Full Tilt Poker's Chris "Jesus" Ferguson Takes Second Place in World Series of Poker $2,000 Pot-Limit Omaha with Rebuys Tournament

Friday, June 17th, 2005

Las Vegas, NV (PRWEB) -- Full Tilt Poker's team of professional players have proven once again that poker is a game of skill rather than chance. Playing in a field comprised of more than 200 of the world's best players, two representatives of www.fulltiltpoker.com reached the final table of the World Series of Poker's $2,000 Pot-Limit Omaha (with rebuys) tournament.

Full Tilt Poker's Chris "Jesus" Ferguson (nicknamed for his long hair and angelic appearance) posted a second-place finish, narrowly missing out on adding a sixth World Series of Poker bracelet to his collection. Ferguson's performance earned him $210,460. Ferguson, the 2000 WSOP Main Event winner, went into heads-up play with an almost 3 to 1 chip deficit and battled brilliantly – exchanging the lead with eventual winner Josh Arieh - for nearly two hours before finally succumbing.

"Since 2000, Chris Ferguson has been the most dominant all around player at the World Series of Poker. This result simply adds to that stellar record," said fellow professional and Full Tilt Poker representative Howard Lederer.

Full Tilt Poker representative Erik Seidel also turned in a memorable performance in the tournament, wasting no time in returning to a final table after winning his seventh WSOP bracelet in the $2,000 No-Limit Hold 'em tournament earlier in the week. Seidel finished ninth, banking $23,130 for his efforts.

Ferguson and Seidel represent one of the fastest growing online poker sites, www.fulltiltpoker.com, and spend several hours a week online helping amateur players learn the game by sharing their poker knowledge through real-time chats at the virtual tables. Along with Ferguson and Seidel, 25 other top poker professionals play exclusively at www.fulltiltpoker.com, where they have helped to create the best possible atmosphere for players who want to improve their games.

"Team Full Tilt" is a select group of the world's finest professional poker players, including Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer, Erick Lindgren, Erik Seidel, Andy Bloch, Phil Gordon (co-host, Celebrity Poker Showdown), Clonie Gowen, John Juanda, Jennifer Harman and others. Full Tilt Poker offers players the unique opportunity to play, chat, and learn with the best in the game. The 27 professional players who play at www.fulltiltpoker.com have a total of 37 World Series of Poker bracelets, and are looking to add several more to their collection in the remaining events over the next four weeks.

PartyGaming will today cut the value of its flotation

Wednesday, June 15th, 2005

Nils Pratley
The Guardian

PartyGaming will today cut the value of its flotation after hitting deep scepticism among London fund managers about the original price tag of up to $10bn (£5.5bn).
City sources say the online poker company will set its value at $8bn to $9.2bn, leaving the final price to be decided after detailed presentations to institutional investors.

Dresdner Kleinwort Benson, the investment bank sponsoring the float, has been stung by fund managers' concentration on doubts about the legality of online gambling in the United States, home of most of the players on PartyGaming's website, Party Poker.

Analysts at ING - a member of banking consortium promoting the float - even failed to justify a $10bn price.

ING put a "fair" value on PartyGaming of $8.85bn and what it said were as many as six "main" categories of risk to investors. These included the standard concern about United States senators' attempts to ban online gambling but extended to worries about increased competition, collusion by online poker players and even the risk of money-laundering through the Party Poker website.

ING also attached a heavy qualification to its estimate: "We caution that valuing such a company is a difficult exercise, given its very high growth profile and the unstable regulatory environment."

Scepticism among fund managers runs deeper. The most scathing analysis was made by a manager who is generally regarded as among the top five most respected in London. As is usual, he did not wish to be identified. He argued that PartyGaming should not even be a candidate for flotation. "I wouldn't touch this float, not even with a very long and disinfected bargepole," he said.

"I have a real problem with investing in a company where 85%-90% of its revenues come from the US, where the legal status of online gambling is vague, or at least open to doubt and interpretation.

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Full Tilt Poker's Erik Seidel Wins 7th World Series of Poker Bracelet

Tuesday, June 14th, 2005

Poker veteran Erik Seidel, representative for fulltiltpoker.com, outlasted 1,402 tournament players to win $611,795 in the ninth World Series of Poker event of 2005, making him fifth among all-time bracelet winners.

Las Vegas, Nv (PRWEB via PR Web Direct) June 14, 2005 -- Erik Seidel bested a field of 1,402 of poker's best to take the top prize in the $2,000 No-Limit Hold 'em event at the World Series of Poker of 2005. Seidel took home $611,795 the lion’s share of the $2,581,520 prize pool, and a coveted World Series of Poker bracelet for his victory in the ninth event of poker’s biggest series of tournaments.

Seidel, a former Wall Street trader turned poker professional, took home his seventh World Series of Poker bracelet, making him fifth on the all-time list of bracelet winners. Seidel joins elite company as only Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, Phil Hellmuth, and Johnny Moss have more WSOP titles. Seidel's modest and quiet demeanor separates him from many poker professionals, and he is known as one of the nicest guys in poker. Full Tilt Poker's players have secured five top-3 finishes so far this year, and Seidel's performance marks the second victory for a Full Tilt Poker representative - a remarkable accomplishment considering all 10 events have broken the previous record for number of participants.

"Erik has always been unfairly remembered for his spectacular second place finishes in the past," said fellow Team Full Tilt member Howard Lederer. "Now that Erik has a televised win under his belt, maybe he will start to be remembered for his many victories."

Seidel represents one of the fastest growing online poker sites, www.fulltiltpoker.com, and spends several hours a week online helping amateur players learn the game by sharing his poker knowledge through real-time chats at the virtual tables. Along with Seidel, 26 other top poker professionals play exclusively at www.fulltiltpoker.com, where they have helped to create the best possible atmosphere for players who want to improve their games.

"Team Full Tilt" is a select group of the world's finest professional poker players, including Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer, Erick Lindgren, Erik Seidel, Andy Bloch, Phil Gordon (Co-host, Celebrity Poker Showdown), Clonie Gowen, John Juanda, Jennifer Harman and others. Full Tilt Poker offers players the unique opportunity to play, chat, and learn with the best in the game. With Seidels's victory, the 27 professional players who play at www.fulltiltpoker.com now have a total of 37 World Series of Poker bracelets, and are looking to add several more to their collection in the remaining 39 events over the next four weeks.

About Full Tilt Poker
Full Tilt Poker™ software was developed by TiltWare LLC, a software development and licensing company based in Los Angeles, California and licensed to Kolyma Corporation, A.V.V. which is regulated and licensed by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission in Canada. "Team Full Tilt" is a select group of the world's finest professional poker players, including Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer, Erick Lindgren, Erik Seidel, Andy Bloch, Phil Gordon (Co-host, Celebrity Poker Showdown,) Clonie Gowen, John Juanda, Jennifer Harman and others. With innovative graphics, superior customer service and a safe, secure interface, the software is geared to enhance and personalize the online poker experience. Users of all skill levels can download the software at www.fulltiltpoker.com and can play for fun or for real money where online games of skill are permitted by law.

For more information, contact:
Michele Clayborne
EMC PR (on behalf of Full Tilt Poker)
310-451-1152

ThePokerWeb offers WSOP 2005 high-quality poker video updates

Tuesday, June 14th, 2005

San Jose, Costa Rica -- (PRESS RELEASE) The World Series of Poker 2005 is taking place in Las Vegas, Nevada and ThePokerWeb is providing everyone free access to the latest up-to-the-minute video poker updates of each and every event being played.

The streaming videos featured on ThePokerWeb.com include player interviews, talk shows, commentaries by poker professionals and the latest competition details with information about the day’s big winners.

To accommodate the large expected field of participants, most of the WSOP 2005 events will be held at the Rio Hotel, though the final two days of the championship tournament will be held at Binion's Gambling Hall & Hotel in downtown Las Vegas.

The 36th annual WSOP started on June 2nd and for six weeks (it ends July 15th) will bring together more than 5,000 poker players, which are expected to participate in the $10,000 buy-in, no-limit Texas hold'em Championship, double the number that competed in 2004.

ThePokerWeb.com also, will not only provide continuous coverage throughout the 2005 WSOP, but will cover the WSOP 2006 event as well.

Join us and enjoy the latest high quality video updates for free!

About ThePokerWeb.com
The Poker Web is a growing network of poker-related websites, each attracting a specific niche of poker enthusiasts and relating poker news and poker info. Their visitors are primarily men with disposable incomes who enjoy poker among their favorite pastimes. Furthermore, they are internet savvy and enjoy online gaming. Women are also a growing segment of their readership. Visit them today at www.thepokerweb.com.

For more details: 213-291-1638

Senators' draft bill targets banks in attack on internet gambling

Monday, June 13th, 2005

By Rachel Stevenson
The Independent

United States senators are preparing to launch a new attack on online gambling in a move that threatens to damage PartyGaming, the online poker company planning a £5.5bn float in London this month.

A bill being drafted by Jon Kyl, a Senator for Arizona and long-time opponent of internet gambling, seeks to ban credit card companies from dealing with online gaming groups in a bid to crack down on the rapidly growing industry.

As the US has no jurisdiction to challenge directly offshore internet gambling companies such as PartyGaming, which is based in Gibraltar, senators are trying to shut down the industry by stopping banks from handling all online betting transactions. If the bill is successful, it would also hit other UK groups such as Sportingbet, which has two-thirds of its customers in the US.

Senator Kyl has the support of the powerful American Gaming Association (AGA), which represents land-based casinos. Banning online casinos and internet betting would remove the biggest competitive threat to their businesses

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