It’s been a busy week of online gambling news, including trouble in New Jersey, new deals in California, and buy outs in Poker.

Today my mum phoned to explain how important it was that I go outside to get some sunshine. I had to tell her: So committed am I to gathering up the choicest morsels of news-meat that I will heedlessly flout my body’s basic Vitamin D requirements. Noble reader, if you find me sprawled in bed with my skin turned to dust (or whatever happens to people who don’t get enough sunlight), lay me on a poker table, set it alight and push it through the Rio. It’s what the Vikings would have wanted.

Aussie ‘Supergrass’ To Testify

The catalyst for Black Friday, Daniel Tzvetkoff, is to testify on April 9th at the trials of Chad Elie and John Campos. The Australian millionaire made his fortune as the head of Instabill, a payment processor frequently used by online poker players. After being arrested in April 2010 he become an informant, providing U.S. federal authorities with the evidence they needed to bring down PokerStars and Full Tilt. [The Australian]

UK Market No Longer Tax Free 

On Wednesday, a pasty-faced man with a red briefcase came before the people of Britain with a special list of things for the nation to complain about. The Budget, as it is more commonly known, contained information about big changes to the UK gaming sector. From now on operators will be required to pay tax on all profits generated by British players. [Poker Fuse]

Ups and Downs for Bwin

Bwin, the Austrian half of bwin.party, have had a mixed week. On the positive side, they released a new app for real-money poker on the iPad. Their network is now smushed together with Party Poker, so there should be plenty of action to keep you busy on the train or the toilet. Or the toilet on the train.

More negatively, Spanish lawmakers have decreed that football teams may not carry sponsorship logos belonging to companies not locally domiciled. Bwin operate from a zeppelin above the mountains of Mars Gibraltar and are therefore required to end their lucrative deal with league-topping Real Madrid. [Gaming Intelligence] & [The Olive Press]

All Alderney All the Time

The Alderney Gambling Control Commission added their 100th licensee this week in the form of the Relax Gaming network. Head of e-Commerce at Alderney, Robin LePrevost, was bullish about the island’s reputation after Black Friday, claiming that they have seen no slowdown in applications. Their questionable regulation of Full Tilt may not have stemmed the flow, but the addition of nearby Jersey to the license-providing market may have a more profound impact. [Card Player]

iSeriesLIVE to Debut in Ireland

The iSeriesLIVE is a brand new venture which allows viewers to wager on poker as it plays out live. The inaugural event takes place in Dublin on April 5th and features the likes of Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, and Faraz Jaka. As it unfolds, PaddyPower will be taking bets on the next elimination, how red or black the next flop will turn out, and all manner of ridiculous wagers. It’s all the fun of poker degeneracy without the inconvenience of actually having to actually play poker. [iSeriesLIVE]

I shall bid you adieu in the form of a congratulation. Noted wit-merchant David Mitchell is to tie the knot with poker player and journalist Victoria Coren. I’m happy for the couple, of course, but I’d mainly like to congratulate the universe for being a place in which two such interesting people can come together in the pursuit companionship and mysterious bedroom activities. A quick word to David, you might want to read up a little before the wedding night.

Not everyone is unhappy about the elimination of PokerStars and Full Tilt from the American online poker marketplace. Shares of Bwin/Party soared today on the London Stock Exchange, closing up nearly 35 percent on rather high trading volume.

And while in some ways this graph looks like the inverse of Party Gaming’s graph in ’06 come the UIGEA and their subsequent, calculated US pullout. But zoom out and you’ll see today’s rise for Party (now officially Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment) is merely a token blip in their long-term efforts to get back atop the online gaming world.

In fact, they had plummeted rather hard just this month as US legislative efforts began making it seem as if Stars and Tilt would be white-list operators in any future, regulated American online gaming economy.

Meanwhile, Scarlet got her hands on some detailed equity research from the venerable banking institution Barclay’s … assessing the impact of of the US DOJ’s actions on the European gaming market. Good in some spots, not as promising as some might think in others.

Click here to see for yourself.

The “bull case” they make, interestingly, is a scenario where both Stars and Tilt end up in full collapse.

The World Poker Tour seems to have gone from the leader in the industry to a company with teetering stock prices and an unknown future/direction. It’s no surprise that the past few years of declining tournaments on the schedule, players in the events, and television channels willing to pay for the shows, rumors will fly about a possible sale of the company.

And thus, we bring you the latest whisper, thanks to Bill Rini. Gaming Intelligence is suggesting that the WPT has been in talks with a company like bwin, which is the company that sponsored the WPT’s recent venture to Venice, Italy.

It’s been discussed for some time that PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker are interested in a purchase as well, both companies of which are sponsors of the WPT. Since numerous entities have good relationships with the World Poker Tour, it might simply be a matter of $$$.

It appears that the WPT Europe that was announced in February 2008 may finally get off the ground this year in its attempt to compete with the mighty European Poker Tour. A criticism of the WPT as its tournament schedule has decreased has been its focus on staying in North America. However, at least 4 tournaments are scheduled to take place in Europe and Africa in the coming months.

Besides the already announced WPT Venice in May and WPT Marrakech in October, two more WPT tournaments have been announced this week. The WPT Spanish Championship returns to Barcelona in late June, while in September the WPT-Merit Cyprus Classic Poker Tournament makes its debut. None of these tournaments are scheduled to air in the US, but the action can be followed online or broadcast on European television.

Also noteworthy are the various online poker sites that don’t allow US customers that are getting on the WPT bandwagon to hold satellites for these WPT tournaments like bwin in Venice and Chili Poker in Marrakech. The season VIII schedule for the rest of the tour has yet to be announced, and will be interesting to see what other changes will appear.

Another one bites the dust. It was in late March that Bugsy’s Club closed and sent its players to PokerStars, but another shut its online poker operations yesterday. PokerRoom.com posted a message on its site, including a note suggesting that players are switching to bwin, where special bonuses await the fleeing players. Here is the note from PokerRoom:

End of an Era
Apr 14, 2009

Well folks, after almost ten years of fun and games, it is with a heavy heart and a tear in my eye that I have to announce that this is it; as of 11:00 CET today, Tuesday the 14th of April 2009, PokerRoom.com will no longer be open for online poker.

More…

The World Poker Tour recently announced its first Italian tournament in partnership with bwin poker. WPT Venice will be held in early May at Casino di Venezia, which sounds strangely familiar… Oh yes, I was there in October! While I was barely able to enter the lobby without a paid casino membership and almost had my camera confiscated by security guards for taking pictures of the entry courtyard, it did look like an amazing European casino tucked away between cobblestone streets and the Grand Canal.

Shockingly, WPT Venice organizers have yet to extend a personal invitation to me. I’m predominantly Italian and I do speak about five words of the language, people! C’mon…

Anyway, here’s the pertinent info:

World Poker Tour Offers First Italian Event: WPT Venice, Powered by bwin

Vienna, March 9 — Bringing the coveted World Poker Tour® to the beautiful city of Venice, WPT Enterprises and bwin have partnered to create the first ever WPT tournament in Italy: WPT Veniceâ„¢, Powered by bwin. The tournament will combine the legacy and fierce competitiveness of the World Poker Tour and the stunning Casino di Venezia, situated right on the east bank of the Grand Canal. The main event is scheduled to take place May 6 through May 10. The event, final table and crowning of the first WPT Venice Champion will be filmed for broadcast via Web-TV on www.bwin.com.

“We’re thrilled to launch our first ever brick-and-mortar WPT tournament offering in Italy,” said WPT Founder, President and CEO, Steve Lipscomb. “bwin is a strong partner with the right market position in the region. We look forward to working with them to bring this event and the WPT brand to poker players in Italy and Europe.”

“Partnering with the World Poker Tour illustrates our dedication to establishing bwin as the premier gaming destination for poker players eager to live the dream of participating in multi-million brick and mortar poker tournaments. Location was also very important to us, and Casino di Venezia is truly a location worthy of the players, the poker media as well as the bwin and WPT brands.”

“We are delighted to be working with WPT on this spectacular tournament. This event will bring together the excitement and interactivity that only bwin can offer – people will be able to bet on the players of the final table while watching the action on their screen.” added Manfred Bodner, Co-CEO of bwin.

The main event will feature a buy-in of €4,000+400. In addition to world-class player hospitality, there will be cash games and side events available throughout the tournament. The winner will receive an official WPT Venice™ bracelet as well and a $25,000 seat in the 2010 World Poker Tour Championship.

Not long after it was announced that the Italian government legalized online poker for its citizens, major poker websites are beginning to receive licenses and launch the Italian versions of their sites. The Amministrazione Autonoma dei Monopoli di Stato has been busy granting requests as quickly as possible so the revenue can start rolling in. (Take note, U.S. gov… It’s not a complicated idea.)

PokerStars was the first major site to announce its foray into the Italian market – legally, that is – with an Italian-only version of PS. The press release came on October 17th that PokerStars.it was up and running, and the site anticipates 500,000 accounts will be opened during its first year. As I write this post, there are more than 60,000 players at the virtual Italian tables.

Online poker betting site bwin just announced this week that it has launched its Italian-only site as well – bwin.it – that offers online poker. Most likely, many other poker sites have their applications in to the Italian authorities and are simply waiting for their licenses to be approved.

(Note to readers who are tired of hearing about Italy: Seriously? *shrug* Fine.)

I think I had you at the first five letters…

Evidently, the Pussycat Dolls are being paid enough to like to play poker, and they are willing to do it with the winner(s) of this contest on bwin poker. The first two winners will fly to a mysterious place called PokerIsland to spend the weekend at a luxurious villa with the Pussycat Dolls from August 16-19. It seems that every week, two more freeroll winners will make the trip, all leading up to a grand finale of some sort in October, the winner of which will be a year-long sponsored player of the bwin team.

1. Has anyone had any experience with bwin?
2. Did anyone read anything I wrote after Pussycat Dolls?

Sounds like a fun contest. And if you can take a guest, consider Dan, who just might need a vacation from his vacation per his CSR posts.

UPDATE: PokerIsland seems to be in Ibiza, Spain.