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August 6, 2005

HEADLINE:
Online poker rooms: Gambling911 helps players make informed decisions

BODY:
With the addition of online poker expert and tournament player Bones McCoy, Gambling911.com now becomes a force in helping players choose the right poker room.

Miami Beach, Florida, (PRWEB) August 5, 2005 -- With so many online poker rooms popping up all over the net these days, Gambling911.com has responded to the needs of an ever growing poker playing population by enlisting the services of one Bones McCoy.

And just who is Bones McCoy you might be asking yourself?

"I am a self-proclaimed online poker junkie," McCoy, Gambling911.com's latest acquisition to its writing staff, explained. "I literally play in various online poker rooms at least 8 hours a day, often much longer than that."

McCoy left his day job (or in his case, a night job as a waiter) to pursue his internet poker playing dreams on a full time basis. Like many of this year's World Series of Poker entrants (some 5000 plus), Bones McCoy has aspirations of becoming a professional poker player and vying for the millions of dollars in prize money.

"I do well in tournaments," McCoy confessed. "I study each online poker room with the same fervor as I do the players I'm competing with."

McCoy's experience helped make him an excellent candidate to assume the position of Lead Poker Writer for Gambling911.com (www.gambling911.com), a popular online gambling portal recently mentioned in The Wall Street Journal.

"I was so elated when they (Gambling911) approached me about this position," said McCoy. "This is a dream come true for me."

Just two years ago, McCoy probably couldn't even tell you what cards appeared in a deck. Like many of today's professionals, McCoy is self-taught and a quick learner, which just goes to show that anybody can start playing poker and enjoy tremendous success in a very short period of time.

In addition to providing readers of the web site with tips and strategies related to online poker games, McCoy will also be writing reviews on many of the web's leading poker rooms.

His latest review is likely to turn many poker players onto what some might consider an "obscure" online poker room.

"Sports Interaction (www.sportsinteraction.com) is well known among sports bettors but I had no idea they even featured a poker room until Gambling911.com asked me to review them," McCoy said. "Let me just say, “WOW”! For being a relatively smaller site, (1-2,000 active players) I was impressed with everything. I would bet that the owner is a poker player."

While much of the public remains infatuated with the big name online poker rooms like PartyPoker, PacificPoker and PokerStars, McCoy believes that the "little guy" and those linked to larger online sports betting ventures will eventually make significant inroads.

"Most poker sites aren’t user friendly like SIA. They cater to every type of poker player. You get to choose your character type, you can be a baseball player, evening gown girl, tuxedo guy, pimp, body guard, a cowboy, and several more (I’m the Pimp, obviously) and they are voice animated. They have a nice variety of ring table games; limit, pot limit, no limit Texas Hold ‘Em, limit, pot limit Omaha, limit and pot limit Omaha hi/low with blinds as low as $.01/$.02 up to $10/$20."

McCoy recently stumbled upon a Gambling911.com sponsor whose poker room was not up to par. The sportsbook that manages this poker room has asked McCoy to assist them in implementing the necessary improvements to make them more competitive and customer-focused.

"I am more than happy to help out. It is my personal opinion that there will never be too many poker rooms for a serious player like myself."

Gambling911.com already has plans to exhibit at next year's World Series of Poker. Plans to produce regularly scheduled "online poker nights" with Gambling911.com's sexy sailor-mouthed reporter, Jenny Woo, have been placed on the back burner for the time being however.

"Jenny (Woo) needs to hone her poker skills a little more," explained Gambling911.com Founder and President, Christopher Costigan. "We are hopeful that "Jenny Woo Poker Night" will eventually get off the ground but for the time being, Gambling911 is focusing more heavily on providing extensive poker coverage and competing with - or otherwise working with - already established websites and publications operating in this sector."

Costigan pointed out that his company enjoys a solid relationship with Bluff Magazine and its founder, Eric Morris.

"We see Bluff Magazine as the current leader among a whole slew of poker magazines that have come out in the last year or so. Bluff regularly provides us with interesting content while Gambling911.com does its best to drive new subscribers their way. During the World Series of Poker, Bluff Magazine utilized our own Jenny Woo to welcome guests at their booth."

Proof that Gambling911.com is starting to be viewed as a key player in the extremely lucrative online poker market: two prominent poker rooms have recently entered into advertising deals with the web site.

"You can't ask for a better sponsor than legendary poker player Doyle Brunson's very own poker room," Costigan said. "We were thrilled to bring on www.doylesroom.com last month."

And this month, Gambling911.com brings on a relatively new name to the world of online poker, www.igotpoker.com.

"The folks behind IGotPoker.com have been key players in the online gambling industry for many years. We are confident that this heavily financed brand will become a power house in no time."

Over the next few months, Gambling911.com will pursue other poker writers, primarily on a syndication basis. The web site also plans to focus on the celebrity interest in poker.

"We are already in the process of lining up interviews with so-called "poker celebrities" - and there are a lot of them out there," Costigan stated. "No other media outlet covered the World Series of Poker celebrity parties the way we at Gambling911.com did and that trend will continue."

As for the online poker rooms themselves, Costigan admits that newer ventures like Doyle's Room and IGot Poker will initially have a tough time competing with the more established powerhouses like PartyPoker, many of which have already begun trading publicly on the London Stock Exchange. But he also sees significant potential with these underdogs.

"What our resident poker expert, Bones McCoy, is discovering is that poker rooms the likes of Doyles, Sports Interaction and IGot Poker are more focused on the players needs and offer a wealth of options that the larger poker sites do not. We might not see a changing of the guard right away, but we will see these newer poker rooms gain a significant market share over the next two years."

And while a lot of pundits refer to the current poker craze as nothing more than a "fad" similar to that of the Cabbage Patch Doll frenzy in late 80's, Gambling911.com sees no end to poker's popularity.

"Those who think that poker will go the way of the dinosaurs in two or three years have probably never played the game," laughed Bones McCoy. "As a serious poker player, I can tell you right now, unless I get hit in the head with a rock and develop amnesia, there is no way I'm losing interest in poker."

About Gambling911.com:

Gambling911.com is recognized as the worldwide leader in online gambling and sports betting information. As a portal begun in 2000 dedicated exclusively to covering internet gambling, Gambling911.com has since expanded into various other arenas that have led to a tremendous surge in readership over the past year. Gambling911.com provides all the latest news related to online poker rooms. Gambling911.com has been mentioned in the Wall Street Journal, the Miami Herald, The Las Vegas Sun, The Hartford Courant, Fox 6 Milwaukee and many more fine media outlets.

All media inquiries should be directed to Christopher Costigan at 305-867-3880.

For more information visit www.gambling911.com

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