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.
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
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
Today marks the one-year anniversary of Black Friday. In this week's Weekly Industry Update we will take a look at this milestone along with news from Full Tilt Poker, Cake Poker and Merge Gaming. Remembering Black Friday It's hard to believe it's been a full year since the events of Black Friday. There is little doubt affiliates and U.S. players will always remember where they were when they heard the news that the three largest poker sites had been effectively shut down to U.S. players in that single day. One year later, the industry is still shaken up and feeling the effects. PokerStars recovered quickly has went on to thrive. Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker are likely gone forever with players and affiliates unlikely to recover anything significant. Meanwhile Fulll Tilt Poker players and affilaites continue to hope the Full Tilt Poker sale goes through and players are reimbursed for their missing funds. As expected, the one year anniversary has brought a flood of retrospectives. PokerNews posted a timeline of Black Friday and related events. PokerFuse conducted a great interview with the PPA's Patrick Fleming. CardPlayer also posted a piece on the victims of Black Friday. Full Tilt Poker Update: As Full Tilt Poker appears to gear up for a relaunch, another class-action suit has been filed against Full Tilt Poker directors Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson. The lawsuit alleges that Lederer and Ferguson "exercised unlawful dominion and control over player funds in Full Tilt Poker accounts." The suit seeks a court order requiring Ferguson and Lederer to refund players as well as punitive damages. Cake and Merge Gaming Ban new Utah Accounts: Late last month, Utah passed a law that banned online poker in the state. The governor of Utah has even lobbied against federal online poker legislation. As a result of recent actions by Utah, Cake Poker and Merge Gaming have decided to no longer accept new accounts from the state. Existing members are still allowed to play, however. The move comes a few weeks after Bovada decided to make the same decision. At the time of this writing, Utah players can only create accounts at BetOnline, Intertops, Winning Poker and YouWager. PokerScout Traffic Update: Online poker traffic snapped an eight-week losing streak by gaining 2.8% last week according to PokerScout. Five out of the top 10 sites saw 5% upswings or more. Ipoker has overtaken Party Poker as the #2 network in the world. Jottings: April's US Online Poker Processing Report Released...AGA is calling for UIGEA strengthening...UB and Absolute Poker nearing resolution with DOJ?...Unibet acquires Bet24...UK proposes criminal penalties for illegal operators...Quad Jacks interview with Joe Brennan Jr., says federal online poker "not in cards"...Italy regulated market slides...Card Player summary on the Black Friday guilty pleas...Spanish Association of Digital eGaming Reveals List of Members
This week signaled that Full Tilt Poker may finally be gearing up for relaunch with new job listings from Pocket Kings and a new Alderney license application. Meanwhile in state regulation news a New Jersey bill has passed committee. Check out these stories and more in this Week's Industry Update. Full Tilt Poker Update: There has yet to be an official announcement on the future of Full Tilt Poker, but it certainly looks like the battered poker room is gearing up for a relaunch. Last week, job listings from Pocket Kings -- a Full Tilt subsidiary -- were posted on jobs.ie requesting an urgent need for customer service reps. On the same day, it came to light another Full Tilt subsidiary, Orinic Limited, had applied for a category 2 license in Alderney. Orinic Limited was the only Full Tilt Poker related company not to have their license revoked by Alderney last September. New Jersey Bill Pass Out of Committee: New Jersey's online poker bill has been passed by a New Jersey Senate committee by a 11-0 vote. The bill, if passed into law, would allow Atantic City casinos to residents of the state and possibly combine player pools with international markets. Once the state budget issues are settled -- which could be as late June -- the vote will be moved to a full assembly vote. In other online poker state regulation news, Delaware could be the next to try to bring online poker to their state. PokerScout Traffic Update: Online poker traffic fell for a 8th consecutive week, according to PokerScout. Causes for the decline include warm weather in North America and Europe, the success of PokerStar's Zoom Poker and spring break holidays in much of the world. PokerScout notes that the total decline is 11% since late February compared to a drop of 5% over the same period last year. Jottings: Wynn and Zynga in talks...Belgium blacklists Winamax...Carbon Poker releases odds calculator...Poker Nordica shuts down, PAS pubs can promote 35% rakeback to old players on Black Chip Poker...Fast Poker launches on Unibet...PPA look to add Online Poker to Cybersecurity Bill...Fraternal Order of the Police support regulation...Party Poker Bad Beat Jackpot tables removed...Canadian province will open online gambling site...Ayre appoints Sportingbet lawyers
Recent Comments
