Lawrence Wang, there is a lot of attention surrounding the new market and profit possibilities. "We are extremely excited about the marketing rights for Cardroom.net.

Read More: Chinese Poker Prospect

Book Publishers Cashing on the National Poker Obsession

From family rooms to casinos, dorms to senior citizen centres, poker is dominating all the way, across the country. Television is not far behind, the number of poker-based programs is ever-increasing. The newest medium to make mileage out of this game which has become a national obsession, is the print media. Bookstores have entered the race to take their piece of the pie. It was the world poker tour in 2003, that put poker in the league of of big sporting events. Avery Cardoza of Cardoza Publishing is the world's largest publisher of poker books. According to him, the fact that Christopher Moneymaker, a totally unknown name and face, was abkle to beat the pros, at the game; strengthened the position of poker even further. People began to believe that anybody could try a hand at poker and win big prize amounts. Usatoday.com reports:

Cardoza says sales of his 50 poker titles are up 1,000% over the past two years and estimates a million books sold since 2003. His biggest sellers are the Super System books by Doyle Brunson, a two-time World Series of Poker champion.

Read More: Poker books are a safe bet

Poker Pros to Vie for a $15 Million Prize at "POKER: Quest of Champions"

This Labor Day weekend will see top ranking players of poker at the Palms Casino Resort. They will be competing for the event - Poker: Quest of Champions. The hundred players taking part in the event, will be divided among ten shoot out tables. The winner from each table will move forth in the Quest of Champions, final event. The Champion will end up taking the largest single prize in the history of poker tournaments. Hold your breath, this will be a cool 15 million dollars. No wonder then that this event is attracting the 'who's who' of poker. Ted Forrest, Kathy Liebert, Layne Flack, Barry Greenstein and Freddy Deeb are only some of the pros who will be taking part in the event. Onlinepoker-news.com reports:

The event has also attracted the attention of celebrity poker players such as James Woods, Michael Vartan and Mimi Rogers. POKER: Quest of Champions kicks off September 4, 2005 at 1 pm.

Read More: Top Poker Players Compete for a Shot at $15 Million at "POKER: Quest of Champions"

Alaska's Poker Guru Leads the crusade for the Legalization of Poker Games

Perry Green is a well-known name in the Poker circuit, in Alaska. He is often referred to as "Alaska's Poker Guru". Green has been crusading for a long time, for the legalization of 'for profit' poker games in the state. Speaking to the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce, in praise for the game, he said that poker had attained the status of a world-wide sport. He further said that poker would contribute majorly, to Alaska's economy which was largely dependent on oil. In order to propose a bill for the legalization of poker games, Green is on a signature collection campaign. He has made several efforts to get a bill passed earlier, but has failed. Green backed a bill last year, for the setting up of a state gaming commission, which in turn would have the authority to licence a casino, in Anchorage. Although this bill got passed by the State House, it was not passed by the Senate. Poker777.com reports:

In another initiative this year, Green enlisted Rep. Pete Kott, R-Eagle River, and Sen. John Cowdery, R-Anchorage to back legislation authorizing real money card games such as poker and cribbage. Once again, the House passed the bill, but it then became stalled indefinitely in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Read More: "Poker Guru" Pushes for Real-Money Poker Games in Alaska

Isabell Mercier: The Lady Who Gave Up Law to Become a World Class Poker Champ

Meet Isabel Mercier, the woman who had the guts and the conviction, to walk away from an established law practice, and went on to become a world class poker champion. According to Isabel, her law practice made her feel bound by schedules which is something she could not put up with, for long. She needed a lot of freedom in her life and hence the decision! It sure is a brave move considering that after invesing a fair amount of years in education and work in a profession, one fine day, a person is able to give it all up. This because the lifestyle accompanying the profession seems unsuitable. This clearly speaks a lot for Mercier, whom the WPT Tour host last year renamed "no mercy" Mercier. Isabell Mercier is a fearless player and being a risk taker made a fast impact as a "money player", in cash games and came into focus once she won the WPT Ladies Night II. Casinocity.com reprots:

Mercier also had the advantage of working full time as a casino dealer while putting herself through law school. She decided to deal from casino to casino all around the world.

Read More: Exclusive: In Celebration of WPT Ladies Night Casino City Talks to Isabelle Mercier

Casino Gaming TV (CGTV), to be Launch its Dedicated Channel in Canada, This September

Speculation was ripe last year about when one would find a dedicated casino gaming or poker based cable television network, in the US. However, till date none of the candidates have launched such a channel. Experts and reporters believe that if poker must occupy a pride of place among the other televised sports, it must have a devoted channel. Such a channel should be able to show lifestyle programming, biographical programming, historical programming and every other related aspect of the sport. CGTV - Casino Gaming TV is at the middle of this all, trying to get a channel on air. Nick Rhodes, its CEO has been at the helm of affairs and the channel might soon see the light of day. Starting in September, CGTV Canada will go on air, showcasing a wise blend of original progamming along with the usual gaming content. The biggest and the most critical challenge for the company has been to secure distribution, from satellite companies. Pokernews.com reports:

"I think the launch of the channel up there, and as it evolves, and gets distribution north of the border, it will be easier for the U.S. distributors to evaluate its potential.," Rhodes said. Being outside of the U.S. seems to be the way to go to get a channel on the air.

Read More: The Business of Poker: What's on TV?

New Small Town Poker Tour Show Begins its Search for the Best Amateur Poker Player in America

A unique tour will be travelling across the USA, looking for the best amateur player in the country. CEO of AMT Media LLC and Billy Frank, Creative Director of 'Make it Happen Productions" have teamed together to produce this exciting show. This show is all set to add a new grass roots look to the most popular and fastest growing card game Texas Hold'em.  According to Fracalossi, everyone looked at the shows for their high stakes and flashy sets. However, he said that the roots of Poker games can be found in every small town around the world. Hence the tour would be taking poker back to where it all started. Along the way, it would also raise money for charity. Further details about the tour can be found at www.smalltownpokertour.com. Pressbox.co.uk reports:

"The amazing interest in the upcoming US Tour has lead us to push up the date for the European Small Town Tour," Fracalossi said. "The format will be the same as the US Tour, raise money for charity along the way and crown one champion".

Read More: New Small Town Poker Tour Show Blends Real Life and Texas Hold'em

Record-Breaking Turnout for WPT's Legends of Poker Tournament at the Bicycle Casino

Poker tournaments have been extremely popular and are held round the year, somewhere or the other. The WORLD POKER TOUR(R) successfully continues to attract a record number of players to its events. This was evident from the huge participation in the Legends of Poker, held at the Bicycle Casino. There were a record 839 players taking part in this event. The prize pool went up to $4,195,000 and with this the event is said to be the largest ever, on the WPT circuit. These figures further predict a huge growth potential, for the rest of the 14 events that will be filmed for Season 1V on the Travel Channel. The first prize for the 2005 Legends of Poker will be, $1,125,000. Steven Lipscomb, CEO and founder of WPT Enterprises, Inc. said that there had been a tremendous growth of the sport and that he was looking forward to a record shattering season. Prnewswire.com reports:

The highest rated show ever on The Travel Channel, the WPT is now licensed for broadcast in more than 100 countries and territories worldwide. WORLD POKER TOUR (R) airs every Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET/PT on the Travel Channel.

Read More: WORLD POKER TOUR(R) Continues Stratospheric Growth With Record 839 Players at Bicycle Casino's Legends of Poker

Online Poker and Casino Operator - Cassava Enterprises makes its Market Debut Next Month

Party Gaming IPO, got an overwhelming response as it made its debut, in June. In comparison to this, the online poker and casino operator Cassave Enterprises has made a modest offering. Cassava owns online casinos such as 888.com and Casino on the Net, along with the online poker room Pacific Poker. It will be issuing its prospectus in early September. Ever since the shares of the Online poker company Party Gaming were floated, they have grown by 38 percent. This exceedingly positive performance has unnerved the most pessimistic analysts, who felt that owing to legal complexities, the IPO of an online gambling company would not fare well. The same doubts are being raised for the upcoming IPO of Cassava. The offering made by Cassava it is felt, will be at a reasonably discounted rate, as compared to that of Party Gaming, being estimated at 700m pounds. Poker777.com reports:

One of the reasons for Cassava's lower float price is its size, namely that the company is much smaller than Party Gaming, although Cassava's 888.com commands the largest player base of online casino. Secondly, online poker growth is much faster than the growth of general online casinos.

Read More: Online Poker and Casino Prorprietor Cassava Readies for Float

Motorcycle Poker Run Supports a Charitable Cause

Now poker, for a good cause! A poker run saw many motorcycle riders taking part on Saturday, in Central New York. The riders got their first two cards at Trappers Pizza, where the run began. The motor bikers rode through before stopping at a restaurant to collect another card. The last two cards were given out at Trappers again, in the end. The grand prize went to the biker with the best hand. A lot of money was collected, as there was a registration fee for taking part in the run. The collection will be given to a charitable cause, for children. News10now.com reports:

Organizers say that gives bikers more than enough incentive to participate. At the end, they're going to feel good they contributed to a worthy cause, and they're going to walk away with a prize.

Read More: Motorcycle poker run