The draft decree intends to have French financial institutions block payment orders from online gambling operators listed by the French authorities. This includes online gambling companies that are fully licensed, regulated and based in the European Union.
It is the second of two decrees, drafted under the 2007 Delinquency Act, that attempt to erect technical barriers to online gambling coming from outside of France. The first decree sought to oblige Internet service providers to discourage consumers from accessing Web sites other than those operated by the French gaming monopolies.
That first decree is already the subject of a separate European Union infringement proceeding. It was never adopted following a detailed opinion issued by the EC against it in July 2007.
The European Gaming and Betting Association pointed out that the Commission's decision this week on the new decree is a timely reminder that restrictions on the free movement of capital and payments, as set out in the EC Treaty, are not acceptable.
"Today's action consolidates the Commission's position that the unjustified payment blocking in our sector clearly contravenes EU law," said Sigrid Ligne, EGBA secretary general. "We welcome the Commission's action and hope that this will send a clear signal to other EU and EFTA Member States that such proposals will not be tolerated."
Similar restrictions are currently being considered in Germany, Norway and the Netherlands. Ligne pointed out that online gambling payment restrictions have been passed in the United States already, and as a result it has been proven that "such restrictions are difficult to implement, easy to circumvent, inefficient and foster the growth of an underground market."
The EC's opinion on the French decree extends the standstill period of non-adoption until March 31. During that time, France can't adopt the decree, and after that time, if France moves forward to adopt the new restrictions, the Commission can immediately launch infringement proceedings.
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Playtech and Sportingbet Announce Earnings
Playtech Ltd and Sportingbet PLC both reported their earnings earlier this week. Both companies posted improved financial results in their effort to rebuild after the industry's devastating loss of the lucrative US market...
Preregistration opens for 2008 WSOP
Now players will be able to download the event registration forms online at WorldSeriesofPoker.com or in person at the main cage of the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino.
For players sending in registration for events via other methods, the forms along with a deposit must be submitted no later than two weeks prior to the start of the selected events. Deposits can be made with a wire transfer or by sending a cashier's check.
The deposit is the full buy-in for the event a player is preregistering for, and it can be applied to the event during final registration at the Rio or used for other purposes.
All preregistrants will still need to finalize their registration on-site before they can play in their chosen events. To do so, they will need to present proof of identity such as a passport, driver's license, state ID card or military ID card at the Rio, where staff will then finish the registration and give the player a table and seat assignment.
"We've received only positive comments about the 2008 schedule, which offers WSOP bracelets in eight variations of poker and at multiple buy-in levels," said Jack Effel, WSOP tournament director.
"Because no alternates will be seated at the 2008 WSOP, we encourage players to pre-register early to guarantee their seats. Once again, acceptable forms of payment will include cash, cashier's checks, wire transfers and Rio casino chips."
The 2008 WSOP begins May 30 and runs through July 16 with 55 bracelet events this year. Buy-ins for events range from $1,000 to $50,000, with the Main Event costing $10,000.
Check out the full 2008 WSOP schedule here.
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#364 – NBC Heads-Up Championship #14 – Special Delivery
I had to delay writing this because after the last round ended I was standing talking with Phil Ivey and Mike Matusow and Phil started asking about food. What’s around here? I was thinking of getting a slice of pizza...
Bodog pros flying high at Bodog Poker Open
When all was done and said a total of 377 players took part in the epic contest, but it was Bodog pros Evelyn Ng and Josh Arieh who came in second and third.
Outlasting the two Bodog pros was online player rusostreet who earned $26,062 for coming in first. Rusostreet will receive an automatic seat to the Bodog Poker Open's Main Event this Sunday as well as the distinction of winning the first BPO event.
Ng made $16,680 for coming in second while Arieh settled for $11,571 for third. The total prize pool was an impressive $94,250 with an extra $10,000 donated by Bodog to give the tournament considerable value.
The players on Team Bodog were not the only well-known poker players to get in on the action. Kevin "BeLOWaBOVe" Saul, "Annette_15" Obrestad, Thayer "THAY3R" Rasmussen, Eric "Rizen" Lynch, Jon "PearlJammer' Turner, Jared "TheWacoKid" Hamby and many more all came out to play in one of the biggest events ever held by Bodog.
It was a great start for the Bodog Poker Open and the excitement will be cranked up a notch with events held every day this week.
Event 2, $300+$25 six-handed, will kick off tonight at 8 p.m. (EST). Once again Bodog has made the tournament an exceptional bargain by adding $10,000 to the prize pool. There will be satellites held twice today so you still have a shot at qualifying.
The five preliminary events at the BPO are all leading up to the $500 buy-in BPO main event on Sunday with Bodog kicking in an astounding $25,000 to the prize pool.
Here are the complete final-table results:
| Player: | Prize: |
| rusostreet | $26,062 |
| Evelyn Ng | $16,680 |
| Josh Arieh | $11,571 |
| Dyzalot | $8,340 |
| crazyz987 | $6,255 |
| organoman | $4,691 |
| joncubs69 | $3,648 |
| Quahog Kid | $2,710 |
| croth8 | $1,772 |
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Win your way to the Bodog Poker Open with PokerNews!
Bodog Poker launches the first ever Bodog Poker Open (BPO) and are giving PokerNews players the chance to win a Main Event seat for only $1!
Phil Ivey creeps up POY standings
Thanks to successes he racked up at the beginning of the year, Men "The Master" Nguyen is still atop the POY race. With seven final tables in the first two months (and four wins overall), Nguyen sits with 2,436 points.
Although he wasn't able to add to his point total in either the World Poker Tour's $10,000 L.A. Poker Classic championship event or the WPT Invitational, he has still garnered over $500,000 in winnings and will continue to be a player to watch throughout this poker year.
EPT champion Mike McDonald holds on to his second-place standing, but there's a new contender challenging him and the rest of the field.
After his huge weekend at the end of February, where he won the WPT L.A. Poker Classic and then jetted off to Las Vegas for the 2008 National Heads-Up Poker Championship (tying for third), Full Tilt pro Phil Ivey entered the Top 10 for the first time.
Considered one of the best in the game, Ivey could snag the POY championship if he focuses on the tournament scene instead of the more lucrative cash games.
Joining the Top 10 this week is European Poker Tour Scandinavian Open champion Tim Vance. His winnings of $1,210,699 put him in seventh place at this point.
Another champion from the past two weeks, World Series of Poker Circuit Council Bluffs victor Ben Hock, sits with the same points as Vance but loses out on the 2008 earnings tiebreaker and is in 12th place.
The Top 10 for the PokerListings Player of the Year race looks like this as we enter the second week of March:
| Player | Country | Points | FTA | 2008 Earnings |
| 1. Men Nguyen | United States | 2,436 | 7 | $514,426 |
| 2. Mike McDonald | Canada | 2,140 | 3 | $1,487,214 |
| 3. Phil Ivey | United States | 2,000 | 1 | $1,721,100 |
| 4. Bertrand Grospellier | France | 1,600 | 1 | $2,000,000 |
| 5. Alexander Kostritsyn | Russia | 1,600 | 1 | $1,452,000 |
| 6. Gavin Griffin | United States | 1,600 | 1 | $1,401,109 |
| 7. Tim Vance | United States | 1,600 | 1 | $1,210,699 |
| 8. Howard Lederer | United States | 1,600 | 1 | $1,100,000 |
| 9. Brett Faustman | United States | 1,600 | 1 | $892,413 |
| 10. Bart Tichelman | United States | 1,600 | 1 | $415,595 |
Completed qualifying events: 2008 L.A. Poker Classic, Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza, 2008 Midwest Regional Poker Championship Main Event, 2008 Oklahoma State Poker Championship (Event 2; Championship Event), EPT Scandinavian Open, 2008 Heartland Poker Tour Mille Lacs Championship Event, 2008 National Heads-Up Poker Championship, WPT Invitational, WSOPC Council Bluffs, 2008 Broadway Festival Main Event, 2008 Campeonata de España-Valencia, 2008 CAPT Bregenz Open (Events 2, 3, 4; Championship Event), 2008 Great British Poker Tour Edinburgh Main Event
Bubbling just under the Top 10 on the POY standings is the aforementioned Hawk in 12th place, as well as another player who won big during the first weekend of March, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson. With his takedown of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship (the third time in the four-year history of the tournament that he has made the final two), Ferguson enters the second tier.
Michael Binger also numbers among this group in 18th place after a victory in one of the preliminary events at the L.A. Poker Classic.
Victory in Los Angeles puts new leader atop Ladies POY race
The Ladies Player of the Year race saw changes at the top this week due to a decisive victory by Marisol Banuelos at the L.A. Poker Classic. Banuelos, a Los Angeles resident, defeated a field of 605 in Event 26, $500 No-Limit Hold'em, and with its prize pool of almost $300,000 earned enough points to place her atop the Ladies POY race.
Former leader Diane Nguyen was unable to earn any more points over the last couple of weeks; she's now in second, albeit with a solid hold on the slot. Two other early-season contenders, professional Vanessa Selbst and Jennifer Golin, are in third and fourth place respectively.
Joining the Ladies Top 10 this week are two recently crowned champions. By becoming the first woman to win a WPT open event, Van Tuyet Nguyen (the wife of Men) jumps up into fifth place, in a tie with several other women. One of them is Lorraine Bane, who won the High Heels Poker Tour stop in Council Bluffs.
The Ladies Top 10 lines up like this:
| Place | Player | Points |
| 1st | Marisol Banuelos | 640 |
| 2nd | Diane Nguyen | 410 |
| 3rd | Vanessa Selbst | 347 |
| 4th | Jennifer Golin | 326 |
| 5th | Lorraine Bane | 320 |
| Regette Bechara | ||
| Marga G. Dominguez | ||
| GiGi Dong | ||
| Christy King | ||
| Irina Liepina | ||
| Van Tuyet Nguyen | ||
| Louise Rocchio |
Over the next two weeks, several events are unrolling that will have a significant impact on the PokerListings POY race. The Wynn Classic in Las Vegas, the WPT's Bay 101 Shooting Star tournament in San Jose, California, the WSOPC stop in Atlantic City and the EPT's Polish Open will all crown champions.
Smaller events will also make their mark, so join us in a couple of weeks to see how the PokerListings Player of the Year races shape up by then.
Related Articles:
- The Master Surges to PokerListings POY Lead
- EPT Win Puts McDonald Atop POY Standings
- Player of the Year Race Begins at PokerListings.com
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Ladbrokes approved as WSOP satellite
Players can win a 2008 WSOP seat at the site through the $1,000+$90 WSOP Final that takes place each Wednesday at 7:45 p.m. (GMT).
The satellites will award one WSOP prize package for every $14,000 generated in the prize pool. Plus, at least one prize package is guaranteed each week.
The prize packages include the $10,000 buy-in to the Main Event as well as money for travel and accommodation.
For those players who don't want to dip too deep into their bankroll for the weekly satellites, there are also qualifiers for the WSOP Final for much less money.
For a $100+$9 buy-in, players can take on a daily WSOP qualifying tournament and last-chance satellites that will get them into the WSOP Final.
Still too rich for you? There are daily qualifiers to the $100+$9 qualifiers for as little as $11+$1 as well.
For the full details of the satellites, visit Ladbrokes Poker's WSOP Lobby located in its multi-table tournaments section under Offline Events.
Ladbrokes Poker is also planning to send players to the 2008 WSOP through its WSOP Team League. In order to take part, players must:
- Put together a team of players who all have separate Ladbrokespoker.com accounts. A minimum of 2 players and a maximum of 4 players are permitted in each team.
- Select a captain and give the team a name.
- Register the team.
- Play in the WSOP Team tournaments.
The team tournaments will take place each Thursday to earn points in the league and have a $20+$2 buy-in. The top 100 players in the tournaments will be awarded league points.
First place will receive 100 points, 99 points for second, 90 for third, and so on down to one point for the 100th-place finisher.
The members of the team with the most points at the end of the League will each win a 2008 WSOP prize package. The package includes the $10,000 buy-in for the Main Event, $2,500 for expenses and 10 days' accommodation at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
There will also be one more prize package given out through the WSOP League. All players in the teams that finish in the second through 36th place in the standings will be invited to play in a freeroll with the winner receiving a $14,000 WSOP prize package as well.
Players have until noon (GMT) on Wednesday to put their teams together and get registered to compete in the WSOP League.
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