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Posts Tagged ‘Poker Online’
Tuesday, September 27th, 2011
While the entire poker world awaited a statement from Full Tilt poker stemming from the requested amendment to the civil case that was filed last week, few will be satiated by the out of touch, off-topic, statement that Full Tilt Poker released. Basically the only point of contention that Full Tilt poker decided to address in the statement was the use of the term Ponzi scheme by US Attorney Preet Bharara.
Nothing regarding the massive shortfall, huge dividend payments to owners, or the other alleged fraudulent activity that took place at the site. Instead this is what Full Tilt Poker determined was the most important aspect to push-back against:
“Full Tilt Poker is not a Ponzi Scheme.
On September 19, 2011, the Department of Justice issued a release stating that Full Tilt Poker was “A Global Ponzi Scheme.” While the government has taken issue with the underlying activities of FTP, under any reasonable interpretation, there is no way to characterize the operation of Full Tilt Poker’s virtual online card room as a global Ponzi scheme.
A “Ponzi” scheme is an investment fraud that involves the payment of purported returns to existing investors from funds contributed by new investors. Ponzi schemes do not involve any legitimate investment, but rather use the new investor funds to pay “dividends” to the initial investors.
Despite recent events, FTP remains committed to identifying a suitable investor and paying back its players in full.”
Whew, and here I thought the company may have been in trouble *be careful not to slip in all of that sarcasm!
Tags: Address, Civil Case, Department Of Justice, Dividend Payments, Dividends, Fraudulent Activity, Full Tilt Poker, Initial Investors, Investment Fraud, Investor Funds, New Investor, Point Of Contention, Poker Online, Poker World, Ponzi Scheme, Ponzi Schemes, Sarcasm, Semantics, Shortfall, Whew
Posted in Poker Industry News | No Comments »
Monday, May 30th, 2011
Apparently with online poker effectively banned in the United States, would-be scammers and fraudsters have turned to the poker industry instead of its players as marks. In his most recent blog post, Dusty Schmidt recounted how the poker publishing company he co-owns, Imagine Media Inc., was the victim of credit card fraud.
According to Schmidt, a person using the name James Allen –which is likely a false name—purchased a large quantity of his newest book, Don’t Listen to Phil Hellmuth, using a fraudulent credit card.
Schmidt has turned the matter over to the proper authorities, but also listed his reasons for bringing the matter to light:
“My reasons for notifying the poker community about this issue are two-fold. First off, it would only seem logical that this thief is not so infatuated with my book that he needed a massive number of copies for himself! We are operating under the assumption that the theft occurred because the person purporting to be James Allen has the intention of selling the books to a third party… Secondly, it is definitely possible that Imagine Media isn’t the only poker company that this thief is targeting. I have no knowledge of his intentions, but it seems reasonable to think that this person will attempt to strike again.”
Schmidt is asking for the poker community to keep their eyes peeled on anyone trying to sell discounted copies of the book, and it should also be noted that the book is only legitimately available at a few distinct websites.
Tags: Assumption, Blog, Credit Card Fraud, Distinct Websites, False Name, Fraudsters, Fraudulent Credit Card, Intention, James Allen, Massive Number, online poker, Poker Online, Proper Authorities, Publishing Company, Scammers, Targets, Thief, Third Party, United States
Posted in Online Poker, Poker Industry News | No Comments »
Friday, February 25th, 2011
888 Poker has taken a major step in an attempt to make online poker feel even more like the real thing; by allowing players to interact and see each other at the 888 Poker tables through the use of a webcam. In a press release issued today 888 Poker unveiled how the cam would work: “The poker cam tables, powered by ooVoo, a leading video communication service provider with a best-in-class mobile video chat solution, will be available from the main lobby and will allow players to see their opponents while playing a Texas Hold’em Cash game.”
In the press release, Hili Shakked, Director of Poker Offering at 888holdings had this to say regarding the new innovation at 888 Poker, “Through the addition of video streams to our hugely successful Poker 6 we are offering an even more personal, inclusive, and social environment. On top of this, the chance to play as part of a team in the Team Tournaments, provides a competitive edge that allows players to meet and play with other like-minded people,”
The system will also alleviate some player’s worries about exactly who they are playing, and could go a long way into cleaning many of the fears of online poker players –poker bots, ghosting and multi-accounting, and other concerns.
The addition of the poker cam comes on the heels of a major overhaul to the 888 Poker site last year, that featured a new layout, design, and upgraded software.
Tags: 888 Poker, Accounting, Cash Game, Communication Service Provider, Competitive Edge, Fears, Layout Design, Like Minded People, New Layout, online poker, Opponents, Poker Online, Poker Players, Poker Tables, Press Release, Social Environment, Video Chat, Video Communication, Video Streams, Webcam
Posted in Online Poker, Poker Industry News | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 9th, 2011
The online poker traffic numbers are in, and there has been a bit of a shakeup in the rankings mostly revolving around Doyles Room’s network switch from the Cake Poker Network to the relatively small Yatahay Poker Network. According to www.pokerscout.com the Cake Poker Network saw its traffic fall by nearly 30%, while the Yatahy Poker Network saw a 150% increase!
The once mighty Cake Poker Network has fallen from a Top Ten poker network all the way down to #26, according to pokerscout.com, with a 7-day average of just 640 players. On the other hand, the Yatahay Poker Network has seen its average grow from around 100 players to 250 players.
What may be a little disconcerting to either Cake Poker Network or Doyles Room is where did the other players go? Either Cake Poker lost additional players when Doyles Room left, or not all of the Doyles Room patrons made the move to Yatahay; or the most likely outcome that many Doyles Room patrons went elsewhere while at the same time the Cake Poker Network lost additional players after their player base took the initial hit –some of the traffic loss was likely out of the network’s long-term survivability, which has been a major topic of conversation on the poker forums.
It’s highly likely that the fate of these two poker networks will be one of the more interesting storylines to watch throughout 2011.
Tags: Doyles Room, Fate, Forums, Lost, Network Switch, Network Traffic, online poker, Online Traffic, Patrons, Poker Network, Poker Online, Poker Players, Poker Room, Shakeup, Storylines, Survivability, Traffic Numbers
Posted in Online Poker, Poker Industry News | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 1st, 2011
With their huge fields, it’s not too often that the biggest names in poker utterly dominate the Sunday online poker tournaments, but this is precisely what happened yesterday at PokerStars. Not only did three very big names make the final table of the Sunday Million, but we also saw the Sunday 500 won by a 2010 November Niner, and the Sunday 2nd Chance won by one of online poker’s best tournament players of all-time.
Sunday Million: The Sunday Million attracted a huge field of 8,994 players, bringing the total prize-pool to just under $1.8 million. After a deal was made during three-handed play –which saw 2nd place finisher Ryan ‘Daut44’ Daut take home over $200k, it was Anthony “wwwBTHEREcom” Gregg who captured the title, albeit slightly less money than Daut at $195k.
Other final table participants included Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Selbst (6th place) and Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo (8th place).
Sunday 500: In the $500 buy-in tournament it was November Niner John Dolan who captured the top prize of $92,225 after besting the field of 1,085 participants.
Sunday 2nd Chance: Another big name in the poker world took home the $50,696.32 first-prize in the Sunday 2nd Chance this week as Chris “Moorman1” Moorman beat over 1,400 other hopefuls in the $200 buy-in tournament. Moorman, an 11-time PocketFives Triple Crown Winner is fresh off a final table appearance at the Aussie Millions Main Event where he picked up his biggest live cash to date.
Tags: 200k, Aussie Millions, Bonomo, Hopefuls, John Dolan, Main Event, Moorman, Niner, Online Poker Tournaments, Participants, Place Finisher, Poker Online, Poker Pros, Poker Tournament, Poker World, PokerStars, Prize Pool, Triple Crown Winner, Won By One, Zeejustin
Posted in Poker News | No Comments »
Friday, January 21st, 2011
True to their word of expanding to a dozen international poker tours, the popular online poker site PokerStars has announced its latest endeavor, the Eureka Poker Tour. The tour will feature stops in Eastern and Central Europe, but unlike the high-profile European Poker Tour –another PokerStars property—the Eureka Poker Tour will feature smaller buy-ins and take place at more off-the-beaten-path locales.
The tour has five scheduled stops at this point, all with €800 Main Events, in addition to calling the EPT Prague their Main Event –a move that will likely also boost attendance for that particular EPT stop! Prize-pools for the Main Events are expected to be in the neighborhood of €250,000, with attendance capped at 400-500 players depending on the locale.
Here is a look at the 5 stops that have been announced for the Eureka Poker Tour:
· March 16th -20th: Czech Republic Prague € 800 Main Event
· May 11th -15th: Slovenia Nova Gorica € 800 Main Event
· June 22nd -26th: Bulgaria Golden Sands, Varna € 800 Main Event
· September 7th -11th: Croatia, casino to be determined, € 800 Main Event
· November (dates to be determined): Romania, casino to be determined, € 800 Main Event
· December (dates to be determined): Czech Republic (EPT) Prague €5300 Main Event
The tournaments will also feature a number of preliminary events including satellite tournaments for as little as €20! For more details you can visit the Eureka Poker Tour website at www.eurekapokertour.com.
Tags: Attendance, Beaten Path, Bulgaria Golden Sands, Central Europe, Czech Republic Prague, Endeavor, EPT, Eureka, Ins, Main Event, Neighborhood, Nova Gorica, online poker, Poker Online, PokerStars, Pools, Profile, Romania, Slovenia, Varna
Posted in Online Poker, Poker News | No Comments »
Friday, January 14th, 2011
Lost in the shuffle during the unveiling of Full Tilt Poker’s latest online innovation, Multi-Entry Tournaments which allow players to register for the same tournament multiple times, as well as their Doubles Guarantee Week promotion where they are doubling the guaranteed prize-pools of the major weekly tournaments, the popular online poker room also added an interesting software feature that is sure to make multi-tablers very, very, happy.
The new feature is a “Sit Out at All Tables” and “Sit In at All Tables” option, that allows you to quickly, and with a single click of a mouse, sit-out, and then sit back in, without having to click on every single table.
The feature has the following options:
· Sit out next hand
· Sit out next hand (all)
· Sit out next BB
· Sit out next BB (all)
· Play now
· Play now (all)
· Wait for BB
· Wait for BB (all)
The feature has been long awaited in the online poker world, especially by the high-volume multi-tabling segment of the online poker community –some of whom would have to select this feature at each individual table just to go to the bathroom—who can quickly sit-out and rejoin all of the tables they have opened.
The recent upgrades at Full Tilt Poker make it clear that not only is the site constantly trying to push the envelope with new games and formats, and attracting new players with great promotions, but that they are also committed, and listening, to their current players and making the minor tweaks to their software these loyal players have have suggested.
Tags: Full Tilt Poker, Great Promotions, High Volume, Interesting Software, Loyal Players, Minor Tweaks, Multiple Times, New Feature, New Games, New Software, online poker, Poker Online, Poker Room, Poker Software, Poker World, Pools, Segment, Shuffle, Software Feature, Unveiling
Posted in Online Poker, Poker Industry News | No Comments »
Friday, January 14th, 2011
In honor of their newest innovation ‘Multiple Entry Tournaments’ Full Tilt Poker has created an entire promotional program to go along with it, dubbed Double Guarantee Week. During Double Guarantee Week every tournament with a guaranteed prize-pool will see the guarantee doubled, as well as allowing players to make use of the Multiple Registration feature!
The Double Guarantee will apply to the site’s entire major weekly tournament schedule. The promotion begins on January 24th and runs through January 30th, in all a total of $30 million is being guaranteed during the week of the promotion, an astounding number to say the least. So, for all of you multi-table tournament regulars out there; these tournaments will wither see record fields or possibly massive overlays if the promotion backfires on the site –which I’m 99% certain it will not!
Full Tilt Poker also announced that they would incorporate the Multiple Entry feature into their upcoming Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOP XIX) with nine of the scheduled FTOPS tournaments allowing multiple buy-ins. The FTOPS XIX begins in February, so Double Guarantee Week would also appear to be a test-run for Full Tilt poker before the larger, high-profile, FTOPS, and maybe to work out any glitches that may occur.
It would appear that the final week of January is shaping up to be one of the best 7-day stretches of tournament poker in online poker history.
Tags: 30 Million, Astounding Number, Double Guarantee, Ftops, Full Tilt Poker, Glitches, Innovation, Ins, online poker, Poker History, Poker Online, Prize Pool, Promotions, Registration Feature, Regulars, Stretches, Tournament Poker
Posted in Online Poker, Poker Industry News | No Comments »
Friday, January 7th, 2011
The Merge Poker Network is set to lose one of their sites after the recent announcement by Big Bet Poker that it would be closing down after less than a year on the network. The good news for players is the closure is happening completely above the board, with Big Bet Poker contacting its players detailing the imminent closure and informing them have until January 31st to remove any funds from their account; Big Bet Poker has also ceased accepting new players.
A message from Big Bet Poker’s Jay Parcells was posted on the 2+2 poker forums:
“IMPORTANT NOTICE FROM BIG BET POKER
I am writing today to inform you that Big Bet Poker is closing our poker room for good on Friday, January 31st, 2011.
We know this comes as a surprise to many of our players and partners and we apologize for any inconvenience.
As of today, Monday, January 3rd, we are no longer accepting deposits. You will still be able to access your account through the client and either play out your current balance or request a withdrawal.
The minimum withdrawal amount is $30. If your balance is under this amount, you will have until Friday, January 31st to play out the remaining balance.
The final date to request a withdrawal will be Friday, January 31st, 2011.
On behalf of the Support Team here, it has been our pleasure to serve you and would like to thank you for making Big Bet Poker your online poker choice.
Please contact us by email if you have any questions at support@bigbetpoker.com
Sincerely,
Jay Parcells
Head of Poker”
This is the second time Big Bet Poker has closed its doors –and they made good on all payments the first time around as well—as the site began its life as an independent poker room before closing and then reopening as part of the Merge Network.
Tags: Bet Online, Closed Doors, Email, Forums, Imminent Closure, Important Notice, Inconvenience, Independent, Minimum Withdrawal, online poker, Parcells, Pleasure, Poker Network, Poker Online, Poker Players, Poker Room, Second Time, Surprise
Posted in Online Poker, Poker Industry News | No Comments »
Thursday, December 16th, 2010
It appears that the idea of legalized online poker in the US was much ado about nothing, as word came down late yesterday through Andrew Feldman of ESPN.com that the online poker bill would not be brought to the floor of the Senate for a vote, and would not be attached to another piece of legislation.
In an E-Mail sent to ESPN Executive Director of the PPA, John Pappas, stated: “We are disappointed that Congress failed to act and provide the necessary consumer protections and sensible oversight over this multi-billion dollar industry… Sadly, some politicians remain with their heads firmly in the sand. The leadership of the Poker Players Alliance got the debate this far and we are determined to see this through.”
So, it appears online poker players in the US will have to make do with the status quo, while we cross our fingers and hope state governments can get it right and legalize and regulate the online poker industry.
While awaiting states like New Jersey and California to enact some form of online poker legislation, online poker players are left wondering if the Department of Justice will continue their crackdown on payment processors, which has made it increasingly difficult for poker players in the US to deposit and withdraw funds to their online accounts.
Tags: Andrew Feldman, Consumer Protections, Crackdown, Department Of Justice, Dollar Industry, E Mail, Espn, Executive Director, Hope State, John Pappas, Much Ado About Nothing, online poker, Oversight, Payment Processors, Poker Legislation, Poker Online, Poker Players, Politicians, Ppa, State Governments
Posted in Online Poker, Poker News | No Comments »
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