Tag: online poker

Party Poker Holds WPT Paris Satellites

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So far we’ve told you that 888 Poker and Cake Poker are sending players to the World Poker Tour WPT Grand Prix de Paris this year. But there’s still another site running WPT Paris satellite qualifiers and it’s Party Poker, with prize packages up for grabs worth $15,000 a piece.

The Party Poker WPT Grand Prix de Paris satellite series runs from June 20 to August 21. It includes freerolls tournaments that each give out 25 seats in a $3 speed rebuy sub qualifier that in turn sends one player to the satellite qualifier for every $75 in the prize pool. Alternately, there’s an $8 sub qualifier that’s not a speed event, which awards 1 of every 10 players a satellite qualifier seat. Similarly, the WPT Grand Prix de Paris Satellite Qualifiers, taking place twice daily except Sundays when they’re held only once and as a Turbo event, also send 1 in 10 finishers to the final event of the series, the WPT Grand Prix de Paris Satellite, in which 1 of every 20 finishers will get a $15,000 WPT Paris prize package, at least one package awarded at each satellite. These satellites take place on Sundays and have a $750 direct buy-in.

Each $15,000 Party Poker WPT Paris prize package includes, in addition to the $10,800 ticket into the main event, hotel accommodations while you’re in Paris (valued at $2,200), and $2,000 cash to spend as you see fit. The 2011 World Poker Tour Grand Prix de Paris takes place at the Aviation Club de France from September 5th to September 10th.

Poker Stars Reveals 2011 WCOOP Schedule

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The Poker Stars World Championship of Online Poker is one of each year’s most eagerly anticipated online poker tournament series, with a main event first prize last year that topped $2 million. Now the time is nearing for another incarnation of the PokerStars WCOOP.

The 2011 PokerStars WCOOP starts September 4 and will consist of 62 events. The schedule features buy-ins that range from $109 to $10,300. One of those $10,300 high roller events takes place on day 1. Another takes place exactly two weeks later, on Sunday September 18, and this time it’s a heads-up event. The main event, taking place one week after that on Sunday September 25, has a $5,200 buy-in and an as yet undisclosed guaranteed prize pool. Each weekend day of the series between and including September 4 and 25 will feature two WCOOP 2011 events, while each weekday in that period will feature three events.

In fact, none of the prize pools for the 2011 WCOOP have been released yet. But at least, with the schedule out, players can start to clear their calendar. And for those who enjoy a bit of variety in their poker, these are not just No Limit Hold’em games either. Some are Pot Limit or Fixed Limit. Some are Omaha, Stud or Draw, even HORSE. The schedule features Freezeouts, Shootouts and Knockouts, events with 6-max tables, 10-minute levels and 8 games mixed.

As they do every year, Poker Stars will be holding satellite qualifiers awarding free seats into each of the WCOOP 2011 tournaments.

Party Poker Offers $100K to the Player to Achieve World Domination

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Party Poker is holding a special promotion with a $100,000 first prize and tens of thousands of dollars in other cash prizes and freeroll tournament tickets. The promotion, called World Domination, involves collecting playing cards representing different cities and countries in order to win associated prizes. Every card has a prize, and different collections of cards offer prizes as well. Cards are distributed randomly, awarded as players reach set targets in Party Points earnings.

It only takes 10,000 points to get a card, and only 5,000 to get your first card. The more points you earn, the more cards you get. City card prizes range from tickets into a special $1,000 Freeroll to $20 cash. Earn all four city cards from the same country and get anywhere from $75 to $1,500 cash. Earn all the countries on a particular continent and get from $5,000 to $20,000 cash. And get all 5 continents – Europe, Asia, Oceania and North and South America – and you win World Domination and receive the $100,000 first prize.

World Domination Freerolls will take place September 4 – 6, with 9 freerolls, each offering a prize pool ranging from $1K to $10K. Earn more than one entry into any given World Domination Freeroll and Party Poker will give you 5 Party Points instead, helping you climb higher toward that next target prize.

There are 72 countries in all in the Party Poker World Domination promotion. The contest ends either when someone claims World Domination or August 31, whichever one happens first.

Ray Bitar out as Full Tilt Poker CEO

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After weeks of conflicting news on the Full Tilt Poker situation, two startling developments are beginning to unfold.

First, rumors are circulating that there is a new captain leading the ship. At the most recent board of directors’ meeting, wanted man Ray Bitar was voted out of his role as CEO. Obviously, this has been a much anticipated move, considering that a new investor would be much more hesitant to save Full Tilt when it is being led by a man running from the feds.

In a possibly related note, rumors are also floating through the net that the Alderney Gambling Control Commission will be revoking the suspension on Full Tilt’s license by this weekend. It has been well known that Full Tilt Poker has been working toward this end, and it seems that their goal is finally coming to fruition. It is very likely that this move was made capable due to the removal of Bitar as CEO.

We will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as they are made available.

Full Tilt Poker Closed

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The last week of June wasn’t just the end of the ’10-’11 Fiscal Year. It was also the official end of Full Tilt Poker. A descent that started on April 15 of this year, thereafter considered by the online poker world to be Black Friday, ended last week when Full Tilt Poker closed its doors, in all probability for good.

To be clear on this FullTiltPoker.com was already closed to US players after Black Friday. But now, as of a week ago, Full Tilt Poker is closed to everyone, no matter where in the world they may live. The action to close Full Tilt Poker’s international operations last Wednesday, June 29, 2011, was taken by British Channel Island regulators.

Full Tilt Poker has yet to pay back some $150 million in American player funds frozen along with the rest of Full Tilt’s American assets. And now, they stand to owe millions more to their players left high and dry in the rest of the world. FTP is attempting to raise the funds needed to issue all these necessary (and overdue) refunds by selling majority ownership stake in the Irish parent company of Full Tilt Poker, Pocket Kings to Europan investors.

The US Attorney’s Office, meanwhile, is still said to be seeking around $3 billion in damages from Full Tilt Poker and the other two poker sites named in Black Friday’s seizure, Poker Stars and Absolute Poker. Poker Stars, incidentally, has paid back all $120 million it owed to its American players ousted in the shutdown of their American operations, while Absolute Poker has yet to pay back a dime of American player funds since that dark day in online poker history.

Cake Poker Turbo Gold Cards Return for July

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One of Cake Poker’s most popular promotions, Turbo Gold Cards, returns for another month. With the start of July, Cake Poker players start out once again on an even playing as the vie to earn Gold Cards from the brand new July 2011 deck. And since this is a Turbo Gold Cards promotion, players can earn them twice as fast as normal.

Players earn Gold Cards by playing at Cake Poker cash ring game tables. The more you play, the more Gold Cards you earn. Which Gold Cards you receive each time you earn a new one is left to the luck of draw, as in all good poker, but you can double you chances of getting the cards you need to earn a particular prize when you play between 6:00 – 8:00 GMT, 14:00 – 16:00 GMT and 20:00 to 22:00 GMT. Those are the Turbo Gold Cards hours when players earn twice as many cards at once as they do the rest of the day and night.

There are many things players can do with Gold Cards once you’ve earned them. You can match different combinations of cards to the July 2011 Match & Win game board. Prizes include tournament tickets, cash and Gold Chips, the currency for the Cake Poker player loyalty and rewards program.

You can also trade Gold Cards in for cold, hard cash, putting them up for sale at Cake Poker’s The Exchange where buyers and sellers of Gold Cards can meet up and make a little trade.

Party Poker Abolishes MTT Fees

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In what many are saying is a historic first, a poker site has abolished its multi-table tournament fees. That site is Party Poker and this change – what they’re calling Rake Free Summer – is valid for the remainder of the summer.

Here’s how it will work. During the Party Poker Rake Free Summer, the fees for all MTTs will be added to the tournament’s normal buy-in. So a $100 + $10 event will become a $110 event. While this may seem on the surface not to be a big savings at all, it actually boosts the pot that tournament players will be vying for. Sticking with the above example, instead of paying $100 into the prize pool and $10 into Party Poker’s pocket, you would pay the full $110 into the prize pool, meaning all that money goes right back to the players – to you, if you play your cards right.

Also running this July, 2011 at Party Poker is a $100K freeroll taking place August 7. To earn your ticket, just make a reload deposit using the bonus code 200JULY. That code will also give you a 100% reload bonus on that deposit, up to a maximum bonus of $200.

Don’t forget the Summer Million coming up at Party Poker fast. All this month Party Poker will be running daily Summer Million freeroll qualifiers with $1,000 guaranteed prize pools to boot. And speaking of qualifiers, during the Party Poker Rake Free Summer promotion, any qualifier tournaments that ordinarily have a rake or fee will also no longer have it for the duration of the summer.

Report: Full Tilt Poker Sold

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The LA Times is reporting that European investors are poised to buy a majority stake in Pocket Kings, the parent company of Full Tilt Poker.  So far this is the only report on the matter, but the Times got this quote from Phil Ivey’s lawyer, David Chesnoff  “Mr. Ivey intends to dismiss his lawsuit as he believes Full Tilt is taking steps to see that the players are paid.”   No statements directly from Full Tilt Poker were obtained but the report says “Attorneys close to Full Tilt said that the deal reached Thursday was part of broader negotiations to clear up its legal problems with Alderney and U.S. prosecutors.”

This should be tentative good news for US players with money on Full Tilt Poker.  Any attempt to resurrect the brand should probably include paying players their outstanding balances.  The report does not name the investors in any detail, and does not go as far as to say that US players are guaranteed to be paid.

It seems a bit odd that the LA Times broke this story.  Usually news like this comes from more poker-centric sources.   The story does have a couple inaccuracies.  It states that three sites were “shut down” by the US government.  PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Bet. In one paragraph of the story they correctly mention that those “three” sites still operate outside the US and then in the next paragraph they call them “shut down”.

I am sure more information should become available soon.  Check Holdem Poker Chat for up to the date information

Full Tilt Poker Servers Down

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The Full Tilt Poker servers are down following the suspension of its Alderney licences.

All real money play throughout the world has been suspended and players who were in the middle of online poker tournaments were booted off the site. Full Tilt Poker’s website says the servers being down is due to “Scheduled Maintenance”. Players who have tried to access the servers are saying they “can not connect”.

This sudden license suspension seems to have caught at least one Full Tilt Poker Pro by surprise,  “Seems like Alderney regulatory body (where ftp’s license is) just shut down ftp. Wow I think?” Tweeted Tom Dwan this morning.

We’ll continue to follow this story for you and bring you updates as they become available.

UPDATE: There is rumor going around that Full Tilt Poker wlil re-open in a few hours and operate without a license. They will remove all Alderney logo’s and edit the Terms and Conditions. They will also having banking issues as no banks or credit card companies will apprive transactions with an unlicensed operator.

Moneybookers has also sent out a message to it’s users stating: As a Moneybookers customer, you already know you are the most important part of our business. We always make sure you receive the safest service. For this reason we have stopped accepting deposits made to Full Tilt Poker.
There are extraordinary circumstances behind this situation which are beyond our control. We will not comment on these, just take appropriate action that protects our customers.

Alderney suspends Full Tilt Poker’s operating licence

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BREAKING NEWS: The Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC) has suspended the licences for Full Tilt Poker. Full Tilt is required to suspend all operations from within the jurisdiction immediately.

The AGCC said in a statement this morning: “The decision to suspend these licenses follows a special investigation prompted by the indictments unsealed by US Attorney General’s Office in the Southern District of New York on 15th April 2011, during which grounds were found to indicate that these licensees and their business associates were operating contrary to Alderney legislation.”

From what we are being told the Full Tilt Poker software does not open and for now at least they are closed. There has been no official announcement by Full Tilt Poker.

We’ll have more on this developing situation when we get more details.

Update:

AGCC’s official announcement:

In the matters of:-
VANTAGE LIMITED
OXALIC LIMITED
FILCO LIMITED
And
ORINIC LIMITED

Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC) has today issued Hearing Notices under Regulation 46 of the Alderney eGambling Regulations, 2009 to the above named companies who collectively trade as FULL TILT POKER.

In addition, AGCC has issued Suspension Notices under Regulation 47 of the Alderney eGambling Regulations, 2009 to the above named companies requiring them to immediately suspend operations.

The above named companies must, until the Suspension Notices are cancelled or the Commissioners of AGCC have reached a determination at the conclusion of the hearing convened in accordance with Regulation 46 of the Alderney eGambling Regulations, 2009 cease to exercise their eGambling licenses, which means that these licensees must from today cease to:-

Register new customers;

Accept deposits from existing customers;

Allow existing customers to withdraw funds that are held in their accounts; and

Permit customers to participate in any form of poker game play or gambling
transaction.

The Alderney Gambling Control Commission will hear the matters contained in the Hearing Notices at a Regulatory Hearing which will commence at 10.00am on Tuesday 26th July, 2011 at the Victoria Park Plaza Hotel, 239 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London SW1V 1EQ. In the event that there is a change to these details this notice will be amended.

André Wilsenach (Executive Director) Alderney Gambling Control Commission Alderney, Channel Islands
29th June, 2011

2nd UPDATE:

The Alderney Gambling Control Commission will hear the matters contained in the Hearing Notices at a Regulatory Hearing which will commence at 10.00am on Tuesday 26th July, 2011 at the Victoria Park Plaza Hotel, 239 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London SW1V 1EQ. In the event that there is a change to these details this notice will be amended.
André Wilsenach (Executive Director)
Alderney Gambling Control Commission
Alderney, Channel Islands
29th June, 2011