The two Chief Executives, Jim Ryan of PartyGaming, and Norbert Teufelberger of Bwin, will become joint chief executives of the merged company. Current Bwin co-chief executive Manfred Bodner will become a non-executive director on the board of the enlarged group.

According to Ryan: "This is a transformational opportunity for both our companies to create the world’s largest listed online gaming business. With market-leading positions in poker, sports betting, casino and games (in particular bingo), the enlarged group will have a winning formula to exploit the growing online gaming market, supported by a strong balance sheet, significant cash flow generation and a highly experienced management team."

Teufelberger said: "This merger of equals makes great strategic, operational and financial sense. We will be in pole position to capitalise on the wealth of opportunities that will flow from the continued evolution and expansion of the global online gaming industry."

Speculation over a merger between the two companies has been going on for some time and Party Gaming confirmed the rumours in March, stating that the parties  had been in discussion.

The casino bonus at William Hill comes in multiple parts. First, new members receive a 100% match bonus on their first deposit, with a maximum bonus amount of 150. That bonus must be wagered at least 20 times before being withdrawn.

The casino bonuses don’t stop with your first deposit, though. William Hill has a 1,500 Monthly Loyalty Bonus. With this bonus, the casino rewards players for frequently visiting the site and playing with them. Throughout the month, players can receive a 20% match bonus on all deposits. There is a maximum bonus of 50 per deposit and 1,500 per month. These bonuses must be wagered 15 times before being withdrawn.

William Hill is best known as an online betting site for sports, prop bets and more, but not long ago they launched their own online casino. That casino has all the games you would expect, including online poker, online slots, blackjack, roulette and any other game you associate with a casino experience.

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According to ABC’s Houston affiliate, those arrested were suspected of working at the poker room, rather than being players. They also stated that an undisclosed amount of cash was also confiscated. Gambling 911 reported that the store was running “$2,000 freerolls every night,” but considering the source, I can’t be sure that’s accurate.

A poker tournament like this would be illegal in the state of Texas, but perfectly legal in several nearby states. The police raid has led some to call for Texas to legalize the game, avoiding situations like this in the future. After all, it seems odd to have to visit a shady fake-store in a strip mall to play a game that is covered weekly on ESPN.

There isn’t a lot of information available regarding this poker tournament raid. One thing I am wondering, though, is why the FBI was involved. The FBI sent in undercover agents to confirm that poker tournaments are going on and then the FBI and Sheriff’s department together conducted a raid and made arrests. One whose statutes – federal or county – the arrests were made, I don’t know. I don’t know in whose custody the prisoners are being held. I do know, however, that there is no reason to think this poker tournament violated any federal law.

Though I can’t figure out why they’re there, I’m glad the federal government is using their limited resources to combat the epidemic of people having fun playing a card game. God knows we need to put a stop to that before it really gets out of control. I mean, sure, some people will say that federal law enforcement sources can be used for other things, such as guarding the nation’s borders, stopping the flow of drugs into the country, investigating fraud or protecting the country from terrorism, but everyone has different priorities.

More information on this case will be reported as it is learned.

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July 22 – Crown Europe has released a few superb new games. Pink Panther, Rocky and Punisher War Zone are amazing new video slots developed under license from Marvel comics and MGM. These games are going to be a knockout with players.

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5P has influence arising from principal shareholder Hun Sun Ny, the sister of Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen.

“The Cambodian joint venture is consistent with PhilWeb’s focus on an international expansion strategy,” read a statement from the Manila-based firm.

“PhilWeb is also working to obtain gaming licenses in other countries including Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar, Guam, Saipan, Palau, Papua New Guinea, East Timor, Nepal and others.”

Eighty percent of the joint venture is owned by PhilWeb Cambodia Limited, a subsidiary of PhilWeb, which estimated that total capital investment over a five-year period would reach five million US dollars.

PhilWeb acts as the enabler of the State-run Philippine Amusement And Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) and revealed that its latest venture had already secured a Cambodian gaming licence in order to operate lotteries and online casino cafes.

The Philippines government recently indicated that it was considering the privatisation of PAGCOR.

The Age newspaper reports that the recommendations of the Commission place renewed pressure on the gambling companies, because it urges state governments to scrap their exclusive retail wagering licences and open up betting markets to greater competition.

Most of the duopoly’s licenses expire between 2012 and 2016, and the Commission recommends that state governments do not renew them exclusively as this is a ”rare privilege”, unfair to punters and no longer justifiable.

The Age notes that Tatts Group, through UniTAB, earns A$130 million before tax through its retail wagering licences in Queensland, the Northern Territory and South Australia, whilst Tabcorp holds the licence in Victoria until 2012 and in NSW until 2013, delivering pre-tax earnings last year of A$252 million.

If the companies look on the bright side, ending their dominance in some states could open up opportunities for them in others in a truly free market.

The newspaper reports that the Commission’s recommendations come as the industry awaits the outcome of charges against a South Melbourne pub, the Rising Sun Hotel, and the owner of an internet kiosk installed there, VenueNet, which offered online access to Darwin-based bookmaker Sportsbet.

The Victorian Commission for Gambling Regulation is prosecuting VenueNet for possessing an unauthorised instrument of betting and helping the pub run a betting house with the unauthorised kiosk after a complaint from Tabcorp.

A spokeswoman for Victorian Gaming Minister Tony Robinson said yesterday that despite the Commission’s recommendation, the (state) government would continue with its tender of the new retail wagering licence for beyond 2012.

”We’re not going to back away from the parameters of the current wagering licence, which is exclusive,” she said.

This is the second of the Commission’s recommendations that appear to have been rejected out of hand; earlier this week the Australian federal government’s Community Minister, Jenny Macklin, said that the federal government will not support any moves to liberalise online gambling laws in the country as recommended by the Commission.

Still in the field were double Main Event champion Johnny Chan; the $50,000 Players’ Champion, Michael Mizrachi and top caliber players like Barny Boatman, Sammy Farha, Carter Phillips, and Hoyt Corkins.

Multiple WSOP bracelet holder Jesper Hougaard, and internet high stakes cash game specialists Patrik Antonius and Cole South were also on the table lists.

By the time play reached 4 levels over a thousand of the entrants had been eliminated, including Dennis Phillips, Matt Glantz, Lee Markholt, Greg Mueller, Brock Parker, James Akenhead, Marcel Luske, Rob Hollink and David Bach.

Other high profile casualties included Carlos Mortensen, Berry Johnston, Tom McEvoy and Bobby Baldwin, along with 2010 bracelet winners Dutch Boyd and Daniel Alaei.

At level 8 tournament officials called for the chips to be bagged as Day 2a was concluded, with 1,359 players ready to go through to Day 3 and Boulos Estafanous in the lead on 344,100, closely pursued by Randy Dorfman on 337,000.

With Day 2b up next, competition for the winner’s prize of $8,944,138 is still wide open.

Events 52 through 56 are all now in various stages of completion, which means 5 more bracelets are yet to be picked up, with top pros like Tom Dwan, Phil Hellmuth and Phil Ivey all hoping to win the coveted symbols of success for reasons ranging from side bets to prestige and record collection.

A final table of six had finally been reached Friday night after three days of unrelentingly tough poker in event 52, the $25,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em Six Handed competition, which initially attracted a field of 191 top players.

Only 18 polayers were left at the start of Day 3 Friday afternoon, including aces such as Frank Kassela, Abe Mosseri, Daniel Negreanu, Jason Somerville, Isaac Haxton, Justin Bonomo, Eugene Katchalov and Carlos Mortensen.

A measure of how competitive a field this was can be gained by the fact that in the first level Daniel Negreanu, Abe Mosseri, and Isaac Haxton, along with Day 3 chip leader Bryn Kenney, were all out of contention.

Late night Friday the action had reached level 25 when the chips were bagged. The final six survivors were: Dan Kelly in the lead on 5,895,000; Frank Kassela (2,610,000); Shawn Buchanan (2,110,000); Jason Somerville (1,665,000); Mikael Thuritz (1,535,000) and Eugene Katchalov (475,000).

The meteoric progress of 21-year-old Internet player Dan Kelly was one of the highlights of this event in Day 3; he started the day with the shortest stack yet managed to double up and then battle his way into a substantial lead against some formidable players, and as InfoPowa went to press controlled over 41% of the chips on the table when the action paused for the night.

Brian Tate was the last winner to make up the final table of event 53 – the $1,500 buy-in Limit Hold’em Shootout, joining Terrence Chan, Jonathan Little, Joseph McGowan, Michael Schneider, Ben Yu, Brendan Taylor and Sijbrand Maal who all won their second table in a row and advanced to the final round.

Friday afternoon saw these players start a whole new round of shootout play with the goal of delivering an event winner from an original field three days ago of 548

Level 7 had been reached by late night Friday, at which point the elimination in third spot of Jonathan Little had cleared the way for a heads up between roomies Brendan Taylor holding a comfortable lead on 2.46 million, and Ben Yu on 1.14 million.

The first prize for this event is $184,950.

Day 1b of event 54, a $1,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em competition played down Friday, setting the scene for a combined field for Day 2.

The Day 1b field was smaller than the first day in this event, but still attracted 1,504 entries, making total registrations for the event 3,844 entrants, and generating a mouth watering prize pool of $3,459,000.

On the ‘who’s here’ list for the day was Pat Pezzin, Raymond Rahme, J.C. Tran, John Monnette, Barry Shulman, Men Nguyen, Chris Moneymaker, Wiliams, Phil Ivey and Valdemar Kwaysser, along with a slew of other famous faces.

Day 1b was bagged and completed at level 9 late Friday night with 602 players remaining and average chip stacks at 19,156. Andrew Talbot held the lead on 71,075, way short of the substantial lead built up in Day 1a by UK player James Dempsey on 140,000.

The survivors of both initial days will join together in Day 2 action Saturday afternoon to see who makes the final table, and more importantly who gets the bracelet and the $570,960 first prize. The cash bubble is at elimination 396.

Is event 55 – the $10,000 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha World Championship – Tom Dwan’s best hope for a first bracelet, big prize money and lucrative side bet payouts?

It certainly appeared so late Friday night as InfoPowa went to press, leaving Dwan holding a chip lead of 560,000, comfortably ahead of his nearest rival Jonathan Cantor on 420,000 and the average chip stack count of 199,615.

The duo were leading a field of 52 – all that remained of 346 original entrants in this hotly contested event as it battled through level 16 on Day 2. Another well known name – Phil Hellmuth – was also still active further back in the field and hunting a record-breaking twelfth bracelet.

Eliminations during the night included Annette Obrestad, Chris Ferguson, Dan Heimiller, Vitaly Lunkin, Ted Lawson, David Benyamine and Vanessa Selbst.

The last event before the Ante Up for Africa charity tournament and the Main Event this year is event 56 – the $2,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em competition, which saw cards in the air late Friday afternoon and a star-studded field of 1,942.

The registrations indicate that the prize pool will be $4,466,600 with the cash bubble around the 198th elimination at $5,047 and a main prize for the winner of $826,418.

The plan was to play through eight levels before bagging up for the day as the large field assembled. Seen taking their seats were David Williams, Barry Shulman, Chad Batista, Allen Kessler , Neil Channing, Andy Black, JC Tran, last year’s main event champ Joe Cada, Humberto Brenes, Phil Ivey, Craig Bergeron, Dennis Phillips, Roland de Wolfe, Victoria Coren, Shannon Elizabeth and Daniel Negreanu.

As InfoPowa went to press late Friday night 1,250 players were still active, led by David Singer on 33,200, Shane Schleger on 32,000 and Court Harrington on 32,000.

Early departures included: Allan Baekke, Jeff Madsen, Amnon Filippi, Roland de Wolfe and Daniel Negreanu,

Still in the field were double Main Event champion Johnny Chan; the $50,000 Players’ Champion, Michael Mizrachi and top caliber players like Barny Boatman, Sammy Farha, Carter Phillips, and Hoyt Corkins.

Multiple WSOP bracelet holder Jesper Hougaard, and internet high stakes cash game specialists Patrik Antonius and Cole South were also on the table lists.

By the time play reached 4 levels over a thousand of the entrants had been eliminated, including Dennis Phillips, Matt Glantz, Lee Markholt, Greg Mueller, Brock Parker, James Akenhead, Marcel Luske, Rob Hollink and David Bach.

Other high profile casualties included Carlos Mortensen, Berry Johnston, Tom McEvoy and Bobby Baldwin, along with 2010 bracelet winners Dutch Boyd and Daniel Alaei.

At level 8 tournament officials called for the chips to be bagged as Day 2a was concluded, with 1,359 players ready to go through to Day 3 and Boulos Estafanous in the lead on 344,100, closely pursued by Randy Dorfman on 337,000.

With Day 2b up next, competition for the winner’s prize of $8,944,138 is still wide open.