February 3rd, 2005

Giles Hewitt
AFP

In the past 24 hours, around $180-million was bet in online poker rooms worldwide, and Boyd Leys wants a slice of the action.

Five months ago, Leys packed in his $65 000 a year job with an internet publishing company and joined a growing number of poker enthusiasts emboldened by the boom in online gambling to take up the game fulltime.

In the first online tournament he tried, Leys (50) managed to get in the money, but with an average monthly "take" of just $300, he has few illusions about becoming an overnight poker millionaire.

"I just want to be able to make a living at it," he said. "Basically, I'm going to give it another three months, and if I can create sufficient income then I'll see where it goes."

Leys spends an average of six hours a day playing $50 and $100 buy-in games.

"Obviously I take breaks in between," he explained. "I don't just sit there and drool on the keyboard for six hours."

Television coverage has fuelled phenomenal growth in the poker industry in recent years, and nowhere more so than in the virtual gaming rooms that litter the internet.

In January 2003, around $11.1-million was wagered every day on major poker websites. Two years later, that daily average has grown to $180-million, according to PokerPulse.com, a Canadian company that tracks the industry.

And with as many as 1.8 million players active at any given time, poker sites are expected to pull in more than two billion dollars in gross revenue this year.

What's the attraction?

So what attracts people like Leys to give up comfortable jobs for the insecure world of internet poker?

"Well, for one thing you can work in your underwear," said Matthew Hilger, a poker writer who forsook a career in banking to become an online poker professional four years ago.

According to Hilger, a number of wannabe pros have an overly romantic view of what the job entails.

When the thrill is gone...

"The fun and thrill of playing online poker is not quite the same once you start playing 40 hours a week in front of your computer," Hilger said.

The dreams of online players are embodied by Chris Moneymaker and Greg Raymer, who stunned the traditional poker world by stepping from the obscurity of the internet ranks and walking off with the coveted World Poker Series titles in 2003 and 2004 respectively.

"After seeing those two win, everyone from the bellboy to the CEO suddenly wanted to play the game," said Bill Seymour (63) a 10-year veteran of the World Poker Tour, who now coaches online players at Pokercoaching.com.

Many just don't have a clue

"A lot of the people out there just haven't got a clue," said Seymour, who claims that four sessions with him would give any online player an advantage over 85 percent of his cyberspace rivals.

Logic suggests that highly skilled players like Seymour would make a mint fleecing amateurs on the internet, but the virtual environment robs them of a key weapon in their armoury — the ability to "read" flesh and blood opponents for signs that they may be bluffing or holding a sure-win hand.

"Playing bad players can actually be a liability for a pro," said Seymour. "They call when they shouldn't and bluff when they shouldn't and, worst of all, win when they shouldn't."

Luck a great leveller

And as Barry Shulman, editor of Card Player magazine points out, the element of luck is the great leveller in poker.

"A decent golfer will almost never beat a top professional, but a decent poker player can beat the world's best on any given day," said Shulman.

If the faceless nature of online play is viewed with suspicion by the pros, it is happily embraced by the likes of Leys, who can build up hundreds of hours of competitive poker experience without having to brave the intimidating atmosphere of a bricks and mortar casino.

"Because of the anonymity there's absolutely no fear other than losing your money and, perhaps, looking bad in front of people you've never seen," said Leys.

Passions still run high

But even in virtual poker rooms passions run high.

Most online sites offer players a chat facility, and although foul language is prohibited, sore losers find ways of getting their message across.

"They'll call you all kinds of names... there's a lot of stars and dots and dashes and f-blanks," Leys said.

Playing alone in front of a computer screen can also prompt behaviour that would result in immediate ejection from a real casino.

"You can curse and yell and scream and nobody will know," said Leys. "And that's one of the things you've got to guard against, because it can be very debilitating in terms of your play."

February 2nd, 2005

AngelCiti Reports a 16% Jump in Monthly Net Handle

PEMBROKE PINES, Fla., Feb. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AngelCiti Entertainment, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: AGCI - News), an online casino software company, announced today that it had a net handle of over $3.4 million in January, a jump of 16% over the previous month, setting the stage for a banner year in 2005.

AngelCiti President George Gutierrez stated, "We are excited by the increase in handle as we begin our new marketing phase. The online poker industry is red-hot. For example, news this past week indicated that PartyPoker.com, the world's largest online poker company, is considering a public offering of its company's shares with a potential float valuation upwards of $4 billion. That would potentially value PartyPoker higher than companies such as British Airways, ICI and EMI. This news is yet another historic moment in the evolution of the online gaming industry and comes on the heels of a $270 million acquisition of Paradise Poker by publicly traded Sportingbet, whose shares are up over 64% since the acquisition."

Gutierrez continued, "We feel that these watershed events can be only beneficial for additional exposure and market valuation considerations for our Company and set the stage for additional merger and acquisition opportunities, which we plan on pursuing. We feel strongly that AngelCiti and Midas (OTC Pink Sheets: MDAS - News), an online poker operation in which we are shareholders, are both extremely well situated to capitalize on these high- growth industry trends."

About AngelCiti Entertainment, Inc.

AngelCiti Entertainment is focused on acquiring interests in companies that provide software to the online gaming industry. The online gambling market has been booming since its inception and continues to expand at a rapid pace. Industry experts estimate that total gaming revenues could grow from $4.5 billion in 2002 to more than $10 billion by 2005 (Source: Christiansen Capital Advisors). AngelCiti's wholly owned subsidiary Worldwide Management services casinos in English, Spanish, German, Chinese and Japanese. For more information, visit http://www.angelciti.com.

February 1st, 2005

BY DENISE NEIL
The Wichita Eagle

Shawn Riley and Kurt McPhail were plenty busy back in November.

Absorbed with managing the explosive success of their 11-month-old Amateur Poker League, the young entrepreneurs spent their weeks in a blur, catering to their 42,000 members in nine states -- not to mention the 300

Texas Hold 'Em players gathering every Friday in their south Wichita headquarters.

Then they met Bob Knight, and they haven't seen much of their friends or families since.

Riley, the league's president, and vice president McPhail, both 35, are two of the main organizers of the Park City Poker Round Up, a tournament at the Kansas Coliseum Pavilion scheduled for seven days in February, March and April.

The event, billed as the largest amateur poker tournament ever, is expected to draw as many as 17,500 people from around the country. Proceeds from optional $25 registration donations will go toward improving Park City's skateboard park.

"I've been working six and a half days a week," Riley said. "I'm going to have to write apology letters to friends that I've ignored over the past few weeks."

Aided by 12 league staff members and 30 volunteers from the Park City Pride committee, Riley and McPhail are responsible for all the tournament details -- from registering the thousands of competitors to administering the complex scoring grid to providing the 30,000 poker chips, 600 decks of cards and 278 tables that will be needed to accommodate the crowds.

"It's a little more difficult than it appears," Riley said.

Pals, business partners

Riley and McPhail have known each other since they were kids, and they graduated together from Southeast High School.

They've been in business together for years, too. At age 14, they started a lawn-mowing business. Later, they opened a Web hosting firm, McPhail Solutions.

In 2003, the buddies -- both avid poker players -- found their entrepreneurial instincts pointing in the direction of an undeniable trend.

Poker

They approached Dave Wallace, who had recently founded the Amateur Poker League in Wichita. Riley and McPhail had an idea to take the league nationwide.

Wallace is still a stockholder in the venture, but over the past year, Riley and McPhail have taken over management of the league and have turned it into a massive operation.

The league's thousands of members in Wichita and across the country gather nightly in bars for Texas Hold 'Em games, the winners of which compete in weekly tournaments where cruises and trips to Las Vegas are given away.

The league makes its money from the fees that bars pay to participate in the tournaments. It's free to become a member -- a player simply has to sign up at least an hour before the games start.

These days, the league gains about 1,500 members a week. Riley and McPhail are preparing to expand it to several more states.

And they're not even close to finished.

"We're only about 10 percent as big as we want to be," Riley said.

Poker and Park City

With all the attention Park City's poker tournament is getting, the Amateur Poker League is poised to get much bigger.

The tournament was the brainchild of Knight, Wichita's former mayor, who is president of Chisholm Creek Ventures LLC. The group recently announced its plans for a 39-acre destination resort and casino in Park City.

Knight said he was looking for an event that would prove Park City could be a viable entertainment destination. A friend familiar with the APL suggested Knight talk to Riley and McPhail.

When he first approached them, Knight asked whether they could help him put together a poker tournament -- maybe for 500 people or so.

"I think they thought 500 people was a big tournament," Riley said. "But we told them, 'We get 300 people here every week.'

"The next thing I know, it's five times bigger, and we're having press conferences and getting calls from reporters."

Knight said he was impressed with Riley and McPhail from the start, not only because of the scope of their abilities but also because of their commitment to Wichita.

"I got a chance to know them, and I really became impressed with their capabilities," Knight said. "They're young people making a statement in their hometown."

The tourney is where?

Riley and McPhail knew the Park City tournament would be big news in the world of poker. But even they were unprepared for the response from last weekend's news conference.

As soon as news of the tournament hit the league's Web site, registrations started pouring in from states as far away as Mississippi, Illinois and Wisconsin.

The four phone lines at the league's office at 900 George Washington Blvd. were jammed Monday as staff members rushed to register participants. Riley had to use his cell phone to make calls out of the office, and even now, the staff hasn't caught up with all the calls and e-mails from potential registrants.

Riley anticipates that all 17,500 qualifying spots will soon be reserved.

The interest can be attributed to many factors, Riley said. For one, he said, no one else in the country is organizing amateur tournaments on this scale.

The prize is a big draw, too. The winner of the Park City tournament earns a paid spot in this summer's World Series of Poker, which is televised on ESPN. Registration for the tournament is $10,000 -- out of most amateur players' reach.

That tournament, Riley said, is considered the Holy Grail of poker.

"You're a poker god if you win it," he said.

Despite the craziness involved in organizing the Park City event, Riley said he's encouraged by it.

It proves what he already knew: Poker is as big as ever and shows no signs of losing popularity.

He and McPhail are already planning more similar-size tournaments in Wichita and other cities.

And if what he's hearing from his members is any indication, the buzz surrounding the tournament will be just as beneficial for Knight as it will be for the poker league.

"People are just kind of shocked that an event like this is taking place in Park City," Riley said. "They expect it to be in a Las Vegas or a super metro area."
win it," said Tim.

January 31st, 2005

OP - News Staff

A charity poker tournament, scheduled to take place today in Rochester, NY, has been postponed due to concerns over the event's legality. The benefit's proceeds were to be donated to the Muscular Dystrophy Association of Greater Rochester and the Finger Lakes Area. The event was to feature tournament-style Texas Hold'em.

Although law-enforcement authorities previously contacted did not seem concerned over the tournament's legal status, the state Attorney General's Office did express concern. According to a state Attorney General spokesperson, the problem lie in a third party benefiting from tournament proceeds.

Although the Attorney General's office allegedly did not pressure coordinators to cancel the event, upon being contacted regarding the event's legality, stated that it could be problematic. An Attorney General spokesperson was quoted as saying that card games are not illegal if all of the money collected is distributed to players in prizes.