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Poker News Digest 6/10/2009 – 6/12/2009
By Dan
Published: Friday, June 12, 2009
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- In April of this year, Morris Mohawk Group, owner of Bodog, announced that it had reclaimed the domain name Bodog.com after settling a patent infringement lawsuit with 1st Technology, LLC. The lawsuit went all the way back to September 2006 and after Bodog did not show up in court on multiple occasions in 2007, 1st Technology was awarded a $49 million judgment and the rights to all Bodog-related domain names. Bodog originally changed its domain name to NewBodog.com before settling on BodogLife.com. This week, Bodog's website finally reverted back to its highly-valued name, Bodog.com. And so ends a stressful chapter in Bodog's history.
- This month, 888 Pacific Poker introduced its new loyalty system, replacing its old Frequent Player Point system. With the new system, there are two types of points: Status Points and Rewards Points. Status Points are earned at the rate of 2 for every $1 of rake a player contributes. As more Status Points are earned, the player climbs the Status levels, from Bronze to Silver to Gold to Platinum on a monthly basis and VIP and VIP Diamond for yearly accumulations. At the same time, Rewards Points are earned. Initially, at the Bronze level, Rewards Points are earned at the same rate as Status Points. As one moves up, however, the Rewards are multiplied, making it more "rewarding" to achieve higher Status Levels. These Rewards Points can be used to purchase items in online store, buy special tournament entries, or they can be converted to cash.
- GigaMedia, owner of Everest Poker, reported miserable financial results for the first quarter of 2009. Revenue was down 13 percent from the same quarter in 2008 to $44 million, while net income plummeted 60 percent to $4.8 million. GigaMedia cited the global economic crisis and the decline in value of the Euro against the Dollar as primary reasons for the trouble. The company's poker business produced 27 percent less revenue in the first quarter compared to last year, down to $21.6 million. Casino revenues were actually up 18 percent to $10.2 million in the first quarter of 2009 versus the first quarter of 2008. Perhaps because of the struggles of Everest Gaming, GigaMedia is in talks with two suitors to sell the brand. As reported in May, one of those potential partners may be PartyGaming, owner of PartyPoker. Currently, PartyPoker ranks fourth in the industry in cash game traffic, according to PokerScout.com, while Everest Poker ranks sixth. The combined poker room would likely vault ahead of iPoker into third position.
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