The UK-based online gambling group Virgin Games is aiming for a 5 percent share of Italy’s booming online poker market within a year of its start-up, reports the Reuters news agency, quoting the chief executive of Virgin Games, Simon Burridge, this week.

Virgin’s online poker is operated in a revenue-sharing partnership with Italy’s Cogetech SpA, and the British company sees the teamwork as boosting its chances of success and keeping down costs.

“We are ‘white labelling’ it on the back of Cogetech,” Burridge revealed. “It is a lot less expensive. Cogetech does [player] registration and the banking. For Virgin it is just a marketing operation and that is what it does best,” he said.

The Italian venture started in “soft launch” mode in September 2009 and has already signed up 8 000 Italian players, Burridge reported.

“After six weeks we are on target to take 5 percent of the market after 12 months,” he claimed. “The market is Euros 200 million. So by December we are looking to be [on] Euros 10 million. We are looking to break-even in five or six months,” he said.

Since its approval just over a year ago, Italian online poker bets have risen to Euros 221 million in September 2009, Italian regulator AAMS data showed.

Italy’s Lottomatica SpA, Snai SpA and the unlisted Sisal are among the principal operators of online poker.

November 7th is a date many pokerheads have outlined in red on their online gambling calendars; after weeks of anticipation it marks the start - or re-start - of the World Series of Poker action, specifically the final table climax in which nine finalists battle it out.

Besting 6 494 other entrants in the WSOP main internet gambling event to make the final table is an achievement in itself, and the rewards are considerable. Even the first man eliminated from the final table will take home $1 263 602, and the winner will accrue fame, respect….and a main prize valued at $8 546 435 this year.

The November Nine will return to the Rio’s Penn and Teller Theater in Las Vegas on Saturday at noon Pacific Standard Time and play down to two players. Starting at 10 p.m. PST Monday, those two final survivors will go head-to-head to decide who is the 2009 WSOP main online casinos event champion.

The final table episode will then be broadcast to the world on the ESPN television network on Tuesday, starting at 6 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

Here’s the make up with chip counts of the final table, which will begin in level 33 with blinds at 120 000-240 000 with a 30 000 ante.

1: Darvin Moon : 58 930 000
2: Eric Buchman : 34 800 000
3: Steven Begleiter : 29 885 000
4: Jeff Shulman : 19 580 000
5: Joe Cada : 13 215 000
6: Kevin Schaffel : 12 390 000
7: Phil Ivey : 9 765 000
8: Antoine Saout : 9 500 000
9: James Akenhead : 6 800 000

Average Chip Count: 21 646 666

Final table payouts look like this:

1st Place: $8 546 435
2nd Place: $5 182 601
3rd Place: $3 479 485
4th Place: $2 502 787
5th Place: $1 953 395
6th Place: $1 587 133
7th Place: $1 404 002
8th Place: $1 300 228
9th Place: $1 263 602

There’s little upfront information on ownership and licensing, but the latest online casino is certainly pumping out plenty of pre-launch publicity this week as Royal Sands Casino prepares to welcome internet gamblers with a range of inaugural sign-up bonuses.

The new operation is powered by RealTime Gaming and will offer a gambling suite of some 200 games, including slot faves like Cleopatra’s Gold, Enchanted Garden, Treasure Chamber, Red Sands, Crazy Dragon, Bank on it and Diamond Mine.

One of Ladbrokes casino online players is a million euros richer this week following the completion of the Microgaming One Million Euros Grand Slam of gambling slots competition which was concluded on November 2nd at 8pm Central European Time.

Stefan from South London started a new life after winning the massive jackpot in what is being claimed as the richest online slots tournament the Internet has ever seen.

The high profile Grand Slam of Slots tournament boasted a 1.3 Million Euro prize pool with a first prize being of 1 Million Euros. There was also 300 000 Euros worth of additional prizes given away.

In total, 482 people walked away from the Grand Slam of Slots tournament with winnings.

Entry into the Grand Slam of Slots was strictly limited to just 8 700 people worldwide, playing on Microgaming-powered online casinos across the planet. To gain entry into the Grand Slam of Slots, players entered satellite Freeroll tournaments.

The lucky players who won seats into the main event played on the popular Lara Croft Tomb Raider slot game. Players started with 9 000 coins and were able to boost their chances of winning with three add-ons and unlimited re-buys at 20 Euros each.

The limited number of players combined with the high number of major guaranteed prizes meant all players were in with a good chance of walking away from the Grand Slam of Slots substantially richer.

Charlie Goodenough, Head of Marketing, Ladbrokescasino.com said: “This tournament was always going to be exciting with one million Euros up for grabs and it is a great honour to be involved in creating the first online slot tournament millionaire. The Tomb Raider game is one of our most popular games because it is simple yet fun to play. It is part of a portfolio of over 450 thrilling games including numerous variants of roulette, blackjack and Slots.”

The tournament started on Thursday the 22nd of October 2009 at 17:00 GMT and ran for 9 days across the Microgaming licensee network.

The tournament ended on Monday the 2nd of November when Pattoned took down the jackpot.

Microgaming has released more detail on the conclusion of its 11 day, Euro 1.3 million Grand Slam of Slots? best casino games, which was won by a Ladbrokes Casino player this week.

Stefan of South London scooped the Euro 1 million grand prize, commenting: “I’m absolutely stunned! What will I do with the money? Who knows; we’ll have to wait casino games and see! ”

Asked whether he plans to quit work on the back of the massive win Stefan responded: “I’m not thinking about leaving work at all, I absolutely love what I do and want to continue it for as long as I can”.

The online player qualified for the gambling tournament with a mere Euro 2 qualifier, and posted his winning score on his birthday.

With barely 24 hours of the final remaining Stefan knocked Rick H, a Red Flush Casino player, into second position after he’d occupied the coveted top spot for what must have been a nerve jangling week. Still, Rick H can console himself with the Euro 50 000 second place prize and free entry, along with the other top 10 finishers, into the next Grand Slam final.

Microgaming spokesman Mike Hebden said: “The tournament has certainly lived up to expectations and generated a tremendous buzz amongst the online slot playing community. We are delighted to have been the power behind the biggest ever online slot tournament and offer our congratulations to Pattoned on this historic win.”

Hebden paid tribute to his company’s technical team, which he said had set new standards for handling the large number of simultaneously connected online casino players and the vast volume of data that a tournament of this magnitude represents.

For most online gamblers, hitting a online casino games just once is the experience of a lifetime, but there are on record numerous instances of particularly fortunate punters who have achieved multiple wins.

The latest of these is ChontelB, an Australian gambler on the Microgaming-powered Royal Vegas Casino website who recently took home A$26 813 for a slots win on the Major Millions game…only two months after her A$33 000 hit in the Grand Slam of Slots tournament.

The Grand Slam of Slots tournament is still being played out, with a worthwhile Euro 1 000 000 grand prize jackpot still up for grabs.