TOP STORIES

American online poker champ Tyson Marks of Montana won the largest poker prize in online gambling history last week, scooping up an incredible $2.25 million win in the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) main event.

Marks, who goes by the online handle POTTERPOKER, beat out more than two thousand other hopefuls who entered the two-day final event. This massive collection of players gave the tournament a $12,215,000 prize pool, making it the richest internet poker tournament in online gaming history.

By the time Marks hit the final table, he had an incredible 30 million chip lead over the competition, and he pushed through to take the win. Of course, the other two finalists didn’t walk away empty-handed. Both took home more than $1 million in prize money.

“Being able to say: “I’m online poker world champion” is something that still doesn’t feel real to say” Marks commented. “I don’t feel like it’s going to change who I am at all. I have an amazing girl and friends and family who are amazing….this money is really just gravy.”

The $2,278,097.50 poker prize makes a nice addition to Marks’ $1.3 million in career online poker tournament earnings.

American online poker champ Tyson Marks of Montana won the largest poker prize in online gambling history last week, scooping up an incredible $2.25 million win in the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) main event.

Marks, who goes by the online handle POTTERPOKER, beat out more than two thousand other hopefuls who entered the two-day final event. This massive collection of players gave the tournament a $12,215,000 prize pool, making it the richest internet poker tournament in online gaming history.

By the time Marks hit the final table, he had an incredible 30 million chip lead over the competition, and he pushed through to take the win. Of course, the other two finalists didn’t walk away empty-handed. Both took home more than $1 million in prize money.

“Being able to say: “I’m online poker world champion” is something that still doesn’t feel real to say” Marks commented. “I don’t feel like it’s going to change who I am at all. I have an amazing girl and friends and family who are amazing….this money is really just gravy.”

The $2,278,097.50 poker prize makes a nice addition to Marks’ $1.3 million in career online poker tournament earnings.

There must be some strange alignment of the planets going on, because Microgaming progressive jackpots have been paying out all week long.

These are not the huge multi-million-dollar jackpot wins that usually make headlines, but there has been a steady stream of five-figure wins that have caused players to flock to the casinos looking to grab their share of the cash.

The Mega Moolah jackpot has been paying out like crazy. This week it was won five times, handing out jackpots to the amount of $15,000, $22,000, $36,000 and $40,000 over the course of just six days.

Progressive jackpots were won on a few other Microgaming slots as well. Fruit Fiesta paid out almost $38,000 and WowPot hit for over $17,000. Lotsa Loot paid out $35,500 and Cash Splash earned one lucky player more than $53,000.

A pair Microgaming video poker jackpots also hit this week. Jackpot Deuces gave out over $33,000 while SupaJax paid an impressive $37,000.

All added up, that makes close to $300,000 in Microgaming progressive jackpot wins over the last 7 days. Microgaming runs one of the largest networks of progressive jackpot games on the net, and is responsible for producing the largest single jackpot win in online gambling history: €6.3 million, won in 2009 on Mega Moolah.

There must be some strange alignment of the planets going on, because Microgaming progressive jackpots have been paying out all week long.

These are not the huge multi-million-dollar jackpot wins that usually make headlines, but there has been a steady stream of five-figure wins that have caused players to flock to the casinos looking to grab their share of the cash.

The Mega Moolah jackpot has been paying out like crazy. This week it was won five times, handing out jackpots to the amount of $15,000, $22,000, $36,000 and $40,000 over the course of just six days.

Progressive jackpots were won on a few other Microgaming slots as well. Fruit Fiesta paid out almost $38,000 and WowPot hit for over $17,000. Lotsa Loot paid out $35,500 and Cash Splash earned one lucky player more than $53,000.

A pair Microgaming video poker jackpots also hit this week. Jackpot Deuces gave out over $33,000 while SupaJax paid an impressive $37,000.

All added up, that makes close to $300,000 in Microgaming progressive jackpot wins over the last 7 days. Microgaming runs one of the largest networks of progressive jackpot games on the net, and is responsible for producing the largest single jackpot win in online gambling history: €6.3 million, won in 2009 on Mega Moolah.

After charging three members of an Ottawa family with claiming a lottery win that wasn’t theirs, authorities are searching for the rightful winner of a $12.5 million jackpot … from 2003.

As Ontario Provincial Police announced Tuesday that they had arrested and charged Kathleen Chung, 29, Kenneth Chung, 28, and Jun-Chul Chung, 60, for illegally claiming the $12.5 million, Ottawa Lottery and Gaming (OLG) stated its confidence in a system which may help it find the heretofore anonymous actual winner.

Said winner validated a winning “Super 7” ticket at a Burlington store where father Jun-Chul and Kenneth worked. This ticket resulted in a free ticket which was the lucky winner of the draw. The Super 7 winner never receiving the free ticket that was rightfully theirs and Kenneth’s wife Kathleen claimed the win in 2004.

The case has actually been under investigation since 2006, and Ottawa police are now in process of seizing $10 million in property and cash, including the Chungs’ purchase of two homes, five luxury vehicles, and three properties. The three were released on $700,000 bail.

OLG chairman Paul Godfrey told Canadian media that “if someone can come in and tell us everything we already know about the ticket, down to the last detail, there’s a good chance we’re looking at the rightful owner.”

Police have stated that they know the original ticket was purchased in St. Catharines and that the number of tickets purchased along with the fateful winner may indicate that the purchase was a group play.

After charging three members of an Ottawa family with claiming a lottery win that wasn’t theirs, authorities are searching for the rightful winner of a $12.5 million jackpot … from 2003.

As Ontario Provincial Police announced Tuesday that they had arrested and charged Kathleen Chung, 29, Kenneth Chung, 28, and Jun-Chul Chung, 60, for illegally claiming the $12.5 million, Ottawa Lottery and Gaming (OLG) stated its confidence in a system which may help it find the heretofore anonymous actual winner.

Said winner validated a winning “Super 7” ticket at a Burlington store where father Jun-Chul and Kenneth worked. This ticket resulted in a free ticket which was the lucky winner of the draw. The Super 7 winner never receiving the free ticket that was rightfully theirs and Kenneth’s wife Kathleen claimed the win in 2004.

The case has actually been under investigation since 2006, and Ottawa police are now in process of seizing $10 million in property and cash, including the Chungs’ purchase of two homes, five luxury vehicles, and three properties. The three were released on $700,000 bail.

OLG chairman Paul Godfrey told Canadian media that “if someone can come in and tell us everything we already know about the ticket, down to the last detail, there’s a good chance we’re looking at the rightful owner.”

Police have stated that they know the original ticket was purchased in St. Catharines and that the number of tickets purchased along with the fateful winner may indicate that the purchase was a group play.

Slotland Casino just finished overhauling the whole site with a whole new look. Their designers gave the casino’s graphics a big boost, and adding some wonderful animations and special effects, making the online much more pleasing to the eye.

The casino has been around for years, and is unique on the net. It uses its own proprietary software and games, offering dozens of no-download slots and other games for players to enjoy.

All the casino’s games are connected to a single progressive jackpot. The Slotland Casino progressive jackpot is hit about every six or eight weeks, and yesterday the jackpot struck again, paying out an impressive €79,542.

This latest winner comes from Canada, hitting the big jackpot on a video poker game called Wild Heart. This three line poker machine features a unique jungle theme, and helps players win big with wild cards.

The winner, who wanted to remain anonymous, commented: “Many times I dreamed about how I would spend a huge cash prize. Now that I have won a massive jackpot, I don’t have a clue what I will do with the jackpot money. It’s likely that I will donate to charity and I plan to invest some of the money. In addition, I will fulfill some long-desired wishes for my princess and myself.”

The previous Slotland winner was player ‘SouthBelle’ who won €109.212 on the Lucky Stars slot machine just last month.

Slotland Casino just finished overhauling the whole site with a whole new look. Their designers gave the casino’s graphics a big boost, and adding some wonderful animations and special effects, making the online much more pleasing to the eye.

The casino has been around for years, and is unique on the net. It uses its own proprietary software and games, offering dozens of no-download slots and other games for players to enjoy.

All the casino’s games are connected to a single progressive jackpot. The Slotland Casino progressive jackpot is hit about every six or eight weeks, and yesterday the jackpot struck again, paying out an impressive €79,542.

This latest winner comes from Canada, hitting the big jackpot on a video poker game called Wild Heart. This three line poker machine features a unique jungle theme, and helps players win big with wild cards.

The winner, who wanted to remain anonymous, commented: “Many times I dreamed about how I would spend a huge cash prize. Now that I have won a massive jackpot, I don’t have a clue what I will do with the jackpot money. It’s likely that I will donate to charity and I plan to invest some of the money. In addition, I will fulfill some long-desired wishes for my princess and myself.”

The previous Slotland winner was player ‘SouthBelle’ who won €109.212 on the Lucky Stars slot machine just last month.

Sometimes, it appears, the house does lose: William Hill Vegas, the casino branch of the top online sports betting site offering video slots and live-dealer games, reports that for two consecutive days, players have taken over £100,000 on slot jackpots.

Just one day after an unnamed player took just over £100,000 on Clover Rollover (though not the progressive jackpot on that particular machine, which is now at £4 million and climbing), a Liverpool resident known as “Gill” took exactly £132,252.27 ($208,090.69) from the Leprechaun’s Luck slot game when she found the virtual pot of gold during the bonus round feature.

“When I saw that I had won £130k jackpot, I stared at the screen for a few minutes just reading it over and over again,” Gill said, “I could not believe it. I just kept thinking [that] things like this don’t happen to me.” Gill told William Hill Vegas representatives that she wants “to buy a new car, and buy my family and friends presents to share my good fortune.”

The Leprechaun’s Luck progressive jackpot has been reset but, as another reminder, that Clover Rollover jackpot total is over £4 million ($6.3 million) and counting; William Hill VIP manager Sharon Young reminds that the casino has “had an exceptional amount of winners in the last few weeks and most have been over £100,000.”

Sometimes, it appears, the house does lose: William Hill Vegas, the casino branch of the top online sports betting site offering video slots and live-dealer games, reports that for two consecutive days, players have taken over £100,000 on slot jackpots.

Just one day after an unnamed player took just over £100,000 on Clover Rollover (though not the progressive jackpot on that particular machine, which is now at £4 million and climbing), a Liverpool resident known as “Gill” took exactly £132,252.27 ($208,090.69) from the Leprechaun’s Luck slot game when she found the virtual pot of gold during the bonus round feature.

“When I saw that I had won £130k jackpot, I stared at the screen for a few minutes just reading it over and over again,” Gill said, “I could not believe it. I just kept thinking [that] things like this don’t happen to me.” Gill told William Hill Vegas representatives that she wants “to buy a new car, and buy my family and friends presents to share my good fortune.”

The Leprechaun’s Luck progressive jackpot has been reset but, as another reminder, that Clover Rollover jackpot total is over £4 million ($6.3 million) and counting; William Hill VIP manager Sharon Young reminds that the casino has “had an exceptional amount of winners in the last few weeks and most have been over £100,000.”

This past weekend, 400 poker champs dropped €1,200 each to buy-in to a two-day battle in order to determine who was is best player among them. The game was a part of the PokerStars France Poker Series, and it took place at the Casino Partouche in Divonne-les-Bains. This is just the second stop in the tour, but already the stakes are high and the excitement runs deep.

The player who came out ahead was Serge Didisheim of Switzerland, who beat 399 other poker pros and walked away with €108,894. The final hand saw him beat Yann Pelletier, who took second place for €69,500. Didisheim went all in with an ace of hearts and king of diamonds, beating Pelletier’s pair of 5’s when Didisheim picked up a second pair from the board.

The PokerStars France Poker Series will continue October 16/17 in Saint-Amand. Satellite qualifiers are running now at the PokerStars website. There are still three more big events to go, plus the Grand Final in Paris coming up in February, so the action has only just begun.

This past weekend, 400 poker champs dropped €1,200 each to buy-in to a two-day battle in order to determine who was is best player among them. The game was a part of the PokerStars France Poker Series, and it took place at the Casino Partouche in Divonne-les-Bains. This is just the second stop in the tour, but already the stakes are high and the excitement runs deep.

The player who came out ahead was Serge Didisheim of Switzerland, who beat 399 other poker pros and walked away with €108,894. The final hand saw him beat Yann Pelletier, who took second place for €69,500. Didisheim went all in with an ace of hearts and king of diamonds, beating Pelletier’s pair of 5’s when Didisheim picked up a second pair from the board.

The PokerStars France Poker Series will continue October 16/17 in Saint-Amand. Satellite qualifiers are running now at the PokerStars website. There are still three more big events to go, plus the Grand Final in Paris coming up in February, so the action has only just begun.

Microsoft may be setting new records with its “Halo: Reach” and “Halo 3,” but competitor Activision will be launching its “Call of Duty: Black Ops” on November 9 with a feature that no Halo game can touch: Gambling against other players to improve your character’s potential.

Halo: Reach pulled in a ridiculous $200 million in sales on its first day of release and vaulted to the upper reaches of Xbox Live activity stats as well. Though “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2” stayed in the #1 most popular spot last week, “Halo: Reach” will surely be this week’s top game, as numbers show that it has been the most popular game on the network for seven days running. Incidentally, the three-year-old Halo 3 was third-favorite on the Xbox Live chart.

However, while the “Halo” series is getting a bit chastised among games for a continued lack of originality, Call of Duty: Black Ops is set to innovative perhaps the whole genre with its “gamble” feature.

In Black Ops’ “wager matches,” players will be able to compete against one another in four unique arenas. The players agree upon the stakes and the winner earns “Call of Duty Points,” which may be used to upgrade your character for use in other games.

Though not actually employing real money, one can easily imagine other games incorporating cash bets into their software. Madden for money, anyone…?

Microsoft may be setting new records with its “Halo: Reach” and “Halo 3,” but competitor Activision will be launching its “Call of Duty: Black Ops” on November 9 with a feature that no Halo game can touch: Gambling against other players to improve your character’s potential.

Halo: Reach pulled in a ridiculous $200 million in sales on its first day of release and vaulted to the upper reaches of Xbox Live activity stats as well. Though “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2” stayed in the #1 most popular spot last week, “Halo: Reach” will surely be this week’s top game, as numbers show that it has been the most popular game on the network for seven days running. Incidentally, the three-year-old Halo 3 was third-favorite on the Xbox Live chart.

However, while the “Halo” series is getting a bit chastised among games for a continued lack of originality, Call of Duty: Black Ops is set to innovative perhaps the whole genre with its “gamble” feature.

In Black Ops’ “wager matches,” players will be able to compete against one another in four unique arenas. The players agree upon the stakes and the winner earns “Call of Duty Points,” which may be used to upgrade your character for use in other games.

Though not actually employing real money, one can easily imagine other games incorporating cash bets into their software. Madden for money, anyone…?

PokerStars created a lot of hype in the online poker world these last few days as they approached the 50 billionth hand of poker played at the site. Nobody quite new what that hand would entail, but as things turned out, it was a poker hand for the history books.

There were 220,000 people on PokerStars yesterday playing on 33,000 tables, each one of them hoping to win the milestone hand and the big cash bonus that PokerStars promised would go along with it. In the end, the 50 billionth hand was played by a member from Germany named tbvle, who walked away with an impressive $56,140 though the PokerStars 50 Billion Hand promotion.

But here’s the really incredible part: tbvle was playing microstakes at a $0.02/$0.05 NL Hold’em cash table! The actual pot for the hand was only $26, but is very good for a microstakes table. Apparently the players at the table were so excited to win that the five billionth hand that everyone went all-in before the flop!

Hundreds of railbirds sat on the sidelines watching the historic hand. When tbvle won with a pair of queens, he made PokerStars history, and won a lot of cash too.

The other 5 players at the table were reward too, each grabbing about $3,000 just for being there. Everyone got a $5,200 WCOOP Main Event ticket too, just because PokerStars was feeling generous.

PokerStars created a lot of hype in the online poker world these last few days as they approached the 50 billionth hand of poker played at the site. Nobody quite new what that hand would entail, but as things turned out, it was a poker hand for the history books.

There were 220,000 people on PokerStars yesterday playing on 33,000 tables, each one of them hoping to win the milestone hand and the big cash bonus that PokerStars promised would go along with it. In the end, the 50 billionth hand was played by a member from Germany named tbvle, who walked away with an impressive $56,140 though the PokerStars 50 Billion Hand promotion.

But here’s the really incredible part: tbvle was playing microstakes at a $0.02/$0.05 NL Hold’em cash table! The actual pot for the hand was only $26, but is very good for a microstakes table. Apparently the players at the table were so excited to win that the five billionth hand that everyone went all-in before the flop!

Hundreds of railbirds sat on the sidelines watching the historic hand. When tbvle won with a pair of queens, he made PokerStars history, and won a lot of cash too.

The other 5 players at the table were reward too, each grabbing about $3,000 just for being there. Everyone got a $5,200 WCOOP Main Event ticket too, just because PokerStars was feeling generous.

A pair of huge draws on the weekend resulted in the proverbial “life-changing wins,” as the Powerball and Mega Millions lottery jackpots were each hit by a single player – though neither has stepped forward to claim the prize.

On Friday night, the Mega Millions numbers were drawn on a $54 million jackpot. Numbers 3, 4, 14, 18, 27 and 13 came up to make one lucky citizen of New York City very happy – if he/she is even aware of the win. The jackpot was reset and, with no winner in yesterday’s draw, the September 24 jackpot is estimated to be at $16 million.

Over the weekend, the turgid Powerball jackpot stood at a big $116 million before a customer of Heby’s Shell gas station in Mableton, Georgia, chose the winning numbers 1, 18, 37, 39, 44 and 13 – making the key final numbers in both draws a lucky 13, incidentally – but he/she, too, has yet to come forward and claim the prize as of Wednesday morning.

Heby’s Shell will be receiving a $25,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket and, should the player claim his/her winnings as a cash option, the ticket will be worth a tidy $63 million before taxes. The winner has 180 days to claim the big prize.

The last occasion on which a Georgia player won the Mega Millions jackpot was just over a year ago, with a $12 million payout going to a Sharpsburg man on September 1st of 2009.

A pair of huge draws on the weekend resulted in the proverbial “life-changing wins,” as the Powerball and Mega Millions lottery jackpots were each hit by a single player – though neither has stepped forward to claim the prize.

On Friday night, the Mega Millions numbers were drawn on a $54 million jackpot. Numbers 3, 4, 14, 18, 27 and 13 came up to make one lucky citizen of New York City very happy – if he/she is even aware of the win. The jackpot was reset and, with no winner in yesterday’s draw, the September 24 jackpot is estimated to be at $16 million.

Over the weekend, the turgid Powerball jackpot stood at a big $116 million before a customer of Heby’s Shell gas station in Mableton, Georgia, chose the winning numbers 1, 18, 37, 39, 44 and 13 – making the key final numbers in both draws a lucky 13, incidentally – but he/she, too, has yet to come forward and claim the prize as of Wednesday morning.

Heby’s Shell will be receiving a $25,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket and, should the player claim his/her winnings as a cash option, the ticket will be worth a tidy $63 million before taxes. The winner has 180 days to claim the big prize.

The last occasion on which a Georgia player won the Mega Millions jackpot was just over a year ago, with a $12 million payout going to a Sharpsburg man on September 1st of 2009.

The largest prize in European golf history is being offered at the upcoming Dubai World Championship. This golf event is being held at Dubai’s Jumeirah Golf Estates in November, and the top 15 ranked players will share a very impressive prize pool of $7.5 million.

The prize was meant to be $10 million, but last year it was reduced 25% because of the current economic environment. Despite this huge drop in the prize pool, this is still considered Europe’s richest golf event.

The championship game will be played at the Jumeirah Golf Estates’s famous par 72 Earth Course. The top 60 players from the season-long European Tour Race to Dubai will be invited to compete.

The Dubai World Championship is new, with the inaugural event happening just last year. The winner was Englishman Lee Westwood who won with a score of 265 (-23) by a margin of 6 strokes.

Westwood was a favorite at top online sportsbooks like BetUS. This US-friendly sports betting site has yet to set odds for this year’s event, but they are sure to appear as we get closer to the late-November Dubai World Championship golf event.

The largest prize in European golf history is being offered at the upcoming Dubai World Championship. This golf event is being held at Dubai’s Jumeirah Golf Estates in November, and the top 15 ranked players will share a very impressive prize pool of $7.5 million.

The prize was meant to be $10 million, but last year it was reduced 25% because of the current economic environment. Despite this huge drop in the prize pool, this is still considered Europe’s richest golf event.

The championship game will be played at the Jumeirah Golf Estates’s famous par 72 Earth Course. The top 60 players from the season-long European Tour Race to Dubai will be invited to compete.

The Dubai World Championship is new, with the inaugural event happening just last year. The winner was Englishman Lee Westwood who won with a score of 265 (-23) by a margin of 6 strokes.

Westwood was a favorite at top online sportsbooks like BetUS. This US-friendly sports betting site has yet to set odds for this year’s event, but they are sure to appear as we get closer to the late-November Dubai World Championship golf event.