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Poker firm begins trading

Poker firm begins trading By Tim Richardson For The Register Shares in 888 began trading this morning following the IPO of the online casino. The share price was set at 175p valuing the gambling operation at £590m ($1.04bn). At one stage in the run up to the float the company was estimated to be worth between £700 and £800m. However, the enthusiasm for internet gaming took a knock four weeks ago after PartyGaming, which floated for £4.6bn earlier this year, warned that online gambling would not continue its current rapid growth. As a result, its shares tumbles by around a third triggering a loss of investor confidence. In statement today 888 chief exec John Anderson said: "We have a clear strategy for creating sustainable shareholder value by becoming the market leader in the online gaming industry and continuing to provide our members with a comprehensive range of gaming activities in a secure and trusted environment." Which is nice.

Kyl’s 7th failure damages anti-gambling lobby

Kyl’s 7th failure damages anti-gambling lobby From eGaming Review Magazine Legislation outlawing online gambling has little chance of success following the failure of the latest attempt in the US Senate, according to two leading industry commentators. The US Senate rejected a proposed amendment to an Appropriations Bill last week that would have forced banks and credit card companies to block egaming transactions. It was the seventh time legislation proposed by Senator John Kyl has failed in the US, and analysts instantly reduced their appraisal of regulatory risk to egaming businesses with strong US custom. A research note by investment bank Cannacord Capital said the senate had shown “little appetite for anti-gaming legislation”. And David Carruthers, chief executive of BetonSports, said he felt the latest failure from Senator Kyl was reflective of a lack of interest in prohibitive legislation. “The failure of the Kyl bill is symptomatic of where we are in the debate,” Carruthers said. “I don’t think there is any traction to internet gaming legislation in the US,” he added. Bill White, chief executive of software firm Global Cyber GPS, told delegates at the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) in Las Vegas, a US egaming industry was on the way. “A legitimate, fully lawful Internet gambling industry is coming to the US, and soon,” White said. But Carruthers said he felt talk of regulated egaming in the US was still some way off. “I don’t think regulation is around the corner, we are at least five years away, but it is time to start having a serious debate.” Cannacord also added a note of caution to the positive assessments pointing out there is still the looming spectre of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) ruling. The US has to confirm by April 2006 if it plans to permit Antiguan egaming firms to offer services to US citizens or ban all forms of remote gambling in the US. “This Bill is likely to “confirm” or “clarify” as opposed to “authorizse” the US view of online gambling,” Cannacord said.

A tribute to Adam Anhang

A tribute to Adam Anhang from eGaming Review Magazine David Carruthers pays tribute to his friend Adam Anhang, chief executive of CasinoWebCam, who was killed on Friday. Adam Anhang, chief executive of software firm CasinoWebCam, was tragically killed last Friday. Anhang was the victim of a vicious attack, which has left his friends, family and colleagues devastated. Here David Carruthers, chief executive of sportsbook BetonSports and a close friend of Anhang, pays tribute to one of the most intelligent and well liked members of the egaming industry. This week our industry has lost a true leader and visionary to an untimely and tragic death. Adam Anhang contributed much to our industry. His creativity, commitment to excellence, and attention to detail benefited us all. His patient and laid-back personality gave him the industry reputation of being the kind of person who would work well with anyone he met. Anhang received his B.S. in Economics from the prestigious Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he often returned there to teach pro bono. After college he became extremely successful as a real estate developer and investor. One of his crowning achievements is the exclusive Vieques Martineau Bay Resort & Spa. In typical Adam style, the island has quickly become one of the trendiest vacation spots, not to mention one of the world’s most sought after investment locales. He began his career in the online gaming industry as the CFO of Dr Ho.com. However, Adam possessed the gift of being able to look at the status quo and find within it the potential of what could be. He advanced the online gaming industry through his live online gaming software, which brings the energy of the land based casino environment to users sitting at their home computers. He took this single concept and developed it from the embryonic stage into a viable and thriving organization, CWC Gaming, which currently powers over 15 licensees, including my own company, Bet on Sports plc (easy bets). Adam did exceptionally well in the industry and knew how to work well with all of us, from top-level executives to the associates right out of grad school. I will miss his counsel, I will miss our conversations about the industry, but most of all, I will miss his friendship.

Poker Terms - The Origin Of The Nuts

Poker Terms - The Origin Of The Nuts by Marc Weinberg for Online Poker Insider For a change of pace (instead of me whining about a bad beat or gloating over an improbable victory), I dedicate this column to a little poker etymology, namely discussing the origin of an interesting poker term, "the nuts". You hear it all the time playing poker, but where does "the nuts" derive from, and how did it come to mean the absolute best hand in a poker game? When you hold the nuts in poker you have an unbeatable hand. If a hold'em board shows Ad-Td-Jc-2c-3s and you hold the Qs-Kh then you my friend have the stone cold mortal nuts. This cool poker term dates way back to the Wild West where cowboys would gather round a table, preferably in a saloon but alternatively around a campfire, and play cards. Back then poker players would not always bet with cash or chips. It was a more rustic time, and men would often bet their horse and wagon on a poker hand. Legend has it that when a cowboy bet his wagon he would unscrew the nuts from his wagon wheels and place them in the pot. The reason behind this gesture was that in the event that he lost the pot he could not leap up, hop into his wagon and ride away with his wager. The fact that he was willing to put those nuts in the pot as surety for the strength of his hand resonated through the prairie, and came to be synonymous with the best hand. A cowboy would only bet "the nuts" when he was convinced that his hand was the best out there. Everyone knows that Wild Bill was gunned down while holding Aces and Eights, and that we now call it the dead man's hand. But who at your table knows the true origin of the nuts, other than you of course, pardner.