Video game provider SEGA could be set to launch their own poker and casino platforms following the granting of a gambling licence by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission today.
Segapoker.com and segacasino.com have already been registered in what many are predicting could be the biggest shake up of the online poker and casino markets for some time.
Robin Le Prevost, head of eCommerce Development for Alderney, said; “”That SEGA Games chose to base their new venture with us in Alderney is something we are immensely proud about. In our minds it vindicates the high quality of our regulation, which is recognized the world over and has seen substantial investment from companies of high standing like SEGA over the last few years.”
The Alderney Gambling Control Commission has already granted licences to other high profile online poker rooms such as PKR and Party Poker.
A SEGA Games spokesman said; “The Alderney Gambling Control Commission provides the most comprehensive gaming regulations with the strictest requirements and such is recognized as the most reputable online gaming jurisdiction. This provides an excellent fit with SEGA’s regulatory compliant strategy and we are pleased to be approved by this leading authority.”
Here at Poker News Headlines our writers look forward to taking on Sonic The Hedgehog across the felt in the near future!
As with anything new in someone’s life – whether it’s a new job, or a new recipe or even a new game, you have to learn about it before you can say you understand it. Same thing goes for poker.
I really enjoy the game, but there was a time when, well, I didn’t really have a clue what I was doing. Boy, did I mess up. And, with some embarrassment, you can find out the 5 stupidest things I’ve ever done at the poker table. I hope these mistakes are something you can avoid.
Dumbest Move #1 – I once played at a five card stud table with only $50 in my pocket. This wouldn’t have been a problem except for the fact that I’d sat down at a table with $10/$20 limits. I couldn’t even make my first bet. I was so new I didn’t know that different tables had different limits.
I had enough to ante-up and that was about it. The thing was: I had a great hand, with three kings and an ace. The kind of hand that, with sufficient cash, I could have won by strategically raising. But I learned my lesson and always check the table limits before I sit down now.
Dumbest Move #2 – Do you know what the ‘muck’ option is at online poker sites. Yes? Well, I didn’t and spent ages showing everyone else my losing hands. Consequently, they knew when I bluffed and when I was playing straight. Unsurprisingly, I got killed on every hand from then on. Lesson? Use the muck option and don’t show the other players your hand.
If you let your poker buddies know exactly what type of player you are, you are basically just saying to them ‘here, have my money, I don’t want it’. Not a mistake to make either online or in the real world.
Dumbest Move #3 – Playing every hand. The point of poker is to win and that means not playing every hand just because you can. This is a mistake a lot of new – and even some experienced – poker players make. Bide your time until you get a good hand. It’s really that simple.
There is absolutely no reason to play every hand! Yes the thrill in poker is playing, understood, but if you lose your money fast your playing time is over. So fold if your hand is not worth playing. There will be another hand to play, so play smart and don’t get caught up in the excitement of the atmosphere and the draw of the cards. Be smart and you may walk away from the game with more cash then when you sat down!
Dumbest Move #4 – Staying in a hand because you’ve already put money in the pot. Many players feel that just because they’ve bet on one round, they should stay in the hand, whether or not they have a strong hand. Bluff, by all means, but don’t stay in a hand ‘just because’. That will end up with your losing your money.
An example : if you have, say, a pair of fours and nothing else is coming up, then it might be time to fold your hand and cut your losses. Especially if someone else keeps raising. If it looks like you are not going to win, get out as soon as possible. Save your bankroll for the next hand, because that is one you might be able to win.
Dumbest Move #5 – Know the Game! I can’t say this enough, the worst goof up I ever did was when I joined in am Omaha Hi/Low tournament. Now I had never played the game before, so I read up on how to play before the tournament started and thought, ok, I understand the basics of the game and the rest I will learn as I play.
So, I sat down at the table and started playing Omaha Hi/Lo for the first time. It didn’t go well. Only half an hour in, I knew that I was out of my depth. I was winning when I thought I’d lose and losing when I thought I’d win. However, I struggled through to the intermission. At this point, I took the time to reread the rules of the game.
That’s when I found out how you are really supposed to play Omaha Hi/Lo. I discovered I was even folding great hands, like 1,3,5,6,7. I suspect I would have won a lot of money, but I didn’t really understand the game. So I got pretty much what I deserved. I’ll neve again act like I know it all and play a cash game I’ve never actually played before.
So, that’s it. I hope you enjoyed reading about my five dumbest mistakes a lot more than I enjoyed making them. Hopefully, you won’t fall into the same traps and will prosper as poker players far quicker than I ever did.
Online poker room Full Tilt Poker is known for keeping mum when it comes to its legal and business matters, but the company broke its silence to comment on a recent lawsuit by former customers Lary Kennedy and Greg Omotov. Full Tilt issued a statement to the media regarding the case in which the company asserts that the plaintiffs’ accusations are false and there was just cause behind the closure of the two players’ accounts.
News of Kennedy and Omotov’s suit broke earlier this month when their lawyer, Cyrus Sanai, filed in a California court. Within the claim, the two individuals allege that Full Tilt Poker unjustly confiscated their accounts following false accusations that they were using poker bots to play on the site’s cash game tables. They then went on to suggest that Full Tilt used bots of its own and also leveled several other claims ranging from fraud to violations of the Racketeer-Influenced Corrupt Organization (RICO) Act.
Full Tilt addressed some, but not all, of Kennedy and Omotov’s accusations in a statement which refers to the suit as “baseless” and “frivolous.” The statement, which was posted in full on Gambling911, went on to explain, “Both of these player accounts were appropriately terminated for multiple violations of the express terms and conditions governing fair and lawful play in the Full Tilt Poker online virtual cardroom, including their own admissions of using multiple accounts.”
Kennedy admitted to multi-accounting in a lengthy thread on the TwoPlusTwo online poker forum. She said she sometimes used Omotov’s idle Full Tilt account to get action at the heads-up cash game tables after many regulars stopped playing with her when she was logged in on her personal account under her own username.
The statement from Full Tilt also addressed the claims that the site operates its own bots on the cash game tables: “Full Tilt Poker has never knowingly allowed ?bots? to play on its site? When fraud, collusion, and cheating of any kind is uncovered, Full Tilt Poker investigates extensively and then acts accordingly and appropriately, as was the case involving these claimants.” Full Tilt not only affirmed its belief that the two players were cheating, but the company also suggested the two individuals will “be obliged to compensate the aggrieved defendants for any harm that may arise out of their false allegations and for the wrongful institution of these bad faith legal proceedings.”
While Full Tilt’s statement addressed the issue of bot use, the site did not comment on some of the suit’s claims about racketeering, unfair competition, and operating an illegal online casino in the state of California. The statement also failed to confirm or deny any assertions about Howard Lederer, Raymond Bitar, and Chris Ferguson’s role within the company. The lawsuit suggests that these three individuals serve as top executives for both Tiltware and Vert Enterprises. These two companies are supposedly different entities run out of California and St. Kitts and Nevis, respectively, but the suit claims they are one in the same and controlled by Bitar, Lederer, and Ferguson.
The company has yet to issue a statement on its pending lawsuits involving former sponsored pro Clonie Gowen and former employee Jason “JDN” Newitt.
