Category: Online Poker

Rafe Furst Sends Open Letter to Public About Full Tilt Poker

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While the ongoing allegations against Full Tilt Poker will continue for weeks at a minimum, and a few of the bigger names in poker who are involved will continue to have negative reports come out about them (Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson, and Rafe Furst); one player has decided to post an open letter to the public about the situation.  While most people would assume that a letter posted to the public about this situation would simply be towards players from the site, and possibly friends and family to apologize; but Rafe Furst decided to tell everyone to not jump to conclusions right away.

The letter is another interesting topic to come out regarding Full Tilt Poker, and one that should grab the attention of quite a few people in the poker world.  Furst is one of the Full Tilt Poker pro’s, and also a board of director for the “poker site”, which has been dubbed as a Ponzi scheme this past week.  He decided to post a letter to speak about the allegations against him, as well as give people as much information as he possibly can without actually giving information on the pending litigation.

This letter essentially stated that people should give it time to work out before they do decide to jump to conclusions, as everyone is innocent until proven guilty.  He also stated that he is struggling to deal with the “potshots” that have been taken at him on social networks to this point when he can’t defend himself.  He closed the letter by thanking everyone who remained close and supportive of his situation, and said, “may you never have to endure something like this, but if you do, I hope you have friends as good as mine.”

Fursts’ statements most likely won’t help people who still have money locked up Full Tilt Poker feel any better, nor will it make them any less upset than they are now.  The idea behind his letter is to basically state that things aren’t always what they seem, and that he believes this situation could be misjudged.  It’s tough to imagine that all of this was made up out of the blue, but only time will really tell what the situation at Full Tilt Poker with big names like Ray Bitar, Lederer, Ferguson, and Furst really is.

Epic Poker League Suspends Lederer and Ferguson

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The Epic Poker League decided to tackle a potential problem before it could even happen this time.  After running into issues twice so far at their two Main Events, the Epic Poker League has decided to suspend both Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson from playing in any events.  The EPL had its first issue when their first Main Event champion, Chino Rheem, was outed for having multiple debts to some other big names in poker that he had refused to pay.  He was placed on probation by the EPL until he pays back all of his debts.  Then was the situation with Michael DiVita, who was not allowed to participate in the Main Event, which he won a seat into; due to the fact that he is a registered sex offender.

These two things above lead to the decision on Lederer and Ferguson, both of which have not played in any Epic Poker League Events to date.  What’s especially interesting about this situation is that Lederer is the brother of the Commissioner of the league, Annie Duke.  Both Lederer and Ferguson are five year card holders for the league, but only Lederer has signed the league’s Player Disciplinary Policy and Players’ Code of Conduct.  To this point though, it has really been unlikely that either of them would participate in any other event until the situation with Full Tilt Poker was handled.

One other situation that comes from this, is the question of what will happen with Rafe Furst.  Furst is not a card holder with the Epic Poker League, so they could not specifically ban him from any of the Main Events.  One could assume that if he was to attempt to enter any of the Pro-Am’s though, that he would be banned from playing in the league as well.

The Epic Poker League has done well to this point, but is still sorting out the situation with DiVita and the code of conduct with the league.  It will be interesting to see if any other leagues place bans on Lederer, Ferguson, and Furst within the next few months while the Full Tilt Poker situation continues on.

Intertops Poker’s Last September FPP Race Starts Tomorrow

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Tomorrow is the start date for the fourth and final of four FPP Races held at Intertops Poker. Running from 04:00 GMT on September 23 to 03:59 GMT on September 30, Race 4 of Intertops Poker’s September FPP Races promises a $5,000 guaranteed prize pool.

Here’s how it works: Players accumulate FPPs, or Frequent Player Points, by playing at Intertops Poker’s real money cash tables. At the end of the promotional period, the 80 players who have earned the most FPPs during that period will split the $5,000 prize pool, each player receiving a cash prize of at least $10. The highest FPP earner will win $580 while the second highest will win $440. Third place gets $360, fourth gets $325, fifth gets $295 and down from there. Places 12 through 19 get $60 each. Places 20 through 29 get $40 each. Places 30 through 39 get $35 each. Places 40 through 49 get $27 each. Places 50 through 59 get $20 each. Places 60 through 70 get $15 each. And places 71 through 80 get $10 each.

Intertops Poker will be keeping an ongoing leaderboard tracking players rankings in the race in real time.

A member of the Cake Poker Network, Intertops Poker participates in many popular Cake Poker promotions including the recent pair of football season themed promotions: the Footie 50 Challenge and Money Night Football. They also recognize Gold Cards and Gold Chips and participate in The Exchange whiere Gold Cards can be bought, traded and sold.

Party Poker Brings Back $5,000 Bankroll Booster

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The Party Poker $5,000 Bankroll Booster has returned. In this popular promotion, PartyPoker hosts a special weekly tournament with a $5,000 guaranteed prize pool and no direct cash or points buy-in. Instead there are a handful of other ways you can enter this tournament week after week.

While there is no cash buy-in for the $5,000 Bankroll Booster, which is held each Sunday at 14:30 ET, cash deposits can land you tickets into the event, whether you’re a new or existing member.

New players who made their first deposit of any amount into a real money Party Poker account gain access to daily qualifier tournaments for a whole month. The top 50 finishers in each of these tournaments win tickets into the following Sunday’s event.

Existing players can win tickets directly into the Bankroll Booster by making a deposit into their real money PartyPoker account without having to excel in any qualifier tournaments first. These players need only remember to use the bonus code: BOOSTER when making their reload deposit to be credited their ticket into the following Sunday’s event.

Likewise, while there is no points buy-in for the Bankroll Booster there are two other ways that you can earn or win tickets into the event by using points. You can either earn 60 points over the course of the week prior to any given Sunday’s event and automatically earn a ticket into that event. Or you can enter a qualifier tournament for just 1 point and if you’re one of the top 25 finishers you’ll win a ticket into the event.

Bodog Poker Blocks Data Mining Sites

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Bodog Poker made a commitment to bring in changes to put the fun back into poker and make life easier for the all-important recreational player. Currently there is a wealth (quite literally) of data available on individual players and websites that only benefit professional players to the detriment of recreational player and, equally therefore, to the detriment of the poker industry itself.

Recently Bodog took another huge step in protecting the players that actually keep online poker buoyant by removing tables that are full from the lobby and thus stopping data sites accessing accurate information on player numbers.

Bodog Poker Network has already forced the industry to rethink its approach to rakeback causing the major rooms to follow suit. Now Bodog’s Recreational Poker Model has removed table information they will be less attractive to professional players and by the end of the year even individual player stats, both live and historical, will no longer be available to data sites.

Jonas Odman, Vice President of Bodog Poker Network, commented: “It is vital for the online poker industry that the depositing players are put first rather than the high raking professionals who rarely, if ever, add new money to the pot. This is the first in a long line of steps that will make Bodog’s Recreational Poker Model the best place for the casual player to enjoy the game again. Later in the year we will have some additional features that we will roll out along with the new software which we are confident will make the playability of the site one of the best in the industry.”

Poker Pros to Battle for Expected £4 Million Prize Pool at PokerStars.com EPT London Poker Festival

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The PokerStars.com European Poker Tour (EPT), Europe’s richest and most popular poker tour is coming to London this month. In its’ eight year history, almost 40,000 players have hit the felt, and the EPT has paid out over £200 million in prize money. In August this year, the EPT Barcelona event broke all previous records and became the largest live poker event ever held in Spain with 811 players taking their seats to play for share of the £3.5 million prize pool. The EPT London is set to continue this record-breaking trend with the prize pool expected to exceed £4 million.

Celebrities such as ex-tennis star and professional poker player Boris Becker, model, presenter and previous EPT title winner Liv Boeree, and well known broadcaster, journalist and 2006 EPT London winner Vicky Coren will sit down alongside the biggest names in poker, all eager to pick up the title and first prize, which is set to hit the £1 million mark for the first time ever.

The 7-day long poker festival presented by PokerStars.com, will offer players some of the best quality tournament poker action in the world. There are 31 events on offer, including the European 8-Game Championship, the No Limit Hold’em Women’s Event, the two-day long £20,000 buy-in High Roller tournament and of course, the coveted EPT London Main Event.

This year also marks the first ever EPT London Quest, an exciting competition run through Twitter where one lucky player will win a seat in an EPT London side-event tournament. Poker fans will need to follow the account @PokerStars and hashtag #EPTQuest from 8.30am on Sunday 2nd October for clues for a password and details of a secret central London location. Once they crack the code and turn up to the location, they will need to correctly say the password then play and win a 5-minute heads-up tournament. Win the tournament, and they will receive one of nine golden chips to enter a live game against the other eight winners. The champion of this table will take their seat at the “No Limit Turbo – Win the Button!” tournament at 8.00pm the same day.

Last year the record-breaking PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Main Event was the biggest poker tournament ever held in the UK, attracting 848 players. It made David Vamplew the highest-earning Scottish poker player ever with an amazing £900,000 first prize.

The PokerStars.com EPT runs from September 30 – October 6, 2011 at the Hilton London Metropole Hotel in central London.

Full Tilt Poker A Massive Ponzi Scheme

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Earlier today Manhattan’s U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara claimed that Full Tilt Poker and its board of directors operated the company “as a massive Ponzi scheme against its own players.”

Federal prosecutors working on behalf of the United States Department of Justice are filling papers as part of a civil money laundering complaint that alleges that the poker site improperly used player funds to pay it board of directors and online poker players Howard Lederer, Rafael “Rafe” Furst and Chris “Jesus” Ferguson over $440 million.

Prosecutors have amended the complaint that names Bitar, Lederer, Ferguson and Furst, adding them to the original complaint which was filed on April 15, 2011. The proposed amended complaint claims that in 2008 and 2009 Full Tilt sent emails to its players, assuring players that “unlike some companies in our industry, we completely understand and accept that your account money belongs to you, not Full Tilt Poker.” The new complaint says that Full Tilt Poker did not have enough funds to repay players at the time and that on March 31, 2011, Full Tilt Poker only had roughly $60 million in its banks accounts while owing $390 million to players around the world, including $150 million in the U.S. alone. In other words, Full Tilt Poker was nearly broke before Black Friday.

In today’s statement, Mr. Bharara said Full Tilt Poker “cheated and abused its own players to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars” and that “insiders lined their own pockets with funds picked from the pockets of their most loyal customers while blithely lying to both players and the public alike about the safety and security of the money deposited with the company.”

Party Poker Hosts WPT Amneville Satellites

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Party Poker is now hosting satellite tournaments awarding seats into the next World Poker Tour stop in Amneville, France, otherwise known as WPT Amneville.

Each satellite awards $8,000 prize packages that include the $5,000 buy-in into the WPT Amneville main event, hotel accommodations during your stay November 1 – 6, and $1,100 in spending cash to use as you see fit.

The WPT Amnéville Satellite takes place every Sunday at 15:20 ET for a direct buy-in of $425. Party Poker guarantees they will award at least one prize package at each of these events, although the actual number of packages to be awarded at each of these events in one for every 25 players competing.

Players can avoid paying the $425 buy-in and instead win a seat in the satellite for only $46 at one of Party Poker’s WPT Amnéville Satellite Qualifier, held every day at 13:45 ET, with Sunday’s event being a Turbo event. One in 10 players from each of these events will win seats in the satellite.

To win a seat in the satellite qualifier, you can either pay $5 to enter a daily Sub Qualifier Speed event from which one in 8 players will win satellite qualifier seats or pay $2 to enter a daily Sub Qualifier Speed Rebuy event from which one player for every $35 in the prize pool will win a seat in the satellite qualifier.

You can even win a seat in the sub qualifier speed rebuy event and avoid paying buy-ins for this series altogether by winning a daily WPT Amneville Freeroll tournament.

888 Poker Offers Players Chance to Play 2011 November Niner

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888 Poker is offering its players the opportunity to play against one of the 2011 November Nine in what it’s calling the “Beat the Best” promotion.

Sam Holden is one of the esteemed 9 players to outlast thousands in the 2011 World Series of Poker main event and make it to the final table to be played and aired in November. As Sam awaits that fateful day, from August through October, 888 Poker has been inviting players to sit down against him in special $1,000 guaranteed bounty tournaments. Any player who knocks Sam out of contention for the top prize in each tournament will win a $100 bounty.

Called $1,000 Sam Holden Bounty events, the next and final date scheduled in the Beat the Best promotion is October 16, 2011 at 19:00 GMT. The buy-in is $1.

As the latest in 888 Poker’s string of PokerCam & Bounty Challenges, this promo also invites players to compete against the 22-year-old Canterbury, UK resident at 888 Poker’s PokerCam cash tables, or webcam poker cash games, on October 16 at 17:30 GMT.

Sam isn’t the only 888 Poker pro to make it to the November Nine, by the way. Twenty-one year-old Ukranian player Anton Makiievskyi will also be there vying for poker’s top title. Not only is the first Ukranian to reach the final table of a WSOP Main Event, but if he wins it all, he’ll also be the youngest WSOP champion in history. 888 Sport, the sport betting sister site of 888 Poker, is even giving you the chance to bet on the 2011 WSOP, be it for Sam, Anton or any of the other November Nine.

Merge Poker Network Traffic Down 25% on DOJ News Story

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Two weeks ago we wrote about a story, that appeared on Subject: Poker (S:P), regarding a possible seizure by the US Department of Justice, Maryland Office on a merge network online poker processor. Since the story came out the Merge network has been hit with withdrawal requests and a 25% drop in online poker traffic. Holdem Poker Chat has been following this story along with the online poker community and we cannot confirm or deny the S:P story.

We’ve contacted all of our industry sources about this and keep getting different answers including: “It’s just fear mongering”, “NoahSD of S:P is just a shill for Full Tilt Poker lawyer A. Jeff Ifrah” and “NoahSD is just an attention whore”. Note: We have nothing against NoahSD or S:P, they’ve written some great news stories in the past.

Poker News Boy has also come out and questioned the motivation behind the S:P story and also posted a story about being contacted via Skype by the so-called S:P source (Robert) that said he had recorded phone conversations to prove everything. When asked by Poker News Boy editor Gerry Poltorak for copies of the said recordings or any documents, the so-called source said he couldn’t because the documents are “Sealed”. He also went on to say that by the information being leaked that the Merge Poker Network had the processor move 95% of the funds in question but that one international account was seized . He also says that for now the Merge network is save as far as the Maryland office is concerned but that he didn’t know what other DoJ offices are working on.

The simple fact is that any online poker site that operates in the US can eventually expect the US DoJ to possibly seize the funds of payment processors. The US DoJ is not in the habit of leaking any information or issuing warnings. We contacted some sources at Merge and all they would say is that they know about the story and are not worried.

We officially have no position on this but felt you should know what we’ve learned.