Monday, March 31, 2008

Canadian Wins Almost $200K Spinning Slotland’s Treasure Box

Regular video poker player gets lucky when he switches to slots


Spring time in Canada is looking that much sweeter for a video poker player who switched to slots on a recent spring day and won a nearly $200,000 progressive jackpot at Slotland.com. Slotland’s jackpot is hit, on average, every six or eight weeks. Since it had been more than that since an American player won the last $100,000 jackpot, many players sensed this win was overdue.

“It’s hard to resist when the jackpot gets to big numbers like that,” said Martin Smith. “Lots of players play a little more when they feel like there’s going to be a big jackpot winner any second. They want it to be them! So we’d been very busy in the days before the win.”

“I usually stick with video poker,” said the player known as TEXASTEASER who’s been a regular at Slotland.com for five years. “I don’t know what made me think I should take a spin or two on the slots that day instead, but I’m sure glad I did!”

The lucky canuck won the biggest Slotland progressive jackpot ever: $195,083 (€126,910). He was playing Treasure Box, one of the most popular slot machines on the site which now features 6 unique slot machines and 4 video poker games. JAMKAT2 won a $113,418 (€89,067) progressive jackpot playing “Treasure Box” last year. Prior to this springtime windfall, the biggest jackpot ever won at Slotland was $179,166 won by TOPNOTCHED playing the Golden 8 slot machine last May.

The progressive can be played on any of the slot machines and video poker games on the Slotland.com web site. Most of the games are also available on mobile phones and PDAs where they are tied into the same progressive jackpot. The next big winner could be at their computer or anywhere they take their mobile phone. The last player to win a large jackpot playing on their phone was OLYMPIAGOLD who won $163K playing the mobile version of Lucky Stars in early 2006.

Re-set at $50,000 after each win, Slotland.com’s progressive jackpot is already back up to over $70,000 (€45,000).

$1 Million up for Grabs in Asian Poker Tour

Asian Poker Tour to include 4 events each with $1,000,000 to be won

The Asian Poker Tour has announced its 2008 calendar with four events set to capture the imagination of the poker world and to make the Tour bigger and better than ever.

The Tour will kick off in the Philippines from May 27 to June 1. It will be followed by similar events in Macau, Asia’s gambling capital, South Korea, and Singapore, which will be the last leg of the Tour. Venues and dates for the last three events will be announced shortly. Each tournament will offer a US$1 million guaranteed prize pool, which is sure to attract poker players from all over the world. There will also be internet qualifiers which will ensure that online players can rub shoulders with some of the world’s leading poker pros at each live tournament.

The opening APT leg in Manila will be a poker tournament of world class standards – more than 400 players will battle it out during six days of thrilling poker for a share of the guaranteed $1 million prize pool. The buy-in is $2,500 – but there’s the chance of winning one of the online satellites, which includes an all-expenses paid trip as well as the buy-in. You can also expect similar fare at the other three events – huge prize pools will be up for grabs as well as fantastic tournament packages for online qualifiers.

Poker has been growing in popularity in Asia for years and the APT announcements will make it an even bigger phenomenon. For all the latest news on the APT, including online satellite details, visit the APT website at http://www.asianpt.com/ for regular updates.

AsianLogic CEO Chris Parker said: “The Asian Poker Tour (APT) will definitely be a top-class brand. This is such an exciting time for poker players in Asia and we feel that with our expertise and skills, we can make the APT a bigger and better series of events each year. From the four events that will take place this year, the APT plans to expand to a total of six events in 2009. We are continually working to set up some of the world’s most exciting and prestigious poker tournaments.”

Online gaming company ESL-Asia, a subsidiary of AsianLogic, has taken over the APT and will organise all the online and land-based tournaments, as well as brand management. ESL-Asia will also oversee the APT’s plans to launch their own online poker rooms in the months ahead, where internet players can improve their skills and win money.