The Nightly Turbo: FullTiltPoker.eu Launches, Bally's Acquires Amaya Gaming, and More
On Monday morning, FullTiltPoker.EU, which is regulated in Malta, went live. Find out what this means for the three countries that have already migrated to the .eu client and the rest of Europe in tonight's Nightly Turbo.
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PokerNews was named the Best Poker Affiliate at the 2013 iGB Affiliate Awards. Find out who else took home hardware here.
Daniel Negreanu is attempting to raise $100,000 in seven days for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Find out why and how you can help here.
Kyle Julius finished runner-up in the PokerStars Sunday Million. Find out who else had success on the virtual felt in The Sunday Briefing.
The World Poker Tour Lucky Hearts Poker Open broke the money bubble on Sunday. Find out who is the chip leader, and which European Poker Tour winner broke the bubble here.
The Seat Open Series continues this week with Johnny Lodden. Find out what he is "thinking" and more here.
FullTiltPoker.eu Launches
If you were playing on Full Tilt Poker early Monday morning, then you probably received this message:
Just days after reporting that FullTiltPoker.eu would launch "in the next few weeks," the sister site is up and running in Malta. Players from Greece, Luxembourg and Slovenia have already been transitioned to the new site, while players in Finland, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Romania and Sweden will most likely be switching soon.
The client is indistinguishable to FullTiltPoker.com. The tables, player pools, promotions, and features are identical. The difference is that, according to certain income tax laws in the EU, gambling winnings from sites based with the European Economic Area (EEA) are tax free. The Isle of Man, where both PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker operate their ".com" clients, is not a part of the EEA.
For players in Greece, Luxembourg and Slovenia, using the new client is mandatory. Players must agree to new terms and conditions, and download new software. Account balances will remain in USD.
Carbon Poker App
Carbon Poker has unveiled a new poker app that will allow players in the United States to play free-money games, and plan to release real money games at a later date. The announcement came from site representative, “CarbonbRyan” last Friday, who posted on Carbon’s customer forum on TwoPlusTwo.
The app has finished final testing, and Carbon Poker is looking for players “interested in being involved in a first preview ahead of its wider release to the public.”
The soft launch is limited to use on the iPhone and iPod Touch, and supports no-limit, fixed-limit and pot-limit hold’em play-money games only. Real-money games should become available soon, as should support for players with an iPad or an Android device. Carbon Poker also plans to implement tournament poker.
Players interested in partaking in the soft launch application are directed to contact [email protected].
Bally Technologies Acquires Amaya Gaming
On Monday, Bally Technologies announced the acquisition of the business-to-business platform of Canadian-based gaming operator, Amaya Gaming Group Inc. According to the memorandum of understanding, Amaya’s Ongame Poker Platform, “Ongame,” will be used in conjunction with Bally’s iGaming Platform.
The arrangement will provide Bally’s land-based casino operators with an integrated solution of casino content created by Amaya as a licensed gaming supplier.
"We are delighted to add Bally as a partner in the US Market," commented Darcy Krogh, VP Business Development of Amaya Gaming Group. "They are an established global brand with great customer reach in the land based gaming industry. The combination of Bally and Amaya should provide casino operators and their players many benefits of a strong strategic alliance, bringing state of the art poker and casino content to the market."
Bally Technologies' Vice President of Business Development John Connelly added: "Ongame is a world leader in the online poker space and we are excited to incorporate their best-in-class offering into the Bally iGaming platform. This relationship further validates the current transformation within the online gaming sector, which integrates traditional and online casino systems, allowing casino operators to protect their data, while offering their customers Best in Class content."
Ongame already includes more than 25 of the e-gaming industry’s strongest brands, operating in regulated markets like France, Italy, Denmark, Belgium and Spain. The company offers both operators and players a variety of cash games and tournaments to choose from.
Jason Rivkin Wins Parx Big Stax 300
The Big Stax Poker Series at Parx Casino in Bensalem, Pennsylvania is underway, and the winner of Parx Big Stax 300 is Jason Rivkin. Rivkin bested a field of 1,361 entrants to earn the top prize of $73,161. He defeated Brian Hayes heads up when Hayes four-bet jammed preflop holding the A♥8♥. Rivkin had him crushed with the 8♦8♠, and held as the board ran out 10♥K♣Q♠5♣8♠. Hayes earned $51,289 for his efforts.
Parx Big Stax 300 Final Table
| Place | Name | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Jason Rivkin | $73,161 |
| 2nd | Brian Hayes | $51,289 |
| 3rd | Sachin Ramrakhani | $33,070 |
| 4th | Bryan Trischetta | $24,436 |
| 5th | Hua Wei | $18,298 |
| 6th | Peter D'Angelo | $14,773 |
| 7th | Andrew Mullen | $12,238 |
| 8th | Jose Melendez | $9,743 |
| 9th | Michael Borovetz | $7,327 |
| 10th | Steve Eyzerovich | $5,386 |
The $1,600 Main Event, which includes three starting days, will begin on Thursday. Unlimited re-entry is allowed on all three of the starting days up until the end of play. Players are welcome to play all of the starting days, and if they survive more than once, the largest stack they bagged will be used on Day 2.
Matt Glantz, the Parx poker ambassador, couldn't be more proud of the Big Stax Series thus far:
One large step for Philly Poker. #BigStax @parxpokerroom begins NOW! GL to everyone.
— Matt Glantz (@MattGlantz)
For for, head on over to the Parx Poker Blog.
Do the Harlem Shake
The PokerNews video team works very hard. So, at EPT Deauville, they decided to take a few seconds to have a little fun and commemorate a funny viral meme. Enjoy.
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