Every time a jackpot is hit, there is mixed emotion from the other players who hear the news. Some dream of winning one of their own and some sigh in disappointment and wonder why it wasn’t them.

There is no doubt that the jackpot hit at the Orange Park Poker Room in Jacksonville, FL elicited such reactions. It was hit Monday, April 20th at 11pm for $264,346, which was the highest jackpot in the history of Orange Park and Jax Poker Room. The table erupted in cheers and applause at a 7 card stud game when quad queens (QQQQ) beat out quad tens (10 10 10 10).

The ‘losing’ hand took down $132,173 and the ‘winning’ hand was awarded $66,086. The remaining $66,086 was split among the remaining players at the table; among those was a woman who was born in 1914.

For those of you who think it will not be worth playing the Orange Park bad beat for a while should reconsider, because the jackpot resets to $121,000. The bad beat requirements at Orange Park are Aces Full of Jacks (AAJJJ) for Hold Em, Quad 6’s (6 6 6 6) for 7-Card Stud and Quad Kings (K K K K) for Omaha.

When you visit the Orange Park Poker Room, don’t forget to try the sushi, no joke!

Also, we learned a nice tid bit of information from a dealer this week. It is Florida State Law that whatever jackpot amount shows on the screens throughout the poker room at the time of the jackpot win has to be paid. So, if someone had hit it a few minutes later (not likely but possible) and the pokerroom manager had not reset the Jackpot amount; they would have had to pay the amount currently shown (advertised) on the screen.

Article by Matt White

Admittedly, the online poker industry was caught off guard by a decision by the news distribution service, PRWeb, to stop publishing content by internet poker gaming sites over the weekend.

PRWeb was sent a Cease and Desist Order by the State of Washington to immediately stop accepting publications by these sites and operators as it went against the law of the state. PRWeb was purchased by Vocas in 2006, a company that trades on the NASDAQ stock exchange and is based in – you guessed it – Washington.

“Moving forward, PRWeb will no longer be publishing releases that promote or link to online gambling or related websites,” read a rather wordy statement by PRWeb. “This shift in editorial has been prompted by legal considerations and brings us in line with the stance that other notable organizations such as Google and Yahoo are currently taking with regard to promotion of online gambling in the U.S.”

Who will be affected by PRWeb’s decision? While a number of top sites use this company’s services (including Ultimate Bet, Full Tilt and DevilFishPoker), it can’t be said that there are no other services such as those offered by PRWeb to spread the good word. Any operators who asked for a refund were given one on the spot by PRWeb, and other news distributors are now benefiting from their business.

What seems to irk online poker operators, though, is that – once again – Washington has lumped poker with other internet casino games. “We expressed our disappointment that they have chosen to place all gaming-related content in the same category rather than considering poker as a game of skill,” said Ultimate Bet about PRWeb’s decision.
“We requested that they reconsider the details of their policy and look to exempt poker-related content from this blanket ban on all gaming-based editorial.”

Not surprisingly, PRWeb hasn’t responded to Ultimate Bet’s complaint. After all, this company really has its hands tied and needs to heed the Cease and Desist Order. What is surprising, though, is just how far the long arm of the Washington law manages to reach.

The recent launch of an online gambling division by US gaming giant, Harrah’s was fresh news in the industry, but hardly surprising, considering the state of land based gambling in the country, and the winds of change being felt with the new Obama government. Publicly or privately, the majority of offline gambling companies in the United States are after a legalized and regulated online wagering industry, and Harrah’s new division seems a logical answer to changes that we may be seeing in the near future.

Yet, there seems to be something more than meets the eye, and a hint of that something comes with the appointment of former Chief Executive Officer of PartyGaming, Mitch Gerber, to head the new division which will focus, among other things, on the operations for the World Series of Poker.

Is Harrah’s considering a move into the online gambling market with the launch of its own brand name gaming and poker site? And could this consideration have something to do with the fact that there is probably nobody better than Mitch Gerber who understands the ins and outs of the online gambling worlds as a whole… and PartyGaming in particular?

And here’s the perfect timing element. PartyGaming (Partypoker), only last week, signed a deal with the US Department of Justice to settle a case that has been going on for years. The plea agreement, which cost PartyGaming $105 million, means that the software company has had its name cleared in the United States. This also means that any company that chooses to work with PartyGaming in the future won’t be up against any problems with the DOJ.  I can see it now, “Partypoker by Harrah’s”

Harrah’s has all the right elements in place – a political environment that has never been riper for change than the current administration; a fiery congressman in the form of Barney Frank pushing for new legislation; a brand new division with a leader who has plenty of drive and experience to take Harrah’s online ambitions far and the opportunity to work globally with a number of top gaming brands… including one of the biggest out there, PartyGaming.