Ultimate Poker has been very busy in Nevada over the past week, as the nation’s first licensed online poker room inked a deal that will bring five new casinos under the Ultimate Poker umbrella; announced a new $25 bonus offer available to all new players at the site; and launched a new web series starring UP Pro and brand ambassador Antonio “The Magician’ Esfandiari.
So, if you haven’t been keeping up with the latest goings on at Ultimate Poker here is what you’ve missed.
UP’s deal with Peppermill
At the tail end of last week Ultimate Poker announced it had added Peppermill Resort Spa Casino in Reno, Nevada to the UP brand, along with the company’s four other casino properties in northern Nevada, the Western Village Inn and Casino in Sparks, Nevada and the Rainbow Hotel Casino, Peppermill Hotel Casino and Montego Bay Casino all located in Wendover, Nevada.
While the deal isn’t exactly in the earth shattering category—Peppermill and it’s four other casino properties will be something more akin to affiliate sites of Ultimate Poker and not skins for the online poker room—it should be quite beneficial to Ultimate Poker on two separate fronts.
First, Ultimate Poker can now use Peppermill’s extensive player list databases to market directly to a whole new group of players.
Secondly, with all of the payment processing issues US players are currently facing the addition of the five Peppermill properties gives Ultimate Poker five new locations throughout Nevada where players can deposit and withdraw funds from their UP accounts.
This is especially helpful considering the Peppermill properties are in Reno, Sparks, and Wendover, as Station Casinos (the owners of Ultimate Poker) already have the Las Vegas area covered.
The deal still needs the approval of Nevada regulators, but there is nothing out of the ordinary or controversial that is likely to prevent it from being finalized.
For more information on the deal you can read Howard Stutz’s excellent column.
Ultimate Poker’s new $25 bonus offer
Ultimate Poker is looking for new players and they are rewarding prospective customers with a $25 bonus to get them started.
This offer is available to all first-time players at the online poker site, and does not require the player to make a deposit of any kind. As the Ultimate Poker website states:
Register for your free Ultimate Poker account and receive $25 credited to you instantly, PLUS the opportunity to win up to $500 in our monthly sweepstakes drawing.
Strip Magic with Antonio
Ultimate Poker’s chief spokesmen and best known sponsored pro is Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari, and if you’re wondering how Antonio got his nickname it wasn’t because he could make his opponent’s chips disappear and reappear in his own stack (although he is pretty proficient at that as well).
No, Antonio got his nickname because in his pre-poker days he was a budding magician and judging by the first installment of the Strip Magic web series released by Ultimate Poker he has been keeping up with his sleight of hand tricks.
The videos not only show Antonio performing impromptu street magic on the Las Vegas Strip, but also delve into his background, including his time as a magician and how he worked his way up through the poker ranks. All in all, it’s a very well done video. At two and a half minutes it’s not so long as to be unwatchable and just long enough to leave you thirsting for more episodes.
“Filming street magic takes me back to a special time in my life,” remarked Ultimate Poker Brand Ambassador and magician Antonio Esfandiari. “I was a kid with a dream to be the next David Copperfield. That is all I cared about until I discovered poker. To succeed at poker and go back to magic as a hobby on the streets of Las Vegas was very fun for me.”
For more episodes of Strip Magic and to see UP’s other YouTube clips you can visit their YouTube page at youtube.com/ultimatepoker.