Deleware is the latest state to pass a bill through committee, while in Nevada online poker will probably have to wait until early 2013 before launching. Read about these stories in this week's Industry Update. Delaware Bill Passes Committee: Last week, Delaware lawmakers passed a bill through the House Gaming and Parimutuels Committee that would regulate online poker in the state. The bill will also allow bars and restaurants to offer Keno instant lottery games and pro-football parlay cards. It now moves on the House, where it will not be addressed for at least another two weeks. Melissa Blau, CEO of Live Gaming, said that concerns about security are unfounded. "The concerns around player protection, specifically underage gambling, can be mitigated and almost eliminated." She noted that prevention of underage gambling is something that is being executed successfully right now. Nevada Poker in 7-10 Months, Regulator Says: Cardplayer reported this week that the first Nevada licenses will be issued within 30-60 days but that online poker will likely not go live in the state for another 7-10 months, likely moving the launch date to 2013. The majority of the time will be devoted to regulators approving technology of licensed poker rooms. Meanwhile on the federal front, the CEO of MGM raised doubts about a federal online poker happening this year. Cake Poker Network Rakeback Increasing to 36%: Big news for rakeback players on the Cake Poker Network. Ahead of Lock Poker's purchase of the Cake Poker Network, Lock Poker announced last week that rakeback would be increasing from 33% to 36% effective June 1st. The new rakeback rate will be among the highest flat rakeback deals in online poker and will mean that Cake Poker/Revolution Gaming will be offering the highest rakeback to U.S. players. Full Tilt Poker/PokerStars Announcement This Week? It's now been almost a month since the Full Tilt Poker/GBT deal fell through. While Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars continue to be silent, reports from outlets such as iGaming Post suggest an announcement could happen this week. PokerScout Traffic Update: Online poker traffic gave up most of its gains of the previous week, down 8.2% according to PokerScout. Much of the decrease came from PokerStars, although among the top 10 sites, decliners outpaced advancers seven to three. Jottings: Obama administration release statement on online poker...Carbon Poker previews New Merge Gaming software...Facebook rise opens new door for online poker...WSOP satellites and marketing opportunities posted on PAS... Denmark signs agreements with five Euro regulators to promote cooperative Online Gaming Regulation... Party Poker Launches Championship Challenge...California regulator says online poker in Nevada "dependent on prayer"...Court considers harsher penalties for Beckley.
A relatively slow week in news saw no additional public statements from Full Tilt or PokerStars. Meanwhile in the non-US market, Unibet leaves Spain and Schleswig-Holstein awards three new licenses. Check out these stories and more in the Weekly Industry Update. Schleswing-Holstein Issues Three Licences : Ther German state of Schleswig-Holstein has awarded three online gambling license in preperation for their regulated market. Betfair, mybet and the state lottery were the three named. Additional licenses are expected to be issued in the coming weeks. Betfair commented on the approval by stating it was a significant positive, especially when some have been doubted the company's capacity to receive licenses outside the United Kingdom. Unibet Pulls Out of Spain Regulated online poker is coming to Spain and with that comes poker sites pulling out of the market in hopes of staying within the rules and being considered for a future license. In February, various Microgaming sites and then Bodog decided to pull out of Spanish market. Now comes word that Unibet will be pulling out of Spain on May 14th and transferring players to PAF, which is on the Ongame Network. Players will have up to 30 months to withdraw their funds. Major poker sites such as PokerStars, Party Poker and iPoker have continued to service the Spanish market while being considered for the regulated market. Full Tilt Poker/Poker Stars News Quiet All was quiet after a dramatic week that saw the GBT deal fall through and PokerStars take over as most likely suitor for Full Tilt Poker. One interesting piece to come out over the last week was an article from Diamond Flush Poker detailing how Groupe Bernard Tapie may have plans to follow through with a launch of an online poker site this year. In a leaked email to key Pocket Kings staff explaining the the collapse of the Full Tilt Poker, Larent Tapie stated "I have decided to devote a significant portion of the funds that I was planning to use for the acquisition of the FTP assets instead to launch my own company, under the auspices of Game Cubed, the company I have created in Ireland." He continues by stating he would like to launch the new website in 6-7 months but only do so if all of the Pocket Kings staff accompany him. PokerScout Traffic Update: Online poker traffic was down again last week 0.4%, according to PokerScout. Traffic has now been down in 11 out of the last 12 weeks. PokerStars was a notable gainer while IGT was the notable loser down 8%. Jottings: Twoplustwo forum could come back online May 12th...iPoker revenue drops...PPA continues fight for poker...Antigua online gambling dispute wages on...Latest on the regulation of online poker in the US...A look at fast fold online poker options...PPA's Rich Muny discusses how tribes can benefit from federal legislation.
The big news story of the week was the collapse of the Groupe Bernard Tapie-Full Tilt Poker deal, which coincided with rumors that PokerStars has been in discussions to purchase their former rival. According to various outlets a deal is very close to being finalized and announced. Read about this story and more in this week's Industry Update. Full Tilt Poker GBT Deal Falls Through; PokerStars Next in Line?: There were dramatic developements from the ongoing Full Tilt Poker sale discussions this week. On Tuesday long time suitor GBT announced that their deal to acquire Full Tilt Poker had fallen through. Luckily for those hoping for a deal, rumors began to leak earlier in the morning that PokerStars had agreed to purchase Full Tilt Poker for $750, which includes a settlement with the DOJ and repayment of all players. Those reports turned out to be a bit premature as PokerStars would only comment that settlement discussions were in progress and confidential. Multiple outlets "confirmed" that a deal should be signed within days. Optimism for a deal is at an all time high but many will not be comforted until an official announcement is released. DiamondFlush Poker released a great article on why the GBT deal fell through. As a result of the GBT deal falling through, the Alderney License hearing was canceled. Everest Poker Could Lead In Massachusetts : In last week's edition of the Weekly Industry Update, we informed you that Massachusetts was considering regulated online poker. This week Everest Poker released a press release stating that they were well positioned to be the first to offer online poker games if/when internet poker was brought to the state. The press release noted that Everest Poker is the only European-facing poker room with an office in the state. According to CEO Tim Den, "The proposed bill rewards responsible European online poker operators and encourages local technology companies and, fortunately for us, Everest Poker is exactly both of those things. The bill presents Massachusetts with a great opportunity to be a pioneer in legalizing Internet poker in the U.S., and there’s no question that Everest Poker is better positioned than any other operator to take advantage of that opportunity." PokerScout Traffic Update: Online poker traffic continued its spring slide, down for 10 out of the last 11 weeks and 2.7% last week alone, according to PokerScout. The iPoker Network has bucked the trend with a 2% increase since late March, while PokerStars has lost 10% of their traffic and Party Poker is down 16%. Jottings: Twoplustwo Down, Passwords "Considered Compromised"...Only Poker Merges with Colt Poker...PKR Unveils Sneak Peek of new software...California tribes come out against bill unless amended...Las Vegas Sands CEO still against internet gambling...Spain regulated market likely delayed...Shuffle Master on a roll...States, Congress Clash on Online Gambling
Update: PokerStars has addressed the rumors about the purchase of Full Tilt Poker. Says discussions are confidential and they can not comment further. After months of negotiations, Groupe Bernard Tapie has released a statement saying that their deal to acquire Full Tilt Poker has fallen through, citing two major issues: agreement with the DOJ on a plan to repay players and U.S. legal complications surrounding the deal. But not all hope is lost for players hoping to be repaid or for a relaunched Full Tilt Poker. The GBT news of this morning coincided with credible reports that PokerStars may have agreed to purchase Full Tilt Poker for a sum of $750 million. The amount reportedly includes settlement with the Department of Justice and a refunding of all players their full balance, believed to be over $300 million. In a surprising twist when announcing the GBT news, iGaming France confirmed via Twitter that "external sabotage" may have been in play with the GBT/DOJ negotiations. The comment suggests that developments related to PokerStars may have played a role in the GBT talks breaking apart in the final hour. The GBT statement also addressed the PokerStars' rumors (which at this point, are just rumors, albeit quite credible). "We can only assume that PokerStars determined that it was willing to accept these legal and financial risks in order to resolve its own legal situation with DOJ. If a PokerStars acquisition of FTP means that all FTP players will be fully repaid immediately, we are very happy for the players." GBT went on to say that it would be regrettable for additional consolidation in an industry already dominated by a single player. PokerStars is, of course, the largest online poker site by a fairly wide margin, equivalent in size to the next 15 largest sites combined. If the deal turns out to be true, there is little doubt PokerStars' purchase of Full Tilt Poker would further cement their position in the marketplace and would increase PokerStars' already high favorably rating with players. The move would allow them to maintain their market share and even increase it if a PokerStars-owned Full Tilt Poker platform were to coexist with PokerStars. While it is true that many PokerStars players also play on Full Tilt Poker, many European players on networks such as Party Poker and iPoker moved there after Black Friday and then the subsequent collapse of Full Tilt. Even without U.S. traffic, Full Tilt Poker was the second largest online poker site in the world before their license was revoked by Alderney last year. This is a developing story with additional information likely in the coming days and weeks. Stay tuned to PAS for the latest info, breakdown and analysis.
This week, John Campos' misdemeanor guilty plea was finally accepted while the AGCC announced that a license application from a Full Tilt subsidiary will be held in public. Check out these stories and more in this week's edition of the Industry Update. Campos Plea Deal Accepted: U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan has officially accepted a guilty plea from John Campos, Vice President of SunFirst Bank, which helped process payments for two of three poker sites indicted on Black Friday. There was originally delay in the acceptance of the guilty plea as the judge raised concerns about the leniency of the deal by prosecutors. Full Tilt Poker Update: Over the last week there has been significant signs that Full Tilt Poker is gearing up for relaunch. Positives indications for a launch include the establishment of Full Tilt Poker companies in Ireland and Malta, changes in the Full Tilt Poker website and additional job postings on a Irish job services company. In other Full Tilt Poker news, the AGCC has announced they will hold a public hearing to review the license application of Orinic Limited on May 3rd. Orinic Limited, a subsidiary of Full Tilt, avoided a revoking of their license last year and recently applied for a category 2 license to offer online gambling. Massachusetts Considering Online Poker: Massachusetts State Representative Daniel Winslow plans to make a push for an online poker amendment to a state budget bill next week. Winslow stated "Massachusetts already has decided to legalize gaming, so we should consider all options to maximize revenue and create new jobs." The bill would not make it cheap for a operator to offer online poker in the state. To receive a license, an operator would have to fork over $10 million and pay a tax of 25%. PokerScout Traffic Update: Online poker traffic dropped 1.8% for the week and has down been down for 9 out of the last 10 weeks. In their one year recap of Black Friday, PokerScout reported that 90% of US players have stopped playing online poker, helping to contribute to a 32% loss in overall traffic during the last year. Jottings: Barney Frank not optimistic for federal regulation in 2012...Black Friday Mastermind Preet Bharara Named to Time Top 100...William Hill Nevada gaming license delayed...European Gaming and Betting Association Publishes Manifesto...William Hill and Ladbrokes see poker slump
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