February 20, 2012
There’s a corporate rush like something that hasn’t been seen for a while in the casino industry — to secure and develop poker-related assets. After the Department of Justice’s quiet reinterpretation of the 1961 Wire Act, and subsequent political buzz it created , corporate gaming partners jumped into bed together faster than you can change a relationship status on Facebook.
• Kentucky-based horse racing and casino company Churchill Downs acquires the assets of Bluff Media.
• Caesars Entertainment extends its partnership with 888 Holdings.
• MGM, Boyd Gaming, and BwinParty looking for a wild poker three-way.
• Vegas-based ShuffleMaster dangling diamonds in front of OnGame Network.
• Pinnacle Entertainment in acquisition talks with newly formed Epic Poker League.
• Golden Nugget partners up with ChiliGaming for online poker.
What’s next? Will Pokerati be getting a bid from Palms Casino Resort?
More…
April 16, 2009
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.
