PokerNews.com is a global network of websites covering the game of poker. The company was founded in 2003 by professional poker player Antanas Guoga (known in the poker world as ‘Tony G’). The website is primarily known for having a network of 30 language sites, which translate and deliver poker news into most major languages around the world.
History Launched in late 2003 as Pokernews.com, Guoga, a Lithuanian by heritage, launched the site out of his native Lithuania, his first hires being a programmer and a site manager.
In late 2004, Guoga hired poker player and writer John Caldwell, naming him as editor-in-chief. In early 2005, the websites domain was shifted to its permanent home at pokernews.com.
In the Spring of 2005, the first non-english PokerNews language site went live at pokerspiele.de (now de.pokernews.com). A French language site soon followed, and over the next three years, language expansion continued, resulting in the current count of thirty supported languages.
As the business grew, Guoga tapped a person with business background to run the company. Damon Rasheed, head of enforcement at the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), roughly similar to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission was tapped to be the CEO in the Spring of 2006.
World Series of Poker
In May 2007, PokerNews.com secured a contract to be the official data provider for the World Series of Poker to the WSOP website. PokerNews provides the chip counts, and ‘play by play’ data that drive the WSOP website. PokerNews reprized that role in 2008.
Controversies
In 2008, Guoga caused more headlines by openly speaking about a business arrangement with former employee Tiffany Michele. Guoga sponsored Michelle by paying for her entry into the WSOP. When Michelle chose to wear an Ultimate Bet sponsor logo in addition to the PokerNews logo, Guoga again spoke his mind publicly, leading to a controversy that, at press time, has still not fully died down.
Languages
PokerNews currently broadcasts news in the following languages.