Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Poker-Pro Wannabe Gets Chance at a Million

Regular Aces.com Player Wins Place in Million Dollar Free Roll Elimination Round

A young player who’s honed his poker tournament skills in Aces.com’s regular Wednesday Night Free Roll has qualified for the online elimination round in the Vegas-style site’s Million Dollar Free Roll.

The Million Dollar Free Roll online elimination round begins July 22 and will likely continue for two or three days. The top twelve players will be flown to a secret tropical resort for the face-to-face Final Table. One of them will walk away a million dollars richer. The Wednesday night regulars at Aces.com hope it’s their buddy Brill.

Brill played in our last Million Dollar Free Roll,” said Aces.com Manager Rene Quesada, “He finished about 400th out of about 5000. I can tell you though, he’s played a lot of Texas Hold’em since then – could be a real contender this time ‘round!”

“I’ve had a lot more online tournament experience since then,” says the confident Aces.com player. “Last year was just practice – this year I’m playing to win!”

The confident player is hoping his Brill Strategy can help him win the million.

“I have a strategy that I've formulated over the years that seems to work for me,” says the recent college graduate. “I call it my ‘Brill Strategy’. Without giving too much away, I'll say that I’m a semi-conservative player who has an aggressive streak and I feel I have a good knack of knowing how much to bet at certain times, and how to extract the most chips from an opponent in a given pot. Of course, no matter how good a player you are, you need to get lucky. And sometimes the luckiest thing that can happen, is avoiding being unlucky.”

The Hold’em hopeful is also a fan of the most popular new game in Las Vegas, Three Card Poker.

“Three Card is pretty easy,” he said. “It’s nice for a change after a few intense hands of Hold’em! Would be nice to pick up that $1000 Tournament prize at the end of the month too!”

Aces.com’s June card tournaments include $1000 prizes to the players that win the most at Blackjack, Three Card Poker and Caribbean Stud in the month of June.

There is no direct entry into the $1,000,000 main event -- players must win their seat in one of three free heats held daily until July 21. The tournaments, which are free to enter, are at 4 pm. 9 pm and 1 am (Eastern Time) every day; registration begins two hours prior to each. Anyone can join these games by entering the poker room at Aces.com. The top six, nine and fifteen players respectively advance to the Online Elimination Round that begins July 22.

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

African School Built by Slotland.com Brings Community Together

Before it is even open, the school in Malawi built by popular online slots site, Slotland.com, is already an important community centre. The villagers that built the school have been back to harvest the first crop of maize, which will feed pre-school students, and a volunteer committee is being trained to manage the new facility when classes begin in September.

I'm personally impressed by Slotland.com. While most online gambling companies are mostly interested in the owners'/stockholders' profits, Slotland.com amazingly philanthropic.

“Our goal is to help to start up this project, to work hand in hand with the local community, to make sure that soon our presence will not be needed and that the project can continue functioning without us or outside funding,” said Hannah Morante of Slotland.com.

We are following two guiding principles,” said Tereza, the Project Manager. “The project must directly respond to the needs of the community. And it must be built and managed by the local people in order for them to feel a sense of ownership and responsibility.

The Slotland.com team’s first task in Africa was to understand what the local people needed most. Visiting families, schools, health centres, churches, and other stakeholders confirmed that the biggest problems facing the villagers were the lack of food, lack of money for school, lack of knowledge, sexual inequality, and HIV.

The team learned some startling facts that make providing an education all the more important:
  • Half of all twelve-year-old girls are sexually active, usually for money.
  • Common misconceptions, like ‘sperm contains vitamin K that women can only get through unprotected sex’ or ‘sex with virgins can cure HIV’ help spread disease.
  • Some communities still practice initiation ceremonies that encourage early sex which, being unprotected, result in pregnancies or STDs.
  • Schools, churches, and other organizations trying to fight the HIV/AIDS pandemic generally advise young people to abstain but as most of them are already sexually active, this advice doesn’t have a chance of changing their behaviour.

“We want to help these people break the cycle of poverty and we think education is the key,” said Morante. “We strongly believe that it is our obligation to share our prosperity like this. We know it makes our players feel good about how they’re spending their entertainment dollars.”

Slotland.com has nine unique online slot machines and now offers three of the most popular games on mobile phones. The site is well known for its progressive jackpots (available both online and on the mobile games) which are hit every six weeks or so for $150,000 or more. It is also well known for its generosity.

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Baseball Bettors to Win Trip to MLB All Stars Game

Aces.com Offers Free Chance at Trip to Midsummer Classic in Pittsburgh

One lucky Aces.com baseball bettor will win an all expense paid trip to the MLB All Stars Game in Pittsburgh next month. The winner will be chosen at random by the retro Vegas-style casino and sportsbook from all players betting on baseball throughout June – so everyone that bets on baseball has a chance to win. This baseball lovers dream prize includes hotel, airfare and tickets to the hottest sports betting event of the season.

“Baseball fans want to be in the ball park in Pittsburgh I guess,” mused Aces.com Manager Rene Quesada, “But for gamblers, Vegas hotel sports books -- and online sports betting sites -- are where the real action is.”

Each week, Aces.com Sportsbook offers players one free no-loss baseball bet – losing bets are completely refunded.

This week’s MLB $10 Free Bet at Aces.com is:
Which Player Will Have More Strikeouts on Sunday, June 18?
Curt Schilling -1/2 Ks 1-1 John Smoltz +1/2 Ks 1-1

Aces.com’s Slaughter Rule, Cycle and No-Hitter promos also make it one of the most fun places to bet on major league baseball this summer.

The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual contest between players from the National League and the American League. Position players are selected by fan vote and managers select the pitchers. The All-Star Game usually occurs in early to mid-July (this year July 11) and marks the symbolic halfway point in the Major League Baseball (MLB). It is used to determine home field advantage for the upcoming World Series. Intended as a one-time event, the first All-Star Game was held as part of the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago and was the brainchild of Arch Ward, then sports editor for The Chicago Tribune.

Friday, June 09, 2006

Czechs’ have upper hand against USA in World Cup opener

Sportsbook.com odds makers favor Czech’s and bettors back them too

With the World Cup only days away, there is no doubt that the US men’s national team will be looking to earn some international respect as they try to build on their stunning 2002 quarterfinal run in South Korea and Japan. However, the States have their work cut out for them as they face the number two FIFA ranked Czech Republic in their first match this Monday in Dortmund, Germany.

www.sportsbook.com, the world’s largest online sportsbook and casino, has placed odds on the outcome of the stars and stripes World Cup opener, pinning the US as a 3.50 underdog. The States have received only 35 per cent of total wagers, unlike the 2.09 favored Czechs, who have received 61 per, the remainder of the cash rests on a tie match.

The US, ranked fifth by FIFA going into the World Cup, has had a strong showing in qualifying rounds and will look to young striker DeMarcus Beasley and Landon Donovan among other talented midfielders to put pressure on the Czech’s defense. Up to the challenge is 24 year old Chelsea keeper Petr Cech. One of the World’s finest netminders, Cech has allowed the midfield to stay offensive-minded which has let Pavel Nedved do what he does best, score goals.

“The opening game of the World Cup can really set the tone for the rest of the tournament so this is an important one for both teams,” said Alex Czajkowski, Sportsbook.com. “Everybody bets on the World Cup, and although the US has slipped under the radar as a serious threat in Group E, they have played the spoiler before and can certainly do it again.”

The US opened as a 90-1 underdog to win the 2006 World Cup but now sits at 30-1, the 11th best odds in the field. The traditional South American and European powerhouses still line the top of the odds chart with Brazil at 5-2 followed by Argentina (13-2), England (7-1), Germany (8-1), Holland (9-1), Italy (9-1) and France (10-1).

USA opens their World Cup run against the Czech Republic on Monday June 12th at Dortmund’s FIFA World Cup Stadium in Germany.

For a full list of odds and additional information please visit www.sportsbook.com.

Who will win USA’s First Game vs. Czech Republic - June 12, 2006

Result /Money /Wagers Received
USA 3.50 35%
Tie 3.23 5%
Czech Republic 2.09 61%

Who will win the 2006 World Cup?

Team / Odds / Wagers Received

Brazil 5-2 30%
Argentina 13-2 5.5%
England 7-1 11.9%
Germany 8-1 10.6%
Holland 9-1 3.9%
Italy 9-1 7.9%
France 10-1 1.7%
Spain 16-1 2.5%
Portugal 20-1 2.8%
Czech Republic 25-1 4.2%
USA 30-1 9.0%
Mexico 40-1 2.9%
Sweden 40-1 1.2%
Ukraine 50-1 0.7%
Serbia & Montenegro 60-1 0.2%
Croatia 65-1 0.7%
Ivory Coast 80-1 0.3%
Poland 80-1 0.4%
Paraguay 90-1 0.1%
Switzerland 100-1 0.3%
Japan 150-1 0.4%
Australia 200-1 0.5%
Ecuador 200-1 0.2%
Angola 250-1 0.1%
Ghana 250-1 0.3%
South Korea 250-1 1.0%
Togo 300-1 0.1%
Tunisia 350-1 0.0%
Costa Rica 500-1 0.2%
Iran 500-1 0.2%
Saudi Arabia 750-1 0.1%
Trinidad & Tobago 1,000-1 0.2%

$10K Cash & Prizes in Aces.com June Card Tournaments

Free Three Card Poker, Blackjack & Caribbean Stud Tournaments Are Easy for Beginners and a Nice Change for Regular Poker Players

As every gambler on The Strip knows, tournaments up the excitement level for players and mean BIG prizes are at stake. True to form, Vegas-style online casino Aces.com presents three June card tournaments with more than $10,000 in cash and prizes to be awarded.

The Three Card Poker, Blackjack and Caribbean Stud players that accumulate the most chips in the month of June will each win $1000. Second and third place players in each category will each get $500 and $250 respectively. Free Plays plus a total of more than $10,000 in cash and prizes will be awarded to Aces.com tournament players this month.

Caribbean Stud Tournament players that play the progressive could really win big. Right now, Aces.com’s Progressive Jackpots are at record-high levels. The Caribbean Stud Progressive is at $223,077.22 (as of June 5).

Three Card Poker is the hottest new card game to hit the strip since Texas Hold ‘em, and Aces.com is one of the first online casinos to offer this popular Vegas game. Blackjack and Caribbean Stud (Bermuda Poker) are popular favorites but for many card players Three Card Poker is something new.

“Three Card Poker is an easy game for beginners to start with,” said Rene Quesada, Aces.com Manager. “It’s also a nice change for people that have played a lot of online card games.”

Aces.com offers online gamblers ALL the gambling options they have in Las Vegas: casino games, poker, sports betting and horses. What happens in Vegas, happens at Aces.com.