Zynga’s stock may be continuing to tank, but I still tend to believe the company is likely to be a major player in the future of online gaming — if only because of the number of poker media with whom I regularly play Scramble with Friends.
But while still reserving my right to make a complete 180 on the above assessment, I’ve been seeing some new pimpage lately (by the #1 purveyors of digital gaming for anyone age 13 or older) that suggests we may have been on to something when passing off a cheap joke about the convergence of online poker and virtual farming.
What do you think? Is Zynga more interested in redistributing poker monies to Farmville in an effort to keep their once glorious game of agribusiness alive and well, or vice versa — more interested in using their newest Farmville release to grow a new generation of future gamblers real-money social gaming players?
Caesars Entertainment Corp. is paying the state a $100,000 fine to settle underage gambling charges, but may face a stiffer penalty if it happens again.
“This is not an isolated incident, but a pattern of abuse,” Nevada Gaming Commissioner Randolph Townsend said Thursday as the regulatory panel voted to accept the settlement with Caesars over multiple charges of gambling and alcohol consumption by underage customers at several of the company’s Strip resorts between 2010 and May of this year.
Townsend, whose comments were echoed by fellow commissioners John Moran Jr. and Tony Alamo Jr., said Caesars was getting off easy.
“If it happens again, I want a seven-figure settlement or else we will litigate it,” Townsend said. “As we enter the Internet gaming world, this becomes a significant issue.”
POKER CON? Lo Toney plays his cards close to the vest when questioned about Zynga’s entrée into casinoville and supposed disinterest in the future of real-money online play.
Wall Street is buzzing about a coming Zynga IPO — set for December 15, according to the Huffington Post — and what it may or may not say about social gaming industry valuations in regards to bingo games to play for free and overall US economic health in a more-global internet age. Expected to raise at least $10 billion, this hotly anticipated initial public offering (one born of poker, mind you) could well be the biggest financial news in the history of our beloved little game.
Big Casinos are paying close attention, of course. It’s a fine line these days between social gaming and online gambling, particularly in a multinational economy built on virtual currency. I spoke with Zynga Poker General Manager Lo Toney a couple weeks ago … he wouldn’t make “forward-looking statements” about the IPO, and as per usual denied any interest in the future of legalized real-money online gambling … even as the company announced further steps into the casino world.
But beyond the promo that usually would have little appeal to a grizzled old Poker blog like Pokerati, we did at least get to touch on the recent removal of tobacco (and water bongs) from the Zynga gift shop, my personal addiction to the Zynga Poker iPhone app, and the advantages, challenges, and social responsibilities that come with being able to market your poker (and now casino) games to 13-year-olds.
Even if Toney is totally sincere about Zynga’s indifference to the possibility of legalized online gambling in the future, brick-and-mortar casinos are still actively trying to emulate Zynga’s social gaming success. No wonder the company appears so well-suited for such a big investment in the next generation of poker player and casino patrons as they come of age.
UPDATE: It’s official, both La n DC qualified! For the inaugural minor-leagueChampions LeagueNIT 2011 WSOP-Freeroll World Championship. Whatever it turns out that people end up calling it … we can only hope here at Pokerati for a high-stakes poker lovers’ quarrel at the final table.
La N Dc
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!! Finally heading HOME! After 3wks of grinding I am happy and proud to say my Baby has successfully crawled his way into the 10k seat freeroll. Great job Baby, so proud of you!! 😀 We now have 2shots at 300k 🙂
For at least a few players, today is a day kinda like when high-school kids wait to get their college acceptance/rejection letters … waiting to see the final points tally to be official, so they know whether or not they qualified for the WSOP-Circuit National Championship — the $1 million freeroll that will kick off the 2011 WSOP.
Click here for the national leaderboard to see who’s got a seat for sure, and who looks likely as we wait for WSOP officials to turn orange squares into red
Team Pokerati’s La Sengphet is a lock (8th among non automatic qualifiers with 155 points, 2 rings, 7 cashes, $67k) … yay La! You go girl! … and, of course, she also won a non-points pendant for her 1st place finish in the WSOP-Caesars ladies event. And it looks like her other half, David Clark, also will make the cut but just barely (112.5 pts – 1 ring, 9 cashes, $59.5k) … DC made a final table in a non-ring PLO/8 event at WSOP-NOLA for good measure without the points … and he finishes just ahead of Steve Zolotow, who qualifies with the same point total, no rings, just 3 cashes, and $43k in earnings to give you an idea who got in at the bottom of the field.
At the very bottom, interestingly enough, with 100 points, is John Riordan, who won a ring and $210k in Florida. But he will not get a seat this year because he is not yet 21. Will be curious to see how the WSOP handles this case … will he simply get a rain check for when he comes of age? Because if so, when will we see bona fide WSOP-Teen events?!? You know, of course, that I am in the minority willing to admit that I think poker is good for kids.
Another late qualifier is longtime friend of Pokerati’s Josh Evans … who finished 3rd in the WSOP Southern Regional championship last week at Harrah’s New Orleans. Thrilled about that, as it gives us another excuse to re-run that highly acclaimed but not quite award-winning film we created about Josh as he got 6-figure deep in the ’07 main event:
[CORRECTION: Josh got 3rd in the WSOP-NOLA $1,600 main event … which still gives him enough to qualify (140ish pts, 7 cashes $81k) but did not give him the guaranteed seat as just making a Regional Championship final table does.]
Pauly pops in to Vegas for the WPBT as Dan prepares for another day of quasilive-blogging Harry Reid’s online poker hubbub. But when Dan reveals plans to corner the last untapped market in poker with something called Pokerati Underage Poker — PUP — Pauly has to consider his obligation to call Child Protective Services. However upon closer analysis, he begins to see the potential in a tour built on birthday freerolls for teenage girls — and going after the next generation of real-money players before they can drive. Alas, Dan says now it won’t happen thanks to Harry Reid?
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Nightline gets into the online gambling fray by taking a deeper look at internet poker players under age 21 — represented by defending WSOP champion Joe Cada and others — tonight on ABC at 11:35pm ET/PT.
Kristy, Amanda, and Gloria better watch out … a new generation of on-camera floor reporters is rising through the ranks … check out Katie, arguably the best poker interviewer in middle school. This adorable underage YouTube reporter tracked down legendary Louisville hoops coach and NCAA Hall of Famer Denny Crum during a March Madness charity tourney to talk a little poker:
Though technically the hand he recalls may not be a bad beat considering the unfortunate player got it all-in after the flop, it really is a pretty rough way to go out, first hand of the WSOP main event … and Katie’s ability to assess the situation and multiply by 10,000 makes her a nominee for Top Poker Reporter in the Under-12 division.
It’s just my guess that the online poker/gambling lobby is gonna need some doctors who are experts on addiction in their pockets to counter medical opinions like these, who are warning about the extreme dangers of chasing straights and flush draws. I pity the kid whose parents actually take this advice.
I would treat finding gambling Web pages on your teen’s Internet history with the same concern as if you found a baggie with crystal meth in their drawer. I sure wouldn’t need a checklist to tell me the trouble has already begun and I have a crisis on my hands. I would have my kid face-to-face with a youth counselor with experience in dealing with this problem for at least four sessions, to find out how to turn this around
I’m just guessing the authors of this column weren’t following the 2010 PCA nor have they tried the new Rush Poker yet.
In yet another clear sign that America is ready for fully legal online poker … and perhaps another example of why it will take so long to get there … New Jersey is looking to jump ahead of the federal curve (and California) with a bill to allow its citizens play online poker freely … and, of course, for the state to profit from the action.
“There are probably 500,000 online poker players in New Jersey alone. And we’re missing out on around $100 million in revenue,†said state Sen. Raymond Lesniak, D-Union, the bill’s sponsor.
Meanwhile, the opposition is upping its rhetoric:
Arnold Wexler, former executive director of the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey, said legalizing Internet gaming would make it easier for people to “lose their life.â€
Lose their LIFE?!? Wow … He goes on to make it about the kids. Mild opponents of any online poker bill have continue to make it clear that if anything is going to move forward, they need some assurances that 13-year-olds aren’t playing on their brother’s account and developing mad skillz that will allow them to win more than $2 million in the PCA before completing their first semester of college.
And while we’re on the topic of New Jersey … CORRECTION: Despite what I may have twittered with heavy disclaimers on Tuesday, The Situation is not a poster on 2+2.
The American Government recently froze over $30 Million belonging to online poker players, and now a payment processor is fighting back! Plus, the British betting company Betfair prepares to bring legal online gambling to the US!
