January 2009 Archives

FORMULA 1 RACING

Polish Formula One Driver Robert Kubica may be one of the world's best in his sport but he's revealed he enjoys hitting the felt when he is not on the tarmac.

The 24 year old BMW-Sauber seat holder said the game does not "compare with Formula One at all" and that was where the attraction lay.

Kubica explained that he likes the card game because it is "steady", particularly when compared to the high speed action on the track.

"In my job I spend a lot of time with a lot of action, high speed and noise. By contrast, poker and bowling are quite steady" he said.

Last year of course a number of high profile drivers were caught playing poker by F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone when he stumbled across a game.

Ecclestone accidentally walked in on drivers including Fernando Alonso, Rubens Barrichello, Adrian Sutil and the retired Michael Schumacher playing the card game in the Force India motor home.

Did Ecclestone demand the players returned to their teams and not pursue the game further? Not quite.

Not one to pass up a golden opportunity Ecclestone told the group that they should also play a game in the Hockenheim Paddock Club, no doubt mindful of the possible PR benefits it could generate.

The Paddock Club poker game did indeed go ahead, and Robert Kubica and his manager Daniele Morelli, Nick Heidfeld and his manager Werner Heinz, Flavio Briatore, Giancarlo Fisichella, Vijay Mallya and Bernie himself all put down $1000 apiece and also took part.

When Hugh Hefner is forced to close down his online casino business you know the economic turn down is hitting hard.

It was revealed in the last few days that Playboy Casino and Playboy Poker sites will close for business on the 29th of January.

The announcement, which suprised those in the industry, has not yet been made official but it appears that a client e-mailed the company directly, after rumours started to appear on the internet, and received a reply suggesting that both sites will close for business at the end of the month.

The e-mail read, in part "In response to your e-mail, I can confirm that Playboy Gaming will no longer have a poker site and will not be moving to another network." 

Victor Chandler could have chosen a more propitious time to get into the business of financial spread-betting. He has a four-month-old baby and is nursing personal losses in gold and mining stocks.

Two Ladbrokes Casino adverts banned from being broadcast in their current form following an investigation by the Advertising Standards Authority. Although there was only one complaint registered about the online casino adverts, the ASA deemed it valid enough to take them off our screens.

The He's Back Advert on UK TV at the moment seems a bit weird I was wondering if its something to do with Deal or No Deal? Maybe it relates to Noel Edmunds returning to our screens or something and this is a teaser campaign any way you can guess who it may be at hesback2009.com and be in to win £1000.

Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson has lost more than $16.6 billion in the last 7½ months thanks to investments in his own business, Las Vegas Sands Corp. The company owns the Venetian, the lavish Las Vegas hotel and casino known for its indoor recreation of the canal-lined neighborhoods of Venice, Italy, and is also developing casino resort properties in Macao, China.