OPR Bulletin: Week of July 28th, 2013

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Stories worth watching

New blood and near deadlines in New Jersey

With only months to go until New Jersey’s planned online gambling launch, a new entrant is looking to build or buy their way into Atlantic City – and the online gambling license that (potentially) comes with.

That entrant is 2UP Gaming PLC, who announced a tentative partnership with an investment group that would fuel 2UP’s move with over $300mm in funding. That sounds like more than enough to gain control of the ACC or Revel – or even Showboat, which Caesars is reportedly shopping.

And as July draws to a close, we should start to get word regarding which online gambling partnerships the DGE is going to let fly – and which it’s decided to ground.

High stakes online cheating scandal brewing

A TwoPlusTwo thread (rapidly approaching 500 posts) starts with a anonymous account laying out detailed allegations of multi-accounting / account sharing at online poker’s biggest cash games.

From there it moves into a winding discussion covering more allegations, the ethics and legality of multi-accounting and what – if anything –  poker sites can do to mitigate the problem.

Ultimate Poker updates

… on several fronts. There’s the addition of Mike Britt  as head of market development and government affairs. And the decision to implement a “winner take all” rake calculation method.

But what people will really be talking about this week is Version 2.0 of the Ultimate Poker software, which is expected to roll out in the next few days. Players are expecting a substantial upgrade, and anything short of that could provide a marketing opening for competitors.

Links you may have missed

• Zynga ended their US RMG license efforts to focus on social, an area where Zynga is lagging – and IGT is killing it.
• Massachusetts lawmakers tried – and failed – to advance online gambling regulation.
• Zokay purchased The Hendon Mob, and I speculated what poker media sites might be next.
• NV Rep. Dina Titus called for a House hearing covering online gambling, just a day before the AGA held their annual D.C. lobbying fly-in.
• PokerStars’ parent company filed a motion to dismiss Kentucky’s attempt to seize the PokerStars.com domain.

And check out the latest edition of The Rabbit Hunt, a poker news podcast where Mark Gahagan and I provide an in-depth look at the top live and online poker stories of the week.