Nevada became the first state to legalize online poker today. In a 4-0 vote, the Nevada Gaming Control Board approved online gaming regulations. These regulations will allow licensed operators to offer players within the State of Nevada online poker. While online poker in Nevada became legal today, it will be 4-6 weeks before there are licensed online poker rooms in the state. That is because the licensing process has just begun. As soon as an online poker room receives a license they will be able to offer real money play to Nevada players. Licensed online poker rooms will not be able to accept players from outside Nevada until the federal laws are changed and online poker is regulated on a federal level.

Six companies have applied for an online gaming license in Nevada. These companies are International Game Technology (IGT), Bally Technologies, ShuffleMaster, 888 Holdings, Cantor Gaming and South Point Poker. IGT is a slot manufacturer that also owns the online poker network Entraction. Bally Technology is a slot manufacturer. ShuffleMaster manufactures shuffle machines and slots. 888 Holdings is an online gaming company that hosts the World Series of Poker's real money site. Cantor Gaming is a Nevada sports book that already offers mobile horse and sports wagering. South Point Poker is owned by local's casino South Point which already offers a play money online poker room.

The minimum age for players will be 21. There are also regulations that address underage gambling, problem gambling, fraud and identity theft. There are also technical protocols that must be followed including keeping all of the data transfers within the state. Nevada already has legalized internet and mobile sports betting. Online poker will expand on the existing online gaming in Nevada.

Bodog launched a new poker platform today. It was met with widespread criticism by players. This new poker software removed all player usernames from all poker tables. This means that when a player sits at a table all they see is a number where the username used to be. That number is the seat number of the player at the table. In tournaments, it is the order that the player entered the tournament.

While anonymous tables are used at some poker rooms, Bodog is the first poker room to make all of their tables anonymous. Bodog has been creative in the way they have made their poker room undesirable to high volume players that use tracking software. In June 2010, Bodog stopped allowing new players to sign up for rakeback. Later in 2010, Bodog changed their rake formula to give the existing rakeback players less rakeback if they were winners. This formula was similar to Ongame Essence. Now, in an attempt to combat datamining and give winning players less of an edge, anonymous tables have been implemented.

In addition to anonymous tables, the rake has been changed and a couple of features have been added. The new features include rabbit hunting and the ability to enter up to 20 multi table tournaments at one time.

Players are very angry about the changes. Anonymous tables make tracking software useless in catching colluders and bots. Tracking software and dataminers have caught many online poker cheats. Without those tools, players are forced to rely on Bodog to catch any cheaters. Players were also upset that the points to cash program was removed. Players can no longer convert their points to cash, they must convert them to tournament tickets now. There are also dozens of bugs in the new software.

At the time of this post, Bodog traffic is down over 80% from its seven day average according to PokerScout at what would normally be their peak time. This traffic collapse could be the cause of angry players leaving, or because there are so many bugs many players feel the software in not playable.

The next few weeks will be interesting for Bodog. Will this move be an innovative way to lure casual players to their poker room, or will it cause their players to look for other online poker rooms? Only time will tell.

Groupe Bernard Tapie and the U.S. Department of Justice have come to terms on a settlement that could pave the way for a sale of Full Tilt Poker. Subject Poker reported this morning that a letter went out to shareholders stating that the Department of Justice agreed to accept a payment and a commitment to paying all players outside of the U.S. In exchange for that payment, the Department of Justice would pay all U.S. players.

Groupe Bernard Tapie must now come to terms with the Tiltware shareholders. Those shareholders must agree with a two thirds majority for a sale of assets to Groupe Bernard Tapie. The agreement could take the form of cash, shares in the new company, or a combination of the two. There is no time frame for when shareholders would vote. There is also no time frame for how long it would take to repay all players that are owed money by Full Tilt.

Six weeks ago I wrote about the difficulties US facing online poker rooms were having processing player withdrawals. This is an update to that post. Last month's grade is in Parentheses.

Intertops - A (New)

Intertops was recently added to PAS. They are a member of the Cake Poker Network that uses their own banking system for deposits and withdrawals. Not only do they offer more deposit options to players than Cake Poker does, their cashout speed is extremely fast. There are several withdrawals options. In some instances the options are costly, but they are fast. Players can request a cash transfer, bank wire, check or Visa Shopping Card. Cash transfers take a couple of days, bank wires and checks take about a week. The Visa Shopping Card is a re-loadable card that Intertops mails you, then transfers cash to your account. Once you have the card these transfers take about a day.

Everleaf Gaming - A- (A-)

Everleaf Gaming is still processing US cashouts via cash transfer services and bank wires. Bank wires, used for large cashouts, are taking a few weeks to process. Cash transfers are still taking 1-3 days.

True Poker/DoylesRoom - B (B)

True Poker and DoylesRoom, members of the Yatahay Network, are right where they were last month. While medium stake players are in the middle of two excellent cashout options low and high volume players enjoy fast cashouts. There is a gift card option for small cashouts, and a bank wire option for cashouts over $5000. Both options take only a few days.

Bodog - B (A+)

Bodog has had a tough month. There have been several issues with bad checks. A round of checks that were sent out all bounced and some players have reported issues requesting a new check. Bank wires have been a bit slow too. Considering how fast Bodog has been in the past I consider this to just be a bump in the road. MyPayLinq and Rapid Transfer, while expensive, have still been processed at fast speeds.

Merge Gaming - B- (B-)

Merge Gaming only has one standard cashout option, a cashout by check. They do send bank wires for extremely large cashouts, typically related to bad beat jackpot winners. Checks can be requested for amounts between $100 and $2500. There is a fee associated with the check that depends on the VIP level. This fee is typically $15. Checks are taking 3-6 weeks at this time. While this is an improvement it does not warrant a higher grade until all checks are under a month.

Cake Poker - D- (D-)

Cake Poker has failed to improve their cashout speeds to US players. US players still only have one cashout option, checks from $500-$3000. These checks are now taking 12-16 weeks, slightly longer than our last post. A few checks have even bounced. Non US players are also having problems. Moneybooker cashouts are taking 2-6 weeks.

World Sports Exchange - F (F)

World Sports Exchange is still slowpaying over $400,000 to winning players. The NFL season has not helped with liquidity either. I suggest avoiding WSEX. WSEX was never offered by PAS but is still worth mentioning due to their payment processing issues.

Poker Affiliate Solutions has added RaiseandFold. RaiseandFold is a member of the Everleaf Gaming Network. RaiseandFold accepts U.S. players and holds an EU gaming license in Malta. Publishers will receive 50% commission of which 40% is paid to the players as rakeback.

Why Should I Promote RaiseandFold?

-- Member of the Everleaf Network, the second most popular rakeback friendly U.S. Network
-- EU license based in Malta
-- Offers tables in multiple currencies
-- Offers both a downloadable software version and no download version. The no download version is perfect for players using an operating system other than Windows.
-- Loose No Limit Hold’em games, primarily at $1/2 and below

What do Players Receive When Signing up at RaiseandFold?

-- 40% rakeback paid weekly using the weighted contributed method
-- 100% up to $1500 first deposit bonus using Western Union or Neteller, all other deposit methods receive a 100% up to $500 first deposit bonus
-- 100% up to $1500 reload bonuses when using Western Union or Neteller.
-- No rakeback deductions

How can I start promoting RaiseandFold?

If you are already a PAS publisher then you can log in to your Publisher Admin, click "Rakeback Offers" and you will see "RaiseandFold RB" at the top of your rakeback offers. You can enable the offer right there. RaiseandFold will appear at the bottom of your rakeback offers. To change its position click "Reorder Rakeback Offers" and click and drag RaiseandFold to the position you wish for it to be.

If you are not currently a publisher at PAS, get started today! Sign-up is very easy and the PAS services are absolutely free.

Where can I receive additional information?

If you are not yet a PAS publisher we invite you to check out our FAQ. Comprehensive information about RaiseandFold can be found here. If you have any questions about PAS or the RaiseandFold offer, feel free to contact us and we would be happy to help.