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Archive for the ‘Online Poker’ Category
Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011
There is more updated news on the Full Tilt Poker front as the US Department of Justice (DOJ) has agreed to a deal that would see Groupe Bernard Tapie purchase the assets of the floundering online poker room: IF the current ownership agrees to forfeit those assets to the DOJ according to an article that appeared on money.cnn.com this past Friday.
The deal would call for the DOJ to make restitution to US players that have been unable to withdraw some $150 million from the site since Black Friday, while Groupe Bernard Tapie would take on the responsibility of repaying players from the rest of the world. However, it was implied by Full Tilt Poker attorney Jeff Ifrah that a 100% payment is not guaranteed, and that players would have to fill out a request to the DOJ.
If payments on account balances are not 100% guaranteed, it’s quite unlikely that the DOJ would honor Full Tilt Poker Points accumulated by players, some having amassed tens of thousands of dollars worth of these now potentially worthless points.
Groupe Bernard Tapie would shell out $80 million for the assets, which when combined with the up to $250 million owed by Full Tilt poker to players from the rest of the world makes this a huge amount of capitol to sink into the poker room.
By agreeing to forfeit their assets, Full Tilt Poker will have the civil complaints dropped against the site itself (although charges would still remain against key individuals specifically named by the DOJ).
Tags: Account Balances, Assets, Bernard Tapie, Black Friday, Civil Complaints, Cnn, Department Of Justice, Doj, Full Tilt Poker, Gbt, Money, online poker, Poker Players, Poker Room, Rest Of The World, Restitution, Tens Of Thousands, Thousands Of Dollars, Us Department Of Justice
Posted in Online Poker, Poker Industry News | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 26th, 2011
Over the past few years you would have a hard time finding a more successful online poker player than Richard Lyndaker, known to the online world by his PokerStars screen-name “Nutsinho”. But 2011 has been a whole different ballgame for the online phenom, and after a devastating weekend at the virtual tables, Lyndaker is down nearly $900k on the year.
The run has been so bad that Lyndaker has been threatening to quit online poker (his presence on the live tournament trail has increased dramatically over the last couple years) over the past couple weeks, first posting the following message on his Twitter account a few weeks back: “Continuing to run terrible every single day this year. Just never ends, probably quitting online poker after the next two months,”
And after his recent downswing he appears to be giving the world of online poker only another month: “Impossible bad downswing immediately follows heater AGAIN. November will be the last month of “nutsinho” playing on PokerStars. Sad times…”
Lyndaker’s downswing and subsequent tilt/depression/frustration is eerily similar to Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies’ horrid 2010 –and like Lyndaker, Sahamies was very vocal about his struggles– at the online poker tables. Sahamies tried everything from switching from Full Tilt Poker to PokerStars and quitting poker for a spell, before he worked his way through it, and is once again one of the online poker world’s top winners. Here is hoping that Lyndaker can follow a similar path.
Tags: Ballgame, Couple Weeks, Depression, Downswing, Frustration, Full Tilt Poker, Hard Time, online poker, Phenom, Poker Player, Poker Tables, Poker World, Presence, Sad Times, Screen Name, Single Day, Virtual Tables
Posted in Online Poker, Poker News | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 19th, 2011
Gus Hansen (or possibly the very remote chance that it’s someone pretending to be Gus Hansen, as I haven’t verified the owner of the blog, but it was tweeted at his @RealGusHansen Twitter account) may have lost his gig as a member of Team Full Tilt Poker, but that hasn’t stopped “The Great Dane” from pursuing other interests and projects, as evidenced by the blog I referenced above, which can be found at Hansen’s new website: GusHansen.me.
The site looks to be mainly a blog at the moment –which Hansen states is his first attempt at such an undertaking. Hansen’s first post foretold that he will be “writing about poker, backgammon, sex, religion and everything else that comes to mind – Hope you like it,”
In a post on Tuesday, Hansen unleashed his first blog post where his opinions came to light. Hansen questions how the US could possibly be so hypocritical as to outlaw online poker while at the same time allowing horse racing and other forms of gambling. Hansen further went on to chastise conservatives –calling out Fox news in particular—opining, “Needless to say it does not make any sense at all, but then again who could expect any intelligent outcome in a country where NO-ONE gets elected into office without confessing a sincere belief in Millenia old fairytales… Hopefully one day rational thought will prevail and people will stop from imposing their fucked up ideas upon others.”
You can take a look at Gus Hansen’s new website here: www.gushansen.me
Tags: Backgammon, Belief, Blog, Conservatives, Fairytales, Fox News, Full Tilt Poker, Gig, Great Dane, Gus, Gus Hansen, Horse Racing, online poker, Outlaw, Rational Thought, Sex Religion, Undertaking
Posted in Online Poker, Poker News | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 19th, 2011
Another prominent member of Team Full Tilt Poker has decided to break their silence regarding their role with the ailing online poker room. This time it was PokerTube.com that got the exclusive interview, talking to Patrik Antonius while the poker superstar was in Cannes for the World Series of Poker Europe tournament series.
Antonius was emphatic in stating that he had nothing to do with the management of Full Tilt Poker, and was strictly under a “marketing contract” with the site. He went on to state that if the site does become insolvent he will be one of the biggest losers due to the amount of money still locked-up in his Full Tilt Poker account –according to Antonius the amount is so large that even the amount he has been paid since becoming a Full Tilt Poker Pro wouldn’t cover it!
According to Antonius, he knows less than most of the poker media that have been following the story, telling PokerTube.com: “I feel like when I read the news, they know much more about it than I do. Nobody talks to me, so I am always the last person to know… I did call Howard in the beginning of the summer, and I was supposed to meet him. But I was too busy, and I don’t even know if he was in Las Vegas. This was before they lost their license, though… Everyone in the poker industry should care about this. It’s hurting the reputation of poker a lot, and this makes me very sad,”
Antonius has now joined other Team Full Tilt Poker Pros Tom Dwan and Mike Matusow as vocal critics of their former employer.
Tags: Amount Of Money, Biggest Losers, Cannes, Chats, Europe, Full Tilt Poker, Las Vegas, Marketing, Mike Matusow, online poker, Poker Pros, Poker Room, Reputation, Sad, Series Of Poker, Silence, Tom Dwan, Vocal Critics, World Series, World Series Of Poker
Posted in Online Poker, Poker News | No Comments »
Friday, October 14th, 2011
Current and former Doyles Room poker players found a very intriguing E-Mail in their inboxes on Tuesday night. The E-Mail was sent to inform players that Doyles Room would be undergoing a software upgrade early Wednesday morning, and when the site comes back online at 7AM it will no longer be Doyles Room, but will be Americas CardRoom!!!
Apparently Americas CardRoom has purchased Doyles Room, and all of its assets, and will be rebranding the site as Americas CardRoom. The site will remain on the Yatahay Network, utilize the same software (with a different look), and players will retain all of their bonuses, promotions, and affiliate deals according to the E-Mail.
Here is a look at the pertinent parts of the E-Mail received by Doyles Room customers:
Something exciting is happening at DoylesRoom, and as a result, our software will require a scheduled downtime from 3:00am ET until 7:00am ET tomorrow Wednesday October 11th. When we’re back online, you’ll notice a transformation that’s going to change the poker landscape for the better.
DoylesRoom is becoming Americas CardRoom and the future is going to be amazing. Americas CardRoom and DoylesRoom are proud to announce the acquisition of DoylesRoom along with the rights to the player and affiliate database, the DoylesRoom software, staff, and player liability. But first, let’s talk about what won’t change:
- October’s Big Promos—everything remains intact
- Great Software—it’s exactly the same as before, except for some new colors and a brand new logo
- Your Login Credentials—sign in to the new software just as you would to DoylesRoom
- Your Account Assets—Information like hand histories, player notes, FPPs, bonuses, and more will remain intact
- Your Account Balance—it will remain 100% intact
- The Dedicated Staff—all the day-to-day people behind the scenes will remain on board
What’s New
- A $65,000 Points Race—that’s up from this month’s $50k
- A New Online Poker Super Series—it’s called ACROSS and it’s going to be unlike anything you’ve experienced before. End of November.
- An innovative loyalty program—coming very soon our VIP program that will crush any program in the industry
Tags: Account Assets, Account Balance, Affiliate Database, Affiliate Deals, Americas Cardroom, Brand New Logo, Downtime, Doyles Room Poker, Doylesroom, E Mail, Great Software, Histories, Login Credentials, Mail Room, New Software, Poker Players, Promos, Software Staff, Tuesday Night, Wednesday Morning
Posted in Online Poker, Poker Industry News | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 12th, 2011
Despite the virtual online poker blackout in the United States, the online poker training site BlueFire Poker has continued to grow, including making some major additions to their already impressive roster of poker coaches. The latest addition to the BlueFire Poker team is one of the most well-respected poker coaches in the industry, Dusty “Leatherass9” Schmidt.
Schmidt is one of the most successful online poker grinders in the history of the game, and has no qualms about being a grinder; evidenced by his chosen online poker moniker of “Leatherass”. Schmidt can boast what is possibly the single greatest statistic in online poker history: He has never had a losing month in his 5-year career!
The former Team PokerStars Pro (Schmidt resigned his position with PokerStars following Black Friday) and perennial Supernova Elite player has also authored several highly acclaimed poker books including Treat Your Poker Like A Business and Don’t Listen to Phil Hellmuth.
Schmidt’s role at BlueFire Poker will be to create 6-max and full ring NLHE content for the site, which already boasts such online poker heavyweights as Phil “OMGClayAiken/MrSweets28” Galfond, 2010 WSOP November Niner Jason “PBJaxx” Senti, High Stakes pros Niman “Samoleus” Kenkre and Martin “Dr Giggy” Fournier-Giguere, as well as the more recently added Sit & Go and Multi-Table tournament pros.
You can check out Dusty Schmidt’s BlueFire Poker bio page here and as always BlueFire Poker is offering a free 7-Day trial to anyone interested in giving the site a trial run.
Tags: Black Friday, Blackout, Elite Player, Former Team, Fournier, Giggy, Grinder, Grinders, Heavyweights, Impressive Roster, Latest Addition, Moniker, Niner, Omgclayaiken, online poker, Phil Hellmuth, Poker Books, Qualms, Statistic, WSOP
Posted in Online Poker, Poker News | No Comments »
Thursday, September 29th, 2011
As the saga that began on Black Friday (nearly 6-months ago) continues to unfold for Full Tilt poker the news simply gets worse and worse for both Full Tilt poker and the thousands of online poker players who have some $390 million frozen in their Full Tilt poker accounts.
On Thursday morning the Aldernay Gambling Control Commission (AGCC) decided to fully revoke the operating license of Full Tilt Poker, after releasing its findings from the hearing that took place about a week ago in London.
In the initial press release and subsequent detailed findings, the poker world became aware of a number of things. First and foremost, Full Tilt poker representatives refused to take part in the hearing when their request for a further adjournment was denied –Full Tilt was then represented by AGCC officials in the hearing, who presented the site’s side of the case.
Additionally, it seems Full Tilt Poker was required to segregate player funds, as the AGCC listed the following regulation as one of the many Full Tilt poker was in violation of: “The Company will ensure that, at all times, there are sufficient funds in this account to cover all balances held by the company on behalf of its customers. The Company confirms that this account is not used as a security for any other operational liability”.
Another interesting revelation was that Full Tilt poker was fudging the financial statements it was sending to the AGCC by including funds that had been seized by the US government, as well as the shortfall caused by accepting eCheck deposits from US players when they had no means of processing the transaction –this “credit” to players accounts was also something the site was prohibited from doing under their licensing agreement.
You can read the entire press release here, and the complete list of charges here
Tags: Adjournment, Agcc, Black Friday, Breaking News, Complete List, Entire Press, Financial Statements, Full Tilt Poker, Gambling Control, Initial Press, Licensing Agreement, online poker, Poker Players, Poker World, Press Release, Revelation, Saga, Shortfall, Thursday Morning, Us Government
Posted in Online Poker, Poker Industry News | No Comments »
Thursday, September 29th, 2011
Full Tilt poker attorney Jeff Ifrah once again gave an exclusive statement to PokerStrategy.com regarding the possible deal that would see a French investment group take over the ailing online poker room. Ifrah told PokerStrategy.com that he was recently in France to help with the negotiations, and that the only major sticking point still remaining was the state of Full Tilt poker’s Aldernay Gambling Control Commission (AGCC) license –which if revoked is apparently the deal-breaker.
Here are Ifrah’s comments to PokerStrategy.com:
“The investors are totally committed to doing this- we’ve met with them and seen the funds. Their primary concern right now is the AGCC’s decision on Full Tilt’s license. The investor’s position is that if Alderney revokes the license, they won’t go through with the deal because it makes things too difficult.”
“They called and volunteered to discuss their commitment directly with the commissioners. Without hesitation, they are prepared to review the terms of their offer. Additionally, they’ve hired a prominent and respected lawyer in the gaming industry and are setting up a meeting with the DOJ to try and work out the issues Full Tilt has in the U.S.”
The group is rumored to be fronted by French businessman Laurent Tapie, who would infuse the company with enough capital to repay customers around the world as well as settle the civil case brought against Full Tilt poker by the US Department of Justice.
While these deals can fall apart at just about any moment during the proceedings, the fact that there are still viable investors for Full Tilt poker will be viewed as really, really, good news for the thousands of players who have nearly $400 million in funds frozen on the site.
Tags: Agcc, Alderney, Businessman, Civil Case, Department Of Justice, Doj, Full Tilt Poker, Gambling Control, Gaming Industry, Hesitation, Investment Group, Laurent Tapie, Lawyer, Negotiations, online poker, Poker Gambling, Poker Room, Proceedings, Sticking Point, Us Department Of Justice
Posted in Online Poker, Poker Industry News | No Comments »
Thursday, September 1st, 2011
It appears that the advertising dollars of many online gaming sites, including sports-books, poker rooms, and online casinos, will now be welcome on Facebook, according to a statement issued by the multi-billion dollar Social Media giant. However, the new rules regarding online gaming advertising does not give the industry carte blanche to market their services. Facebook has installed a number of restrictions on these ads in order to stay on the right side of any local laws.
In addition to demanding all advertisements conform to local laws, Facebook will also restrict precisely who can see the ads based on their location; a process that Facebook will have a final say on.
The final twist is in regards to US advertisers. US-based advertisers (affiliates and such) are allowed to purchase ad-space on Facebook, but their advertisements cannot target US players. Basically, a US-based affiliate will be able to purchase ad-space on Facebook (if they can afford the rumored $30,000 ad-buy) but their advertisements will only be seen by players in countries and locales that are approved by Facebook.
My guess is that many Europeans and Asians will start seeing advertisements for Party Poker, PokerStars, and the larger sites on the iPoker Network, Merge Gaming Network, and OnGame Network in the near future. But I doubt any affiliates can afford –or more aptly, are willing to part with—the $30k fee that Facebook is charging, so even though this is another small step in the right direction for the online gaming industry it remains to be seen if it will have any impact at this point in time.
Tags: Ad Space, Advertisements, Asians, Carte Blanche, Europeans, Facebook, Final Twist, Gaming Industry, Gaming Network, Gaming Sites, Ipoker Network, Media Giant, Online Casinos, online poker, Party Poker, Point In Time, Poker Rooms, PokerStars, Sports Books, Step In The Right Direction
Posted in Online Poker, Poker News | No Comments »
Tuesday, August 30th, 2011
After seeing almost his entire yearly profits disappear in the space of a single week, Viktor “Isildur1” Blom kept plugging away at the PokerStars tables, and this past weekend he went on one of the biggest heaters of the year for any online poker player, winning over $1 million in a 24 hour period.
Last week it was Isildur1 who was bleeding chips to fellow high-stakes pros Ilari “Ilari_FIN” Sahamies and Phil “MrSweets28” Galfond, but this past weekend Isildur1 would claim revenge on at least one of those players as $1.4 million came out of the PokerStars account of Ilari Sahamies and found its way into the account of Blom according to highstakesdb.com.
Sahamies and Blom are two of the swingiest players in online poker, so it shouldn’t be too big of a surprise that the pots get very big when the two clash, but $1.4 million is a very scarce number to be able to report on!
Of course, Blom isn’t one to take some time off after a big win and nearly $300k of his winnings has already found a home in other players’ accounts at PokerStars. Sahamies on the other hand decided it best to stop playing and write a blog about his struggles this weekend:
“Just finished the games against Isildur. Came down from $1.3 million in two days and felt really bad already when I was down $200k… Don’t know why I continued after $500k down. Really don’t know. I played weak and it was fair I lost my money,”
You can read Sahamies entire blog post at coinflip.com.
Tags: 1 Million, 24 Hour, Big Win, Blog, Blom, Chips, Clash, Games, High Stakes, Money, online poker, Poker Player, PokerStars, Pots, Profits, Revenge, Surprise
Posted in Online Poker, Poker News | No Comments »
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