Beware the New Breed of Poker Site

The resent actions the Justice Department have taken are beginning to create the exact kind of poker site the U.S. Government says it's protecting it's citizens from. The legitimate poker sites and funding operations have slowly begun closing their doors to U.S. customers which is forcing the truly fraudulent sites to rise to the top. The kind that don't mind if they screw over their customers or break any laws.

Example number one, Landmark Poker. This sorry excuse for a site has kept it's doors open to the U.S. but is so poorly managed that anyone fool enough to deposit there is bound to lose their bankroll for sure. They have recently merged with Wingows, another site to be cautious of and in the process have made it impossible for many of their players to access their accounts. If you try to open Landmark you get a notice stating:

You are using an old version of the software. Please close the application and start it again in order to auto-update it. If you still have problems please download the client from the download page on our website.

With this notice you are locked out from any option but that of closing out and restarting the application. When you do this you are just caught in a loop as the same message keeps coming up. If you follow the next step they advise which is downloading the new software from their website, you get even more frustrated when you find out it's a dead link. Having not quite yet lost your patience you might try as I did and send a WTF e-mail to support. Guess what that gets you? Absofuckolutely nothing, that's what. No reply, nothing. Thanks Uncle Sam for looking out for my best interest.

Technorati Tags: fraudulent poker sites, landmark, wingows

Doyles Room to Ban U.S. Players

Received this message upon logging into Doyles Room today.

NOTICE

You are receiving this message because, based on your IP address, it appears highly probable that you are located in the United States.

On October 13, 2006, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Act of 2006 was signed into law. Under the Act, much Internet gambling in the United States is now potentially illegal, depending on the laws of the state where the player is located. However, as a poker room serving various operators, we do not know the players, where they are located, or even if they are playing for money or just for fun. So, we have required poker sites using our room to reject money players from states where it is illegal.

Unfortunately, some sites have not been successful in their implementation of this requirement, and given the fact that we cannot differentiate legal from illegal play, we are left with no alternative but to block all players who appear to be located in the United States. We are putting all players on notice that access to real money tables and tournaments in the poker room from the United States will be blocked as soon as the blocking technology is tested and implemented; this is currently scheduled for February 28th at 23:59 GMT.

After February 28th, although you will not be permitted to play poker, you will still be able to access the cashier function of your poker operator through the cashier tab for a limited time. We suggest that you contact your poker site’s customer service with any questions you may have.

We apologize to players who are just playing for fun, to players located in states where Internet poker may be legal, and finally to players outside the United States whose Internet traffic is being routed so as to appear to be originating in the United States.

Technorati Tags: Doyles Room, Online Poker Ban

Eye on the Future of Online Poker

Where is online poker heading. Legislation passed last October restricting banking transactions set off a panic where many poker sites shut down U.S. players accounts. The Justice Department started it's attack even before additional laws were passed with the arrest of Bet On Sports executives and then the arrest of Paradise Poker's CEO. Just recently they arrested former executives and large stock holders of Neteller, a banking tool used by many U.S. players to fund their poker accounts. Now the FBI has followed up by freezing access to Neteller accounts as part of it's ongoing investigation into the company raising doubts as to whether U.S. citizens will ever see these funds. All of this has been done without utilizing any of the provisions of the new legislation.

I personally see the number of new U.S. players shrinking although there appears to be a fair amount of novice players entering the tables from Europe and Canada. With the withdrawal of Firepay and Neteller it's only going to get harder for new players to enter the market. We all knew this was coming and there is no reason to expect a change in this decline anytime soon, if at all.

A major failing on the part of Americans and online players in general is the lack of any organized fight to overturn existing laws or efforts to get new legislation introduced into congress. Most agree that the Poker Player Alliance dropped the ball when it came to stopping passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006. It has also been suggested that the PPA doesn't really have the interest of the poker player in mind but is merely a front to line the pockets of it's administrator.(see 2+2 forum thread on this subject)

The poker sites themselves have failed to lobby in their own best interest and seem to be blind sided by the events of late. Their have been attempts by 2+2 forum members to establish a non-profit organization that would work in conjunction with poker sites to further the interests of online poker but that too seem to have floundered.
With a lack of support from pro players, poker sites and the poker community in general, I'm affraid the efforts of our corrupt politicians are going to severely injure the ability of online poker players to make a profit and in affect will create the ultimate demise of online poker as we have grown to know it. In the same sentiment that many said they will never ban online poker, the lackadaisical attitude of the industry and the failure to fight back is going to create a self imposed prohibition that many said wouldn't happen.

It seems as tho Americans have become to lazy to stand up for the simple freedoms that our forefathers were willing to die for and our corrupt political system is sure willing to take advantage of it.

Play Like a Pro

Here is a great gift idea. It's a mousepad that is like having a professional poker player next to you while you are playing online. This poker cheatsheet gives you the percentage chance of improving your hand based on your number of outs. It also suggests what starting hands to play and from what position. The information also adjusts based on your playing style, loose of tight. This really will help you improve your game.



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Technorati Tags: poker mousepad, play like a pro, poker cheat sheet

Three Card Monty

You sure don't want this guy dealing at your home game.




Technorati Tags: card tricks, video. pokerchaos

Tony G Screws U.S. Again

One of the first poker sites to close it's doors to the U.S. market was Pokerchamps a company one time run by pro poker player Tony G. Many affiliate marketers that had invested tons of time and energy promoting Champs got screwed in that deal. Shortly there after Champs actions, Tony G came out and offered to fill the void by starting a new site that would have the same type of rack back bonus program and would except U.S. players.

I personally balked at this offer but others fell for this low life's sales pitch and now after re-establishing their marketing efforts towards Tony's site, guess what? He did it again, stabbed'em right square in the back. Once bitten, twice burned.

From Tony's blog:

It’s a very, very sad day for Tony G. There are no options for me to keep the room open to USA players.

I feel very sad for all of you good folks in the USA but your government is very aggressive right now and is running loose. Neteller money has been seized from people that have done nothing wrong. Who knows if and when it will be returned to the people it belongs to. And where will the government stop in its quest to wipe out internet poker?

My legal advice is not to close, but the hosting company in Malta also wants to close the doors to USA players. I could still keep Tony G. Poker going, since I believe poker is a game of skill, but with the USA government on a rampage, happy to freeze the funds of players that only wanted to play poker, that will put everyone at great risk as we have no way to pay our USA players.*

I am just the face in front of the site and can’t do what I would like to do. My hand was forced today and I have no say in this thing.

Technorati Tags: poker ban, tony g, pokerchamps, neteller, scumbags

Truth About Corrupt Politicians who Passed Online Gambling Ban

<A HREF="http://www.apcw.org/APCW-LawVideo2.wmv"><font color="#FF0000">Click here to play this clip using a stand-alone player.</font></A>

Technorati Tags: gambling ban, corrupt politicians

New Poker Deposit Options

Fulltilt Poker has implimented a new deposit option for it's players. Here's the scoop.

We are pleased to announce the addition of MyWebATM, a brand new deposit option which provides a fast and easy method to fund your Full Tilt Poker account using your personal bank account.

Once you have funded your MyWebATM account through their secure Web interface, you can access your funds online at Full Tilt Poker or at thousands of stores and ATMs worldwide.

We have worked to deliver this deposit option as quickly as possible, and are confident that MyWebATM provides the convenience our players expect and deserve. Withdrawals through MyWebATM will also be fast, easy and secure, and will also be available within the next few days.

We apologize for any inconvenience you have recently experienced, and want you to know that:

* Your money is completely safe and secure - Any money you have in your Full Tilt Poker account remains completely accessible.

* We're adding even more new payment processors who are committed to the U.S. market - We are establishing relationships with a variety of companies who will offer even more convenient ways for you to deposit and withdraw funds from the site.

* Our processing speeds will return to normal - As we continue to add new payment options, all withdrawals will again be processed within our normal time frame of 48 hours or less.

Thank you for your patience and support during this time of transition, we look forward to seeing you at the table.






Technorati Tags: poker deposit options, my web atm, full tilt poker, pokerchaos blog