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The gambling world is changing. After decades of old men sitting in smoke-filled betting shops, the environment and rules are evolving. Today’s modern gambler is more likely to be a twentysomething sat behind a laptop betting in-play on any number of sporting events, or playing 60 hands an hour at an online poker site. Gambling is now cool and socially acceptable, thanks in large part to the poker boom and the rise of online betting.

As such, Dennis Publishing – publisher of PokerPlayer, InsideEdge and Total Gambler – felt the industry needed its own special night, to celebrate the huge growth and achievement in the gambling world. In 2005, Dennis launched the InsideEdge Awards. They were a hit. In 2006, to reflect the growing place of the awards in the gambling calendar (and the launch of PokerPlayer), the name has changed to the UK Gambling Awards. So, on January 24, the gambling industry’s big players headed off to Banqueting House in London’s Whitehall to see who won what.

There were 10 award categories, seven of which were voted for by readers of InsideEdge, PokerPlayer and Total Gambler, and three – iGaming Software Provider of the Year, Gambling Personality of the Year and The Dennis Gambling Best of 2005 Award – which were voted for by a panel of judges. So who held the Aces on the night?

2006 WINNERS

GAMBLING PERSONALITY

Dave ‘Devilfih’ Ulliott

Highly Commended: Helen Chamberlain, Tom‘Pricewise’ Segal

POKER PLAYER

Phil Ivey

Runner-up: Daniel Negreanu

POKER TV PROGRAMME

Poker Night Live (pokerzone)

Runner-up: WSOP 2005 (Challenge TV)

POKER SITE

PokerRoom

Runner-up: Ladbrokes Poker

ONLINE CASINO

888.com

Runner-up: Coral

BETTING EXCHANGE

Betfair

Runner-up: Cantor Spreadfair

SPREAD BETTING FIRM

Sporting Index

Runner-up: IG Sport

BOOKMAKER

Coral

Runner-up: Ladbrokes

IGAMING SOFTWARE PROVIDER

Wagerlogic

Highly Commended: Ongame, Playtech

THE DENNIS GAMBLING BEST OF 2005 AWARD

Betfair

Highly Commended: Paradise Poker, Oddschecker