Tag: online poker

Billionaires Getting Involved With Online Gambling

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One of the more unknown stories in the game of online gambling comes from a guy named Richard Bronson, who used to be an executive at Mirage Resorts.  Bronson believed that the casino industry was about to expand, and more than just in terms of across the United States.  He was looking at the Internet, and decided to help found U.S. Digital Gaming two years back.  This was completely on a limb, and Bronson was assuming that online gambling (mainly online poker), would find its way to being a huge hit in states that were looking to draw in some additional revenue.

This company that he created was made to provide advertising and software, and took a bit of money to get it rolling.  There were some big named investors who had quite a bit of money, and decided to put it into this company that Bronson had created.  It included names like Herbert Simon, who owns the Indiana Pacers, and Steven Roth who is the chairman of Vornado Realty Trust.

Internet gambling has always been pretty huge in the US market, but it has been mainly from players with offshore companies.  The issue is, that the Department of Justice stood in the way of allowing online gambling in the United States, but as of now; it looks like the push for legalizing this in the United States is on.

The thing is, there quite a few billionaires getting involved in the online gambling front.  Even well-known names like Steve Wynn and Donald Trump have been linked in ways as well.  Wynn had a deal set with PokerStars, but backed out soon after it was reported after they were caught up with the DOJ’s crackdown on online poker.  Trump has been paired with Marc Lasry, who controls the Avenue Capital Group.

There have been many other big names involved in the talks of online gambling in one way or the other, and that is the real story here.  The interest all around in online poker and online gambling is growing so quickly, that even some of the biggest businessmen in the United States know that they want to be involved.  Keep an eye on what happens if online poker gets legalized in the United States, it could make for some interesting pairings among billionaires.

New Online Poker Cheating Scandal Discovered

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It seems that poker scandals just seem to continue to come out of the wood works.  We had a few live poker cheating stories come out, and there have been many big online poker cheating scandals over past years.  This time it was a high stakes player who installed Trojan Horse software on multiple different players’ computers so that he could see their hole cards.

It was a German high stakes poker player named Maximillian Ashkar, who is based out of London currently.  He apparently did this to over 12 different players, and won at least $2 million by doing this tactic.  The story behind how this played out is a pretty interesting one though, as Ashkar used his friendships with high-stakes players to use their computers and install the virus.

While this went on for a while, two of the players who were involved decided to confront him about the situation.  This all happened at the European Poker Championships recently, and Ashkar finally confessed.  At this point, the two players called the police, but it took a turn for the worst when Ashkar said that he was coerced by the players, and that he never confessed to anything.

Ashkar’s computers and all of his equipment were seized by the police as they were under the suspicion of  fraud, but the two players who confronted him were actually charged in this situation with coercion and deprivation of liberty due to their response to findings.

This story is a very interesting one, as Ashkar was widely known as one of the nicer guys in the poker community.  He offered his friends places to stay, and many considered him more likely to be one of the people who could potentially be scammed as he was very trusting; rather than being the one doing any type of scamming.  The other two players who were involved in this situation were not known specifically, but it was rumored that one of the players was Ronnie Kaiser, who recently won the European Poker Tour’s Tallinn event.

More news will be released on this as it is reported, but one thing that is certain is that these poker scams seem to be caught faster each time that someone tries them.

Full Tilt Poker Nears Return

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In a new development regarding the sale of Full Tilt Poker to Groupe Bernard Tapie (GBT), an email stating that the Department of Justice and GBT have, in principle, reached an agreement that will help facilitate the sale. The email reads:

Dear members,
I am pleased to announce that today the Department of Justice and Groupe Bernard Tapie have reached an agreement in principle regarding the acquisition of the companies comprising FullTiltPoker. My understanding is the deal provides that in exchange for an agreed upon payment by GBT, and a GBT commitment to assume responsibility for payment of ROW players, DoJ will reimburse US players and settle the outstanding civil litigation with the companies comprising FTP. Beyond these conditions, issues like the time frame and process for repayment of players remain unclear at this point and time.

With DoJ’s consent now in hand, GBT may now proceed to finalize an agreement to acquire the companies or assets that comprise FTP. That agreement will very likely address the status of your shares or interests in the successor company. When I receive that agreement, I will coordinate with our attorneys to ensure the terms of that proposed agreement will be shared with the membership and voted on.
-Ray

To paraphrase, the DOJ will disburse all funds held in relation to US players and GBT is responsible for all non-US players’ funds. This means that the speculated funding necessary for the sale decreases greatly now that the DOJ has agreed to release the bank accounts to be given back to US-based players.

While this is one major step in the reopening of FTP, two more crucial steps remain: a 2/3 majority affirmative vote by FTP shareholders and the issuance of a license from the Alderney Gambling Control Commission. Make no mistake, this is great news, and undoubtedly sets the wheels in motion on the deal, but there remain many more steps to be taken on the issue.

Now that progress has started, expect more information coming forthwith. We will be sure to pass it along as we find it.

Poker Stars Announces 10th Anniversary Celebration

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Even as PokerStars gets ready to deal its 70 billionth hand and award $750,000 to players for the thrill of being present in the lead-up to this milestone, the site announces that it’s also gearing up for its 10th Anniversary celebration.

Poker Stars is turning ten, and that means more bonus prizes for its loyal players. This special 10th anniversary sees Poker Stars putting out no less than 10 new special offers in celebration, revealed incrementally as time goes on. At present, only two of these 10 special offers have been anounced.

The first is a chance to win a trip to the Bahamas for the 2012 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. To get a ticket in this special satellite event, make a deposit between November 1 and December 11, 2011 using the promo code: PCA100.

The second 10th anniversary offer revealed is a special $10 million Sunday Million, taking place on December 18, 2011 and promising a $2 million guaranteed first prize.

Stay tuned here as time goes on for updated information on the remaining eight special offers Poker Stars is churning out for its 10th anniversary celebration.

The upcoming 70 billionth hand to be dealt at Poker Stars, expected this November 2011, is also the most number of hands dealt at any poker site. But this isn’t the only world record Poker Stars has snagged in its ten years in operation. The site also boasts the most number of players online at the same time, in 2009 at over 300,000, and the biggest player field for a tournament, also in 2009 at 149,196.

Luvin Poker Announces Lower Rake

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In a stunning news release, Luvin Poker has announced a much lowered rake cap on all US tables. From November 1 until December 31, all US tables will have rake capped at just $1. No matter how large the pot, no matter the stakes, every US table will feature the special capped rake.

This new special promotion comes on top of all of their other offers, including a $10,000 monthly rake race, deposit and no deposit freerolls. They also feature tournament leaderboards for the top monthly earners.

Don’t forget that you can also earn your entry to Super 2012 at Luvin Poker. This event is expected to be an amazing poker experience that you can win your way to for as little as   .

Be sure to make your way to Luvin Poker to take advantage of all of these special offers. Nowhere else will you find such great promotions for players of all stakes to take advantage of. Download and deposit today!

PokerStars Getting Stricter On US Players Concealing Location

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PokerStars has always been one of the most popular online poker sites out there, and this especially includes among United States players as well.  It seems that since Black Friday, many US based players have continued to attempt to find ways to play at the massive site, even though it shut out the United States completely.  Some players moved out of country in order to continue their poker careers, but most players who don’t play for a living could not move out of the country to continue playing poker; so they had to turn to other routes.  This is where the Virtual Private Networks (VPN) came in.

Unfortunately for US players, the VPN’s may have worked for a while, but PokerStars has began to crack down on this, and have frozen the accounts of many US poker players who have been using the private networks.  The players would receive notices stating that their account was suspended “pending further legal review”.

Players can not log in to PokerStars from inside the US borders to play for real money, but with these new connections, their internet connections are then rerouted through different servers that are hosted from outside of the United States.  Essentially, it is like tricking the system into saying that the player is actually in a country that allows online poker player, and saying that their IP address is not from the United States.

The main way that these connections have been detected by PokerStars, is that once a player gets disconnected from the VPN, you can see their actual location.  And of course PokerStars is one of the most in-depth and largest online poker sites out there, so you can bet that they have tracked this quite a bit.

It will be interesting to see what PokerStars decides to do about the players who have been using these Virtual Private Networks.  You can assume that they will almost definitely be taking action against the accounts that have been using them.  Part of this reason is due to the fact that PokerStars has been huge in following the Department of Justice’s online poker rules since Black Friday.

Poker Stars Road to 100 Billion Nears 70 Billion Milestone

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The Poker Stars Road to 100 Billion continues, with the site fast approaching its 70 billionth poker hand dealt and $750,000 in cash prizes to help celebrate this milestone.

As in previous milestone celebrations in this long Road to 100 Billion hands, Poker Stars will be awarding cash prizes to the players lucky enough to be participating in every millionth hand between 69.7 billion and 70 billion hands. All players participating in milestone hands win a cash prize, although the winners of the hands stand to win even more. And the winner of 70 billionth hand stands to win $70,000 guaranteed or more.

When triggered, cash prizes are distributed according to how many VPPs, or VIP Player Points, each player has accumulated while sitting in at that table. VPPs are earned according to the amount of rake a player has payed by playing in raked hands at that table.

To increase your chances of being dealt into one of these rewarding milestone hands, Poker Stars recommends multi-tabling, playing longer sessions and to play game types that tend to generate higher, faster action, like Pot Limit Omaha or Limit Hold’em.

Only play at Poker Stars cash ring game tables are eligible for this promotion. Tournament and Sit & Go play does not qualify.

Poker Stars says the 70 billionth hand will be dealt in November 2011. After it’s done with, and $750,000 has been given away, the next Road to 100 Billion milestone hand celebration will come 5 billion hands later, when Poker Stars nears its 75 billionth hand.

888Poker+ Celebrity Challenge Schedule

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Earlier in the week we told you about the new 888Poker+, aka 888 Poker Plus, featuring improvements like private tables, teams poker games, a better poker lobby and celebrity challenges. Regarding the last of these lsited benefits, Celebrity Challenges featuring private lounge games and bounty tournaments sponsored by several of the world’s top poker players, the following is the upcoming schedule of events for the launch of this brand new 888 Poker offering this November, 2011.

On November 2 at 20:00 GMT will be the $2,000 Anderson Celebrity Challenge featuring a $100 bounty on James Anderson of Lancashire, UK, username “Janderson9”.

On November 9 at 19:00 GMT will be the $3,000 Canizares Celebrity Challenge featuring a $100 bounty on Santiago Canizares of Madrid, Spain, username “Canizares888”.

On November 16 at 01:00 GMT will be the $1,000 Bonkowski Celebrity Challenge featuring a $100 bounty on Tyler Bonkowski of Saskatchewan, Canada, username “Bonkman5”.

On November 17 at 20:00 GMT will be the $1,000 Chamberlain Celebrity Challenge featuring a $100 bounty on Helen Chamberlain of Somerset, UK, username “HellsBellsy”.

On November 18 at 20:00 GMT will be the $2,000 Holden Celebrity Challenge (that’s Holden, not Hold’em) featuring a $100 bounty on Sam Holden of Canterbury, UK, username “Sam_Holden”.

On November 25 at 21:00 GMT will be the $3,000 Warner Celebrity Challenge featuring a $100 bounty on Shane Warne of Victoria, Australia, username “Warne888”.

And finally, on November 29 at 19:00 GMT will be the $1,000 Jackson Celebrity Challenge featuring a $100 bounty on Charlotte Jackson of Hampshire, UK, username “Charlottejac”.

888Poker+ players can also request to be invited to join a $1,000 private table hosted by any of these poker celebrities.

Luvin Poker Holding Super 2012 Satellites Too

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Earlier in the week we told you about the upcoming Super Poker Event of Europe 2012, otherwise known as Super 2012, and the satellite tournament series at Cake Poker awarding players free seats in this event. But Cake Poker isn’t the only site holding Super 2012 satellites. Luvin Poker, for one, is doing it as well.

Luvin Poker’s SuperEvent Series runs October 24, 2011 through February 12, 2012 and awards prize packages worth €1,000 each. The series offers a variety of ways to climb to the final and win one of these prize packages. One starting point is the Super 2012 PP event with no cash buy-in at all. These events, taking place five times daily, cost 150 poker points to buy in. Each one awards tickets in the Super 2012 Qualifier to the top 25 finishers.

The Luvin Poker Super 2012 Qualifier costs just €0.25 to buy-in directly and takes place eight times daily. Each one awards at least one seat into the Super 2012 #1 Guaranteed event.

The Luvin Poker Super 2012 #1 Guaranteed event costs €3 to buy-in directly and takes place four times daily. Each one awards at least one seat into the Super 2012 #2 Guaranteed.

The Luvin Poker Super 2012 #2 Guaranteed event costs €22 to buy-in directly and takes place twice daily. Each one awards a seat to the winner into the Super 2012 Final.

The Super 2012 Final costs €160 to buy-in directly and takes place once daily. Each one awards a €1,000 prize package into the Super 2012 for every €1,000 in the prize pool.

Super 2012 takes place in Dublin, Ireland’s Citywest Hotel on February 25-26, 2012 and anticipates around 4,000 players turning up for a shot at an estimated €1.2 million prize pool.

Have a Wicked Weekend this Halloween at 888 Poker

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888 Poker is inviting its players to have a wicked weekend this Halloween with a chance to win Apple handheld devices like iPods and iPads as well as cash prizes.

888 Poker’s Wicked Weekend last for 4 days–Friday, October 28 – Monday, October 31–during which time players can participate in a Wicked Webcam Challenge and redeem a Wicked Bonus.

In the Wicked Webcam Challenge, the 888 Genie will make surprise appearances at the webam poker tables–aka the PokerCam tables–throughout the four day promotional period. All you have to do to win a prize is play at these tables during that time and, while you play, wear a Halloween costume or mask. The player with the best judged costume when the 888 Genie appears will win a prize. First prize in this competition is an iPad2 while the second and third place prizes include iPod Nano 16GB portable digital music players and cash prizes. To join a PokerCam table at 888 Poker, log in to your 888Poker lobby and then double-click on any table or tournament bearing the PokerCam icon. Then simply click onto one of the available seats at the table and get playing.

The Wicked Bonus–aka the Wicked Instant Cash Bonus–gives players the option of earning an instant $10, $20 or $30 for free, the amount based on the amount of the player’s qualifying deposit. Deposit at least $30 with the code BLOOD10 and get a $10 bonus. Deposit at least $60 with the code SCREAM20 and get a $20 bonus. Deposit $100 or more using the code MONSTER30 and get a $30 bonus.