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Canadian Players Flocking to Bodog!

Bodog

Bodog has opened it’s doors to Canada and now nearly every corner of the world can play at the Bodog poker room, gamble in the Bodog Casino and place bets in the online sportsbook and horse betting locations!

Officially announced today, September 3, 2009, Bodog let the world know that all Canadian residents are welcome. What does that mean to the players already familiar with and playing at Bodog? Well, for poker it means a new influx of players to the already loose cash tables, more players online and more opportunities to build a bankroll off of the less experienced players. Sounds like a shark feeding frenzy is about to happen. But, will the Canadians brink more sharks than guppies to the tables? Only time will tell.

The official statement from Bodog was released in various media channels earlier today and here is what Bodog had to say:

Bodog Europe Launches Bodog.ca for Canadian Players

For Immediate Release

Sept. 3, 2009

It has been a monumental year for the Bodog brand and its licensees, and Bodog Europe is excited to officially announce yet another key milestone in the brand’s history: the launch of the Bodog experience to the Canadian market. Perhaps fittingly, Bodog Europe’s launch of www.Bodog.ca coincides with the 15-year anniversary of the Bodog brand, for the first time giving Canadian players the ability to cash in on some hot new promotions just in time for the remainder of the CFL season and the beginning of the NFL and NHL seasons.

Bodog Europe is lead by industry veteran and Managing Director Keith McDonnell, and is regulated and licensed by the Antigua & Barbuda Financial Services Regulatory Commission, Directorate of Offshore Gaming. McDonnell noted, “We’re extremely excited to be able to bring the unique Bodog experience to Canadian players. Canadians are passionate sports fans and are extremely savvy consumers. The Bodog brand is known world-over for its unmatched customer service and here at Bodog Europe we put the player’s experience and entertainment ahead of all else – I’m confident that we’re going to quickly earn Canadians’ loyalty and trust.”

Bodog.ca offers Canadian players safe, secure and simple access to world-class sports betting, a thriving and dynamic poker community, and a full Vegas-style casino with more than 80 web-based and downloadable games. Bodog Europe offers its players a simple, feature-rich sports betting product, offering a vast selection of sports betting opportunities across all major leagues and featuring live betting and an 80+ track Racebook. The Bodog.ca Sportsbook also has a particular focus on Canada’s most popular sports: NHL Hockey and CFL Football.

Bodog Europe – the upstart Bodog brand licensee already taking the UK by storm with its European-facing site www.Bodog.co.uk – had originally secured the rights to the world-famous “Bodog” brand for use in Europe only. However, when Bodog Europe Managing Director Keith McDonnell learned of BodogBrand.com’s willingness to entertain proposals to license the brand for use within Canada, he was quick to act, and secured the exclusive Canadian license.

“The Bodog brand is celebrating its fifteenth year anniversary this year – an absolutely remarkable pedigree and testament to its enduring values in an industry that quickly kills off mediocrity. The brand has gone through quite an evolution during that long history, and Bodog Europe is looking forward to carrying the torch forward for at least another fifteen years of world-class customer service, unbeatable promotions, and, above all – fun.”

To learn more about Bodog Europe’s Canadian site, visit http://www.bodog.ca.

About Bodog

The Bodog licensing enterprise (www.bodogbrand.com) is a branded venture capital and licensing organization with its head office in the Caribbean nation of Antigua. BodogBrand.com holds the global rights to license the Bodog brand across all sectors, and its mandate is to partner with and/or license the brand to carefully-selected licensees to accelerate partner growth while simultaneously extending the Bodog brand into new and adjacent markets. BodogBrand.com currently licenses the Bodog brand to a variety of brand licensees for an array of products and services worldwide, including online gaming, music, and other entertainment properties. For more information, visit www.bodogbrand.com.

About Europe

Bodog Europe (www.bodog.co.uk and www.bodog.ca) is the exclusive licensee of the “Bodog” brand for online gaming services within Europe and Canada, offering world-class sports betting, a thriving and dynamic poker community, and a full Las Vegas-style casino with more than 80 web-based and downloadable games. Bodog Europe does not offer gaming services within the United States of America and is regulated and overseen by the Antigua and Barbuda Financial Services Regulatory Commission, Directorate of Offshore Gaming, which was designated and recognized by the UK’s Department of Culture, Media and Sport as a trusted, highly-regulated, “white listed” jurisdiction effective Nov. 3, 2008. For more information, visit www.bodog.co.uk or www.bodog.ca.

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As far as California Hold’em is concerned, we applaud the fact that Bodog now allows players from Canada to one of our favorite places to play online poker. We welcome our neighbors from the north and look forward to a very exciting future in the online poker world! All players at Bodog Poker are able to claim a 110% poker bonus up to $500 free, and 10% is paid instantly! Casino and sports fans enjoy a 10% unlimited bonus too! Sign up today.

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Poker Week Announced, US Poker Players Signing Petition!

Now is the time for all poker enthusiasts to make their voices heard in the White House. The Poker Players Alliance will be presenting President Obama with a petition on July 22, during National Poker Week, asking for his support to exempt poker from the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), and for the legalization and regulation of online poker.

Join with thousands of fellow poker players across the country who are showing their support and signing this important document. So far there have been 32,127 signatures, let’s all work together and send a million or more signatures to Washington. There is power in numbers!

Your voice will be heard. Make it count. Go to the Poker Petition now and sign it. Every signature helps! Get active! Click here to go to the Poker Petition.

California Holdem is a premium member of the Poker Players Alliance. We urge all of our US readers to join the PPA, if you can’t spare the small membership fee, you can still join the PPA as a free member. Join the PPA here and fight for your right to play online poker.

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Poker News, the Good and Bad of it.

Strike one victory and one loss for online poker fans over the past few days. Minnesota folds it’s hand, NY seizes poker players funds! While we are happy to report the change of the Minnesota State Government backing off it’s case to force internet providers to block online gaming, poker and casino sites from it’s residents, we we saddened when we got the news about the attorney for the Southern District of New York instructing three banks to freeze the accounts of online poker sites.

The Good Poker News:

According to MinnPost (www.minnpost.com), Minnesota state officials backed off of a request for Internet service providers to block access to Web gaming sites.

Six weeks ago, in a first-of-its-kind effort, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division (AGED) sent letters to 11 ISPs requesting the providers block some 200 sites that allow various forms of Internet gaming. In the face of a lawsuit from the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA) and mounting public pressure, state officials sent letters to those same providers withdrawing the previous request.

They went on to say in the article published yesterday, June 9, 2009:

The state’s Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Decision “has agreed to withdraw” the notice letters it sent in late April, according to the new correspondence. “Whether or not iMEGA ultimately would have prevailed in court is unknown,” wrote John Willems, AGED director. “Notwithstanding, the AGED has agreed to withdraw the notice. As a result, iMEGA has agreed to dismiss its court action without prejudice.”

The Poker Players Alliance, (PPA) was consulted by David Webb, a professional poker player who plays both online and live and began researching the laws regarding the 1961 Wire Act and whether it actually applies to online poker and gaming. The Wire Act was put into place well before anyone even dreamed about the internet and online gaming.

“The more we looked into the actual laws, people started calming down a bit,” Webb was quoted as he traveled to the Bellagio casino in Las Vegas. “But before I did the research, I was pretty panicked. It’s almost like being at risk of being fired from your job, because … it puts your livelihood at risk.”

This is another in a wave of small victories that the PPA has been involved with.

Adverstisement:

Poker Immortality Awaits You at the 2009 WSOP

“The 2008 WSOP was a great time,” said Anthony Smith, who qualified through Bodog and won his way to the 2008 WSOP Main Event. “You can’t be in Las Vegas and NOT have a great time.”

          Anthony “Tsmizzle26″ Smith
Edison, NJ

Daily freeroll and one dollar qualifiers still running for the 2009 Main Event!

Qualify for the 2009 WSOP Main Event today and your chance at poker immortality.

 

The Bad News:

According to the PPA, On or about June 4, 2009, a federal agent working with a federal prosecutor from the Southern District of New York contacted at least two banks in the Los Angeles and Scottsdale areas and requested that accounts containing approximately $19 million in player deposits and payouts be immediately frozen until a seizure warrant could be obtained from an appropriate judicial officer.

The Associated Press (AP), today reported that documents were obtained by the AP that showed that a judge in the Southern New York District issued a seizure warrant last week for an account at a Wells Fargo bank in San Francisco, and that a federal prosecutor told a bank in Arizona to freeze an account.

Also, in a letter dated Friday and faxed to Alliance Bank of Arizona, the prosecutor said that accounts held by payment processor Allied Systems Inc. are subject to seizure and forfeiture “because they constitute property involved in money laundering transactions and illegal gambling offenses.” The letter was signed by Arlo Devlin-Brown, the assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.

The PPA has already sent a letter to the SDNY asking to be heard. This letter is available at www.pokerplayersalliance.org. In a press release dated yesterday, the PPA posted the following:

[NY] PPA Statement on Southern District of NY Action Against Online Poker Players – PPA (06/09/09) [NY] PPA Statement on Southern District of NY Action Against Online Poker Players – PPA (06/09/09) pokerplayersalliance WASHINGTON, DC (June 9, 2009) – The Poker Players Alliance (PPA), the leading poker grassroots advocacy group with more than one million members nationwide, today released the following statement by PPA Chairman Alfonse D’Amato on questionable actions taken by a federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York to freeze payment processor accounts containing more than $30 million in poker players’ deposits and payouts.

Stay tuned for more developments in this case.

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Online Poker World Holds Breath for new House Bill

Many US online poker players are keeping watch over Washington D.C. tomorrow as Representative Barney Frank is planning on introducing a bill that may very well lead to the start of regulated online poker for the US. We will keep watch and report to you the progress that US poker players have been dreaming of since the un-ethical UIGEA was passed in 2006.

Similar legislation failed to make it in the last Congress. Frank said, [Supporters] “have been mobilizing,” he also went on to say in an interview last week. “This is a grassroots thing.”

The proposed legislation allows licensed gambling operators to accept online wagers from people in the U.S. Although it has never been a crime to play online poker, this bill makes a revision to  the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, that makes it a criminal offense for banks and other institutions to process financial transactions to be used for making illegal bets online.

Earlier this year, out going President Bush signed regulations implementing the law took effect in January, banks and other payment processors have until 12/01/09  to comply with the law or face possible criminal charges.

Las Vegas-based Harrah’s has registered to lobby for the first time and has spent over $405,000 from January to March in supporting  its in-house lobbyists. They have also hired veteran Democratic fundraiser Tony Podesta to assist in the cause.

As news emerges from Washington we will continue to keep you informed.

We urge you to register with the Poker Players Alliance and contact your representitives urging them to support this new bill and once again allow online poker players the right to enjoy online poker.

Digg!

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The Dawn of California Holdem News

Welcome to the beginning of California Holdem.com’s news. We will be sharing news on the devolopements in California bill AB 2026 as well as other general and pertinent online poker news. Our goal is to help keep you informed about the movement towards regulated online poker in California and the rest of the USA. Watch for updates, interviews and opinions on one of the most dynamic movements since prohibition.

We encourage you to be an active voter in your state, communicate to your state and federal representatives and government officials. Let them know that playing poker is not a crime. It is a game of skill enjoyed by millions of United States citizens and we feel it is our right to enjoy this game in a safe and secure online and land based environment.

We also encourage you to join the Poker Players Alliance, a grass root organization made up of  poker enthusiests that are willing to fight for their right to play online poker. Become an advocate and protect your rights today!

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