Virtual Worlds Media

PartyCasino Wins Media Man 'Online Casino Of The Month' Award

2012-01-28T21:02:00.001+11:00

PartyCasino.com has been awarded the Media Man and Casino News Media "Online Casino Of The Month" award.

Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment's gaming suite has grown a custom to winning awards since they first opened for business in 1997.

The competition for the coveted award was intense again this month with massive bids from both Virgin Casino, PKR Casino and Captain Cooks Casino however there can only be one winner... ladies and gentlemen, that's PartyCasino.com

The award follows PartyPoker's EGR Poker Operator Of The Year and PartyGaming also made the shortlist for EGR Operator Of The Year. Recently Bwin.Party's PartyPoker.com also won the Casino News Media "Online Poker Website Of The Month".

The Media Man - Casino News Media accolade is based on a combination of elements including user experience, innovation, trustworthiness, customer service, gameplay, affiliate program offerings, newsworthiness and company values.

PartyCasino.com is one of a number of Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment brands.

The most popular PartyCasino.com games of late include Heist, Circus, Rambo, Palladium Slot, The Godfather, Sinatra, Slotbox, Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Mission: Impossible, The Terminator, Cleopatra, Sinatra, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, The Amazing Spider-Man, Monopoly, Resident Evil, Melon Madness, Wheel Of Fortune and Mega Fortune Wheel.

The PartyCasino.com jackpot is currently approaching the $2 million mark. Players can also compete for The Big One and Marvel Hero Jackpot, playing the Marvel super hero themed online slot games.

PartyCasino's most recent game releases include Shaaark! SuperBet, Crocodopolis, Alice's Wonderland, Glamour Puss, Super Cubes, Heist, Palladium Slot and Circus Slot.

Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment Co-CEO Jim Ryan has gone on record advising PartyCasinowill soon feature more Hollywood blockbuster themed slots. A few in the know journalists and media agents have been recently tipped off that an all time classic movie adaption will be showcased in the PartyCasino portfolio within 1 month. PartyCasino has the world's most impressive line up of Hollywood themed games, and more are just around the corner.

PartyCasino.com and PartyPoker.com customers can also benefit from rewards and bonuses via PartyPoints and the Palladium Lounge. Be certain to check out the PartyCasino exclusive "Cash Machine" that is being championed as one of the greatest online casino promos ever.

Media Man, Casino News Media and Global Gaming Directory do have a b2b relationship with Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment, as they do with dozens of other companies in the gaming, igaming, media and entertainment industry.

Websites

PartyCasino.com

PartyPoker.com

Profiles

Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment PartyCasino PartyPoker PartyBingo Circus PartyCasino Marvel Slots The Big One Melon Madness Casino World Poker Tour PartyCasino Promotions

Virgin Bingo launches brand new advertising campaign

2012-01-27T18:42:00.001+11:00

Profiles

Virgin Bingo Virgin Games Virgin Casino Richard Branson Virgin Enterprises Limited Bingo Television Advertising News Virgin News Entertainment News Casino News Bingo News

James Packer and Richard Branson

Wednesday 25th January, 2012: Virgin Games, the leading online gaming company, has launched a brand new television advertising campaign for its bingo site – Virgin Bingo.

The latest advert is part of a £500,000 marketing campaign to run in the first quarter of 2012. It is a new concept for Virgin Bingo and is a departure from its previous animated advertisements. The new ad takes on a Willy Wonka meets Virgin theme. Staged in an imaginary factory where Virgin Bingo is made, a woman is taken on a backstage tour of the fantastical premises where Oompa-Loompas have been replaced by happy, dancing Virgin staff. The new commercial also introduces Virgin Bingo’s new welcome bonus: “Deposit £10 and play with £35”, as well as new exclusive Virgin Group prizes.

The campaign focuses primarily on women aged between 25 and 54 - the core target market for online bingo - with day time scheduling on channels such as Five, a range of Sky UK and ITV digital channels.

The 30 second advert was produced by ABF Pictures with Manning Gottlieb OMD acting as media planners and buyers. The advert is scheduled to run for multiple campaigns throughout the year across both terrestrial and freeview channels.

Simon Burridge, CEO of Virgin Games, commented: “This new advert has a flavour of Willy Wonka for adults about it. It has lots of energy, excitement and fun – just what consumers have come to expect from a Virgin advert.

“We first advertised Virgin Bingo on TV in 2010 and have witnessed fantastic customer acquisition rates as a result. We’ve found that TV advertising is a natural fit for bingo. Consumer trust and a sense of security and familiarity are very important attributes for a bingo brand. Being part of the Virgin brand helps to reassure customers that they are playing with a reputable company, while TV ads raise awareness of our existence and help to reinforce that trust and brand awareness.”

Matt Barraclough, Creative Director at ABF Pictures, commented: “We were thrilled to have the opportunity of working with the Virgin Games team. A brand like Virgin allows us to think bigger and look at online bingo in a different way. We wanted to stand out from traditional bingo commercials and do it in a very Virgin way.

“The commercial itself was produced over three months. The action was captured on green screen and the entire factory backdrop was then created using 3D modelling and animation. The inspiration for the advert was the core Virgin brand values: Fun, Value for Money, Innovation, Quality, Competitive Challenge and Brilliant Customer Service. We combined these values and used iconic Virgin styles to create an exciting and memorable advert.”

Founded in 2004, Virgin Games has over 1,000,000 players and over 295 games on its site. Through the introduction of a custom built Virgin Games platform in 2008, Virgin Games seeks to provide its players with the widest possible choice of casino games.

*Sorry, Virgin Games does not currently accept U.S, Canadian, New Zealand or Australian players. See World Casino Directory.

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Richard Branson

Website Network

Media Man Int

Casino News Media

Global Gaming Directory

Media Man News

Media Man Entertainment

Media Man Games

PartyCasino VS Virgin Casino iGaming "war" continues

2012-01-26T20:02:00.001+11:00

Profiles

PartyCasino.com Virgin Casino PartyCasino VS Virgin Casino

PartyCasino.com - Accepts Canadian, Australian and New Zealand players. PartyCasino new players get up to $3000 sign up bonus. Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment is the world's largest and most succesful igaming company.

VirginCasino.com - No US, Canadian, Australian or New Zealand players. £100 sign up bonus. Virgin Games is part of Richard Branson's Virgin Enterprises Limited.

Profiles

PartyCasino.com

Virgin Casino

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Casino News Media

Global Gaming Directory

Hulk Hogan Pro Wrestling God Tours Casinos; Sports Entertainment News Update, by Greg Tingle

2012-01-23T15:15:00.002+11:00

Profiles

Wrestling WWE WWE Hall of Fame Impact Wrestling Ric Flair Hulk Hogan Casinos

Sylvester Stallone Hulk Hogan and Vince McMahon

From Bondi Beach, Australia to Japan, Canada, the USA - most of the world knows of Hulk Hogan.

Who can forget the Hulk-A-Mania Australian tour from a few years ago where he feuded with long time rival Ric Flair, and how about the wrestling angle at the then Star City Casino (now The Star), where it appeared at first that Hogan and Flair went at it for real when Flair implied he "had" Hogan's wife "Jennifer", before Hulk did! Now, that would start a fight and boy did the blood flow. The action was so hot that Seven News decided to purchase the video camera footage from the Media Man agency for a considerable sum.

The red did turn to green, as the old wrestling kayfabe saying goes, but not anywhere near as much as the Australian promoter or Hogan would have prefered.

The arena numbers in Australia were on the downside so much that it was largely responsible for TNA Wrestling deciding not to to ahead with an Australian tour.

The only American (or actually global) pro wrestling - sports entertainment company that he since graced Australian shores is the one and only WWE, headed up by promoter genius Vince McMahon. Once in a while Hogan teases a return to the WWE, and the two do have some line of communication. Take note that McMahon has old Hogan rival Flair getting inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame again (with the other 3 Four Horseman members) the night before WrestleMania, so anything can and does still happen in the WWE. Read up on other recent Media Man WWE news for more on that matter.

This writer would like to see Hogan and Flair both become official WWE spokespersons at some point, but if its to be - they need to make the move soon. Father time is ticking away.

Pro wrestling cousin of sorts, UFC from the MMA world is about to hit Sydney, Australia for a third time, but it ain't wrestling. Note, Brock Lensnar from the UFC and pro wrestling world, has left the UFC recently suffering a loss at the hands of Alistair Overeem at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, USA.

Hardcore pro wrestling fans of the WWF and ECK ilk will likely know this bit of trivia. It was Lesnar that "injured" Hogan's back in 2002 which was the official reason that The Hulk didn't visit down under back then. The back story is that Hogan and McMahon couldn't come to business terms. What's left to say but that's the pro wrestling industry.

Wrestling icon Hulk Hogan was at Speaking Rock Casino and Entertainment Center last week.

Hogan was there for the Micro Championship Wrestling event held at the venue.

Hogan was accompanied by the Nasty Boys, Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags, as well as Ed Leslie, better known as Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, the former WWF Tag Team Champion (having held the title with wrestling legend Greg "The Hammer" Valentine).

Micro Championship Wrestling has a show promoted by Hogan on TruTV. The show, which screens as midget wrestling which has been up and running since August. Note we called them midgets, not dwarfs, so haters lay off ok. Some of the wrestlers also like to be called "little people". Whatever, they are full of excitement, talent and fun, and don't mind sharing it with the world.

Australia's Foxtel doesn't currently get TruTV, so we can't enjoy Hogan's midget wrestling show on the box at this stage, but we're hopeful time will change that. Foxtel is going to soon get a new Factual channel, so there's hope yet wrestling fans.

Hogan is the most recognizable figure in the history of professional wrestling from his success in the business since the 1980s. Hogan's also had many of movies and a host of other high profile shows and projects. Hogan's star power even ecliped "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Gorgeous George (Wagner) and Bruno Sammartino (for you old school wrestling fans out there).

Hogan enjoyed high level feuds with the likes of Andre the Giant, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, Paul "Mr Wonderful" Orndorff, King Kong Bundy, Jake "The Snake" Roberts, "The Magnificent" Don Muraco, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and "Macho Man" Randy Savage.

On the big screen Hogan has starred in "No Holds Barred," "Suburban Commando" and "Mr. Nanny." He has also made appearances in Rocky III and Walker, Texas Ranger. One can argue that current WWE superstars, John Cena, "The Rock" and Steve Austin took off where Hogan finished as far as mixing wrestling and movies. Roddy Piper is widely regarded as the most talented actor that pro wrestling ever produced. From time to time Piper does his famous "Pipers Pit" talk show segment for the WWE as well as helping out a few other smaller wrestling promotions.

Hogan even had his own reality TV show called "Hogan Knows Best.", and it wasn't long before daughter Brooke, did her own "Brooke Knows Best" show.

Hogan became a household name while in Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation (WWF), now known as WWE, which enjoyed a live event in Las Cruces, New Mexico on Sunday at the Pan American Centre.

He is currently signed to the Impact Wrestling - Total Nonstop Action wrestling promotion and has a range of business projects on the go including in the TV, gaming, casino and internet b2b sectors.

Recently, Hogan has made headlines on celebrity websites for his divorce, his son Nick's car crash, daughter Brooke's music career and the pending removal of his world famous moustache (to satisfy some Hollywood movie producers).

Other

Ric Flair is almost as famous as long time rival Hulk Hogan, who along with Flair is currently under contract to Impact Wrestling. Most would argue that Flair is one of the greatest pro wrestlers in history, while Hogan has earned more income from wrestling and wrestling related activities than just about anyone else.

* The writer has a b2b agreement with the WWE (WWE Shop)

* Wrestling legend Andre The Giant gets online slot game via Richard Branson's Virgin Casino.

* Hogan recently released his Kinnect-based "Hulk Hogan's Main Event" game which got mixed reviews from the gaming industry. The game promo goes "Get pumped and bring the pain in the first full-body wrestling game on Kinect for Xbox 360! In Hulk Hogan’s Main Event Hulkamaniacs can train with wrestling icon Hulk Hogan himself. As your mentor, Hulk will help you build your own wrestling personality and school you in the art of showmanship to win over the crowd. Entertain roaring fans with brutal stunts, combos, even devastating chair hits, that will knock your opponent to the mat or out of the ring. The crazier and wilder your motions, the more high impact your wrestling performance is in your living room ring!"

* Hulk Hogan is also tipped to be soon getting his own online slot game. His Hulk-A-Mania game is being developed by Endemol Games. Endemol is the company behind the famous Big Brother franchise, so you know they know about marketing and publicity. The Media Man agency is tipped to soon come to business terms with Endemol.

Websites

Media Man News

Wrestling News Media

Hulk Hogan official website

Ric Flair official website

Micro Championship Wrestling

Speaking Rock Casino and Entertainment Center

Impact Wrestling

WWE Hall of Fame

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Media Man Entertainment

Wrestling News Media

Australian Sports Entertainment

Kapow! EPIX Pre-empts Stan Lee Documentary Before Slamdance Debut

2012-01-23T10:16:00.001+11:00

Profiles

Hollywood Marvel Entertainment Movies Stan Lee Marvel Studios Comics New York Marvel Comics News News Entertainment News

From Bondi Beach to New York, Hollywood, to Africa and beyond, the whole world knows of Stan Lee's Marvel superheroes.

You know - The Hulk, Spider-Man, Captain America - Lee was instrumental in their creation and was co-creator of many of these awesome hero's.

Slamdance has snatched a sweet deal. EPIX is closing a preemptive deal for With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story, a documentary that makes its Slamdance debut this Tuesday.

Lee is the co-creator of hundreds of comic character superheros that include Marvel movie staples Spider-Man, X-Men, Captain America, Hulk, Fantastic Four, Daredevil and Iron Man.

We understand that the documentary will premiere on the pay channel along with EPIXHD, later this year. The doco examines Lee’s life, from growing up in the depression to finding his way to become an iconic comic creator during the Marvel heyday.

We were pleased to learn that the flick features the likes of Tobey Maguire, James Franco, Samuel L. Jackson, Kirsten Dunst and others who’ve starred in Marvel movies.

Lee shows up in all those movies in cameos and is still creating superheroes at age 88.

From comics, to movies, to games and exclusive interviews - its all in the flick.

The film’s produced by Paris Kasidokostas Latsis, Terry Dougas, Nikki Frakes, and Will Hess through 1821 Pictures. WME Global’s Deborah McIntosh is closing the deal.

Superhero fans around the world collectively shout "Excelsior!".

Websites

With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story

Media Man News

POW! Entertainment

PartyCasino.com Marvel Slots

Marvel Entertainment

The Amazing Spider-Man Game

POW! Entertainment

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Media Man Entertainment

Casino News Media

Global Gaming Directory

Packer's Melco Crown eyes $2b in new debt - 19th January 2012

2012-01-20T18:51:00.001+11:00

Profiles

Casino James Packer Melco Crown City of Dreams Altira Macau Lawrence Ho Gaming Crown Casino Australian Casinos

James Packer’s Melco Crown joint venture, one of the six licensed casino operators in Macau, is looking to raise up to $US2 billion ($1.92 billion) in debt to fund a new project in the former Portuguese colony, according to sources.

Proceeds will finance Melco's plans to build Macau Studio City, a $US2.5 billionn-plus gaming and entertainment resort on the developing Cotai strip, said one source.

The debt funding will feature a loan-cum-bond combo with the loan expected to be for around $US1.25 billion and the US dollar bond for the remainder, according to another source. The borrower is in discussions with banks for the loan financing and is seeking underwritten commitments.

Melco's last visit to the loan markets was in May 2011 when it raised $US1.2 billlion through a dual-tranche financing comprising an $US800 million term loan and a $US400 million revolver. The term loan amortises to 50 per cent and has a two-year grace period. The blended average life is 4.1 years.

ANZ, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Bank of China Macau, Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank were coordinating lead arrangers and bookrunners on the fully underwritten facility. The deal paid top-level blended all-ins of 208-308 basis points over Libor.

In May 2010, Melco raised $US600 million through an eight-year non-call four global bond paying a coupon of 10.5 per cent.

Melco is a joint venture between Mr Packer's Crown and Lawrence Ho, son of the Macau gaming mogul Stanley Ho. Crown has a 33.4 per cent stake in Melco Crown Entertainment, which runs the Altira Macau and City of Dreams casinos.

Website Network

Casino News Media

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Media Man Entertainment

Virgin Casino Releases Andre the Giant Slot Game

2012-01-19T02:08:00.001+11:00

Profiles

Andre The Giant Hulk Hogan Virgin Casino Virgin Games Richard Branson NextGen Gaming Microgaming Games Casino Wrestling WWE

*sorry, no U.S, Canadian, New Zealand or Australian players. See World Casino Directory

Richard Branson's Virgin Casino announced the release of its latest slot game entitled Andre The Giant this week.

Virgin is in the batch of the first casinos to get this amazing slot game. PartyCasino.com is tipped to also host the pro wrestling themed game.

The new wrestling slot game is a Microgaming flash casino game that is based on the iconic World Wrestling Entertainment star Andre the Giant. It has been launched on the QuickFire platform and is fully licensed by CMG Worldwide.

This 5 reel, 25 pay-line slot game has symbols that revolve around the professional wrestling entertainment genre. Players can wrestle with symbols such as the Andre the Giant logo as the scatter, an image of Andre the Giant acts as the wild and there are additional symbols such as the wrestling ring, championship belt, the mask and tickets.

The biggest pay out a player can win from this game is 5,000 coins and this occurs when five matching symbols appear on the same pay-line. Players can then multiply their winnings by playing a game of Hi or Lo with cards.

The Andre Goes Wild feature round allows the wild symbol to expand to cover all three positions on the reel. This will only occur if the expansion results in a winning combination. The wild symbol only appears on reels 2 and 4 during the game.

If two or more Andre the Giant logo scatter symbols appear on the reels at any one time this will activate a scatter pay out. The scatter pay out for hitting five scatter symbols is 200 coins. If a player hits three or more scatter symbols then they will trigger the Battle Bout Bonus round.

In this round, the player is giving 10 free spins. Throughout these 10 free spins, Attack symbols are collected and saved for the second phase of this bonus round. These symbols are some of Andre the Giant signature wrestling moves. Once the free spins finish, the player then takes the Attack symbols collected into the next part of the bonus round where they pick an opponent to fight and then unleash the Attack symbols on that opponent.

Opponents include Flame Bro, Jimmy Iron Legs and Voltage Van Zandt. No, Hulk Hogan or Jake "The Snake" Roberts are not in the game, but we hear both of these wrestling icons are interested to have their own slot game, and Hogan's wish will be coming soon later this year.

If Andre the Giant hits the opponent then the player wins bonus credits. If Andre the Giant hits the opponent three or more times then the player can select one of Andre the Giant’s finishing moves to win the bout and earn multiple bonus credits.

The Andre the Giant slot game is available to play Virgin Casino right now and Virgin offer some of the best online casino bonuses on the planet so ring the bell!

*Andre The Giant fans may also like The Incredible Hulk online slot. Hulk Hogan purchased the Hulk naming rights to use "The Incredible Hulk" from Marvel Entertainment in a multi million dollar deal approximately 20 years ago.

*Australian, New Zealand and Canadian players - try other Hollywood and branded slot games at PartyCasino.com

Website

Virgin Casino

Profiles

Wrestling Slots Games Casino

Website Network

Media Man Int

Casino News Media

Global Gaming Directory

Media Man Games

Media Man Entertainment

Wrestling News Media

"Spider-Man" Broadway producers sue director Taymor - 18th January 2012

2012-01-18T19:02:00.003+11:00

Profiles

The Amazing Spider-Man Marvel Entertainment Movies Hollywood Music Marvel Studios Stan Lee New York Video Games News News Entertainment News

The producers of Broadway's version of "Spider-Man" filed a countersuit against the musical's ousted director Julie Taymor on Tuesday, accusing her of jeopardizing the production by not caring about ticket sales.

The 66-page filing submitted in federal court in New York by producers Michael Cohl and Jeremiah J. Harris, accuses Taymor of "developing a dark, disjointed and hallucinogenic musical," and it comes in response to Taylor's lawsuit against them which she filed in November.

After a disastrous start that saw injuries to actors and opening night delays, "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" has been packing in audiences on Broadway. It made a record-setting $2.9 million from Christmas to New Year's Day, according to figures from industry website The Broadway League.

The stunt-heavy musical based on Marvel Comics' most famous character, which cost over $70 million to bring to the stage with music by Bono and The Edge, was reworked after Taymor was fired from the production in March 2011.

Taymor, the Tony-winning director of "The Lion King," worked on the musical's original book -- the non-sung words -- before she left the show.

Her copyright infringement lawsuit filed against the "Spider-Man" producers last year argued that, after the show was revamped, the producers continued to make "unauthorized and unlawful use" of her written works.

But attorneys for the producers, in their countersuit filed on Tuesday, stated that Taymor breached her duties to co-write and collaborate on the musical.

"Taymore refused to develop a musical that followed the original, family-friendly 'Spider-Man' story, which was depicted in the Marvel comic books and the hugely successful motion picture trilogy based on them," the lawsuit stated.

"Instead, Taymor, who admits that she was not a fan of the 'Spider-Man' story prior to her involvement with the musical, insisted on developing a dark, disjointed and hallucinogenic musical involving suicide, sex and death."

An attorney for Taymor could not be reached for comment.

Her lawsuit stated she suffered over $1 million in damages.

The countersuit filed by producers on Tuesday brought to light what it described as conflicts between Taymor's creative desires and the show's need to turn a profit.

At one point, Taymor used an expletive to say that she did not care "about audience reaction" to the musical, the lawsuit stated.

"Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" received poor reviews when it opened under Taymor's direction in preview shows in late 2010, and the production suffered cast member injuries in its first weeks.

When it officially opened in June 2011, after Taymor's ouster, critics only warmed slightly to the new show. But audiences, who were drawn in part by the show's sensational publicity, began to make the show a hit.

The musical has grossed over $81 million to date, according to The Broadway League.

Websites

PartyCasino.com Marvel Slots

Spider-Man On Broadway official website

Spider-Man (Marvel.com)

The Amazing Spider-Man Game

Media Man News

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Media Man Entertainment

Casino News Media

Global Gaming Directory

'Amazing Spider-Man,' Batman 'The Dark Knight Rises', 'The Avengers' and 2012 Movie News; Superheros Red Hot, by Greg Tingle

2012-01-15T20:41:00.001+11:00

Profiles

The Amazing Spider-Man Spider-Man Batman The Avengers Ghost Rider Movies Hollywood

Hollywood is continuing its lover affair with superhero themes, movie revamps and the like.

So in 2012 we're looking at a bush tucker bag of sequels, prequels, remakes... you name it. The Hollywood studios will be pumping out their best efforts in order to make as much money as they can muster.

Entertainment kingpin Marvel Entertainment are going to be spinning out their “The Amazing Spider-Man”, hitting us hard with "The Avengers" and the Warner Bros. - DC Comics tag-team is going to ink us with the next instalment of Batman - "The Dark Knight Rises".

You've also got fantasy themes with “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.” More scary stuff with "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 2.” Then there's “Men in Black 3.” More Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and Incredible Hulk with "The Avengers." And there's the classic “The Three Stooges.”

Add in three action movies based on fairy tales and four 3-D revamps of major blockbusters, and some keenly awaited films, such as “The Hunger Games,” and 2012 might see Hollywood lure back audiences after movie attendance last year sunk to its lowest level since 1995.

Here’s a peek at some of this year’s coming attractions...(US dates)

Nicolas Cage provides a winter warm-up with “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance” (Feb. 17), returning as the bounty hunter from hell on a mission to rescue a child from the devil.

“The Avengers” (May 4), teaming Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Chris Evans as Captain America, Mark Ruffalo as the Incredible Hulk, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow and Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye.

Next is “The Amazing Spider-Man” (July 3), with Andrew Garfield taking over as Peter Parker in director Marc Webb’s new take on how a mutant spider bite turns a teen into a web-slinging hero.

Christian Bale returns as Batman in “The Dark Knight Rises” (July 20), director Christopher Nolan’s third and final tale of the well to do vigilante with all the cool gadgets. Anne Hathaway joins the cast as Catwoman.

After the late Heath Ledger’s Academy Award-winning performance as the Joker in “The Dark Knight,” Nolan went with a lesser-known villain: This time, it’s Bane (Tom Hardy), known to comic-book fans as the brute who breaks Batman’s back and puts him in a wheelchair.

Julia Roberts is the wicked queen to Lily Collins’ Snow White in “Mirror Mirror” (March 16), with the banished heroine raised by dwarfish rogues and leading a battle against the mean old monarch. “Twilight” star Kristen Stewart is the warrior princess in “Snow White and the Huntsman” (June 1), trained by a hunk (“Thor” star Hemsworth) to wage war against her own wicked queen (Charlize Theron).

A magic beanstalk unleashes an army of super-sized warriors in “Jack the Giant Killer” (June 15), starring Nicholas Hoult, Stanley Tucci, Ian McShane and Ewan McGregor.

George Lucas begins his sci-fi saga all over, in 3-D, with “Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace” (Feb. 10), the first of his six space epics converted to three dimensions.

James Cameron gives the same 3-D treatment to “Titanic” (April 6), whose 3-D version coincides with the 100th anniversary of the luxury liner’s sinking.

Disney follows the success of “The Lion King” in 3-D by adding an extra dimension for reissues of “Beauty and the Beast” (Jan. 13) and the Pixar Animation blockbuster “Finding Nemo” (Sept. 14).

“The Lord of the Rings” director Peter Jackson returns to J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy realm with “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” (Dec. 14) the first in his two-part prequel chronicling how Bilbo Baggins came to possess that pesky evil ring.

“The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 2” (Nov. 16) picks up where we left off — with Bella (Kristen Stewart) newly changed into a vampire, while her bloodsucking hubby (Robert Pattinson) and his werewolf rival (Taylor Lautner) aim to defend her against a world of evil.

And more...“Dark Shadows” (May 11), with Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer and Helena Bonham Carter in director Burton’s take on the vampire TV soap opera; “Prometheus” (June 8), Ridley Scott’s return to his “Alien” sci-fi world with a space adventure starring Theron, Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender; “The Woman in Black” (Feb. 3), with “Harry Potter” star Daniel Radcliffe as a grieving lawyer who encounters a vengeful ghost; and “World War Z” (Dec. 21), starring Brad Pitt in the story of a worldwide zombie outbreak.

Will Smith’s Agent J travels back in time to save his partner, Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones), in “Men in Black 3” (May 25), which reunites both actors with director Barry Sonnenfeld and nicely casts Josh Brolin as the young Agent K.

Other sequels, updates and spinoffs include: “Total Recall” (Aug. 3), with Colin Farrell as a blue-collar guy who learns he might be a deadly super-agent with falsified memories; “The Bourne Legacy” (Aug. 3), with “Avengers” co-star Renner as a new agent caught up in the fallout from the earlier films; and “Taken 2” (Oct. 5), with Neeson going after more bad guys that threaten his family.

Not quite everything in the genre is a sequel or remake. With “Harry Potter” done and “Twilight” nearing its end, a new youthful literary series debuts in “The Hunger Games” (March 23), with Jennifer Lawrence among teens fighting to the death in a televised bloodbath in post-apocalyptic North America.

The knuckleheads are back. Directors Peter and Bobby Farrelly revive Curly (Will Sasso), Larry (Sean Hayes) and Moe (Chris Diamantopoulos) in “The Three Stooges” (April 13).

Other comedy to look out for includes “American Reunion” (April 6), reteaming the “American Pie” gang for a high school reunion; “The Dictator” (May 11), with Sacha Baron Cohen as a Third World tyrant; “This Is 40” (Dec. 21), Judd Apatow’s “Knocked Up” offshoot, with Rudd and Leslie Mann reprising their roles as troubled marrieds, and “Ted” (July 13), “Family Guy” creator Seth MacFarlane’s story of a grown man (Mark Wahlberg) saddled for life with a talking teddy bear.

2012 also offers up serious movies that attack the world of politics, war et al. Executive producer George Lucas’ “Red Tails” (Jan. 20) features Cuba Gooding Jr. and Terrence Howard in the World War II story of black pilots in the Tuskegee Airmen program; “The Great Gatsby” (Dec. 25) stars Leonardo DiCaprio in the title role of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic about 1920s blue-bloods; “Won’t Back Down” (March 30) casts Viola Davis and Maggie Gyllenhaal as mothers aiming to salvage their kids’ inner-city school; and Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln” (December) has Daniel Day-Lewis as the 16th president.

If it sounds like 2012 is going to be a pretty good year for movies, both on an entertainment front (for fans) and business angle (for studios etc), that's because it is. Enjoy.

Websites

Media Man News

Box Office Mojo

Hollywood.com

Marvel Entertainment

Warner Bros.

Music News Australia

Australian Sports Entertainment

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Media Man Entertainment

Australian Sports Entertainment

Andre The Giant Slot Game Comes To Virgin Casino

2012-01-13T18:26:00.001+11:00

Profiles

Virgin Casino Virgin Games Andre The Giant

Echo Entertainment tipped to be taken over by Crown Limited - 12th January 2012

2012-01-13T13:34:00.001+11:00

Profiles

Australian Casinos Casinos Echo Entertainment The Star Lyric Theatre Gambling Sydney Australia Global Gaming Directory

Casino owner Echo Entertainment is Australia's prime contender to be taken over in 2012 says JP Morgan.

There's a play for Echo Entertainment tipped owner of The Star casino in Sydney, by James Packer's rival Crown casino group - Crown Limited.

"Echo is our highest conviction takeover target for 2012," JP Morgan said.

"Now is the time that Crown has to move if it wants to buy the company at a decent price. Once the (Star casino) capex benefits start flowing through to the bottom line, the share price might be out of reach," it said. Crown already owns a 4.9 percent stake in Echo Entertainment.

A Media Man spokesperson said "James Packer continues to make all the right moves. He will not be repeating any of the same kind of mistakes he made in Las Vegas, USA, a few years ago. Packer and his team have also made themselves more available for news media, knowing that they will get written about anyway. Lately, there's largely only positive news to report and JP even gives the tabloids a bit of fun stuff to run with once in a while also. Packer can also be thankful that his casino investments in Macau are paying off which is helping keep his bottom line more impressive than all other Australian based gaming entrepreneurs".

*the writer is a shareholder in Crown Limited.

Websites

Echo Entertainment

The Star

Crown Melbourne

Media Man News

Casino News Media

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Media Man Entertainment

Casino News Media

Global Gaming Directory

James Bond Skyfall Movie Shooting In London

2012-01-11T12:49:00.001+11:00

Profiles

Movies Hollywood James Bond Daniel Craig London World Directory

Funeral scenes from the latest James Bond movie Skyfall were being filmed in London over the weekend.

The Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich was the set for the scenes, which featured eight coffins draped in union flags.

One passer by wrote on Twitter: "Walked past eight hearses with flag draped coffins at the Chapel at the Old Royal Naval College. The funeral scene for the new James Bond."

Ralph Fiennes has confirmed that he will appearing in the new James Bond film.

The actor didn't away too much about his role in the upcoming film but it is believed that M, played by Dame Judi, will be forced to quit and train "agent" Fiennes to take over her position.

Skyfall is due for release on October 26, 2012.

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Media Man Entertainment

Australian Sports Entertainment

Casino News Media

Global Gaming Directory

bwin.party enters Danish market; PartyCasino Big Cash Hunt and Top Floor promotions - 4th January 2012

2012-01-09T12:58:00.001+11:00

Profiles

Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment PartyCasino.com PartyPoker.com PartyBingo.com World Poker Tour InterTrader.com Denmark PartyCasino VIP Global Gaming Directory

The world’s largest listed online gambling operator, bwin.party Digital Entertainment, has launched online poker and casino games in Denmark for Danske Licens Spil, a wholly-owned subsidiary of state monopoly Danske Spil that posted a turnover of $1.8 billion in 2010.

“Building on our recent announcement regarding deals with both MGM and Boyd in the US market, this is another important milestone in the execution of our stated strategy that is focused on securing leadership positions in regulated and to-be-regulated markets,” read a statement attributed to Jim Ryan and Norbert Teufelberger, Co-Chief Executive Officers for bwin.party.

“We are delighted that Danske Licens Spil has recognised our expertise and high standards of business practice and we look forward to building a market-leading customer offer for the Danish consumer.”

Big Cash Hunt

16th January - 27th January

Play slots and jackpot slots at PartyCasino.com and win £2000 casino bonus in the Big Cash Hunt tournament in January.

PartyCasino is giving you the chance to bag a share of over £130,000 in the Big Cash Hunt. Play any of the slots and jackpot slots at PartyCasino to go shooting up the leader board.

Points earned on slots and jackpot slots during the promotional period will count towards the promotion. Get double points when playing on Circus slot to get the most out of the Big Cash Hunt.

Top Floor

Enter a penthouse full of cash

Starts: 00:00 ET, 10th January
Ends: 23:59 ET, 15th January

You’re about to hit the Top Floor of the casino where you can win more than $10,000 in cash bonuses – this exclusive area is only accessible to VIP players.

Opt in, collect points playing slots and jackpot slots over the next 6 days and you can win one of these prizes:

Points Prize
1,500 $125 cash bonus
3,000 $300 cash bonus
6,000 $600 cash bonus
10,000 $1,300 cash bonus
20,000 $3,500 cash bonus
50,000 $8,000 cash bonus

Earn your points fast for extra cash bonuses

You’ll also be awarded a $500 cash bonus when you’re one of the first 10 players to reach 6,000 points each day for the next 6 days.

Get ready to exploit this lucrative promotion and take advantage of your VIP status to line your pockets!

Websites

PartyCasino.com

PartyPoker.com

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Casino News Media

Global Gaming Directory

Media Man News

Media Man Entertainment

Paramount Pictures Seek Dismissal of John Singleton's Fraud Case

2012-01-05T14:43:00.002+11:00

PartyCasino.com Marvel website PartyCasino.com website

Profiles

Marvel Entertainment Marvel Comics Paramount Pictures DreamWorks Mission: Impossible Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol Movies Hollywood PartyCasino.com Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment Marvel Slots

Paramount Pictures enjoyed a fantastic 2011, both in Australia, as well as in the United States and other markets.

However, now they seek to rid themselves of an unwelcome legal challenge.

Paramount is looking to dis a $20 million lawsuit brought by American film director John Singleton for allegedly reneging on a promise to back two films as part of a 2005 deal to acquire the breakout hit “Hustle and Flow.”

In response to Singleton’s lawsuit in October, the studio filed a demurrer in November 2011 that aims to demonstrate that even if the facts as laid out in the plaintiff’s complaint are true and correct, it won’t support the allegation that any fraud was committed, according to entertainment news giant The Hollywood Reporter.

“Hustle and Flow” was a hit at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. Singleton claims that he passed on a higher advance offered by another studio to accept Paramount’s $9 million offer because the studio promised to “put” two additional features as long as their budgets didn’t exceed $3.5 million each and his producing fee wasn’t higher than 7.5 percent.

The director says that Paramount Pictures reneged on that deal by concocting new conditions on the “puts.” In his lawsuit, Singleton said he needed to make sure he was not taken advantage of and that his rights were protected.

In response, Paramount points to alleged flaws in the lawsuit prepared by Singleton’s attorney, Marty Singer:

“Plaintiffs’ fraud claim fails because it is not supported by a single fact — much less one with the required level of specificity for fraud claims — showing that Paramount or MTV harbored an intention not to perform the put provision at the time of the HAF Agreement’s formation.”

Paramount advised that Singleton can’t simply rely upon the alleged contractual non-performance to show the studio intended to deceive him, and as such, Paramount requests that a Los Angeles Superior Court judge dismiss the fraud claim.

Similarly, Paramount also wants to dismiss a rescission claim because it partly relies upon the same fraud theory and partly because its contract with Singleton’s company, Crunk Pictures, limits remedies for a breach of contract to monetary damages. (In the lawsuit, Singleton wants money from the exploitation of Hustle and Flow plus a reversion of rights in the picture.)

Paramount Pictures is also seeking to dismiss a claim for unjust enrichment because Paramount says there is no cause of action for this claim in California.

If a judge accepts these arguments, that would leave the dispute turning on a question of how to interpret the main contract between the parties.

From the media reports thus far and public comments about the dispute, it appears that Paramount is prepared to argue that Singleton never produced and delivered two pictures by a Jan. 22, 2010 deadline.

But Singleton suggests that development work on those films was already underway and that there wasn’t any express contractual obligations that the work be completed by that date. According to the original complaint:

“When plaintiffs attempted to exercise their right to ‘put’ the two pictures to Paramount, Paramount for the first time informed Plaintiffs that…the Put Pictures had to be fully completed films rather than films in production, and that the Put Pictures had to be scripted full-length theatrical or direct-to-video motion pictures.”

Absent the fraud claim, the lawsuit becomes a “What came first — the chicken or the egg” controversy. Did Singleton have to complete the two films to get Paramount’s distribution guarantee? Or did Paramount have to guarantee distribution to get Singleton to complete the two films?

Either way, the outcome is unlikely to have any real impact of Paramount Pictures success in Australia.

Paramount Pictures Enjoyed Banner 2011...

In the U.S they totally dominated the box office and knocked off the former global leader Warner Brothers. Paramount's studio has enjoyed more success distributing films via expiring partnerships with Marvel Entertainment / Marvel Studios and Stephen Spielberg's DreamWorks Animation than it has had creating its own in-house franchises.

Let's see... there was “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” and “Paranormal Activity 3,” and these contributed heavily to Paramount's bottom line.

In 2011, Paramount has fielded nine films that have crossed the $100 million barrier in U.S ticket sales, including 2010’s “True Grit,” which snatched the majority of its $250 million worldwide gross in this calendar year.

With $1.73 billion at the U.S box office thus far and two tentpoles in for the end of the year, "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" and Spielberg's "The Adventures of Tintin," Paramount ended Warner Brothers' three-year reign at the U.S box office.

And with $2.84 billion in international revenue and $4.6 billion in global receipts to date, Paramount Pictures ended Warner's international and worldwide leading streaks.

"Going into the summer, we certainly felt like we had a number of big tentpole movies, and on balance, they all delivered,” said Don Harris, Paramount's president of domestic (U.S) theatrical distribution. “They all opened at high numbers."

But get this. There's an imminent departure of partners Marvel and DreamWorks Animation, the team behind such recent winners as “Thor,” "Captain America: The First Avenger," “Kung Fu Panda 2” and "Puss in Boots."

Combined, those films comprised four of Paramount's top five grossing movies this year.

Paramount gets distribution fees from DreamWorks Animation and Marvel, but it doesn’t own the rights to the superhero and family films.

Paramount's deal to distribute Marvel films has ended, and its deal with DreamWorks Animation expires in 2012. Though Paramount received an 8 percent distribution fee for its efforts with the two studios, the departure of Marvel and DreamWorks Animation will take a big chunk out of the studio’s market share.

Emboldened by the average success of “Rango” ($245 million), Paramount recently launched its own animation division with an eye toward owning the family films it distributes outright. It expects to release its first film through via the new arm in 2014.

The DreamWorks deal was relatively low-risk and good money.

Paramount appears to believe hat after a number of years of serving as a distribution house for other companies, it has developed enough of its own intellectual property to move forward without the comic book based company and the animation studio.

It's hoping that Pixar whiz Brad Bird (“The Incredibles”) can reinvigorate its “Mission: Impossible” franchise after 2006’s disappointing third installment, and it already successfully rebooted the wilting “Star Trek” franchise. A sequel to its hit 2009 "Trek" film is due out in two years.

"Transformers” - "Dark of the Moon" grossed $1.1 billion worldwide and was more positively embraced than its predecessor.

Paramount Pictures has enjoyed a burst of lower budget successes, adding to their whale size film portfolio.

Created for a cost of a modest $13 million, the studio’s Justin Bieber concert film “Never Say Never,” took in nearly $100 million worldwide. Likewise, “Paranormal Activity 3” continued the ultra-low budget series’ knack for healthy profit margins. Produced for a tiny $5 million, the haunted house film clocked up $201.9 million worldwide.

Almost everything Paramount Pictures touched turned to gold. The big write-off would be "Hugo", with a budget of $170 million and grossing just $33 million globally. Let it be noted that Paramount only distributed the film and this means that the dip falls on the head of producer Graham King.

The remake of '80s dance film “Footloose” failed to bring in audiences. The $24 million film snatched a $62 million worldwide gross, which is well below par for Paramount.

What's in Paramount's future? Paramount appears unlikely to duplicate its record breaking success in 2012 at the box office. The studio expects big things for its zombie flick "World War Z" with Brad Pitt and “G.I. Joe: Retaliation,” but appears that's not comic book films in the works to excel this years numbers.

Take note that in the 2012 more of the films that Paramount Pictures releases are owned by them. This means that the studio will be able to keep more of the profits for themselves, but that appears to be a higher risk strategy than the one they employed this year.

Paramount will survive, no doubt, but it may be more of a stock market - roller-coaster type ride than the relatively smooth sailing they enjoyed over the past 12 months.

See you at the movies.

Websites

Paramount Pictures

Media Man News

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Movie Box Office News: Tom Cruise leads US box office for 2011

2012-01-04T16:07:00.002+11:00

Profiles

Mission: Impossible Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol Movies Hollywood Paramount Pictures Tom Cruise News News Entertainment News

Tom Cruise's Mission: Impossible movie held on to the top of box office charts over New Year's weekend as Hollywood said see ya to a slow-ish year at movie theatres.

As 2011 ended, US and Canadian revenue dipped from last year and attendance slumped to its lowest level since 1995.

Most industry commentators including the Media Man agency put the low numbers down to the struggling economy, with many movie fans staying at home watching commercial or pay TV, and getting the occasional DVD new release to satisfy their new release fix. Movie lovers also satisfied their entertainment desires with internet use and a range of handheld devices.

The year's final weekend saw top movies add to ticket sales from the Christmas holiday one week earlier but no change in the top three chart positions.

The Sherlock Holmes and Alvin and the Chipmunks franchise films took the second and third positions behind Cruise's Mission: Impossible.

From Friday through to Monday, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol netted in an estimated $US38.3 million at US and Canadian theatres, distributor Paramount Pictures advised.

The movie that features the 49-year-old Cruise as special agent Ethan Hunt hanging off the world's tallest building has grossed $US366.5 million globally.

Of that, $US225.3 million has come from international markets, affirming Cruise's place as a solid performer for global audiences and cementing a strong year for Paramount Pictures.

Rocketed along by the third Transformers film, Paramount's movies grossed nearly $US5.2 billion worldwide, the studio said. The total included nearly $US2 billion at U.S theatres and a record $US3.2 billion internationally.

No new movies were released nationwide over the weekend.

In second place, detective sequel Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows grossed $US26.5 million over four days. Third place belonged to family film Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, which pulled in $US21 million.

Rounding out the top five, Steven Spielberg's family film War Horse galloped into fourth with $US19.2 million, and thriller The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo pulled in $US19 million.

Elsewhere, The Iron Lady starring Meryl Streep in a critically praised performance as former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, opened strong with $US280,409 from just four theatres. That's a massive per-screen average of $US70,102, nearly three times higher than the next-closest movie.

U.S ticket sales for all films rose 10 per cent from the same weekend a year ago, but the strong finish could not lift yearly revenues in line with 2010.

U.S revenue for 2011 fell 3.4 per cent to $US10.2 billion, the second-straight yearly decline, according to estimates from Hollywood.com. More troubling for studios and theatre chains is that attendance dropped 4.2 per cent to 1.3 billion, the lowest pace since 1995.

Commentators typically peg low turnout on unappealing movies, but this year studio executives and industry experts have said other factors may be dampening sales. They cite the weak economy and competition from mobile devices, social networking, video games and a range of other entertainment options.

This year also was measured against early 2010 results from Avatar, the top-grossing movie of all time with $US760 million at U.S and $US2 billion at international box offices.

"A confluence of factors contributed to the downturn," said Paul Dergarabedian of box-office tracker Hollywood.com.

The coming year, with a large slate of promising titles, "will be a very pivotal year. It will tell us, is it really just the product, or is something bigger going on," he said.

But the year ended on a positive theme. The final week of the 2011 ranked as the year's second highest with domestic sales of more than $US350 million, said Chris Aronson, senior vice-president for domestic distribution at 20th Century Fox.

"It's not all doom and gloom," he said. "We just had a sensational week of movie-going."

Executives also note global ticket sales remain healthy with several of 2011's biggest titles seeing the bulk of sales from international markets, much like Mission: Impossible.

Looking forward, Hollywood aka Tinsel Town is counting on a packed line-up of big-budget action movies and sequels to bring crowds back in 2012.

The offering will include Batman sequel The Dark Knight Rises, superhero flick The Avengers, young-adult book adaptation The Hunger Games and the first of two Hobbit movies.

Websites

Media Man News

Hollywood.com

Box Office Mojo

Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures (Australia)

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Media Man Entertainment

Tomb Raider, Tomb Raider II, Hitman, Major Millions And Thunderstruck

2012-01-02T19:55:00.001+11:00

Profiles

Tomb Raider Tomb Raider: Secret Of The Sword Hitman Major Millions Thunderstruck

Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston and Stellan Skarsgård Talk Marvel Entertainment - The Avengers

2012-01-01T23:44:00.001+11:00

Profiles

Movies Hollywood Marvel Entertainment The Avengers Marvel Studios Australia News Media Man Entertainment News Media Man Int Entertainment News

News items with Marvel's upcoming superhero movie The Avengers has been pretty slow ever since the first trailer was released last October, leaving Marvel, and parent company Disney, to keep The Avengers in the public domain by recently announcing that the flick would be released in 3-D - a fact that many insiders knew since the commencement of production was announced in April). Writer-director Joss Whedon responded by publicly stating that the movie won't be "obnoxiously 3-D".

Avengers actors are talking to numerous press about other movies they will also be seen in. While discussing the American remake of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård (who ironically did not appear in the 2009 Swedish adaptation) discussed his return in The Avengers as Erik Selvig, the character he portrayed in Thor, in an interview with Moviefone. After his appearance in the post-credits scene in Thor.

Plot...

Nick Fury and the international agency S.H.I.E.L.D. bring together a team of super humans to form The Avengers to help save the Earth from Loki & his various membered army.

Director: Joss Whedon

Writer: Joss Whedon

Actors: Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Clark Gregg, Samuel L. Jackson, Cobie Smulders, Tom Hiddleston, Stellan Skarsgard

Producers: Avi Arad (executive), Jon Favreau (executive), Kevin Feige and Stan Lee (executive)

Websites

Marvel Entertainment

The Avengers

Media Man News

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Media Man Entertainment

Gaming - gambling companies happy as U.S. signals end of prohibition; Players rejoice

2011-12-30T22:30:00.001+11:00

PartyCasino.com website

PartyPoker.com

Profiles

Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment PartyPoker.com PartyCasino.com World Poker Tour Casinos World Directory iGaming Global Gaming Directory United States

Shares of online gaming firms hit the jackpot after the US Department of Justice revealed it now plans to free them from legislation that should only apply to sports betting.

As industry experts forecast the beginning of the end for online gambling prohibition in the US, Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment jumped 29.7p to 160p, 888 Holdings advanced 3.25p to 39.25p and Playtech 34.5p to 266p.

There is no doubt the new stance on the Wire Act of 1961 marks a huge shift for the Justice Department, which has previously proclaimed all forms of internet gambling – especially the increasingly popular online poker – are illegal.

The Wire Act, which banned gambling via telecommunications across state lines, has also been applied within states to prevent web-based betting.

But in recent months it has become evident the Justice Department was moving away from that strict interpretation.

In April Preet Bharara, the US Attorney in Manhattan, indicted 11 individuals in a crackdown on online poker websites and launched a £1.95bn civil lawsuit against firms including PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, but did not include any Wire Act violations among the charges.

Rather, Bharara alleged the men had violated the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which became law in 2006, and the Illegal Gambling Business Act.

And as the Justice Department now advises that the Wire Act does not apply to online poker, industry followers believe the way is clear for online gambling to proceed within state boundaries.

Broker Investec advised that the states of California, New Jersey, Nevada, Illinois, New Hampshire, Florida and Washington are in advanced discussions to open up gambling across state lines too, with regulation likely to take shape during the upcoming year.

A spokesman for Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment said: "It is an interesting step forward and we will continue to keep a close eye on the situation."

If individual US states are allowed to profit from online gambling, the federal government will soon take an increased interest in controlling and taxing the market rather than allowing a patchwork quilt to emerge.

Bwin.Party brands include PartyPoker, PartyCasino, PartyBets and World Poker Tour.

Other countries whose citizens enjoy online gambling - such as Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Italy are watching the situation closely.

Websites

PartyCasino.com

PartyCasino.com Marvel Slots

PartyPoker.com

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Casino News Media

Global Gaming Directory

Movie News: Australian Box Office Figures In 2011

2011-12-29T21:24:00.001+11:00

Profiles

Movies Hollywood Australia News Media Man Entertainment News Media Man Int Entertainment News

Top 10 highest grossing films of 2011 in Australia

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 - $52.5 million
2. Transformers: Dark of the Moon - $37.3 million
3. The Hangover Part II - $32.6 million
4. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 - $28.5 million
5. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides - $27.2 million
6. Bridesmaids - $27.1 million
7. Fast & Furious 5 - $25.2 million
8. Tangled - $22.2 million
9. Red Dog - $21.4 million
10. Cars 2 - $20.1 million

Runner Ups

The Smurfs ($19.8 million)
Kung Fu Panda 2 ($19.4 million
Thor ($18.9 million)

References: Warner Bros, Paramount Pictures, Village Roadshow, Legendary Pictures, Walt Disney, Universal Pictures, Roadshow Film Distributors, Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar, Google News, IMDB, Box Office Mojo, News Limited, Fairfax Media

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Media Man Entertainment

New Release Movie Reviews: Now Showing - 29th December 2011 - Fairfax Media

2011-12-29T16:21:00.001+11:00

Profiles

Movies Hollywood Sydney Australia News Media Man Entertainment News Media Man Int Entertainment News

This week's box office summary

Tintin takes top spot

The massively hyped Steven Spielberg film The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn slipped into the No.1 berth on Boxing Day, taking $1.488 million. (There will be a full Boxing Day box office report as soon as all figures are available.)

NEW RELEASES
ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: CHIPWRECKED
★★★1/2 (87 min) G
In what is probably their most enjoyable outing yet, the Alvin troupe get stuck on a remote island after a mishap on a cruise liner involving a hand glider. The central tension at the core of this typically joke-crammed adventure involves a neatly packaged coming-of-age theme; their father/manager Dave (Jason Lee) is way over-protective of the chipmunks, especially with Alvin who, despite his mischievousness, is eager to demonstrate some adult-like responsibility. Once again the slimy-but-likeable David Cross is aboard as the resident sort-of bad guy. There’s also a pleasantly crazy person (Jenny Slate, from TV’s Bored to Death) marooned on the island, along with a cache of hidden treasure and a boiling volcano, which we constantly cut to so as to keep the pace from flagging. As well as being difficult to fault as pure-grain kids entertainment, Alvin 3 is, by any fair measure, a far better animated film than Tintin. Yeah, you read that right. General.

HAPPY FEET TWO
(103 min; PG) ★★
HERE's the mildly anticipated sequel to the 2006 animated smash about penguins who sing and dance and worry about the damage being inflicted on their fragile habitat by evil man and his global-warming ways. This time around the hero penguin is Erik (voiced by Ava Acres), son of the first film’s hero Mumble (Elijah Wood). He returns from an opening-reel adventure to find that his entire colony literally stuck down a depression in the ice caused by global warming. With George Miller at the helm (he co-directed the first one with Warren Coleman and Judy Morris), one would have expected a lot more movement, tension and excitement given his Mad Max legacy. Yet the film feels tired and stagnant, with too little sense of threat and too many same-same song and dance numbers. Oddly, a ripper B-story involving two rogue krill — voiced by Matt Damon and Brad Pitt — plays like a fun Finding Nemo knock-off and proves more imaginative and lively than anything else going on. It’s easy to see why HF2 hasn’t clicked at the American box office.

General release

THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN
(107 min; PG) ★★
Steven Spielberg’s monstrously over-hyped attempt to bring the mischievous, adventure-loving cartoon character created by Belgian artist Herge to life is a major misfire. The problem is that Tintin's not really much of a character. With no back-story, no humour, no real emotion, he’s basically an exposition-spouting cypher designed to push the plot forward. There’s no real engagement with Tintin, his accomplices or enemies. You don’t even care much for his dog. As for the motion-capture animation, it merely replicates the soulless look we saw in The Polar Express (2004).

General release

WAR HORSE
(146 min; M) ★★★
Never mind Tintin. Far more worthy of note is Steven Spielberg’s other post-Christmas offering, a stirring, elegant World War I tale following the journey of a horse from the farm where it was raised, to its service on both sides, to being lost on the corpse-soaked battlefields of the Somme. Despite expectations he would imbue the story with the hard-edged we saw in Schindler’s List (1993), Saving Private Ryan (1998) and Munich (2005), Spielberg is very much in 1980s mode here; emotions are heightened; melodrama is dialled up; the images have a rich, pastel lustre; the tone is unfailingly humanist. And while he powerfully conveys the battlefield slaughter of men being mowed down, he refrains from the extremes we saw in Ryan’s opening reel. Some might find that a tad disappointing but it fits with the style of this most affecting film.
General release

THE IRON LADY
(105 min; M) ★★1/2
While everyone is buzzing about Meryl Streep’s admittedly impressive performance as bullish British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in this biopic, nobody seems overly concerned about what a rather average film it is. Streep looks, sounds, moves like the Thatcher we know from decades of news footage — and kudos to that Oscar-destined hair and make-up team — but she ultimately delivers an impersonation rather than a character. The film is too choppy, episodic and often incoherent, cramming too much life into too little space as the film skates through the highlights of her career like a hastily cobbled documentary. Director Phyllida Lloyd also directed Streep in the featherweight musical romp Mamma Mia! (2008); how that qualified her to do a political character study is one for the ages.
General release

ALBERT NOBBS
(109 min; M) ★★★1/2
While Meryl Streep is receiving a heap of pre-Oscar love for her turn in The Iron Lady, Glenn Close provides an infinitely more textured and engaging performance in this unusual, deftly handled period drama. Set in 1800s Ireland, Close plays a timid woman who must masquerade as a man to maintain her low-paying job as a hotel butler. With terrific support from the under-appreciated Janet McTeer (Tumbleweeds; Songcatcher) and another impressive turn from Mia Wasikowska (The Kids Are All Right; Alice in Wonderland), Nobbs is a moving, well-etched, humour-peppered film about survival and one small person’s dream of liberation.
Selected release

THE SKIN I LIVE IN
(120 min; MA) ★★1/2
Identity issues of the deepest, darkest hue are examined with scant regard for taste as veteran Spanish weird-meister Pedro Almodovar takes us on a singularly perverse journey. His long-time collaborator Antonio Banderas (Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!) plays a doctor whose adventures in plastic surgery are first driven by science, then by something much more disturbing. While Almodovar has become more sedate and thoughtful with his latter work, the extremes here require the transgressive snap of his earlier, younger self.
Banderas puts in a beguiling central performance but the whole ends up as less than the sum of its parts.
Selected release

WE BOUGHT A ZOO
(124 min; PG) ★★★
Those with discerning children who love animals are in for an uplifting blast with this tender-hearted Disneyesque dramedy in which Matt Damon ups his family-movie cred as a widowed dad who quits journalism to run a run-down zoo. As pleasant as it is predictable, Damon is winning as the dad, Scarlett Johansson is winsome as the dedicated zookeeper and it’s refreshing to once again see movie animals that do not require any digital assist. As a crowd-pleaser, We Bought a Zoo hits all the right buttons.

General release

TOWER HEIST
(104 min; M) ★★
For action, excitement, laughter and a killer payoff, Brett Ratner’s new movie should have popped; Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy lead the staff at a plush hotel to get even with the high-rolling shyster (Alan Alda) who defrauded them of their life savings. But what starts out as a solid, character-driven caper movie downshifts into a disposable lark the second Murphy turns up as an ex-con doing a latter-day version of his 48 Hours shtick. A wasted opportunity. If one Summer film screams ‘‘Wait for DVD’’, it has to be this.

General release

NOW SHOWING
AGES OF LOVE
★★★ (121 min) MA
ENJOYABLE, rambling Italian romantic comedy in which a triptych of stories play with the theme of infidelity over the different stages of life. Robert De Niro puts in a funny turn as an aging scholar who is attracted to his best friend's deceitful, very sexy mature-aged daughter, played very ably by Monica Bellucci.
Selected release

ANOTHER EARTH
★★★ (97 min) M
THE soul-crushing emotional fallout from a horrendous car accident impels the conscience-stricken perpetrator (Brit Marling) to assess at close quarters the devastation she has inflicted on her victim (William Mapother). This quiet, contemplative psychological drama about guilt and identity is framed by a cleverly embroidered sci-fi conceit involving the discovery of a twin Earth. Marling co-wrote the screenplay with director Mike Cahill. A quality arthouse film.
Selected release

ARTHUR CHRISTMAS
★★★ (97 min) G
IN THIS winning, Pixar-style animated adventure Santa's nerdy son Arthur (voiced by James McAvoy) goes rogue to deliver a gift to the one kid in the world who fell off the delivery list. Fabulous design work renders Santa's one-night operation as a high-tech answer to the age-old kiddie query about how every kid can be visited in one night. At times the pacing is so fast it's hard to keep track of all the sub-stories, but the central point about preserving the real meaning of Christmas in a distraction-clogged world is pleasantly and repeatedly punched.
General release

ATTACK THE BLOCK
★★ 1/2 (88 min) MA
VICIOUS aliens descend upon a housing block but find their plans thwarted by a gang of thugs who go from mugging women to defending their neighbours. Well-made on a low budget, writer-director Joe Cornish (who also co-wrote the upcoming Steven Spielberg confection The Adventures of Tintin) squeezes in a bit of sociology 101 amid the low-rent cartoon violence and gore. Nick Frost puts in good support as a weed dealer whose fortified apartment comes in handy.
Selected release

AUTOLUMINESCENT: ROWLAND S. HOWARD
★★★ (109 min) M
LOVING, longform documentary by Lynn-Maree Milburn and Richard Lowenstein about the rocky, inventive, drug-addled musical journey of the late Rowland S Howard, the Melbourne muso at the heart of the Birthday Party, the Boys Next Door, Crime and the City Solution and These Immortal Souls. The film blends contemporary interviews - including Nick Cave, Howard, various collaborators and girlfriends - with archival footage in what is essentially a barbed valentine to a near-genius talent whose potential was hobbled by the wrong sort of indulgences. Cave's revelation about how he felt singing Shivers, Howard's classic doomed-love ode, is but one of many highlights. Fans will love it; non-fans will get a strong taste of the hedonistic alt.universe these people inhabited.
Selected release

BILL CUNNINGHAM NEW YORK
★★★1/2 (87 min) PG
WHILE many make spurious claims to being urban eccentrics, veteran New York photographer Bill Cunningham has a credential that defies question. Despite being one of the most sought after fashion and society people in the city, Cunningham has long refused to accept money for work that could have earned him millions. He lives in a small apartment at Carnegie Hall, pedals from job to job on an old bike, enjoys the love and respect of everyone he works with and credits his enviable level of happiness and contentment to a lifestyle free of the tyranny of money. Director Richard Press interviews many New York notables - Vogue editor Anna Wintour; author Tom Wolfe - and while his roving camera captures Cunningham's natural effervescence he does manage one remarkable moment that hints at one of the reasons for Cunningham's appreciation of life. It's as moving as it is unexpected.
Selected release

BREAKING DAWN - Part 1. THE TWILIGHT SAGA
★★★1/2 (117 min) MA
EASY as it would be to leap upon the Twilight-bashing bandwagon, this latest film in the phenomenally successful teen-pleasing vampires-vs-werewolves romantic saga is the most engaging, incident-packed, dramatically satisfying yarn yet. The mood is darker, the stakes are higher and - lo! - the acting from the young cast is actually convincing. There’s less action, admittedly, but that’s only because the gnarled love triangle between pasty-faced vampire Edward (Robert Pattinson), ab-ripped werewolf Jacob (Taylor Lautner) and sourpuss mortal Bella (Kristen Stewart) has become more twisted than ever. Having finally tied the knot, Edward and Bella honeymoon in Rio. After a bed-smashing session of sex - the film’s first half is thankfully peppered with humour - Bella discovers she's got a little vampire gestating inside her. It’s a first for the vampires, and very bad news; not only could the mini-Drac kill Bella, the werewolves decide to void their truce with the vamps and kill her. This puts Jacob in a sticky spot, having to choose between his tribe and the woman he loves. The film has been hit by some pretty nasty reviews from Variety (‘‘disappointing...an unconsummated opportunity’’), Screen International (‘‘dramatically leaden tale’’), The Guardian (‘‘boring’’) and The Hollywood Reporter (‘‘You can practically hear every second ticking by’’). These are unfair for what none mention, and what deserves high praise, is that the film is perfectly consistent in tone, style and emotional pitch as the first three. Director Bill Condon (Gods and Monsters; Dreamgirls) clearly knew better than to mess with the formula. And the film certainly can’t be faulted for not catering to fan expectations. Within the opening 60 seconds Lautner rips off his shirt and bears that cobblestone torso. Now that’s respecting your audience.
General release

BURNING MAN
★★★★1/2 (109 min) MA
THE anger, depression, denial and surprising sense of renewal that are roused in the wake of personal tragedy are perfectly captured by director Jonathan Teplitzky (Better Than Sex; Gettin' Square) in this outstanding, touching, funny/sad, deeply human drama. British actor Matthew Goode is exceptional as Tom, a Sydney cook with more chips on his shoulder than in his deep fryer who believes grief entitles him to take advantage of other people's tolerances. The film's first reel is an intricately arranged jumble of images and conflicting emotions that slowly start to make sense as the story solidifies. As Tom's fiery, sexy partner Sarah, Melbourne actress Bojana Novakovic is a revelation in a demanding role that traverses a huge range of emotions. Up until now Snowtown had the running as the year's best Australian film. It now has serious competition.
General release

CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS
★★★★1/2 (90 min) G
PROLIFIC, eccentric, intermittently brilliant German director Werner Herzog (Fitzcaraldo; Rescue Dawn; Lessons of Darkness) hits cinematic pay dirt here as he explores the recently discovered Chauvet cave complex of Southern France, bringing its extraordinary array of prehistoric paintings to vivid life through the splendid deployment of digital 3D photography. Herzog narrates in his usual dour, semi-poetic style, though the film’s tone is more upbeat and life-affirming than the nihilism we saw in the semi-doc fantasy The Wild Blue Yonder (‘‘We aliens suck!’’) and his brilliant Grizzly Man. As with the extraordinary Wim Wenders film Pina, Cave showcases just how effectively the 3D process can be used to enhance the artistry, themes and feeling of a beautifully crafted documentary. Both films actually make good on the oft-spouted rhetoric about the immersive quality 3D can give a film’s narrative. Seems these Germans are on to something.
Selected release

CONTAGION
★ (106 min) M
A MAJOR-league bore. A virus takes hold, spreads, slowly kills people. There’s a race for a vaccine, an unkempt blogger claiming to tell the truth, low-level civil unrest as panic takes hold. Despite an all-star cast - Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Elliott Gould - the film is a two-act drudge directed with a plodding sense of self-importance by Steven Soderbergh (Traffic; The Girlfriend Experience). Think of Wolfgang Petersen’s magnificently entertaining 1995 virus-on-the-rampage adventure Outbreak, take out the drama, excitement and involving characters, and that’s Contagion in a nutshell.
General release

THE DEBT
★★★1/2 (114 min) MA
IN THIS absolute ripper political thriller by John Madden (Shakespeare in Love; Killshot), three Mossad agents - Rachel (Jessica Chastain) Stephan (Marton Csokas) and David (Sam Worthington) - attempt to kidnap Nazi war criminal Dieter Vogel (Jesper Christensen) from behind the Iron Curtain in 1966. Fuelled by righteous fervour and the lust for revenge they are faced with a morally crippling dilemma when their meticulous, ingenious plan goes askew. Thirty years later, the consequences of a mission they thought long buried revisit them. (The older characters are played by Helen Mirren, Tom Wilkinson and Ciaran Hinds respectively) After showing promise as an action man in the under-seen Killshot, Madden proves himself a terrific director of tension, while Christensen (Mr White from the last two Bond films) delivers one of the most unapologetic Nazi creeps in film history. Strong themes about truth, justice and political expediency underpin a double-jointed, deeply satisfying film.
General release

DECADENCE: DECLINE OF THE WESTERN WORLD
★★★ (102 min) M
LOOK, if we really have to pull our heads out of the comforting sand and take stock of just how self-indulgent, soul-crushing and morally corrupt modern Western society has become then we might as well have Pria Viswalingam as our guide. An SBS veteran, Viswalingam applies the droll commentary and dry wit that have long been his signature to a sobering walk-through of those things that account for the present state of things. Underscoring his interviews and pop analysis is the sense that the degeneration is part of a historical cycle wherein the success and ingenuity that accounts for the rise of a civilisation inevitably ferments into laziness and cultural self-obsession.
Cinema Nova

DOLPHIN TALE 3D
★★★1/2 (113 min) PG
WHEN failing school kid Sawyer (Nathan Gamble) happens upon an injured dolphin trapped by evil fishing nets, we know his time at summer school is not going to go as planned. He forms a bond with the creature as it is cared for at the nearby, soon-to-be-shut aquarium. When its tail is amputated, he rallies the support of his single mother (Ashley Judd), who teams up with the facility’s single manager (Harry Connick jnr) to help save the place. Extremely well-directed by Charles Martin Smith(star of the acclaimed 1983 Disney film Never Cry Wolf), Dolphin Tale is an upbeat, factually inspired tweenage film with an eco-friendly message involving community action and the value of life-changing prosthetics. It’s also smart enough to incorporate a comic-relief pelican, some enjoyably cheesy 3D sequences and a Methuselah-like Kris Kristofferson, who chimes in nicely to punch some points about family togetherness.
General release

DRIVE
★ (100 min) MA

ULTRA-violent, ultra-tedious, bargain-basement rip-off of the classic 1978 Walter Hill film The Driver. Ryan Gosling plays a robotic, monosyllabic stuntman who moonlights as a getaway driver. He's something of a control freak. People get shot, blood spurts everywhere, he slowly loses control. Yawn. Comedian Albert Brooks (Lost in America; Broadcast News; the lead voice in Finding Nemo) puts in a cringeworthy, unintentionally funny turn as one of moviedom's least scariest villains. Directed without much of a clue by Nicolas Winding Refn (Pusher 1,2,3; Bronson).
General release

THE FIRST GRADER
★★★1/2 (103 min) M
AFTER the Kenyan government announces free primary education for all, 84 year old Maruge (Oliver Litondo) presents himself at the local school gate demanding that teacher Jane Obinchu (Naomie Harris) teaches him how to read. While the far-from-pleasant consequences of his admission play out in the public arena - he becomes an instant celebrity whose appeal quickly sours - Maruge's horrific personal story begins to surface, detailing the tyrannical colonial rule of the British during the 1950s. Director Justin Chadwick (Spooks; The Other Boleyn Girl) does a proficient job at overcoming the dark themes of this true-life story by infusing the tale with a life-affirming, positive energy about the power of education.
Selected release

THE FUTURE
★★★ (91 min) M
Fans of New York artist Miranda July who enjoyed her wistful, wit-laden 2005 art film You, Me and Everyone We Know will eat up her latest, left-field offering. She plays Sophie, a dance teacher whose life with laconic, long-term boyfriend Jason (Hamish Linklater) begins bending out of shape thanks to such gloriously random elements as job dissatisfaction, global warming, YouTube envy, infidelity, time-freezing and a talking cat named Paw Paw (voiced by July). There's no conventional narrative here, just plenty of mind food for the open-minded.
Selected release

GEORGE HARRISON: LIVING IN THE MATERIAL WORLD
★★★★ (209 min) M
OUTSTANDING, comprehensive, compelling longform bio-doc by Martin Scorsese of George Harrison who, despite his tag as "the quiet Beatle", had quite a temper. Archival material blends seamlessly with contemporary interviews; as great as Harrison's Beatles days were, the film - actually a two-part TV special - comes into its own when detailing Harrison's remarkable post-break up life as a musician, sage and film producer.
Cinema Nova

THE IDES OF MARCH
★★★★ (101 min) M
THERE have been a lot of great films about politics and the ugly art of compromise. This is one of them. Ryan Gosling plays Stephen Meyers, a morally driven campaign worker determined to get his man, Democrat Governor Mike Morris (George Clooney), one step closer to the White House. Dedication is no compensation for naivety in a world of industrial-grade throat cutters, however; high-level manipulation swirls around him while his personal and professional plight is complicated by his involvement with intern Molly (Evan Rachel Wood). Clooney, who co-wrote with Grant Heslov, directs with cool-eyed focus on performance. Gosling is terrific, but the killer moments are delivered by vets Paul Giamatti and Philip Seymour Hoffman. A strong Oscar frontrunner, and solid proof that Clooney's superlative work on Good Night, and Good Luck (2005, which Heslov also co-wrote) was no fluke.
General release

IMMORTALS 3D
★★ (111 min) MA
LARGELY boring, hyper-stylised sword-and-sandals digital epic in which the only saving grace are the glorious bursts of 300-style violence; blood splashes and spurts from severed limbs and decapitated heads with an almost balletic beauty. Fans of Mickey Rourke will delight in how his acting style has now evolved to the point where he is almost impossible to understand. Directed by Tarsem Singh (The Cell).
General release

THE INBETWEENERS
★★1/2 (97 min) MA
BOUNCING off the popular TV series, this raucous, coarse, mildly amusing American Pie-wannabe comedy follows a quartet of randy high school chums as they go on holiday looking to score. Passable fun for undemanding fans who can't wait for the DVD.
General release

IN TIME
★ (109 min) M
EMINENTLY silly sci-fi clunker about a near-future dystopia where nobody physically ages over 25 but have to earn, win or steal the privilege to live longer. Poor people, like working schlub Will Salas (Justin Timberlake), literally live day-by-day in constant fear of dropping dead should the green day-glo counters on their forearms hits zero; rich, powerful people, such as Sylvia Weis (Amanda Seyfried) have the luxury of accruing hundreds, even thousands, of years. Naturally the two hook up and are chased by bad guys hoping to catch them before the horrible truth about how the world works is exposed. Writer/director Andrew Niccol, best known for Gattaca (1997) and for writing the execrable The Truman Show (1998), takes a great premise and totally trashes it with limp storytelling and astonishingly bad filmmaking; the narrative is ridden with fatal holes, the continuity totally reeks - either that or Sylvia has a cache of high heels stashed in her purse - and the film easily beats Steven Spielberg's Minority Report (2002) for having the most half-assed futuristic concepts in film history.
General release

JACK AND JILL
★★★ (91 min) PG
IN THIS comedy from Adam Sandler, a commercial director (Sandler) grits his teeth for the arrival of his annoying twin sister (Sandler). Nobody other than Sandler fans will have any interest in seeing him do drag in his over-the-top style but they shall not be disappointed. The killer sell here is the comic contribution by Al Pacino who appears more than happy to mock his formidable film legacy — The Godfather, Scarface, etc — for the sake of rousing some very funny off-colour gags.
General release

MELANCHOLIA
★ (136min) M
AFTER an awkward wedding between a daffy bride (a perfectly cast Kirsten Dunst) and a tolerant groom (Alexander Skarsgard), it transpires that the Earth is about to be swallowed whole by another planet. It’ll mean the end of everything. And do we care? Let’s just say that never in the history of films about an impending apocalypse has such a motley collection of mind-grindingly dull characters made you wish for the destruction of all life on the planet to come as quickly as possible. Lars von Trier has proven himself a provocative, intermittently brilliant director with films such as Dogville, AntiChrist and Zentropa, but with this slice of tripe one suspects his playful attitude to audience expectations has prompted him to produce a deliberately bad, visually ugly work designed to test our tolerance for his indulgences. No sale, Lars. If only the film had a shred of the lyricism we witness in the film’s haunting introductory montage.
Selected release

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
★★1/2 (94 min) PG
IN THIS souffle-light Woody Allen confection, a frustrated screenwriter (Owen Wilson) yearns to be taken seriously as a novelist. While in Paris with his wife-to-be (Rachel McAdams) he finds he can time travel back to the 1920s and mix with artistic greats such as Hemingway, F Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, Picasso and Salvador Dali. He, of course, falls for his guide (Marion Cotillard) and starts to doubt his happiness with his present-day betrothed. It’s passable Woody waffle designed strictly for fans; the great cast, which also includes Michael Sheen, Kathy Bates and Adrien Brody, shine in their too-small roles, with Wilson working his amiable persona for all it’s worth. A nice time-killer, but far from Woody Allen’s A-list films, such as Match Point (2005), Bullets Over Broadway (1994) and Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008).
Selected release

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE — GHOST PROTOCOL
★★★★ (133 min) M
AFTER the mediocrity of M:I3, it was not going to be hard for the Tom Cruise high-concept action franchise to cook up something that, frankly, didn’t suck. The great news is the new adventure is a thrilling, stunt-packed ride that delivers on every level; the stakes are higher as Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his rag-tag crew (Simon Pegg, Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton) are forced to go rogue after being accused of a bombing. As tech expert, Pegg (Shaun of the Dead; Hot Fuzz) graces the film with a distinctly British lacing of humour while director Brad Bird (The Incredibles; Ratatouille) proves he is more than capable of handling big-scale action numbers, such as when Hunt scales the pointy end of the world’s tallest skyscraper. Patton (so good as the teacher from Precious) acquits herself admirably as she cracks wise and kicks ass, while Renner (The Hurt Locker; The Town) is terrific as a desk jockey who suddenly finds himself in the middle of all the shooting. An unmissable Mission, a top-notch serving of popcorn entertainment.
General release

MONEYBALL
★★★★ (133 min) M
THE key reason American cinema rules when it comes to sport movies is because they often have less to do with sport and more to do with rich metaphors about life, society, religion and all-consuming passion. The superb, sedate, Oscar-bound Moneyball is merely the latest example, offering a prime cut of fact-based sports drama about a struggling baseball team that creates a hot new line up by using bold statistical analysis. In one of his best performances to date, Brad Pitt plays Billy Beane, the manager of the Oakland Athletics baseball team who up-ends the organisation's modus operandi by poaching Peter Brand (Jonah Hill, in a career highlight) a pudgy number cruncher. He explains the formula that will allow Beane to buy under-valued players at bargain prices. This, of course, means letting go of existing members, a task Brand is forced to learn as part of his initiation into the brutal baseball world where trades and wins count more than loyalty. What makes this downbeat, beautifully shot drama so immersive is how the movie's universe is defined almost totally in baseball terms, where the game means everything. Based on the best-seller Michael Lewis and directed by Bennett Miller (Capote), the screenplay is by Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network; The West Wing) and Steve Zaillian (Schindler's List; American Gangster). The painterly cinematography by Wally Pfister (Inception; The Dark Knight) uses the natural lighting techniques pioneered by Gordon Willis (The Godfather), making each frame glow.
General release

NEW YEAR'S EVE
★★ (118 min) M
THERE'S simply way too much going on in Garry Marshall's omnibus rom-com, a follow-up of sorts to his similarly styled Valentine's Day. A dozen or so stories are thrown at you in a blizzard of cross-cutting, producing an episodic, over-long jumble of half-baked ideas, semi-formed characters and scenes of forced emotion. Zac Efron and Michelle Pfeiffer chime in with the best story about a courier who tries to make a middle-aged officer worker's New Year's Eve special, and Sarah Jessica Parker does a good mother-daughter act with a rapidly growing Abigail Breslin, and Halle Berry provides a sizable surprise. But the rest of the try-hard cast -- including Hilary Swank, Jessica Biel, Katherine Heigl and Jon Bon Jovi -- draw blanks in what is essentially the cinematic equivalent of worn carbon paper. For undemanding romantics only.
General release

PUSS IN BOOTS
★★★1/2 (90 min) PG
WE ALL had very good reason to be suspicious but, thankfully, this sub-franchise of the Shrek series feels fresh, brandishing a distinctive comic snap as well as a beautifully rendered, high-key fairy-tale world that looks very different from its parent. Riffing on the myth-mash premise of Shrek, Latino adventurer Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas again providing the voice) hooks up with sexy female foil Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek) and Humpty Dumpty (Zach Galifianakis) to climb the beanstalk of legend and retrieve the goose that lays the golden eggs. Amidst all the colour and movement, director Chris Miller (co-director on Shrek the Third) somehow shoehorns in a strong sub-story about betrayal and the resilient nature of friendship. Wisely, he has also spared us the cascade of pop references that define the Shrek films, something for which we will be forever grateful.
General release

RESTLESS
★1/2 (91 min) M
IN THAT weird arthouse movie netherworld where teenagers have all the time in the world to indulge their whims and work through their issues, a death-obsessed Enoch (Henry Hopper, son of Dennis) visits funerals of people he doesn’t know. While trying to understand his own loss he befriends the similarly eccentric Annabel (Mia Wasikowska) whose own situation casts a fresh light on Enoch’s closed world. While it clearly sounds good on paper, it’s just more stylistic posturing from director Gus Van Sant (Paranoid Park), whose minimalist musings are here garnished by the unnecessary presence of the spirit of a Japanese kamikaze pilot. Largely dull, emotionally inert, imminently forgettable.
Selected release

THE ROOM
★★ (112 min) M
STEVE Wiseau's unfairly trashed romantic drama might have terrible acting, dialogue and direction, but pay attention - the story actually holds together. Not as bad a film as legend makes out. Cries to be remade.
Cinema Nova

ROUTE IRISH
★★★1/2 (104 min) MA
BOILING with rage over the death of his mate, Iraq war veteran Fergus (Mark Womack) mounts an ad-hoc investigation into how he died, a morally bumpy journey triggered by the contents of a borrowed mobile phone. Social realist maestro Ken Loach, again working from a screenplay by long-time collaborator Paul Laverty (Looking for Eric, It's a Free World, Ae Fond Kiss) delves into the murky world of the highly paid war-zone security contractor with this absorbing, superbly acted drama. Typically jagged in its emotions, the film mounts a head-on collision between moral righteousness and what is right. And be warned: the film contains a genuinely startling torture sequence that speaks volumes about the true value of "enhanced coercive interrogation techniques". Loach is now 75 and, as with most directors of his vintage, just gets better with age.
Cinema Nova

SANTA'S APPRENTICE
★★★ (77 min) G
IN THIS fun, ultra-light French-Australian movie a Sydney orphan named Nicholas is tapped to replace the current Santa as he approaches mandatory retirement age. Given that Santa's job involves flying and walking about on rooftops, Nicholas, of course, suffers from a fear of heights that he must overcome. The sprightly traditional animation offers some ocular relief from all that highly detailed CGI we've become a tad too used to. Voice talents include Shane Jacobson and Delta Goodrem; directed by Luc Vinciguerra, who made SantApprentice, the 2006 French TV series upon which this is based.
General release

THE TALL MAN
★★★ (79 min) M
A VERY good, though far from even-handed argument-starter about the death in custody of Cameron Doomadgee who died in a police station 45 minutes after being taken in for swearing at long-serving Queensland police office Christopher Hurley. The police side of things is covered comprehensively and a fair account is given of Hurley's commitment to helping indigenous people, but the film treads too lightly through the issue of Queensland's police culture and too obviously takes sides. But whether that's permissible in a well-made, inflammatory documentary such as this is another rich debating topic.
Selected release

TOOMELAH
★★★1/2 (106 min)
AFTER Mad Bastards, here's another confronting, insightful film about male aboriginal culture that is likely to find almost no audience. Set in a remote Aboriginal community, this disturbing, documentary-style drama by writer/director Ivan Sen (Beneath Clouds) tracks the influence of poor male role models on a neglected young boy. Not an "up" film by any means, but very worthwhile. Likely to disappear very quickly, so catch it while you can.
Selected release

TORNADO ALLEY 3D
★★★ (43 min)
TERRIFIC, occasionally chilling IMAX documentary about crazy/brave scientists who collect valauble, life-saving data from the heart of the tornado-producing storms that annually torment an axis of states in America's farmbelt. It's when the chase music and the fruity narration by Bill Paxton (star of the 1996 tornado thriller Twister) goes quiet that things really take off as director Sean Casey and his crew venture into the heart of tornadoes. The home-made armoured vehicle Casey uses looks like a joke at the film's beginning but by the end you respect it as clearly being the only thing that could survive the ferocity this film so vividly captures.
IMAX

WARRIOR
★★ (140 min) M
HERE'S a theory about how this bland, fight-themed cardboard drama came about: a couple of studio suits paid a visit to Hollywood's fabled Autowrite computer, which specialises in spitting out screenplays according to a supplied formula. They showed it Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler and David O Russell's The Fighter, then said to Autowrite: "Do us one of these, but about mixed martial arts". Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton play warring brothers from a broken family who are forced together when their bedraggled ex-alcoholic dad (Nick Nolte - who else?) tries getting back into their lives. Grainy, hand-held cinematography can't lend authenticity to the forced emotion. The film is being plugged as being from "The director of Miracle". Miracle was a fine film, but Gavin O'Connor also directed the terrible cop drama Pride and Glory (2008), which provides a much more accurate measure of the mediocrity of Warrior. Even the brutal fight scenes are a mess. If you have no idea what mixed martial arts is going into this film, you'll emerge none the wiser.
General release

WASTE LAND
★★★ (99 min) M
WITH noble intentions, artist Vik Muniz descends into the garbage dump of Rio de Janeiro — the world’s largest — with a project designed to humanise the ‘‘pickers’’ who sort through the trash for recyclable material. Contrary to what he expected, Muniz discovers a collective of co-workers who are proud and ambitious. As he involves a few in his portraits, he wonders whether exposing them to a new life is ethical. A very good film about the power art has to change the people it graces.
Selected release

WE HAVE A POPE
★★ (102 min) M
AS THE faithful jostle with the world’s media at the Vatican, a cluster of cardinals elect a new pope. Trouble begins when the winner, Cardinal Melville (Michel Piccoli), has second thoughts about the gig and escapes, while officials try to hide the truth. It’s a high-energy comic idea hobbled by low-energy treatment from director Nanni Moretti (The Son’s Room). Still, it’s ornate and looks great, which will be a plus for those into papal pomposity.
Selected release

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN
★★★★ (112min) MA
AS SUBURBAN middle-American mum Eva, Tilda Swinton is a piercing study of parental frustration as her devious, manipulative teenage son Kevin (Ezra Miller) confounds her every attempt to connect with him. Whether he is inherently bad or picked it up from her is just one of the tornado of questions swirling through her increasingly confused mind; when Kevin buddies up with his dad (John C Reilly), he seems to be doing it only to annoy her. Directed with unsettling quiet by Lynne Ramsay (Morvern Callar; she also co-wrote the screenplay with Rory Kinnear, from the book by Lionel Shriver), We Need to Talk About Kevin joins Ben Coccio's jaw-dropping video verite Zero Day and Gus Van Sant's artful Elephant (both 2003) to complete an informal, disturbing trilogy of post-Columbine American films about the tortured psychology behind high school killing sprees.
Selected release

THE WOMEN ON THE 6TH FLOOR
★★★ (102 min) PG
THE well-off rarely score an even break in French cinema, and in this pleasant, slight social satire, director Philippe Le Guay adheres to tradition by using the rich to reflect the dignity of the working class. Set in a lushly appointed apartment building in 1962 Paris, Jean-Louise Joubert (Fabrice Luchini) is a typical stuffed shirt who becomes infatuated with the Spanish maids who reside on the sixth floor. At first his affections are for Maria (Natalia Verbeke), but he soon takes on the staff’s cause to be treated decently. There are dabs of social commentary, but Le Guay strenuously keeps the story from straying into more prickly territory. With this film, The Help and the upcoming comedy Tower Heist, it seems 2011 is the unofficial year of servants who push back on their masters.
Selected release

X
★★★ (86 min) MA
TWO Kings Cross hookers hook up for a night of running, screaming and ultra-violence. Veteran call girl Holly (Viva Bianca) recruits fresh-off-the-bus Shay (Hanna Mangan Lawrence) for a lucrative threesome. It's Holly's last night on the job, Shay's first and when they witness a client's murder the chasing doesn't stop. Sydney filmmaker and low-budget specialist Jon Hewitt (Redball; Acolytes) captures the seedy allure of the Cross well and keeps the pace brisk, though the convenient cliche of the corrupt cop is getting tired. Fans of his work won't be disappointed.
Selected release

THE YELLOW SEA
★★★1/2 (157 min) R
GAMBLING addicted Korean cab driver (Jung-woo Ha) can't get a break; he's hopeless at the gaming table, there's no sign of the wife who deserted him and the gentlemen to whom he is in debt are now making very personal house calls to see how those payments are coming along. An offer to clear his ledger in exchange for one small crime takes him to the titular region between Russia, North Korea and China where a chance to find his wife is bundled in with a fabulously gritty, pacy, often gory adventure. Written and directed by Na Hong-jin (2008's The Chaser), the film is an extremely well-mounted, tense, ultra violent slice of Asian action cinema, graced with little dialogue, some great fights and a sensational Bourne-style car chase.
Cinema Nova

YES MADAM, SIR
★★★ (95 min) PG
PUNCHY 2008 documentary about punchy Kiran Bedi, the Indian Police Service's first female recruit whose loud-mouthed, head-strong, barrier-shattering personality proved the pea in the bed of the institution's change-averse bureaucracy. Director Megan Doneman neatly frames Bedi's ball-busting style with open acknowledgment from family and officials about the Jovian size of her publicity-addicted ego. But it's all purpose-driven. She courageously rails against the corruption she discovers in the please-quit postings foisted upon her and her can-do attitude is often stirring. Sadly, she recognises how she is more an anomaly than a trail blazer in a system dedicated to suppressing reform.
Cinema Nova

(Credit: Fairfax Media)

*Fairfax Media is an official supplier of newsfeeds to Media Man

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Media Man Entertainment

Marvel Studios 2004 Films; Marvel Entertainment News; Thor II Director Announced

2011-12-29T13:13:00.001+11:00

Profiles

Marvel Entertainment Marvel Studios Thor Thor II Avengers Stan Lee Movies Hollywood

Marvel Studios changes the release date schedule for their unannounced 2014 mystery movies. Are they planning a third movie? Come let's explore the world of the Marvel Universe, with a focus on Marvel Studios. Oh, it's comics legend Stan Lee's birthday today True Believers.

Marvel Studios has had a tough time keeping to their plan of two theatrical releases per year. Delays with Thor and The Avengers had Iron Man 2 release by itself in 2010 and next year, The Avengers is without a partner since Runaways was indefinitely postponed. For 2013 and 2014 however, it’s back to two films/year or more.

News in from Disney that Marvel would be releasing The Avengers in 3D (post-converted). Marvel Studios also is claiming another release date in 2014 to release one of their films earlier.

Up until now, the official slate of upcoming films from Marvel Studios was scheduled as follows:

2012

The Avengers (May 4)
Runaways (canned)

2013

Iron Man 3 (May 3)
Thor 2 (July 26 pushed back to November 15)

2014

Unknown (May 16)
Unknown (June 27)

The 2014 schedule has changed the June 27 project will now be releasing on April 4th, nearly three months earlier. No information has been provided on the 2014 releases but know The Avengers will get a sequel eventually and that there’s talk of a follow-up for Captain America’s solo outing as well. Reports from two months ago also indicated that Marvel Studios would be working on Ant-Man, Guardians of the Galaxy and The Inhumans after Iron Man 3 and Thor 2.

So, will these 2014 movies simply be sequels to what we already know? Is Edgar Wright’s latest Ant-Man script finally going to be pushed into production? Is Marvel preparing to finally introduce some other characters in solo films? Or, as reported in recent months, is the studio going to take the risk by bringing fans deeper into the Marvel cosmic universe post-Avengers?

Two years might be pushing it for The Avengers 2 so it’s more likely that’ll be a 2015 release, depending on the success of its predecessor at the box office next summer. That would open up the 2014 dates to be used for films launching from characters and storylines introduced in The Avengers. Chris Evans went on record stating that the next time we’d see him suit up as the star-spangled Avenger would be in 2014 at the earliest. Ant-Man has been in development for a very long time and writer/director Edgar Wright told the press at Comic-Con this summer that his latest script was being submitted days later and that they already have concept art.

The Possibilities...

Marvel will add a third release date, either in the summer (maybe making use of that June 27 date) or in the fall, something they’re testing in 2013 with Thor 2. This would allow them to play with interconnected films and/or do more to setup for The Avengers 2 the following year.
Dropping a summer (U.S) date for a spring (U.S) date means one of two things. This mystery project is not a big-budget tentpole or it directly ties into whatever the second movie is in May and needs to come before it. The May date is the most important and has to stay there.

The April release is very likely Ant-Man finally getting his post-Avengers introduction in time for The Avengers 2 or it could be Runaways, the lower-budget film Peter Sollett was going to direct off of Drew Pearce’s script, a script that Marvel apparently really likes, and one that Pearce says could still be adapted after The Avengers. As for the May date, that’s going to be a major project. Expect a Captain America sequel.

Guardians of the Galaxy and The Inhumans are actively in development and are possibilities as well, but Marvel will not talk about those until we’ve very close to The Avengers (or afterwards) to avoid fans digging into how those play off and tie-in to what happens in The Avengers. Marvel knows what these films are so there’s very deliberate reasons for not announcing them – it’s because they’re launching off of The Avengers.

Other potential projects include Black Panther, Dr. Stange, Heroes for Hire and a S.H.I.E.L.D. movie.

What would you like to see Marvel Studios do in 2014? Ant-Man and Captain America or a few cosmic movies?

The Avengers stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Samuel L. Jackson, Cobie Smulders, Clark Gregg, Tom Hiddleston and Stellan Skarsgard. It is of course written and directed by Joss Whedon, opening in theaters on May 4, 2012.

Game of Thrones veteran to direct Thor 2...

The search for a director for Thor 2 has reportedly ended, with Marvel selecting veteran television director Alan Taylor to helm the sequel.

Taylor's most recent efforts have been for HBO, where he has directed episodes of the period fantasy series Game of Thrones.

Taylor has also directed episodes of the cable series Boardwalk Empire, Mad Men and The Sopranos.

He steps in for Monster director Patty Jenkins, who dropped out of Thor 2 citing creative differences with Marvel, movie news website Deadline revealed.

The sequel, which is due to start filming next spring for a November 2013 release, brings back 28-year-old Australian actor Chris Hemsworth as the hammer-wielding superhero.

Australian Chris Hemsworth reprise his role as the Norse god cast out to live among humans.

In the meantime, fans will be able to see Hemsworth team up with other Marvel stars in The Avengers.

Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans and Jeremy Renner also star in Avengers, which is due out next year.

Chris Hemsworth profile...

Chris Hemsworth (born 11 August 1983) is an Australian actor most notable for portraying Thor in the Marvel Studios film Thor. Hemsworth is set to reprise his role as Thor in the upcoming films The Avengers in 2012 and Thor 2 in 2013. He also starred as Kim Hyde in the Australian soap opera Home and Away. He is the older brother of Liam and the younger brother of Luke Hemsworth.

Mini Biography
Though born in Melbourne, Australia, Hemsworth saw quite a bit of the country in his youth when his family moved first to the Northern Territory before finally settling on Phillip Island top the south of Melbourne.

In 2004, he unsuccessfully auditioned for the role of Robbie Hunter in the Australian soap "Home and Away" (1988) but was recalled for the role of Kim Hyde which he played until 2007. In 2006, he entered the Australian version of "Dancing with the Stars" (2004) and his popularity in the soap enabled him to hang on until show 7 ("Dancing with the Stars: Episode #5.7" (2006) when he became the fifth contestant to be eliminated.

His first Hollywood appearance was in Star Trek (2009) but it was his titular role in Thor (2011) which propelled him to prominence worldwide.

His US representative, the management company ROAR, also manages Elsa Pataky and it was through them that the couple met, marrying in 2010. (Credit: IMDB).

Happy Birthday Stan Lee; Marvel Comics Living Legend...

Happy 89th birthday to one of Marvel’s founding fathers, “The Man” himself, Stan Lee! Without Stan, the Marvel Universe as we know it would not exist.

"There is no bigger star in all of comics," Marc Nathan of Baltimore Comic-Con — where Stan was the featured guest last summer — tells Comic Riffs.

The path to stardom was many decades in the making. Stanley “Stan Lee” Lieber broke into the business as a teenager in the late-’30s, hired by ”Captain America” co-creator Joe Simon as an office assistant. As Simon told Comic Riffs, Stanley was soon writing the filler prose that Timely Comics (Marvel’s precursor) needed to secure better mailing rates. (Simon, the first editor at Timely Comics, died earlier this month at age 98.)

By the early ‘60s, Stan seriously contemplated quitting Timely/Marvel, which had been launched by his relative Martin Goodman. But at the advice of his longtime wife, Joanie, Stan says he took a shot at writing superheroes the way he wanted to - relatable and with many human aspects.

Working with such fellow legends as Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, of course, Lee and his “Marvel method” would launch the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, the Hulk, Daredevil, Iron Man and X-Men. (Other talents in that famed stable included Gene Colan — who died this year at age 84 — as well as Stan’s own brother, Larry Lieber, who first scripted Thor.)

“There’s no question that Stan and the innovations he came up with saved the comic book and the superhero,” Tom Brevoort, Marvel’s senior vice president of publishing, has told Comic Riffs — noting that Lee and the artists he worked with “made me want to do this professionally.”

“By crafting characters with feet of clay and personal problems — and not writing down to an audience that was perceived to be primarily 8-year-olds — Stan opened the doorway for more sophisticated and interesting treatments of any subject matter in comics,” Brevoort says. “He made comics interesting and relevant and fun again.”

Stan Lee quotes...

“I’d just like a Cabinet position [in the current White House]. For comic books. I’d be secretary of comics — something simple.”

“Being associated with Disney is the dream of a lifetime. The things Disney did just knocked me out [when I was young] — Mickey Mouse to Bambi and Pinocchio and Snow White. And then there were the nature movies and now movies like ’Pirates of the Caribbean.’ I think they’re wonderful movie marketers — they’re the best marketers you can find anyhwere. And to combine them with Marvel — the two companies I’m in love with the most.”

"I’m very lucky to still being doing this. I seem to get a good reception [when I pitch entertainment ideas]. I hope I can sell a lot more movies. And it would be nice to win an Oscar one day."

That's a wrap True Believers (References: Marvel Entertainment, Disney, IMDB, Google News, Wikipedia, POW! Entertainment, Dark Horizons, Comic Book Movies, Box Office Mojo and Paramount Pictures).

Websites

Marvel Entertainment

Marvel Entertainment: Thor

Paramount Pictures

Media Man News

Music News Australia

Nevada approves online poker framework - 23rd December 2011

2011-12-28T14:18:00.002+11:00

Profiles

Gaming Casinos Poker Online Casino Online Poker Casino Legal Nevada Las Vegas Global Gaming Directory News News Entertainment News Casino News Poker News

In the United States, the Nevada Gaming Commission unanimously approved a set of proposed regulations on Thursday that would permit companies to apply for licences in order to operate online poker for residents of the western state.

The proposals were widely supported by the industry and require applicants to prove their ability to maintain controls on registration, prevent underage play and establish the location of players before being licensed.

Regulation 5A was one of six draft proposals adopted or amended yesterday by the Nevada Gaming Commission and also addresses what information is to be presented on websites and establishes procedures for record keeping, dispute resolution, fees, taxation and problem gambling notifications.

The Nevada Gaming Commission is already considering applications from six companies in Cantor Gaming, Shuffle Master Incorporated, International Game Technology, Bally Technologies Incorporated, Caesars Entertainment Corporation and the South Point Hotel Casino and officials are optimistic that approving the regulations will lead to technology firms opening operations in Nevada and expanding current business.

The push to legalise online poker in Nevada goes back to mid-March when Las Vegas Assemblyman William Horne submitted his AB258 bill. This proposed legislation was approved by the Nevada Assembly in May before being passed by the Democrat-controlled Nevada Senate and signed into law by Republican governor Brian Sandoval less than a month later.

Yesterday’s public hearing to pass the framework required to implement Horne’s legislation saw no opposition or major amendments as it had already been revised eleven times and state officials now await the repeal of the federal Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) before being able to legally license operators.

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Media Man Entertainment

Casino News Media

Global Gaming Directory

'Mission: Impossible' Energizes Holiday Box Office With Robust $46.2M

2011-12-27T23:53:00.002+11:00

Profiles

Mission: Impossible Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol Movies Hollywood Paramount Pictures Tom Cruise News News Entertainment News

It's Mission Accomplished for "Mission: Impossible."

The Tom Cruise action movie ruled the multiplex throughout the holiday weekend -- and helped boost overall box office numbers to 8 percent above the same four-day period last year.

"M:I:4" is looking at $46.2 million for the four-day weekend.

Christmas Day was especially strong. On Sunday alone, "Mission: Impossible" grossed an estimated $13.6 million, No. 2 "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" grossed $9.6 million, No. 3 "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked" grossed $4.5 million and No. 4 "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" grossed $5.6 million.

The strong Christmas weekend was welcome, particularly after a miserable few weeks at the box office.

Several high-budget, high-profile movies debuted in the days leading up to Christmas.

Among them: Sony's "Dragon Tattoo," a two-hour 40-minute hard-R film that opened Tuesday evening and missed expectations for the four days, and Steven Spielberg's PG-rated motion-capture animation "The Adventures of Tintin." That movie opened Wednesday and is in fifth place for the long weekend.

Most of the numbers matched expectations for Christmas Day, but there was a surprise: Steven Spielberg's PG-13 World War I epic "War Horse" opened to a particularly robust $7.5 million on Sunday. The DreamWorks picture is expected to gross another $7.5 million on Monday.

Considering that Disney, which distributes for DreamWorks, figured the movie would pull in $6 million over both days, the number is especially impressive.

Sunday's other new movie, Summit/New Regency's PG-13 sci-fi thriller "The Darkest Hour," opened to $3 million -- in line with studio projections. That movie, which the audience polling company Cinemascore gave a harsh "C-plus" grade, is expected to gross $5.5 million through Monday.

And opening in limited release, Warner Bros.' "Extremely Loud an Incredibly Close" debuted at six locations in three cities Sunday, grossing $71,861 -- a per-location average of about $12,000.

With no new major movies opening Friday, Hollywood expects this weekend's solid numbers to grow larger.

"There's a lot of good cheer going on around the industry -- at least for this weekend," Rory Bruer, Sony's distribution chief, told TheWrap Monday morning. "Certainly, leading up to it hasn't been that great, but it feels very good right now."

His studio's "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" -- one of the most anticipated movies of the year -- was in fourth place for the four day period, taking in $12.75 million over three days and $19.4 million over four. That's just below expectations.

The movie, directed by David Fincher and starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara, has grossed a total of $27.7 million and had a budget estimated at about $100 million.

Sony had figured the movie would take about $13 million over the three days and in the low-to-mid $20 million range for the four days.

Still, Bruer said the film "is off to a good start and it's just going to get better with every day through the rest of the holiday season and well into the new year."

But the weekend belonged to "M:I:4."

"Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol," which cost an estimated $145 million to make, grossed $29.5 million over the three days from Friday to Sunday and $46.2 million from Friday to Monday. That gives the Paramount/Skydance movie a domestic total of $78.64 million and an international gross of more than $150 million.

The PG-13 movie is on track to beat the 2006 "Mission: Impossible III," which grossed $134 million domestically and nearly $264 million abroad. It also looks like Tom Cruise's biggest hit since 2000's "Mission: Impossible II," which took in $215.4 million domestically and nearly $331 million internationally.

"M:I:4," directed by Brad Bird, is playing at 3,448 domestic locations in its second week of release.

The No. 2 movie of the weekend was "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows," which took $20.2 million over three days and $31.8 million over four. It played at 3,703 locations and has a total of $90.56 million.

That movie, directed by Guy Ritchie and starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, cost about $125 million to make. It opened to $39.6 million on Dec. 16.

The film opened in first place on Dec. 16. Warners notes that "Sherlock" is now the highest-grossing domestic film of December.

In third place for the four days, Fox's "Alvin and the Chipmunks took $20 million -- $12.65 for the three days.

The studio's "We Bought a Zoo," which opened on Friday, meanwhile, was in seventh place for the four days, grossing $15.6 million.

Cameron Crowe wrote and directed the movie, which stars Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson. It is about a father who -- as the name implies -- who buys a struggling zoo in the countryside and, with his family, tries to renovate and reopen it.

Chris Aronson, Fox's head of domestic distribution, told TheWrap that 41 percent of the movie's audience was younger than 25, while 59 percent was older.

Younger audiences loved the movie, he said, giving it a Cinemascore of "A-plus." Its overall score was an A.

"Now people are available to go, and they're going to start discovering how wonderful this movie is," Aronson said. "There are a lot of satisfying movies in the marketplace, and now people have time to go see them."

Disney is expecting the same out of "War Horse."

Like "Dragon Tattoo," it is long -- nearly 2 1/2 hours -- which means fewer screenings per day than shorter films.

Despite the length and subject matter -- it's about a horse during World War I -- it did well across the country.

Disney's Hollis noted that the movie's top location was the Arclight in Sherman Oaks -- and its second-best location was the Warren 14 in Moore, OK.

"It's not often that you get to say that Moore, Oklahoma is your second-biggest grossing theater," Hollis said. "It feels like we're going to be the family choice for the week, which will again set us up for a great five, 10 more days of business."

"War Horse" is the second Spielberg movie now in release.

The first is "The Adventures of Tintin," based on the Belgian comic books.

Paramount's movie, which had a budget of $135 million has grossed more than $240 million internationally, and received a Cinemascore of "A-minus."

In its opening weekend domestically, it skewed slightly male: 55 percent of the audience was male and 45 was female. It also skewed slightly younger, with 51 percent of moviegoers younger than 25.

3D made up 74 percent of the movie's gross.

Last year's 4-day weekend also included Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. In 2010, "Little Fockers" grossed $39 million over four days and ultimately took $150 million. "True Grit" grossed $32 million over four days and grossed a total of $171 million.

Here are the top 10 movies of the four days:

"Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol" ($46.2m)

"Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" ($31.8m)

"Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked" ($20m)

"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" ($19.4m)

"The Adventures of Tintin" ($16.1m)

"We Bought a Zoo" ($15.6m)

"War Horse" ($15m)

"The Darkest Hour" ($5.5m)

"New Year's Eve" ($5m)

"The Muppets" ($3.35m)

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Media Man Entertainment

Casino News Media

Global Gaming Directory

Web gambling gets boost from Obama administration - 26th December 2011

2011-12-27T17:10:00.001+11:00

Profiles

Gaming Casinos Poker Online Casino Online Poker Casino Legal Global Gaming Directory News News Entertainment News Casino News Poker News

The Obama administration cleared the way for U.S. states to legalize Internet poker and certain other online betting in a switch that may help them reap billions in tax revenue and spur web-based gambling.

A Justice Department opinion dated September and made public on Friday reversed decades of previous policy that included civil and criminal charges against operators of some of the most popular online poker sites.

Until now, the department held that online gambling in all forms was illegal under the Wire Act of 1961, which bars wagers via telecommunications that cross state lines or international borders.

The new interpretation, by the department's Office of Legal Counsel, said the Wire Act applies only to bets on a "sporting event or contest," not to a state's use of the Internet to sell lottery tickets to adults within its borders or abroad.

"The United States Department of Justice has given the online gaming community a big, big present," said I. Nelson Rose, a gaming law expert at Whittier Law School who consults for governments and the industry.

The question at issue was whether proposals by Illinois and New York to use the Internet and out-of-state transaction processors to sell lottery tickets to in-state adults violated the Wire Act.

But the department's conclusion would eliminate "almost every federal anti-gambling law that could apply to gaming that is legal under state laws," Rose wrote on his blog at www.gamblingandthelaw.com

If a state legalized intra-state games such as poker, as Nevada and the District of Columbia have done, "there is simply no federal law that could apply" against their operators, he said.

The department's opinion, written by Assistant Attorney General Virginia Seitz, said the law's legislative history showed that Congress's overriding goal had been to halt wire communications for sports gambling, notably off-track betting on horse races.

Congress also had been concerned about rapid transmission of betting information on baseball, basketball, football and boxing among other sports-related events or contests, she summarized the legislative history as showing.

"The ordinary meaning of the phrase 'sporting event or contest' does not encompass lotteries," Seitz wrote. "Accordingly, we conclude that the proposed lotteries are not within the prohibitions of the Wire Act."

The department expressed no opinion about a provision in the law that lets prosecutors shut down phone lines where interstate or foreign gambling is taking place.

Many of the 50 U.S. states may be interested in creating online lotteries to boost tax revenues and help offset the ripple effect of a federal deficit-reduction push.

The global online gambling industry grew 12 percent last year to as much as $30 billion, according to a survey in March by Global Betting and Gaming Consultancy, based on the Isle of Man, where online gambling is legal.

Federal prosecutors in April charged three of the biggest Internet poker companies with fraud and money-laundering along with violations of another federal law, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Act of 2006.

The government outlined an alleged scheme by owners of the three largest online poker companies - Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker and PokerStars - to funnel gambling profits to online shell companies that would appear legitimate to banks processing payments. (Credit: Google News, Reuters)

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Media Man Entertainment

Casino News Media

Global Gaming Directory

Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment Profiles; PartyCasino And PartyPoker Get New Promotions And Games

2011-12-27T12:46:00.001+11:00

Profiles

Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment PartyBingo.com PartyPoker.com PartyCasino.com World Poker Tour InterTrader.com PartyPoker.com Aussie Millions

PartyCasino.com new players get up to $3000 sign up bonus

PartyPoker.com new players get up to $500 sign up bonus

PartyCasino Cash-Back Club

Grab fistfuls of cash with the Cash-Back Club

Starts: 00:00 ET, 26h December
Ends: 23:59 ET, 31st December

Join the exclusive Cash-Back Club and you’ll get up to 15% cash-back on your slot and jackpot slot losses. Opt in from 26th December.

You can even go after The Big One and The Gold Mega jackpots playing slots like Melon Madness, Snow Business, Loot’EnKhamun and Festive Fortunes. Now is the perfect time to chase our huge jackpots!

The more points you earn the better your cash-back rate will be:

Minimum Points Maximum Points Cash Back %

2000 5000 5%
5001 10000 10%
10001 No Maximum 15%

Website

PartyCasino.com

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Casino News Media

Global Gaming Directory

Media Man News

Media Man Entertainment

bwin.party Awarded Danish Online Gaming Licences

2011-12-19T22:17:00.001+11:00

PartyCasino.com website

PartyPoker.com

Profiles

Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment PartyPoker.com PartyCasino.com Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment iGaming

16 December 2011

bwin.party, the world’s leading listed online gaming company, is pleased to announce that it is in the first rank of operators to be awarded online gaming licences by the Danish Gambling Authority.

Having successfully passed all financial, legal and technical tests, the Group has been awarded two separate licences, allowing it to offer online sports betting, poker and casino in Denmark from 1 January 2012. The licenced brands include bwin, PartyPoker, PartyCasino, PartyBets and World Poker Tour.

The successful licence applications and early market entry is in line with Group’s strategy to be a leading operator in all regulated online gaming markets.

Websites

PartyCasino.com

PartyCasino.com Marvel Slots

PartyPoker.com

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Casino News Media

Global Gaming Directory

PKR's Caribbean Stud Poker Jackpot Approaches $150,000 - 13th December 2011

2011-12-19T16:26:00.002+11:00

Profiles

PKR PKR Poker PKR Casino Caribbean Stud Poker

The progressive jackpot for PKR's Caribbean Stud Poker mini-game has today reached $149,000 and is expected to grow to a record size within the next few days.

The game is available directly through PKR's pioneering 3D room client, and invites poker fans to beat the dealer-s five card Texas Hold-em hand. Players can be eligible for the rapidly rising jackpot by placing a side bet of just $1, with jackpot payouts activated by hitting the highest ranked poker hands.

On 27 November, poker player GVincredible won 10% of the jackpot after hitting a straight flush, turning his $4 stake into $15,838. The Belgian, a regular at PKR's tables since July 2007 with a $1,833 tournament victory to his name, commented “I just couldn-t believe I-d won. I-d already planned to play more poker on PKR in 2012 and to buy a new car, but this makes it much easier!”
PKR's Caribbean Stud Poker mini-game forms part of the award winning operator-s suite of gaming products which includes a revolutionary 3D poker room, innovative 3D casino and sportsbook.

For more information on the Team PKR pro please visit PKR.com

About PKR

PKR.com is a revolutionary new concept in online poker that has changed the way the game is played. Featuring stunning real-time 3D graphics and a uniquely engaging and immersive gaming system, PKR.com brings an unparalleled and previously unseen level of realism to online poker. Developed by some of the brightest stars in the video games and poker industries, PKR.com continues to be the most innovative poker room in the world.

Press Release

100 PKR Players Set for BAMMA Giveaway - 1st December 2011

Next-Gen Online Poker Room PKR Offers Up Free Fight Night Hospitality

More than 100 poker players will enjoy the explosive atmosphere at the BAMMA 8 mixed martial arts event in Nottingham on 10 December through a free prize draw at PKR.com In the fourth event of its kind this year, PKR is again offering players the opportunity to meet staff and other players, against the backdrop of one of sport's fastest growing events. The prize draw is open to all PKR members and concludes on Friday 02 December.

PKR became the headline sponsor of BAMMA, Europe's premier mixed martial arts organisation, in January 2011. The online poker site has since welcomed hundreds of its members to BAMMA events in Manchester, London and Birmingham, having offered tickets in free prize draws through the site's busy forum and website.

PKR players who attend the upcoming BAMMA 8 event, which takes place in Nottingham's Capital FM Arena on Saturday 10 December, will enjoy 13 bouts featuring some of the world's top martial artists including light heavyweight champion Jimi 'Poster Boy' Manuwa, who makes his eagerly anticipated BAMMA debut. UFC legend Randy Couture is also rumoured to be making a promotional appearance.

Community Manager Dan Grant commented, "BAMMA events are a fantastic opportunity for our players to meet PKR and each other in a fun and social real-world setting. They'll get to put faces to names they've met at our online tables and meet new poker mates while enjoying the great atmosphere of a thrilling sporting event."

For more information on PKR's BAMMA 8 giveaway, please visit PKR.com

For interviews with top BAMMA fighters including UFC star Nate Marquardt and Tom 'Kong' Watson, please visit: www.pkr.tv

PKR Poker Media Man 'Online Poker Website Of The Month' Runner-Up For December 2011

PKR.com has been awarded the Media Man runner-up for 'Online Poker Website Of The Month'.

The popular online poker website has also been tipped to be a legitimate chance to place first in the coming months, should their excellent service and offerings continue.

Well done to PKR.com

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Media Man Entertainment

Australian Sports Entertainment

Casino News Media

Global Gaming Directory

Casino Jackpot Reviews

2011-12-18T21:24:00.001+11:00

Profiles

Gold Mega Jackpot The Big One Marvel Hero Jackpot Super Hero Jackpot MegaJackpots

Casino Stocks Report (MGM) (WYNN) (LVS) (CNTY) (MPEL) - 16th December 2011

2011-12-17T17:35:00.001+11:00

Profiles

Casinos Gaming Crown Casino Crown Limited MGM Resorts International Wynn Resorts Melco Crown News Financial News Casino News Poker News Entertainment News

MGM Resorts International (MGM) stock moved 0.43% higher to $9.33 per share in today's trading. Stock volume in MGM Resorts International was 5 million shares in the trading session.

Wynn Resorts advanced 1.87% in today's session to $106.54 per share. In the last 12 months, Wynn Resorts has seen a high of $172.58 and a low of $100.51 per share.

Las Vegas Sands Corp moved 1.91% higher to $41.57 per share in today's trading. Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp have traded as high as $51.05 per share and as low as $36.05 in the last year.

Century Casinos advanced 0.87% in today's session to $2.32 per share. 6,800 shares were traded so far in today's session. On average, a total of 14,172 shares are exchanged in CNTY each day.

Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd (MPEL) stock moved 3.11% higher to $8.9909 per share in today's trading. In the last 12 months, Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd has seen a high of $16.15 and a low of $6.1 per share.

*The writer owns shares in Crown Limited

Websites

PartyPoker.com

PartyCasino.com

World Poker Tour

MGM Resorts International

Wynn Resorts

Las Vegas Sands Corp

Century Casinos

Melco Crown Entertainment

Media Man News

Casino News Media

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Media Man Entertainment

Casino News Media

Global Gaming Directory

Virgin Games Gets Pixies of the Forest Online Slot Game

2011-12-17T14:40:00.001+11:00

Profiles

Virgin Casino Virgin Games Richard Branson IGT New Slot Games Slots Casino

Virgin Casino is delighted to bring yet another classic slot game to its world famous online casino.

Experience the magic of winning with Pixies of the Forest ™! For only 33 coins, enjoy 99 paylines of Tumbling Reels™.

Check out Virgin Casino today and play Pixies of the Forest or other classic slot games like Cleopatra, Monopoly, Wheel of Fortune, Da Vinci Diamonds or Call of Duty.

This game can be played for free or played for money.

Virgin Casino is owned and operated by Richard Branson's Virgin Enterprises Limited.

*Sorry, no US, Australian, New Zealand or Canadian players. See World Casino Directory

Introduction
For only 33 coins, enjoy 99 paylines of Tumbling Reels™ action in an enchanting world filled with treasure. 3 for 1 betting means you earn 3 active paylines for every 1 coin bet.
With the extremely popular Tumbling Reels™ feature, all winning symbol combinations disappear from the reel window causing replacement symbols to tumble from above. Each of your paylines can potentially earn riches multiple times in the same game.
Pixies of the Forest ™ also features easy-to-follow Connected Lines™. With 3 for 1 betting, you get all 99 Connected Lines™ for only 33 coins!
Get three Bonus symbols on a payline to earn free spins in the Bonus. The Bonus has richer reels than the base, with additional wild symbols on the first four reels.
Experience the magic of winning with Pixies of the Forest ™.

How To Bet
Pixies of the Forest ™ features 99 paylines, which costs only 33 coins to play. You can choose your coin value, which multiplies all payline awards won. You can also use Auto Spin to play the game for you.

COIN VALUE
Displays current coin value as currency. Click the left arrow (with a minus sign) to decrease the coin value. Click the right arrow (with a plus sign) to increase the coin value. Clicking the left and right arrows does not necessarily decrease or increase your coin value by uniform increments. Rather, your coin value adjusts to preset values which represent the most popular bet amounts.

LINES
Displays current number of paylines. Betting is fixed at 99 paylines, which costs 33 coins.

SPIN
Click to spin the reels and submit your bet.
Auto Spin Feature
Auto Spin plays the game automatically for a given number of games at 99 lines and your current coin value. Once you have selected your desired coin value, click AUTO SPIN and choose how many games you want to play. Auto Spin will keep playing the specified number of games until you click the STOP button, you trigger a Bonus, or your balance is insufficient to spin again.

Tumbling Reels™ Feature
All paytable-defined symbol combinations trigger the Tumbling Reels™ feature during regular and Free Spins Bonus game play. All winning symbol combinations are evaluated and values are added to the win meter.
All symbols in winning combinations disappear. All symbol positions on each reel are filled as symbols tumble from above to fill all empty spaces. The game screen is re-evaluated for symbols in winning combinations and values are added to the win meter.
The Tumbling Reels™ feature remains active until no paytable-defined symbol combinations are created as a result of new symbols tumbling from above.
Connected Lines™ Feature with 3 for 1 Betting
A line is considered connected if each of its symbols share a side or corner with the symbols(s) on the neighboring reel(s). There are 99 possible paylines that employ this Connected Lines™ feature and they are all present in Pixies of the Forest™. With 3 for 1 betting, you activate all these 99 paylines for only 33 coins, earning you 3 paylines for every 1 coin staked.

Free Spins Bonus
You can trigger the Free Spins Bonus by getting three Bonus symbols on a wagered payline. Three Bonus symbols on multiple paylines does not trigger the Bonus multiple times. You can only trigger the Bonus once on a given spin.
Once you trigger the Free Spins Bonus, you are prompted to pick one of the Bonus symbols to reveal your awarded free spin count. You can earn 5 to 11 free spins.
The Free Spins Bonus is played automatically. Your coin value in the Bonus is equal to the coin value on the reel spin that triggered the Bonus. The Bonus reels are made richer by adding wilds to the first four reels.
A non-wild symbol must be part of any winning combination.
For example, the following outcome on a payline pays the award for five Ace symbols:
Wild - Wild - Wild - Wild - Ace
Bonus play continues until you have played through your free spins. You cannot retrigger additional free spins in the Free Spins Bonus.

Options
Graphics Quality
Adjust the quality of the graphics to get the optimal animation performance.
BEST mode - Graphics look best, but performance may suffer.
HIGH mode (default) - Optimal graphics and performance setting.
MEDIUM mode - Lower quality but increased performance.
LOW mode - Degraded graphics, but smoothest animation performance is achieved even on slower computers.

Rules and Additional Information
Malfunction voids all pays and plays.
All line pay symbols must appear on a played line and on consecutive reels, beginning with the far left reel.
Only highest winner paid on each payline.
Line wins are multiplied by the coin value.
Coinciding wins on different paylines are added.
Awards are shown in currency.
Bonus symbol appears on reels 1, 2, and 3 in the base game.
Wild symbol appears on reels 2, 3, and 4 in the base game.
Wild symbol appears on reels 1, 2, 3, and 4 in the Free Spins Bonus.
Free Spins Bonus can only be triggered once on a given spin.
Free spins cannot be retriggered in the Free Spins Bonus.
Regardless of your bet size, there is an award cap on any single transaction. See the paytable for details. A transaction includes the results of the Free Spins Bonus plus the outcome which launched the Bonus. If the award cap is reached in the Bonus, the Bonus ends immediately irrespective of any remaining free spins.

Website

Virgin Casino

Wonder-Woman Online Slot Game Comes To Virgin Casino

2011-12-15T12:41:00.002+11:00

Virgin Casino Gets More DC Comics Superheroes: Wonder Woman

Virgin Casino is delighted to bring yet another DC Comics superhero slot game to its world famous online casino.

Check out Virgin Casino today and play Wonder-Woman or other superhero slot games like Superman or Batman for free or for money.

Virgin Casino is owned and operated by Richard Branson's Virgin Enterprises Limited.

*Sorry, no US, Australian, New Zealand or Canadian players. See World Casino Directory

Website

Virgin Casino

IGT Drives Cloud Computing Transformation in Gaming Industry

2011-12-13T23:19:00.001+11:00

Profiles

IGT Gaming iGaming Las Vegas United States Online Gaming

LAS VEGAS, Dec. 7, 2011 - Unveiling the next revolution in the gaming industry, International Game Technology (NYSE: IGT) announced today the premiere of the IGT Cloud solution at the Company's Investor Conference in New York. The initiative marks IGT's move towards empowering operators to provide seamless gaming experiences across land-based, mobile and online devices.

'IGT is leading the cloud computing transformation in gaming by offering operators innovative solutions to optimize their operations and casino floors,' said Chris Satchell, IGT chief technology officer. 'Utilizing the IGT Cloud will let casino operators focus on what is important to them: players, games and performance.'

The IGT Cloud delivers efficiency and value to casino operators utilizing Software as a Service (SaaS). These initial private, secure IGT Cloud services will enable casinos to manage game content using IGT Floor Manager to access the largest game library in the industry. sbX(r) Analytics will empower casino operators to increase marketing productivity and maximize floor-wide performance with a variety of reporting tools.

The IGT Cloud solution is the result of a powerful collaboration between IGT and CA Technologies to continue innovating how casino games, systems and experiences are delivered.

'CA Technologies is excited to be IGT's technology partner as they debut the IGT Cloud to investors and casinos alike,' said Roger Pilc, general manager, Virtualization and Automation, CA Technologies. 'Our turnkey CA AppLogic(r) cloud platform will be instrumental in helping IGT to quickly move its advanced casino software to cloud-based delivery.'

'Cloud computing continues to revolutionize the global Software and IT industries, driving significant business value. Over time, the new IGT Cloud initiative will allow the gaming industry to realize similar benefits in operations, customer experience and innovation. This will deliver new opportunities for IGT and our customers,' said Satchell.

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Casino News Media

Global Gaming Directory

Frank Sinatra's Rat Pack Birthday Extravaganza

2011-12-13T04:08:00.001+11:00

Profiles

Frank Sinatra Pamela Anderson The X Factor Hollywood California Movies Music

A three part birthday extravaganza kicked off Sunday, celebrating Frank Sinatra's Birthday and to benefit the Alzheimer's Association's California Southland Chapter.

Old Blue Eyes would have turned 96 on Monday. The three-part gala, starting at Sinatra's old Twin Palms estate, will celebrate the life, artistry and birthday of the Hoboken, N.J.-born crooner who came into the world in 1915.

Named for Sinatra's 10th studio album, "A Swingin' Affair," the fundraiser will start with a cocktail party at Sinatra's Twin Palms estate. Canadian jazz artist Matt Dusk will play at Twin Palms, an estate designed by architect E. Stewart Williams where Sinatra and his first wife, Nancy, then Ava Gardner, lived.

Afterward, the fun will move to the Riviera Palm Springs, where actress Pamela Anderson will be holding court in the Starlite Lounge, helping deep-pocket supporters find their checkbooks.

At the Riviera, where the late singer held many of his famous parties, son Frank Sinatra Jr. and his Big Band Orchestra will handle the entertainment, along with Broadway star Lainie Kazan.

Of course, there's also an after-party, beginning at 11:30 p.m. at the Starlite Lounge in the Riviera.

Pamela Anderson, Frank Sinatra Jr., The X Factor's Phillip Lomax, & America's Got Talent's Daniel Joseph Baker Perform at A Swingin' Affair! Gala

Superstar performances set for Frank Sinatra's Birthday Bash in Palm Springs, Tickets Nearly Sold-Out for Alzheimer's Association Benefit

Profiles

Frank Sinatra Pamela Anderson The X Factor Hollywood California Movies Music

PALM SPRINGS, Calif., Dec. 6, 2011 - A Swingin' Affair!, the Frank Sinatra birthday gala to benefit the Alzheimer's Association on Dec. 11 in Palm Springs, is becoming as star-studded as the late Sinatra's life.

Recently added to the lineup of spectacular talent are Phillip Lomax, whose crooner ways led him to the Top 17 on this season of The X Factor, and actor/singer Luca Ellis, who just earned three Ovation nominations for his musical on Frank Sinatra, Hoboken to Hollywood. They join the previously announced Pamela Anderson, Frank Sinatra Jr., America's Got Talent's Daniel Joseph Baker, Matt Dusk, and Lainie Kazan.

The three-stop event kicks off with an exclusive VIP cocktail hour at Sinatra's former Twin Palms estate, which was designed by famed architect E. Stewart Williams and lived in by Sinatra and first wife Nancy and then Ava Gardner. Canadian jazz artist Matt Dusk, who has three No. 1 international hits under his belt, will perform and cocktails and canapes will be served poolside from 2-5 p.m.

Stop two of the night is the Grand Gala at the posh Riviera Palm Springs Resort & Spa where Sinatra held most of his lavish parties. Architect and visionary Irwin Schuman designed the historic location and the event will be fashioned in the grand Hollywood Regency style. Pamela Anderson serves as hostess of the night, with performances by Frank Sinatra Jr. and his Big Band Orchestra, singer/pianist Daniel Joseph Baker from season 6 of America's Got Talent, Phillip Lomax from The X Factor, Matt Dusk, and actress/Broadway star Lainie Kazan. A sumptuous three-course dinner will be served and cocktails will be flowing.

The night closes with an after-party, starting at 11:30 p.m., at the swanky Starlite Lounge in the Riviera. Daniel Joseph Baker will once again perform, as well as the aforementioned Phillip Lomax and Luca Ellis. Cocktails will be flowing into the wee small hours of the morning. A special toast and a cake will be cut in honor of Sinatra's birthday. (He would've been 96 years old this year.)

A limited number of tickets are still available for all three parts of the gala and can be purchased by calling 760-561-5561 or on the website, http://www.aswingingaffair.com

About the Alzheimer's Association

The Alzheimer's Association works on a global, national and local level to enhance care and support for all those affected by Alzheimer's and related dementias. Alzheimer's disease is an irreversible degeneration of the brain that causes disruptions in memory, cognition, personality, and other functions that eventually leads to death from complete brain failure. Over 5.4 million Americans age 65 and older are thought to have Alzheimer's disease. Learn more at: www.alz.org

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Media Man Entertainment

Marvel Studios Considering ‘Game of Thrones’ Vets Alan Taylor and Daniel Minahan to Direct ‘Thor 2′; Will Also Hire a New Writer

2011-12-12T11:07:00.001+11:00

PartyCasino.com Marvel website PartyCasino.com website

Profiles

Marvel Entertainment Marvel Comics Marvel Studios Thor Thor 2 PartyCasino.com Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment Marvel Slots

Newsflash: Marvel Entertainment fans have recently being enjoying playing their favorite Marvel superhero characters at PartyCasino.com - the flagship casino brand of Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment.

Marvel’s search for a Thor 2 director isn’t going as originally planned. Patty Jenkins was on tap to direct the sequel to the summer blockbuster, but left the project citing the generic “creative differences” bit as the reason why she is departing from directing Thor 2. The latest events have left Marvel scrambling to find someone to direct the movie before its November 15, 2013 release date.

According to THR, Marvel head to familiar ground but is coming back with some very unfamiliar names. The trade reports that Game of Thrones’ helmers Alan Taylor and Daniel Minahan are in the running to direct Thor 2. Marvel’s first choice for director was Brian Kirk, who also has Game of Thrones experience.

Some of Taylor’s credits include 1996’s Palookaville, but he has become a huge cable TV helmer, directing episodes of HBO’s Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire and The Sopranos (Credit: IMDB)

Be The Incredible Hulk, Thor, The Amazing Spider-Man, Fantastic Four and more at PartyCasino.com

Play your part in the legend of Thor
The mighty Thor storms into PartyCasino in this majestic 5–reel, 9–line slots game. Experience the power of the god of thunder and you could win up to 4,000 times your bet.

Thor Slot is a new ‘Marvel Hero Jackpot’ slot machine with a free game feature. The game also features a "Thor" wild symbol which substitutes for all symbols except the “Scattered Logo”. 3 or more “Scattered Logo” symbols anywhere on the reels triggers the free spins in which all wins are tripled.

Marvel Jackpots
Marvel Jackpot actually consists of 3 jackpots at different levels, the levels are - from the lowest - Hero Jackpot, Super Hero Jackpot, and Marvel Hero Jackpot, with the latter being the highest. All 3 jackpots grow progressively as bets are made by players in multiple participating online casinos. For each spin, on any of the Marvel Jackpot games, the house adds a small credit to all running jackpots. All 3 levels in Marvel Jackpot can be won irrespective of hitting any paying combination, while betting any amount on any of the "Marvel Jackpot" slots.

Marvel Jackpot slots is just a part of PartyCasino's massive range of slots and progressive slots, part of the ever–increasing suite of fantastic games. Visit PartyCasino and download the latest games or play games instantly, right on the site.

MARVEL, and all related characters and the distinctive likeness thereof are trademarks of Marvel Entertainment, Inc. and its subsidiaries, and are used with permission. Copyright © 2009 Marvel Entertainment, Inc. and its subsidiaries. Licensed by Marvel Characters B.V. All right reserved.

As Marvel living legend Stan Lee would say, Excelsior!

Website

PartyCasino.com Marvel Slots

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Casino News Media

Global Gaming Directory

The Amazing Spider-Man™ Returns to New York City

2011-12-09T21:50:00.001+11:00

Swing Through and Explore Manhattan in the Next Web Slingin' Spider-Man™ Video Game from Activision® and Marvel

Profiles

The Amazing Spider-Man Marvel Entertainment Movies Hollywood Marvel Studios Sony Activision Stan Lee New York Video Games News News Entertainment News

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Dec. 7, 2011 - An all-new Spider-Man is poised to bring the action back to New York City as Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc., and Marvel Entertainment, LLC announce The Amazing Spider-Man™ video game, planned to launch summer 2012 tied to Sony Picture Entertainment's upcoming feature film of the same name. Created as an epilogue story occurring entirely after the events of the movie, the game features the return of free-roaming web-slinging all over the city and evolutionary improvements to navigation and combat, as the newly anointed Spider-Man is plunged into an all-new storyline charged with protecting Manhattan from a variety of criminals.

The Amazing Spider-Man is in development at veteran game studio Beenox, and features an original narrative crafted by Hollywood writer Seamus Kevin Fahey (episodes of Spartacus: Gods of the Arena and the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica) that continues young Peter Parker's adventures following the events of the new film. Using the game's new Web Rush mechanic allows players to pull off a vast array of moves never before possible. With a story that takes players through many areas all over (and under) Manhattan, fans will feel what it's truly like to be a Super Hero, as they experience the cinematic adrenaline rush of web-swinging through the city and fighting crime using Spider-Man's spectacular acrobatic moves and attacks.

Fans can check out the WORLD PREMIERE EXCLUSIVE TRAILER for The Amazing Spider-Man video game during Spike TV's Video Game Awards, airing live on Saturday, December 10 at 8:00 PM ET / 5:00 PM PT.

For more information on The Amazing Spider-Man, please check out http://www.TheAmazingSpiderManGame.com

About Marvel Entertainment

Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world's most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of over 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media over seventy years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing and publishing. For more information, visit www.marvel.com.

About Activision Publishing, Inc.

Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision Publishing, Inc. is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and leisure products.

Activision maintains operations in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, South Korea, China and the region of Taiwan. More information about Activision and its products can be found on the company's website, www.activision.com.

MARVEL, Spider-Man, and all related characters: TM & © 2011 Marvel Entertainment, LLC and its subsidiaries. Licensed by Marvel Characters B.V. www.marvel.com. Game © 2011 Activision Publishing, Inc. Activision is a registered trademark of Activision Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.

All other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners.

SOURCE Activision Publishing, Inc.

Websites

PartyCasino.com Marvel Slots

Spider-Man (Marvel.com)

Activision

The Amazing Spider-Man Game

Media Man News

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Media Man Entertainment

Casino News Media

Global Gaming Directory

Casino Executive Based In Las Vegas Not A Fan Of Online Gambling; Competitor Is Pro Online Casino - Poker, by Greg Tingle - 8th December 2011

2011-12-08T13:46:00.002+11:00

World's Richest Casino Exec Not So Keen On Online Casinos, Poker...

Profiles

Casinos Poker Slots Online Casino Las Vegas Donald Trump Global Gaming Directory

You may not of heard of this cashed up gambling and property tycoon, but he's happy to share his thoughts on online gambling, especially when it comes to his U.S turf. No, it's not Donald Trump, Steve Wynn or even Richard Branson. Meet Sheldon Adelson.

Adelson is by all accounts the world's wealthiest casino executive and top dog of the industry's largest publicly traded company, says he is against online gambling because he doesn't believe available technology is good enough at the moment to prevent young people from making wagers on the Internet, a spokesman said Wednesday.

Adelson's sharing his personal viewpoint is just that - personal - rather than a formal stance taken by his firm that owns and operates casino-resorts in Las Vegas, Macau, Singapore and Bethlehem, Pa., Las Vegas Sands spokesman Ron Reese said.

Reese advised Adelson hasn't spoken with the company's board about his position, nor has the board decided an online gambling plan.

"It's a personal observation of concerns about technology," Reese said.

The opposition comes at a time when numerous other operators, including Caesars Entertainment Corp and MGM Resorts International, have backed an industry push to legalize online poker and let established land based casinos offer the service in the U.S. MGM Resorts International even went as far as to ink a deal with world's leading igaming firm Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment.

Poker, which involves a combination of skill and luck (as ruled in legal cases), now huge on the internet (see World Poker Tour and World Series of Poker), has been illegal online for real money since a 2006 law was brought in and ruled against igaming operators from providing games by preventing financial institutions from processing funds for the majority of online gaming.

The land based casino sector has swayed over the years from anti online gambling to largely pro online gambling, of course, with them getting some of the financial rewards. The bricks and mortar casinos have seen some of their punters go online to bet, with the traditional casinos missing out of the action. It's unclear how much revenue traditional casinos are down, thanks to online casinos, but a Media Man spokesperson said "Online casinos have cost land based casinos in the U.S and elsewhere, many millions, if not billions of dollars. Vegas and Atlantic City land based casinos are down. People still like to bet and the internet serves them well, be it for poker, casino, sports betting or slots".

The American Gaming Association, the leading U.S gaming lobby group, has switched from a neutral stance to pro actively pursuing federal legislation that would allow for legalization and regulation of online poker. Online poker could be a lead in to online casino games.

Frank Fahrenkopf, CEO of the American Gaming Association, said he met with Adelson on Monday and Adelson advised him he'll oppose legislation to legalize online poker on U.S soil.

"Sheldon has long had concerns about this issue, and it is perfectly within his right to make this decision," Fahrenkopf said in a statement. "However, the AGA, at the direction of our board of directors, will continue to support federal legislation to allow states to license and regulate online poker."

The online gambling industry is not seeking to legalize other games like blackjack, craps and slots online. Those games are a different kind of animal because players wager against the house. In poker, players wager against each other and operators take a fee from each pot in exchange for hosting the game. Of course if online poker becomes totally legal in the U.S, this may lead to online casino games also becoming totally legal in the states.

The matter of online poker has heated up among players and casino executives in the past 12 months. U.S. Senate Majority Leader last year pitched a blueprint to legalize poker that fell short without legislation being introduced. Last April, three of the largest online gaming operators who offered online poker in defiance of the law had their websites seized and executives indicted by the U.S. Justice Department, accused of financial crimes including fraud and money laundering for disguising payments for gambling funds as transactions for things like flowers and golf balls. The day it all went down, including sites going down et al, is known in igaming circles as 'Black Friday'.

After the indictments, the estimated $6 billion U.S. online poker market dived overnight, leaving many players unable to access funds in online poker bankrolls.

Then, with the "big three" poker websites closed out of the U.S, the American Casino Association became more active in urging lawmakers to close loopholes and draw up better regulations.

One thing is for certain. Online poker and online casino players are not going to want to stop playing the games they love. Players are mainly sticking to brands they know and trust with some of the leading contenders being PartyPoker.com PartyCasino.com PKR.com World Poker Tour and the World Series of Poker.

Australian casino mogul James Packer's Crown Casino has the 'Aussie Millions Poker Championship' coming up in Melbourne this January and providers such as PartyPoker.com are even offering qualifying poker matches, where players get to 'Win a seat to Aussie Millions'. Bwin.Party's World Poker Tour is also broadcast of American and Australian pay television, which online helps fuel the popularity of online gambling.

Fahrenkopf advised his casino association wants federal legislation that allows U.S states to decide whether to offer poker to its residents, keeps youngsters from gambling online and lets law enforcement shut down illegal operators.

If you enjoy a punt, please bet with your head, not over it, and have fun.

Profiles

Casinos James Packer Donald Trump Sheldon Adelson Steve Wynn Richard Branson Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment

Donald Trump says US should legalize Internet betting...

Donald Trump has witnessed lots of money side slipping him, and he's hoping that situation changes soon.

The real estate, gaming and entertainment tsar, and founder of an Atlantic City casino company says the US should legalize internet gambling. The company that bears his name, Trump Entertainment Resorts, is moving forward with plans to establish an online betting venture... just as soon as it is legal to do so.

The company says it wants to get in on the ground floor of the internet gambling industry, and is close to selecting a joint venture partner to run an online gambling operation. The idea is to be well-placed and ready to go as soon as such activity is legalized in the United States.

"It should be approved here," Trump told news media. "An awful lot of money is leaving the U.S. that should and could stay in this country."

Trump Entertainment, which includes Donald Trump and daughter, Ivanka, and the Avenue Capital hedge fund, would own 10% of the new business venture.

Donald Trump advised the key to success in the online gambling market is having the best brand.

"We think we have the hottest brand there is, the Trump brand, my personal brand," he said. "We think it's going to do phenomenally well."

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Trump Entertainment said it has "determined that such a joint venture represents the most advantageous way for the company to participate in opportunities in online gaming at minimal cost to the company."

No cost estimates were given, and Robert Griffin, the company's CEO, declined to comment Thursday. But in March, after Gov. Chris Christie vetoed a bill passed by New Jersey lawmakers that would have allowed Internet betting solely within New Jersey's borders, Griffin said the money lost to offshore operators should benefit New Jersey.

The new law would seen New Jersey become the first state in the nation to allow Internet betting.

"Currently, millions of Americans engage in online gaming with illegal offshore operators, and do so with no oversight, no regulation or no consumer protections," Griffin said at the time. "It makes sense for the state of New Jersey to regulate this activity, enforce strict standards to ensure games are fair and safe, and in turn be able to collect tax revenue instead of having those dollars and the jobs they support leaving New Jersey and going illegally overseas."

Christie advised he vetoed the law fearing it was unconstitutional and could lead to an explosion of betting parlors throughout the state. By law, gambling in New Jersey is restricted to gaming hotspot Atlantic City.

But a New Jersey lawmaker is asserting that individual states in fact have the legal right to offer in-state Internet gambling within their own borders.

State Sen. Raymond Lesniak, D-Union, wrote in July to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder asserting that New Jersey and all other states can legally offer online betting within their borders.

Lesniak said he will introduce legislation in November to address the prime concerns expressed by Christie.

The filing said the company, Donald and Ivanka Trump, and Avenue Capital have signed an agreement authorizing the joint venture once it becomes legal, and that prohibits any of them from seeking other online gambling ventures through May 2012.

Atlantic City is in the midst of a nearly 5-year revenue slump brought on by increasing competition from casinos in neighboring states, and worsened by the continuing unsteady economy. It's also speculated that many AC businesses have not adapted well to the internet medium.

Just a few online gaming companies that are understood to be interested in coming to business terms with Trump include Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment, Richard Branson's Virgin Games and PKR. Most experts see Bwin.Party as the best bet, as they don't have any outstanding issues with the US Department of Justice, and have been playing by the rules (law) for many years, while other gambling companies continue to go after U.S players.

Internet gambling is legal in many countries, with the U.S being a glaring exception.

Media Man is following up.

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Media Man Entertainment

Casino News Media

Global Gaming Directory

Martin Scorsese Confirms Next Project Is "Silence", by Greg Tingle - 7th December 2011

2011-12-07T16:14:00.002+11:00

Profiles

Celebrities Hollywood Movies

Motion picture producer - director genius Martin Scorsese has demanded attention over the past number of years not only with the movies delivers at the cinema, but with the films that he has in development.

Thus far he ties to a a remake of The Gambler with Leonardo DiCaprio (isn't Leo super busy these days), a reunion with Robert DeNiro in The Irishman, and the crime flick, The Snowman. Now we learn via Bleeding Cool that during an interview on Simon Mayo and Mark Kermode’s Radio Five show on BBC Radio, Scorsese appeared confident that his next film will be an adaptation of Shusako Endo's 1966 novel, Silence.

Silence is focused on two Jesuit missionaries in 17th century Japan and how one of them renounced Christianity after being tortured during the anti-Christian movements in the 1600's. How different is that to the gangster movies that Scorsese built his career upon. He's one of the world's most diverse producer - directors having pumped out such greats as Taxi Driver, Hugo, and The Aviator.

An issue that has arisen is that Scorsese's original choice for one of the missionaries was Daniel Day-Lewis, who is currently busy filming Lincoln with Steven Spielberg. It's not known whether Scorsese will wait for Lewis to become available again, or if he will recast the role.

In any event, Silence is looking good so far, and we really like the sound of Scorsese's 17th century Japan.

Quotes By Martin Scorsese...

And as I've gotten older, I've had more of a tendency to look for people who live by kindness, tolerance, compassion, a gentler way of looking at things.

Cinema is a matter of what's in the frame and what's out.

Eradicating a religion of kindness is, I think, a terrible thing for the Chinese to attempt.

Every year or so, I try to do something; it keeps me refreshed as to what's going on in front of the lens, and I understand what the actor is going through.

Howard Hughes was this visionary who was obsessed with speed and flying like a god... I loved his idea of what filmmaking was.

I also saw the Dalai Lama a few times.

I always say that I've been in a bad mood for maybe 35 years now. I try to lighten it up, but that's what comes out when you get me on camera.

I can't really envision a time when I'm not shooting something.

I certainly wasn't able to get it when I was a kid growing up on the Lower East Side; it was very hard at that time for me to balance what I really believed was the right way to live with the violence I saw all around me - I saw too much of it among the people I knew.

I do know that some Buddhists are able to attain peace of mind.

I don't agree with everything he did in his life, but we're dealing with this Howard Hughes, at this point. And also ultimately the flaw in Howard Hughes, the curse so to speak.

I grew up within Italian-American neighborhoods, everybody was coming into the house all the time, kids running around, that sort of stuff, so when I finally got into my own area, so to speak, to make films, I still carried on.

I just wanted to be an ordinary parish priest.

I know there were many good policemen who died doing their duty. Some of the cops were even friends of ours. But a cop can go both ways.

I love studying Ancient History and seeing how empires rise and fall, sowing the seeds of their own destruction.

I love the look of planes and the idea of how a plane flies. The more I learn about it the better I feel; while I still may not like it, I have a sense of what is really happening.

I think there's only one or two films where I've had all the financial support I needed. All the rest, I wish I'd had the money to shoot another ten days.

I think what happened there was just the budget would be too big to build these sets because nothing really exists here in New York of that period; you have to build it all.

I was born in 1942, so I was mainly aware of Howard Hughes' name on RKO Radio Pictures.

I'm going to be 60, and I'm almost used to myself.

Websites

The Film Foundation

Media Man News

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Media Man Entertainment

Poker News Media: Andrey Pateychuk Wins WPT Prague - 6th December 2011

2011-12-07T13:51:00.002+11:00

Profiles

Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment World Poker Tour PartyPoker.com PartyCasino.com

Andrey Pateychuk probably felt extremely lucky to even be at the World Poker Tour (WPT) Prague final table. This year’s European Poker Tour (EPT) San Remo Main Event champ found himself all-in with A-K late on Day 3, only to see his opponent flop a set of 9’s. The poker gods were with him, though, as he hit a runner-runner Broadway straight to double-up and eventually head to the final table in the third spot with over 2 million chips. He was still 4 million chips behind the chip leader, Stanislaw Kretz, and 2.5 million behind Benjamin Pollak, but no matter. Pateychuk ran through the final table Monday to win his second major tournament in less than two months, raking $630,263 in the process.

When the final table began, here was what the landscape looked like:

Stanislaw Kretz – 6,300,000
Benjamin Pollak – 4,865,000
Andrey Pateychuk – 2,310,000
Sigurd Eskelund – 1,575,000
Adria Balaguer – 1,315,000
Russell Carson – 725,000

As might have been expected, Russell Carson was the first to go. Having already lost some chips, he moved all-in pre-flop with 5-5 and Kretz made the call with Q-9. Kretz took the lead on the 9-6-3 flop, though the 8 on the turn gave Carson a shot at a gut-shot straight. It wasn’t to be, though, as the river blanked and Carson was eliminated in 6th place.

About a half hour later, Sigurd Eskelund raised pre-flop to 125,000, Pateychuk took it up to 285,000, and then Eskelund shoved for 1.46 million. Pateychuk quickly called, revealing pocket Jacks. Eskelund had K-Q and the race was on. The flop came down Q-8-6 and Eskelund was in control. Turn: 8. And then…the magical two-outer on the river for Pateychuk. With a rivered Jack, Pateychuk made a full house, shocking Eskelund and sending him home in 5th place.

Play didn’t necessarily slow after that, but it wasn’t for almost three hours that another player was eliminated. Adria Balaguer and Benjamin Pollak both got all their chips into the middle pre-flop, Balaguer with A-T and Pollak with J-9. The flop of J-7-4 put Pollak in the lead with top pair. And then, just like what happened to Pateychuk the previous day, Balaguer made runner-runner Broadway to snatch the pot away from Pollak, as well as many thousands of dollars.

The biggest hand for Pateychuk before heads-up came just before the dinner break. He raised to 200,000 pre-flop, only to see Kretz three-bet him to 560,000. Pateychuk did him one better, four-betting to 980,000, and rather than folding or just going all-in, Kretz called, creating one heck of a pot. Both players checked after the K-9-2 flop, but not after an Ace fell on the turn (which also created a flush possibility) – Kretz bet 1 million chips and Pateychuk made the call. Despite all that action, both players checked the 3 on the river. Pateychuk turned over pocket Kings for a flopped set and Kretz simply mucked. Pateychuk took the chip lead at that point with just over 6 million.

Not long after dinner, Kretz’s downfall was completed. He got it all-in after a Pateychuk raise and was called by the chip leader. Kretz held pocket 9’s, putting him ahead of the A-6 of Pateychuk. And now, since it’s Pateychuk, let’s skip to the river: an Ace. Kretz was knocked out in 3rd place, sending Pateychuk into heads-up play against Balaguer with a small lead, 8.004 million to 7.8 million.

Less than half an hour into heads-up, it looked like a Balaguer victory was imminent. Both men went all-in pre-flop and this time, Pateychuk couldn’t get lucky with A-5 versus Balaguer’s 8-8. When the smoke cleared, Balaguer had a huge lead, 15.63 million to just 1.5 million.

But on the very next hand, Pateychuck doubled-up to 3 million when his K-J held up against Balaguer’s T-9. Then, on the next hand, Pateychuk did it again, this time with A-K versus A-Q. He was still down, but with 6.3 million compared to Balaguer’s 10.8 million, things were looking up.

Within a few hands, another lucky river and some aggressive play gave Pateychuk back the lead, but soon thereafter, Balaguer brought it back to even. Appropriately, though, Pateychuk regained the lead for good when he outflopped Balaguer with A-6 against A-J. Really, at this point, Balaguer had to know that he had no chance. Pateychuk was playing good, aggressive poker, but with lady luck on his side, there was no stopping him.

On the final hand, Pateychuk raised pre-flop, Balaguer moved all-in with Q-Q, and Pateychuk called with A-5. Since this is the final hand, you can guess what happened. The flop was an all-spade 9-7-4 and, of course, Pateychuk held a spade. But that didn’t matter. The turn was a 3 and the river was a 2, giving him the wheel at the WPT Prague title. (Credit: Poker News Daily)

World Poker Tour Prague – Final Table Results

1. Andrey Pateychuk – $630,263
2. Adria Balaguer - $320,381
3. Stanislaw Kretz – $212,690
4. Benjamin Pollak – $139,999
5. Sigurd Eskeland – $107,691
6. Russell Carson - $84,807

Online Gamers Check Out Casino Product...

An increasing amount of online poker players are also checking out online casino offerings from Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment. New casino players currently get up to $3000 sign up bonus, understood to be the highest bonus in the world for new players.

The most popular PartyCasino.com games of late include Heist, Circus, Rambo, Palladium Slot, The Godfather, Sinatra, Slotbox, Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Mission: Impossible, The Terminator, Cleopatra, Sinatra, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, The Amazing Spider-Man, Monopoly, Resident Evil, Melon Madness, Wheel Of Fortune and Mega Fortune Wheel.

The PartyCasino.com jackpot is currently approaching the $4 million mark. Players can also compete for The Big One and Marvel Hero Jackpot, playing the Marvel super hero themed online slot games.

PartyCasino's most recent game releases include Shaaark! SuperBet, Crocodopolis, Alice's Wonderland, Glamour Puss, Super Cubes, Heist, Palladium Slot and Circus Slot.

Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment Co-cEO Jim Ryan has gone on record advising PartyCasino will soon feature more Hollywood blockbuster themed slots. A few in the know journalists and media agents have been recently tipped off that an all time classic movie adaption will be showcased in the PartyCasino portfolio within 1 month. PartyCasino has the world's most impressive line up of Hollywood themed games, and more are just around the corner.

PartyCasino.com and PartyPoker.com customers can also benefit from rewards and bonuses via PartyPoints and the Palladium Lounge.

Media Man, Casino News Media and Global Gaming Directory do have a b2b relationship with Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment, as they do with dozens of other companies in the gaming, igaming, media and entertainment industry.

Websites

PartyCasino.com

PartyPoker.com

Profiles

Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment PartyCasino PartyPoker PartyBingo Circus PartyCasino Marvel Slots The Big One Melon Madness Casino World Poker Tour PartyCasino Promotions

Casino And Gaming Stock Report: Australia And New Zealand, by Greg Tingle - 5th November 2011

2011-12-06T10:59:00.002+11:00

Profiles

Kerry Packer James Packer Crown Casino Crown Limited Burswood Entertainment Complex The Star Echo Entertainment Australian Casinos Australia New Zealand News Financial News Casino News Poker News Entertainment News

Australian land based casinos continue their entertainment push, with big name celebrities and more expensive casino re-vamps in the works. The share market continues to react to the political hotbed that is the Aussie casino and gambling industry. Southern neighbour, New Zealand, is also prone to gaming being quite the punching bag. Can't wait to the next election. How about you?

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.8 percent to 4,321.3 at the close of trading in Sydney. New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index gained 0.6 percent to 3,301.22 in Wellington.

Echo Entertainment Group Ltd. (EGP AU) rose 1.3 percent to A$3.83 after the owner of four Australian casinos had its rating raised to “hold” from “sell” by Adam Alexander, an analyst at Goldman Sachs Australia Pty.

Sky City Entertainment Group Ltd. (SKC NZ) rose 0.3 percent to NZ$3.40 after the New Zealand casino owner agreed a NZ$185 million ($144 million) seven-year banking facility to repay U.S. private placement debt of around NZ$250 million.

Tabcorp Holdings Ltd. (TAH AU) declined 0.7 percent to A$2.80 after Australia’s biggest owner of betting shops was cut to “sell” from “hold” at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which said earnings may stall in the next two years on higher license costs and a "lack of positive catalysts."

The Late News...

European gaming giant Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment, along with PKR and Virgin Games, are all understood to be keen to officially enter the Australian market. Bwin.Party has done some good warm up work on the political and business side, including now offering online poker players to win a seat at James Packer's annual poker championship in Melbourne 'Aussie Millions'. The Media Man agency has been filing regular reports here and on portals such as Casino News Media, Gambling911 and Poker News Daily are following suit. Mr Packer is understood to be pleased with the lead up news stories on the 2012 'Aussie Millions', at a time when Crown appear to be welcoming any balanced and especially positive coverage of Crown with open arms. Sydney's 'The Star' is also having a poker tourney, with much less fanfare than that of Crown. Any would be James Bond poker players out there? Comon' sport, try your luck and tell 'em the Media Man agency sent you.

*the writer owns shares in Crown Limited
*the writer is a member of The Star's 'Absolute Rewards' program

Websites

Crown Casino

Echo Entertainment

The Star

Media Man News

Casino News Media

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Media Man Entertainment

Casino News Media

Global Gaming Directory

Playtech Welcomes Cowboys & Aliens to the Slot Machines

2011-12-04T18:07:00.001+11:00

Playtech and Platinum Studios Sign Licensing Agreement for Platinum's New York Times Best Selling Comic Book Property Cowboy & Aliens

Profiles

PartyCasino.com Virgin Casino Casino Las Vegas Noble Casino Playtech DreamWorks SKG Steven Spielberg Paramount Pictures Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment

Casino Of The Month: PartyCasino.com

Playtech and Platinum Studios Sign Licensing Agreement for Platinum's New York Times Best Selling Comic Book Property Cowboy & Aliens

LOS ANGELES, CA - 1st December 2011 - Platinum Studios, Inc. (OTCBB: PDOS), an entertainment company that controls an international library of more than 5,000 comic book characters which it adapts, produces and licenses for all forms of media, is proud to announce that it has licensed its New York Times best-selling graphic novel "Cowboys & Aliens" to Playtech, the international designer, developer and licenser of software to the online and land-based gaming industry.

As part of a multi-year licensing deal, a Cowboys & Aliens slot game based on the bestselling graphic novel will be the first launch under the agreement. For Playtech, this follows in the success of their branded slots from Marvel Comics and currently represents the only other comic book based property in its branded casino game portfolio. The full launch, scheduled for Summer 2012, will include multiple gaming sites throughout multiple markets across the globe.

Platinum Studios licensed the Cowboys & Aliens live action film rights to DreamWorks, which Universal Pictures released in North America and Paramount Pictures released internationally. According to IMDBpro, the film has now grossed over $170 million worldwide, not including DVD, television and other mediums.

The feature film version of Cowboys & Aliens is soon to be released on Blu-ray, DVD and other formats. The film stars Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford and Olivia Wilde, is directed by Jon Favreau ("Iron Man" and "Iron Man 2"), and executive produced by Steven Spielberg and produced by Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Rosenberg.

Platinum Studios' CEO and creator of Cowboys & Aliens, Scott Mitchell Rosenberg, said: "Gaming is a whole new playing field for us, and perfectly follows Cowboys & Aliens' success at the box office." Rosenberg also added: "I'm looking forward to people playing Cowboys & Aliens slots from their living room!"

Playtech's Head of Content Sagi Harari said: "Playtech is excited to introduce Cowboys & Aliens to the online gaming scene. This comic book fits in well with our existing branded games portfolio, since it is instantly recognizable due to the great success of the movie, and it also lends itself to visually impressive games. Powerful branded games are in high demand, and fans as well as casino-game players will be thrilled to experience our new offering."

Cowboys & Aliens, which tells the story of an alien invasion in 19th century, is just one of the properties Platinum Studios controls among a multi-universe library of over 5,000 comic characters. While other large comics-based libraries are already spoken for, Platinum Studios remains independent of major entertainment studio affiliation. Marvel was recently acquired by Disney for $4 Billion, and is the second major comic library to be acquired by a Hollywood studio. DC Comics, which is owned by Warner Bros., recently announced a newly-revamped business model, focusing on reaching deeper into DC's catalog of characters.

About Platinum Studios, Inc.

Platinum Studios (OTCBB: PDOS) is an entertainment company that controls an international library of comic book characters, which it adapts, produces and licenses for all forms of media including print, film, online, mobile / wireless, gaming, and merchandising.
Platinum Studios -- Comics Fueling Media EVERYWHERE!

Platinum Studios Safe Harbor Statement
Please see Platinum Studios Safe Harbor Statement at http://www.platinumstudios.com/about/legal/safe-harbor

About Playtech

Playtech develops unified software platforms and content for the online and land-based gaming industry, together with providing a range of ancillary services such as marketing, hosting and CRM services.

Leading gaming applications include casino, poker, bingo, sports betting, live gaming, casual and fixed odds games. Playtech provides licensees with the tools to maximise cross-selling opportunities, player loyalty and yield, all through the powerful management interface -- the IMS. The Group's capabilities enable the delivery of an integrated software or turnkey solution, with players accessing online, broadcast, mobile and server-based gaming terminals through a single account.

New licensees include existing online operators upgrading or diversifying their offering, land-based casino groups, government sponsored entities such as lotteries, and new entrants making their online gaming debut, particularly in newly-regulated markets.

Founded in 1999, Playtech has some 1,000 employees located in development centres in five countries, the majority of whom are engaged in research and development of current and future gaming technologies, together with 900 employees providing ancillary services.

Casino Of The Month: PartyCasino.com

Other...

Playtech is an Estonia-based company, which operates a joint venture with Britain's biggest bookmaker William Hill and provides software to Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment, Paddy Power and Gala Coral.

Shares of the company have lost a quarter of their value in the last three months.

Casino Reviews

PartyCasino.com - Accepts Canadian, Australian and New Zealand players. PartyCasino new players get up to $3000 sign up bonus. Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment is the world's largest and most successful igaming company.

VirginCasino.com - No US, Canadian, Australian or New Zealand players. £100 sign up bonus. Virgin Games is part of Richard Branson's Virgin Enterprises Limited.

Casino Las Vegas offers Hollywood slots, Marvel slots, games of skill, games of luck and a good range of table games. Casino Las Vegas is owned and operated by Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment. New players get up to $400 sign up bonus.

Noble Casino offers Hollywood slots, Marvel slots, games of skill, games of luck and a good range of table games. Casino Las Vegas is owned and operated by Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment. New players get up to $4000 sign up bonus.

Profiles

PartyCasino.com

Virgin Casino

Casino Las Vegas

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Casino News Media

Global Gaming Directory

Facebook To Enter Into Real Money Online Poker? - 1st December 2011

2011-12-03T18:09:00.001+11:00

Profiles

Games Gaming Casinos Poker Facebook Casino Legal Social Media Sydney Australia News Financial News Casino News Poker News Entertainment News

Rumors were abuzz yesterday about the possibility of the social networking behemoth Facebook entering into the online poker arena, but it may be that was the extent of the issue…simply rumors.

According to the popular blog “Friending Facebook” written by Emil Protalinski on ZDNet.com, Facebook has been rumored to be in discussions with several outlets regarding the future of online poker on the site. Currently, Facebook only offers “credits” that players can purchase to use to play a multitude of games that the site promotes, but it hasn’t stepped into the realm of a “real money” offering. Protalinski details out how some of the buzz regarding the possibility of Facebook stepping into online poker has gotten started.

Apparently, clandestine meetings were held over the summer between Facebook and “approximately twenty online gaming experts, consultants and social gaming entrepreneurs,” according to Protalinski. If this were to become a reality, it would happen at some point within the first three months of 2012, with the potential for up to eight licenses to be offered to potential online gaming operations through Facebook.

Protalinski notes, via eGaming Review Magazine, that two of those potential outlets have already been named as potential licensees. One of the top game developers, Gamesys, is potentially in the running for one of those licenses. Gamesys, which has been in the online gaming industry since 2001, offers bingo software as well as games based on television shows such as The Price Is Right and Deal or No Deal. The company also has a contract with Caesars Entertainment for CaesarsBingo.com.

The other operation named specifically as a potential suitor for Facebook also has connections with Caesars Entertainment, the owners of the World Series of Poker. 888 Holdings PLC, founded in 1997 and the ownership behind such offerings as 888Poker.com and the Caesars Entertainment owned WSOP.com online poker site, is rumored to be one of the companies at the front of the line for a potential Facebook partnership. 888Poker is currently the fourth ranked online poker network in the industry, having a seven day average of 2150 cash game players, according to PokerScout.com.

Protalinski points out several issues that will have to be overcome before any such partnerships can reach fruition. Age verification issues, something that anti-online gaming zealots have said would be problematic, are something that Facebook would have to deal with, as people do not always put their year of birth on their Facebook record for privacy reasons. Finding an outlet that could process real money transactions at a bulk rate would also be problematic as well as how Facebook and any partners would divvy up the proceeds.

In looking at how Facebook handles its “credits” transactions, Protalinski points out some significant numbers. Protalinski states that Facebook takes a 30% cut of revenues earned through the purchases of Facebook Credits, with the remaining 70% going to the developers of the games. To possibly see how much money is potentially involved in this partnership, PartyGaming – before it joined forces with Bwin early this year – pulled in $497.9 million in revenue in 2010. If that type of activity was seen with a Facebook gaming site – and using the same percentages as Facebook currently operates under – it would mean Facebook would make approximately $149.3 million and their partner company would pull in $348.5 million.

For American citizens, however, there is no glimmer of hope. Real money online poker through Facebook isn’t an option per the current status of online gaming in the United States. The offerings would first be done in the United Kingdom and potentially branch out to the rest of the world, Protalinski reports.

Then again, this could all just be conjecture. Protalinski contacted Facebook officials regarding this issue and quoted a representative of Facebook as saying, “We’re always in discussions with companies about lots of different ideas, but we don’t comment on future plans or speculation.” After the ringing in of the New Year, however, we may learn if these plans are true or false. (Credit: Poker News Daily)

Websites

Media Man News

Casino News Media

Facebook

Media Man Facebook

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Media Man Entertainment

Casino News Media

Global Gaming Directory

Facebook Gamblers Taking Bigger Risks Than They Know, by Greg Tingle - 1st December 2011

2011-12-01T23:09:00.002+11:00

Profiles

Games Gaming Casinos Poker Facebook Casino Legal Social Media Sydney Australia News Financial News Casino News Poker News Entertainment News

A massive loophole in Australian - federal gambling legislation is allowing an online casino to receive funds from Facebook punters but not pay out winnings in cold hard cash, leaving punters in the lurch, out of moolah, and angry - and there's not much they can do about it at present.

Only recently have media companies such as Media Man and Fairfax Media been able to warn punters of the dangers of betting - especially on some Facebook affiliated websites.

Media and gaming commentators are advising gamblers to only bet with websites they can trust, and to avoid Facebook gambling websites until loopholes have been fixed up. Big name gambling brands which are considered ethical and trustworthy by most media and igaming experts include Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment, Virgin Games (not available in Australia), Betfair, Centrebet and PKR.

The DoubleDown casino on Facebook is one brand in question. They "give" players "free" chips - but once they are used up, punters are required to purchase credits to continue to play online casino games such as poker, blackjack, slots and roulette (not Russian Roulette) - even more dangerous then the website in question.

As they say - always read the fine print! The terms and conditions explicitly say "regardless of the terminology used, Virtual Currency and Virtual Goods may never be redeemed for "real world" money, goods or other items of monetary value from the Site or any other party."

A wave of complaints has hit independent senator Nick "Mr X" (satire) Xenophon. A Facebook page condemning the site and warning others has also been established by anger players. A constituent contacted Senator Xenophon after he attempted to withdraw the chips, made a complaint, but was subsequently blocked from the site by administrators. So much for ethics and consumer confidence.

Senator Xenophon wrote to the Australian Communications and Media Authority complaining that the US-based website was misleading and was in breach of online gaming laws.

ACMA told Senator Xenophon the website's content is not prohibited because it was not possible to win 'money or anything else of value' from playing the games provided, so it does not in fact constitute a gambling website.

The Senator yesterday wrote to Communications Minister Stephen Conroy requesting an urgent meeting to discuss "a loophole in the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 which has allowed hundreds of Australians to lose money".

"People are paying real money to gamble on these sites," Senator Xenophon advised. "But because these gamblers are forbidden by the sites from converting that virtual money back into real money, the sites aren't technically breaking any laws. This needs to change."

A review of igaming - online gambling laws commenced earlier this year and Senator Conroy's spokesman advised online casino games were prohibited and could not be provided to Australians.

"Consumers participating in games purporting to be such things should think carefully as they are not regulated by Australian law," he said.

A spokesman for DoubleDown Casino said it took great pride in having established the world's largest virtual casino game on Facebook.

"We couldn't have done that without the millions of customers who return every day to enjoy free chips and our entertaining game. Casual gamers can play every day for free and it is entirely up to the user to decide if they wish to purchase virtual chips to play longer," he said.

"There are hundreds if not thousands of games on Facebook which accept virtual currency in the form of Facebook credits and we're proud to be one of Facebook's top 12 game partners."

Established gaming companies such as Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment, PKR, Virgin Games, Betfair and Centrebet offer both play for free and play for money options, and have not received complaints like the ones directed towards DoubleDown.

Those who enjoy a punt are advised to bet with their head, not over it, and to have fun. If gambling stops being fun, its a strong sign to stop playing and seek help.

Websites

Media Man News

Casino News Media

Facebook

Media Man Facebook

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Media Man Entertainment

Casino News Media

Global Gaming Directory

Marvel Entertainment News: Kenneth Branagh 'Wouldn't Rule Out' Another Marvel Film; 'The Avengers' Official Character Descriptions

2011-12-01T00:40:00.000+11:00

PartyCasino.com Marvel website PartyCasino.com website

Profiles

Marvel Entertainment Marvel Comics PartyCasino.com Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment Marvel Slots

Newsflash: Marvel Entertainment fans have recently being enjoying playing their favorite Marvel superhero characters at PartyCasino.com - the flagship casino brand of Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment.

Kenneth Branagh was always a fantastic choice as the director for "Thor." Even when Marvel first announced his involvement, the industry got excited, more so that usual when a director gets named.

When the film hit in theaters, critics generally praised Branagh for adding Shakespeare flavour to Thor.

Thor was a much higher quality Marvel flick than what superhero movie fans are a custom.

Branagh spoke to Variety about 'Thor'.

"Of all the American comics, 'Thor' was the only one I was really familiar with from my childhood, and it intrigued me, maybe because it was a bit more European, with those Viking helmets and its basis in Norse myth," Branagh said. "The scale was exciting, and I did love the character and the story. It had depth and gravity in addition to being an entertaining ride."

According to the Variety story, Branagh considered the entire project "a joy," and that his decision to turn down the sequel was not out of any bad feelings, but because of timing. "Monster" director, Patty Jenkins, will take over for "Thor 2."

Branagh is open to working with Marvel again, going on record with "I certainly wouldn't rule out a return to Marvel; we had an excellent collaboration."

Marvel is planning more projects after "The Avengers" this May. We're mainly looking forward to Spider-Man, Hulk and Thor themes. How about you superheroes?

'The Avengers' Official Character Descriptions...

Walt Disney Studios and Marvel Studios have provided us with official character descriptions for their upcoming release, The Avengers, in theaters on May 4, 2012. In Marvel’s The Avengers, it’s the Super Hero team up of a lifetime, featuring iconic Marvel Super Heroes Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow. When an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, Director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins.

CAPTAIN AMERICA (Steve Rogers)
After a top secret Super-Soldier program transformed frail Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) into the powerful and heroic Captain America, his amazing WWII exploits made him a living legend. Steve saved New York City and turned the tide of the war, but crashed into the Arctic during his final mission. Awakening in the modern day, Steve learned that he had spent decades frozen in the icy tundra. Now, Steve Rogers finds himself alone in a modern world that he hardly recognizes. When Nick Fury, director of the international peacekeeping agency S.H.I.E.L.D., calls on Rogers to help save the world again, he quickly suits up as Captain America, taking up his iconic shield and bringing his strength, leadership and no-nonsense attitude to The Avengers.

IRON MAN (Tony Stark)
On top of being an eccentric genius, a billionaire, a playboy and a philanthropist, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is also the armored super hero known as Iron Man. Fresh off of defeating enemies the world over, Stark reluctantly agreed to serve as a consultant to Nick Fury’s top-secret peacekeeping and intelligence agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D. Now, with a global crisis on the horizon and the fate of the world in the balance, Stark must again power up his Iron Man armor to save the world, and become a full-fledged member of The Avengers.

THOR (The God of Thunder)
An arrogant prince from the distant land of Asgard, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) was banished to Earth after his irresponsible behavior threatened his homeland. While in exile on Earth, Thor learned humility and helped to save his new friends from a destructive threat sent by his brother Loki. In the process, Thor redeemed himself in the eyes of his father, Odin, the King of Asgard. After being welcomed back to Asgard as a hero, Thor must now return to Earth once again to prevent a cosmic-level catastrophe. With Mjolnir in his hand, a legendary hammer with immense power, the mighty warrior soon finds himself drawn into an unlikely alliance with Nick Fury’s secret initiative, The Avengers, lending his power to their cause against his wayward brother, Loki.

THE HULK (Bruce Banner)
After a gamma radiation experiment went awry, mild-mannered scientist Dr. Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) found himself with a peculiar condition. When angered or provoked, he would transform into the uncontrollable, green-skinned monster known as the Hulk. Now, fearful of the damage that the Hulk could inflict, Dr. Banner chooses to live a discreet life in remote parts of the world, working to cure the sick and help the poor while trying to elude those who would take advantage of his ability to change into the enormous, green menace. When a mounting threat calls for Banner’s specialized scientific expertise, S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury recruits him, knowing full well that the incredible strength of Banner’s alter ego, the Hulk, would be an asset to The Avengers.

HAWKEYE (Clint Barton)
One of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s most elite agents, Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner), code-named Hawkeye, is the greatest living marksman on Earth. Armed with his weapon of choice, the recurve bow, Hawkeye fires his arsenal of custom augmented arrows, specialized for any number of specific situations, with perfect precision. With the potential for global catastrophe on the horizon, he employs his amazing combat skills to fight along side The Avengers.

BLACK WIDOW (Natasha Romanoff)
S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), is one of the world’s greatest spies and quite possibly the world’s most skilled assassin. Armed with an extensive arsenal of specialized weapons like widow stings and cluster bombs, as well as a vast repertoire of martial arts skills, Romanoff’s unique talents make her one of director Fury’s top agents and an integral part in assembling The Avengers.

LOKI
After his bid to overthrow the throne of Asgard was thwarted by his brother Thor, the evil Loki (Tom Hiddleston) retreated to lands unknown to plot his revenge. Not just against his brother, but against Earth, whose inhabitants Thor now protects. Loki, now returns with a nefarious plot to conquer Earth and will stop at nothing to see his vision realized. When his misuse of power threatens the entire planet, it may take more than The Avengers to stop him.

NICK FURY (Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.)
As the legendary Director of the international peacekeeping organization, S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) is humanity’s first line of defense against the world’s biggest threats. When S.H.I.E.L.D. becomes aware of an evil that threatens global safety, Fury assembles the planet’s most powerful beings and forms The Avengers.

Be The Incredible Hulk, Thor, The Amazing Spider-Man, Fantastic Four and more at PartyCasino.com

Play your part in the legend of Thor
The mighty Thor storms into PartyCasino in this majestic 5–reel, 9–line slots game. Experience the power of the god of thunder and you could win up to 4,000 times your bet.

Thor Slot is a new ‘Marvel Hero Jackpot’ slot machine with a free game feature. The game also features a "Thor" wild symbol which substitutes for all symbols except the “Scattered Logo”. 3 or more “Scattered Logo” symbols anywhere on the reels triggers the free spins in which all wins are tripled.

Marvel Jackpots
Marvel Jackpot actually consists of 3 jackpots at different levels, the levels are - from the lowest - Hero Jackpot, Super Hero Jackpot, and Marvel Hero Jackpot, with the latter being the highest. All 3 jackpots grow progressively as bets are made by players in multiple participating online casinos. For each spin, on any of the Marvel Jackpot games, the house adds a small credit to all running jackpots. All 3 levels in Marvel Jackpot can be won irrespective of hitting any paying combination, while betting any amount on any of the "Marvel Jackpot" slots.

Marvel Jackpot slots is just a part of PartyCasino's massive range of slots and progressive slots, part of the ever–increasing suite of fantastic games. Visit PartyCasino and download the latest games or play games instantly, right on the site.

MARVEL, and all related characters and the distinctive likeness thereof are trademarks of Marvel Entertainment, Inc. and its subsidiaries, and are used with permission. Copyright © 2009 Marvel Entertainment, Inc. and its subsidiaries. Licensed by Marvel Characters B.V. All right reserved.

As Marvel living legend Stan Lee would say, Excelsior!

Website

PartyCasino.com Marvel Slots

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Casino News Media

Global Gaming Directory

Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment: Gioco Digitale Live With Evolution Casino - 30th November 2011

2011-11-30T22:18:00.001+11:00

Profiles

Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment.com PartyCasino.com Roulette Blackjack Live Dealer Gioco Digitale Evolution Casino Casino Las Vegas Noble Casino Playtech Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment

One of the biggest gaming related firms in Italy's new remote gaming market, Gioco Digitale, has gone live with Evolution Gaming's live casino.

Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment - Casino Of The Month: PartyCasino.com

The fully AAMS-approved Evolution live casino solution enables Gioco Digitale, part of bwin.party digital entertainment, to supply its customers a selection of live online roulette and blackjack tables at which to play. The tables include Venezia Roulette, which replicates online the experience of playing in Italy's land-based casinos with native speaking Italian dealers.

Paolo Di Feo, southern region director at Bwin.Party said: "Gioco Digitale is committed to delivering an exceptional localised gaming service in Italy. Key factors behind the delivery of original products for the Italian public are the strength, stability and security of our group's technology platform, our local focus, and our strategic partnerships with innovators such as Evolution Gaming. Evolution live casino is an excellent fit for us from a technology and customer service perspective - in Italy and across our other markets."

Gionata La Torre, Evolution's CEO in Italy, commented: "PartyGaming is a long-standing Evolution customer and since its merger with bwin, we have worked closely with a number of divisions within the group. Gioco Digitale recognised that, as the first live casino provider to be fully approved by AAMS in Italy, Evolution shared its vision for the newly revitalised Italian market."

La Torre said: "We expect Gioco Digitale to benefit from high levels of interest and incremental revenue opportunities."

Most of the world's igaming insiders and media are impressed with the development.

Casino Reviews

PartyCasino.com - Accepts Canadian, Australian and New Zealand players. PartyCasino new players get up to $3000 sign up bonus. Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment is the world's largest and most successful igaming company.

Casino Las Vegas offers Hollywood slots, Marvel slots, games of skill, games of luck and a good range of table games. Casino Las Vegas is owned and operated by Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment. New players get up to $400 sign up bonus.

Noble Casino offers Hollywood slots, Marvel slots, games of skill, games of luck and a good range of table games. Casino Las Vegas is owned and operated by Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment. New players get up to $4000 sign up bonus.

Profiles

PartyCasino.com

Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment

Casino Las Vegas

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Casino News Media

Global Gaming Directory

Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire told to ease off high stakes poker, by Greg Tingle

2011-11-29T14:29:00.001+11:00

Profiles

Hollywood Poker Leonardo DiCaprio Tobey Maguire Hollywood Movies News Financial News Casino News Poker News Entertainment News

Tobey Maguire Ben Affleck Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon

Now we know another reason that movie stars Leo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire have enjoyed quite a bit of their time in 'Sin City' Sydney, Australia - they like a punt, and are fans of Australian land based casinos, with The Star being at the top of their list for the meantime. It's not known for certain if the twosome have played poker or gambled on Australian soil, but take a wild guess.

Many Hollywood (and AussieWood) stars love to gamble, and high-stakes poker is one of their favourite games. Privacy is high on their priorities and it's known that some forms of gambling don't sit well with the law in some parts of the world, including in the United States.

It's understood that Tobey Maguire and mates Leonardo DiCaprio and Ben Affleck are long time high stakes poker fans and may have participated in quite a few private games played mainly in Los Angeles and New York.

The word is that the FBI is probing into alleged Russian mob connections to those big dollar games.

A few months ago there was a lawsuit filed against Maguire claiming a big Wall Street investment guy paid his gambling debts with funds inappropriately acquired from his firm’s investors.

A longtime associate of both DiCaprio and Maguire is understood to have said "As much as those boys love to gamble, they don’t need this kind of hassle...It seems clear that a number of very unsavory people have used their own huge wealth to weasel their way into those games.

"No one needs a Frank Sinatra problem these days," added the leak, referring to the Mafia connections that followed Ol’ Blue Eyes most of his life.

DiCaprio and Maguire are currently enjoying a working holiday of Australia and both gents have been spotted at The Star (entertainment complex and casino - ex Star City Casino) more than once.

'Our Leo' is staring in The Great Gatsby. Maguire is not working Spider-Man, but has a number of exciting projects in the works. May the best player, er, actor Win.

All of this while online gaming companies such as Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment, which owns the World Poker Tour, attempts to get the green light from the US government to offer Americans totally legal online poker games.

Media Man is following up the story, and understands that McGuire is close to coming to terms with prosecutors on the Hollywood Poker investigation.

Websites

The Star

Spider-Man (Sony Pictures)

Spider-Man (Marvel Entertainment)

Frank Sinatra Enterprises

Leonardo DiCaprio official website

Media Man News

Casino News Media

PartyCasino.com Sinatra Slot game

PartyCasino.com Marvel Slots

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Media Man Entertainment

Casino News Media

Global Gaming Directory

Rocky tops sports film fan poll - 25th November 2011

2011-11-28T13:26:00.001+11:00

Profiles

Movies Sports Boxing Wrestling Rocky The Wrestler News Financial News Sports News Entertainment News News

Rocky has seen off all challengers to be named UK movie buffs' favourite sports film.
The 1976 boxing tale - starring Sylvester Stallone as fighter Rocky Balboa - is one of five movies set in the ring which feature in the top 10.

Other pugilistic stories in the list include Million Dollar Baby, Raging Bull and The Fighter, while another canvas-set movie, The Wrestler, also proved to be a knockout.

Comedy Cool Runnings, about the Jamaican Olympic bobsleigh team, was runner-up in the poll by movie rental and streaming firm Lovefilm to mark the UK release of new Brad Pitt film Moneyball.

"With the Olympics on their way and the anticipated release of Moneyball this weekend, sport is a hot topic - from living room to locker room," Lovefilm editor Helen Cowley said.

"Whether it is football favourites, bobsleighing blunders or boxing Balboas we love to watch sporting heroes cross the finishing line in style."

Top 10 greatest sporting movies voted by UK fans:

1. Rocky (1976)

2. Cool Runnings (1993)

3. Million Dollar Baby (2004)

4. Raging Bull (1980)

4. The Wrestler (2008)

6. The Blind Side (2009)

7. The Damned United (2009)

8. The Fighter (2001)

8. Invictus (2001)

10. Escape To Victory (1981)

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Media Man Entertainment

Casino News Media

Global Gaming Directory

Kerry Packer Dead Media And Gambling King Star of Channel Nine For 2012 Slot; Gyngell 'Best Ever' Year, by Greg Tingle - 24th November 2011

2011-11-25T18:28:00.002+11:00

Profiles

Kerry Packer James Packer Channel Nine David Gyngell Cricket Sport Television Sydney Australia News Financial News Casino News Poker News Entertainment News

Kerry Packer in the grave still gives Channel 9 boss David Gyngell "sweaty palms."

Next year the Nine Network will be counting on on a TV mini-series about the late media and gambling mogul's life to deliver the massive ratings it needs to snatch back its former glory.

Unveiling its biggest investment in new television programming in the station's rich history, Gyngell championed Howzat: The Kerry Packer Story as a sure hit for Nine in a year he predicts will be its "best ever".

Staring down the gun barrel at an 18-month deadline to recapitalise company debt...and shake-up a rough-ish 2011 ratings performance - the Nine top brass gave his word his network would "deliver across the board" next year.

Confirming $120 million in new programming and business ventures at a sales lunch yesterday, a fired up Gyngell delivered: "On my watch you will not see anything go backwards in the Nine group.

"I've been part of this company my whole life and for the last 10 years we have been trying to build this company into something great. That will continue, I give you that solemn promise."

The magazine arm of the Nine entertainment business announced it will launch two new titles: Womens' Health and Elle.

Of the KP project, Gyngell told news media hounds that he's taken a hands-on approach to the TV biography, from the makers of hit ABC drama Paper Giants - to air after Nine's coverage of the London Olympics in August.

"This is obviously so close to me and we just have to get it right. It's the show I think will be our biggest hit and a story that has everything Australians love: the colour, the characters, cricket," Gyngell said.

His best mate James Packer is said to be "excited" about the production, starring Rob Carlton as his father, with shooting to begin within months.

Local content dominates Nine's lot for the new year, with another mini-series Beaconsfield reliving the rescue of Tasmanian miners Todd Russell (to be played by Lachy Hulme) and Shane Jacobsen as Brant Webb.

Smash hit reality TV series The Block and The Celebrity Apprentice return, along with singer search show, The Voice, and weight-loss challenge, Excess Baggage, which will be hosted by Kate Ceberano.

A new local drama Tricky Business, starring Shane Bourne and Debbie Byrne, will go to battle with Seven's Packed To The Rafters.

Bourne described the show at launch as a family show with a procedural element. The cast also includes Gigi Edgley, Debra Byrne and Lincoln Lewis.

"The show has a very warm heart but we're also debt collectors," he said.

Australia's most famous gold heist will also make it to the small screen with Nine's The Great Mint Swindle, starring Grant Bowler, Todd Lasance and Josh Quong Tart.

Nine is also bringing back the former Ten hit Big Brother with Sonia Kruger as host.

Hamish and Andy will be back with a series set in London in the lead-up to the 2012 Olympic Games which will also screen on Nine.

Make no mistake, the Kerry Packer mini series is the Main Event for Nine in 2012, and we tip it to be both a massive money maker, and well as act as quite a makeover for Nine, which will help them reclaim the undisputed spot as 'The One'. Knock em for six.

The late, great, Kerry Packer would be proud.

Websites

Channel Nine

Media Man News

Casino News Media

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Media Man Entertainment

Casino News Media

Global Gaming Directory

Poker News Media: Qualify for the Aussie Millions at Crown Casino for free at PartyPoker

2011-11-25T16:10:00.001+11:00

Websites: PartyPoker.com Aussie Millions PartyPoker.com

Profiles

Crown Casino Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment PartyPoker.com Aussie Millions Tyron Krost World Poker Tour World Domination Poker Australia Media Man

Palladium Slot Palladium Lounge Blackjack PartyCasino.com Slots

Room service for dogs anybody?

Gibraltar – 24 November 2011 – Qualifiers for the 2012 Aussie Millions are running at PartyPoker.com now. The online satellites to the southern hemisphere’s premier poker event are available until 8th January 2012. As ever, PartyPoker.com offers an industry leading variety of ways to secure a package, including freerolls.

In 2010 PartyPoker.com qualifiers Tyron Krost and Frederik Jensen finished first and second in the Main Event - Tyron went home with over AUD$2 million! Last year Team PartyPoker.com pro Tony G was accompanied in the high-rollers event by a dog and big mouth will again be there as the lead cheerleader for Party qualifiers.

Crown is famous for their fantastic hospitality and in the heart of summer and the Australian Open tennis Melbourne is a premier destination. Nobu room service for dogs is surely at step too far though?

The US$16,000 global prize package includes the $11,400 Aussie Millions Main Event buy-in, eight nights’ accommodation at the Crown Promenade hotel and $2,500 spending money. The US$14,000 Aussie Millions Australia satellites include the $11,400 Aussie Millions Main Event buy-in, eight nights’ accommodation at the Crown Promenade hotel and US$500 spending money. Click here for full information.

*World Domination continues at PartyPoker.com. Conquer cities and countries at PartyPoker.com until 31st December*

“Aussie Millions” and “Crown Aussie Millions Poker Championship” are registered trade marks of Crown Melbourne Limited. We are not licensed, sponsored or affiliated with Crown Melborne Limited and no such relationship is claimed, or should be inferred.

Aussie Millions At Crown Casino, Melbourne, Australia

If there’s one thing the Australians love more than gambling it’s sport and for them poker is fair game. This means that once the cards hit the felt at the Aussie Millions you can expect a raucous atmosphere from the crowds inside the Crown Poker Room. Indeed, since its inception the Main Event has grown immensely from just 133 runners in 2004, to 681 runners in 2009 and 721 in 2011.

The Aussie Millions is considered to be one of the game’s crowning majors – on a par with the WSOP or the WPT World Championship – and for good reason too. The Melbourne-based tournament is situated in one of the most desirable locations in the southern hemisphere and will again be hosted at the world-class Crown Casino complex, where all manner of poker action will unfold from January 12–30.

As ever the 2012 Aussie Millions schedule will be highlighted by the AU$10,600 Main Event, a five-day behemoth that last year awarded a staggering AU$2 million to winner David Gorr, but that will be just one of the 26 events on offer this year. Perhaps one of the more eye-catching side events taking place will be the $100,000 Challenge – a two-day event that will pit a granite-hard field of the game’s elite against one another for a total prizepool that last year exceeded AU$3,800,000. But while that blue chip tournament may well be out of reach for all but a select few of poker’s established Illuminati, there will be plenty of mid-high-stakes action for the more budget-conscious traveller, as outlined on the schedule at www.aussiemillions.com

Aussie Millions highlights

So, what should you be playing to keep yourself busy in January? Here’s our pick of the action over the fortnight. (All entries are in Australian Dollars.)

January 12–15 - $1,000+100 - NLHE Freezeout

January 16–18 - $1,000+100 - PLO

January 17–19 - $1,100+100 - NLHE Shootout

January 21–22 - $1,500+150 - NLHE Bounty Event

January 22–28 - $10,000+600 - NLHE MAIN EVENT

January 22–23 - $100,000+500 - NLHE $100,000 CHALLENGE

January 23 - $4,750+250 - Chinese Poker

January 25–26 - $2,250+250 - H.O.R.S.E.

January 29–30 - $10,000+500 - 8-Game Mix

Online Promotion At Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment's PartyCasino

Find your Jack in the Box surprise...

Starts: 00:00 ET, 14th November
Ends: 23:59 ET, 17th November

We’ve packed our PartyCasino.com blackjack tables with thousands of cash gifts, bonuses and free points. Our rewards are hidden inside a surprise Jack in the Box. You won’t have to look hard to find it – the Jack in the Box will find you!

Just play any of our blackjack games as normal between 00:00 ET on 14th November and 23:59 ET on 17th November. If the Jack in the Box appears, act fast to claim your fabulous prize. Remember, the more you play blackjack, the better your chance of finding our account-boosting surprises.

Jack in the Box rewards will appear at random in the following games: Blackjack Multi-Hand Pro; Blackjack Single Deck; Blackjack Bonus Pairs; Blackjack High Limit; Blackjack Single Player; Multi-Player Blackjack; Multi-Hand Blackjack

Surprise gifts will only be offered on the download lobby.

PartyCasino.com is one of a number of Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment brands.

The most popular PartyCasino.com games of late include Heist, Circus, Rambo, Palladium Slot, The Godfather, Sinatra, Slotbox, Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Mission: Impossible, The Terminator, Cleopatra, Sinatra, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, The Amazing Spider-Man, Monopoly, Resident Evil, Melon Madness, Wheel Of Fortune and Mega Fortune Wheel.

The PartyCasino.com jackpot is currently approaching the $4 million mark. Players can also compete for The Big One and Marvel Hero Jackpot, playing the Marvel super hero themed online slot games.

PartyCasino's most recent game releases include War Of The Worlds, Atomic Fruit, Aztec Gold, Sin City, Robin Hood, Shaaark! SuperBet, Crocodopolis, Alice's Wonderland, Glamour Puss, Super Cubes, Heist, Palladium Slot and Circus Slot.

Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment Co CEO Jim Ryan has gone on record advising PartyCasino will soon feature more Hollywood blockbuster themed slots. A few in the know journalists and media agents have been recently tipped off that an all time classic movie adaption will be showcased in the PartyCasino portfolio within 1 month. PartyCasino has the world's most impressive line up of Hollywood themed games, and more are just around the corner.

PartyCasino.com and PartyPoker.com customers can also benefit from rewards and bonuses via PartyPoints and the Palladium Lounge. Be certain to check out the PartyCasino selection of promotions this month which are some of the best available in the industry today.

Media Man, Casino News Media and Global Gaming Directory do have a b2b relationship with Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment, as they do with dozens of other companies in the gaming, igaming, media and entertainment industry.

Websites

PartyCasino.com

PartyPoker.com

Profiles

Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment PartyCasino PartyPoker PartyBingo Circus PartyCasino Marvel Slots The Big One Melon Madness Casino World Poker Tour PartyCasino Promotions

Playtech to raise 100 mln stg in placing

2011-11-24T17:46:00.001+11:00

Profiles

PartyCasino.com Virgin Casino Casino Las Vegas Noble Casino Playtech Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment

Casino Of The Month: PartyCasino.com

* Placed 46.5 mln shares at 215 pence

* Placing at a 2.5 pct discount to the stock's Tuesday close

Nov 23 - Playtech Ltd, the world's biggest provider of online gambling software, said it would raise 100 million pounds in a discounted offering to finance acquisition opportunities and investments in new joint ventures.

The placement of about 46.5 million shares would be priced at 215 pence each, representing a 2.5 percent discount to the stock's closing market price on Tuesday, Playtech said.

The company, in which its billionaire Israeli founder Teddy Sagi continues to hold a 40 percent stake, said it had identified a number of acquisition opportunities that would complement or expand its existing technology or product offering.

The cost of the opportunities currently under review vary in size up to about 40 million pounds.

Playtech is an Estonia-based company, which operates a joint venture with Britain's biggest bookmaker William Hill and provides software to Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment, Paddy Power and Gala Coral.

Shares of the company, which have lost a quarter of their value in the last three months, closed at 220.5 pence on Tuesday on the London Stock Exchange.

Casino Reviews

PartyCasino.com - Accepts Canadian, Australian and New Zealand players. PartyCasino new players get up to $3000 sign up bonus. Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment is the world's largest and most successful igaming company.

VirginCasino.com - No US, Canadian, Australian or New Zealand players. £100 sign up bonus. Virgin Games is part of Richard Branson's Virgin Enterprises Limited.

Casino Las Vegas offers Hollywood slots, Marvel slots, games of skill, games of luck and a good range of table games. Casino Las Vegas is owned and operated by Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment. New players get up to $400 sign up bonus.

Noble Casino offers Hollywood slots, Marvel slots, games of skill, games of luck and a good range of table games. Casino Las Vegas is owned and operated by Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment. New players get up to $4000 sign up bonus.

Profiles

PartyCasino.com

Virgin Casino

Casino Las Vegas

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Casino News Media

Global Gaming Directory

Richard Branson empathy for "Occupy Wall Street" protesters - 23rd November 2011

2011-11-24T13:42:00.001+11:00

Profiles

Richard Branson Virgin Enterprises Limited Wall St New York New York Stock Exchange Hollywood Melbourne Social and Community Entrepreneurs News Media Man Int News Financial News Entertainment News Community News

World Directory

As the fourth richest man in the United Kingdom, Sir Richard Branson is not part of the "99 percent," a phrase coined by the "Occupy Wall Street" protesters to describe those making less than the richest one percent.

But the Virgin boss and self-made billionaire has empathy for protesters currently making headlines all over the world, FOXNews.com reported Tuesday.

"It is a very positive movement, it's a peaceful movement and it needs to make businesses all over the world sit up and listen," Branson said at the Rock the Kasbah party in support of his non-profit Virgin Unite foundation in Hollywood.

He said his new book, titled "Screw Business as Usual," actually has a message similar to that of the protests.

"Basically its saying that business should come to be a force for good, it should get out there and tackle the problems of the world," he explained. "In that way, it hopefully can regain its reputation and the need to 'Occupy Wall Street' will be less."

Branson also said he is optimistic that the movement will have a positive impact in turning the corporate world around for the better.

"It should happen in packs and I really think its capitalism is going to have a good name rather than a bad name," he said. "It's up to the people who are lucky enough to be in a position of power through businesses to utilize that power responsibly that's so very, very important."

As a teenager, Branson spent time running from police wielding batons as he marched on the American embassy in England in an effort to try to stop the Vietnam War.

"I'm a lad of the 60s and I think we had a social conscience in those days," he recalled. "So from quite a young age I set up an advisory for the young people and through the advisory center I got a great understanding of people who were struggling in life, and I'm in a position where I can make a real difference and I'm determined to make a real difference."

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Media Man Entertainment

Casino News Media

Media Man Games

Stan Lee's POW! Entertainment Inks Deals With YouTube and EQAL - 22nd November 2011

2011-11-24T00:22:00.002+11:00

Profiles

Stan Lee Michael Eisner YouTube.com Marvel Entertainment Marvel Comics Marvel Studios Comics Multimedia Animation

The comic business genius moves into digital content with exclusive programming and a new official website and more...

Comics creator and living legend Stan Lee and his POW! Entertainment is moving into the digital content production world, inking deals with YouTube and media company EQAL.

POW! is creating a YouTube channel called Stan Lee’s World of Heroes, which will be a joint venture with Michael Eisner’s digital studio Vuguru. The company announced it will launch the channel with “exclusive programming next year based on the company’s stories around amazing characters and extraordinary individuals.”

With EQAL, POW! plans to launch TheRealStanLee.com, a site to act as “all things Stan Lee.” EQAL is known for “building influencer networks around celebrities and brands,” creating websites and social media accounts for celebs such as Bethenny Frankel, JWOWW and Randy Jackson to name but a few.

Lee sure fits the bill as a celeb, thanks to his great work with Marvel Comics, Marvel Entertainment - Marvel Studios, and all that. He's a heat seeker and truly 'The Man' of the comic industry. Lee, who co-created superheroes such as Spider-Man, X-Men and Iron Man, will receive the Producers Guild 2012 Vanguard Award and is also being honored with the Visual Effects Society's 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award. Earlier this year, Lee received a star on the Walk of Fame.

Times are good for Lee and his army of brigadiers, and things look set to get even better. Excelsior!

Thor profile, review and news

The Amazing profile, review and news

Iron-Man profile, reviews and news

Website Network

Media Man Int

Casino News Media

Global Gaming Directory

Media Man News

Media Man Entertainment

Sin City writer Frank Miller calls Occupy protesters a pack of thieves, louts and rapists - 22nd November 2011

2011-11-23T18:34:00.001+11:00

Profiles

Sin City Frank Miller Batman Comics Hollywood Politics

Sin City - (Frank Miller's Sin City) speaks out on the Occupy Wall Street protesters...

Miller who brought us flicks such as Sin City and The Dark Knight Returns believes the anti-capitalist movement is "a pack of louts, thieves and rapists".

An open letter on his blog accuses the protesters of harming America with their "political garbage" and tells them to wake up to the country's real enemy - al-Qaeda.

Miller, better known for his Sin City, 300 and Batman comic books scribed:
'Occupy' is nothing short of a clumsy, poorly-expressed attempt at anarchy, to the extent that the 'movement' – HAH! Some 'movement', except if the word 'bowel' is attached - is anything more than an ugly fashion statement by a bunch of iPhone, iPad wielding spoiled brats who should stop getting in the way of working people and find jobs for themselves.

Wake up, pond scum. America is at war against a ruthless enemy.

Maybe, between bouts of self-pity and all the other tasty tidbits of narcissism you’ve been served up in your sheltered, comfy little worlds, you’ve heard terms like al-Qaeda and Islamicism.

In the name of decency, go home to your parents, you losers. Go back to your mommas’ basements and play with your Lords Of Warcraft.

Or better yet, enlist for the real thing. Maybe our military could whip some of you into shape.

They might not let you babies keep your iPhones, though. Try to soldier on.

The post has ruffled feathers with some comic book fans and news media around the globe.

In this case Miller is clearly not going for the underdog. What would Mickey Rourke think!

Miller has pretty much forever been a champion of the right wingers. Just check out the sequel to The Dark Knight Returns, The Dark Knight Strikes Again, with Batman raising hell against the Government.

Check out the Persian army in 300 that takes it to the Spartans, and then there's an attack of sorts to Islam in Miller's Holy Terror book. That book has been banned in some parts.

Readers, what's your take on Frank Miller? Not sure? Pass a little time playing the Sin City or Batman games, and you'll be glad to hear that at least you have the option to play for free or play for money.

Stan Lee's POW! Entertainment Inks Deals With YouTube and EQAL - 22nd November 2011

The comic business genius moves into digital content with exclusive programming and a new official website and more...

Comics creator and living legend Stan Lee and his POW! Entertainment is moving into the digital content production world, inking deals with YouTube and media company EQAL.

POW! is creating a YouTube channel called Stan Lee’s World of Heroes, which will be a joint venture with Michael Eisner’s digital studio Vuguru. The company announced it will launch the channel with “exclusive programming next year based on the company’s stories around amazing characters and extraordinary individuals.”

With EQAL, POW! plans to launch TheRealStanLee.com, a site to act as “all things Stan Lee.” EQAL is known for “building influencer networks around celebrities and brands,” creating websites and social media accounts for celebs such as Bethenny Frankel, JWOWW and Randy Jackson to name but a few.

Lee sure fits the bill as a celeb, thanks to his great work with Marvel Comics, Marvel Entertainment - Marvel Studios, and all that. He's a heat seeker and truly 'The Man' of the comic industry. Lee, who co-created superheroes such as Spider-Man, X-Men and Iron Man, will receive the Producers Guild 2012 Vanguard Award and is also being honored with the Visual Effects Society's 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award. Earlier this year, Lee received a star on the Walk of Fame.

Times are good for Lee and his army of brigadiers, and things look set to get even better. Excelsior!

Sin City profile, review and news

Batman profile, review and news

Comics profile, reviews and news

Website Network

Media Man Int

Casino News Media

Global Gaming Directory

Media Man News

Media Man Entertainment

EON PRODUCTIONS, METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER STUDIOS AND SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCE 7th NOVEMBER IS START OF PRODUCTION FOR 23rd JAMES BOND FILM “SKYFALL”

2011-11-22T13:37:00.001+11:00

Profiles

James Bond Movies Casino Royale Daniel Craig Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Brands Virgin Enterprises Limited Virgin Atlantic Virgin Games Richard Branson

World Directory Global Gaming Directory World Casino Directory

EON PRODUCTIONS, METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER STUDIOS AND SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCE 7th NOVEMBER IS START OF PRODUCTION FOR 23rd JAMES BOND FILM “SKYFALL”

London, UK (November 3, 2011) – Producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli today presented the cast of the 23rd James Bond adventure, entitled SKYFALL. The film, from Albert R.

Broccoli’s Eon Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, and Sony Pictures Entertainment, is directed by Academy Award® winner Sam Mendes and stars Daniel Craig, who returns for his third film as James Bond 007. The screenplay is written by Neal Purvis & Robert Wade and John Logan. SKYFALL, which goes into production on Monday, November 7th, will begin its worldwide roll-out in the UK and Ireland on October 26th 2012 and in North America on November 9th 2012.

Joining Michael G. Wilson, Barbara Broccoli and Director Sam Mendes were members of the cast of SKYFALL, including: Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Dame Judi Dench, Naomie Harris and Bérénice Marlohe. The filmmakers also announced Ralph Fiennes, Albert Finney and Ben Whishaw.

In SKYFALL, Bond’s loyalty to M is tested as her past comes back to haunt her. As MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost.

“We’re so delighted to have Sam Mendes direct SKYFALL and be working once again with Daniel Craig. We've a great script, an extraordinary cast and an incredibly talented creative team for this latest James Bond adventure,” said Wilson and Broccoli.

The Director of Photography is Roger Deakins, a nine-time Oscar® nominee who previously shot the films Jarhead and Revolutionary Road for Mendes. The Production Designer is Oscar® winner Dennis Gassner, who previously designed Quantum of Solace and collaborated with Mendes on the films Road to Perdition and Jarhead. The Editor is Stuart Baird, A.C.E., whose many credits include Casino Royale. Jany Temime, whose many credits include the Harry Potter series, In Bruges, and Children of Men, is the Costume Designer. Action specialist Alexander Witt is the 2nd Unit Director. Gary Powell is Stunt Co-ordinator, Chris Corbould is SFX Supervisor and Steve Begg is Visual Effects Supervisor, all of whom have worked on previous Bond films.

007 fans can learn more about SKYFALL at the James Bond franchise Facebook page at www.facebook.com/JamesBond007.

EDITORS NOTE: A title treatment for SKYFALL is available and may be downloaded at www.sonypicturespublicity.com.

About Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. is actively engaged in the worldwide production and distribution of motion pictures, television programming, home video, interactive media, music, and licensed merchandise. The company owns the world's largest library of modern films, comprising around 4,100 titles. Operating units include Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc., United Artists Films Inc., MGM Television Entertainment Inc., MGM Networks Inc., MGM Distribution Co., MGM International Television Distribution Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment LLC, MGM ON STAGE, MGM Music, MGM Consumer Products and MGM Interactive. In addition, MGM has ownership interests in domestic and international TV channels reaching over 130 countries. For more information, visit www.mgm.com.

About Albert R. Broccoli’s Eon Productions
EON Productions Limited and Danjaq LLC are wholly owned and controlled by the Broccoli/Wilson family. Danjaq is the US based company that co-owns, with MGM, the copyright in the existing James Bond films and controls the right to produce future James Bond films as well as all worldwide merchandising. EON Productions, an affiliate of Danjaq, is the UK based production company which makes the James Bond films. The 007 franchise is the longest running in film history with twenty-two films produced since 1962. Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli took over the franchise from Albert R ‘Cubby’ Broccoli in 1995 and have produced some of the most successful Bond films ever including CASINO ROYALE and QUANTUM OF SOLACE.

About Sony Pictures Entertainment
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE’s global operations encompass motion picture production, acquisition and distribution; television production, acquisition and distribution; home entertainment acquisition and distribution; worldwide television networks; digital content creation and distribution; operation of studio facilities; development of new entertainment products, services and technologies; and distribution of entertainment in more than 142 countries. Sony Pictures Entertainment can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.sonypictures.com.

Website

007 official website

James Bond in bed again with Virgin Atlantic; Virgin back after Casino Royale - 21st November 2011

James Bond is flying again with Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic, after the airline inked a new sponsorship deal for the highly anticipated 007 movie Skyfall.

Years again 007 preferred British Airways but things can change over time, and when the price is right.

Daniel Craig is understood to have excited Branson's Virgin in Casino Royale, and that's when the first Virgin Atlantic deal with the Bond franchise came to pass.

Not only did Bond pick up a Virgin Atlantic frequent flyer card, but Branson snatched a brief cameo in that first Daniel Craig 007 film.

Some viewers may recall the scene as one of Bond's enemies enters Miami Airport to plant a bomb on a 'Skyfleet' plane.

The villain walks through the security gate on the left, while a passenger standing arms-spread on the right is sneaky Branson.

EON PRODUCTIONS, METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER STUDIOS AND SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCE 7th NOVEMBER IS START OF PRODUCTION FOR 23rd JAMES BOND FILM “SKYFALL”

London, UK (November 3, 2011) – Producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli today presented the cast of the 23rd James Bond adventure, entitled SKYFALL. The film, from Albert R.

Broccoli’s Eon Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, and Sony Pictures Entertainment, is directed by Academy Award® winner Sam Mendes and stars Daniel Craig, who returns for his third film as James Bond 007. The screenplay is written by Neal Purvis & Robert Wade and John Logan. SKYFALL, which goes into production on Monday, November 7th, will begin its worldwide roll-out in the UK and Ireland on October 26th 2012 and in North America on November 9th 2012.

Joining Michael G. Wilson, Barbara Broccoli and Director Sam Mendes were members of the cast of SKYFALL, including: Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Dame Judi Dench, Naomie Harris and Bérénice Marlohe. The filmmakers also announced Ralph Fiennes, Albert Finney and Ben Whishaw.

In SKYFALL, Bond’s loyalty to M is tested as her past comes back to haunt her. As MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost.

“We’re so delighted to have Sam Mendes direct SKYFALL and be working once again with Daniel Craig. We've a great script, an extraordinary cast and an incredibly talented creative team for this latest James Bond adventure,” said Wilson and Broccoli.

The Director of Photography is Roger Deakins, a nine-time Oscar® nominee who previously shot the films Jarhead and Revolutionary Road for Mendes. The Production Designer is Oscar® winner Dennis Gassner, who previously designed Quantum of Solace and collaborated with Mendes on the films Road to Perdition and Jarhead. The Editor is Stuart Baird, A.C.E., whose many credits include Casino Royale. Jany Temime, whose many credits include the Harry Potter series, In Bruges, and Children of Men, is the Costume Designer. Action specialist Alexander Witt is the 2nd Unit Director. Gary Powell is Stunt Co-ordinator, Chris Corbould is SFX Supervisor and Steve Begg is Visual Effects Supervisor, all of whom have worked on previous Bond films.

007 fans can learn more about SKYFALL at the James Bond franchise Facebook page at www.facebook.com/JamesBond007.

EDITORS NOTE: A title treatment for SKYFALL is available and may be downloaded at www.sonypicturespublicity.com.

About Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. is actively engaged in the worldwide production and distribution of motion pictures, television programming, home video, interactive media, music, and licensed merchandise. The company owns the world's largest library of modern films, comprising around 4,100 titles. Operating units include Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc., United Artists Films Inc., MGM Television Entertainment Inc., MGM Networks Inc., MGM Distribution Co., MGM International Television Distribution Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment LLC, MGM ON STAGE, MGM Music, MGM Consumer Products and MGM Interactive. In addition, MGM has ownership interests in domestic and international TV channels reaching over 130 countries. For more information, visit www.mgm.com.

About Albert R. Broccoli’s Eon Productions
EON Productions Limited and Danjaq LLC are wholly owned and controlled by the Broccoli/Wilson family. Danjaq is the US based company that co-owns, with MGM, the copyright in the existing James Bond films and controls the right to produce future James Bond films as well as all worldwide merchandising. EON Productions, an affiliate of Danjaq, is the UK based production company which makes the James Bond films. The 007 franchise is the longest running in film history with twenty-two films produced since 1962. Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli took over the franchise from Albert R ‘Cubby’ Broccoli in 1995 and have produced some of the most successful Bond films ever including CASINO ROYALE and QUANTUM OF SOLACE.

About Sony Pictures Entertainment
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE’s global operations encompass motion picture production, acquisition and distribution; television production, acquisition and distribution; home entertainment acquisition and distribution; worldwide television networks; digital content creation and distribution; operation of studio facilities; development of new entertainment products, services and technologies; and distribution of entertainment in more than 142 countries. Sony Pictures Entertainment can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.sonypictures.com.

Website

007 official website

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Media Man Entertainment

Casino News Media

Media Man Games

Casinos Of The World: Land Based And Online; Media Man And Casino News Media Awards, by Greg Tingle

2011-11-22T12:11:00.002+11:00

Online Casino Of The Month: PartyCasino.com 2nd PKR Casino 3rd Virgin Casino

Sin City Cleopatra Rambo The Godfather Sinatra The Terminator Thor Saturday Night Fever Unicorn Legend Palladium Slot

World Directory Global Gaming Directory World Casino Directory

Punters, here's 10 of the world's top land based casinos for you to mark down in your travel plans.

Monte Carlo, Monaco: Perched above the Mediterranean and bounded by the French
and Italian coastlines on either side, Monaco provides a spectacular and luxurious setting for the wealthy and the wannabees. Home to the Monaco Grand Prix and the legendary Casino de Monte Carlo, this isn't the place for those on a tight budget. The magnificent Casino hosts the annual European Poker Tour and was also the scene of several James Bond Films, including the original "Casino Royale" and "Golden Eye".

Paradise Island, Bahamas: Located just off the shore of the city of Nassau, Paradise
Island is best known for its sprawling 'Vegas-by-the-sea' resort, Atlantis. The resort spans seven acres along a lagoon, where guests can soak up the Caribbean sun and choose from a variety of outdoor gaming areas. When in need of a break from the tables, guests can enjoy the private beach or one of the resorts 20 sunlit pools.

Melbourne, Australia: As Australia's sporting and entertainment capital, Melbourne
offers the perfect option for high rollers looking for a local break. Aussies need look no further than Crown Casino on the southern bank of the Yarra River, which is one of the largest casino complexes in the southern hemisphere. The main gambling floor stretches more than half a kilometre and the casino was the first to introduce the new game Rapid Roulette, which allows players to place bets on a personal electronic touch screen connected to a central roulette wheel.

Macau, China: Known as the 'Monte Carlo of the Orient,' and the gambling capital of Asia, Macau now rivals Monaco and Las Vegas as one of the premier gambling destinations in the world. With no less than 33 casinos, in addition to local horse and greyhound racing venues, Macau is perfect for the betting junkie. The Wynn Macau casino is a standout, highlighted by 24-carat gold 'Tree of Prosperity' at the entrance, extravagant water displays and Moon Jellyfish Aquarium at reception.

Baden-Baden, Germany: Situated on the western foothills of the Black Forest and on the banks of the Oos River, Baden-Baden is not your typical casino town. However, in addition to its hot springs and picturesque countryside, the town is also known for its 200-year-old 'Spielbank' casino - the oldest of its type in Germany. With French chateau-style salons rooms named after historical figures such as Madame Pompadour and Louis XV's mistress, the quirky casino provides visitors with a very unique gaming experience.

Las Vegas, United States: With over 1700 licensed casinos in operation, Las Vegas offers the ultimate package for travellers who fancy a flutter. A visit to the famous 'Strip' is a must for any player, whether they're looking for a spin on the roulette table or a game of blackjack - this city has it all. The iconic Caesar's Palace hotel and casino offers 129,000 square feet of casino space plus an endless smorgasbord of entertainment, shopping and fine dining options, including Cleopatra's barge, a floating lounge perfect for a relaxing drink after a jam-packed night on the casino floor.

Manila, The Philippines: With a favourable exchange rate, Manila provides great value for Aussies wanting to live the high-life overseas. The city offers a range of shopping and entertainment options, along with a world-class casino at the Hyatt Hotel. Spread across three levels, the sparkling casino offers the newest in gaming facilities for both hotel guests and visitors, and is just a short distance from Manila's tourist hub.

Sun City, South Africa: Known as 'Africa's Kingdom of Pleasure,' this luxury resort and casino complex, just two hours from Johannesburg, boasts two large casinos, two 18-hole golf courses and a wildlife reserve. At the extravagant yet picturesque Palace of the Lost City, guests are treated to stunning valley views from the guestrooms, along with exclusive access to the Grand Pool. The nearby Sun City Casino is the entertainment Mecca of the resort, featuring a myriad of gaming options as well as an indoor jungle of native foliage and water fountains.

Atlantic City, United States: Regarded as the US's 'Las Vegas of the East', Atlantic City in New Jersey is renowned for its gambling, shopping and fine dining. Towering above the banks of the Atlantic Ocean, the Trump Taj Mahal casino is an icon of the city, with an on-site shopping district and an abundance of restaurants and bars. The 157,000 square-foot casino is also hard to miss, with 3,500 slot machines and 200 table games. Unveiled in 1990 by a number of celebrities, including the late Michael Jackson, the casino is the second-largest in Atlantic City and well worth a visit.

Genting Highlands, Malaysia: Nestled on the Titiwangsa mountain range, just an hour's drive from Kuala Lumpur and 6,000 feet above sea level, the Resorts World Genting offers 360-degree views of the surrounding countryside. This spectacular resort has first-class accommodation, dining and entertainment, while avoiding the hustle and bustle of a capital city. The on-site casino, which covers 200,000 square feet, is Malaysia's sole gaming venue and is divided into separate themed areas, such as Hollywood and Monte Carlo, for the ultimate gambling experience.

Online Casinos:

PartyCasino.com : The world's leading online casino brand and part of Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment. Play for free or play for money at PartyCasino.com New players get up to $3000 sign up bonus via Media Man.

VirginCasino.com : Virgin Casino is part of Virgin Games. The parent company is Virgin Enterprises Limited, the creation of the world's most famous and celebrated entrepreneur, Sir Richard Branson. Unfortunately the casino does not accept players from many countries due to what is known in legal circles as "grey areas". Most European players can play, but no Americans, Canadians, Australians or New Zealanders.

Captain Cooks Casino : Was once a very popular online casino with Australians and New Zealanders, however we understand these days they can only accept players from a few regions such as Europe, South Africa, Canada and South America.

PKR : Once only a 2D online poker room, they are now more 3D and offer online poker and a good range of online casino games, including classics, Marvel slots and table games.

Media Man's top online casino choice: PartyCasino.com PartyCasino is a multi-time Media Man 'Online Casino Of The Month' winner and have also won awards from EGR. Earlier this year PartyGaming merged with Bwin to create the worlds leading igaming company, Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment.

News

PartyCasino Gets New Games...

Aztec Gold, Atomic Fruit, Nag's To Riches and Fairies Forest. Check out the new games here.

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Media Man Entertainment

Global Gaming Directory

Casino News Media

Poker News Media

Media Man Games

Leonardo DiCaprio Sydney Party In Kings Cross Sin City Sydney; 80 Women, by Anonymous - 21st November 2011

2011-11-21T20:13:00.000+11:00

Profiles

The Great Gatsby Baz Luhrmann Leonardo Dicaprio Tobey Maguire Hollywood Kings Cross Sydney United States News Financial News Casino News Poker News Entertainment News

Tobey Maguire Leonardo DiCaprio

Leo DiCaprio is starting to let it all hang out (well sort of in a fairly private way) in 'Sin City' Sydney, and in what better way than a party at an Kings Cross exclusive nightclub, followed by "after party" (I can't get much more specific - sorry Gals and Guys).

One may wonder if 'Our Leo' is trying to really nail the Jay Gatsby character for real, or is it more of a Hugh Hefner (in his prime) influence? Whatever the case, Leo sure knows how to throw a party, be it at a hot Kings Cross nightclub or on Room X of The Star (formally known as Star City Casino). The gamble to attend for sure many pretty young things (and a couple of slightly older and beefy ones) sure paid off handsomely. I'm still hurting (in a very good way). Oh god, my legs, my ass, my head, but it was worth it.

Just a week after celebrating his 37th birthday in the US, Leonardo DiCaprio held a down under birthday party last Flirty Friday night at his favourite 'Sin City' Sydney nightclub, Beach Haus in 'M+' rated Kings Cross. Some party-goers were still going strong some 24 hours later, but by that stage that party had spilled over in a delicious way to 'Room X' at The Star and at other undisclosed location. My girlfriend swears she counted about half a dozen condom packets scatted across the penthouse floor, with Ansell 'Lifestyles' looking to be the order of the day. I can recall a few jokes being shared about Ethan not "getting any" for a while, and this got the ladies' sympathy vote. Ethan lapped it up and the only complaint noted came a few hours later, apparently Ethan having a sore tongue and jelly legs. The word is that he slept in to about Noon.

Beach Haus was basically closed off to the public at large and a line of 80 something leggy and busty blondes and brunettes stretched down Roslyn St. We were in the mix with friends from Australia's Next Top Model. Darlings, I know you want a couple of names so here goes...Lola Van Vorst, Tahnee Atkinson, Rebecca Jobson and Alyce Crawford. The music was R'n'B tunes and gangster rap, and we made our own "music" later in the wee hours of the morning.

The club went all the way baby for DiCaprio who lifted the smoking ban, allowing the man of the moment - the too sweet to be sour one to enjoy his cigars, and believe us, the cigs did not hurt Leo's chances with the ladies one little bit. Lukas Haas (Inception) and former My Name Is Earl comic Ethan Suplee, kept close by to Leo, and why wouldn't they, such is his good luck, good looks and all that. That trifeca of boys was enough to make any girl go "oh ah more please."

The Great Gatsby co-star Tobey Maguire was spotted in a separated dance floor sector drinking water roughly 3am. The party at Beach Haus went on for hours and to our delight a couple of friends and I were told we were invited to join Leo and friends at The Darling - The Star casino, and a phone number was later supplied. Sure enough, the limos arrived, and we were on route to The Star. Talk about hitting the jackpot.

Come Saturday night, birthday boys DiCaprio, Suplee, Haas and a spread of others were seen at King's Cross new eatery Barrio Chino before darting across the road for a drink.

By all accounts Scorpio DiCaprio still has a delightful sting in his tail, and Spidy Maguire hasn't lost his touch in spinning his web. They boys sure know how to make a spine tingle and experience heaven from head to toe. My girlfriend, manfriend and I still have a bit of sore neck and booty-licious, but man was it worth it.

By all accounts Scorpio DiCaprio still has a delightful sting in his tail, and Spidy Maguire hasn't lost his touch in spinning webs as well. My girlfriend, manfriend and I still have a bit of sore neck and booty-licious, but man was it worth it.

My man doesn't ever let me get shared with anyone else, however they do say that the exception proves the rule - thank god. It's said that 2 is a party, and 3 is a crowd, but in this case a bakers dozen and 83 was a party of orgasmitic proportions.

If my writings seem a bit blurred here, its because they are. I'm still cumming down from a massive high, and I was rocked and rolled like never before. Please Leo, do invite us to come over again soon... just the three of us if you prefer, but I do have another very friendly girlfriend I would like you meat too.

Jay Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald and maybe even the late J. Edgar would be proud.

Websites

Beach Haus

Barrio Chino

Bazmark

Fox Studios Australia

The Star

Eva Rinaldi Photography

Eva Rinaldi Flickr

Media Man News

Casino News Media

Leonardo DiCaprio official website

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Media Man Entertainment

Super Heroes Slot Games Online At PartyCasino; Hollywood Movie Slots; Get Up To $3000 Sign Up Bonus

2011-11-21T13:34:00.001+11:00

Profiles

PartyCasino.com Marvel Slots PartyCasino.com Marvel Slots Marvel Entertainment Hollywood Slots Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment

Super Heroes online slot games at PartyCasino.com

Play for free or play for money!

PartyCasino.com also offers other movie and entertainment industry branded slot games such as The Godfather, Sin City, Mission: Impossible, Rambo, The Terminator and Gone With The Wind.

PartyCasino.com is owned and operated by Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment - established for over 10 years and listed on the London Stock Exchange.

PartyCasino.com is a multi-time Media Man 'Online Casino Of The Month' and Casino News Media award winner.

PartyCasino.com profile, review and news

PartyCasino.com Marvel Slots profile, review and news

Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment profile, review and news

Website Network

Media Man Int

Casino News Media

Global Gaming Directory

Media Man News

Media Man Entertainment

Online Gaming Talk Heats Up With Native American Tribes, by Greg Tingle - 19th November 2011

2011-11-19T12:09:00.001+11:00

Profiles

Casinos Casino Poker Slots Live Dealer

Native American Indians Gaming iGaming Politics World Directory Global Gaming Directory World Casino Directory

Native American tribes advised Thursday they want their cut of the jobs and revenue if online gambling is allowed in the United States but they don't want to lose their sovereignty to get it.

Internet gambling has been prohibited in the U.S. since 2006, which has seen players and their cash go to to websites and internet portals based offshore. With Congress searching for money to cut the deficit and create new jobs, supporters see an opening for legalizing at least some online gambling opportunities.

Should Congress act, the federal government will have to write rules and will likely collect taxes from proceeds. Native American tribes want the federal government to ensure they are allowed to operate, regulate, tax and license online gambling as well, if they choose to get in on the business.

"Although there is no legislation before the committee right now, one thing we are all aware of is the need for additional resources at the federal level," said Hawaii Sen. Daniel Akaka, chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, which held a hearing Thursday to air tribes' concerns on the issue. "The discussions surrounding potential Internet gaming legislation have only increased as Congress looks to the supercommittee to find revenue sources and Congress looks to create jobs ..."

The supercommittee Akaka referred to is a bipartisan committee of 12 lawmakers created this summer to find a plan to reduce government borrowing by least $1.2 trillion over the next decade. The committee is stalled in part over whether to raise new revenue.

A House Energy and Commerce subcommittee planned to hold its second hearing Friday on Internet gambling. There is bipartisan support for at least some Internet gambling. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., has pushed for its legalization for years.

While there is no Internet gambling bill before the Senate committee, there is legislation in the House, though it already has opposition from tribal leaders.

Ernie Stevens, chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission, said tribes have united behind some core principles, including no taxation of tribal revenues. Current Internet gambling proposals violate those principles, "and we oppose their passage," Stevens said.

One such measure, sponsored by Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, would legalize online poker. Spokesman Sean Brown said the legislation would allow tribes, like states, to opt out of allowing Internet gambling if they chose.

Some at Thursday's hearing expressed concern about proposals to allow the Department of Commerce to regulate operators of Internet games. Tribal leaders are calling for the National Indian Gaming Commission to continue to regulate their businesses.

The commission reported that last year, 236 tribes operated 422 gambling facilities in 28 states, generating $27 billion in revenue, evidence that the commission has the expertise to regulate tribal Internet gambling and won't have to start from scratch, learning laws particular to tribes as well as cultural considerations, witnesses at the hearing said.

Not all tribes support Internet gambling. Some see it as a potential competitor to their established brick-and-mortar casinos.

"The Tulalip tribe sees the legalization of Internet gambling as a direct threat to the economic growth in Indian Country," said Glen Gobin, vice chairman of the Tulalip Tribes of Tulalip, West Virginia.

"Do you think tribes are going to be able to compete with someone like Harrah's on Internet gaming?" Gobin asked.

Many U.S gaming companies including land based casinos are now starting to adopt online gaming into their business model, with MGM Resorts International recently teaming up with Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment (which owns and operates PartyCasino.com PartyPoker.com and World Poker Tour).

It's widely believed that the U.S will see legal online gambling up and running soon, but then again, that's been the world for years, so for much of the gaming industry, they will believe it when they see it.

In the meantime entities such as Global Gaming Directory, Casino News Media and a host of entertainment and gaming website portals should consider to do a healthy trade.

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Media Man Entertainment

Global Gaming Directory

Casino News Media

Poker News Media

Media Man Games

NextGen Gaming joins forces with Nyx Interactive AB - 10th November 2011

2011-11-16T22:07:00.003+11:00

NextGen Gaming Gaming iGaming Unicorn Legend Crocodopolis Shaaark! Superbet

World Directory Global Gaming Directory World Casino Directory

Stockholm, Sweden - Nyx Interactive AB ("Nyx") today announced the acquisition of NextGen Gaming Pty Ltd ("NextGen"), a leading independent provider of proprietary and branded slot games to the online and land-based gaming industry.

The businesses will merge to create a content-rich software provider combining NextGen's games catalogue and innovation in game design across the online, land-based, social and mobile distribution channels with the Nyx bingo, lottery and casino modules. The acquisition brings together two experienced international software providers leveraging their compatible customer base and complementary product offerings to deliver a broader roadmap of products and services to their customers. The combined business will own a catalogue of over 300 gaming titles with more than 40 customers and as a larger organisation is even better suited to meet the investment requirements of certain strategic regulated markets. Critically, the group will adopt a unified set of software standards enabling rapid delivery and distribution of content, including slots, table games, bingo, instant-win games and scratchcards to a notable customer-base that includes several World Lottery Association members, leading tier 1 operators and large casinos and sportsbooks. Furthermore, this will place the group in a strong position to profit from land-based casinos seeking to add an interactive offering to their portfolios.

The senior executive teams of both NextGen and Nyx will be combined, with games development continuing from the base in Sydney, software development and operations in Stockholm and certain client-facing roles and executive management in London.

NextGen is a privately-held company founded in 1999 which pioneered platform-independent slots content delivery. NextGen has focused on game development and has built a reputation as an innovator in the online gaming industry. NYX Interactive was established in 2006 in response to a paradigm shift in the gaming landscape, from legacy systems towards flexible, full-featured solutions able to support a multi-channel strategy for the emerging interactive gaming operators. NYX's focus on its core technology has resulted in an award-winning platform with leading edge products such as NYX Bingo.

In commenting on the acquisition, Matt Davey, CEO of NextGen added: "Combining NYX's proven bingo, casino and software solutions with the NextGen excellence in building engaging and profitable games enables us to massively improve our ability to offer market-leading product in a fast and flexible manner to our combined roster of customers. Leveraging our respective heritage in technology and product and our common employment cultures we are confident in our ability to develop, license and support a world-class suite of e-gaming products."

Also commenting on the proposed merger, David Flynn CEO of Nyx said: "Nyx and NextGen are a perfect fit. In addition to a shared set of values between the two organisations, we share a highly scalable business model and enjoy respected reputations. Our combined entity will be much stronger and our customers will benefit from NextGen's leading-edge games studio which produces some of the industry's best performing games. We are very excited about our future together." Staffan Lindgren, co-founder of Nyx added: "In light of the regulation of the European gaming markets, this strategic move puts us right in the sweet spot of what operators expect from their technology partners."

About NextGen Gaming Pty Ltd:

NextGen is a leading independent supplier of innovative games to the gambling industry. NextGen has delivered hundreds of games to our international partners and gained a reputation for delivering the best player experience. We partner with online, land based operators and software providers and our success has been built on the exceptional performance of the games we have delivered to our partners.

About NYX Interactive:

Nyx Interactive has in a short time become one of the world's leading independent and total suppliers of systems for digitally distributed gaming entertainment. Nyx Interactive specializes in developing gaming system solutions for World Lottery Association members, media companies and both private and publicly listed Gaming companies world-wide. Licensed in the Isle of Man and Malta, NYX is positioned as a provider of choice to the gaming market.

News

PartyCasino Gets New Games...

Aztec Gold, Atomic Fruit, Nag's To Riches and Fairies Forest. Check out the new games here.

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Media Man Entertainment

Global Gaming Directory

Casino News Media

Poker News Media

Media Man Games

Casinos Of The World: Land Based And Online; Media Man And Casino News Media Awards, by Greg Tingle

2011-11-15T16:48:00.001+11:00

Sin City Cleopatra Rambo The Godfather Sinatra The Terminator Thor Saturday Night Fever Unicorn Legend Palladium Slot

World Directory Global Gaming Directory World Casino Directory

Punters, here's 10 of the world's top land based casinos for you to mark down in your travel plans.

Monte Carlo, Monaco: Perched above the Mediterranean and bounded by the French
and Italian coastlines on either side, Monaco provides a spectacular and luxurious setting for the wealthy and the wannabees. Home to the Monaco Grand Prix and the legendary Casino de Monte Carlo, this isn't the place for those on a tight budget. The magnificent Casino hosts the annual European Poker Tour and was also the scene of several James Bond Films, including the original "Casino Royale" and "Golden Eye".

Paradise Island, Bahamas: Located just off the shore of the city of Nassau, Paradise
Island is best known for its sprawling 'Vegas-by-the-sea' resort, Atlantis. The resort spans seven acres along a lagoon, where guests can soak up the Caribbean sun and choose from a variety of outdoor gaming areas. When in need of a break from the tables, guests can enjoy the private beach or one of the resorts 20 sunlit pools.

Melbourne, Australia: As Australia's sporting and entertainment capital, Melbourne
offers the perfect option for high rollers looking for a local break. Aussies need look no further than Crown Casino on the southern bank of the Yarra River, which is one of the largest casino complexes in the southern hemisphere. The main gambling floor stretches more than half a kilometre and the casino was the first to introduce the new game Rapid Roulette, which allows players to place bets on a personal electronic touch screen connected to a central roulette wheel.

Macau, China: Known as the 'Monte Carlo of the Orient,' and the gambling capital of Asia, Macau now rivals Monaco and Las Vegas as one of the premier gambling destinations in the world. With no less than 33 casinos, in addition to local horse and greyhound racing venues, Macau is perfect for the betting junkie. The Wynn Macau casino is a standout, highlighted by 24-carat gold 'Tree of Prosperity' at the entrance, extravagant water displays and Moon Jellyfish Aquarium at reception.

Baden-Baden, Germany: Situated on the western foothills of the Black Forest and on the banks of the Oos River, Baden-Baden is not your typical casino town. However, in addition to its hot springs and picturesque countryside, the town is also known for its 200-year-old 'Spielbank' casino - the oldest of its type in Germany. With French chateau-style salons rooms named after historical figures such as Madame Pompadour and Louis XV's mistress, the quirky casino provides visitors with a very unique gaming experience.

Las Vegas, United States: With over 1700 licensed casinos in operation, Las Vegas offers the ultimate package for travellers who fancy a flutter. A visit to the famous 'Strip' is a must for any player, whether they're looking for a spin on the roulette table or a game of blackjack - this city has it all. The iconic Caesar's Palace hotel and casino offers 129,000 square feet of casino space plus an endless smorgasbord of entertainment, shopping and fine dining options, including Cleopatra's barge, a floating lounge perfect for a relaxing drink after a jam-packed night on the casino floor.

Manila, The Philippines: With a favourable exchange rate, Manila provides great value for Aussies wanting to live the high-life overseas. The city offers a range of shopping and entertainment options, along with a world-class casino at the Hyatt Hotel. Spread across three levels, the sparkling casino offers the newest in gaming facilities for both hotel guests and visitors, and is just a short distance from Manila's tourist hub.

Sun City, South Africa: Known as 'Africa's Kingdom of Pleasure,' this luxury resort and casino complex, just two hours from Johannesburg, boasts two large casinos, two 18-hole golf courses and a wildlife reserve. At the extravagant yet picturesque Palace of the Lost City, guests are treated to stunning valley views from the guestrooms, along with exclusive access to the Grand Pool. The nearby Sun City Casino is the entertainment Mecca of the resort, featuring a myriad of gaming options as well as an indoor jungle of native foliage and water fountains.

Atlantic City, United States: Regarded as the US's 'Las Vegas of the East', Atlantic City in New Jersey is renowned for its gambling, shopping and fine dining. Towering above the banks of the Atlantic Ocean, the Trump Taj Mahal casino is an icon of the city, with an on-site shopping district and an abundance of restaurants and bars. The 157,000 square-foot casino is also hard to miss, with 3,500 slot machines and 200 table games. Unveiled in 1990 by a number of celebrities, including the late Michael Jackson, the casino is the second-largest in Atlantic City and well worth a visit.

Genting Highlands, Malaysia: Nestled on the Titiwangsa mountain range, just an hour's drive from Kuala Lumpur and 6,000 feet above sea level, the Resorts World Genting offers 360-degree views of the surrounding countryside. This spectacular resort has first-class accommodation, dining and entertainment, while avoiding the hustle and bustle of a capital city. The on-site casino, which covers 200,000 square feet, is Malaysia's sole gaming venue and is divided into separate themed areas, such as Hollywood and Monte Carlo, for the ultimate gambling experience.

Online Casinos:

PartyCasino.com : The world's leading online casino brand and part of Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment. Play for free or play for money at PartyCasino.com New players get up to $3000 sign up bonus via Media Man.

VirginCasino.com : Virgin Casino is part of Virgin Games. The parent company is Virgin Enterprises Limited, the creation of the world's most famous and celebrated entrepreneur, Sir Richard Branson. Unfortunately the casino does not accept players from many countries due to what is known in legal circles as "grey areas". Most European players can play, but no Americans, Canadians, Australians or New Zealanders.

Captain Cooks Casino : Was once a very popular online casino with Australians and New Zealanders, however we understand these days they can only accept players from a few regions such as Europe, South Africa, Canada and South America.

PKR : Once only a 2D online poker room, they are now more 3D and offer online poker and a good range of online casino games, including classics, Marvel slots and table games.

Media Man's top online casino choice: PartyCasino.com PartyCasino is a multi-time Media Man 'Online Casino Of The Month' winner and have also won awards from EGR. Earlier this year PartyGaming merged with Bwin to create the worlds leading igaming company, Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment.

News

PartyCasino Gets New Games...

Aztec Gold, Atomic Fruit, Nag's To Riches and Fairies Forest. Check out the new games here.

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Media Man Entertainment

Global Gaming Directory

Casino News Media

Poker News Media

Media Man Games

PartyCasino News: PartyCasino VIP Double Up; Palladium online slot; Promotions

2011-11-14T13:32:00.001+11:00

Profiles

PartyCasino Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment PartyPoker.com Casino News Media Media Man

Palladium Slot Palladium Lounge Blackjack PartyCasino.com Slots

VIP Double Up

Starts: 00:00 ET, 21st November
Ends: 23:59 ET, 30th November

Prove you’re a big hitter and win up to $15,000 cash with VIP Double Up.

Earn points playing your favorite slots and jackpot slots, and work your way up the leaderboard to get your hands on your share of the riches.

Double the fun on the VIP Palladium slot

Accelerate your VIP Double Up progress with our exclusive VIP Palladium slot. You’ll earn double points every time you spin!

Have a look at the full list of prizes:

Rank Prize
1 $15,000 cash
2 $10,000 cash
3 $7,500 cash
4 $5,000 cash
5 $4,000 cash
6 $3,000 cash
7 $2,000 cash
8 $1,000 cash
9 $750 cash
10 $500 cash
11 to 15 $300 cash bonus
16 to 50 $150 cash bonus
51 to 100 $75 cash bonus

Find your Jack in the Box surprise...

Starts: 00:00 ET, 14th November
Ends: 23:59 ET, 17th November

We’ve packed our blackjack tables with thousands of cash gifts, bonuses and free points. Our rewards are hidden inside a surprise Jack in the Box. You won’t have to look hard to find it – the Jack in the Box will find you!

Just play any of our blackjack games as normal between 00:00 ET on 14th November and 23:59 ET on 17th November. If the Jack in the Box appears, act fast to claim your fabulous prize. Remember, the more you play blackjack, the better your chance of finding our account-boosting surprises.

Jack in the Box rewards will appear at random in the following games: Blackjack Multi-Hand Pro; Blackjack Single Deck; Blackjack Bonus Pairs; Blackjack High Limit; Blackjack Single Player; Multi-Player Blackjack; Multi-Hand Blackjack

Surprise gifts will only be offered on the download lobby.

PartyCasino.com is one of a number of Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment brands.

The most popular PartyCasino.com games of late include Heist, Circus, Rambo, Palladium Slot, The Godfather, Sinatra, Slotbox, Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Mission: Impossible, The Terminator, Cleopatra, Sinatra, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, The Amazing Spider-Man, Monopoly, Resident Evil, Melon Madness, Wheel Of Fortune and Mega Fortune Wheel.

The PartyCasino.com jackpot is currently approaching the $4 million mark. Players can also compete for The Big One and Marvel Hero Jackpot, playing the Marvel super hero themed online slot games.

PartyCasino's most recent game releases include War Of The Worlds, Atomic Fruit, Aztec Gold, Sin City, Robin Hood, Shaaark! SuperBet, Crocodopolis, Alice's Wonderland, Glamour Puss, Super Cubes, Heist, Palladium Slot and Circus Slot.

Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment Co CEO Jim Ryan has gone on record advising PartyCasino will soon feature more Hollywood blockbuster themed slots. A few in the know journalists and media agents have been recently tipped off that an all time classic movie adaption will be showcased in the PartyCasino portfolio within 1 month. PartyCasino has the world's most impressive line up of Hollywood themed games, and more are just around the corner.

PartyCasino.com and PartyPoker.com customers can also benefit from rewards and bonuses via PartyPoints and the Palladium Lounge. Be certain to check out the PartyCasino selection of promotions this month which are some of the best available in the industry today.

Media Man, Casino News Media and Global Gaming Directory do have a b2b relationship with Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment, as they do with dozens of other companies in the gaming, igaming, media and entertainment industry.

Websites

PartyCasino.com

PartyPoker.com

Profiles

PartyGaming PartyCasino PartyPoker PartyBingo Circus PartyCasino Marvel Slots The Big One Melon Madness Casino World Poker Tour PartyCasino Promotions

PKR to Sign New Poker Star

2011-11-13T18:56:00.001+11:00

Team PKR Pro Welcomes Latest Member on November 17

Profiles

PKR PKR Poker PKR Casino Poker

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - 11/11/11 - On 17 November, next-gen poker room PKR.com is set to unveil the latest addition to Team PKR Pro, the site's stable of sponsored professional poker players.

One of the year's most high profile signings, the new arrival is among the best poker players in the world, and will represent PKR in the biggest events across the globe.

Since Team PKR Pro was created in 2009, 13 players have flown the flag for the next-generation online poker site, each plucked from the wealth of homegrown talent which has emerged from PKR.com's tables. The current crop of six Team PKR pro stars includes EPT champion Vladimir 'Beyne' Geshkenbein and WSOP Europe bracelet holder Scott Shelley alongside rising stars Sofia 'welllbet' Lovgren, James 'james666' Sudworth, Sascha 'locodice' Walter and Marc 'Waswini' Bariller, a Frenchman who parlayed freeroll winnings into a successful online career. Former Team PKR Pros include GUKPT winner Andrew 'golfpro699' Teng and Adrien 'zlatan35' Allain who, after winning APT Macau as a $5 PKR qualifier, has recently gone on to claim a WPT Amneville title.

With current and former members drawn from the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Russia, Team PKR Pro has a long history of unearthing new talent from PKR's international player base, valuing not only poker ability but the community spirit with which PKR is so strongly associated. Aside from their participation in major live tournaments, Team PKR Pros create free-to-access poker strategy and lifestyle content for the PKR.com website, provide commentary on the Poker Channel's PKR TV show and contribute to the PKR Forums.

For more information on the Team PKR pro please visit PKR.com

About PKR

PKR.com is a revolutionary new concept in online poker that has changed the way the game is played. Featuring stunning real-time 3D graphics and a uniquely engaging and immersive gaming system, PKR.com brings an unparalleled and previously unseen level of realism to online poker. Developed by some of the brightest stars in the video games and poker industries, PKR.com continues to be the most innovative poker room in the world.

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Media Man Entertainment

Australian Sports Entertainment