The London Stock Exchange repeated the announcement of Playtech Limited, a leader in the development of programs. Playtech announced the launching of the poker and casino official web site of the Manchester United. This site was developed specially with the point of view of the world fans of the most famous team in the world.

The development of the site started after the agreement was signed between the Manchester United and the gambling company Betfred from the United Kingdom an existing licensed of Playtech.

This week, President Bush turned into law a new legislation that bans televised wagering, including poker shows broadcasted on TV, cable and the Internet. This new measure is part of the American government’s fight against gambling.

“Today is a dark day for the televised game of poker,” Bart Hanson, who is part of the “Live at the Bike” gambling show, said. “Twenty-three million Americans who watch the game on their TVs or computers will effectively be denied the ability to enjoy this popular form of entertainment, even in the privacy of their own homes.”

The World Poker Tour Canadian Open takes place as of October 22nd at the Fallsview Casino Resort. Renowned Canadian poker players Daniel Negreanu, Isabelle Mercier and Gavin Smith have already confirmed their participation.

“It is certainly fitting that these three, who have risen to prominence on the WPT, are coming home to pay tribute to the millions of Canadian poker fans who have watched them become worldwide celebrities on their TV sets,” Steve Lipscomb, CEO and founder of WPT Enterprises said.

The tournament will take place in Panama and it already has a minimum guaranteed prize of U$S 400 thousand, and it will be held at the Veneto Hotel & Casino that announced the launching of the great event on October.

The cost of the inscription for the Poker Tournament is U$S 4 thousand in the pre sail and the day of the tournament there will be also a buy-in option, no additional cost. The prize will be for the ten first places, and those who manage to place themselves between the 11th and the 20th place, will get back their inscription money.

The first annual World Poker Dealers Championship, that took place at the Binion’s Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, started on September 24th and finished this week. There were three different events: Omaha Eight or Better, Limit Hold’em and No-Limit Hold’em. A fourth event was canceled due to the minimal interest in other than No-Limit Hold’em.

For next year, organizers have decided to add a Ladies Event, a Floor Personnel event and a Manager’s and Executives event.

Poker star Alex Jacob won the 2006 United States Poker Championship Main Event, obtaining $878,000 and his first major title. This victory solidifies his place as one of the rising poker stars. In just one year, Jacob has won more than $1.6 million.

Until now, his best performance had been a second place in the World Poker Tour Foxwoods Poker Classic Main Event. He also was in two final tables at the World Series of Poker during last summer.

Mike Sexton, also known as the Ambassador of Poker has decided to fight the Unlawful Internet Gaming Act, which was approved a week ago in the United States. Sexton is planning a media campaign to make people conscious about the effects of the new legislation.

“The mission is obviously to voice the displeasure with this bill that has been passed by Congress, and to speak up for the rights of poker players, and their right to play online poker”, Sexton explained.

Last February, Italy announced its intentions to ban all IP addresses of online gambling sites. Only a few days later, the government informed that it was trying to reach an exclusive relationship with an online poker room.

Now, the country has decided to regulate the industry, following the steps of many other countries. On January 1, 2007, a new law will come into force that will make online gambling legal for Italian citizens. It will also regulate public sports betting and bingo parlors.

At last, there was a Poker Texas Hold’em Tournament in a Portuguese casino. The competition took place last September 23rd and 24th at the Casino Espinho. The buy-in of the game was 110 euros and there were 20 thousand euros in prizes to be given away.

The 200 places were sold out in less than 24 hours, which shows how full the room was during the first tournament. And it also shows how much the game has grown among Portuguese people and players and it will keep on growing constantly.

Some weeks ago, Peter Lindstrom, from Sweden, won the first Everest Poker European Championship that took place in Barcelona, Spain. Since then, he has seen his popularity increased, a phenomenon that is not strange for other poker players that have won similar championships.
In Spain, Lindstrom competed against 100 players from across Europe and took home the championship title. “I'm thrilled to have taken part in such an enjoyable and gripping event”, he said. “It was a great experience, and I look forward to taking part in other live and online Everest Poker tournaments, and in the 2007 edition of the EPEC.”