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.
Two of the indicted figures on Black Friday have filed legal papers to fight the government's charges against them, arguing that sites such as Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars were not "gambling businesses." In Full Tilt Poker news of the week, it came to light that the new investors could possibly give equity shares to Full Tilt Poker players owed the most money. These stories and more are a part of this week's Weekly Industry Update. Indicted Banker and Processor to Fight Charges: John Campos and Chad Elie, two of the individuals charged in the Black Friday indictments have each filed seperate legal documents to fight the charges brought against them by the Department of Justice. Campos is the Vice Chairman of the bank accused of deceptively facilitating funds between players and payment processors while Chad Elie processed payments between players and online poker companies. In one of the legal filings, it was stated that "PokerStars and Full Tilt are not ‘illegal gambling businesses’ under IGBA (Illegal Gambling Business Act" because they are not ‘gambling businesses’ at all,” says one of the legal filings. “To be ‘engaged in the business of betting or wagering’ requires that the business has a stake in the outcome of gambling contests, and the Indictment here fails to allege that the poker companies had any such stake." The filings devote a lot of their argument on poker being a game of skill. The IGBA lists nine activities regarded as gambling, none of which have anything in common with the game of poker. These filings represent a possible path to clarify the online poker legal situation in the United States, however, it's very likely that if proceedings are allowed to go on that it could take years to play out and by that time online poker could be made expressly legal anyway. Full Tilt Poker Updates: Equity Could be Offered to Some Players: According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, the rescue of Full Tilt Poker could involve offering equity stakes to players owed the most money. Subject Poker also had a great article separating some fact from fiction, which included a denial of a denying of a report which stated that Tapie and company would only be willing to finance 5%-10% of the deal. An attorney of investor group also said that they are moving forward to complete the sale and strive to pay balances to Full Tilt Poker players that are due to them. Among the biggest hurdles of any deal remains a favorable agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice. In the article, they also note that they regret the revoking of the Full Tilt Poker license by the AGCC and hope that would reconsider licensing Full TIlt under new ownership. It a separate Subject Poker report, it came to light that the acquisition agreement made between the two parties contains a clause requiring that an outside independent entity to monitor assets before the final sale. In a blog post this week, PAS touched on would it would take for Full Tilt Poker to relaunch. Latest Traffic Update from PokerScout: In this week's traffic report, PokerScout has declared the poker boom as officially dead. The article gets into details about the debate on whether recent overall traffic declines are a long term or short term phenomenon. As far as weekly traffic, numbers were mostly unchanged from the previous week. Merge Gaming saw the biggest biggest decline (6%) among top sites. They have now fallen behind Bodog as the largest U.S. facing online poker room in the world. Jottings: PPA to meet with DOJ regarding Full Tilt Poker player funds...Sportingbet sale to Ladbrokes clears obstacle...Slovakia looking to change online gambling laws...iPoker bot controversy an apparent misunderstanding...Parent company of Everest Poker faces non-complicance notice from Nasdaq...Estonia to recommend online gambling credit card ban...Companies laying the groundwork for online poker.
Since of the events of Black Friday, many non-US poker players have continued to play on Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars, despite the massive hurdles both sites face in fines and credibly issues that have come to light with the charges. However, in a testament to the popularity of the rooms, both sites remained the top 2 sites in terms of traffic up until Wednesday. In fact, despite losing a large percentage of their traffic from the departure of US players (Full Tilt Poker is down 48%, PokerStars 27%), PokerStars is still 4x larger than Party Poker and Full Tilt Poker was almost 2x larger than Party before Wednesday. All these figures courtesy of PokerScout. With Wednesday’s bombshell, we should see that traffic gap close a bit as the European licensed rooms gain more traffic from players simply too spooked to play on any room that was involved in Black Friday. The market perhaps agrees as well, as Bwin.Party saw their share price rise over 11% on the news. PokerStars is keenly aware of this concern, as they released a statement so quickly that it almost seems like they were prepared for the Full Tilt Poker license suspension. In the blog post, they stated operations continue as normal and that they “remain in full compliance with our licenses in other jurisdictions where we are regulated, including France, Italy and Estonia.” Given human nature and the fact many industry observers thought Full Tilt Poker to be a safe online poker site immune from major issues, some online poker players are going to be apprehensive about playing on a room that faces such massive legal challengs. Yes, PokerStars is unlikely to lose their #1 crown any time soon, but it will certainly be worth watching for shifts in traffic in the coming months as the legal issues play out. Top Options for European Players Let’s take a look at the top .com options for European players that PAS publishers should take a serious look at promoting in the coming days and weeks: Party Poker: Party Poker leaving the US market after UIGEA was widely criticized, especially in recent years as PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker easily beat them in traffic and gained EU licenses in jurisdictions such as France. In 2009, Party Poker reached a $105 million dollar settlement with US authorities that shields them from any prosecution. The site is currently the 2nd largest site in online poker and looks to be a big benefactor of any shifts in European traffic. The merger in April with Bwin, further bolsters the company's position in the market. The platform merger has yet to take place. The merged Bwin.Party company trades on the London Stock exchange as BPTY. PAS publishers can promote Party Poker and WPT Poker. iPoker: Another room that left the US market immediately after the UIGEA, iPoker has rebounded nicely in subsequent years. With software provided by Playtech, which trades on the London Stock Exchange as PTEC, the iPoker Network is the third largest network in online poker and is home to dozens of skins, including big names such as Titan Poker, Mansion, Betfred and Genting Poker. The site is expected to be the the main competition of Bwin.Party after they move platforms. Like Party Poker, the site does not offer rakeback but instead attracts players with aggressive reward schemes that can equal or exceed rakeback in some cases. Ongame: Again, like Party and iPoker, the Ongame Network left the US market in 2006 shortly after the UIGEA became law. Since then, the room has held their own and is now just behind iPoker in traffic at ".com" rooms. The network has also went on to gain licenses in the ring-fenced jurisdictions of Italy and France. Like iPoker, the network is home to many skins -- over a couple dozen -- including Europoker, Betsafe, Betfair and Redkings. Some questions linger about the future of the network after the Bwin.Party merger, but most industry observers believe it can coexist in the market. The move of Paradise Poker to the network in the later part of 2011 is seen a huge positive for the future of the network. The rest: In the second tier of EU-licensed rooms and networks, we see a lot of rooms that offer traditional rakeback. Despite being in a second tier, they are still quite populated rooms with 2,000 real money players during peak times. No Limit Hold'em and Pot Limit Omaha players should have few problems finding action at most cash games and tournaments. Networks include Microgaming (Unibet, 50% rakeback), Entraction (NoiQ, 30% rakeback) and Boss Media (Poker Heaven, Paradise Poker, Interpoker and Fortune Poker- 30% rakeback). All rooms are licensed in the EU in Malta. Conclusion Unlike players from across the pond, EU players have a lot of different choices of where to play, so they can be much more selective in where they choose to make their home. In some cases, these rooms have long-standing reputations that actually predate online poker. At PAS, we have many offers available for you to promote to your players. At some sites, you are even given a choice of promoting CPA, revenue-share or rakeback, giving you flexibility in your marketing needs.
Be sure to follow the Poker Affiliate Solutions Twitter feed for the latest up-to-the minute updates. In the biggest Black Friday related news on Tuesday, Steve Day of PokerStars announced on the 2+2 PokerCast that US players would start making cashouts as early as April 25th as a “best case scenario,” with only technical hurdles remaining. Sure enough, soon after players began reporting that they could initiate cashouts and a lobby message confirmed that "US Cash Outs Now Available!" Poker Stars Now Making US Cashouts: In the 2+2 PokerCast near the 54 minute mark, Steve Day said that he was “happy to announce that PokerStars will be processing cashouts very, very soon. The best case scenario would be Tuesday [April 25th].... Once cashouts are requested, people should have their money within days, in most cases.” In the lobby US players are currently greeted with a "US Cash Outs Now Available" message. We are pleased to announce that the Cash Out option in the PokerStars Cashier is now available. Please log in to your PokerStars account and visit our Cashier to withdraw your real money account balance at your convenience. Due to the expected high volume of cashout requests, we anticipate a delay in processing and delivery of your funds. Rest assured that your funds are safe and we will process your request as soon as possible. At this time, there has been no new word from Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker or UB.com cashouts to US players. Previous statements have been released by both sites. Traffic Updates: PokerScout is doing a fabulous job of tracking the events of Black Friday. Merge Gaming is now up 60% since April 15th, while Euro sites have stabilize. PokerStars and Full Tilt have stopped their slide, while the Cereus Network slide continues. More updates: Current US facing sites: Merge up 61%; Bodog, up 32%;Cake Poker, up 30%; Everleaf, up 1% Euro-facing sites: Party Poker, up 9%; iPoker, up 2%; Ongame, down 9%; 888, up 4% Former US facing sites: PokerStars, down 28%, Full Tilt Poker, down 35%; Cereus, down 65% Jottings: Great LA Time op-ed….Caesars CEO Gary Loveman says “Legalize it!”…..PPA’s John Pappas says the following of regulation: “They are spending millions to prosecute these individuals when they could be making billions through regulation of online poker. We are urging Congress to pass legislation to license online poker.”……Calvin Ayre’s Winners and Losers Feel like you’re behind on the developments?: You can also check out our Twitter feed where we provide you with the latest up-to-the minute developments. For your convenience we have also provided an archive of previous updates: PAS Statement on DOJ Announcement 4/15 4/16 Cliff Notes: Details of indictment, when US players were shut out, Player funds, canceling of B&M partnerships, Initial statements from PokerStars, Full Tilt and the PPA DOJ Domain Name Agreement 4/20 4/21 Cliff Notes: DOJ agreement, A new not guilty plea, AP/UB.com new message for US players, statements from gaming commissions of Kahnawake, Isle of Man and Alderney Incredible Black Friday Promotions: We lay out the best of the best 4/22 Cliff Notes: Online poker traffic update, Antigua weighs in, Absolute Poker statements, collection of statements since 4/15 4/25 Cliff Notes: Merge gaming Breaking traffic records, Arizona credit union shut down, comments from Steve Wynn.
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