Black Friday was a day the poker community will not soon forget. The largest names in online poker were indicted and had their domains seized by the US government. Since then players have been asking themselves; what’s next? Which poker sites are safe for those USA players looking to get a piece of the virtual felt action? The answer is simple really, there are several poker networks still serving USA players, and some play host to well respected brands.
Many players are upset about the happenings at Full Tilt, Absolute Poker/UB, and PokerStars; and for good reason. It is time for players to find other avenues to play their online poker sessions for now, as it doesn’t seem likely that these sites which were seized will allow USA players back anytime soon. How long these alternative options will be available nobody knows, but it’s unlikely to see this scandal trickle down into the smaller brands online.
Sure these brands aren’t as big as the four poker rooms currently facing courtroom battles, but the fact remains that they are still viable options for USA players. Merge Gaming Network recently took on Lock Poker, Sportsbook Poker, PlayersOnly Poker and their traffic is comparable to some of the bigger names online. Carbon Poker is another big name under the Merge Network, and the traffic on the network makes them a possible contender to take over the USA market.
The Cake Poker Network has also been aiming to become one of the bigger networks in online poker and while their traffic has taken a hit as of late, they may be the one’s to give other poker networks a run for their money. Cake Poker had a pretty solid reputation in the online poker world, however; they have seen their fair share of both good and bad luck lately. They were once becoming one of the biggest names in online poker but began to lose traffic to their competitors over the last couple of years. They sold their skins to other smaller operators, which in turn caused them to lose earnings and a bit of their reputation.
Cake Poker may soon prove to be once again a big name in online poker, bigger than ever before. If their poker rooms stay facing the USA (Power Poker and Victory Poker will no longer accept US players), the chances of them becoming one of the leading poker networks online are very high. They were recently given a little push towards bettering themselves, and have big names like PokerListings.com backing their product; which brings more sign ups and leads to more traffic. Our sources at Cake Poker have confirmed that they plan to stay in the US market and have never had as many signups as they’ve had in the last 2 days.
“Black Friday” as many are referring to the indictment on the four poker rooms, is sure to have a positive impact on Cake and Merge networks. Players living in the so called “Land of the Free” will be forced to look elsewhere for their online poker needs, at least for now; which will put players right into the hands of other networks online. This is going to be a fierce competition among these online poker sites, and it will be interesting to see which comes out ahead in the USA player community in the next several months. Many players from the four poker rooms that were indicted have already been seeking an alternative for their game play, and these networks mentioned here have been seeing a big rise in their traffic seemingly overnight.
There are also other poker rooms online, but none as well-known as Cake and Merge. It will be interesting to see if any of the smaller fish grow into bigger names as well. It is sure to be a bumpy ride, but for now USA players can still enjoy the action of their favourite poker game online. Luvin Poker, which is on the Everleaf network, told us they’ve had thousands of new players signing up over the last 48 hours.
Bodog Poker is another site that has already seen a 20% jump in traffic. Bodog will continue to grow but we don’t think that Bodog will come out on top because they do not allow peer to peer transfers. We have similar concerns about Sportsbook Poker and Players Only. No poker sites that also have sports betting allow peer to peer transfers.
Solid poker rooms like Lock Poker and Carbon Poker are still taking registration from USA players. They have many ways to deposit and generous promotions, check out the US poker sites listed here for the best choices American players have today. Keep a look out for the happenings regarding everything about this latest development in online poker.