Poker News & Reviews

PokerStars FullTilt and Internet Poker Update

Reed — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 21:31:58 +0000

Just recieved this E-mail from Pokerstars. Still no word from FullTilt. I believe when this whole mess is over they will not have any players willing to risk their money on FullTilt, atleast not the sane ones. looks like the players are recieving the bad beat like usual from FullTilt.

Good Job PokerStars! I applaud your actions and thank you for keeping us in the loop.

We would like to bring your attention to the following two press releases:

PokerStars Official Statement, June 29 2011

In light of today’s news that Alderney Gambling Control Commission has suspended Full Tilt Poker’s license, PokerStars wishes to assure our customers that their funds are completely safe and that our operations are completely unaffected. The Isle of Man Gaming Commission today re-affirmed that PokerStars’ worldwide licensing is intact and that our operations are in full compliance with all of its requirements. PokerStars’ online operations continue as normal and all funds in players’ accounts are safe and available for withdrawal as usual with no delays.

PokerStars also remains in full compliance with our licenses in other jurisdictions where we are regulated, including France, Italy and Estonia.

As provided under our licensing, PokerStars has always maintained the integrity and security of our players’ funds, by keeping all such funds in segregated bank accounts, always available for immediate withdrawal.

Since the actions of US Department of Justice in April, we have returned more than $120 million to US players and continue to act upon requests as they are received. Players outside the US have not been affected and all cash-outs have been processed without delays. Further, PokerStars entered into an agreement with the Department of Justice which expressly confirmed the company’s ability to operate outside the US.

We will continue to operate as a responsible corporate citizen and are committed to serving the needs of our customers in complete compliance with our regulatory requirements.

IOM Gambling Supervision Commission Statement, June 29 2011

The Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission wishes to make it clear that the licensing status of PokerStars in the Isle of Man remains unchanged following today’s statement from the Gambling Control Commission in Alderney. Alderney is a separate jurisdiction from the Isle of Man and the operation in question is separate from PokerStars.

PokerStars continues to demonstrate compliance with its licence conditions in the Isle of Man. PokerStars continues to offer withdrawals to any players who wish to withdraw their funds, including players in the USA to whom PokerStars does not currently offer real-money gaming.

The official statement from the IOM Gambling Supervision Commission can be found here.

We would like to thank you for your continued support.

Best Regards,
The PokerStarsPartners Team
www.PokerStarsPartners.com

John Juanda, Making a Run at Player of the Year honors at the WSOP!

Reed — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 07:29:33 +0000

Wasn’t it just a couple of days ago that we watched John Juanda win the 2-7 No-Limit Draw (WSOP event #16) for $367,170 and his 5th WSOP bracelet? Well he doesn’t like to waste time, so here he is at the final table of the Eight Mix Game (WSOP event #23.) Unfortunately, as I am writing this he was just eliminated in 6th place. Good enough for a payday of $42,897, and some valuable Player of the Year points. Even though he didn’t add another bracelet to his pile (yet,) it’s only been 4 days since his last one folks… give the guy a chance!

Hellmuth fights Juanda for the Deuce to Seven Bracelet

Reed — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 05:09:16 +0000

Watch live to see if Hellmuth gets his 12 bracelet or gives it away to Juanda. As of now they are about even but Hellmuth has been very aggressive…….. WSOP Live Feed of Event #16 $10,000 2-7 Draw Lowball Final Table

Update *SPOILER ALERT*

That’s it folks, Juanda stole the show, surmounting a 3 to 1 deficit at the start of heads up play and denying Phil Hellmuth his much anticipated 12th bracelet. And on the fourth anniversary of his 11th no less! This bracelet would have been a real boon in Hellmuth’s cap as he is frequently teased about being a one trick pony. Good thing there are still a plethora of events remaining in the 2011 World Series of Poker, giving Hellmuth a chance to redeem himself. Maybe a nice Hold ‘Em bracelet for the lad?

John Juanda, Making a Run at Player of the Year honors at the WSOP!

Phil Ivey Not Playing in this Year’s World Series of Poker?

Reed — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 21:49:06 +0000

I don’t know about you, but to me this picture looks…. not very amused. When you think about it, between the US crackdowns, the slow (and in some cases non existent) payments from poker sites, and the failure of the US government to regulate and tax poker (who needs billions in poker revenue anyway? it isn’t like we’re in a recession,) there isn’t much call for delight in the poker world as of late. As such, I find that stern, disappointed look on the face of poker darling Phil Ivey to be apropos. Even so, I still found Ivey’s announcement to be a bit of a shocker:

I am not playing in the World Series of Poker as I do not believe it is fair that I compete when others cannot.

Wow. Wasn’t expecting that. If you know anything about poker, you know that Phil Ivey’s face is an iconic image representing poker itself. Although I am sure there are many players cheering this decision (I mean really, you want those eyes staring you down when all you have is a pair of jacks?) it is, in my opinion, a blow to poker. I applaud Ivey’s decision to sacrifice his tournament season for what he believes in, I just wish it didn’t have to be done…

Writter by guest blogger Sandy Novotny

Read Ivey’s press release on the matter at philivey.com.

World Series of Poker Begins Tuesday

Reed — Mon, 30 May 2011 05:06:27 +0000

Shuffle up and deal, it’s time for the 42nd annual Worls Series of Poker to start this Tuesday (May 3ist). Features 58 Bracelet Events at the Rio in Las Vegas from May 31 to July 19

This will be a very exciting year and can’t wait to see how the recent internet poker troubles effect the number of entrants.

Here is a list of the events.

Event	Starts	Days	Buy-In

Event 1 – No-Limit Hold’em Casino Employees	31-May	2	$500


Event 2 – No-Limit Hold’em Heads Up Championship (256max)	31-May	4	$25,000


Event 3 – Omaha Hi/Low Split-8/OB	1-Jun	3	$1,500


Event 4 – No-Limit Hold’em	2-Jun	3	$5,000


Event 5 – Seven Card Stud	2-Jun	3	$1,500


Event 6 – Limit Hold’em	3-Jun	3	$1,500


Event 7 – Pot-Limit Hold’em Championship	3-Jun	3	$10,000


Event 8 – No-Limit Hold’em	4-Jun	5	$1,000


Event 9 – Deuce-to-Seven Draw Lowball	4-Jun	3	$1,500


Event 10 – No-Limit Hold’em Six Handed	6-Jun	3	$1,500


Event 11 – Omaha Hi/Low Split-8/OB Championship	6-Jun	3	$10,000


Event 12 – No-Limit Hold’em Triple Chance	7-Jun	3	$1,500


Event 13 – No-Limit Hold’em Shootout 2,000 max	8-Jun	3	$1,500


Event 14 – Limit Hold’em	8-Jun	3	$3,000


Event 15 – Pot-Limit Hold’em	9-Jun	3	$1,500


Event 16 – Deuce-to-Seven Lowball Championship	9-Jun	3	$10,000


Event 17 – H.O.R.S.E.	10-Jun	3	$1,500


Event 18 – No-Limit Hold’em	11-Jun	3	$1,500


Event 19 – Limit Hold’em Six Handed	11-Jun	3	$2,500


Event 20 – No-Limit Hold’em	12-Jun	3	$1,000


Event 21 – Seven Card Stud Championship	12-Jun	3	$10,000


Event 22 – Pot-Limit Omaha	13-Jun	3	$1,500


Event 23 – Eight Game Mix	13-Jun	3	$2,500


Event 24 – No-Limit Hold’em Shootout 2,000max	14-Jun	3	$5,000


Event 25 – Seven Card Stud Hi/Low-8/OB	14-Jun	3	$1,500


Event 26 – No-Limit Hold’em Six Handed	15-Jun	3	$2,500


Event 27 – Limit Hold’em Championship	15-Jun	3	$10,000


Event 28 – No-Limit Hold’em	16-Jun	3	$1,500


Event 29 – 10-Game Mix Six Handed	16-Jun	3	$2,500


Event 30 – No-Limit Hold’em Seniors Championship	17-Jun	3	$1,000


Event 31 – Pot-Limit Omaha	17-Jun	3	$3,000


Event 32 – No-Limit Hold’em	18-Jun	3	$1,500


Event 33 – Seven Card Stud Hi/Low Split-8/OB Championship	18-Jun	3	$10,000


Event 34 – No-Limit Hold’em	19-Jun	3	$1,000


Event 35 – Pot-Limit Omaha Six Handed	20-Jun	3	$5,000


Event 36 – No-Limit Hold’em	21-Jun	3	$2,500


Event 37 – H.O.R.S.E. Championship	21-Jun	3	$10,000


Event 38 – No-Limit Hold’em	22-Jun	3	$1,500


Event 39 – Pot-Limit Hold’em/Omaha	22-Jun	3	$2,500


Event 40 – No-Limit Hold’em Six Handed	23-Jun	3	$5,000


Event 41 – Limit Hold’em Shootout	24-Jun	3	$1,500


Event 42 – Pot-Limit Omaha Championship	24-Jun	3	$10,000


Event 43 – No-Limit Hold’em	25-Jun	3	$1,500


Event 44 – Seven Card Razz	25-Jun	3	$2,500


Event 45 – No-Limit Hold’em	26-Jun	3	$1,000


Event 46 – No-Limit Hold’em Six Handed Championship	27-Jun	3	$10,000


Event 47 – Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi/Low-8/OB	27-Jun	3	$2,500


Event 48 – No-Limit Hold’em	28-Jun	3	$1,500


Event 49 – Deuce-to-Seven Triple Draw Lowball	28-Jun	3	$2,500


Event 50 – No-Limit Hold’em Triple Chance	29-Jun	3	$5,000


Event 51 – Pot-Limit Omaha Hi/Low Slip-8/OB	30-Jun	3	$1,500


Event 52 – Mixed Hold’em Limit/No-Limit	30-Jun	3	$2,500


Event 53 – No-Limit Hold’em Ladies Championship	1-Jul	3	$1,000


Event 54 – No-Limit Hold’em	2-Jul	3	$1,000


Event 55 – The Poker Player’s Championship	2-Jul	5	$50,000


Event 56 – No-Limit Hold’em	5-Jul	3	$1,500


Event 57 – Pot-Limit Omaha Hi/Low Split-8/OB	5-Jul	3	$5,000


Main Event	7-Jul	15	$10,000

Nevada Senate clearing Way for Internet Poker

Reed — Mon, 30 May 2011 04:47:28 +0000

Lawmakers on the Nevada Senate Judiciary Committee have approved Internet poker bill AB258, sending it to a floor vote. Which if it is so detremental to society why even bring it up?

This bill is intended to ensure the state has licensing and regulation standards in place should the federal government legalize Internet gambling. The rules would be established by the Nevada Gaming Commission. A smart move I say. You can’t keep poker down. It’s all about the goverment’s cut, so lets cut them in and get on with it.

Online gambling has been drowning in controversy since the F.B.I arrested executives of three top online poker sites April 15, charging them with violating federal law. In its original form, AB258 would have prohibited state regulators from denying a license to existing online poker sites. That provision was deleted.

Assemblyman William Horne of Las Vegas says AB258 will make Nevada a licensing model if and when the federal government legalizes online gambling.

The committee approved the bill Tuesday. The other states will follow. Who would deny their peice of a billion dollar pie, not me

P.L.O. Comes to Poker After Dark

Reed — Wed, 04 May 2011 06:30:06 +0000

Finally a T.V. cash game that features something other then No LImit Hold’em. There is other card games and yes people would like to see them played.

Poker After Dark does it right with the right game (PLO ) and the right line up. Big names like Ivey, Dwan and Patrick Antonious battleing it out with four card and one hundred thousand miniumun buy in.

Pot Limit Omaha is a very fun and complex game and I would like to thank Poker After Dark for bringing it to us.

World Series of Poker Begins Tuesday

Full Tilt Poker Finally Addresses US Shut Out

Reed — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 18:37:51 +0000

About 45 minutes ago this statement was released on Full Tilt’s Facebook page

Full Tilt Poker has suspended real money play in the United States. Account balances are safe, and the site continues to operate as usual outside the US at www.fulltiltpoker.co.uk. Customer support can be reached at: support@fulltiltpoker.co.uk

I was surprised by the number of people flooding the comments section with accusations that player’s bankrolls would be lost. Might I remind everyone what happened after the US passed the UIGEA in 2006. While everyone held their breath waiting to see how the bill would effect us as players, US officials arrested two former Neteller executives. In response, Neteller promptly withdrew from the US market, leaving players fearful as to the safety and fate of their bankrolls. Many remained calm, knowing that it would be resolved in some way in short order, but others had a virtual hissy fit and began freaking out… much like people are doing right now in response to this shut down by Full Tilt, Absolute Poker, Ultimate Bet Poker and PokerStars. Relax people, they got people on this. The poker sites don’t want to lose you or your bankroll anymore than you want it lost. Give them a chance to come up with a workable solution. Crying about it isn’t going to help anyway.

Act like a poker player and realize… the US gov’t rivered you. It happens. Let’s move on to the next hand now please.

Writter by guest blogger Sandy Novotny

US Government Attacks Online Poker – site seizures cripple market

US Government Attacks Online Poker – site seizures cripple market

Reed — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 07:10:46 +0000

Picture this… it’s April 15th, 2011 and after a long day at your mind numbing job all you want to do is sit down to a virtual battle of wits against your online pseudo friends in your favorite game of skill and challenge. As you log on to the familiar software you receive a message that an update is available, which you promptly click, impatient to get on with your planned relaxation of the evening. But wait, the software won’t load? What could be the issue? So you type in the URL to your site of choice to see if there are any outage messages. What is this? Have you mistyped?

And that is when you realized it… it’s happened. The tyrannical, totalitarian US government has not only impeded on the personal lives of others as well as yourself, but they have also unlawfully seized the domain to a business outside of their jurisdiction. Is this democracy at work?

I am sad to report that a Manhattan court has unlawfully seized the domains of the poker sites Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker, Ultimate Bet Poker and PokerStars. And if this isn’t bad enough, they have indicted eleven executives of the named sites, and a number of their affiliates, charging them with bank fraud and money laundering. Two of the defendants were arrested this morning in Nevada and Utah, and federal agents are seeking others named in the indictment. The hope of these government sanctioned criminal raids is to jail poker executives and pilfer $3 billion dollars from the companies.

What authority do they claim to commit these heinous acts? One (lame) defense is the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement act (UIGEA) passed by Congress in 2006. Let us first note that the UIGEA only passed because it was attached to a HOMELAND SECURITY BILL!!! So it did not pass on its own merit, it was snuck in underhandedly by its proponents as part of something whose aim was to protect national security. Yeah, THAT’S valid. Another important point to address is that 2 well respected polls were conducted in 2006, wherein the vast majority of Americans believed that the government should not prohibit Internet gambling. Zogby International Poll: 87% believe online gambling is a personal choice which should not be banned; Wall Street Journal Poll: 85% oppose government prohibition of online gambling. So democracy loses again as the will of the American people is once again trampled. And the best part? “…UIGEA does not impose any substantive prohibition on gambling activity that was not already present, under state or federal law, before the Bill’s passage.” (quoted from First Amendment website) At that’s all before you even consider whether poker qualifies as gambling.

So if we can’t use the UIGEA to justify the acts of today, maybe the Wire Act? The problem is, the Wire Act doesn’t address ONLINE gaming. And neither does anything else. So you are left with NOTHING that I know of to justify the incidents we are witnessing today.

The 11 defendants now variously face charges of “Conspiracy to Violate Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act,” “Violation of Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act,” “Operation of Illegal Gambling Business,” “Conspiracy to Commit Bank Fraud and Wire Fraud,” and “Money Laundering Conspiracy.” If convicted, some defendants could face up to 30 years in prison, plus a fine of $1,000,000 or twice the gross gain or loss from the operation. I am also hearing rumors that Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson may be targets in this online poker massacre. Since the government has barely a leg to stand on with charges of unlawful gaming, especially in countries where gambling is legal, the pursuit of money laundering charges is to be expected. “Subpoenas issued in the case allegedly claim that internet gambling is illegal in the United States” Please, please, please show me the law making internet gambling illegal, because not only do the players disagree, but lawyers, senators, judges, etc also think you are full of it, and have voiced such in the years following the UIGEA. In fact, in 2009 the Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the UIGEA did not make any online activity illegal.

The question on most poker player’s minds is this: will I ever see the money in my poker account again? That remains to be seen, but since the government is also going after banking institutions, and purportedly has frozen numerous bank holdings of the poker sites they are harassing, it is a shaky issue. So basically, this act of terrorism is going to take money right out of the US economy… isn’t that great at a time like this??

So here’s the deal, We the People need to say NO to this CRAP. If you are a poker lover, know a poker lover, or even just like FREEDOM, you are going to want to take a stand. Call and write your officials and let them know that you will not accept the government overstepping their bounds here or elsewhere, and that you expect them to uphold the rights of you and the rest of the people in their jurisdiction. Until WE the People approve a bill to the contrary, WE should be allowed to play our game of skill whenever and wherever we like! If you want to ban gambling (which poker isn’t)… take a look at your state sponsored LOTTERY.

Sincerely,

Poker Playing Americans

Writter by guest blogger Sandy Novotny

Send a letter to President Obama and Attorney General Holder

Send a Letter to your Members of Congress

Send a Letter to your State Lawmakers

Hint, reword the form letters if you can. We want them to see that this issue is worth our time and attention… and should be worth theirs too. Personally, I think non-US people should write too, show them the WORLD is on our side!!

Indictment and Civil Complaint

Nevada Senate clearing Way for Internet Poker

According to V.P. Pappy ….

Reed — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 19:00:43 +0000

“Never raise a hand to your children; slow-play the little bastards!”

According to VP Pappy …