The new Vegas

Macau, the former Portuguese colony 40 miles west of Hong Kong, is now allowing Texas Hold 'em to be played in its' casinos.

The Chinese gambling enclave has seen a surge in visitors to its' casinos and now garners more gaming revenue than the Las Vegas Strip.

And that spike is only set to continue with the Chinese government handing out new gaming licenses which have attracted top Las Vegas operators.

The Grand Lisboa is the first of the big casinos to set-up Texas Hold 'em with four new tables dedicated to the game.

"We are confident that Texas Hold 'em will become very popular here," Louis Ng, Sociedade de Jogos de Macau director and chief operating officer, said in a statement.

The Grand Lisboa is the flagship of the Sociedade de Jogos de Macau operation.

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Bet and Win's online poker subsidiary Ongame has launched a new version of its poker software designed for heads up play on the move.

If you are on your laptop on the way to work or traveling to a meeting you will have the chance for a one-on-one contest.

You shouldn't be short of choice when picking an opponent as the Ongame network often has more than 30,000 players actively engaged in cash games and tournaments.

“When we first managed to overcome the usual mobile restrictions in display size and processing capacity, we really felt we achieved something,” Ongame spokesperson Tomer Katz told the Online Casino News

“But now we've taken it one step further by introducing a new user interface specifically designed for the heads-up market segment for which we believe our portable poker solution is perfectly suited. It's fast, it's easy and it only requires a few minutes of game time to enjoy.”

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Gambling Online Magazine has awarded CelebPoker its award for Best Poker Software in 2007.

It is the first time that CelebPoker has won such an award and in doing so joins an elite group of well known casinos and poker rooms.

CelebPoker, which operates in 11 languages, is unique amongst its peers as it offers the opportunity for players to become sponsored at major live poker events and has been a big hit with the online poker community.

CelebPoker's chief executive officer David Donovan said: “Firslty we would like to thank all of the players who voted for us. This is a great achievement and testament to all of the hard working staff at CelebPoker.

“We know our poker software provides a realistic feel that comes about as close as you can get to playing poker live in a casino.

“We believe in the ethos that a poker room should never 'stand still' and have recently introduced a new player support team that online poker players of all levels can contact directly (via messenger, email or on the phone), whose task is to ensure that players are receiving the best promotions, are up-to-date with the latest offers and generally just enjoying their experience on our site.

“I know 2008 will be a very exciting year for CelebPoker as we have many exciting plans to introduce new games and promotions for our players: Team CelebPoker, our headline promotion, is set to continue, which will provide any CelebPoker player with the chance to win sponsored seats to major, televised poker tournaments around the world - including the WSOP and the EPT Grand Final in Monaco.”

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And finally, we reported recently the case of American pro Jason Potter who had his five figure winnings from the Aussie Millions tournament robbed from him on the way back to his Melbourne hotel.

Well two men have been remanded in custody in the Melbourne Magistrates Court and it has been alleged the pair used a kitchen knife to hold up their victim.

32-year-old Dwayne Johnstone of St Albans and 27-year-old Vhyharn Arumughasamy of Wheelers Hill are facing charges including armed robbery.