Nothing better to do ?

The EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo,
Europe's richest poker tournament,
will be broadcast via the internet,
on www.EPTlive.com

Starting Saturday 31st March,
the EPTlive.com webcast will bring you
three days of world class poker action from
the EPT Grand Final, at it happens.

This is a free service, with up to 10 hours
of coverage a day starting at the following times:

DAY FOUR, TV TABLE:
Saturday, 31th March, 1400 local time (0900 ET).

DAY FIVE, TV TABLE:
Sunday, 1st April, 1400 local time (0900 ET).

DAY SIX, FINAL TABLE:
Monday, 2nd April, 1600 local time (1100 ET).

Start times may vary, depending on the progress of the tournament.

More Poker Hysteria

NETeller Withdraws from
Canadian and Turkish Markets

by Haley Hintze

Despite not being pressured by any official
Canadian government action, NETeller Plc
announced in a press release today that the
firm would no longer provide service to online
gambling merchants for its Canadian customer
base, effective immediately.

NETeller also confirmed that it had withdrawn its
very minor presence in the Turkish gaming market,
following up on its blocking of Turkish bank-deposit
options on March 9th.

The cessation of services between Canadian players
and online gambling merchants is a de facto withdrawal
from the Canadian market, because NETeller has
no non-gambling merchants of significance. NETeller
also placed an immediate freeze on its instaCASH
service for Canadian customers, though peer-to-peer
transfers, pre-paid debit transactions, and fund
withdrawal by customers are still available options.

NETeller's statement on the matter only hints at
the factor that resulted in the firm's withdrawal,
with the closest explanation being this:
"Recent actions by regulators, payment
processors, and online gaming operators have
increased the uncertainty around certain
activities related to online gambling in some
jurisdictions." NETeller expects an additional
loss resulting in its departure from the Canadian
market, but is not expected to lay off any more
workers following its sizeable staff cuts several
weeks ago.

NETeller also took pains to mention that the
"75 days" mentioned in its release about frozen
U.S. funds was not a timetable for repayment
itself, but rather is just the timeline for creation
of the plan, as noted in our story on NETeller's
agreement with the USAO last week.

"It would remain to be determined, as part of
that plan," reads the new NETeller release,
"the precise timing of the distribution of funds
to US customers."

Will's Note: I got an email the other day from
WPTonline the other day saying they are no
longer accepting deposits from Canadians and
that i should withdraw my money asap.

Poker Mockumentary to debut at Film Festival

by Sarah Polson

The Grand, a poker mockumentary by
Zak Penn, has been chosen to screen
in the Tribeca Film Festival's Spotlight
category. The movie will be shown
during the festival's run April 25 - May 6.

The Spotlight category showcases
out-of-competition movies that feature
high-profile cast members, filmmakers
and subject matter.

The Grand certainly fits two out of three
of those features. Its cast is made up of
a laundry list of stars such as Ray Romano,
Jason Alexander, David Cross, Shannon
Elizabeth, Dennis Farina, Woody Harrelson,
Cheryl Hines, Richard Kind and more.

Several professional poker players also
put in appearances in the film:
Doyle Brunson, Phil Gordon, Phil Hellmuth
and more will show off their poker skills.

The Grand is a comedy set against a poker
tournament, a subject that is quite topical
considering the poker boom over the past
few years.

Penn directed the movie from a screenplay
outline and allowed the actors to improvise
most of their dialogue as they play real poker
on their way to the championship round of
a pretend international tournament.

A theater release date hasn't been set
yet for the movie.

2006 WPT Canadian Open

We will Finally get a chance to watch
last years World Poker Tour: Canadian Open
which took place at Niagara Fallsview Casino
last fall.

It will be airing Friday, March 30th at
8:00pm ET / PT on Citytv.

Catch an encore presentation on Saturday,
March 31st at 3:00pm ET / PT on
Citytv Toronto & Vancouver
and/or 2:00pm MT / CT on Citytv
Calgary, Edmonton & Winnipeg.

Ladies Pro Tour Begins !

by Erin Warner

The Ladies Professional Poker Tour
is making its first stop at the Bicycle
Casino, where one woman will compete
for free just by registering for the
Ladies Poker Association (LPA).
The group is paying the $500+$50 buy-in
to its March 18 ladies event at the casino's
Winnin O' the Green tournament.

All you have to do is sign up via
ladiespokerassociation.com and
await a possible congratulatory e-mail.
The first tour date will be streamed
live online at pokernet.com and the
association's Web site.

Other LPA events include a regular
ladies-only tournament the first Sunday
of each month at 2:15 p.m. at the Bike.
Buy-in is $100+$25, which will earn the
tournament winner paid entry to the
women's $1,000 event at the casino's
Legends Series Aug. 18-19.

Other stops on the tour in the coming
months include events at Bay 101 in
San Jose, Hawaiian Gardens Casino
in the L.A. area, the Wildhorse Resort
and Casino in Pendleton, Ore., and
Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

The tour is designed to promote higher
levels of competition and bigger prize
pools for female poker players.

Internet Gambling Face-Off Brewing in AB

by Christopher Hunt

The Alexander First Nation - a Cree
band with a reserve near Edmonton,
Alberta - is setting up a web hosting
company and establishing their own
commission to issue licenses to online
gambling companies.

Solicitor General Fred Lindsay says
it's illegal, and there's no way he'll
stand for it. Who's going to blink?

The Canadian Press is reporting
Lindsay knows of the Cree band's
intentions to set up a web hosting
operation similar to one run by the
Mohawk Nation in Quebec - with more
than 400 international gambling sites
under its umbrella - and he's set to
draw a line in the sand.

"We're indicating to them to cease
and desist if it is their intent to conduct
an illegal operation in the province of
Alberta," Linsday said in the CP article.
"Anybody who goes against the Criminal
Code of Canada would end up being a
lawbreaker. Right now, in regard to
Alexander, they've indicated intent to
do that, so we're investigating it."

Lindsay indicated the Mohawks have
been advising the Alexander First Nation
through the set-up process, and the band
has established a gaming commission to
issue licenses, but gambling sites have
yet to be launched.

The Alexander band, CP says, believe
they are a sovereign nation with the right
to issue licenses.

Application fees are said to be $20,000.

Congratulations to
RAY FALCONER
who made final table and
finished 7th at the PIC
Championship on Sunday.

Way to go Ray !

PS Poker Freeroll

POKER STARS has announced
the Team Canada Poker Freeroll.

Poker Stars is looking for 10 Canadian
poker players to represent Canada and
play for upto $10 Million in the 2007
World Series of Poker.

Anyone with a new or existing PS account
may register for free at PokerStars and
receive two (2) free tickets to participate
in one of the Event's daily qualifiers.

More than 60,000 prizes!
• 10 places to be won on
PokerStars' Team Canada
• World Series of Poker prize package
including spending cash and hotel
• At least 1 in 7 win cash

Round 1 - Daily from March 3, 2007
through May 12, 2007. The top 428
players in each Round 1 will win
a cash prize with the top 100 finishers
advancing to our weekly Round 2.

Monday - 6:30PM ET and 9:30PM ET
Tuesday - 6:30PM ET and 9:30PM ET
Wednesday - 6:30PM ET and 9:30PM ET
Thursday - 6:30PM ET and 9:30PM ET
Friday - 6:30PM ET and 9:30PM ET
Saturday - 6:30PM ET and 9:30PM ET
Sunday - 6:30PM ET and 9:30PM ET

Round 2 - Held every Saturday at 3:00PM ET.
The top 135 players in each Round 2 will win
a cash prize and the top finisher will win
the grand prize, including entry onto
PokerStars Team Canada and an all
expenses trip to the main event at
the World Series of Poker.

Saturday, March 10
Saturday, March 17
Saturday, March 24
Saturday, March 31
Saturday, April 7
Saturday, April 14
Saturday, April 21
Saturday, April 28
Saturday, May 5
Saturday, May 12


complete info at
http://www.pokerstars.com/canada/

Johnny Chan headlining
Canadian poker tournament

March 3, 2007 by Erin Warner

Satellites and registration for the
Johnny Chan Poker Classic at the
River Rock Casino Resort in
Richmond, British Columbia,
kicked off Thursday.

The event is slated to take place
May 6-13. Though Chan was in
attendance for the same tournament
in 2006, this will be the first year
the event is named after the 10-time
World Series of Poker bracelet winner.

Chan will play in the eponymous event,
which offers a prize to whomever
potentially knocks out the poker superstar.
Last year's tournament sold out and
organizers are expecting an even bigger
crowd this year with five event offerings.

Poker players can compete in
$550 No-Limit Hold'em,
$1,100 Pot-Limit Hold'em,
$1,100 Pot-Limit Omaha and a
$2,700 No-Limit Hold'em main event.

Satellites start March 1st from
5 p.m. to 11 p.m. at the casino,
located in a suburb of Vancouver.

The River Rock will also host a
$200 super satellite to the
championship on March 28.

KONOMI SLOT MACHINES PULLED

Las Vegas-based slot manufacturer
Konami Gaming had 87 selected
slot machines removed from the
floor of Ontario casinos after a bug
was found that occasionally flashed
jackpot wins across the reel symbols.

The four themes removed were
Billionaires, Most Wanted,
Sgt. Fritters, and Sticks and Stones.

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission
of Ontario, which regulates Canadian
gaming, found something suspicious
on these games while watching them
run in slow motion.

While playing the games, a 5-of-a-kind
of the jackpot symbol would flash for
a fifth of a second right before the reels
began to spin.

Such a flash would be invisible upon
regular viewing but could be picked
up subconsciously, subliminally
inducing the player into feeling as if
he's won or is winning.

The regulatory commission tests
each machine before sending it
to market, but it does not test for
subliminal messages.

The Canadian Broadcasting Co.
aired the report on "The National,"
causing casinos in other jurisdictions
and countries (including the U.S.)
to also pull the machines.

Subliminal marketing is controversial
and unproven, with psychologists
unable to come up with evidence
that it works in controlled testing.
Konami states that the machines
removed were developed in 2001
and are among the lowest-performing
in their entire library.

Konami denies it intentionally
placed messages in the machines
and is creating a patch to fix the bug.
Konami also plans to sue the Canadian
Broadcasting Co. for the inaccurate
and damaging report to their company
that could have long-lasting effects on
their integrity.

WSOP Pre-Registration Opens

March 01, 2007

by: Haley Hintze

Pre-registration began on February 26th

for the 38th World Series of Poker®,

to be held at the Rio All-Suites Hotel &

Casino® in Las Vegas.

The 2007 WSOP begins on June 1st and

runs through July 17, with rules and

registration information now available

at the www.worldseriesofpoker.com site.

One notable change for this year's WSOP is

the introduction of a newly-created $10,000

'WSOP' casino chip, which will be accepted for

registration and will likely see common use

as the payout 'lammer' for satellite-qualifier

winners. The new chip joins smaller Rio chip

denominations, wire transfers, cashier's checks,

credit-card cash advances and cash itself as

acceptable payment methods for event
registration, accompanying payment forms

that can now be found at the World Series of

Poker online site. Pre-registration remains

open until two weeks prior to the start of

any given event.

The updated rules also clarify third-party

registrations as well, reading as follows:

"Third-party registrations for players are

not permitted unless submitted by Official

WSOP Sponsors; Official WSOP promotions

or product licensee, or civic, charitable,

business, casino and other land-based entities

officially licensed to conduct satellite

tournaments for the 2007 WSOP.

No third-party registrations will be

accepted from online gaming sites conducting

business with U.S. residents."

Harrah's has also extensively revamped

its apparel policy, complete with an explanation

of exactly what types of '.com' advertising

will remain off-limits. The comprehensive

rules changes clearly represent a sweeping

move to bring players' appearances more

in line with corporate expectations. The start

of the relevant section, Rule #34, offers this:

"Tournament participants may wear apparel

with multiple logos, patches or promotional

language. However, no individual logo, patch

or block of promotional language is to be larger

than 12 square inches." The rule then provides

a lengthy list of prohibited forms of logos,

advertising, and general apparel.

The two key prohibitions relating to online

gambling sites are these:

"(i) Advertise a dot.com gaming site

that conducts business with U.S. residents."

[such advertising is prohibited]

"(k) In addition, all logos, patches, and

promotional language for any dot.net website

must contain a clear and visible 'dot.net' suffix

at least the same size as the site name."

Additional clauses place a ban on any beer

or liquor advertising excepting title sponsor

Milwaukee's Best Light or other Miller

Brewing products; place a general ban on

apparel referencing drugs, tobacco, firearms,

pornography, other forms of gambling;

ban certain types of 'commentary' clothing

that could be considered injurious to other

parties, and, of course, give the final say-so

to Harrah's in any matter of dispute.

The "twelve square inches" rule, allowing

for such things as a 3" x 4" rectangular patch

bearing a logo, effectively eliminates the

jersey-style advertising so prevalent on

the floor of the Amazon Room last year.

However, the new clarifications pave the way

for poker apparel to enter the modern world

of corporate and business endorsements.

The World Series of Poker's commissioner,

Jeffery Pollack, served up this comment

on the topic: "In recognition of the endorsement

agreements that provide income to many

poker players, we've liberalized our policy

to allow tournament entrants to wear apparel

with multiple logos and patches. There are

some reasonable restrictions on what is

permissible, but this is definitely a far more

liberal, accommodating and player-friendly policy."

Congrats to everyone who qualified for
the PIC Season 6 Championship.
Its a great accomplishment considering
you only had half a season.

Its being held at Lezley's Chaps
355 Plains Rd East(Aldershot)
Burlington905-333-4431

SUNDAY March 4th @ NOON.
Registration @11am

MAP http://www.lezleyschaps.ca/index.php?option=com_google_maps&category=15&Itemid=38

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE !!

FirePay Bans Canadian Gambling Transactions

Posted on: Online-Casinos.com

WHY IS FIREPAY BANNING CANADIAN
ONLINE GAMBLING TRANSACTIONS?

Another payment option closes its
doors to online gambling.

Canadian online gamblers who use
the FirePay e-wallet will be scrambling
to mobilise their funds following a surprise
notification from the company just before
the weekend.

The online payments processor has
now extended its ban on US online
gambling transactions to Canadian
consumers, according to an on-site
notice this week.

The notice reads:

"Effective February 21, 2007,
FirePay www.firepay.com will
no longer allow Canadian consumer
payments to online gambling merchants.

"Effective February 28, 2007,
FirePay www.firepay.com will
no longer allow Canadian consumers
to receive payments from online
gambling merchants."

Unlike their US counterparts,
who are having serious difficulties
in retrieving monies from e-wallets
as a result of US Department of
Justice activities, Canadian Firepay
account holders will at least have
time and alternative channels to
withdraw their account balances.
The notice includes guidance on
non-gambling exit options:

"All Canadian FirePay account
holders will continue to be able
to make purchases and receive
payments from non-gambling
online merchants, as well as to
"Deposit From" and "Withdraw To"
their Canadian bank account.

Although online poker sites like
Poker Stars ceased accepting
US player deposits from FirePay
last October 13, these sites will
now find Canadian players lost
to them from the FirePay route
as well.

Amarillo Slim Robbed at Gun Point

According to Amarillo.com the Texas News Site,
Thomas Austin “Amarillo Slim” Preston Jr.
was robbed on Sunday night. He returned
home after a night out to find two men, armed
with Slim’s own shotgun, waiting to rob him.

This all comes 4 months after a robber shot
at his pickup truck striking it with 2 bullets.
“I told him, I said now ‘Pull the trigger on
that damn thing or put it down,’” Preston said,
recalling the robbery at his home Sunday night.
“I said ‘I don’t feel real comfortable with that
shotgun pointed at me.’”

But it isn’t the trauma of the robbery that has Preston, a famous poker player and gambler, worried, he said. It is a prized belt buckle he had made in Seattle more than 40 years ago.

The belt buckle has “Amarillo Slim”
emblazoned on it in platinum along
with jade. Slim is willing to pay big money
to get this belt buckle back. Fortunately,
Preston was not hurt during the robbery.
“Nobody in the world is going to wear it,”
he said. “They are going to either melt it
or throw it away. Just tell me where it is
and I’ll go get it.” The robbers also made
off with two shotguns and a large amount
of cash he had on him, Preston said.
He would not say exactly how much.

This is the 2nd incident Slim has had
with robbers in the past 4 months.
On October 4th, he was cut off by robbers
who demanded cash from him at gun point.
Slim declined, slamming his car into
reverse, which led to the robbers firing
3 rounds at his car.

Preston said he had been watching
a Los Angeles Lakers-San Antonio Spurs
game Sunday afternoon at a friend’s home.
But when he walked into his home about
6 p.m., he saw two men, one masked
and the other unmasked, in his apartment
with his shotguns in their hands.
“They were just waiting for me to
come in,” Preston said.

The masked robber then told Preston
he was going to kill him, Preston said,
which spurred a profanity-laced retort
from Preston. The masked man then
took one of Preston’s shotguns and
shoved it into his belly, Preston said.

“The man without the mask didn’t
abuse me at all,” he said. “He was
damn near cordial.” The two men then
stripped Preston and tied his hands
and feet with three bolo ties they found
in his apartment, and told him to lay down
on the floor, a request Preston did not
want to comply with.

Preston, who has a pacemaker, said he
didn’t want to be placed on the cold floor,
and face the risk of no one coming by to
check on him. So the robbers decided to
put him on the couch, Preston said,
with the masked robber saying he was
going to get a pillow. “I thought that
was the end,” Preston said.

“There is just one reason to go get a pillow.
A shotgun makes some noise. You put that
pillow over (that weapon) and pull the trigger,
you are going to hear nothing. It’s not
a good feeling.” Preston said while the
robbers took a large amount of money
off him, he was just worried about surviving.
“Money is just how you keep score,” he said.
“It was of secondary importance.”

Preston said he was able to loosen the ties
around his hands and feet and went to his
apartment complex’s office, where
a woman there called police, he said.
“I probably would have never called
(the police),” he said.

Despite this traumatic incident, Preston
said he has no plans to move from Amarillo.
“I am too old to let some pimp, drug dealer,
dopehead make me do that,” Preston said.
“I have been advised to, but I am going
to stay right where I am, and I want
everyone to know it.”

Amarillo Slim said anyone who has information
about the robbery or the buckle should call
Amarillo Crime Stoppers at (806) 374-4400
or the APD Detective Division at (806) 378-4251.

No more Tony G Poker for USA

Tony G Poker Closes Doors To U.S. Players

Tony G Poker will be closing its doors
to U.S. Players. According to a post on
PokerWorks by Tony G, the hand of the
U.S. government has left them with
no other choice, but to stop allowing
U.S. players on their site.

In his post, Tony G says:

“I feel very sad for all of you good
folks in the USA but your government
is very aggressive right now and is
running loose. $55 million dollars in
Neteller money has been seized from
people that have done nothing wrong.
Who knows if and when it will be
returned to the people it belongs to.
And where will the government stop in
its quest to wipe out internet poker?”

This news release comes only a few days
after an annoucement was made that the
FBI has freezed Neteller accounts.

Tony G Poker is continuing to work
with U.S. players to get the money
out of their accounts. They have
provided the following instructions
on how to remove your money:

“*The only way possible to withdraw
your funds from Tony G. Poker at this
time is by doing the following:
1) Transfer your funds to Tony,
his player id is “Tony G”
2) Once the transfer is complete,
send an email to “support@tonygpoker.com”
detailing the amount you transferred,
your player id, and one of the three
accounts you would like your funds
transferred to: UltimateBet, FullTilt,
or PokerStars - also giving your player
ID on the site you want your funds
transferred to. Regrettably, there is
no banking option open at this time
since everything is being closed to
USA citizens and the government’s
strong arm tactics of protecting our
borders from poker has removed yet
another freedom.”

Will's note: Bravo to Tony G. Many other online rooms have simply chosen to freeze players accounts, holding their money without any stated future plans on if/when they will return it.

No More Paradise Poker

Sportingbet effectively closing down
Paradise Poker Sat, 10 Feb 2007

The British online gambling group
Sportingbet.com has had to make some
tough business decisions regarding its
poker operations, culminating this week
in the announcement that it will effectively
be closing its Paradise Poker.com platform
at a cost of some GBP55 million (US$107million).

The company intends to transfer Paradise
players to its existing Boss Media-managed
Sportingbet poker platform. Facilitating the
move, Sportingbet has extended its contract
with Boss for for a further three years of
both poker and casino services.

Explaining the numbers that led to the decision,
Sportingbet CEO Andrew McIver said in the
three months to October 2006, rake from the
Boss platform amounted to GBP4.3 million,
up 72 percent year-on-year. By comparison,
Paradise Poker generated rake of
GBP3.8 million from non-US players in the
same period, up only 9 percent year-on-year.
Average daily active money players on both
systems amounted to around 6 500, with yield
per active player approximately 60 percent higher
on the Boss platform due to its bigger action.

"This deal combines all our poker players in
one destination, maximizing liquidity whilst
reducing the complexity of running two
separate poker operations. The addition
of the Paradise Poker players to the Boss
poker network will make the Boss network
one of the largest in Europe," McIver explained.

"By combining all poker players in one network
we aim to maximize yields," a spokesman said.
Sportingbet will retain the Paradise poker brand
and migrate all Paradise players to Boss
"in due course" the announcement said.
The combination of the two poker businesses
will provide some cost savings for the group,
however this will be offset to some extent by
the loss of revenue that may occur as a result
of migrating players from one platform to another.

Investor reaction to the move will not be
long in coming - Sportingbet will announce its
results for the second quarter on 28 February.
The deal is good news for Boss Media.
Johan Berg, Chief Executive Officer said:
"The partnership with Sportingbet is material
to the success of Boss Media and is one very
important reason that we are one of the leading
providers of e-Gaming software. The strengthened
partnership will enable the two companies to work
together to bring second to none e-Gaming
products to the market."

SONNY !

Many of you have met and know
Sonny Rattan, Tour Manager for PIC.
He will be appearing as Poker Analyst for
the PokerStars MoneyMaker Millions tournament
It will be on The Score, at 2 pm Sat Feb 10,
Sun Feb 11 @ 8pm and 11pm. (likely repeated...
and it will be on TSN later)

A whole bunch of Canadians qualified for the
Tournament and someone you know is hosting..
good reasons to check it out !

PIC Wildcard Dates

For anyone interested,
Poker In Canada has announced
its Season 6 Wildcard Events.

Feb 11 Bobby D's
Feb 18 Collins
Feb 22 Lezley' s Chaps

See www.pokerincanadatour.com
for directions to these locations

The Season Championship will be
held Sun March 4th (noon start)

WPT Returns to Fallsview

The World Poker Tour Season 6
has been posted including a stop at
Niagara Fallsview Oct 7, 2007 - Oct 13, 2007.

Grand Prix de Paris
05/06/07 - 05/11/07 Aviation Club de France

The Mirage Poker Showdown
05/19/07 - 05/23/07 The Mirage

Mandalay Bay Poker Championship
05/29/07 - 06/02/07 Mandalay Bay

Legends of Poker
08/25/07 - 08/29/07 Bicycle Casino

Borgata Poker Open
09/16/07 - 09/20/07 Borgata

North American Poker Championship
10/07/07 - 10/13/07 Niagara Fallsview


World Poker Finals
11/08/07 - 11/13/07 Foxwoods

Five Diamond World Poker Classic
12/13/07 - 12/18/07 Bellagio

PokerStars Caribbean Poker Adventure
01/05/08 - 01/10/08

PokerStars World Poker Open
01/21/08 - 01/25/08

Gold Strike Casino Poker Classic
02/23/08 - 02/28/08 Commerce Casino

Bay 101 Shooting Star
03/10/08 - 03/14/08 Bay 101

World Poker Challenge
03/25/08 - 03/28/08 Reno Hilton

WPT World Championship
04/19/08 - 04/25/08 Bellagio

There will be NO POKER
Sunday Jan 21st at the
Bradley Roadhouse.