• Lara Croft™, Golden Idols And Wins Aplenty At Spin Palace

The world famous video game and film adventure property Tomb Raider™ makes an exciting debut in online gambling this week at Spin Palace and Ruby Fortune, elevating the concept to a highly entertaining video slot with features aplenty. The unique and instantly recognizable Lara Croft™ and Tomb Raider™ have been licensed by Microgaming and skillfully crafted into a brand new 5 reel, 15 payline, multiple coin video slot, with a Wild and Scatter Symbol, Bonus Feature and Free Spins. Tomb Raider™ is the first Microgaming video slot where the player can win entry into the Bonus Feature from the Free Spins. Players can bet up to 5 coins on each of the 15 paylines, taking the maximum wager per spin to 75 coins in a range of denominations from a cent right through to a dollar. The razor sharp, richly coloured graphics carry an adventurous lost treasure theme full of mysterious golden idols, magnificent tigers, the familiar Tomb Raider™ logos and of course the inimitable Lara Croft™ herself. With the right combinations, a wide variety of entertaining bonuses, scatters, free spins and wild symbol rewards are possible, most contributing to the end payline. With a maximum bet, winnings of up to $37 500 are achievable, and with the free spin x3 multiplier feature that reward can soar to $112 500. Just one of the features of the game is a hidden underground tomb containing 12 gift-bearing idols. When 3, 4 or 5 golden bonus idols appear on the active payline, it triggers this Tomb Bonus where rewards are added to payline wins. This can be triggered during Free Spins too, and the player can choose 3, 4 or 5 of the golden treasure idols. This ingenious and highly entertaining adaptation of the world famous Tomb Raider™ brand is sure to take the online gambling community by storm and keep players coming back for more. Our players can take advantage of our exclusive 300% slots bonus (up to $150 FREE) to play the new Tomb Raider™ Video Slot at Spin Palace!

> Read the full story here Source : Spin Palace Casino

• SportingBet PLC Acquires Paradise Poker For $300M

London, UK (October 28, 2004) – Sportingbet Plc (LSE: SBT.L), the world’s largest publicly traded online betting, gambling and gaming company, announces the acquisition of Paradise Poker, a leader in the fast-growing online poker sector, creating the first global online poker, sports betting and casino operator. The deal brings Sportingbet’s customer base to more than two million players and provides a popular online poker product to serve the rapidly growing online poker market in the United States and worldwide. Paradise Poker is the world’s third largest online poker operator with a market share of approximately 10 percent. Sportingbet acquired Paradise Poker for an initial consideration of $297.5 million, creating the world’s largest online gaming business. Sportingbet itself today reported turnover of $2,620 million and an operating profit before goodwill and exceptional costs of $39.57 million for the 16 months to July 31, 2004. Sportingbet operates more than 30 brands in 200 countries across the world including its flagship brand, Sportsbook.com. “Sportingbet’s acquisition of Paradise Poker has a significant impact on both our company and the online betting, gambling and gaming market,” said Alex Czajkowski, marketing director, Sportingbet Plc Americas Region. “Like Sportingbet’s Sportsbook.com, Paradise Poker is a strong brand with a large and loyal customer base.” Paradise Poker’s business model benefits from high operational gearing, due to its small, predominately fixed cost base. Operating costs relate largely to processing fees; personnel and IT costs are low relative to rake and tournament fee income. Discretionary marketing spend is the single largest cost incurred by Paradise. The financial model has historically resulted in Paradise generating both high operating margins (57 percent) and strong cash flow. In August and September 2004, Paradise’s aggregate monthly rake and tournament fee income was $6.6 million and $7.0 million respectively. Paradise Poker has over 721,000 registered customers and 97,000 active players. With strong site security, policies and independent auditors, it is a respected brand focused on integrity and quality. In addition, Paradise Poker regularly offers free tournaments where players can win a seat at some of the world’s biggest televised poker tournaments. Poker is one of the world’s most popular card games, with an estimated 50 to 80 million players in the United States alone. The game has gone mainstream in recent years with the emergence of televised poker tournaments on ESPN, Bravo and other major cable networks, and become more popular with the presence of Hollywood players such as Ben Affleck, Matthew Perry, Leonardo DiCaprio and Carrie Fisher. Online poker has exploded in the last two years and remains a rapidly growing, dynamic and sustainable market.

> Read the full story here Source : Press Release

• E-Gambling Duo May Roll Into FTSE

TWO of the world’s biggest internet gambling companies are considering initial public offerings (IPOs) in London, the larger of which could go straight into the blue-chip FTSE 100 index. Both companies — iGlobalMedia and Cassava Enterprises — are based in the same building in Gibraltar, but there is no connection between them. They have, however, previously held informal merger talks. IGlobalMedia, which is best known for its PartyPoker website, is controlled by a small number of private shareholders, including Ruth Parasol, its head of international business development. The company is estimated to achieve earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) of about $350 million (£190 million). Given the company’s rapid rate of growth, it should be able to command a valutaion of well over £2 billion in an IPO, giving it automatic entry to the FTSE 100. The appointment during the summer of Richard Segal, the former Odeon Cinemas boss, as chief executive has heightened speculation of an IPO. [...]

> Read the full story here Source : TimesOnline.co.uk

• New Series Of Poker Tournaments To Be Televised In 2005

LONDON, October 29 /PRNewswire/ -- The worldwide poker phenomenon is making its way into some of the world's most beautiful casinos in some of the world's most historic cities as the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) makes its way through Europe. The first season of the EPT, sponsored by PokerStars - host of the world's largest online tournaments, includes poker tour events in Barcelona, London, Paris, Vienna and Dublin. The Grand Final event will be held March 15-19, 2005 in the majestic Monte Carlo Casino in Monaco. Prize money is expected to be more than EUR 2 million for the final event alone, with more than EUR 1 million going to the winner. "Finally, Europe will host a premier poker tour. The EPT is the first pan-European poker tournament series," said John Duthie, executive producer of the PokerStars European Poker Tour and the holder of the Ladbrokes Poker Million title. "All across Europe, from casinos to online sites like PokerStars, interest in poker is booming, so it's only natural to provide a circuit for the serious European poker player." [...]

> Read the full story here Source : NewRatings.com

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