Zoom Poker Out of Beta

This week, Zoom Poker has come out of Beta mode. After successful testing and trials, PokerStars’ Zoom Poker is an official offering from the online poker giant. To mark the occasion, Stars has also released Zoom Poker as a mobile application.

During the beta testing period of Zoom Poker, over 300 million hands were dealt. Despite being in a trial mode, players flocked to the application, as it seemed to be a suitable replacement for Full Tilt Poker’s Rush Poker application. It seemed to have exceeded players’ expectations, as it offered up a wider range of games and stakes than Rush Poker.

If you don’t already know what Zoom Poker is, it is a face-paced online poker application. Players can fit in more hands as they are move to a new table every time they fold. It allows players to get in the volume when it comes to grinding it out in the online poker world – and is a fun way for beginners to learn the basics.

The mobile version of Zoom Poker is only available for Android devices from the .net, .com and .co.uk PokerStars domains. There is no word yet on whether or not it will be released for .com.au; however, New Zealand and Australian players can still take part in Zoom poker on the downloadable suite of PokerStars.

NZPT Queenstown SnowFest Announced

It’s that time of year again: Snowfest is here! During this time, one of the biggest poker tournament to hit New Zealand will occur, offering players in the country the chance to compete for some amazing cash prizes. The event will be held from July 24th to July 29th, and it will take place at Sky City Queenstown.

The buy-in for the main event is $3000, but players can also qualify via live and online satellites. Live satellites will be held at Sky City Casino in the weeks leading up to the main event. The buy-in for these satellites is just $35. There will also be free satellites available on PokerStars.net.

Players will begin with 20 000 chips and the levels begin at 50/100. Blinds increase every hour for Days 1, 2 and 3.

Already, players from across New Zealand, Australia and Asia have expressed interest in competing in this exciting event. So, there is the chance that this could turn out to be a thrilling poker tournament, attracting attention from top players in the country.

APPT Poker Tour to Hit Australia and New Zealand

The Asian Pacific Poker Tour, presented by PokerStars, was the first of two poker events to hit Australia and New Zealand this year. In addition to Stars’ Australia New Zealand Poker tour taking place at various gambling venues across the countries, the APPT presented plenty of amazing opportunities for Australian poker players to compete for incredible cash prizes.

Seoul , Macau and Cebu are the three Asian stops on the tour, which will be made this year. The two Australian legs of the tour took place in Melbourne in July and Queenstown in August of 2011. The APPT Melbourne presented players with the chance to buy in to a $5000 event at the Crown Casino while the APPT Queenstown offered a $3000 event at Sky City.

The two events saw some of the best and brightest Australian and New Zealand poker players come out for the event. Some of them will continue on to the final, which will take place in Cebu on April 25th, while others will stay local to compete in the upcoming ANZPT which will start later in the year.

Over all, it has been an incredibly exciting year for poker in New Zealand, and we are exciting to see what is next.

Full Tilt Poker Acquired by Groupe Bernard Tapie

After weeks of negotiation, Full Tilt Poker has been bought by Groupe Bernard Tapie. Together, the two companies will work towards refunding players from around the world and resuming the online poker website’s operations.

It has been long time coming, but things are finally beginning to improve for the once renowned online poker operator. After being implicated in the Black Friday scandal of April 2011, the website experienced several difficulties getting back onto its feet.

First, Full Tilt had trouble refunding its players. While Poker Stars and other sites implicated in the scandal had begun paying back their players, Full Tilt struggled. This led to the website having its licensed revoked by the Alderney Gaming Control Commission.

Now, Full Tilt Poker is looking at finally resuming its online operators with the help of Groupe Bernard Tapie. American players will be able to receive their long-awaited refunds while Australian poker players can look forward to resuming their activities at the popular online poker website.

With the local government currently considering revamping the Interactive Gambling Act and the legalizing online gambling, it is likely that online poker websites like Full Tilt will become regulated by the government.