PokerStars to donate WCOOP tournament fees to charity

PokerStars.com, the flagship brand of The Stars Group, has committed to continuing its support for the charity Raising for Effective Giving (REG) by once again donating all of the tournament fees from one of its most high-profile online tournaments, World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) 66-H: $25,000 NLHE High Roller.

The $3 million guaranteed World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) tournament begins on 21 September at 15:00ET and is considered to be one of the most prestigious titles in the online poker world. REG employs a "cause-neutral" reasoning in its philanthropy to ensure that donations make the biggest positive impact. REG empowers people to make better giving choices by promoting the idea of effective giving and providing donation advice to enable people to give to the causes that best reduce greatest sources of suffering.

In May, PokerStars donated all fees from the Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) High Roller tournament and added $50,000 in matched funding through Helping Hands, The Stars Group's Corporate Giving arm, to make a total donation of $109,000 to REG.

"We wanted to send a huge thank you to those of you who played the SCOOP High Roller tourneys in May," said Team PokerStars Pros Liv Boeree and Igor Kurganov, co-founders of the charity. "The fee you paid was matched by PokerStars and reached two of REG's supported charities, the Future of Humanity Institute (FHI) and the Machine Intelligence Research Institute (MIRI). We're excited about the fundraising campaign during WCOOP."

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Pala Casino launches October poker schedule

Southern California poker players will have more opportunities to win extra cash at Pala Casino Spa and Resort in October when the Poker Room will host the $20,000 Estimated Quantum Reload tournament starting Wednesday, 4 October until Sunday, 8 October, and the River Card Championship tournament starting Thursday, 26 October until Sunday, 29 October. Pala Poker also will host its Super Deep Stack game at 3 p.m. each Saturday, except on 7 and 28 October, when the other two tournaments are being played.

Pala Poker will continue to stream LIVE 2-3-5 No Limit Hold'em action from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. each Friday and Saturday on Facebook.

The poker room also will continue its popular Thursday Deep Stack Turbo and Friday Night 2K tournaments, will add new High Hand of the Half Hour and Weekly Fantasy Football promotions and will continue its Sunday High Hand Frenzy, Rolling High Hands and Chase for the Dough promotions.

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NJCOOP returns with $1.2 million guarantee

The New Jersey Championship of Online Poker (NJCOOP) is returning this October to PokerStars New Jersey, announced PokerStars, the flagship brand of The Stars Group.

From 30 September to 16 October, players can win a share of the huge $1.2 million guaranteed prize pool. Satellites for the 46-tournament strong series are now available from as little as $1, providing a variety of ways to get maximum NJCOOP value, including daily second chance freerolls with a total of $25K added in NJCOOP tickets. Special edition $4 Spin & Gos awarding tickets to the $500 NL Hold'em Main Event started on Thursday, 14 September and run until 15 October.

NJCOOP offers players tournaments with stakes ranging from $25 to $1,000 across a variety of formats, providing something for every poker player and bankroll. Highlights of the series include:

1 October at 17:00 ET: $250 NL Hold'em Sunday Special ($85,000 guarantee)
10 October at 19:00 ET: $1,000 NL Hold'em High Roller ($80,000 guarantee)
15 October at 17:00 ET: $500 NL Hold'em Main Event ($200,000 guarantee)
Team PokerStars Pro Chris Moneymaker shared his excitement about playing in the upcoming series: "There is always a great variety of tournaments on offer with any PokerStars series. I'm especially excited for the Main Event; it's a great opportunity for New Jersey players to play a big online tournament and win big."

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Oleta Adams to visit Aliante Casino

Platinum recording artist Oleta Adams will bring her soulful singing and inspiring hits to Access Showroom at Aliante Casino Hotel and Spa on Saturday, 21 October.

Adams began her musical career singing on worldwide tours with iconic performers Tears for Fears, Phil Collins, Michael Bolton and Luther Vandross. In 1990, Adams released her debut album "Circle of One," which became certified Platinum with the hit single "Get Here." With her musical roots in gospel and her ability to effortlessly cross over into soul, R&B, urban and popular music, Adams has continued to impress fans with songs like "Rhythm of Life," "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" and "Window of Hope."

Throughout her career, Adams has sold more than two and a half million records and received four Grammy nominations. Aside from her duets with Tears for Fears, Adams has recorded duets with talented artists, including Al Jarreau, David Sanborn, Toots Thielemans, Shirley Ceasar and José James. Adams music has been featured in numerous films, including "Corrina, Corrina, Sleeping With the Enemy" and "Jason's Lyric," and her vocals set the tone in "How Stella Got Her Groove Back."

Most recently, Adams released her ninth album "Third Set" in February. Adams also continues to tour around the world, performing across the United States, as well as in the Netherlands and Germany.

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MPN to crown Greatest Poker Player in the Universe

The MPN announces the third annual Universal Championship of Poker (UCOP III), boasting €750,000 guaranteed across 59 tournament events this September, with a trophy and €5,000 cash prize awaiting the player crowned The Greatest Poker Player in the Universe.

A €10,000 leader board will track player progress throughout the Universal Championship of Poker series. The winning player will take home €5,000 in cash and the Greatest Poker Player in the Universe trophy.

In addition to the Greatest Poker Player in the Universe leaderboard, UCOP III will see the addition of a €5,000 Great Players Leaderboard. This leaderboard rewards players who live and breathe poker, contribute to the game and grow it for others. Points are awarded to players who stream their play during the series on Twitch, YouTube or Facebook Live, with additional points going to those players who have the most interesting stream each day.

"The Universal Championship of Poker is back bigger and better again this year. We've grown the guarantees from €250,000 in 2015, to €500,000 last year and now €750,000 for the 2017 installment! We're also thrilled to welcome Adjarabet players to the UCOP for the first time and excited to see how this influences both the live streams, and of course the prizepools," said Alex Scott, Head of Product (Network Games) at Microgaming.

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PokerStars rolls out qualifiers for Sunday Special Live

Online qualifiers for PokerStars.com's popular live poker tournament series, MEGASTACK, are now running for the three-day Sunday Special Live tournament taking place at the Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City from 6-8 October 2017, sponsored by PokerStars NJ, a brand of The Stars Group Inc.

The first ever MEGASTACK event in the U.S. kicks off with Sunday Special Live to coincide with the New Jersey Championship of Online Poker (NJCOOP), a two-week online series taking place at PokerStars New Jersey, making the Garden State the place to be for poker in October. NJCOOP, which will run from 30 September until 16 October at PokerStars New Jersey, is one of New Jersey's richest online tournament series, with $1.2 million in guaranteed prize pools.

Many players have already qualified for the Sunday Special Live through $20 and $30 online satellites, but special offers, including $2.50 Spin & Gos and daily freerolls awarding free satellite tickets, will run from 11 September to help players attend this unique event.

Players will vie for a chance to win a share of the $125,000 guaranteed prize pools across two great tournaments: the $220 Sunday Special Live and the $120 NLH Cheap and Deep tournament. Chess champion, author and Team PokerStars Ambassador Jen Shahade and Team PokerStars Pro Chris Moneymaker have both confirmed their attendance.

"This is an everyman event suitable for everyone's pocket," said Team PokerStars Pro Chris Moneymaker. "As well as the excellent organization that goes hand in hand with a PokerStars event, the promise of a decent tournament structure and a $125,000 guarantee makes this a must-play event."

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South Point Casino welcomes Poker Room Manager

South Point Hotel Casino and Spa welcomes Jason Sanborn to the team as Poker Room Manager. With more than 20 years spent in poker rooms both in Las Vegas and in Michigan, Sanborn brings his knowledge and skills to keep South Point's Poker Room top of mind for both locals and visitors alike. In his new role, Sanborn will oversee all Poker Room operations, promotions and security.

"Jason brings expertise to the South Point Poker Room that only someone with his 20-year experience can bring," said Ryan Growney, General Manager of South Point Hotel, Casino and Spa. "With his guidance, we will be able to make the South Point Poker Room the must-go spot in Las Vegas."

Sanborn was born and raised in Michigan, but moved to Las Vegas in 1998 to become a poker dealer. Since then, he's served in many positions, including Floor Supervisor and Shift Manager at a variety of casino properties in Las Vegas. As Poker Room Manager at South Point Hotel, Sanborn will work to grow the room's popularity through promotions, giveaways, freerolls, tournaments and more, while offering a one-of-a-kind gambling experience that will keep guests coming back for more.

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PokerStars launches software to showcase tournament highlights

Players who reach the final table in certain World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) events will be among the first to receive videos that celebrate their tournament winning moments, thanks to innovative software that generates personalized videos when a player runs deep in a No Limit Hold'em (NLHE) tournament. Launched by PokerStars.com, part of The Stars Group Inc., the automated videos provide highlights from a player's tournament, including amount won, replays of exciting hands, number of entrants and place finished.

The videos have been developed in conjunction with Treepodia, provider of personalized video marketing solutions and include entertaining narration from popular poker commentators James Hartigan and Joe Stapleton. In time, the requirements to receive a PokerStars Winning Moments Video will be expanded to include NLHE tournaments when a player cashes 100 times their buy-in.

Shortly after a tournament ends, players who qualify with their big tournament score will receive an email that contains a link to their personalized video that they can share on various social media channels, including Twitter and Facebook. The narration of the videos will only be available in English.

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Malta Gaming Authority launches licensee relationship management system

During a press conference addressed by the Malta Gaming Authority's Executive Chairman, Joseph Cuschieri, and the Parliamentary Secretary for Financial Services, Digital Economy and Innovation, Hon. Silvio Schembri, the MGA announced the launch of a New Licensee Relationship Management System accessible through a secure and dedicated web portal.

This project, which is the result of a collaboration between the MGA and Microsoft, will transform the way the MGA interacts with its current and prospective licensees through the simplification and digitization of its online and land-based processes.

The first phase of the project will see the MGA launching three main online services, which are:
Applications for Remote Gaming Licenses.
Dynamic Seal URL requests.
Submission of Players Liability and Gaming Tax Reports.
This new system will empower the gaming operators to electronically track the status of their applications and meet regulatory requirements more efficiently. This digitization process will enhance a two-way communication between the Authority and its customers.

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Bruno Mars adds six performance dates at Monte Carlo Casino

Due to popular demand, multi-Grammy Award-winning superstar Bruno Mars has added six performance dates at Park Theater at Monte Carlo Las Vegas Resort & Casino on 30 and 31 December 2017 and and 14, 16, 17 and 19 February 2018.

Tickets for the new Park Theater performances start at $99.50, not including applicable service charges, and go on sale Friday, 8 September at 10 a.m. PST. Ticket sales are limited to eight per person. Tickets can be purchased online at Ticketmaster.

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PokerStars rolls out social app

New social poker game PokerStars Play by PokerStars, the market-leading brand of The Stars Group, has begun phased rollout offering a fun and authentic game for social poker players.

PokerStars Play brings a cohesive gaming experience that epitomizes the variety and fun that has become synonymous with PokerStars. Games include Texas Hold'em, Spin and Go Texas Hold'em, Omaha and casino-style slots to cater to card game enthusiasts and online slots fans. It is currently only available in the U.S. and Australia on iOS and Android, and will begin phased rollout to all territories over the course of the year as a standalone app.

"PokerStars Play is the next phase in our progress toward being a leader in social casino," said Lloyd Melnick, Director of Social Gaming at PokerStars. "PokerStars Play is a unique product, taking the best of real money gaming and merging it with the features players expect from mobile games.

"It brings together the lessons we learned building Jackpot Poker, probably the best social poker game on the market, with the incredible brand equity we have at PokerStars. We are very excited to launch PokerStars Play as it represents a great opportunity for players of social poker products to now play with and against the best from the poker leaders."

The game has a next-generation look with a slick lobby; exciting user experiences to celebrate winning moments; and the chance for players to play against real poker players from around the world, collect trophies and compete to be the best in weekly leaderboards. Players can win billions in fast-paced tournaments and collect up to 100,000 free chips daily.

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Meet poker champ Phil Hellmuth at Rivers Casino Schenectady

Rivers Casino & Resort Schenectady is hosting world-renowned poker champion Phil Hellmuth on Monday, 21 August, in advance of the nationally televised Poker Night in America's visit to the casino.

Hellmuth will be signing copies of his newly-released book, "Poker Brat," in the Rivers Casino Poker Room from 5 to 6 p.m. The public is welcome to attend; copies of "Poker Brat" will be available for purchase.

Hellmuth will be joined on Tuesday, 22 August by poker legends Doug Polk, Daniel Cates and Frank Kassela. The four greats of poker will star in the first ever Poker Night in America $200K heads-up, winner-take-all King of the Hill competition in front of a live audience in Van Slyck's entertainment lounge, just off the Rivers gaming floor, on 22-23 August.

Each player has put up $50,000 of his own money for the King of the Hill, bracket-style competition. Poker fans are encouraged to attend, or tune in via live stream at Twitch.

Poker Night in America will follow up the King of the Hill action with filming of its flagship $25/$50 No-Limit Cash Game at Van Slyck's entertainment lounge on 24 and 25 August. Local players will be competing with some of the biggest pros in the game on a live streamed and televised table.

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