2011 January 25, Chad Holloway

This week Inside Gaming takes a look at the $12.8 million jackpot hit on an Aria slot machine Friday. We’ll also explore Bwin’s new poker app for the iPhone and recent gambling revenue statistics for the state of Mississippi.

$12.8 Million Megabucks Jackpot Hit at Aria

On Friday, one lucky gambler at the Aria had the thrill of a lifetime when she put $6 in a Megabucks slot machine and ended up hitting the jackpot, worth $12.8 million. The winner, who remains anonymous, was visiting Las Vegas to celebrate her niece’s birthday.

“I was on my way to my room when I saw this machine and decided to play,” the player said in a statement released by International Game Technology, the company that has operated the Megabucks system since 1986. Initially, the winner thought the machine had malfunctioned, but her niece quickly realized otherwise. What does one do with a $12.8 million jackpot? According to the winner, she plans on “paying off the mortgage.”

For more on this story as it develops, visit the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Play Poker on Your iPhone

Want to play poker on your iPhone? Well now you can. Bwin has become the first major online site to launch a real money poker app for the iPhone, which can be download through Apple’s App Store in both the UK and Austrian stores. Bwin’s release follows on the heels of Full Tilt Poker’s Android-compatible Rush Poker product released late last year.

Players will be able to play for free or real money and can register directly on the iPhone. In addition, the poker application will feature hand histories, easy navigation and clear images.

“Thanks to the bwin iPhone poker app, our customers can, for the first time ever, show what they’ve got in the world’s biggest poker network via the popular iPhone platform,” Berthold Kao of Bwin said. “With the iPhone poker application, we continue to extend our lead in the mobile entertainment sector. Together with the Bwin live application and casino for the iPhone, we now offer our customers a complete portfolio.”

If you’re interested in playing poker on your iPhone, check out the full story at insidepokerbusiness.co.uk.

One Mississippi, Two Mississippi, $2.39 Billion Mississippi

The World Series of Poker Circuit will soon be making a stop in Tunica, Mississippi, so we thought it might be interesting to take a look at some recent gambling statistics from the state. According to recent numbers reported on Friday by the Mississippi Department of Revenue, state-licensed casinos won $2.39 billion from players in 2010, dropping three percent from the $2.46 billion won in 2009. The decrease in revenue didn’t come as much of a surprise to experts as it is in line with numbers from other states.

Now, when we talk about a casino “win,” the number is a gross figure that doesn’t include the operating costs or other expenses. Hotel, restaurant and bar revenues were not taken into account in the figures. The above numbers reflect 30 casinos located throughout Mississippi, which include those on the Gulf Coast and along the Mississippi River; however, it does not include Indian tribal casinos, which are not required to release their numbers to the public.

While numbers were down for 2010 in general, casinos hoped to rebound in December. Unfortunately, things didn’t get any better as the year wound down. All told, the casinos took in $184.6 million in December, compared to the $185 million of 2009. Taking a closer look at the numbers, 11 of the state’s casinos, located in the south, won $87.4 million in December, up from $83.5 million in December 2009. The other 19 casinos, those along the Mississippi River, generated $97.1 million in December, compared to the $101.4 million in 2009, a $4.3 million drop.

Cory Morowitz, a casino analyst with Galloway, N.J.-based Morowitz Gaming Advisors, said that despite stabilized numbers in some markets, there is a long way to go. “Across the U.S., except for small pockets, we don’t expect the consumer to be back for three to five years. This isn’t your normal recession. People are trying to pay off debt and we are waiting for unemployment to come down.”

To read the whole story and see even more statitics, pay a visit to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

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2011 January 25, Eric Ramsey

It’s time to dig out the Rolodex and start sweet-talkin’ your backers again. The 2011 World Series of Poker schedule was released on Monday, and it’s going to make for another busy (and expensive) summer inside the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino.

The 42nd Annual WSOP boasts a full schedule of 58 events — up one from last year — packed into the 50 days spanning May 31 to July 19. As usual, the summer kicks off with the $500 Casino Employees event, and the familiar $1,000 Ladies’ and Seniors’ Championships are slotted in as Events #22 and #34, respectively. Things get shaken up a bit from there on out, however, and there are a few noteworthy changes in store for the open events this time around.

Event #2 is a familiar event that’s received a facelift as the Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em Championship graduates to a $25,000 buy in. It’s capped at 256 players, and if it fills up (which it will), the champion will earn just over $1.5 million and the first open bracelet of the 2011 season. Other new additions to the schedule include a pair of first-time six-handed events: the $2,500 10-Game Mix event (Event #29) and the $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha (Event #35). Both figure to be resounding successes in their first years, and the 10-Game means that the dealers will be spreading Badugi for the first time ever at the WSOP. This year also sees the return of the $2,500 Omaha/Stud Hi-Lo event, slotted in at #47 after a one-year absence from the schedule. All told, 24 of the 58 events feature disciplines other than hold’em.

Including Event #2, there are 12 events distinguished as “Championship” events. Ten of them carry a $10,000 buy in, and they run the game-selection gamut from pot-limit hold’em to H.O.R.S.E. It also appears that the Chip Reese Memorial Trophy has found itself a permanent home as the $50,000 Poker Player’s Championship returns, grammatical idiosyncrasies and all. Rather than opening the Series this year, however, the Player’s Championship finds itself tucked away cozily as Event #55, a fine lead-up to the $10,000 Main Event.

Other tidbits

As was the case in 2010, all events are scheduled to begin at noon or 5:00 p.m.
Late registration will remain open for four levels for Events #1-57 with the standard two levels during the Main Event.
The new late registration rules apply to the daily deepstack events and mega-satellites as well, but these events will also include re-entries for the first time ever.
Speaking of re-entries, the rebuy events are still banished from the schedule for 2011, though there are two Triple Chance events, Events #12 ($1,500) and #50 ($5,000).
There are five $1,000 events, one fewer than last year. Only the first and the last of them (Events #8 and #54) will have two starting days whereas the other three will likely see the Pavilion bursting at the seams for massive Day 1s.
A daily 9:00 a.m. $75 mega-satellite has been added. It’s going to be quite an unpopular hour for most poker players, but it’s a great way to earn a $500 tournament chip plus $50 in cash.
The Ante Up For Africa event is absent from the schedule for the first time in five years. We understand the staff intends to add another charity event in its place, but the details are still TBD for now.
Pre-registration will open for all 58 events on February 7th.

PokerNews is thrilled to once again be providing the official live updates from the tournament floor for all 58 bracelet events, and all signs point to another exciting summer. You can peruse the full 2011 WSOP schedule here.

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