News

Amsterdam Part 2: AAC- quality and quantity but we miss the Krasnapolsky!!

6 May 2009
By Rebecca Liggero

Here we go again...another conference, another city, another trip to the airport with eight 50 pound boxes and a booth, another weekend of parties and another industry gossip filled article. What is not to love? The online gambling world certainly loves a conference in Amsterdam, but this time we were situated outside the city and away from the red light district. As a result, throughout my four days in Amsterdam I did not step foot into one peep show, coffee shop, live sex show, kinky sex toy store or come across any hookers in any red lit windows. Not once. Can you believe it? I miss the Krasnapolsky! I miss walking out the front door into a world of European sin! Regardless, I still managed to bring home some new business, improved relationships, a potentially damaged liver, and best of all, some more online gambling conference stories to share with you. Good, pure cannabis-free fun. Enjoy!

Believe it or not, we work hard at these things!
Over time I have realized that the vast majority of the topics covered in my articles are strictly networking related and usually involve a lot of alcohol. Pictures too. This creates an illusion that these conferences are only about partying and that is just not true. It also creates an illusion that I get paid to party around the world which is just not true either. Therefore, I decided to take some photos of the actual exhibit hall experience at AAC so you people will know that we work hard at these things! See, I told you so.

Queen's Day in Amsterdam puts St. Paddy's Day in Dublin to shame
After enjoying a fancy Japanese dinner with Josh from Rome Partners, we decided to venture into town for a taste of this annual Dutch tradition. Umm, oh my god is all I can say. Amsterdam goes OFF on Queens Day, are you kidding me? The canals were full of boats overflowing with intoxicated Dutch people, the streets were jam packed with crowds dressed in orange, live DJs played music on every corner, there were balloons, beer cans, wine glasses, champagne bottles and confetti all over the city, and everyone was wasted. Mayhem I tell you. Move over Dublin, Amsterdam has just claimed your "best celebration" title.

ASOP cancelled, but we still played managed to play some pokah
Yes, the rumors are true. The ASOP was cancelled last minute due to a potential Dutch police invasion. Rather than risk bad press and interrogation of our poker playing affiliates, Alex Pratt and affiliate program sponsors Affiliate Club and Cake Poker decided to pull the plug on the much anticipated event. No harm done, though- the tourney will be taking place online soon with some real cash up for grabs. Besides, we resourcefully used the ASOP poker tables for meetings and the poker playing diehards even banged out a few hands during the last few hours of the AAC. See, I told you we work hard at these things!

Michael Caselli, the AAC Superstar
Michael Caselli is a brand in itself, who even cares who he works for. Wait a minute, who does he even work for? Lyceum Media? Bluff Europe? iGaming Business? Warren Jolly? Nobody really knows...nobody knows what he actually does either, and we never will. What we do know is that he makes everything about an online gambling conference more fun. Period. We also know that he can get away with saying and doing things that no one else can. Period. This is Michael Caselli we're talking about here! He can put a Full Tilt bear in his pants for 12 hours and everyone thinks it's funny. You put a Full Tilt bear in your pants and all of a sudden you are a pervert and everyone hates you.

Players Sports Bar, the online gambling industry hotspot
I thought I had seen the last of this place after defaulting to it every night during CAC Amsterdam, but I was sorely mistaken. Thanks to Intertops.com, all AAC attendees were able to enjoy a free bar at Players from 7pm until 10pm each night of the conference. Let me tell you, this got ugly. See, the problem here is that people innocently plan to "stop by" Players before dinner and have "one drink", but in reality, this means people "stop by before dinner and never leave because they get really really drunk and want to stay and drink more and play poker". Like I said- ugly.

Dinner with Bodog.com twice in five days...in two different cities
Who could ever be so lucky? First it's dinner in Montreal with Alwyn Morris and the Mohawk Morris Gaming Group team, the US facing licensee of the Bodog brand. Who the heck is Alwyn? Have a look at my exclusive interview with Alwyn Morris, CEO of the Mohawk Morris Gaming Group and you'll feel like he's your new best friend. Next it's dinner in Amsterdam with Richard, Alex and Claire, Bodog's latest and greatest (and female!) addition. Hats off to you boys for listening to multiple hours of girl talk and online gambling world gossip- I'm sure you enjoyed every last minute of it.

The 888.com Mansion tradition lives on, spiced up by Rome Partners and Lyceum Media
So what if we've been there year after year. So what if it's 500 degrees throughout the entire club. So what if the place is so packed that you cannot even move. The 888.com party at Mansion is a very special tradition and I would not miss it….especially if Gabe and Caselli are going to be there. Who else would give you a peak of their jacked upper body in the middle of the bar while slapping you high fives? Gabe. Who else would treat the crowd to a round of absinth shots while drinking about half of them himself? Caselli. Ya. I thought so.

Entry into Jimmy Woo's, take two
Smartgambler.com, you've done it again. Sondre, an affiliate very appropriately profiled in my GPWA Magazine VIP affiliate friend article, made a cameo at AAC and reserved a table at Jimmy Woos for our pleasure. What? We're not on the list? Didn't work this time Jimmy Woos, now did it- we're at Sondre's table baby, let us in. And who knew that Johan from Full Tilt was so much fun? I think we may have identified my new favorite Swede here. Johan is always under control while enjoying a few cocktails yet capable of tearing up the Jimmy Woo's dance floor like an absolute machine. If you're reallyyy lucky, you may even catch him breaking a move in his Full Tilt hoodie. Legendary!

Bonusjackpot.co.uk loves Boston and the GPWA team loves him right back
So now you know. The way to my heart and the way into my blog is to show up at a GPWA Seal of Approval meeting wearing Boston gear. My new favorite GPWA webmaster, Bonusjackpot_Scot, proudly represented my homeland by wearing a Red Sox shirt to the conference on Friday, a Cheers bar shirt to the conference on Saturday, and another Red Sox shirt to the Saturday night festivities. Are you serious? What could be any better than this? NOTHING! GPWA Seal of Approval, here we come.