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The action at the Party Poker World Open V continues! The Matchroom Sport organised event takes place from Sunday 11 October – Thursday 15 October 2009 in London. For the very first time, the action takes place in the prestigious Palm Beach Casino in the heart of Mayfair and spectators are welcome to rail and the crowds are growing every day. The action starts at 11am.

Hollywood actress Jennifer Tilly won heat three at the PartyPoker.com World Open V to join her partner Phil Laak at the final table, while ex-England football star Teddy Sheringham lost to internet qualifier Jan Veit heads-up in heat four. They join Luke ‘FullFlush’ Schwartz in the final.

Tilly, a WSOP bracelet winner, had to overcome both a tough field and a tricky overnight break in play to reach make it to last seven, where she’ll face a battle for the $250,000 first prize with her American pro boyfriend Laak, who took down heat two.

“I told Jennifer this is war!” said Laak.

“We’re really competitive so we better spend some time together now because we might not be speaking on Friday!” said Tilly.

It was as tough a heat as you could find with online star and pre-tournament favourite Tom “Durrrr” Dwan, triple-crown holder Roland De Wolfe, big cash game player Sammy “any two” George and Neil Channing – Tilly’s eventual heads-up opponent. Online qualifier Gustav Ekerot was the first player to perish and it was Durrrr who followed next, kicking-off Tilly’s run to the final when she picked up aces against jacks for the second time and the bullets held to leave the table six-handed minus Dwan. No sooner had the aces been put back in the deck, they were out the very next hand and Channing used them to full effect, with Josh Gould the unlucky man to have kings in that spot.

Channing was at it again when he knocked out fellow Londoner De Wolfe, with the short-stacked Roland pushing with 105 suited and Neil calling with pocket threes and hitting quads on the river for good measure. It was not long after that when Channing hit quad kings – but George did well to get away with A10. Sammy’s reward for that escape was to knock out online qualifier Robert Sherwood and take the chip lead. George raised with AK, Tilly called with A6 and Sherwood moved all-in with A7 behind her – Sammy snap called and Tilly got out of the way – the king ruled the board and Any Two was up to 1,218k, Tilly held 980k and Channing just 202k.

He pushed those chips over the line with Q4 and was called by Sammy with pocket nines – hitting a queen to double up. Channing then performed the same magic with AK against Tilly’s Q7 and doubled up again to hold over 800k.

With Channing the chip leader – he took an early crack at Tilly with his K8 against her A8 – Channing hitting a king on the flop but Tilly’s prayers for an ace on the river coming true and moving her to 1,000,000 in chips. Had Channing won the hand, Tilly would have gone and Sammy would have had at least a runners-up spot but George was the bubble boy in this heat, moving all-in with AK and getting called by Tilly’s pocket threes – the board coming K3Q2J to get us heads-up.

Tilly held the chip lead and it is one that she converted into victory, steadily building her stack before getting the best of an action board when the duo held seemingly innocuous cards. It read 23K26 with short-stack Neil holding 42 when Tilly moved in with 54 – Channing made the call that sees Jennifer progress through and Neil have another go in the runners-up heat.

Before they finished their tussle, online qualifier Jan Veit won through to the final after seeing off former England and Manchester United striker Teddy Sheringham heads-up in heat four. Sheringham made the first moves of a cagey heat when the blinds hit 5/10k – first knocking out Simon Craig, then seeing off PartyPoker.com in the Sky winner Johannes Nord Jorgensen, beating his pocket queens when his AK hit an ace on the flop. Sam Trickett was the third player to fall, getting it in good with a pair of sevens again Veit’s AQ and staying in-front on the flop before Jan rivered two pair to end Trickett’s tournament. Double WSOP bracelet winner Scott Fischman completed Teddy’s hat-trick, shoving with pocket sixes and running into Sheringham’s kings and Fischman was gone when both men missed the board.The heat was suddenly moving along at great pace and we were three-handed going into the 20/40k level with Alec Torelli the unfortunate victim. He took a shot at Veit with J9 when Jan moved all-in, only for Veit to turn over the red aces. That left Torelli with just over 100k and moments later that was down to nought, Alec pushing with K2 and Sheringham picking up a pair of eights to go three-handed with over one million in chips.

But the 20/40k level was not kind to the striker and as the blinds edged towards 30/60k, he bled off a portion of his stack to Veit in two hands with nothing against two pair and top pair and it was Jan who now moved over the one million mark. He remained dominant going heads-up with Sheringham after WSOP November-Niner Antoine Saout, who ran into trip nines to be out on the bubble. So Veit had the chip lead and it wasn’t long until he had them all – Teddy pushing his in with 102 and running into AJ, with Jan hitting a jack for good measure to move into the final with Teddy joining Channing in the runners-up heat.

A PartyPoker.com spokesman said: “The final table is shaping up to be one of the strongest and liveliest in the events history. Phil Laak, Jennifer Tilly and Full Flush aren’t exactly the shy and retiring types! We’re expecting a great crowd on Thursday night.”

Kelly Allbright of Atlanta quickly became a fan of In-Running Wagering, a mobile gambling system offered at Lagasse’s Stadium sports book inside Palazzo. After a weekend of wagering on college and professional football, Allbright had made so many wagers using the hand-held device that he lost count.

Prior to the kickoff of Sunday’s NFL afternoon action, Allbright still had $900 of his original $1,000 bankroll.

“If I’m losing, it allows me to cover my wagers and bet the other side,” Allbright said of the device, which is a little larger than an iPhone. “I pretty much blew out the battery Saturday.”

In-Running Wagering, dubbed “PocketCasino” at Palazzo and The Venetian, allows gamblers to bet on whether a team will make the next first down or make a field goal as well as the point spreads and money lines on selected games. On other games, just the point spreads and money lines are updated.

Las Vegas-based Cantor Gaming developed the system and introduced it in the spring at M Resort during the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.

“If you can use a BlackBerry, you can use this,” Allbright said.

A few tables over at the Palazzo, Gregg Layman of Panama, who works for an online wagering site, found the system similar to what Internet sports bettors are offered.

Layman won wagers the first two times he tried the system, taking the Cincinnati Bengals on the money line just before the team scored a last-second touchdown to beat the Baltimore Ravens. He also wagered successfully on New England scoring a touchdown against Denver.

“This is going to grow in popularity,” Layman said. “I wish I could use it from home.”

Danny Tubiolo of Rochester, N.Y., was hooked after the opening drive of the New England-Denver game.

“It’s fun to bet if a kicker will make or miss a field goal,” he said.

By letting customers bet as lines change throughout the game, In-Running Wagering drove up the daily betting handle at M Resort’s sports book, which Cantor operates under a management contract.

At the time, Cantor officials thought the system was made for college and professional football because it offers more betting action.

“I think we’re being proven correct,” Cantor Gaming Chief Executive Officer Lee Amaitis said after the technology company brought In-Running Wagering to The Venetian and Palazzo sports books in time for football.

Mark Goldman, director of race and sports at the two casinos operated by Las Vegas Sands Corp., said he has seen interest in the product climb week by week.

“We have ambassadors working the room, handing out information,” Goldman said. “Once people understand it, it’s pretty easy to use. I think it adds to the excitement.”

Customers check out the In-Running Wagering devices and place money on account to be used for wagers. On the tablet, betting lines are changed and updated throughout the game.

Gamblers cash out when the game ends and the device is returned. Technology allows In-Running Wagering to be active throughout the casino.

“Without giving away any proprietary numbers, we have easily seen handles well over six figures on certain games in which In-Running Wagering is used,” Amaitis said.

Cantor designates only one morning and one afternoon game for In-Running Wagering, as well as the Sunday night and Monday night professional football games. Individual college games played on Thursdays or Fridays are also entered into the system.

“We try and find the games that we are pretty sure there will be a lot of interest,” Amaitis said.

Goldman said the In-Running Wagering game can be switched at the last minute. Last weekend’s planned afternoon NFL contest had been Atlanta and San Francisco, which turned out to be a 45-10 blowout win by the Falcons.

Luckily, Goldman said, Cantor switched the game just before kickoff to the more competitive New England and Denver game, which the Broncos won on a field goal in overtime, 20-17.

Cantor was the first company licensed by gaming regulators to bring hand-held wagering devices into Nevada casinos. In-Running Wagering is a product of that system. Cantor Gaming is a subsidiary of the worldwide financial firm Cantor Fitzgerald.

After its successful tryout with the NCAA basketball tournament, In-Running Wagering was used for the National Basketball Association playoffs, horse racing events and selected Major League Baseball games.

“We want to get people interested and we think the product will expand,” Amaitis said.

iGaming Business are pleased to announce their partnership with BetClic, who join their upcoming event, iGB España as the gold sponsor. One of the fastest growing gaming companies in Europe, BetClic are keen to enhance their profile in key emerging markets, such as Spain and are proud to help promote what affiliate opportunities are available in this region.

“BetClic are proud to be the Gold sponsors of iGB España and regard this as a perfect platform to reach out to our current and future affiliate partners who wish to share the extraordinary growth the company has seen over the recent months and years. We would like to take this opportunity to demonstrate our commitment and dedication to all those involved in the Spanish affiliation market” – Pierre Larose, Online Marketing Manager, BetClic Spain.

As a result of the rapidly emerging Spanish speaking igaming market and the new opportunities that are transpiring in this territory, iGaming Business are hosting this specific, niche event to help operators, vendors and affiliates gain a comprehensive insight of the legal, operational and technical workings of this market. iGB España will be held in Madrid at the Hotel Hesperia between 29th-31st October.

With a special focus on each of the traditional gaming sectors; Poker, Casino, Sports Betting, Bingo, dedicated SEO sessions, as well as discussions on payment systems, which is just a selection of what is scheduled, the conference will offer real performance boosting strategies for the iGaming sector.

iGB España will also showcase an exhibition and networking room featuring over 14 of the leading operators and vendors, all of whom are well-established in the Spanish markets. This will provide an important opportunity to network with the most knowledgeable affiliate managers and country coordinators from operators such as Betclic, EGO, NeoGames Partners, JuegaBingo, Casino Claro and Winzingo.

The event is expected to attract plenty of local affiliates and media agencies, for which entry is free of charge, in addition to a large number of international delegates and regular attendees of iGaming Business’s industry wide affiliate events. With only limited space, it is advised to register now as the event is expected to reach capacity.