At a time when most of Tiger Woods‘ sponsors are getting rid of him, you can always count on a gambling company to swoop in and try and capitalize on the situation. That is just what Irish bookmaker and online poker sitePaddy Power did. They offered Tiger a $75 Million dollar 5-year deal to become the face of their brand.
The offer was allegedly turned down by Tiger’s management company, IMG with no reasoning given. I suspect that they probably think that having Tiger associate with a gambling site could be bad for his already destroyed image. Is gambling really that much worse than the “I love prostitutes” image he is portraying right now?
Paddy Power is still keen to work with Tiger and released a statement saying that they will try even harder to get Woods on board. “Paddy Power remains keen to work with Tiger Woods and will reengage with IMG,” the company said in a statement. “An enhanced offer will be made, the details of which will remain confidential.”
Though they continue to try, the key reasoning behind Tiger turning down the offer is due to his continued focus on his golf game. If Tiger wants to remain on the PGA Tour he will have to follow its’ rules. According to several sources there is a rule stating that players are prohibitted from promoting gambling companies, which is something Paddy Power must be aware of.
Whether this is just a big publicity stunt for the bookmaker or a serious offer is yet to be known.
This news absolutely shocked me when I heard it, so I will just post the facts as released by various sources:
Pokerstars Press Release:
“Yesterday at approximately 2.15pm, an armed robbery took place at the European Poker Tour (EPT) event in Berlin. Nobody was seriously injured. Four armed men were involved in the robbery which targeted the tournament registration desk outside the tournament area.
No shots were fired and the suspects quickly fled after a security guard intervened. The police investigation so far has shown that the suspects had a handgun and a machete. Contrary to tabloid reports, no Kalashnikov assault rifles or hand grenades were used. The suspects did not enter the tournament area and the money taken was substantially less than what has been reported.
The tournament resumed after a few hours and a police investigation is now under way. The tournament is taking place on the first floor of the Grand Hyatt Hotel at Marlene-Dietrich-Platz and is being held by SPIELBANK Berlin Casino.
The police are working closely with the EPT and SPIELBANK Berlin. Police are asking anyone who has information, video footage or photographs that might aid the investigation to contact them.”
Here is video of the robbery as it happened:
Their is an extended video which features the heroic security guard which can be seen here:
Collection of several photos of the robbery can be seen on this German site.
Here is an interview with the heroic security guard (as translated by 2+2 member xor) seen in the videos above with a picture of him holding down one of the robbers:
Reporter: Where were you when the robbery began?
Guard: I was standing in the foyer when four men came up the stairs screaming
loud. Two of my four colleagues were out for a break. This indicates
planning on the part of the robbers.
R: Were they armed?
G: Yes, one had a machete, another one a black revolver.
R: You have a little wound above your eye. How come?
G: One of the villains attacked me with a machete, he hit me near the eye.
R: Why were you attacked?
G: Right in the beginning I hit one of the robbers as he ran by me, so
he lost his revolver. Then the one with the machete came and hit me.
Luckily I could turn my head sideways, so he didn’t hit me too badly.
After that two of the four villains fled, and my two colleagues chased
them. I remained behind with the two other villains. They were behind
the counter, filling money into their big leather bag. I then threw a
money cassette and a metal rack at them.
R: How did the villains react?
G: The one with the pistol jumped up and aimed at me. Obviously, I
jumped to the side at first. After that, they happily continued
collecting money. Then as they were trying to flee, I went after the
one with the weapon, and got a hold of him. Luckily a hotel guy came
to my assistance. Unfortunately, the guy with the machete came back,
and I wasn’t in the mood to handle him as well, so I let them go. I
was unarmed, after all. The bag with the money remained in the hotel.
R: How did you get the courage for your intervention?
G: You don’t think of anything in particular at that moment, you’re just
doing your job. And my job was to protect the money. So that’s what I
did. I’ll probably start shivering tonight, when I realize what has
happened. I used to work for the Berlin Police and I learned to
fight there. But nothing like this has ever happened to me.
R: How long did the robbery take?
G: You lose your sense of time in such a situation. It felt like
eternity. Even now in the evening, I’m still pumped up with adrenaline.
It is believed that around 800,000 euros were taken from the event, but these numbers have not been confirmed. As more information comes out we will be sure to keep you updated.
Chalk this one up as an “only in America” kind of story. Just the other day, Idaho police raided a poker game being held by a bunch of pensioners with a $20 buy-in and asked them to stop holding their game as it was “illegal” for them to do so.
The seniors, who were living at The Twin Falls Home, regularily held a poker game with about 20 people in it and a $20 buy-in for fun once a week. The pots could reach as high as $500 which was split amongst the top 2 players. The winners regularily donated this money to the senior center instead of blowing it on booze and drugs diapers and medication and didn’t think there was anything illegal about the game. Unfortunately Idaho police disagreed.
According to police the seniors were violating the Idaho law that states: “risking any money, credit, deposit or other thing of value for gain contingent in whole or in part upon lot, chance, the operation of a gambling device or the happening or outcome of an event, including a sporting event, the operation of casino gambling including, but not limited to, blackjack, craps, roulette, poker, baccarat or keno.”
For many of the seniors this game was the highlight of their week, but now it must all be stopped as police warned them to put an end to the game.
“I don’t have many things that I can do,” noted the wheelchair-bound Norman Pohl. “I met so many people… I would look forward to it every week.”
It’s too bad that the US is now turned to threatening to lock up those who have made the country what it is today over a game that they are willing participants in. The government really needs to take it easy and let people do what they want with their hard earned money!
Could this be a start to government regulation of online gaming in Canada? It appears so. Loto-Quebec has received cabinet approval to launch their own online gaming site, which would include online poker.
According to a report on CTV, “The provincial gambling monopoly, in conjunction the BC and Atlantic Lottery Corporations, will set up a site this fall aimed at stemming the lucrative yet unregulated internet gambling market.”
The government claims it is losing money to “illegal” offshore companies where citizens “are not protected” according to Finance minister Raymond Bachand. But the reality is, the government really just wants to control where people can choose to play and most likely offer worse odds than many of the online casinos currently in operation today.
I agree that something needs to be done about the current situation where there are many fly-by-night online casinos, but why not sell licenses to several of the big publically traded companies that are already in existance today such as 888 or Party Gaming where they can work with the government to ensure safety for the players. Monopolies are never a good thing in my eye as the consumer is the one who is going to really lose out from this.
The thing that I find funniest about this move is that the companies they claim to be “illegal” are operating right in their own backyard! Most of the sites that have had major issues recently have been based in Kahnawake which is guess where? That’s right, in Quebec!
Anyway, I think the best way to sum up this story is with a quote by one of the readers at CTV named Louie, “What a joke….so by setting up online gambling Loto Quebec will be helping “problem online gamblers”???“
Well, maybe that is just a small part of the story, but it was an easy way to shorten the title from “Lacey Jones is the new face of the Canadian Poker Tour”, which is the actual story here.
Yesterday the CPT announced in a press release that Jones will be the new “face” of the CPT. For those who don’t know who Lacey Jones is, she has been voted the sexiest poker female poker player many times has appeared in this poker music video and has even won a few games too!
Here is the full press release along with a sexy pic of Lacey:
CALGARY, Alberta, Feb. 1, 2010/– The Canadian Poker Tour (CPT) owned and operated by HeadsUp Entertainment International Inc. (STOCK SYMBOL: HDUP.PK) is pleased to announce that it has signed Poker pro Lacey Jones as the “new face” of the CPT. Recently voted the “hottest girl in poker”, Lacey will be featured on the cover of the upcoming issue of Canadian Poker Player Magazine as well as having a pictorial spread and feature. That issue is scheduled to hit poker rooms across the country in February.
The deal was set when Lacey and CPT President Kelly Kellner met in Costa Rica in November 2009 at the CPT/WPS Costa Rica Challenge. “Here is a girl that loves hockey, loves Canadian beer and is an amazing poker player to top it off. I told her she has been picked up off waivers and claimed by Canada and the CPT’, stated Kellner. “We believe that by having Lacey attend many of our events and the fact that she is about to move to Vancouver, the partnership couldn’t be stronger.”
With female poker players in CPT tournaments on the decline over the past 2 years, the CPT believes that having a strong female role model will attract the female player base back to live tournament action and that she will be a strong draw for the player base in general. Lacey will also be featured on the new online poker television network, Canadian Poker Player Television, about to be launched by the Company. Full details on the network launch will released soon.
“I truly love Canadians and am so happy to be a part of the Canadian Poker Tour”, stated Lacey. Having recently played at the 2010 CPT Kickoff Poker Series, Lacey will be returning to Canada for the Winter Freezeout to held at Cash Casino in Calgary, February 24 through February 28, 2010. For complete details on the upcoming event please go to www.canadianpokertour.tv.
For the record Lacey, I am Canadian and I love you too! For more info about her, check out this Lacey Jones profile.
At a time when most of Tiger Woods‘ sponsors are getting rid of him, you can always count on a gambling company to swoop in and try and capitalize on the situation. That is just what Irish bookmaker and online poker site Paddy Power did. They offered Tiger a $75 Million dollar 5-year deal to become the face of their brand.
