People news 26/07/12
A round up of industry moves from the last week (20 July to 26 July 2012).
Choose the host for this year’s eGR Operator Awards – vote now!
Choose from a shortlist of Tim Vine, Reginald D Hunter, and Jimmy Carr.
This year’s 8th annual eGaming Review Operator Awards will take place on Monday 26th November 2012 at a brand new venue, The Roundhouse in Camden in London, and this year promises to be even bigger and better!
Not only that, in a special subscriber poll this year we’re asking you to help us choose the award host from a shortlist of three highly rated comedians, King of the one liner Tim Vine, popular US stand-up Reginald D Hunter and 8 Out of 10 Cats presenter Jimmy Carr.
So, make sure you VOTE NOW via the poll on the right hand side and let us know who you want to see at the awards in November. We’ll publish the results first thing on Monday morning.
Seven days in people news:
Absolute Poker’s Beckley sentenced to 14 months
Absolute Poker director of payments Brent Beckley has been sentenced to 14 months in prison after pleading guilty in December to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and to violate UIGEA.
The US Department of Justice argued for leniency in Beckley’s sentencing earlier this month due to his wilful cooperation with US authorities, as well as no specific financial institutions identifying losses as a result of Absolute Poker’s payment processing.
District Judge Lewis Kaplan had questioned the leniency of the sentencing guidelines in May, but yesterday chose to accept the prosecutors’ recommendation of a 12 to 18 month sentence, the forfeiture of US$300,000 and a fine up to $30,000.
Beckley had been expected to face trial in April, then early July, but sentencing was postponed as attorney Mark Harris requested an adjournment once Kaplan said he would argue for a longer sentence.
Zynga appoints first female board member
Social gaming company Zynga has appointed a woman to its board of directors for the first time.
Ellen Siminoff, president and CEO of publishing company Shnoop University, is also set to join the audit committee of the Nasdaq-listed business.
She joins Zynga’s CEO and COO, Mark Pincus and John Schappert, on the board. Other members include LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and former EA executive Bing Gordon.
William Hill US names new director of bookmaking
William Hill US has appointed veteran Nevada bookmaker Nick Bogdanovich as director of bookmaking.
Bogdanovich was previously director of bookmaking operations at Reno-based Club Cal-Neva, which had 27 sportsbooks throughout Nevada, including Binion’s and Four Queens in Las Vegas.
William Hill spent US$55m in April last year acquiring Club Cal-Neva, American Wagering and Brandywine Bookmaking. The deals were completed last month after Hills obtained its Nevada gaming licence.
Betfair has named Elisabeth Hille as its latest sponsored poker player. The Norwegian, who finished 11th in the World Series of Poker Main Event earlier this month, joins players including John Tabatabai and former world champion Peter Eastgate.
Multiple World Series of Poker bracelet winner Michael Mizrachi has signed up as an ambassador of the International Stadiums Poker Tour, the series founded by Laurent Tapie and Prosper Masquelier which will hold its inaugural event in London next year. The American, who won this year’s US$50,000 buy-in Players’ Championship, has more than $14m in lifetime earnings.