• Joaquim Wins €1,453,610.18 - Largest Online Jackpot EVER!

"It will be my 50th birthday in July as well as my 25th Wedding Anniversary in August. So I’m planning on celebrating these two events with my winnings." Joaquim M., won €1,453,610.18 ($1,779,827.44) on Major Millions on June 1, 2004 at Jackpot City. Did anything unusual happen on the day of your win? "No, it was a normal day; nothing unusual happened, except for winning the jackpot." What was your initial reaction to your big win? "It was hard to believe at first. The realization of having won this amount only came later." What was your family's reaction? "My family, who were in Lisbon at the time, couldn’t believe it at first, but were very excited." How do you plan on spending your winnings? "Initially I want to invest some of it and also share part of my winnings with my son and daughter that are currently studying at the University in Lisbon." How will this win affect your life? "It hasn’t made a drastic change to our standard of living, however, with these winnings we will have enough funds to travel and see the world." What do you do for a living? "Currently I’m unemployed. I haven’t been working for the past 9 years as a result of an injury. I used to be a welder, making doors, gates, burglar bars and more." Are you married or single? Do you have kids? "Yes, I have been married for almost 25 years. I have a daughter and a son, both living and studying in Lisbon." How long had you been playing on the day of your win? "I must have been playing the slots for about 2 hours when I hit the jackpot." What do you do for good luck? "If you don’t play you don’t have a chance of winning." [...]

> Read the full story here Source : JackpotMadness.com

• William Hill Shares Slide After Chief Sells Stock Worth £5M

David Harding, the chief executive of William Hill, the second biggest bookmaker in Britain, has sold stock worth £5.2 million, almost his entire shareholding. The sale hit confidence in the stock, depressing William Hill shares by 18½p to 540p. On Wednesday the shares had reached a record of 558½p. At least one broker, Seymour Pierce, told clients to follow Mr Harding’s lead and sell. The broker argued that competition and maturing markets meant the high share price could not be justified. Mr Harding became the second William Hill executive director within three months to sell millions of pounds worth of shares. A company spokeswoman said Mr Harding’s share sale had been triggered by “personal financial reasons” and did not reflect his commitment to the business. [...]

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

• Poker’s Big Guns Gear Up For The World Poker Championship

Before the dust has had time to settle on this year’s groundbreaking world series, the biggest names in poker are preparing themselves for the World Poker Championships in Dublin. Sponsored by online casino Gaming Club, the event kicks off on June 23rd at the Merrion Club Casino and promises the largest ever Pot Limit Hold’em first prize at a land-based casino – EUR 250,000. Tim Johnson, CEO and Chairman of Carmen Media, the group which owns The Gaming Club, said: 'Our customers are playing more and more poker online, and so sponsorship of the World Poker Championship by the Gaming Club gives us the opportunity to offer them something really special. The prizes and the competition will be world beating.” Players can sign up by visiting www.worldpokerchampionship.com and registering to apply for one of the seats available. A buy in for the tournament costs EUR 6,000 Euros. In addition, the Gaming Club Poker is offering a limited number of free seats as part of a new customer promotion.

> Read the full story here Source : OnlineCasinoNews.com

• 10 Minutes With... Andrew Beveridge From eCOGRA

Max Drayman: Tell us a little about your background and your role within eCOGRA. Andrew Beveridge: I assumed the role of CEO on a full-time basis in October 2002. I initially embarked on a career in investment banking in London and Hong Kong, having qualified as a Chartered Accountant and complimented this with an MBA. About 8 years ago I became involved with an international supplier of pay-television and interactive services ... and subsequently I've been extensively involved in a number of online gambling initiatives, including operations and software development. It had been obvious to me for some time that an organization such as eCOGRA could add tremendous value to this industry, and therefore I welcomed the opportunity to become involved as CEO. MD: In 25 words or less, what is eCOGRA? AB: In a nutshell eCOGRA is a genuine initiative to provide real regulation of quality online casinos through internationally set standards enforced by independent inspection and monitoring, and to provide a dispute resolution service to the player community where issues arise between a casino member and a player that cannot otherwise be satisfactorily settled. MD: In your words how will eCOGRA benefit the online gaming industry? AB: Essentially by guiding players to online casinos where they can expect to encounter fair gaming, honest and efficient treatment in all respects and operators that have been thoroughly checked out for financial and personal probity. We do this through our Seal system, and casinos awarded with this mark of quality and safety have had to submit themselves to precise, tough standards of honesty, efficiency and capability set by independent experts. We call these the eGAP or eCOGRA's Generally Accepted Practices. MD: And how will it benefit the online player? AB: Players have reached the stage where they demand better treatment. No unreasonably delayed payouts; no questionably disqualified bonuses; no badly applied wager through rules; no ignored emails. They want fair games, financially sound casinos with efficient and responsive Support and an avenue through which legitimate complaints can be independently investigated. All of those legitimate concerns have been front-of-mind in devising the eGAP or standards of eCOGRA and we intend to enforce them with our approved casinos. This is no cosmetic exercise - it is a hard-nosed business approach to providing the consumer (player) with the safe, fair and business-efficient services to which they are entitled in our view. [...]

> Read the full story here Source : WinnerOnline.com

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