Poker is growing in popularity around the globe! With its global appeal someone can incorporate a poker game into any vacation. Here are the top spots to play a hand.
1. Las Vegas, Nevada
2. Melbourne, Australia
3. Paradise Island, Bahamas
4. Monte Carlo, Monaco
5. London, U.K.
6. Macau, China
7. Barcelona, Spain
8. Los Angeles, CA
9. San Jose, Costa Rica
10. Dublin, Ireland
SHANGHAI, CHINA — (MARKET WIRE) — May 29, 2007 — Shanghai eWorldChina Information Technologies Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of eWorld Interactive, Inc. and Shanghai Welfare Lottery Center announced the formal signing of an agreement to operate China’s official online Welfare Lottery.
The agreement makes eWorld the online sales agent for the Shanghai Welfare Lottery Center, which administers the largest segment of the Chinese lottery system. eWorld’s rapidly growing user base will be able to select lottery numbers via the Company’s portal www.17dian.cn and complete the transaction through its online banking service.
“This is an exciting development for the Company as it will give us access to China’s enormous and growing lottery market as well as provide another avenue for entertainment for our users,” remarked eWorld CEO Guy Peckham. eWorld has been working with the Shanghai Lottery Center to open the online lottery market in China, a move that will allow the country to catch up with global trends.
China’s lottery market surpassed US$10B in 2006 and is expected to continue growing at double digit CAGR in the coming years according to the Chinese Ministry of Finance, which oversees all of China’s lottery sales. Of the US$10B spent on lotteries in China over US$6B was generated via the Welfare Lottery system, representing a 20% increase over 2005. The Chinese government is actively promoting China’s welfare lottery system through traditional over-the-counter sales as well as online applications. Proceeds from all lottery sales are split 3 ways with 50% going to the winners, 35% going to fund social welfare program and the remaining 15% going towards lottery administration.
eWorldChina launched an Instant Lottery program as the first online Welfare Lottery product where a winning number will be drawn every 30 minutes. The Company will then launch an additional 6 online Welfare Lottery games for the second quarter of 2007.
According to Mr. Peckham, the Company is to receive 6.5% of all lottery sales conducted through the Company’s website and expects this to result in a significant increase in projected revenues
SHANGHAI, CHINA — (MARKET WIRE) — May 17, 2007 — Shanghai eWorldChina Information Technologies Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of eWorld Interactive, Inc. , today announced the signing of an agreement to operate China’s official Online Sports Lottery with Shanghai Information Industry (Group) Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of China Telecom .
The agreement provides eWorld with content distribution rights for China’s Online Sports Lottery, giving eWorld users unique access to the professional sports lottery games in China and abroad. eWorld has been working with the China Telecom team to open the online lottery market in China, a move that will allow the country to catch up with global trends.
eWorld is also working to expand into additional lottery offerings including the Welfare Lottery, to be launched later this quarter.
According to the Chinese Ministry of Finance, China’s lottery sales in 2006 increased 14% year on year to a record high of RMB 81.93 billion (US$10.54 billion) of which 32.2 billion was from the Sports Lottery. Globally, online lottery activities are quickly gaining popularity, representing an average of 25% of the total global lottery market spend. By contrast, only 1% of China’s total lottery market spent is currently derived from online offerings. This fact, coupled with the Chinese government efforts to actively promote official online lotteries, indicates huge potential for continued growth in the sector. Further adding to the growth potential, China’s internet user base is growing at over 30% per year and set to pass the 200 million user mark within 3 years.
“The addition of the Sports Lottery to our content platform is well suited for our user base as it creates another avenue for entertainment, participation and the potential of winning real returns,” noted Guy Peckham, CEO of eWorld, before concluding, “The growth rates for lotteries, online gaming and internet advertising in China are each noteworthy in their own right and we believe that this agreement will result in explosive growth for eWorld through the combination of all 3 components.”
BEIJING, Jan. 16 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ — PacificNet, Inc. , a leading provider of Customer Relationship Management (CRM), mobile internet, e-commerce and gaming technology in China, announced today that its Take1 Technologies (”Take1″) subsidiary has been selected by a leading slot operator in Europe to provide electronic slot machines (aka electronic gaming machines, EGM). Since the introduction of the new line of slot machine gaming products, Take1 Electronic Slot and Amusement with Prizes (AWP) Machines, Take1 has received positive reviews by the slot and AWP operators in Europe. Phase one implementation includes 100 electronic slot machines. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed for competitive reasons.PacificNet’s Take1 subsidiary has been in the business of designing and manufacturing electronic multimedia entertainment kiosks, coin-op kiosks and machines, electronic gaming machines (EGM), bingo and slot machines, AWP (Amusements with Prizes) games, server-based downloadable game systems, and Video Lottery Terminals (VLT) such as Keno and Bingo machines, including hardware, software, client-server systems and cabinets. PacificNet’s Take1 subsidiary is based in Hong Kong with offices and a hardware manufacturing facility located in Shenzhen, China. Software for Take1 bingo machines is co-developed by PacificNet’s software outsourcing unit, Pacific Solutions Technology, a CMM Level 3 certified software development center with over 200 software programmers located in Shenzhen, China. Recent regulation changes in several European countries have opened the doors to more widespread electronic slot operators and PacificNet’s Take1 subsidiary has had success in entering the European market as a provider of electronic slot machines.
“We are delighted to receive this order by a leading slot operator in Europe. The selection of PacificNet Game’s electronic gaming machines by a leading European slot operator marks a big win for Take1 and further enhances PacificNet’s strong entrance in the large European gaming market,” said Tony Tong, Chairman and CEO of PacificNet. “With our new focus on the rapidly growing gaming market, we will continue to pursue becoming a leading provider of electronic gaming machines, slot machines and bingo machines to the casino operators and gaming industry. We believe we have the right gaming products, software and hardware expertise, research and development center with CMM Level 3 certification, local service staff, the right channels and partnerships, and the experience that is necessary to succeed in this market.”
About Take1 Technologies
Take1 Technologies (http://www.take1technologies.com), a member of PacificNet group, is in the business of designing and manufacturing electronic multimedia entertainment kiosks, coin-op kiosks and machines, electronic gaming machines (EGM), bingo and slot machines, AWP (Amusements With Prizes) games, server-based downloadable games systems, and Video Lottery Terminals (VLT) such as Keno and Bingo machines, including hardware, software, client-server systems and cabinets. Take1 is a leading designer, developer and manufacturer of multimedia entertainment and communication kiosk products including photo and video entertainment kiosks, digital camera photo development stations, multimedia messaging services (MMS) and mobile content download stations for mobile phones, and other coin-operated peripherals and consumables. Take1 Technologies is based in Hong Kong and markets and distributes its products around the world including the USA, Canada, Mexico, Europe, China, and Southeast Asia.
About PacificNet
PacificNet Inc. (http://www.PacificNet.com) is a leading provider of Customer Relationship Management (CRM), mobile internet, e-commerce and gaming technology in China. PacificNet’s clients include the leading telecom companies, banks, insurance, travel, marketing and business services companies and telecom consumers in Greater China. PacificNet’s corporate clients include China Telecom, China Mobile, Unicom, PCCW, Hutchison Telecom, Bell24, Motorola, Nokia, SONY, TCL, Huawei, American Express, Citibank, HSBC, Bank of China, Bank of East Asia, DBS, TNT, Hong Kong Government, and leading hotel-casinos in Macau and Asia. PacificNet employs over 1,400 staff in its various subsidiaries throughout China with offices in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Macau, and branch offices in 28 provinces in China and has headquarters in Beijing and Hong Kong.
The biggest event set to be held in Goa over the next year will, officially, be the inaugural Asian Poker Classic from March 1-5, 2007.
The Asian Poker Classic (APC) is the first professional poker tournament to be held in India. It will be sponsored by gaming site MaharajahClub.com and offer one of Asia’s richest ever poker prize pool – a guaranteed $1 million. The three-day APC main event marks poker’s arrival to the big time in India.
Goa is the perfect venue. The resort has become the new ‘it’ spot for people seeking luxury surroundings in India. Spectacular New Year celebrations promise to attract tens of thousands of tourists from all over the world as Goa changes its image into one of glitz and glamour.
Goa is set to transform itself into a gambling mecca over the next 12 months, which underlines that the APC is being held in exactly the right place at the right time. Plans are afoot to build a series of luxury casinos in Goa starting in 2007, so that the venue will eventually rival Macao as Asia’s number one gambling destination.
A further coup for the APC is hiring Thomas Kremser as tournament director. The Austrian poker expert has run numerous festivals around the world and played a central role in establishing poker on television across the globe.
Kremser said: “The Asian Poker Classic is not just the biggest poker event scheduled for India in 2007 – it’s one of the biggest events anywhere in the world. With big names ready to take part and Goa the perfect setting, it’s the most exciting new poker tournament of the year.”
A number of Bollywood and Hollywood celebs will attend to play, watch and have a good time. Names and details will be released in the weeks leading up to the event – watch this space!
Sachin Pawa, CEO of tournament sponsors Maharajah Club, said: “We are proud to be associated with such a prestigious event. The APC will promote poker in India and we look forward to the APC becoming a fixture on the poker circuit.”
Check out the official site.
PLAY
