Big congrats to the following PAS publishers for winning their share of the $1500 Overbet giveaway. http://www.pokerplusrake.com/ http://www.massiverakeback.com/ http://www.digitalrakeback.com/ What a great start to 2011!
I know it sounds crazy, and at the start of 2009 and 2010 I would have said the same thing, but in 2011 expect Full Tilt Poker’s growth to outpace the growth of Poker Stars. Many online poker players, especially those that give poker rooms a lot of action, have been unhappy with Poker Stars lately. Some have even openly discussed how Full Tilt Poker has been doing a much better job lately. Early in 2010 Full Tilt Poker made a major change to their no limit offerings. Instead of the standard 20-100 big blind tables they split up their no limit offerings. There are four sets of No Limit Texas Hold’em tables. There are 20-40 big blind tables, 35-100 big blind tables and 75-200 big blind tables. The 75-200 big blind tables also include an ante of 20% of the big blind. There are also cap tables. At those tables a hand is capped when a player has 30 big blinds in the pot. Once players have acted behind the player with a total of 30 big blinds in the pot he is allin. Poker Stars countered this move with something many players feel was a mistake. They created 20-50 big blind tables, 40-100 big blind tables and 100-250 big blind tables. The 100-250 big blind tables include a 20% ante as well. Many players have complained that now the action has fallen down to the 20-50 tables. Most serious players despise short stack no limit. Short stackers change the complexion of the game. Now players have been forced to drop down to 50 big blind tables to find the action because of the overlap between short stack and normal no limit tables. There is also another issue with this. Since PokerStars is still a dealt VIP site short stackers, who often give little action, get the same number of VPPs as other players with deeper stacks with more at risk. The fact that PokerStars still uses the dealt method also hurts the game quality. In my opinion the games at Full Tilt Poker are far superior to PokerStars. While the no limit debate is one of the bigger issues Full Tilt Poker has also improved their customer relations. First they are active at Two Plus Two. There is a monthly FTP Answers thread. Also they have come up with solutions for players that do not get rakeback. If a player does not have an affiliate they move the player in house. Some players that have an affiliate are given a large bonus that equals 27% rakeback. Full Tilt Poker also started its Black Card promotion during 2010. High volume players are rewarded with special perks including double FTP Points and freerolls. Even though Poker Stars is double the size of Full Tilt Poker today I see that gap closing over the next year. It wouldn’t surprise me if Full Tilt Poker actually caught up to Poker Stars.
Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke, seen by many as the public face of UB.com, both announced last week that they would be leaving the poker room after many years of representing the site. The announcement was not a shock to some as Phil Hellmuth was seen without his trademark UB gear in recent public appearances. On his Twitter account Hellmuth said the following: "Making a BIG move...leaving UB. Truly lots of great memories, but it's time to move on...Mutual decision...Looking forward to BRIGHT future!" The Annie Duke announcement came by way of the UB.com blog: "I have nothing but positive things to say about UB and my experiences with the brand, management and the incredible people who work hard daily to deliver a terrific online poker experience." The departure of Hellmuth and Duke from UB.com represents the second major departure of an online poker personality in a week from a US-facing room. Lee Jones, card room manager of Cake Poker, announced earlier in the week that he would be leaving Cake Poker. The departures do not appear to be related in any way. It is possible the high profile pair simply became too expensive for the return UB.com was getting from them. Another thought is that Hellmuth and Duke could be getting a high-profile sponsorship at a larger site such as Full Tilt (especially Duke who is sister to Full Tilt boss, Howard Lederer) or even a large brick and mortar casino. Perhaps in Hellmuth's case, he just wants to work more on "Brand Hellmuth." It should also be noted that Duke has maintained that she does not wish to sign with another site. On the UB.com blog, it was promised that the site would be "announcing some big additions to Team UB in 2011." There is credible evidence that one of the acquisitions may be Prahlad Friedman, a player who vowed they would never "sell out" to a poker room sponsorship. The addition of the 2003 WSOP bracelet winner and 2009 WPT Legends of Poker champion could be seen as a great public relations move by UB.com. Friedman was one of the most high profile victims of the UB superuser cheating scandal. He lost hundreds of thousands of dollars but was ultimately refunded and has since apparently forgiven the site. Obviously, this leaves many to questions his reasons/motives when he could undoubtedly sign with almost any room. It will certainly be interesting to follow where these high profile poker personalities land in 2011. In the mean time, be sure to update any content you have that mentions Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke relating to UB.com.
It’s that time of year again and the PAS team would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year! Most of us will be taking a few days off over the next week, but we will be checking in to ensure that all systems are running smoothly. Support will be slower, as most of our contacts are out of the office until January 3rd. Please be patient with requests that will require contact with the poker rooms, since they will generally not be available until the first week of January. Many thanks to all our publishers, partners, and members for a successful year, and we’re looking forward to an even better one in 2011! Safe travels and happy holidays, everyone.
Now that 2010 is about to be put into the record books, I figured it was time to take a look at the top online poker news stories of 2010 that most affected online poker affiliates. Harry Reid Introduces Poker Bill During Lame Duck Session My number one story of the year is unique in that nothing substantive happened – at least that we can measure now. Still, it represented online poker’s best chance yet of being regulated in the United States. The bill, if passed, would have been a game-changer for affiliates. With so many details up in the air, some affiliates are left wondering if that would have been a good or a bad thing, though. Momentum for regulation could swing into 2011, leaving an outside chance of passage sometime in 2011. New Ring Fenced Markets France became the latest country to regulate online poker within their borders. Poker rooms from Poker Stars, Winamax, Everest, Ongame and Party represent the top five rooms offering games to French-only players, according to PokerScout. Segregating player pools by country has been seen by many players as a negative of regulation, but France and Italy have each been able to maintain peak traffic of over 1,000 real money cash game players at four or five different rooms. PokerStars.it is even the 6th most popular room in the world, behind longstanding international rooms such as Cereus, Microgaming and Entraction. The ring-fenced markets appear to be where regulation will take us, especially in the short term. Payment Processors Under Attack In November, eWalletxpress was the latest major payment processor to effectively be shut down. The US-facing e-wallet allegedly had their funds seized by the US government and players have since been unable to withdraw funds that are located there. In addition, many smaller processors were shut down throughout the year, which resulted in bounced checks or bank transfers that were not received by US players. Poker sites generally still honored withdrawals from these seized processors. Affiliates can expect that their US players will have increased difficulties depositing and withdrawing in 2011. Online Poker Traffic Shifts There were some interesting shifts in traffic during 2010. The year represented the first in recent memory where traffic was mostly flat, so sites were thankful to have a small gain during the year. With the exception of Merge Gaming -- which tripled in size due to some network acquisitions -- no other site grew by more than 10%. There were a handful of rooms that got hit hard in 2010, however: Everest (67% loss of traffic), Cake (60%), iPoker (31%), Party Poker (27%), Cereus (26%) and Boss (26%). Reasons for the losses range from views that online poker is now a mature market, to a loss of network sites (Cake) to the migration of players to regulated ring-fenced sites (Everest, iPoker, Party etc.). All of these figures courtesy of PokerScout. Gambling Bill Goes Through House Financial Services Committee Until Harry Reid’s attempt at a Hail-Mary in December, this was the top legislative story during 2010, which represented online poker’s biggest victory since the UIGEA was passed into law. HR 2267 passed the House Financial Services Committee in July by a vote of 41-22, an impressive victory from many of the same representatives who four years earlier voted on a more aggressive version of UIGEA. The bill effectively stalled for the rest of the year but represented a moral victory going forward. Supreme Court of Washington State Upholds Internet Gambling Law Online gambling is still a felony in the state of Washington. The Washington State Supreme Court upheld a 2006 law making playing online poker in the state a felony. Lee Rousso, a PPA state director for the state of Washington, had sued and argued that the law was unconstitutional due to a violation of the Commerce Clause. The decision resulted in Poker Stars and Full Tilt both leaving the Washington State market within 5 weeks of the decision.
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