Full Shill Poker

More new products from the folks at PokerTek, this time a stand-alone “entertainment” version of their heads-up machine. Sounds like a shitload of these things will go into bars and people can sit and play each other for $20 a throw, right?

Right. Except these machines are for “entertainment” purposes only.

PokerTek, Inc. (NASDAQ: PTEK) announces Heads-Up Challenge(TM), an
innovative new heads-up poker table that enables two players to compete
against each other in a game of Texas Hold’em poker for entertainment
purposes. The company anticipates placing units in bars and restaurants
around the world, starting this summer.

“People love to play heads-up poker,” said James Crawford,
President of PokerTek. “It’s fast-paced, it’s one-on-one and the
competition is intense. Bringing the world’s greatest card game into
the amusement space is an exciting next step for our company.”

PokerTek is leveraging its agreement with Harrah’s License
Company, LLC, an affiliate of Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc (NYSE: HET)
to co-brand this new table with the World Series of Poker, a name
synonymous with excellence in poker.

“The success of any sports property is directly related to its
ability to introduce the brand to new audiences,” said World Series of
Poker Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack. “The Heads-Up Challenge(TM) World
Series of Poker® Edition fits right into our strategic plan by creating
new ways to experience our unique blend of thrills, strategy, and
entertainment.”

Heads-Up Challenge(TM) World Series of Poker® Edition marks the
first venture into the amusements category for PokerTek. “This product
extends our reach into a large market outside the gaming space,
leverages our intellectual property and maintains focus within our area
of expertise, which is Poker,” said James Crawford. “The World Series
of Poker brand is a powerful addition to an already amazing product,
and we look forward to introducing this new game to players in bars.”

The Heads-Up Challenge(TM) World Series of Poker® Edition table
will be revealed — fittingly — at the 2007 World Series of Poker in
Las Vegas. Pollack will host the unveiling, which will take place at
noon on July 5th in the Milwaukee’s Best Light No-Limit Lounge on the
Main Event floor at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino. Pro players and
friendly rivals Phil Laak and Antonio Esfandiari will be the first
challengers to play on the table after its public introduction. The
tables will be placed in the PokerPro® booth at the Gaming Life Expo
the remainder of the week, allowing all visitors an opportunity to
experience the ultimate heads-up battle.

The 2007 World Series of Poker Presented by Milwaukee’s Best
Light, the world’s richest sporting event, began June 1st at the Rio®
All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

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In a press release issued earlier this week, Full Contact Poker has announced that it will no longer host a poker playing site, returning to its original format as a poker forum and a place for Negreanu-worship. Player accounts will be transferred to PokerStars.com.

Here’s the press release -

After much thought and consideration, Full Contact Poker has decided
that it is in the best interest of its poker players to merge with one
of the industry’s top poker sites, PokerStars.com. 
As part of this merger, all FCP player balances (cash and player
points) will be transferred to PokerStars.  Full Contact Poker and
PokerStars will try to make the account transfer process as easy and
seamless as possible.

We would like to thank you in
advance for your cooperation and understanding during the transition
process, which will take place over the next few days. Please take care
to read the information that follows very carefully. 

Full
Contact Poker will cease all poker and casino operations in all
countries and return FullContactPoker.com to its roots as a forum-based
poker community that features Daniel Negreanu and his popular blog,
video diaries and a new video poker school that is in development. FCP
players now have the opportunity to shift their FCP accounts over to
PokerStars, where they will join over 9 million other players on the
World’s largest poker site, assuring themselves of a game of poker any
time of day.

In a separate agreement, Daniel Negreanu has
signed as a member of Team PokerStars, showing his commitment to where
he sees the future of online poker.

The
soon-to-be-revamped Full Contact Poker website and community will now
have the best of both worlds.  Daniel will continue to be an active
leader in the FCP Community, while at the same time PokerStars has
agreed to become the new home for many of our community’s online poker
events, including Negreanu’s Protégé 3, future Weekend at Daniel’s
events, the weekly Negreanu Open and much more!

The
following is a list of very important dates and details on how the
transition of players from FCP to PokerStars will happen:

• Monday , June 11 th - The following software functions will be turned off:
• FCP players will no longer be able to make real money deposits at fullcontactpoker.com
• FCP
  players will no longer be able to make withdrawal requests through Full
  Contact Poker.  However, you will be able to make withdrawal requests
  from PokerStars once you have initiated your account balance transfer
  to PokerStars (these account transfer instructions will be detailed in
  an e-mail message to this address directly from PokerStars on Thursday
  , June 14 th)
• FCP Casino will be shut down

• Tuesday
  Morning, June 12 th - FCP poker room on the Digital Gaming Network will
  be shut down and players will no longer have access to the software.

• Until
  Wednesday morning, you will still be able to log into your player
  account to view your account balances and FCP points balance.  You will
  also be able to redeem your FCP points for merchandise in the FCP
  Store.  After Wednesday morning around 9:00 am EST, your FCP points
  will no longer be available to redeem in the FCP Store, but they will
  be transferred to PokerStars and converted into PokerStars Frequent
  Player Points (FPPs).  For every 2.5 FCP points you have, you will
  receive one PokerStars FPP that can be used in the PokerStars store
  and/or redeemed for tournament entries the same way current PokerStars
  players are able to redeem their points.

• Wednesday
  Morning, June 13 th - FCP player accounts will be locked and players
  will no longer be able to log into their FCP accounts.  At this point,
  all player account balances will be prepared for transfer to
  PokerStars.  (Note: Bonus money balances will not be transferred to
  PokerStars and will expire.)  All currency conversion adjustments
  necessary to determine a final U.S. dollar value will use the
  international currency rates posted for June 13th , 2007.

• Finally,
  by Thursday , June 14 th, PokerStars will send FCP players a welcome
  e-mail and have a secure web application ready for you to authenticate
  your account identity and then transfer your account balances.

The
welcome e-mail from PokerStars will detail the final transfer
instructions and confirm the day and time you may begin this
authentication process.  We kindly request that you do not contact
PokerStars Support prior to receiving this email, as they will not be
able to give you any details on how this procedure will work at this
time.  Once it becomes active, you may also visit the following link to
access these transfer instructions https://www.pokerstars.com/welcomefcp

If
you signed up at FullContactPoker.com or FullContactPoker.net, but
never created a real money account, you too may receive an e-mail from
PokerStars describing their services and explaining the best way to
create a new account.  If you wish to learn more about PokerStars,
please visit http://www.pokerstars.com.

For
the latest news please visit the Full Contact Poker website and forums,
where we’ll be making updated announcements and addressing any commonly
asked questions.  If you have questions that are not addressed on the
FCP website and forums, you can send an e-mail to info@fullcontactpoker.com.

We
sincerely thank you for your business and support during the past two
years and look forward to an exciting new beginning with a restructured
FullContactPoker.com website and a relationship with PokerStars.

-Team FCP

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