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All deposits from online ewallet Skrill (formerly Moneybookers) to Lock Poker have ceased. Players are still able to request withdrawals back to their Skrill account.

“Skrill can confirm that it is to end the facilitation of deposits to Lock Poker, effective immediately,” a Skrill spokesperson told pokerfuse.

“As a result, Skrill will no longer accept uploads or deposits to Lock Poker but will continue to process withdrawals, enabling customers to receive any funds due to them. Skrill reserves the right to suspend functionalities of any Merchant Account in accordance with the agreed Terms and Conditions.”

Skrill, like its competitor NETELLER, is A popular ewallet among European poker players for moving money in and out of online gaming sites.

Players report that withdrawals from Lock Poker have been extremely slow, with wait times described in months, including cashouts to ewallets like Skrill. Lock Poker’s payment processing is graded as the lowest in the industry by those monitoring cashouts.

The Skrill spokesperson declined to give an official reason for the service suspension.

In a comment sent to pokerfuse, Shane Bridges, Director of Social Media for Lock Poker, stated: “Lock made the decision to suspend deposits through Skrill as we are focussing on clearing up our cashouts.”

Lock Poker recently switched from the Revolution Gaming Network to its own independent poker room. Bridges told pokerfuse at the time that a new cashier “was rolled out prior to the launch with our existing options, and now we have several new options that will roll out in the coming month after the new software goes live.”

Jonny Chapman, Business Development Manager of Poker at Skrill, would not rule out the possibility that deposit service could be reinstated at a future date.




Skrill Deposits Halted on Lock Poker | Pokerfuse Online Poker News

PokerStars, the world largest online poker site, has launched efforts to help raise funds to assist those in the Philippines effected by the devastation caused by Super Typhoon Haiyan, one of the largest recorded storms in history.

Through PokerStars corporate giving program, Helping Hands, and with their partnership with global relief charity, CARE International, the online poker site is collecting and matching funds to provide shelter, water and food, to those who desperately need it most.

PokerStars is helping players make donations directly though the game software to CARE International, an organization focused on providing aid to humanitarian efforts in the face of large scale natural disasters. Additionally, for every dollar donated, in game, PokerStars has pledged to match it.

Effective immediately, players are able to contribute in a number of ways. Perhaps the easiest is by registering for a specially created “dummy tournament.” No poker is played, but rather it is an easy collection method for the buyin to be added to the Typhoon Haiyan Relief Fund. The tournaments, located in the PokerStars lobby, are available in both dollars and euros and range from $1 up to $1000. Players can donate using these tournaments as often as they wish.

Players can also make a donation by way of a real-money player transfer to the designated Player ID of “Typhoon Fund” in the PokerStars Cashier. All funds collected by the “dummy tournaments” and direct player transfers will be matched by PokerStars.

Direct donations to CARE International, via their website, are also available with a special donation webpage created, although funds collected in this manner are not guaranteed to be matched by the online poker site.

According to the PokerStars blog, the partnership between PokerStars and CARE International was forged earlier this year meaning that there is already measures in place to ensure that they can “provide immediate financial assistance” in a situation such as this.

The Rational Group, the parent company for both PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, will also be making measures for direct donations available on Full Tilt Poker in a matter of days. The Rational Group’s efforts are the latest by the igaming industry to bring assistance to the Philippines, as it was announced earlier this week that The Calvin Ayre Foundation would also be matching funds donated, up to $1 million dollars.




PokerStars, Full Tilt Pledge Relief in Phillipines | Pokerfuse Online Poker News

PokerStars was not included in the most recent round of iGaming approvals issued today by gambling regulators in New Jersey.

Today’s update from the NJ Division of Gaming Enforcement only addressed new vendors and new ancillary companies.

It did not address the transactional waiver (or 92a(1) license) that PokerStars would need to consummate an online gambling partnership with a land-based NJ casino.
PokerStars’ future in New Jersey

The failure of PokerStars to win the required approval from New Jersey regulators at this point in time does not mean the company is completely shut out of the New Jersey market.

The DGE has made it clear that the licensing process is a dynamic, ongoing one. And until either the DGE or PokerStars publicly closes the door on the issue, it is likely that negotiations between the two remain active.

But today’s developments do make it difficult to see how PokerStars will be able participate in New Jersey’s initial launch, set for a beta opening on November 21st and a full opening on November 26th.
New Jersey’s launch lineup emerging

As the launch date for regulated online gambling draws closer, the list of casinos likely to take part in that launch continues to firm up.

Based on the licenses issued so far, public preparations and conversations with those involved, here’s what we expect the launch lineup to look like:

Borgata / bwin.party (poker and casino).
Caesars / 888 (poker and casino).
Bally’s 888 All American Poker Network (poker and casino).
Trump Taj Mahal / Ultimate (poker and casino).
Golden Nugget / Amaya (casino, possibly poker).
Tropicana / Gamesys (casino only).
Trump Plaza / Betfair (casino only).

One interesting caveat to the projected list above: Caesars has yet to receive an Internet Gaming Permit for any of its properties.





PokerStars Not Included in Latest New Jersey iGaming Approvals » Online Poker Report

The Garden City Group has announced that it expects the majority of claims for Full Tilt Poker remissions to be paid by the end of March next year. Affiliates, Pros and players who have disputed their balances are not included in that payment time frame.

We are in the process of reviewing Petitions filed by Petitioners who confirmed their balances online and who have not disputed their FTP Account Balance or submitted multiple Petitions. We expect payments to be made with respect to such Petitions with confirmed balances by March 31, 2014.

The latest update from GCG came a day before the November 16 deadline to submit petitions. The deadline will be extended for a limited period for “players who are Affiliates and for certain players identified as Pros in the data supplied by Full Tilt Poker”

The big name Pros are all likely to go unpaid under the ineligibility definition used by GCG: “Team Full Tilt players and other players who were playing with funds from FTP or who were compensated by FTP to play on the FTP site.”

Affiliates will also get an extension, but repayments will be limited to “the portion of their account balances that does not relate to their Affiliate status.” Players who also acted as affiliates will get their playing balance back, but not their affiliate payments.

Some 41,000 requests for repayment have been received after over 1.4m emails were sent out. US Players will have waited 17 months longer than international players who were repaid directly by PokerStars after it acquired Full Tilt as part of its settlement with the DOJ.



Full Tilt Remissions Payments Expected by March 31, 2014 | Pokerfuse Online Poker News

Leading online poker room PokerStars will not be a part of the initial launch of online gambling in New Jersey.

Rumors of PokerStars’ inability to obtain approval from the NJ Division of Gaming Enforcement in time for the launch, scheduled for November 26th, have been swirling for the last few weeks.

PokerStars Head of Corporate Communications Eric Hollreiser confirmed those rumors in a brief statement issued via Twitter this evening:



Read More: New Jersey Will Launch Online Gambling Without PokerStars

Party Poker is offering one of the biggest online poker tournaments in New Jersey, with a weekly event that guarantees a prize pool of $50,000.

Online gaming and poker went live in New Jersey with a soft launch last week, and Party is trying to set itself apart from the other options in the state with the big guarantee. The prize pool dwarfs that of similar Sunday tournaments at competing online sites in New Jersey currently. There is likely to be an overlay this Sunday.

The Sunday $50K Guaranteed will take place every Sunday at 7:30 p.m. The buy-in is $200, or players can win an entry via a variety of satellite tournaments. Qualifiers for the tournament run every day, for as little as $5.

If you live in New Jersey, you can sign up for an account and play in the tournament by heading over to nj-partypoker-com

When you sign up, you can get a 100% bonus up to $100 at the online poker site. You can play at Party Poker via Mac or PC, through a browser, or via mobile devices.



Party Poker Offers Weekly $50K Guaranteed Tourney in New Jersey

PartyPoker is “actively working on a more transparent policy” with regards to how it handles funds confiscation resulting from fraudulent activity, heading off another planned “sit out protest” from disgruntled players.

“I can’t yet release any details of this due to the sensitivity factor, but ask for your patience while we finalise this item and then share the details with you,” a Party representative posted.

Players asked PartyPoker to comment publicly on its policy for reimbursing players that were victims of cheating with funds confiscated from the cheating players’ accounts.

Poker rooms PokerStars and Full Tilt are known to reimburse victims with money frozen from accounts of colluders and other cheaters, and inform the players of the amount reimbursed. Despite recent high-profile cases of cheating on PartyPoker reported by players, and the subsequent disappearance of accounts associated with the cheating, players have not reported receiving any such reimbursements.

Players had organized a “sit-out protest” over the issue, which involves rallying players to sit out at tables and disrupt cash games to bring attention to their plight.

Along with the promise of a more transparent policy, the PartyPoker representative added: “My last comment on the proposed sit-out is just to gently highlight that our terms state that the games we operate must be used by players in accordance with the game rules. Whilst we have commitments to you as our players, we also have an obligation to provide a safe, fun and enjoyable experience to the rest of our customers. “

The post had the desired effect, and the protest was postponed.

“I’m guessing they are gently threatening to ban anyone who will be part of the sitout protest,” wrote the protest organizer. “As they have taken notice of the issues and with the threat of a ban, I don’t really want to be the one heading a protest that might get everyone’s accounts banned.”

A previous “sit out” demonstration over the opaque skill segregation policy at the poker room, was also subsequently postponed after PartyPoker killed the policy 24 hours before the protest was scheduled to commence.

Party also promised to implement an open communication policy with players, and committed to publicly responding to player concerns and answering questions at least once a week.




PartyPoker to Implement "More Transparent" Funds Confiscation Policy | Pokerfuse Online Poker News

In 2006 PartyPoker had the American online poker market by the throat. But the UIGEA put an end to their reign when shareholders in the publicly traded company decided remaining in the US market wasn’t a road they wanted to go down.

Now, some seven years later, PartyPoker is back in the US via New Jersey, and looking to reclaim their lost empire. But can they do it?
PartyPoker 2006-2013

When PartyPoker pulled the trigger and left the US market in late 2006, it immediately lost three quarters of its player base and ceded control of the online poker industry to PokerStars and to a lesser extent Full Tilt Poker.

The company continued on in friendlier foreign markets, and once again became a major player in the online poker industry. But PartyPoker never came close to challenging the US-facing PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker for online supremacy. Something that it now hopes its US return will enable it to do.

After Black Friday most people thought PartyPoker’s route was the long-term winner, as the company avoided the major entanglements heaped on both PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker.

But to everyone’s surprise, PokerStars somehow further consolidated power after Black Friday, and PartyPoker was once again holding the leftovers, fighting the iPoker Network, 888 Poker, and the retooled Full Tilt Poker for the number two traffic spot.

All that could be changing though, as PokerStars continues to find itself ostracized in regulated US markets. After years of being caught in PokerStars’ wake, sites like PartyPoker are finally getting some glimpses of daylight. But can they find their way out?
Chief competition will likely be Caesars

Until PokerStars manages to get off the ground, the main competition for PartyPoker in the US market will likely come from Caesars Entertainment and their partner 888 Holdings.

As far as software it’s not even a contest. PartyPoker’s software blows 888’s out of the water. But 888 has the brand recognition thanks to one of Caesars’ main assets, the World Series of Poker, which has turned into the WSOP-com online poker room in the US.

So it looks like we will witness a battle between the superior product and the superior brand play out in New Jersey.

Thus far the two sites are running fairly close in New Jersey with PartyPoker out to a small but significant lead, according to Pokerscout-com’s traffic data.
Why PartyPoker dominated from 2003-2006

PartyPoker’s rise to prominence was a well-orchestrated marketing plan that focused on multiple forms of marketing from TV to print to online that focused on the site’s entertainment value, and not on the “seriousness” of online poker.

Party was also aided by having one of the best online poker products in the business, with lightning-fast graphics and almost non-existent glitches. It may not have been the prettiest online poker room back in 2006, but it functioned extremely well.

The combination of being in the right place at the right time (already being established when the poker boom began in late 2003), having a really good product, and later marketing efforts made PartyPoker the number one online poker room in the world.

Had UIGEA never happened I would fully expect PartyPoker to still be the number one online poker room.
Can they do it again?

A return to prominence will be no small task, as the poker industry has changed quite a bit over the past seven years. It’s likely that many of the people who have fond memories of their time at PartyPoker in the early and mid-2000’s are no longer potential customers.

Seven years is a very long time to be away, but PartyPoker has shown an ability to overcome strife, considering their post-UIGEA predicament, and has always been on the cutting edge of advertising.

A key factor in Party’s potential return to online poker supremacy will be its ability to tie-in one of its own assets, the World Poker Tour.

If Party can use the WPT’s TV and brand presence to bring in casual players to their newly-launched US poker room, it’s anybody’s guess what the poker industry will look like in a year or two.

After all, who would have ever suspected the major changes we have seen over the past decade, with the rise and fall of sites like Ultimate Bet and Full Tilt Poker.



Is PartyPoker Poised for a Return to US Online Poker Prominence?

Over the past decade, as gambling has become a trend in the collegiate generations, some US colleges have garnered a reputation for producing students who are exceptionally trained in gambling, such as MIT and its blackjack card counting team. Now the University of Waterloo is quickly becoming known for its poker players. Specifically a school for math, engineering, and science, the students who attend the University of Waterloo are already deemed intellectual, so it isn’t surprising that many former Waterloo students are now popping up at big-money tournaments around the world.

University of Waterloo graduate and professional poker player Xuan Liu says, “We wanted an alternative lifestyle. We saw something bigger that was possible. And given the economy at the time, when we were students and even right now, I think it was important and valuable for us to take certain risks.””

And the school is quite proud of its poker alumni with news of their victories regularly updated on social media as well as the university’s website, and poker is becoming more accepted as an intellectual game than an irresponsible past time.

Mike Watson, whose garnered around $6.8 million is a Waterloo graduate, and Will Ma actually taught a class on poker at MIT this year in which students actually got credit for. WPT named Xuan Liu on their “Ones to Watch” list for August. Liu, now 28, has more than $1.4 million in live earnings and more than $300K in online earnings.

Liu says, “Playing so much poker and studying poker so much in college definitely made me a terrible student. I missed a lot of classes, improving on my poker game.”

As a child growing up in China, she says that she’s always been into games like mah-jong, but nothing ever grabbed her attention like poker did when she was studying at the University of Waterloo in 2003. It was during this Moneymaker era that poker began to gain popularity in the US and the WPT had started airing on the Travel Channel the year before. Cameras that showed the players’ hole cards made it all the more intriguing.

At the age of 17, Mike McDonald, who is now 23, began studying at Waterloo. He dropped out after three semesters to pursue poker.

He says, “I love competition, I love just the idea of basically just trying to outsmart your opponents and hopefully get paid for that. I love the fact that I get to travel so much. Financially, I’ve done pretty well. There’s a bunch of reasons I keep playing poker.”

Now with $5.5 million in live tourney winnings, he registered at Waterloo to study to be an actuary. He plays online as well, but prefers to keep his usernames and winnings private. At 18 he won the PokerStars EPT German Open for $1.3 million in 2008.

The reasons why Waterloo seems to breed poker players is simple. The math-related majors attract students who are looking to apply their knowledge to real world experiences. Poker allows just that.

Paul-Ambrose, University of Waterloo graduate, whose career winnings total $1.9 million, says, “There’s a lot of very bright people there, which helps.” He explains that after students saw other students becoming so successful, they also wanted to partake.

“I met a lot of other people who were playing poker, so we all talked about poker a lot. I know that after I left Waterloo, that continued and expanded. So yeah, I do think that having some people be successful as well as having a very large group of intelligent people definitely helped,” he explains.

The UW Poker Studies Club meets every week and provides the perfect avenue for players to talk about their game, socialize, and practice together. Ma also adds that the long, cold winters that keep students in doors and the small, sleepy town encourages students to stay in their dorm rooms and play poker.

Another key component to the Waterloo poker craze is the age group of the students. McDonald says, “If you look at the top poker players in the world, a gigantic number of them are 18- to 25-year-olds who basically just don’t really know the value of a dollar.” He continues, “That allows them to be more rational and more analytical about their decisions than someone who when they win a big pot, they’re thinking about the car they could buy, or when they lose a big pot they’re thinking about the house they just lost.”

But as these students begin to grow up, we may see a trend in them taking a couple steps back from poker. Paul-Ambrose, who is 30 now, has begun to withdraw from full-time poker. “When I started playing, there were a lot of recreational players relative to the number of serious players. That ratio has changed significantly. It takes a lot more talent and hard work than it used to, to make a living at poker for sure.”

“Most of the best online players are quite young, early twenties is even getting into the old stage,” says Paul-Ambrose.

And McDonald explains that a lot of the Waterloo star players have moved back to where they came from over the past few years.

According to Mike McDonald, many of the star players who went to UW have since moved away over the last several years.

McDonald explains, “I might be the only one who still lives in Waterloo. Some have moved to Toronto, some have moved to the States, some of them are in grad school, some of them are married with families.”

And for a time in 2005, the poker club had actually ceased to exist because all of its members had graduated. In 2008, though, Arush Kuthiala says he and some friends started it up again. He says h feels a deep sense of pride when he sees former club members playing on TV.



University of Waterloo Breeds Poker Stars

New Jersey casino regulators dealt a losing hand Wednesday to the world's largest online poker website, barring PokerStars from conducting Internet gambling in the state for two years.

The state Division of Gaming Enforcement suspended the company's application, citing an unresolved federal indictment against company founder Isai Scheinberg.

"The Division's determination is based primarily on the unresolved federal indictment against Isai Scheinberg for the alleged violation of federal gambling statutes, namely, the Illegal Gambling Business Act and the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), and the involvement of certain PokerStars executives with Internet gaming operations in the United States following the enactment of UIGE," the division said in a statement Wednesday.

The state said PokerStars can reapply sooner than two years if its circumstances change materially, but the state didn't recommend specific changes.

A PokerStars spokesman could not predict whether the company plans to make the type of changes envisioned by New Jersey regulators.

"We are disappointed that the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement has suspended the review of our application at this time," spokesman Eric Hollreiser said. "We note that the DGE will resume the review of our application if our circumstances change. We will remain in open dialogue with the DGE and will update them on changes in our situation as they occur."

Resorts Casino Hotel, which had partnered with PokerStars in anticipation of offering Internet gambling, won't say if it is seeking another online partner.

"We are disappointed that PokerStars was not issued a license," Resorts president Mark Giannantonio said. "We are hopeful that they can resolve their issues with the DGE in an expeditious fashion."

The gambling enforcement division issued an Internet gambling permit to Resorts on Wednesday, but the casino has no obvious online partner to offer it, at least right away.

Six Atlantic City casinos — the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, the Tropicana Casino and Resort; Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino; the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort; Caesars Atlantic City and Bally's Atlantic City — are offering online gambling. The Golden Nugget Atlantic City has an Internet gambling permit but has not yet begun offering games as it works out problems with its systems.

PokerStars also had trouble in its attempt to purchase The Atlantic Club Casino Hotel last year. Part of the reason the $15 million proposed sale fell through is that PokerStars did not get approval from New Jersey regulators within the timeframe both sides anticipated.

The company, owned by The Rational Group, based in Isle of Man in the U.K., still has many fans in the online poker community.

"In truth I'd like PokerStars to come back; I so would," said Kevin Campbell of Bayonne, who says he has been unable to log on to any of the gambling websites New Jersey offers, and feels their guaranteed prize pools are too low.

PokerStars, he said, "had a $5 million guarantee Sunday; 16,000 people played. None in America though. Home of the free, huh? They block out the biggest and best poker company in the world."


NJ Suspends PokerStars' Online Gambling Plans - ABC News

Full Tilt Poker will not be renewing Tom “durrrr” Dwan’s contract for sponsorship under the site’s high-stakes pro team known as “The Professionals.” This comes after a long stint of Dwans’ absence from the site’s high-stakes tables and lack of participation in Full Tilt Poker promotional events, which many believe is a big part of the reason that the relationship between Full Tilt and Dwan has come to an end.

2+2 forum members have posted that they noticed Dwan’s picture had been removed from the sign in screen over the weekend. Full Tilt offered the following statement: “Full Tilt Poker and Tom Dwan have agreed to part ways following the recent expiration of Dwan’s contract,” confirming the break up.

The Professionals is a group of players that regularly frequent the high-stakes tables on the site and include high-profile nose bleed players Viktor “Isildur1” Blom and Gus Hansen.

Dwan has been recently spending his time in Asia at ultra-high stakes live games, specifically in Macau. He relocated there in 2012.

Dwan and Hansen were the only two sponsored poker pros who remained on with Full Tilt after the site’s buyout by the Rational Group—parent company of PokerStars. The Rational Group bought out Full Tilt Poker after making a deal with the US Department of Justice following Black Friday.

Full Tilt’s page dedicated to The Professionals has now removed Dwan and only depicts Hansen and Blom, where all three players used to be represented.

A Full Tilt Poker spokesperson commented, “To have one of the most respected names in poker on our team has been a great pleasure. We will continue to watch Tom at the tables and wish him every success in the future.”

Dwan has not made any public comments on the matter and has only tweeted that his phone is missing calls. He suggests texting until he responds as a solution to the problem.



Tom Dwan No Longer with Full Tilt Poker

Canadians are able to enjoy online gambling from various jurisdictions even though the activity is illegal in the country. Many internet gambling locations have discontinued offering their services to Canada due to the ambiguity of the law in that nation.
InterPoker is the latest to call it quits in the Canadian jurisdiction without giving players any clear reason for the exit.
A statement released by InterPoker said “no new players can register and no deposits will be accepted from players residing in Canada.” InterPoker also said it would keep its affiliate partners “up to date with any further news regarding this matter,”
InterPoker is operated by WagerLogic, a subsidiary of Canadian owned Amaya Gaming Group and it is one of the fastest growing online poker sites in the world. Launched in 2002, it has quickly become the poker room of choice for the discerning online poker player. The brand offers some of the best and most secure games online, with various monthly bonuses for each player; and more than $3,000,000 in guaranteed tournaments each month.

InterPoker and its related brands InterCasino and VIP Casino also withdrew from multiple European regulated markets, including Belgium, Bulgaria and Spain. Amaya Gaming Group sold WagerLogic to Canadian-based Goldstar Acquisitionco Inc. last October for $70m.
On September 24 , the Amaya Corporation announced that it had entered into an agreement with a subsidiary of Caesars Interactive Entertainment, Inc. to provide both its Amaya Game Office online gaming platform and extensive suite of online casino gaming content for both web and mobile applications of the website portal caesarscasino-com in New Jersey , subject to all applicable licensing and regulatory approvals. Under the terms of the agreement, Amaya anticipates receiving a share of the revenue generated by the website portal in New Jersey and a percentage of the revenue generated by the online casino games licensed by Amaya to CIE for use in the portal in New Jersey.
The mystery remains as to why Goldstar Acquisitionco has discontinued services in Canada.



Online Poker Room InterPoker Leaves Canada

According to the latest data released by PokerScout, 888poker has just moved up the poker traffic worldwide rankings list into second spot behind PokerStars, as the site benefited from a busy week in which cash game player action increased by a massive 10%.

888poker’s impressive runner-up position actually marks the first time the site has reached such a lofty height, and presently the iPoker Network trails in third place by 100 cash players over a seven-day average. Meanwhile, Full Tilt Poker dropped from second to fourth spot last week with an average weekly ring game traffic of 2,400 players, behind the iPoker network with 2,500 ring game players, and 888poker with 2,600 players.

Overall, ring game traffic was up by 9% compared to the previous week as the industry was boosted by the customary winter months spike, as well as PokerStars’ milestone hand promotion which ran for the entire week. In fact, PokerStars cash game player traffic increased by a huge 19% during the milestone promotion, but has since returned to its normal seven-day average level of around 27,000 ring game players.

In the US, Bodog/Bovada continues to lead the way with roughly 1,450 cash players weekly, whilst a fair distance behind in second spot is Winning Poker Network (375 players), followed by Merge and Chico both with 325 weekly ring game players. Rounding off the top five in the US is Party Borgata in New Jersey, which has also moved up to 30th place on a global scale.

Finally, worldwide online poker player traffic is currently 2% lower than at this time last year, which highlights the challenges facing an industry where year-on-year is the goal. However, as online poker legislation is expected to gain ground in the US throughout 2014, comparative figures should start to see an improvement.




888poker Second Only To PokerStars In Online Poker Player Traffic (Dec 24)

PokerStars, the world's leading online poker room, says it is keeping its foot on the gas even after having its license application suspended in New Jersey. In a year-end blog post this week, PokerStars' Head of Corporate Communications Eric Hollreiser expressed the company's continued determination to obtain a license in New Jersey and explore potential deals in other U.S. states.

"PokerStars will continue to pursue our goals and remain confident that we will have a strong presence and positive economic impact in the American market in 2014, whether that is in New Jersey or another state seeking the benefits of being home to a world-class online gaming company," Hollreiser wrote.

Hollreiser also commented on the shutdown of the Atlantic Club Casino Hotel which was recently sold at a bankruptcy auction to Caesars Entertainment and Tropicana. PokerStars' parent company (The Rational Group) had a deal in place last January to purchase the Atlantic Club for $15 million, but the casino pulled out even after receiving $11 million in payments from The Rational Group.

Hollreiser says the closure of the casino was avoidable.

"It's always sad when hard-working people lose their jobs, especially during the holiday season," he wrote. "This is particularly sad, though, because it simply didn't have to happen. At this time last year, PokerStars reached an agreement that would secure a new future for the casino, save the jobs of 1,800 employees and inject new blood, new technology and new finances into the Atlantic City casino economy."

"Now, the Atlantic Club will be stripped for parts and its employees will be put out onto the boardwalk in search of new jobs in 2014."

PokerStars formed a partnership with Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City after the deal with the Atlantic Club fell through. However, last month the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) suspended the company’s Internet gaming license application for up to two years. The DGE claimed that PokerStars founder Isai Scheinberg, who is still under U.S. federal indictment for allegedly violating the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act and Illegal Gambling Business Act, is a main reason for the suspension.

Regardless, New Jersey is still a big part of the company's plans.

"We continue to share the vision that online gaming will be a boon for New Jersey," says Hollreiser. "Unfortunately, PokerStars is no longer in a position to help the Atlantic Club employees and the local economy in general. The continued delays in our regulatory review prevent us from entering the market at this time and bringing the marketing and operational investment we have planned for the past year. Those investments included establishing a U.S. office in NJ which would employ 250-300 people in the first two years and launching extensive marketing programs to energize our loyal customer base in the area and grow the online gaming market in the state.

"We've delivered on similar commitments in newly licensed markets around the world and these investments and management practices established us as an industry leader and we've been recognized as a Great Place to Work in 2012 and 2013."



PokerStars Won't Abandon Pursuit of Online Poker in U.S. | PokerNews

Partypoker recently announced a new mobile app for online poker players in New Jersey. The new addition now gives players four separate options for playing mobile online poker in the state.

According to PokerNews, only cash games are currently available for the new partypoker app. Players can compete in real money ring games, real money fast forward games or in play money games.

The addition of the partypoker mobile app means that there are now four sites in New Jersey currently offering online poker for mobile devices. NJ-partypoker-com and BorgataPoker-com are pretty much the same app as both are powered through bwin.Party.

The All-American Poker Network powered by 888poker offers the 888 poker USA app to players. This app offers cash games, sit and go tournaments and regular tournaments for its users. Finally, you have WSOP-com’s app for New Jersey. This app is also powered by 888poker and also offers cash games, sit and go tournaments and regular events.

While there are advantages to being able to play from your mobile device, there have been reports of connectivity issues. Many of the complaints have surrounded the inability to connect to the app via provider data plans. If a user switches to Wi-Fi, thing appear to work smoothly. It is unknown at this time if this problem is due to the geolocation software used by sites or a problem unique to cell providers.

New Jersey online gambling has been wildly successful since its launch in last 2013. Over 125,000 accounts have been created with solid daily volume at three of the major online sites. At present, NJ Party Borgata is averaging about 240 cash-game players daily with a peak of 543. WSOP-com is averaging about 150 players a day with a peak of 336. The All-American Poker Network has an average of 80 players a day with a peak of 210. Ultimate Poker has lagged behind in traffic, averaging about 18 players per day with a peak of 57.

The addition of mobile apps by New Jersey online poker providers should help to bolster some of these weekly stats. As the bugs are worked out of apps and online gambling grows a larger footprint among New Jersey gamblers, it could well provide a large portion of online traffic in the state.



Partypoker Becomes Fourth Site to Launch Online Poker App in New Jersey

Following six months of competition, Full Tilt Poker has announced 11 winners of its inaugural Black Card Sponsorship Program, who are now entitled to enjoy a superb winners package under the terms of the program.

The new Black Card Pros can now choose to either accept $20k of entries to FTOPS and mini-FTOPS tournaments, or alternatively can accept a $20k clearable bonus via Full Tilt Points. In addition, the pros are eligible for an incredible 100% rakeback bonus, and will also be awarded “red name status” for the next six months, making them instantly recognizable at Full Tilt’s virtual tables.

In order to have earned the lucrative Black Card Team Pro status, the competitors had to first top one of Full Tilt Poker’s 12 leaderboards for the period between July 1st and December 31st, 2013. The leaderboards included a number of poker disciplines, such as tournaments, sit and go’s and adjusted cash game winnings, with the winner of each category then picked to be a Black Card pro. Here are the 11 winners, along with the categories in which they excelled:

1. NL/PL Hold’em High (Above $1/$2) – Triviani20
2. PL Omaha High (Above $1/$2) — feliceko
3. PL Omaha Low (Up to $1/$2) — MadSickoHead
4. Rush Ring Games High (Above $0.50/$1) — PlayinWitDreams
5. Rush Ring Games Low (Up to $0.50/$1) – Trickshot625
6. Heads-Up Ring Games (All stakes) – moos29
7. Other Ring Games (All stakes) — stronghawk
8. SNG (All stakes) — XAPJIAMOB
9. Heads-Up SNG (All stakes) – Jasonc6
10. MTT (All) – Silent_0ne69
11. FTOPS – betong

For the next six months these players will now enjoy their privileges as Black Card pros, but will have to defend their positions if they hope to maintain their status after their tenure is up. Already competition for the next batch of Black Card Pros has begun and will run through until the end of April, with regular Black Card Team Pro promotion subsequently expected run three times a year.



Full Tilt Poker Names 11 Black Card Team Pros

PokerStars today announced the schedule for the third annual Turbo Championship of Online Poker (TCOOP), which will take place from January 23 to February 2 and guarantee $15 million across 50 events.

The headline tournament is a $700 NL Hold'em Main Event on February 2, which features a $2 million guaranteed prize pool and at least $300,000 for first place. Other highlights of the festival include a $2,100 NL Hold'em High Roller event (also Feb 2) with a $1 million guaranteed prize pool, and two opening day events - $27 NL Hold'em (6-Max), $215 NL Hold'em (Knockout) - that both feature $750,000 guarantee prize pools. For a full schedule, go to TCOOP Poker Tournaments - Turbo Championship of Online Poker Series.

Team PokerStars Pro, Lex Veldhuis, is looking forward to the series: "TCOOP has become an unmissable online festival for me, because the speed of the tournaments means you can win five- and even six-figure sums in just a few hours. Plus, the wide range of games and tournament formats means there's always something different to play each day."

FAST CASH
For recreational players who have less time to play, and professional players looking to improve their hourly rate, TCOOP offers one major advantage over other online festivals - the pace of the action. During the previous two TCOOP festivals, the average time it took for a player to 'cash' was just 2 hours 10 minutes, while the quickest tournament ever was in a hyper-turbo that took just 1 hour 37 minutes.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR
As with every major PokerStars festival, there are additional prizes available for players who do consistently well during the series, with a Player of the Series Leader Board awarding the following:

1st: Champion's Trophy + 2015 PCA prize package worth $16,500
2nd: 2014 SCOOP event ticket worth $5,200
3rd-4th: 2014 SCOOP event ticket worth $2,100
5th-10th: 2014 SCOOP Main Event (Medium) ticket worth $1,050
11th-50th: 2014 SCOOP Main Event (Low) ticket worth $109

ONLINE SATELLITES
PokerStars is running online qualifiers to every event in the TCOOP series, with cash buy-ins starting from just $0.22 and Frequent Player Point buy-ins from 5 FPP. Log in to the PokerStars client and click on 'Events' > 'TCOOP' > 'All' to find the qualifiers. It's also possible for players to buy in to the majority of TCOOP events with Step tickets 1-6.



PokerStars announces 2014 Turbo Championship of Online Poker - PokerStarsBlog-com

The latest update of the PokerStars software client quietly included the introduction of a mobile device indicator displayed along with a player’s avatar at the table. A discussion on reddit suggests that this is “a gift” to grinders to identify weaker players.

The principle that players are debating is the extent to which the appearance of the icon indicates a weak player. The assumption is that the better players are unlikely to be playing on a mobile device which does not easily support multi-tabling or the use of third party poker tracking software.

The issue has been partly confused by the PokerStars January Daily Challenge promotion which includes challenges that can only be accomplished by playing on a mobile device.

There are now two new items in the Options menu under Table Display which allow players to control the icon’s appearance. Players have the option of displaying their own mobile device icon, and whether to to display the icons of other players.

Unless a change is made by PokerStars to disable the indicator by default, or until the recreational players are alerted to adjust their options, online grinders will likely continue to target those players displaying the mobile indicator. As one player commented on reddit, “I would be lying if I said I wasn’t 3betting a lot lighter all day at the zoom tables thanks to this change.”



PokerStars Software Update Displays Mobile Device Icon | Pokerfuse Online Poker News

The PPA has been closely involved in the remissions process, so their report should be considered highly credible.

An official update from the Garden City Group is expected within the next 24 hours.

“This is great news for players with undisputed funds,” PPA head John Pappas told OPR. “Tens of millions of dollars will be returned to these players within weeks and it has been a long time coming. There are still many players who’s FTP claims have not been resolved and we will continue to seek swift resolution on their behalf.”

Players in the United States have been unable to access their Full Tilt Poker bankrolls since April 14th, 2011.

It was on that date – commonly referred to as Black Friday in the online poker community – that the US government moved to shutter the three largest online poker sites serving the American market: PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute / Ultimate Bet Poker.
Important: Some players will need to complete or correct their claim

Of the roughly 30,000 players who accepted their balance and will be included in this round of payments, some will find that payback comes with a caveat.

An undisclosed, but apparently material, amount of those players filed petitions that were either incorrect or incomplete.

According to the PPA’s John Pappas on TwoPlusTwo, those players should watch for an email from the Garden City Group detailing the necessary steps to mend their claim.

Approved funds represent only undisputed claims

As part of the remissions process, players were presented with a FTP balance by the GCG. Players had the option to either accept or contest this balance.

This round of payments apparently consists only of uncontested balances.

Per Pappas on TwoPlusTwo:

“Players with undisputed claims should be looking for an email from Garden City Group within the next few weeks with instructions on how to receive their payment. The DoJ could not provide me with a definitive date on when these emails will go out and when payments will be processed. But it looks like it will be in advance of their March 31 deadline.”

There are no firm deadlines for the resolution of disputed balances, nor is it known what amount of players chose to dispute their balance.
Timeline for payment remains unclear

One critical piece of information that has yet to emerge: A concrete timeline for repayment of approved claims.

The official website for the remissions process asserts that the GCG expects “payments to be made with respect to such Petitions with confirmed balances by March 31, 2014.”

Pappas said on TwoPlusTwo that “The DoJ audited and approved the claims collected by GCG. The onus is now on GCG to remit the funds to players. I don’t know their payment process and it very well could be days, not weeks.”

Difficult to tell what percentage of players will ultimately be paid

While the numbers cited by the PPA are impressive on face, we’re left uncertain regarding what those numbers represent in terms of the total amount of money Americans had online at Full Tilt on Black Friday.

A number of factors suggest that the $82mm in funds that will be distributed represent a fair bit less than that total:

Players will small balances may have elected not to participate in the remissions process.
The amount of time between Black Friday and the start of the remissions process all but ensures that some amount of players simply gave up on the process.
Those identified as “affiliates” of Full Tilt Poker were only eligible to claim the portion of their balance that weren’t related “to their affiliate status.”
Certain Full Tilt “pros” were also deemed ineligible for remission.

While the official deadline for filing a petition passed in November, players are still able to submit a petition at FullTiltPokerClaims-com. According to Pappas, those claims will be considered.



Full Tilt Poker Funds Set to Be Released to Players by US Government

Rational Group has confirmed that it plans to expand its casino games on Full Tilt Poker, with the addition of slots games to come this spring.

The company has signed a content agreement with Leander Games, an online slots and social gaming software provider registered in the Bahamas, with offices in London, Miami and Buenos Aires.

Full Tilt Poker began a staggered rollout of its casino games just two weeks ago, with the introduction of Blackjack and Roulette, for what it calls a “test phase.” These games are integrated directly into the poker client itself.

The new agreement with Leander is the first time Rational Group has partnered with a third party to provide additional content.

The press release issued by Leander earlier this week hinted only that its platform and “selected games” will launch on the FullTiltPoker-com website, slated for this spring. The group boasts a variety of themed slots games, including Megadeth and a recently-launched Dolly Parton themed game.

The company has previously signed content partnership deals with Amaya and American Gaming Systems.

“We are incredibly proud that Rational Group has recognised Leander as a strategic partner to move forward with on this incredible project,” stated Leander CEO Steven Matsell in the PR. “This partnership will change Leander’s position within the marketplace from 'new kid on the block’ to a serious contender.”


Full Tilt Casino to Expand With Slots Games | Pokerfuse Online Poker News