The storyline as I recall, was rather unlikely, but nonetheless an enjoyable wat [...]]]> Remember the 2008 movie ‘What happens in Vegas’? It would no doubt have attracted your attention due to the casino action and the rather eye-catching Cameron Diaz. Oh and Ashley Kutcher of course.

The storyline as I recall, was rather unlikely, but nonetheless an enjoyable watch to find out who got custody of the $3million jackpot winnings in the end!

Now the almost identical story has actually happened, for real, in France! Two friends, well, we hope they are still friends but it’s unlikely, have been battling the year out over who owns the $3million win from a slot machine.

Currently working their way through a court case, the ‘friends’ had visited the slots together. And Marie-Hélène Jarguel had placed the equivalent of $70 into the machine. She often took her friend Francis Sune with her when she played the slots as she considered him to be her lucky mascot.

The evening was progressing enjoyably until the point that Miss Jarguel put the money in and Mr Sune pressed the button. They hit the jackpot of an unbelievable $3million!! Euphoric, the friends rightly celebrated the free cash and Miss Jarguel took the prize cheque home only to be faced with a law suit for half the money from Mr Sune one week later.

As the case rolls on the real life drama is almost better than the original film. With both of the friends believing they are right and refusing to budge from their positions it may take some time to reach an outcome. Possibly, enough time even for Hollywood to create a sequel to ‘What happens in Vegas’!

I guess the moral of the story is not only to consider who you gamble with, but also to be careful who you share your cashback with…

The Chinese movie, set in Macau, sees two poker playing rival [...]]]> Already bustling with keen poker players, Asia is about to receive a further boost to its gambling prowess. Poker King the new Chinese movie has recently premiered in Hong Kong and is set to storm the box offices in the region.

The Chinese movie, set in Macau, sees two poker playing rivals ruthlessly competing for the same crown. Already growing rapidly in popularity worldwide, Texas Hold’em Poker is sure to see many more take up the game as a result of this movie.

In fact, Poker King’s actors had to learn the tricks of this particular poker game from Western players as it is a relatively new poker game in the East.

Being set and filmed in Macau, was of course a masterstroke by the production company, as not only will it serve to further boost the profile of Asian Poker Tournament held there in August, but it even took advantage of this fact by utilising the hundreds of APT players in the city as willing extras for the film. Poker players wanting fame and fortune? Surely not!

Texas Hold’em is a relatively new game in Asia, despite being easily accessible worldwide through online poker rooms. The expectation is that Poker King will help to deliver a new surge of players into the game from all over Asia.

All that remains now is to wait for the movie to be released in the West!

But soon card counters may be ousted from casinos much more regularly thanks to one [...]]]> Many a casino fears the player who can count cards. And many have fallen prey to the card counters, as famously demonstrated by both Derren Brown with his blackjack trick and by the film ‘21’.

But soon card counters may be ousted from casinos much more regularly thanks to one student’s pioneering development work. Kris Zutis, a Scottish student from Dundee Univeristy has been building an innovative new software program which can analyse the data from the casino’s CCTV cameras and can capture and identify the pattern of play. Zutis, a poker player, has found his program is best suited to the game of Blackjack, although originally intended it for the poker market.

No matter which game the program has been created for, it’s sure to attract plenty of attention within both the software development industry and land casinos alike.

No doubt land casinos will welcome any improvements in closing the net on the card counters. Whilst not actually illegal, casinos do not need a reason to eject a player for what is most definitely seen as a crime in their eyes. Despite the fact that Derren Brown proved that card counting requires immense skill and brain power, I don’t think casinos are appreciative of the cerebral work at play in this case!

Online poker players can rest easy though and take a legal slice of the profits by ensuring they have a rakeback program in place to give you poker cashback, win or lose.

T [...]]]> Macau, oft called the Asian Vegas, has seen its share of increased jobs, money and prosperity in the region. However the southern hemisphere’s success story is now quaking as the Macau government announces changes that are less than favourable to the future of its gaming industry.

The government has undertaken a review of proposed expansion in the industry, which has come as rather a shock to the global gambling industry as a whole, as well as to the local stock market and casinos, as the industry has been viewed as a success story for Macau until now.

Being the only Chinese city where casinos are licensed and legal has put Macau on the map as a successful hub, capable of attracting international visitors and attention. Additionally it has made Macau very popular with Chinese businessmen and other Asian residents, as gambling is heavily restricted elsewhere in Asia.

Macau has also demonstrated resilience to the global economic downturn. How much of that can be attributed to the casinos is unknown, but an educated guess would point to the fact that they help the overall economy by attracting in visitors and money and by sustaining other businesses located there.

However some casino license holders appear to agree, at least in part, with the government that the industry ‘should not expand indefinitely’. Whilst a straightforward plan of action might be to monitor developments along the way, it seems that the regional government are intimating legislative changes instead, that will affect all casinos in the region.

These proposed changes will limit slot machines and change the age restriction on workers and players, raising this to 21 years. Potentially, the number of tables in a casino may be restricted too. And the government’s announcement of its proposed changes saw many stocks fall sharply.

The initial estimated jackpot of a $1.25 million guaran [...]]]> PokerStars’ World Championship of Online Poker has grabbed gambling headlines by delivering the largest jackpot in the history of poker. A whopping $51,652,800 was in the pot, exceeding any previous record for online tournament wins.

The initial estimated jackpot of a $1.25 million guaranteed quickly increased to a staggering $2million due to a total of 8500 players participating in the WCOOP.

PokerStars were quick to secure another record on 6 September 2009 when they achieved a worldwide playing audience of 307,000. Now, we all know that PokerStars is big, but to have that many players at the tables at one time is colossal! Their official record holding title is ‘the most players at an Internet poker room’.

Sundays are traditionally a popular day for online poker players to take to the tables and the PokerStars online room is no exception to this trend. The previous record for most players at an Internet poker room stood at 200,000. PokerStars have beaten the record with ease, having had 43,000 tables being played with over 300,000 players. A clear record breaker by over 100,000 players!

So who can challenge these records? Or will PokerStars hold its own? One thing’s for sure, they’ll take some beating!

These records are surely going to be hard to beat, but we are confident that Pokerstars are sure as hell going to try. We will keep you updated on Pokerstars upcoming tournaments as well as our other recommended betting platforms so you can be sure to get your place at the tables!

For instance, is a government run (and promoted) lottery an act of gambling? Well actually yes it is, but a lot of people wouldn’t consider it so [...]]]> Gambling has always suffered from negative perceptions and more than a modicum of debate about what is and what isn’t gambling.

For instance, is a government run (and promoted) lottery an act of gambling? Well actually yes it is, but a lot of people wouldn’t consider it so.

So is playing online poker gambling? Well in one sense yes it is, but it is more complicated than that as poker involves a large degree of skill, use of tactics and strategy.

So is entering an online poker tournament at the cost of $20 really any more of a gamble than dashing across the road to beat an oncoming truck? Or betting your life savings on England’s football team winning the World Cup?

It’s a tricky one, that’s for sure.

Look at it from another angle. How much does it cost to take your family out to a sporting match, or to a theme park? There’s no chance of any monetary return here, unlike a poker game. But as poker is categorized as gambling it must therefore be a bad way to spend both your money and your leisure time!

Gambling is often down to the individual involved. Some people are able to stick to limits and some people become easily obsessed by chasing the ultimate win. But good poker players know they have to lose their game sometimes to perfect their skills and strategy in the long-term.

Clearly there is no right or wrong answer to this question and the debate rolls on.

However, if you want to take the gamble out of getting the most out of every poker game you play, then visit www.raketherake.com and sign up for rakeback, free poker cashback, win or lose.

Find the best rakeback deals and all the top online poker rooms
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Please gamble responsibly. For more information and advice please visit http://www.gambleaware.co.uk

Would Simon have been able to pen all those superhits without Garfunkel?

And would Luke Duke have been so uber-cool without Bo and Daisy Duke jumping in and out of his [...]]]> Would Obama seem quite so sleek and competent without the perfectly groomed Michelle supporting him in the wings?

Would Simon have been able to pen all those superhits without Garfunkel?

And would Luke Duke have been so uber-cool without Bo and Daisy Duke jumping in and out of his car window too?

But whilst we will never know for sure, I would say not. Things just seem to work better when done in partnership.

Clearly, working in partnership on a poker game, wouldn’t work at all due to the strict rules preventing unfair advantage. It would also quite likely be cause for an ‘overnight stay’ at one of the finest custodial concrete and metal bedrooms.

But that having been said, there is one way to work in a poker partnership that can yield very tangible rewards. Rakebackpartners.com offers the opportunity to start your own affiliate rakeback site with all the hard work done for you.

If you have ever thought about starting your own white label rakeback site, sometimes described as being a rakeback affiliate, then take a look at RakebackPartners. They deal with all of the player and online poker room relationship management and all of the accounting, leaving you to market your site and earn the commissions from every player you sign up.

In every sense your site is your own. It can be hosted by you, named and branded by you. You can select the online poker rooms you want to show and develop an active blog, but you can also leave all the time consuming elements to RakebackPartners.

This is definitely a match made in heaven! RakebackPartners do the work and you count the rewards!

To find out more or to start your own rakeback site visit http://www.rakebackpartners.com