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According to HighstakesDB, Hansen lost more than $350,000 over the past seven days, which brings his losses since Full Tilt Poker relaunched in November of last year to more than $6 million. Hansen was on an incredible upswing prior to the site shutting down in 2011 and since its reboot has gone on an equally fantastic plunge.
It took Hansen, according to HSDB, 123,684 hands to lose that much.
His “Gus Hansen” screen name on the software is down about $9.2 million lifetime.
Hansen has dropped down in stakes at times lately, but still can be seen playing as high as $2,000-$4,000 on Full Tilt against the best of the best. Hansen is persistent and stubborn, traits that work well at times, but usually hurt him.
While Hansen took a dive this week, Viktor “Isildur1” Bloom won $750,000. The Swede has been up and down all year, but mostly up. He is this year’s biggest winner so far.
Here’s a rundown on the charts as of Friday.
Winners
Viktor “Isildur1” Blom: $3.4 million
Alexander “PostflopAction” Kostritsyn: $3.3 million
Ben “Bttech86” Tollerene: $2.2 million
Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond: $2.2 million
Patrik “FinddaGrind” Antonius: $2.1 million
Losers
Gus Hansen: -$2.8 million
Ben “Sauce1234” Sulsky: -$1.7 million
Phil “Polarizing” Ivey: -$1.6 million
samrostan: -$1.4 million
patpatpanda: -$1.3 million
High-Stakes Online Poker: Gus Hansen Now Down $6 Million Since The Fall
It took Hansen, according to HSDB, 123,684 hands to lose that much.
His “Gus Hansen” screen name on the software is down about $9.2 million lifetime.
Hansen has dropped down in stakes at times lately, but still can be seen playing as high as $2,000-$4,000 on Full Tilt against the best of the best. Hansen is persistent and stubborn, traits that work well at times, but usually hurt him.
While Hansen took a dive this week, Viktor “Isildur1” Bloom won $750,000. The Swede has been up and down all year, but mostly up. He is this year’s biggest winner so far.
Here’s a rundown on the charts as of Friday.
Winners
Viktor “Isildur1” Blom: $3.4 million
Alexander “PostflopAction” Kostritsyn: $3.3 million
Ben “Bttech86” Tollerene: $2.2 million
Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond: $2.2 million
Patrik “FinddaGrind” Antonius: $2.1 million
Losers
Gus Hansen: -$2.8 million
Ben “Sauce1234” Sulsky: -$1.7 million
Phil “Polarizing” Ivey: -$1.6 million
samrostan: -$1.4 million
patpatpanda: -$1.3 million
High-Stakes Online Poker: Gus Hansen Now Down $6 Million Since The Fall
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2006/12/07
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After a day’s downtime during the migration, InterPoker re-opened its website Friday at its new home on Ongame.
The veteran online poker room, which has been dealing cards online since 2002, first announced it would be moving off SPIELO’s IPN Network (commonly known as Boss Media) earlier this month.
InterPoker players should notice a significant bump in traffic: there are more than double the number of average active cash game players on the new network. Danish players will have to find a new home. According to a migration FAQ, the new platform has not been approved by the Danish Tax Authority (SKAT) and therefore accounts will not be migrated.
For InterPoker, it is a return home of sorts. Its sister site Intercasino, the first ever online casino, debuted on Cryptologic software. Poker was on the Cryptologic Poker Network, and when this closed in March 2010, it moved to IPN.
Amaya Gaming acquired Cryptologic in July 2012, and it acquired Ongame four months later. Now the full “Inter” product is running on Amaya’s platform.
InterPoker Completes Move to Ongame | Pokerfuse Online Poker News
The veteran online poker room, which has been dealing cards online since 2002, first announced it would be moving off SPIELO’s IPN Network (commonly known as Boss Media) earlier this month.
InterPoker players should notice a significant bump in traffic: there are more than double the number of average active cash game players on the new network. Danish players will have to find a new home. According to a migration FAQ, the new platform has not been approved by the Danish Tax Authority (SKAT) and therefore accounts will not be migrated.
For InterPoker, it is a return home of sorts. Its sister site Intercasino, the first ever online casino, debuted on Cryptologic software. Poker was on the Cryptologic Poker Network, and when this closed in March 2010, it moved to IPN.
Amaya Gaming acquired Cryptologic in July 2012, and it acquired Ongame four months later. Now the full “Inter” product is running on Amaya’s platform.
InterPoker Completes Move to Ongame | Pokerfuse Online Poker News
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Vogue editor Anna Wintour is once again rumored to snag an ambassadorship to France, now that Marc Lasry has been forced to withdraw over his lack of “hedging” his bets with a poker ring allegedly run by the rRussian mob.
The bombshell disclosure about Lasry was first reported in The Post on Friday.
Ambassadorships are usually handed out to the big-spending donors, which was the reason the hedge-fund billionaire who runs Avenue Capital was able to nose out Wintour in the first place.
In March, Condé Nast CEO Charles Townsend, in a bid to keep Anna happy and cash in on the glamour quotient he had built up running the fashion bible for 25 years, gave her the added title of artistic director of all the company’s magazines. “Anna is happy in her current role,” said Megan Salt, a Vogue spokeswoman, who is herself exiting for a public-relations job with Amazon on May 10.
The person Wintour has tapped to take over Salt’s job certainly looks like the ideal pick — for someone with political ambitions. None other than Hildy Kuryk, most recently the national finance director of the Democratic National Committee. She began with Obama during his early primary fight against Hillary Clinton and is a trusted member of his inner circle.
Some things just make On the Money go hmmm . . . --Keith J. Kelly
Career path
Cosmopolitan Editor-in-Chief Joanna Coles (pictured), who was among the luminaries honored with a Matrix Award by the Women in Communications in New York last week, said she’s learned the four stages of being a top editor in the publishing world.
Step 1: Who is Joanna Coles?
Step 2: Get me Joanna Coles!
Step 3: Get me the next Joanna Coles!
Step 4: Who the hell is Joanna Coles?
Coles said that right now in her career — which saw her elevated from Marie Claire to Hearst’s flagship earlier this year — she is somewhere between Steps 2 and 3. --Keith J. Kelly
Cookie monster
While Yahoo! may place cookies on your computer, the cookies inside Yahoo!’s offices are harder to come by.
An insider at a satellite office outside Sunnyvale, Calif., complained last week that the company is hiding desserts immediately after lunch, and suspects CEO Marissa Mayer is sending a message to staff to shape up.
“Since they have had the free-food thing, I’ve noticed lately that they stash the cookies away after lunch,” the hungry employee said.
One of Mayer’s executive moves after joining Yahoo! was having free lunches like those served at her former company, Google.
Yahoo! did not return a request for comment, and it is unknown whether Mayer has taken a page from Google’s cookbook.
Our insider said less-fatty food could do some of the staff some good.
“For some reason, there are a lot of obese people in their 20s and 30s here,” the staffer said.--Garett Sloane
Professor Doom Dave Cliff is becoming the Nostradamus of Wall Street. The professor from the University of Bristol in England darkly warned in 2010, in the immediate aftermath of the Flash Crash, how financial markets were foolishly “normalizing” the occurrences of these increasingly frequent electronic disasters.
“The absence of a catastrophe thus far is taken as evidence that future catastrophes are less likely than had been previously thought,” the professor wrote. “The flaw in this line of reasoning is starkly revealed when a catastrophe then ensues.”
That’s for sure. Take a look at the Facebook IPO on Nasdaq for one spectacular example.
Last year, a computer glitch was blamed for a $440 million loss at high-speed trader Knight Capital Management.
Last week it was business as usual: Some market professionals simply shrugged off two of the latest disasters.
On Tuesday, the S&P plunged almost 1 percent, temporarily erasing $130 billion in stock value, within seconds of a fake news tweet.
And on Thursday, the CBOE had to delay its opening for several hours. The largest US options exchange blamed, yes, those pesky software problems.
Joe Saluzzi of Themis Trading disagrees. “Certainly, there are going to be software glitches, but there seem to be more and more of them lately,” he told us.
“All it takes is somebody to blow out some e-mini contracts on the futures market, and you get this cycle going through every asset class — that’s why it is so scary,” Saluzzi said.
Shrewd poker player - NYPOST-com
The bombshell disclosure about Lasry was first reported in The Post on Friday.
Ambassadorships are usually handed out to the big-spending donors, which was the reason the hedge-fund billionaire who runs Avenue Capital was able to nose out Wintour in the first place.
In March, Condé Nast CEO Charles Townsend, in a bid to keep Anna happy and cash in on the glamour quotient he had built up running the fashion bible for 25 years, gave her the added title of artistic director of all the company’s magazines. “Anna is happy in her current role,” said Megan Salt, a Vogue spokeswoman, who is herself exiting for a public-relations job with Amazon on May 10.
The person Wintour has tapped to take over Salt’s job certainly looks like the ideal pick — for someone with political ambitions. None other than Hildy Kuryk, most recently the national finance director of the Democratic National Committee. She began with Obama during his early primary fight against Hillary Clinton and is a trusted member of his inner circle.
Some things just make On the Money go hmmm . . . --Keith J. Kelly
Career path
Cosmopolitan Editor-in-Chief Joanna Coles (pictured), who was among the luminaries honored with a Matrix Award by the Women in Communications in New York last week, said she’s learned the four stages of being a top editor in the publishing world.
Step 1: Who is Joanna Coles?
Step 2: Get me Joanna Coles!
Step 3: Get me the next Joanna Coles!
Step 4: Who the hell is Joanna Coles?
Coles said that right now in her career — which saw her elevated from Marie Claire to Hearst’s flagship earlier this year — she is somewhere between Steps 2 and 3. --Keith J. Kelly
Cookie monster
While Yahoo! may place cookies on your computer, the cookies inside Yahoo!’s offices are harder to come by.
An insider at a satellite office outside Sunnyvale, Calif., complained last week that the company is hiding desserts immediately after lunch, and suspects CEO Marissa Mayer is sending a message to staff to shape up.
“Since they have had the free-food thing, I’ve noticed lately that they stash the cookies away after lunch,” the hungry employee said.
One of Mayer’s executive moves after joining Yahoo! was having free lunches like those served at her former company, Google.
Yahoo! did not return a request for comment, and it is unknown whether Mayer has taken a page from Google’s cookbook.
Our insider said less-fatty food could do some of the staff some good.
“For some reason, there are a lot of obese people in their 20s and 30s here,” the staffer said.--Garett Sloane
Professor Doom Dave Cliff is becoming the Nostradamus of Wall Street. The professor from the University of Bristol in England darkly warned in 2010, in the immediate aftermath of the Flash Crash, how financial markets were foolishly “normalizing” the occurrences of these increasingly frequent electronic disasters.
“The absence of a catastrophe thus far is taken as evidence that future catastrophes are less likely than had been previously thought,” the professor wrote. “The flaw in this line of reasoning is starkly revealed when a catastrophe then ensues.”
That’s for sure. Take a look at the Facebook IPO on Nasdaq for one spectacular example.
Last year, a computer glitch was blamed for a $440 million loss at high-speed trader Knight Capital Management.
Last week it was business as usual: Some market professionals simply shrugged off two of the latest disasters.
On Tuesday, the S&P plunged almost 1 percent, temporarily erasing $130 billion in stock value, within seconds of a fake news tweet.
And on Thursday, the CBOE had to delay its opening for several hours. The largest US options exchange blamed, yes, those pesky software problems.
Joe Saluzzi of Themis Trading disagrees. “Certainly, there are going to be software glitches, but there seem to be more and more of them lately,” he told us.
“All it takes is somebody to blow out some e-mini contracts on the futures market, and you get this cycle going through every asset class — that’s why it is so scary,” Saluzzi said.
Shrewd poker player - NYPOST-com
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
mike1 wrote:
I like to play at Carbon Poker. I always makes a buck or two.
I play there already.....blackjack.
Join:
2006/12/20
Messages:
978
The number of great shows in the Poker Podcast Directory continues to grow. Our latest addition is a podcast called Poker Action Line. The show is based in Florida and is hosted by BIG Dave Lemmon and Joe Rodriguez.
But this isn’t just a local show. Though they do provide unrivaled coverage of the Florida poker scene, these guys also let listeners know what’s going on throughout the poker world. They have some great guests and their fun, upbeat and knowledgeable approach makes for interesting interviews. If you haven’t already done so, give them a listen. You will be pleasantly surprised.
The guys over at Tournament Poker Edge celebrated their three year anniversary earlier this month. With a born on date that proceeded Black Friday by one year, it is a great testament to their training videos, community forums and of course their podcast that they have continued to grow under the conditions of the post Black Friday poker industry. If you’re interested in hearing a brief story of how they have gotten to where they are today, check out the first segment of their latest podcast and, as usualm they have some great strategy discussion.
There was some talk not too long ago about the possibility of Mal and Gareth changing formats, but the Itsawinner podcast is still going strong: keeping their listeners informed on what is going on in the poker world for 163 episodes, and mixing in some cool music along the way. They have added some discussion about various video games, so if you are a poker player that’s also enjoys gaming and music, then this is the podcast for you. I am no gamer, but I really enjoyed their opening song this week, which I can actually say most weeks.
Although quite a different style, DonkDown Radio usually starts off with some really cool music too. This week Micon touches on the Joe Sebok extortion/sex pic story. DonkDown was probably the most famous place where at least one of the nude pics appeared. Micon rehashes his encounter with the FBI and members of the poker community that took place around the time of the pic first going public. And of course, he provides his comments on the testimony Sebok gave in the trial. So, if you have interest in this story, you will want to catch the first segment of this poker podcast. And as an added bonus, Micon digs deeper into the latest developments in Bitcoin mining.
This Week in Poker Podcasts: April 28, 2013 | Pokerfuse Online Poker News
But this isn’t just a local show. Though they do provide unrivaled coverage of the Florida poker scene, these guys also let listeners know what’s going on throughout the poker world. They have some great guests and their fun, upbeat and knowledgeable approach makes for interesting interviews. If you haven’t already done so, give them a listen. You will be pleasantly surprised.
The guys over at Tournament Poker Edge celebrated their three year anniversary earlier this month. With a born on date that proceeded Black Friday by one year, it is a great testament to their training videos, community forums and of course their podcast that they have continued to grow under the conditions of the post Black Friday poker industry. If you’re interested in hearing a brief story of how they have gotten to where they are today, check out the first segment of their latest podcast and, as usualm they have some great strategy discussion.
There was some talk not too long ago about the possibility of Mal and Gareth changing formats, but the Itsawinner podcast is still going strong: keeping their listeners informed on what is going on in the poker world for 163 episodes, and mixing in some cool music along the way. They have added some discussion about various video games, so if you are a poker player that’s also enjoys gaming and music, then this is the podcast for you. I am no gamer, but I really enjoyed their opening song this week, which I can actually say most weeks.
Although quite a different style, DonkDown Radio usually starts off with some really cool music too. This week Micon touches on the Joe Sebok extortion/sex pic story. DonkDown was probably the most famous place where at least one of the nude pics appeared. Micon rehashes his encounter with the FBI and members of the poker community that took place around the time of the pic first going public. And of course, he provides his comments on the testimony Sebok gave in the trial. So, if you have interest in this story, you will want to catch the first segment of this poker podcast. And as an added bonus, Micon digs deeper into the latest developments in Bitcoin mining.
This Week in Poker Podcasts: April 28, 2013 | Pokerfuse Online Poker News
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2006/12/07
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29893
A bodyguard, a man with a big chin and robotic arm, a dog detective and two robots walk into a bar and play cards.
Actually, there’s no punchline--that is what Telltale Games’ “Poker Night 2” is all about. The game involves sitting down with characters and playing cards. Telltale takes the idea of celebrity poker and uses popular game and TV characters who use cards as a way to relax and play poker at high stakes.
The game involves playing poker with four others: Brock Samson from Adult Swim’s, “The Venture Bros,” Claptrap from the Borderlands series, Ash Williams from the Evil Dead and Army of Darkness film series and Sam from Telltale’s Sam & Max video game series. GLaDOS from the Portal series is the dealer.
The game is a simple one: You play poker. You can choose between either Texas hold ’em or Omaha hold ’em. The rules have not been changed in any way. Everyone starts out with $10,000 and makes bets with blinds, raising the bet every once in a while if the game goes on for a long period of time.
What makes this game shine from other online poker games are the characters. Every single one has hilarious and cleverly written dialogue. They converse about what has been happening in their worlds and even ask each other questions. They sometimes involve the player in the conversation if they are impressed with a hand. The characters will challenge the player to beat their own hand or let out their frustrations toward the player if the fictional character was dealt a bad hand. It’s easy to see a lot of love was put into these characters by their funny but relevant dialogue.
What makes it so additionally interesting is the amount of unlockable items within the game. Occasionally a character doesn’t have the money to play a round and offers up some form of collateral from their own respective series. If the player is on Steam, he or she can unlock additional hats or weapon skins for different classes in “Team Fortress 2.” If a player owns “Borderlands 2,” he or she can unlock a number of character skins for the main characters.
If playing on a PS3 or Xbox 360, players can unlock new avatars or backgrounds for the characters in the game. Allowing added content shows a dedication to the fans of these games. The world isn’t just existent within “Poker Night 2;” it extends past that and into the character worlds making the game unique from others.
“Poker Night 2” is a simple game, but it’s fun to play if you enjoy poker and seeing some of your favorite characters ramble with one another through a match. The game costs $4.99 via digital download on Steam and Xbox 360. The game will not be available for download on the PS3 until April 30. The creators are also discussing plans to make it available on iOS sometime in the future. Sit down and enjoy some cards to pass the time and laugh at the hilarious dialogue between some of your favorite fictional characters.
'Poker Night 2' will delight card players - Northern Star Online: Gaming
Actually, there’s no punchline--that is what Telltale Games’ “Poker Night 2” is all about. The game involves sitting down with characters and playing cards. Telltale takes the idea of celebrity poker and uses popular game and TV characters who use cards as a way to relax and play poker at high stakes.
The game involves playing poker with four others: Brock Samson from Adult Swim’s, “The Venture Bros,” Claptrap from the Borderlands series, Ash Williams from the Evil Dead and Army of Darkness film series and Sam from Telltale’s Sam & Max video game series. GLaDOS from the Portal series is the dealer.
The game is a simple one: You play poker. You can choose between either Texas hold ’em or Omaha hold ’em. The rules have not been changed in any way. Everyone starts out with $10,000 and makes bets with blinds, raising the bet every once in a while if the game goes on for a long period of time.
What makes this game shine from other online poker games are the characters. Every single one has hilarious and cleverly written dialogue. They converse about what has been happening in their worlds and even ask each other questions. They sometimes involve the player in the conversation if they are impressed with a hand. The characters will challenge the player to beat their own hand or let out their frustrations toward the player if the fictional character was dealt a bad hand. It’s easy to see a lot of love was put into these characters by their funny but relevant dialogue.
What makes it so additionally interesting is the amount of unlockable items within the game. Occasionally a character doesn’t have the money to play a round and offers up some form of collateral from their own respective series. If the player is on Steam, he or she can unlock additional hats or weapon skins for different classes in “Team Fortress 2.” If a player owns “Borderlands 2,” he or she can unlock a number of character skins for the main characters.
If playing on a PS3 or Xbox 360, players can unlock new avatars or backgrounds for the characters in the game. Allowing added content shows a dedication to the fans of these games. The world isn’t just existent within “Poker Night 2;” it extends past that and into the character worlds making the game unique from others.
“Poker Night 2” is a simple game, but it’s fun to play if you enjoy poker and seeing some of your favorite characters ramble with one another through a match. The game costs $4.99 via digital download on Steam and Xbox 360. The game will not be available for download on the PS3 until April 30. The creators are also discussing plans to make it available on iOS sometime in the future. Sit down and enjoy some cards to pass the time and laugh at the hilarious dialogue between some of your favorite fictional characters.
'Poker Night 2' will delight card players - Northern Star Online: Gaming
Join:
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What’s going on at Lock Poker? Updates from the World Poker Tour. And news from online poker and gaming regulation in the U.S. It’s all in the Monday edition of the PTP Hit and Run.
WPT: They are in the teens for number of players left at the World Poker Tour’s bestbet Open. Former WPT champ Matt Salsberg is the biggest name left, but he is also the short stack. Updates here. More with the current chip leader, David Diaz,
Tribes on online poker: An interesting read from the Press of Atlantic City, which notes that Native American tribes are increasingly worried about online poker regulation in places like New Jersey. Will it push tribes more toward offering online poker and gaming, or away from it? More here.
In related news, Illinois appears to be moving forward with online gaming legislation. As is Massachusetts.
Lockdown at Lock?: Here’s the latest on the events at Lock Poker, where a lot of withdrawals have been canceled, although the situation is a lot more complicated than just that, as we learn at PokerFuse.
Is the situation at Lock Poker going to resolve itself, or will it become a giant cluster? It’s part of the things to watch this week in online poker.
Quick hitters:
–Updates from the LAPT Brazil.
–A roundup of the Sunday online tourneys, including a win for David Vamplew.
–PokerNews-com continues its series on the history of the World Series of Poker. Part two here, part one here if you missed it.
–Not shockingly, PokerStars wins an award for being the best mobile poker operator.
Get your daily dose of poker news with the PTP Hit and Run.
HNR 4/29: Lock Poker Update; WPT bestbet; Online Poker Regulation
WPT: They are in the teens for number of players left at the World Poker Tour’s bestbet Open. Former WPT champ Matt Salsberg is the biggest name left, but he is also the short stack. Updates here. More with the current chip leader, David Diaz,
Tribes on online poker: An interesting read from the Press of Atlantic City, which notes that Native American tribes are increasingly worried about online poker regulation in places like New Jersey. Will it push tribes more toward offering online poker and gaming, or away from it? More here.
In related news, Illinois appears to be moving forward with online gaming legislation. As is Massachusetts.
Lockdown at Lock?: Here’s the latest on the events at Lock Poker, where a lot of withdrawals have been canceled, although the situation is a lot more complicated than just that, as we learn at PokerFuse.
Is the situation at Lock Poker going to resolve itself, or will it become a giant cluster? It’s part of the things to watch this week in online poker.
Quick hitters:
–Updates from the LAPT Brazil.
–A roundup of the Sunday online tourneys, including a win for David Vamplew.
–PokerNews-com continues its series on the history of the World Series of Poker. Part two here, part one here if you missed it.
–Not shockingly, PokerStars wins an award for being the best mobile poker operator.
Get your daily dose of poker news with the PTP Hit and Run.
HNR 4/29: Lock Poker Update; WPT bestbet; Online Poker Regulation
Join:
2006/12/07
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Originally, the New Jersey state treasury estimated online gambling would be worth $1.2 billion in revenue during its first year, which after a state taxation level of 15% was applied, would leave $180 million in the state coffers.
However, according to revised estimates from two analysis firms, online gambling in New Jersey may only generate around $40 million in taxes for the state, significantly lower than the $180 million forecast by Governor Christie’s administration.
In total, the gambling analysis firms have estimated that casino games and poker could generate around $261.9m in gross gambling yield (GGY) during its first year, rising to $462.9m by the fourth year. These new, revised figures will surely come as quite a disappointment to New Jersey, whose casino industry has been in a slump since 2006.
In order to help raise its flagging economy, lawmakers had been fighting for years to get online gambling passed, which they only managed recently, thus opening up the possibility of the full range of Internet casino games, including poker. As Governor Chris Christie announced at the time: “This was a critical decision, and one that I did not make lightly…I am confident that we are offering a responsible yet exciting option that will make Atlantic City more competitive while also bringing financial benefits to New Jersey as a whole.”
Online gambling is now set to launch in the state sometime between June and November, but one factor which may give a boost to the revised downward figures, is whether or not PokerStars is given a licence to operate The Atlantic Club. The online titan would then be expected to give the state’s fledgling online poker industry a solid push.
NJ Online Gambling Taxes Just $40m For First Year?
However, according to revised estimates from two analysis firms, online gambling in New Jersey may only generate around $40 million in taxes for the state, significantly lower than the $180 million forecast by Governor Christie’s administration.
In total, the gambling analysis firms have estimated that casino games and poker could generate around $261.9m in gross gambling yield (GGY) during its first year, rising to $462.9m by the fourth year. These new, revised figures will surely come as quite a disappointment to New Jersey, whose casino industry has been in a slump since 2006.
In order to help raise its flagging economy, lawmakers had been fighting for years to get online gambling passed, which they only managed recently, thus opening up the possibility of the full range of Internet casino games, including poker. As Governor Chris Christie announced at the time: “This was a critical decision, and one that I did not make lightly…I am confident that we are offering a responsible yet exciting option that will make Atlantic City more competitive while also bringing financial benefits to New Jersey as a whole.”
Online gambling is now set to launch in the state sometime between June and November, but one factor which may give a boost to the revised downward figures, is whether or not PokerStars is given a licence to operate The Atlantic Club. The online titan would then be expected to give the state’s fledgling online poker industry a solid push.
NJ Online Gambling Taxes Just $40m For First Year?
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2006/12/07
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29893
Station Casinos opened up the first real-money gambling web site in the state of Nevada today with the debut of UltimatePoker-com.
Nevada has more than its share of flashy casinos. But its newest high-stakes game will let Nevadans gamble in the comfort of their own homes. On Tuesday, Nevada became the first state where residents can legally play online poker for real money.
The state legalized online poker in February, followed by New Jersey and Delaware. The hope is that such online gambling will generate billions of dollars in revenue for both companies and local governments collecting taxes.
UltimatePoker-com will operate under a 30-day license, as the site works out any problems before getting a permanent license, according to a Reuters interview with A.G. Burnett, chairman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board. Other companies are following close behind, he said. So far, players have to be in the state of Nevada in order to play UltimatePoker-com.
With UltimatePoker-com, players can compete for a daily prize of $1,000 or $10,000 on Sunday. Players have to be 21 years or older.
Internet gambling was banned by Congress in 2006, but the Justice Department relaxed rules in 2011, allowing states to explicitly approve online gambling on a local basis. Ultimate Gaming is headed by chief executive Tobin Prior and Tom Breitling, co-founder and chairman. Breitling came to Las Vegas in 1993 with $100 in his pocket. He set up an online reservations company and grew the business to $104 million in 1999. He sold the company in 2000 to Expedia for more than $100 million. In 2004, Breitling and his co-founder Tim Poster acquired the Golden Nugget hotel-casino properties for $215 million.
Their operation became the subject of the Fox TV reality show, The Casino. In 2005, Breitling and Poster sold the Golden Nugget to Landry’s Restaurants for $340 million. Breitling published his autobiography, Double or Nothing, in 2007 and worked at Wynn Resorts from 2008 to 2010.
Prior, meanwhile was previously president of the International Gaming Division of Kerzner International.
UltimatePoker-com goes live as first real-money online gambling site in Nevada | GamesBeat
Nevada has more than its share of flashy casinos. But its newest high-stakes game will let Nevadans gamble in the comfort of their own homes. On Tuesday, Nevada became the first state where residents can legally play online poker for real money.
The state legalized online poker in February, followed by New Jersey and Delaware. The hope is that such online gambling will generate billions of dollars in revenue for both companies and local governments collecting taxes.
UltimatePoker-com will operate under a 30-day license, as the site works out any problems before getting a permanent license, according to a Reuters interview with A.G. Burnett, chairman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board. Other companies are following close behind, he said. So far, players have to be in the state of Nevada in order to play UltimatePoker-com.
With UltimatePoker-com, players can compete for a daily prize of $1,000 or $10,000 on Sunday. Players have to be 21 years or older.
Internet gambling was banned by Congress in 2006, but the Justice Department relaxed rules in 2011, allowing states to explicitly approve online gambling on a local basis. Ultimate Gaming is headed by chief executive Tobin Prior and Tom Breitling, co-founder and chairman. Breitling came to Las Vegas in 1993 with $100 in his pocket. He set up an online reservations company and grew the business to $104 million in 1999. He sold the company in 2000 to Expedia for more than $100 million. In 2004, Breitling and his co-founder Tim Poster acquired the Golden Nugget hotel-casino properties for $215 million.
Their operation became the subject of the Fox TV reality show, The Casino. In 2005, Breitling and Poster sold the Golden Nugget to Landry’s Restaurants for $340 million. Breitling published his autobiography, Double or Nothing, in 2007 and worked at Wynn Resorts from 2008 to 2010.
Prior, meanwhile was previously president of the International Gaming Division of Kerzner International.
UltimatePoker-com goes live as first real-money online gambling site in Nevada | GamesBeat
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It's been just over two years since the poker world was rocked by "Black Friday" on April 15, 2011. After the Department of Justice indicted 11 key players in relation to the three major online poker sites, the online poker industry in the United States went essentially dormant. Some professional players chose to relocate overseas to poker friendly countries such as Canada, Mexico and European nations. Others decided to play exclusively live poker. Some even took a well-deserved break.
The tides began to change on Tuesday as online poker officially returned to the United States … well, at least Nevada. At 9:00 a.m. PT, UltimatePoker-com made history by becoming the first Nevada based online poker company to launch a legal real-money online poker site.
"We are proud to be the first company to deliver legal and secure real-money online gaming to poker players," said Ultimate Poker Chairman Tom Breitling. "We have worked closely with state gaming regulators to demonstrate our unique and compelling poker platform that, above all, players know they can trust. Ultimate Poker is dedicated to being the players' choice for online poker."
"This day has been a long time coming. Online poker in the United States is finally here and totally legit," remarked brand ambassador Antonio Esfandiari.
With this launch, there is finally a glimmer of hope for the U.S. poker player.
"Before Black Friday, 90 percent of my time was spent playing online poker, that's where I made my living," said 2012 October Niner Jeremy Ausmus. "And ever since Black Friday, I became a live grinder … so, I'm pretty excited about it. It's an exciting development and a step in the right direction. … If the games are available, I will stay home more and will enjoy the convenience and efficiency of online poker."
Availability is the key question thus far. As the legal online poker market develops, building a substantial player pool is essential.
"I'm cautiously optimistic, but excited after not being able to play online poker for two years," said Eric Baldwin. "I will definitely be playing at some point, if nothing else to have fun and experience playing online poker again. On days where there is not a great live option in Las Vegas, it will be nice change of pace to be able to play online at home."
As the games launched, the early offerings at Ultimate Poker showed limited stakes, a concern for many.
"Based on the population of Nevada, which is about three million residents, this number is just a drop in the bucket compared to the entire world. I'm concerned that the games will not be big enough for it to be a viable option for professional poker players to make a living," described Baldwin.
"I think it is a step in the right direction and, if the stakes are high enough, it could interest me," 2011 WSOP Player of the Year and bracelet winner, Ben Lamb. "With such a small player field in Nevada, it will be many years before we see the fields like we did before Black Friday."
There's no question that the player pool is the issue, but in the next few months, that may not be such a problem. Anyone within the state's borders can play and with the WSOP coming later this month, the field sizes could dramatically increase during that time.
As a non-Nevada resident myself, I'm looking forward to being able to play this summer during the WSOP. Other players are excited about this launch as well.
Recent WSOP Circuit Council Bluffs main event champion, Blair "blur5f6" Hinkle, a resident of Kansas City, Missouri, was the only player ever to win over $1 million in a single event on Full Tilt. He's excited about the recent developments and plans to give the Nevada sites a try in a few weeks.
"I am going to be mostly focusing on my WSOP events, but it will be cool because on my days off, I may test out the site," said Hinkle. "It will be a nice option to have on your days off if you feel like still playing poker. It will be nice and convenient. Overall, this is great news for the poker community."
There is now some hope that this development will lead New Jersey and Delaware to expedite the release of their offerings which are expected later this year. Additionally, other states may follow, eventually leading to a national regulation of online poker.
For now, U.S. poker players, you can begin to come out of hibernation. Welcome back.
Ultimate Poker launches first legal online poker site in Nevada - ESPN
The tides began to change on Tuesday as online poker officially returned to the United States … well, at least Nevada. At 9:00 a.m. PT, UltimatePoker-com made history by becoming the first Nevada based online poker company to launch a legal real-money online poker site.
"We are proud to be the first company to deliver legal and secure real-money online gaming to poker players," said Ultimate Poker Chairman Tom Breitling. "We have worked closely with state gaming regulators to demonstrate our unique and compelling poker platform that, above all, players know they can trust. Ultimate Poker is dedicated to being the players' choice for online poker."
"This day has been a long time coming. Online poker in the United States is finally here and totally legit," remarked brand ambassador Antonio Esfandiari.
With this launch, there is finally a glimmer of hope for the U.S. poker player.
"Before Black Friday, 90 percent of my time was spent playing online poker, that's where I made my living," said 2012 October Niner Jeremy Ausmus. "And ever since Black Friday, I became a live grinder … so, I'm pretty excited about it. It's an exciting development and a step in the right direction. … If the games are available, I will stay home more and will enjoy the convenience and efficiency of online poker."
Availability is the key question thus far. As the legal online poker market develops, building a substantial player pool is essential.
"I'm cautiously optimistic, but excited after not being able to play online poker for two years," said Eric Baldwin. "I will definitely be playing at some point, if nothing else to have fun and experience playing online poker again. On days where there is not a great live option in Las Vegas, it will be nice change of pace to be able to play online at home."
As the games launched, the early offerings at Ultimate Poker showed limited stakes, a concern for many.
"Based on the population of Nevada, which is about three million residents, this number is just a drop in the bucket compared to the entire world. I'm concerned that the games will not be big enough for it to be a viable option for professional poker players to make a living," described Baldwin.
"I think it is a step in the right direction and, if the stakes are high enough, it could interest me," 2011 WSOP Player of the Year and bracelet winner, Ben Lamb. "With such a small player field in Nevada, it will be many years before we see the fields like we did before Black Friday."
There's no question that the player pool is the issue, but in the next few months, that may not be such a problem. Anyone within the state's borders can play and with the WSOP coming later this month, the field sizes could dramatically increase during that time.
As a non-Nevada resident myself, I'm looking forward to being able to play this summer during the WSOP. Other players are excited about this launch as well.
Recent WSOP Circuit Council Bluffs main event champion, Blair "blur5f6" Hinkle, a resident of Kansas City, Missouri, was the only player ever to win over $1 million in a single event on Full Tilt. He's excited about the recent developments and plans to give the Nevada sites a try in a few weeks.
"I am going to be mostly focusing on my WSOP events, but it will be cool because on my days off, I may test out the site," said Hinkle. "It will be a nice option to have on your days off if you feel like still playing poker. It will be nice and convenient. Overall, this is great news for the poker community."
There is now some hope that this development will lead New Jersey and Delaware to expedite the release of their offerings which are expected later this year. Additionally, other states may follow, eventually leading to a national regulation of online poker.
For now, U.S. poker players, you can begin to come out of hibernation. Welcome back.
Ultimate Poker launches first legal online poker site in Nevada - ESPN
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2006/12/07
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Poker devotees can now skip the smoky casino and legally gamble their dollars away on the couch – at least in the state of Nevada.
A Las Vegas-based casino subsidiary launched the first fully legal poker website in the United States on Tuesday morning.
The site, run by Ultimate Gaming, is only accepting wagers from players in Nevada for now, but likely represents the next chapter in gambling nationwide.
Internet poker, never fully legal, has been strictly outlawed since 2011, when the Department of Justice seized the domain names of the largest offshore sites catering to U.S. customers and blacked them out.
This crackdown, dubbed “black Friday,” left poker fanatics with two options: They could either get dressed and visit a card room, or break the law and log into an offshore site.
More recently, the federal government softened its stance on Internet betting, and three states – New Jersey, Delaware and Nevada- have legalized some form of online wagering within their borders.
With Tuesday’s launch, Nevada wins the race to bring Texas Hold `em back to the Internet.
“There was black Friday, and now we’re going to have `trusting Tuesday,’” said Ultimate Gaming CEO Tobin Prior. “Players won’t have to worry if their money is safe. They are going to be able to play with people they can trust and know the highest regulatory standards have been applied.”
About 20 other companies- including Zynga, the creator of FarmVille- are preparing to open their virtual doors in the Silver State.
UltimatePoker-com will look familiar to anyone who participated in the poker craze of the 2000s. Only the account setup and login process have changed. Instead of checking a box certifying they are older than 18, players will click through a lengthy setup process involving Social Security and cell phone numbers. Only those older than 21 will be allowed to play.
Ultimate Gaming hopes to win the trust not only of players, but of regulators and politicians.
“It’s an opportunity to show the world how to properly run online poker,” Ultimate Gaming chairman Tom Breitling said.
Several cash-hungry states are weighing legislation that would allow them to tap into what is expected to be a multibillion-dollar market. Some bills would legalize only poker, as Nevada has, while others would throw open the gates to all casino games, including slots, as New Jersey and Delaware have done.
Earlier this year, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval approved legislation that gives him the ability to sign interstate Internet gambling deals with other governors.
Players around the world currently wager an estimated $35 billion online each year, according to the American Gaming Association. A fully realized U.S. online poker market could generate $4.3 billion in revenue its first year, and $9.6 billion by year five, according to London-based research firm H2 Gambling Capital.
Still, with federal efforts to legalize Internet poker stalled, it may be a while before a critical mass of states link together to lure professional players back from overseas and drive up jackpots.
Nevada, a state of just 2.8 million, attracts 52 million visitors a year- more than the population of California. But who wants to go on vacation just to fire up their laptop and play some virtual cards?
“I think the real excitement will be when we get a very populous state like a California or a New York allowing these companies to expand,” ITG casino analyst Matthew Jacob said. “But these changes often take longer to occur than people assume. It requires a change in law and then it takes a while from when the law passes until the sites are up and running.”
Prior says he intends to make Ultimate Poker profitable within a matter of years, in part through cross-promotion with mixed martial arts giant Ultimate Fighting Championship. Both companies are owned by brothers Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta, who also control Station Casinos Inc., a chain that caters to locals in Las Vegas.
The Ultimate Poker logo has enjoyed prime placement in the UFC fight octagon for months. The Ultimate Poker Facebook page, which steers fans to a zero-stakes version of the site, features a mix of UFC glamour shots and stock images of guys in hoodies staring into laptop screens.
“When you look at the demographic of the UFC fan and the online poker player, it’s almost a perfect overlap,” Breitling said.
In the coming months, Ultimate Gaming will have to prove that its technology and 111 employees can prevent minors and out-of-state players from wagering real dollars, and guard against money laundering. The site will use several factors to track location, including the virtual customer’s mobile phone and their IP addresses, the strings of numbers that identify computers on the Internet, according to chief technology officer Chris Derossi.
It will also have to pay 6.75 percent of its revenue in Nevada state taxes.
It’s unclear how much of a boon the new market will be to the cash-strapped state. In 2012, the Pew Center on the States analyzed 13 states that had recently legalized new types of gambling, and found that more than two-thirds of “failed to live up to the initial promises or projections.”
The gambling industry is hoping the return of Internet poker will revitalize interest in the game and help brick and mortar casinos capture a younger market.
The rise of Internet poker is generally credited with helping spark the poker fad of the last decade. The end of online gambling is thought to have helped quash interest in the game.
In the coming months, the industry will be watching closely to see if poker players come flocking back from their new hobbies, replacement computer games and illegal offshore gambling sites.
“This is a really huge moment for our company, the state of Nevada and the gaming community,” Breitling said. “We’re hoping to make poker fun again.”
[url=www-salon-com/2013/04/30/online_poker_is_back_ap
A Las Vegas-based casino subsidiary launched the first fully legal poker website in the United States on Tuesday morning.
The site, run by Ultimate Gaming, is only accepting wagers from players in Nevada for now, but likely represents the next chapter in gambling nationwide.
Internet poker, never fully legal, has been strictly outlawed since 2011, when the Department of Justice seized the domain names of the largest offshore sites catering to U.S. customers and blacked them out.
This crackdown, dubbed “black Friday,” left poker fanatics with two options: They could either get dressed and visit a card room, or break the law and log into an offshore site.
More recently, the federal government softened its stance on Internet betting, and three states – New Jersey, Delaware and Nevada- have legalized some form of online wagering within their borders.
With Tuesday’s launch, Nevada wins the race to bring Texas Hold `em back to the Internet.
“There was black Friday, and now we’re going to have `trusting Tuesday,’” said Ultimate Gaming CEO Tobin Prior. “Players won’t have to worry if their money is safe. They are going to be able to play with people they can trust and know the highest regulatory standards have been applied.”
About 20 other companies- including Zynga, the creator of FarmVille- are preparing to open their virtual doors in the Silver State.
UltimatePoker-com will look familiar to anyone who participated in the poker craze of the 2000s. Only the account setup and login process have changed. Instead of checking a box certifying they are older than 18, players will click through a lengthy setup process involving Social Security and cell phone numbers. Only those older than 21 will be allowed to play.
Ultimate Gaming hopes to win the trust not only of players, but of regulators and politicians.
“It’s an opportunity to show the world how to properly run online poker,” Ultimate Gaming chairman Tom Breitling said.
Several cash-hungry states are weighing legislation that would allow them to tap into what is expected to be a multibillion-dollar market. Some bills would legalize only poker, as Nevada has, while others would throw open the gates to all casino games, including slots, as New Jersey and Delaware have done.
Earlier this year, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval approved legislation that gives him the ability to sign interstate Internet gambling deals with other governors.
Players around the world currently wager an estimated $35 billion online each year, according to the American Gaming Association. A fully realized U.S. online poker market could generate $4.3 billion in revenue its first year, and $9.6 billion by year five, according to London-based research firm H2 Gambling Capital.
Still, with federal efforts to legalize Internet poker stalled, it may be a while before a critical mass of states link together to lure professional players back from overseas and drive up jackpots.
Nevada, a state of just 2.8 million, attracts 52 million visitors a year- more than the population of California. But who wants to go on vacation just to fire up their laptop and play some virtual cards?
“I think the real excitement will be when we get a very populous state like a California or a New York allowing these companies to expand,” ITG casino analyst Matthew Jacob said. “But these changes often take longer to occur than people assume. It requires a change in law and then it takes a while from when the law passes until the sites are up and running.”
Prior says he intends to make Ultimate Poker profitable within a matter of years, in part through cross-promotion with mixed martial arts giant Ultimate Fighting Championship. Both companies are owned by brothers Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta, who also control Station Casinos Inc., a chain that caters to locals in Las Vegas.
The Ultimate Poker logo has enjoyed prime placement in the UFC fight octagon for months. The Ultimate Poker Facebook page, which steers fans to a zero-stakes version of the site, features a mix of UFC glamour shots and stock images of guys in hoodies staring into laptop screens.
“When you look at the demographic of the UFC fan and the online poker player, it’s almost a perfect overlap,” Breitling said.
In the coming months, Ultimate Gaming will have to prove that its technology and 111 employees can prevent minors and out-of-state players from wagering real dollars, and guard against money laundering. The site will use several factors to track location, including the virtual customer’s mobile phone and their IP addresses, the strings of numbers that identify computers on the Internet, according to chief technology officer Chris Derossi.
It will also have to pay 6.75 percent of its revenue in Nevada state taxes.
It’s unclear how much of a boon the new market will be to the cash-strapped state. In 2012, the Pew Center on the States analyzed 13 states that had recently legalized new types of gambling, and found that more than two-thirds of “failed to live up to the initial promises or projections.”
The gambling industry is hoping the return of Internet poker will revitalize interest in the game and help brick and mortar casinos capture a younger market.
The rise of Internet poker is generally credited with helping spark the poker fad of the last decade. The end of online gambling is thought to have helped quash interest in the game.
In the coming months, the industry will be watching closely to see if poker players come flocking back from their new hobbies, replacement computer games and illegal offshore gambling sites.
“This is a really huge moment for our company, the state of Nevada and the gaming community,” Breitling said. “We’re hoping to make poker fun again.”
[url=www-salon-com/2013/04/30/online_poker_is_back_ap
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Manne wrote:
Poker devotees can now skip the smoky casino and legally gamble their dollars away on the couch – at least in the state of Nevada.
A Las Vegas-based casino subsidiary launched the first fully legal poker website in the United States on Tuesday morning.
The site, run by Ultimate Gaming, is only accepting wagers from players in Nevada for now, but likely represents the next chapter in gambling nationwide.
Internet poker, never fully legal, has been strictly outlawed since 2011, when the Department of Justice seized the domain names of the largest offshore sites catering to U.S. customers and blacked them out.
This crackdown, dubbed “black Friday,” left poker fanatics with two options: They could either get dressed and visit a card room, or break the law and log into an offshore site.
More recently, the federal government softened its stance on Internet betting, and three states – New Jersey, Delaware and Nevada- have legalized some form of online wagering within their borders.
With Tuesday’s launch, Nevada wins the race to bring Texas Hold `em back to the Internet.
“There was black Friday, and now we’re going to have `trusting Tuesday,’” said Ultimate Gaming CEO Tobin Prior. “Players won’t have to worry if their money is safe. They are going to be able to play with people they can trust and know the highest regulatory standards have been applied.”
About 20 other companies- including Zynga, the creator of FarmVille- are preparing to open their virtual doors in the Silver State.
UltimatePoker-com will look familiar to anyone who participated in the poker craze of the 2000s. Only the account setup and login process have changed. Instead of checking a box certifying they are older than 18, players will click through a lengthy setup process involving Social Security and cell phone numbers. Only those older than 21 will be allowed to play.
Ultimate Gaming hopes to win the trust not only of players, but of regulators and politicians.
“It’s an opportunity to show the world how to properly run online poker,” Ultimate Gaming chairman Tom Breitling said.
Several cash-hungry states are weighing legislation that would allow them to tap into what is expected to be a multibillion-dollar market. Some bills would legalize only poker, as Nevada has, while others would throw open the gates to all casino games, including slots, as New Jersey and Delaware have done.
Earlier this year, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval approved legislation that gives him the ability to sign interstate Internet gambling deals with other governors.
Players around the world currently wager an estimated $35 billion online each year, according to the American Gaming Association. A fully realized U.S. online poker market could generate $4.3 billion in revenue its first year, and $9.6 billion by year five, according to London-based research firm H2 Gambling Capital.
Still, with federal efforts to legalize Internet poker stalled, it may be a while before a critical mass of states link together to lure professional players back from overseas and drive up jackpots.
Nevada, a state of just 2.8 million, attracts 52 million visitors a year- more than the population of California. But who wants to go on vacation just to fire up their laptop and play some virtual cards?
“I think the real excitement will be when we get a very populous state like a California or a New York allowing these companies to expand,” ITG casino analyst Matthew Jacob said. “But these changes often take longer to occur than people assume. It requires a change in law and then it takes a while from when the law passes until the sites are up and running.”
Prior says he intends to make Ultimate Poker profitable within a matter of years, in part through cross-promotion with mixed martial arts giant Ultimate Fighting Championship. Both companies are owned by brothers Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta, who also control Station Casinos Inc., a chain that caters to locals in Las Vegas.
The Ultimate Poker logo has enjoyed prime placement in the UFC fight octagon for months. The Ultimate Poker Facebook page, which steers fans to a zero-stakes version of the site, features a mix of UFC glamour shots and stock images of guys in hoodies staring into laptop screens.
“When you look at the demographic of the UFC fan and the online poker player, it’s almost a perfect overlap,” Breitling said.
In the coming months, Ultimate Gaming will have to prove that its technology and 111 employees can prevent minors and out-of-state players from wagering real dollars, and guard against money laundering. The site will use several factors to track location, including the virtual customer’s mobile phone and their IP addresses, the strings of numbers that identify computers on the Internet, according to chief technology officer Chris Derossi.
It will also have to pay 6.75 percent of its revenue in Nevada state taxes.
It’s unclear how much of a boon the new market will be to the cash-strapped state. In 2012, the Pew Center on the States analyzed 13 states that had recently legalized new types of gambling, and found that more than two-thirds of “failed to live up to the initial promises or projections.”
The gambling industry is hoping the return of Internet poker will revitalize interest in the game and help brick and mortar casinos capture a younger market.
The rise of Internet poker is generally credited with helping spark the poker fad of the last decade. The end of online gambling is thought to have helped quash interest in the game.
In the coming months, the industry will be watching closely to see if poker players come flocking back from their new hobbies, replacement computer games and illegal offshore gambling sites.
“This is a really huge moment for our company, the state of Nevada and the gaming community,” Breitling said. “We’re hoping to make poker fun again.”
[url=www-salon-com/2013/04/30/online_poker_is_back_ap
Thanks for that
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mike1 wrote:
Thanks for that
The time has come!!
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PartyPoker will end its final Tournament Leaderboard promotion when the current weekly competition finishes on May 5.
The only announcement of the promotion’s final days is at the bottom of the main leaderboard promotion page. The monthly leaderboard ended at the end of April, and the weekly ends tomorrow.
According to the statement, “a more varied range of tournament-based promotions in the future” will replace the promo.
The company that used to advertise itself as the most popular online poker room in the world now lists poker as a business risk in its annual report. PartyPoker has underperformed the rest of the global poker market over the past year, and has decided to concentrate on fewer markets where it feels it can build a competitive advantage.
The end of tournament leaderboards is another step in Party’s plan to refocus on recreational players, much to the frustration of high volume players. Recent network decisions include removing the bad beat jackpot, cutting its VIP program at the highest tier and, most controversially, implementing an opaque player segregation policy.
Its “all-new” poker client is still in the works, although it has fallen behind initial launch plans.
PartyPoker Ends Tournament Leaderboards Promotion | Pokerfuse Online Poker News
The only announcement of the promotion’s final days is at the bottom of the main leaderboard promotion page. The monthly leaderboard ended at the end of April, and the weekly ends tomorrow.
According to the statement, “a more varied range of tournament-based promotions in the future” will replace the promo.
The company that used to advertise itself as the most popular online poker room in the world now lists poker as a business risk in its annual report. PartyPoker has underperformed the rest of the global poker market over the past year, and has decided to concentrate on fewer markets where it feels it can build a competitive advantage.
The end of tournament leaderboards is another step in Party’s plan to refocus on recreational players, much to the frustration of high volume players. Recent network decisions include removing the bad beat jackpot, cutting its VIP program at the highest tier and, most controversially, implementing an opaque player segregation policy.
Its “all-new” poker client is still in the works, although it has fallen behind initial launch plans.
PartyPoker Ends Tournament Leaderboards Promotion | Pokerfuse Online Poker News
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2006/12/07
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Canada’s Amaya Gaming, a growing player in international gambling business, has hired former Absolute Poker CEO and COO Paul Leggett as its head of online gaming, replacing Paul Bertilsson, who will continue on as a consultant with the company.
Leggett’s hiring was first reported by eGaming Review last week, and has since been confirmed independently by pokerfuse, despite no formal announcement of the hiring by Amaya.
Leggett is expected to oversee one of Amaya’s new acquisitions, the Ongame Network, in particular. Bertilsson was the former Managing Director of Ongame Services, and Leggett, according to EGR, will now head up Amaya’s online division and is “responsible for all of Amaya’s online activities.”
Neither Leggett nor Amaya responded to inquiries from pokerfuse asking for confirmation of Leggett’s hiring, his official title, expected responsibilities and an interview.
The future roles of both Leggett and Ongame have the potential to raise eyebrows in states such as Nevada, where recently enacted online poker legislation includes a five-year “bad actor” provision for post-UIGEA, US-facing sites. Leggett served as CEO, COO and owner for several US-facing entities from 2007 onward, including Absolute Poker, UB-com (formerly Ultimate Bet), and Tokwiro Enterprises, a shell holding company fronted by former Kahnawake Grand Chief Joseph Tokwiro Norton.
Absolute Poker, which also owned UB-com, ceased operations after the April 2011 “Black Friday” crackdown by the United States, leaving tens of millions in player balances unpaid to its worldwide, though largely American, player base. Leggett was most often cited as the COO of UB-com as the Black Friday indictments were passed down.
The Ongame Network is one of the oldest online poker networks which operated in the United States prior to the passage of UIGEA. The former home to sites including bwin, PokerRoom-com and Hollywood Poker, the network was first operated by BetAndWin, which morphed into bwin.party following a 2011 merger.
With a surplus of gaming assets following the merge, bwin.party began a search for an Ongame buyer. The network was first sold to Shuffle Master, who later backed out of the deal. Amaya later purchased Ongame for a lessened price. Shuffle Master (now SHFL) then negotiated a pact with Amaya to use the Ongame platform.
Amaya also has a deal in place with Bally Technologies which, like SHFL, is already an approved licensee in Nevada’s new online poker regime. It remains to be seen whether Amaya’s hiring of Leggett presents any overriding concerns for Nevada regulators.
Amaya Hires Former Absolute Poker Frontman as Online Gaming Head | Pokerfuse Online Poker News
Leggett’s hiring was first reported by eGaming Review last week, and has since been confirmed independently by pokerfuse, despite no formal announcement of the hiring by Amaya.
Leggett is expected to oversee one of Amaya’s new acquisitions, the Ongame Network, in particular. Bertilsson was the former Managing Director of Ongame Services, and Leggett, according to EGR, will now head up Amaya’s online division and is “responsible for all of Amaya’s online activities.”
Neither Leggett nor Amaya responded to inquiries from pokerfuse asking for confirmation of Leggett’s hiring, his official title, expected responsibilities and an interview.
The future roles of both Leggett and Ongame have the potential to raise eyebrows in states such as Nevada, where recently enacted online poker legislation includes a five-year “bad actor” provision for post-UIGEA, US-facing sites. Leggett served as CEO, COO and owner for several US-facing entities from 2007 onward, including Absolute Poker, UB-com (formerly Ultimate Bet), and Tokwiro Enterprises, a shell holding company fronted by former Kahnawake Grand Chief Joseph Tokwiro Norton.
Absolute Poker, which also owned UB-com, ceased operations after the April 2011 “Black Friday” crackdown by the United States, leaving tens of millions in player balances unpaid to its worldwide, though largely American, player base. Leggett was most often cited as the COO of UB-com as the Black Friday indictments were passed down.
The Ongame Network is one of the oldest online poker networks which operated in the United States prior to the passage of UIGEA. The former home to sites including bwin, PokerRoom-com and Hollywood Poker, the network was first operated by BetAndWin, which morphed into bwin.party following a 2011 merger.
With a surplus of gaming assets following the merge, bwin.party began a search for an Ongame buyer. The network was first sold to Shuffle Master, who later backed out of the deal. Amaya later purchased Ongame for a lessened price. Shuffle Master (now SHFL) then negotiated a pact with Amaya to use the Ongame platform.
Amaya also has a deal in place with Bally Technologies which, like SHFL, is already an approved licensee in Nevada’s new online poker regime. It remains to be seen whether Amaya’s hiring of Leggett presents any overriding concerns for Nevada regulators.
Amaya Hires Former Absolute Poker Frontman as Online Gaming Head | Pokerfuse Online Poker News
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2006/12/07
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Representatives of some of the state’s most successful tribes with casinos have met privately to hammer out a proposal to legalize online poker, tribal leaders and others said Tuesday.
Deep divisions among the state’s politically influential tribal casino industry — including tribes in Riverside and San Bernardino counties — thwarted past attempts to advance legislation to license online poker in California, one of the world’s largest potential markets.
In recent months, though, tribes that previously opposed online poker because they said it threatened their casino businesses have begun to warm to the idea. Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey have authorized Internet gaming. And a legal site, Ultimate Poker, started taking bets in Nevada last week.
Congress, meanwhile, could adopt nationwide rules harmful to tribes’ interests.
“Tribes are primed right now to begin moving it, to begin working with state legislators to see something to fruition,” Mark Macarro, chairman of the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians near Temecula, said at an online gaming conference sponsored by Capitol Weekly, a publication that covers California government and politics.
The Pechanga band and others opposed past proposals to legalize online poker because of fears that online gambling would undercut tribes’ casinos. Macarro, though, said the tribe’s position on that issue “is evolving.”
Another Riverside County tribe, the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, also is part of the tribal talks. The tribe operates two casinos in the Coachella Valley.
Barry Brokaw, an Agua Caliente lobbyist, said “there has been a great commonality of purpose” among tribes and online poker.
“A lot of those tribes have been working together and we’ve made strides,” Brokaw told the Capitol Weekly audience. “I think there is a possibility that something may develop pretty soon, and we can have some serious discussions with lawmakers in the building and see what we can come up with.”
In addition, the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians near San Bernardino has also been involved. San Manual, along with the Morongo Band of Mission Indians near Banning, was a member of a now-defunct group that sponsored an online poker proposal last year.
Jerry Levine, an attorney working with the San Manuel band, said he thinks the tribes can craft a unified proposal.
Federal law prohibits online gambling but allows states to authorize games inside their borders. Millions of Californians, though, play unregulated online poker games through illegal sites based outside the United States.
In the more than three years since some tribes and card clubs began lobbying lawmakers to legalize online poker, there have been hundreds of hours of public hearings and private negotiations. Yet there has not been a single legislative vote.
Any proposal by tribes would join, and potentially conflict with, a bill that’s already been put forward on the issue. A second measure lacks any detail.
State Sen. Rod Wright, D-Inglewood, who leads the Senate committee that oversees gambling, re-introduced last year’s legislation to legalize and regulate online poker. His measure would authorize tribes and other entities, such as horse tracks, to apply for five-year licenses to operate intrastate online poker websites.
Some tribal groups strongly oppose Wright’s approach and the disagreement turned testy Tuesday. During a lunchtime discussion, Wright traded sharp words with Leslie Lohse, chairwoman of the California Tribal Business Alliance.
Lohse complained that Wright interrupted her and Wright said Lohse didn’t understand relevant federal law and the state constitution.
INTERNET POKER: Tribes working to craft online poker bill | Politics | PE-com - Press-Enterprise
Deep divisions among the state’s politically influential tribal casino industry — including tribes in Riverside and San Bernardino counties — thwarted past attempts to advance legislation to license online poker in California, one of the world’s largest potential markets.
In recent months, though, tribes that previously opposed online poker because they said it threatened their casino businesses have begun to warm to the idea. Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey have authorized Internet gaming. And a legal site, Ultimate Poker, started taking bets in Nevada last week.
Congress, meanwhile, could adopt nationwide rules harmful to tribes’ interests.
“Tribes are primed right now to begin moving it, to begin working with state legislators to see something to fruition,” Mark Macarro, chairman of the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians near Temecula, said at an online gaming conference sponsored by Capitol Weekly, a publication that covers California government and politics.
The Pechanga band and others opposed past proposals to legalize online poker because of fears that online gambling would undercut tribes’ casinos. Macarro, though, said the tribe’s position on that issue “is evolving.”
Another Riverside County tribe, the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, also is part of the tribal talks. The tribe operates two casinos in the Coachella Valley.
Barry Brokaw, an Agua Caliente lobbyist, said “there has been a great commonality of purpose” among tribes and online poker.
“A lot of those tribes have been working together and we’ve made strides,” Brokaw told the Capitol Weekly audience. “I think there is a possibility that something may develop pretty soon, and we can have some serious discussions with lawmakers in the building and see what we can come up with.”
In addition, the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians near San Bernardino has also been involved. San Manual, along with the Morongo Band of Mission Indians near Banning, was a member of a now-defunct group that sponsored an online poker proposal last year.
Jerry Levine, an attorney working with the San Manuel band, said he thinks the tribes can craft a unified proposal.
Federal law prohibits online gambling but allows states to authorize games inside their borders. Millions of Californians, though, play unregulated online poker games through illegal sites based outside the United States.
In the more than three years since some tribes and card clubs began lobbying lawmakers to legalize online poker, there have been hundreds of hours of public hearings and private negotiations. Yet there has not been a single legislative vote.
Any proposal by tribes would join, and potentially conflict with, a bill that’s already been put forward on the issue. A second measure lacks any detail.
State Sen. Rod Wright, D-Inglewood, who leads the Senate committee that oversees gambling, re-introduced last year’s legislation to legalize and regulate online poker. His measure would authorize tribes and other entities, such as horse tracks, to apply for five-year licenses to operate intrastate online poker websites.
Some tribal groups strongly oppose Wright’s approach and the disagreement turned testy Tuesday. During a lunchtime discussion, Wright traded sharp words with Leslie Lohse, chairwoman of the California Tribal Business Alliance.
Lohse complained that Wright interrupted her and Wright said Lohse didn’t understand relevant federal law and the state constitution.
INTERNET POKER: Tribes working to craft online poker bill | Politics | PE-com - Press-Enterprise
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Online poker cash game traffic monitoring website PokerScout-com released its Weekly Online Poker Traffic Update Monday, revealing the first weekly increase in the number of players sitting down to ring games in two months.
Before everyone starts jumping for joy, it was only a half a percent increase, but still, that is better than the alternative. Compared to the same time last year, though, overall market traffic is down 18 percent. PokerScout advises, though, that this figure is a bit misleading, as PokerStars’ 80 billionth hand promotion was in full swing. As those celebrations always do, it drew more players than normal to Stars, as people were seeking a healthy payday by being involved in milestone hands. Thus, the year-over-year decline is likely less than the numbers indicate.
Of course, all eyes were on Ultimate Poker, which last week became the first legal, regulated online poker room to launch in Nevada. It is not impacting overall industry traffic much, but the launch was still impressive, especially because it came with zero warning and it is only working with the population of Nevada. According to PokerScout’s data, cash game traffic on Ultimate Poker peaked at 136 players the first day and has gone up each day since. By May 6, peak traffic had increased almost two and a half times to 325 players. Ultimate Poker’s seven day average is 121 cash game players.
The interest in Ultimate Poker is even greater than the numbers would suggest, as the launch has not been free of hiccups. The most notable problem is that Verizon Wireless customers cannot play on the site yet, as Ultimate Poker requires that customers have a mobile phone in order to play. The mobile phone is used to triangulate a player’s location to make sure he is within state borders. The problem here is that Verizon has yet to allow Ultimate Poker to use its customers’ phones for that purpose, thus resulting in those with Verizon phones standing on the outside looking in. When Verizon customers can finally hop onboard, cash game traffic figures will jump.
In the top ten, PokerStars.fr rose from tenth to ninth in the traffic rankings, while Bodog moved up from eleventh to tenth. MPN (Microgaming) dropped to eleventh.
The Merge Gaming Network was the week’s biggest loser, as it split its traffic in two on May 1st, with PlayersOnly and Sportsbook on one network and Carbon Poker and Aced on the other. According to PokerScout, Carbon Poker and Aced look to have held on to around two-thirds of the players. Merge had been on a roll, with traffic increasing nine percent in the two weeks prior. It had made its way up to 14th in the traffic rankings, jumping the Revolution Gaming Network to become the second-largest network to accept U.S. customers. It is now down to a three-way tie for 17th, while Revolution is up to 13th place.
PokerScout: Online Poker Traffic Increases for First Time in Two Months
Before everyone starts jumping for joy, it was only a half a percent increase, but still, that is better than the alternative. Compared to the same time last year, though, overall market traffic is down 18 percent. PokerScout advises, though, that this figure is a bit misleading, as PokerStars’ 80 billionth hand promotion was in full swing. As those celebrations always do, it drew more players than normal to Stars, as people were seeking a healthy payday by being involved in milestone hands. Thus, the year-over-year decline is likely less than the numbers indicate.
Of course, all eyes were on Ultimate Poker, which last week became the first legal, regulated online poker room to launch in Nevada. It is not impacting overall industry traffic much, but the launch was still impressive, especially because it came with zero warning and it is only working with the population of Nevada. According to PokerScout’s data, cash game traffic on Ultimate Poker peaked at 136 players the first day and has gone up each day since. By May 6, peak traffic had increased almost two and a half times to 325 players. Ultimate Poker’s seven day average is 121 cash game players.
The interest in Ultimate Poker is even greater than the numbers would suggest, as the launch has not been free of hiccups. The most notable problem is that Verizon Wireless customers cannot play on the site yet, as Ultimate Poker requires that customers have a mobile phone in order to play. The mobile phone is used to triangulate a player’s location to make sure he is within state borders. The problem here is that Verizon has yet to allow Ultimate Poker to use its customers’ phones for that purpose, thus resulting in those with Verizon phones standing on the outside looking in. When Verizon customers can finally hop onboard, cash game traffic figures will jump.
In the top ten, PokerStars.fr rose from tenth to ninth in the traffic rankings, while Bodog moved up from eleventh to tenth. MPN (Microgaming) dropped to eleventh.
The Merge Gaming Network was the week’s biggest loser, as it split its traffic in two on May 1st, with PlayersOnly and Sportsbook on one network and Carbon Poker and Aced on the other. According to PokerScout, Carbon Poker and Aced look to have held on to around two-thirds of the players. Merge had been on a roll, with traffic increasing nine percent in the two weeks prior. It had made its way up to 14th in the traffic rankings, jumping the Revolution Gaming Network to become the second-largest network to accept U.S. customers. It is now down to a three-way tie for 17th, while Revolution is up to 13th place.
PokerScout: Online Poker Traffic Increases for First Time in Two Months
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After two years without online poker American citizens can now play legally, as long as you are playing from within the state of Nevada, after Ultimate Poker opened its virtual doors for business.
It might not have the liquidity to attract the American grinders who fled the country in search of their livelihood post April 15, 2011, but it’s certainly a step in the right direction. Ultimate Poker, the online poker arm of Ultimate Gaming, dealt the first legal virtual hand of ‘real money’ poker in America when the site went live at 09.00am (PST) on Tuesday 30th April.
Ultimate Poker, which itself is an off-shoot of Fertitta Interactive, received a Nevada interactive gambling operator license in October, and then took the rather bold step of creating their own poker technology, which was approved by regulators earlier this month.
It’s a fantastic move for Ultimate Poker who will now be recognised as a groundbreaker in US online gambling. The news of the launch comes on the back of the announcement that the man who has won more cash playing in live tournaments than anyone else on the planet, Antonio Esfandiari, joins the team as their first big star.
With the 44th annual World Series of Poker (WSOP) just around the corner, the timing is impeccable. Players from around the world will flock to Sin City to play in the world's most prestigious tournament, and they'll be able to grind online at Ultimate Poker in their downtime.
Players can only play on Ultimate Poker as long as they are physically located within the state, as for the time being the law is only intrastate. The poker company will identify your whereabouts by use of your mobile phone’s GPS tracking software and use that as evidence that you are playing from within the state borders.
Mobile Phone Company Verizon have not yet joined the bandwagon but Chris Danek, the Ultimate Poker Product Manager, said the issue will be resolved in ‘hopefully a matter of days.’
With Delaware and New Jersey also signing legislation to introduce online poker, and many more states soon to follow, how long before online poker makes a triumphant return to the land of the stars and the stripes?
Only time will tell. But in the meantime if you want to play online poker for real money then head to the bright lights on Sin City. Vegas Baby!
First Hand of Legal Online Poker Dealt in US - Mirror Online
It might not have the liquidity to attract the American grinders who fled the country in search of their livelihood post April 15, 2011, but it’s certainly a step in the right direction. Ultimate Poker, the online poker arm of Ultimate Gaming, dealt the first legal virtual hand of ‘real money’ poker in America when the site went live at 09.00am (PST) on Tuesday 30th April.
Ultimate Poker, which itself is an off-shoot of Fertitta Interactive, received a Nevada interactive gambling operator license in October, and then took the rather bold step of creating their own poker technology, which was approved by regulators earlier this month.
It’s a fantastic move for Ultimate Poker who will now be recognised as a groundbreaker in US online gambling. The news of the launch comes on the back of the announcement that the man who has won more cash playing in live tournaments than anyone else on the planet, Antonio Esfandiari, joins the team as their first big star.
With the 44th annual World Series of Poker (WSOP) just around the corner, the timing is impeccable. Players from around the world will flock to Sin City to play in the world's most prestigious tournament, and they'll be able to grind online at Ultimate Poker in their downtime.
Players can only play on Ultimate Poker as long as they are physically located within the state, as for the time being the law is only intrastate. The poker company will identify your whereabouts by use of your mobile phone’s GPS tracking software and use that as evidence that you are playing from within the state borders.
Mobile Phone Company Verizon have not yet joined the bandwagon but Chris Danek, the Ultimate Poker Product Manager, said the issue will be resolved in ‘hopefully a matter of days.’
With Delaware and New Jersey also signing legislation to introduce online poker, and many more states soon to follow, how long before online poker makes a triumphant return to the land of the stars and the stripes?
Only time will tell. But in the meantime if you want to play online poker for real money then head to the bright lights on Sin City. Vegas Baby!
First Hand of Legal Online Poker Dealt in US - Mirror Online
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Viktor Blom won more than $1 million on Tuesday, according to tracking data from HighstakesDB. He played a mixture of pot-limit Omaha, no-limit hold’em and deuce-to-seven triple draw, logging more than 1,000 hands against some of the best in the world.
He reportedly crushed the likes of Ben “Bttech86” Tollerene, Phil “Polarizing” Ivey, Kagome Kagome and Alex “Alexonmoon” Luneau yesterday.
Blom is up more than $2.1 million over the past three days.
The Swede is now up $4.45 million on the year. He was up more than $5 million at one point in January, only to give most of it back before going on this recent upswing.
Blom’s wasn’t playing as of early Wednesday morning in the United States, but he will almost surely be back soon to continue the high-flying action on Full Tilt Poker.
In addition to online cash games, Blom could be in attendance at the World Series of Poker, which begins later this month in Las Vegas. He was at the Series last year, playing a handful of events and grinding some of the live cash games at the Rio.
In tournaments, Blom has won about $2 million. He is up about $2.2 million lifetime in Full Tilt Poker cash games. He made his historic debut in 2009.
High-Stakes Online Poker: Viktor Blom Wins $1 Million On Tuesday
He reportedly crushed the likes of Ben “Bttech86” Tollerene, Phil “Polarizing” Ivey, Kagome Kagome and Alex “Alexonmoon” Luneau yesterday.
Blom is up more than $2.1 million over the past three days.
The Swede is now up $4.45 million on the year. He was up more than $5 million at one point in January, only to give most of it back before going on this recent upswing.
Blom’s wasn’t playing as of early Wednesday morning in the United States, but he will almost surely be back soon to continue the high-flying action on Full Tilt Poker.
In addition to online cash games, Blom could be in attendance at the World Series of Poker, which begins later this month in Las Vegas. He was at the Series last year, playing a handful of events and grinding some of the live cash games at the Rio.
In tournaments, Blom has won about $2 million. He is up about $2.2 million lifetime in Full Tilt Poker cash games. He made his historic debut in 2009.
High-Stakes Online Poker: Viktor Blom Wins $1 Million On Tuesday
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“We wanted to get the conversation going,” she told the website. “Were working on some changes to the bill. I got a lot of feedback from different stakeholders, includes the casinos. If we do not protect our casinos and money in Pennsylvania, we will be hurt by all the competition.”
She also added that money from Internet gaming would go to the property Tax Relief Fund and the State Lottery Fund.
Hearing this news was music to my ears. With close to 13 million people in Pennsylvania, I think the state has the ability to dominate intrastate online poker in the country. It only makes sense to get the ball rolling now. Intrastate online gambling means players would only be able to gamble with players in their state.
The tax rate for the bill would be set at 20 percent and her legislation would set fees for license applications at $16.7 million. Between Nevada, New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania, the Keystone State would have the largest intrastate player pool.
Featured column :: Is intrastate online poker on the horizon in Pennsylvania?