Consistently one of Party Poker’s most popular promotions, The Gladiator is back this May, giving each player the chance to walk away from the table with up to $4,000 in cash and entry into a freeroll tournament with a prize pool of up to $25,000. There’s even a top prize of a World Series of Poker Main Event seat available to the most serious players.
In The Gladiator promotion, players try to earn a target numbers of points for target numbers of days of the month. The higher the points target you hit, the higher the prize. The more days you hit a particular points target, the higher the prize. Prizes start with freeroll entries with prize pools of $2,500; $5,000; $10,000 and $25,000. Surpass those targets and get the $25,000 freeroll entry in addition to a cash prize ranging from $10 to $4,000.
To the most dedicated and determined of Gladiators, PartyPoker will give a WSOP Main Event seat (or a $7,000 cash equivalent) for earning at least 1,200 points per day for 30 out of the 31 days of May.
Qualifying days need not be consecutive, and you start earning prizes immediately as soon as you achieve 5 points per day for at least 5 days of this month’s Gladiator promotion. You’ll earn a cash prize for accumulating at least 5 points per day for at leat 25 days of the promotion or 100 points per day for at least 5 days of the promotion. As you can see, whether you’re game is earning as many points as you can per day or playing for as many days as you can, the Party Poker Gladiator promotion has a way to reward you for it.
St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda (May 10, 2011) — Absolute Poker, including the UB (formerly Ultimate Bet) brand, hereafter “Absolute Poker”, issued the following statement today in relation to civil and criminal matters filed in federal court in Manhattan and made public on April 15, 2011:
Absolute Poker has reached an agreement with the United States Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York (“SDNY”). Under the agreement, the US Attorney’s Office has agreed to provide all necessary assurances that third parties may work with Absolute Poker to facilitate the return of funds, currently held by third party processors, to players located in the US. This provision is an important step to returning US player funds.
The Company has also notified the SDNY that it has closed its US-facing operations, and it has agreed to the cessation of real money poker play in the US. As such, Absolute Poker has not requested the return of its worldwide domain names, www.AbsolutePoker.com, www.UltimateBet.com and www.UB.com, and today’s agreement does not provide for their return. The agreement also provides for the appointment of Monitor, approved by the US Attorney’s Office, to assess the Company’s compliance with the terms of the agreement.
Absolute Poker’s top priority has always been, and remains, the refund of account balances to its U.S. players. Unfortunately, the Company still faces several legal issues which must be navigated before funds can be paid out to US players. The Company’s US attorneys, Blank Rome LLP, continue to work diligently to resolve these issues, which is a necessary further step to facilitate the return of funds to players. Player funds, therefore, will not become immediately available for withdrawal as a result of today’s agreement with the DOJ.
A Company spokesperson said: “Today’s signing of the agreement with the DOJ is an important step towards the safe and efficient return of funds to our US players. We can now move as expeditiously as possible to collect player monies from third party processors as a prelude to establishing proper mechanisms for the return of funds to our US players. As previously announced, we have already taken specific actions to exit the US market by closing our US-facing operations. Blank Rome LLP will continue to engage in discussions with the SDNY in order to complete the necessary agreements for the final transfer of frozen fund balances to our US players. This remains our highest priority. We will continue to update our players and the poker community, as we move forward to resolve outstanding issues.”
Switch Poker launched in late 2010 and has quickly become a favorite amongst apple device users (iPad, iPhone, iPod and iTouch) as the place to play online poker while on the go. Switch Poker is a very simple poker application that runs very smoothly on all mobile smart phones and tablets.
Currently games are limited to Texas Holdem Poker but other variants are in the works. Switch Poker is not designed to be a complete online poker site so don’t expect all the bells and whistles. If you want an online poker site to play on while on while you’re away from your desktop or laptop Switch Poker is the answer.
Switch Poker is now running a unique bonus promotion. Simply deposit €50 and enter deposit code FREEIPOD or deposit €150 and enter deposit code FREEIPAD to claim your gift. Once you reach 60k SPPs for the iPod Touch or 100k SPPs for the iPad they will send you your iPod Touch (RRP €229) / iPad (RRP €499). SPPs are earned automatically by playing on the site. New depositors Only.
In a previous blog, I wrote that the timing was suspicious. Why did the federal Department of Justice (“DoJ”) make its big show on Friday, April 15, 2011, when the grand jury had been meeting for more than a year?
We might not know the reasons for the timing. But we can understand why the prosecutors structured their cases as they did.
I often act as a consultant and expert witness for governments and industry. But I am also a professor of law, teaching not only Gaming Law, but also Criminal Law. So, here’s my view of why the DoJ’s indictment reads the way it does.
The 52-page document contained nine counts: violation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (“UIGEA”), conspiracy, illegal gambling business (“IGB”), bank and wire fraud, and money laundering. The criminal charges were carefully structured for maximum legal and public relations impacts.
The UIGEA was used because it covers money transfers, and to reinforce the false message that it made Internet gambling illegal. The UIGEA is actually only an enforcement act. It requires there be a violation of some other federal or state anti-gambling law.
The UIGEA was rushed through Congress by then-Majority Leader Bill Frist (R.-TN) and is a mess, with typos and other problems. For example, the UIGEA is expressly limited to payments going from players to operators for illegal online gambling, not the other way around. Do all the bank accounts that were seized only contain money being sent by players in New York to the poker sites? Was none of it money won by players?
Conspiracy is often called the prosecutor’s friend. All you need to prove is an agreement and an act in furtherance of the conspiracy. You don’t need to show any other crime was actually committed or even attempted. Conspiracy also makes trials easier for prosecutors. For example, testimony by a cooperating witness, “He told me he was going to take poker bets from the U.S.,” would normally not be allowed in as evidence under the hearsay rule. But, “He asked me if I wanted to help him set up a site to take poker bets from the U.S., and I agreed” comes in, to prove there was an agreement.
Almost all of the DoJ’s legal claims depend on the underlying activity, online poker, being illegal. The problem for prosecutors is that the main federal anti-gambling statue, the Wire Act, has been held in a published federal Court of Appeals decision to be limited to bets on sports events and races. Since the Wire Act won’t work, prosecutors used the IGB. That statute makes it a federal felony if five or more people do more than $2,000 in business a day in violation of state gambling laws.
The only ones mentioned in the indictment are New York’s misdemeanor anti-gambling statutes. These clearly do not apply to players, which means the DoJ may not have had the right to seize players’ bank accounts. More importantly, the New York laws have never been tested, to see if they overcome the strong presumption that a state law does not reach beyond its borders. It also raises the issue of whether poker is a “contest of chance,” as required by Penal §225.00.
Note the repeated use of the word “fraud.” With Internet gambling, prosecutors have tried to find ways to include fraud whenever possible. For example, among the 22 counts in the criminal complaint filed against BetOnSports was a charge of mail fraud, for the weak claim of falsely advertising that sports betting was legal. (The website reached the whole world, including places where sports betting is, in fact, legal.) I believe, the DoJ’s emphasis on fraud is designed, in part, to create the impression among players that online sites cannot be trusted.
Most of the mail and bank fraud counts are actually weak. They involve defendants lying to banks to disguise the fact that online poker was involved. Phony companies were allegedly created and transactions labeled as sales of dog food and golf balls. There will be factual issues whether the banks actually knew what was going on – billions of dollars is a lot of dog food. And are we to believe no player ever mentioned online poker to his bank?
The bank fraud statute requires a scheme to either “defraud a financial institution” or to obtain any money owned or held by the bank. The second one won’t work. Lower courts have said the law was designed to protect the integrity of the banking system. But, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that part of the statute means what it says: prosecutors have to show the victim lost money. Here, the banks were supposedly tricked into making millions of dollars. Talk about a victimless crime.
So, the DoJ is left with having to show that banks were “defrauded.” Again, there will be an issue of what exactly did the banks lose? Even after the UIGEA a bank cannot be charged with a crime for unknowingly facilitating online poker. As of June 1, 2010, there are regulations the banks have to follow. But, almost all the events took place prior to that; and, the final regulations do not provide for fines.
Bank fraud carries a maximum sentence of 30 years and a $1,000,000 fine. Money laundering also can lead to hefty penalties. It is another commonly used count in gambling prosecutions, because the prison sentence is based on the volume of money that was transferred, not on the gaming operations’ actual profit and loss. A defendant faced with 50 years in prison can be persuaded to plead guilty to illegal gambling charges that would otherwise be dismissed.
The indictment sets forth facts that would seem to call for a count of bribery, if true. Some of the defendants paid a small Utah bank $10 million to buy 30% of the bank, so the bank would transact online poker payments that the bank was reluctant to do. An officer and part-owner allegedly asked for, and received, $20,000. The indictment is careful to call this payoff a “bonus” rather than a bribe. The banker was charged with conspiracy and being part of the other activities constituting crimes. This avoids the question of who exactly was the victim, since it was the banker who solicited the payment. It also gets around the problem of whether a briber and bribee can also be charged with being coconspirators.
The DoJ has done what it could to make this indictment as frightening as possible. But we will probably never know just how strong the government’s case actually is. The payment processing defendants who are now in the U.S. will fight for a while, but will eventually have to agree to plea bargains.
The others, especially the big fish, also won’t stand trial. They would like to settle, even paying hundreds of millions of dollars and admitting they violated the law, but only if they won’t serve long prison sentences and risk losing their licenses in other countries. The operators have one major bargaining chip: If the DoJ won’t make a deal they can live with, they will simply stay away from countries where they might be extradited.
In this evolving age of social media, 888 Poker is keeping up by going social itself. Social 888 Poker includes new offerings like Team Poker and PokerCam tables and up to $100,000 in prize money.
Teams Poker takes the live poker tournament experience to the social level by allowing players to form teams with whom to share in their winnings. If you win, your team wins – and vice-versa. Buy-ins for Teams Poker tournaments are as little as 88 cents, with which you can win a share of $1,000 or up to $2,500.
888 Poker is adding new Teams Poker tournaments to the schedule all the time, especially as new teams emerge. Teams Poker Tournaments pit all the members of two teams against one another with the winning player getting half the prize pool and their team splitting the other half. Each team must have at least 100 players, but no more than 1,000.
Cash game players can also go social on 888 Poker by playing Face2Face, as they say, at the site’s new PokerCam Tables. These tables are indicated in the 888Poker lobby by an icon that looks like a webcam. At PokerCam tables you can see your opponents live, just like they were in the same room with you. See their tells, know when they’re bluffing, put them on tilt. Just know they can see you too, so you’d better practice your poker face when you sit down at 888 Poker Face2Face.
888 Poker is even on Facebook and Twitter. And they publish their own 888Poker Wall on the site where members can update their status profiles and video testimonials.
Earlier today Absolute Poker and UB decided to let go of all their sponsored pros. Joe Sebok who was an outspoken front man for the company immediately posted to his blog claiming among other things “The pro’s monies are still tied up on the site as well, so on that level we are all in the same situation as the general poker public.” The poker community at large, especially those on the 2+2 poker forums, have little sympathy for Sebok who used his status with the company and the poker community to make players believe that Absolute Poker and UB were safe places to play. Below is the Press release in it’s entirety.
BLANCA GAMES ISSUES STATEMENT ON PRO PLAYER CONTRACTS
Absolute Poker and UB Part Ways with Poker Pros to Focus on Non-U.S. Market
St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda (May 9, 2011) — Blanca Games Inc. (“Blanca”), operator of online poker rooms Absolute Poker and UB, issued the following statement today:
“Recently, Absolute Poker and UB ceased their U.S.-facing operations due to legal developments in the United States. To ensure the on-going viability of the business, it has been necessary to downsize certain aspects of Absolute Poker’s and UB’s operations. These efficiency measures have been taken to enable the brands to continue to operate their non-U.S.-facing business.
“These actions are the result of the severe impact of ‘Black Friday’ on the business, and these efficiency measures have negatively affected not only the financial position of the brands, but also their staff and personnel. Regrettably, the negative effect of ‘Black Friday’ has extended to the Company’s highest profile group of poker professionals, known as ‘Team UB’. Consequently, Blanca’s executive management team today informed its roster of sponsored pros that, in accordance with the provisions of their agreements, their contracts have been terminated. Each of the ten Team UB pros, plus one player representing Absolute Poker, has received personal notification that their sponsorship arrangement with Blanca’s respective online poker room is now invalid.
“This was a difficult task for Blanca’s management, and we are very disappointed that we have been compelled to sever ties with our sponsored pros. Over the years, the Company has been successful in gathering a group of young, extraordinarily talented and brand-appropriate poker professionals who have proudly sported its logos. We are truly saddened that circumstances have dictated this course of action, and we regret that we are no longer in a position to partner with our sponsored pros, or to provide them with a source of income for playing the game that they love. We appreciate their significant time and dedication shared with us, and we thank them for the loyalty and patience they have continued to show us even during the unsettling events of the past few weeks. We respect and admire them for their many accomplishments, both at the poker tables and away from them, and we will always be grateful for their valuable contributions to building the UB and Absolute Poker brands and to creating a rock-solid community at the pair of online poker rooms.”
The full list of affected pros is as follows: Joe Sebok, Prahlad Friedman, Eric “Basebaldy” Baldwin, Maria Ho, Brandon Cantu, Tiffany Michelle, Scott Ian, “Hollywood” Dave Stann, Adam “Roothlus” Levy, Bryan Devonshire and Trishelle Cannatella.
Today’s layoff of all 11 American-based poker pros follows last week’s announcement by Blanca that its workforce had been significantly reduced. Both actions form part of a strategic restructuring of the company that will enable the business to focus its resources on consolidating its non-U.S., rest-of-the-world operation and software business. Absolute Poker and UB continue to operate their non-U.S. facing business around the world.
The company’s legal counsel continues to move forward in ongoing discussion with the U.S. Attorney’s office with the ultimate objective of reaching an agreement with the Department of Justice that would facilitate the return of funds to U.S. players.
ST. JOHN’S, ANTIGUA and BARBUDA–(Marketwire – May 7, 2011) – Blanca Games Inc. (“Blanca”), operator of online poker rooms Absolute Poker and UB, issued the following statement today:
Blanca can confirm that Costa Rican officials visited the office of Innovative Data Solutions (“IDS”), the former customer service centre of Absolute Poker and UB in Costa Rica. The Organismo de Investigaciones Judiciales (“OIJ”) took action yesterday to further their investigation of Olman Rimola, the owner of IDS, Scott Tom, who was also recently named in the indictment list issued by the Department of Justice on April 15th, and a third lesser known party, Oldemar Vargas. The reported OIJ ‘raids’ of IDS and various associated private residential addresses were in relation to their search for Rimola, Tom and Vargas, and do not involve Blanca or the operations of Absolute Poker or UB.
A company spokesperson said: “We want to correct the rumors being reported in poker circles and the wider community that yesterday’s events are related to the recent Department of Justice indictments. Our understanding is that this is not the case, and that they were driven by local investigations of a separate matter in Costa Rica that involves a concerted effort to locate and apprehend Rimola, Tom and Vargas for questioning in relation to a money laundering investigation.”
Blanca has terminated its supplier contract with IDS after discovering that Rimola has misappropriated millions in IDS severance payments. The company is currently exploring all legal options available to recover the lost funds. Furthermore, Blanca is cooperating fully with the local Ministerio de Trabajo (Department of Labor Officials) in Costa Rica in order to coordinate an alternative method to remit all severance payments to IDS employees, thereby bypassing the facilities of IDS and Rimola to ensure that all obligations to former employees are fulfilled.
As stated previously, Absolute Poker and UB continue to operate their non-U.S. facing business around the world. The company is engaged in ongoing discussions with the Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney’s office regarding an agreement that will facilitate the return of funds to U.S. players.
Following up on our earlier story about raids on the offices of Pokerstars, Absolute Poker and UB we have learned from our source in Costa Rica that today’s raid on the Pokerstars office was a mistake. They were apparently led to the wrong offices by a reporter who is know for sensationalistic news coverage.
Dr Pauly also confirms this from his sources on Tao of Poker. According to Pauly the police officers looked around, had some coffee and left with taking anything.
We’ve also learned that the Costa Rican authorities are chasing down 3 owners of Absolute Poker and UB. Olman Rimola, Scott Tom, and Brent Beckley have been hiding from authorities since they were named in a US DOJ indictment on April 15th.
We’re sure there is much more going on here that we don’t know yet and will keep you posted on everything we learn including a post we came across on 2+2 that claims there was a group of investors that made an offer to take over Absolute Poker and UB.
Sports Interaction Poker holds a monthly tournament called the Insider’s Tournament at which the top winner gets a seat in a $5K Added Tournament and the top 20 finishers get a cash prize.
Where the event gets its name of Insider’s Tournament is from the prizes that go out to the top 10 finishers: each player’s choice of one of over a dozen different poker insider’s books, including Doyle Brunson’s Super System I and II and Dan Harrington’s Harrington on No Limit Hold’em Strategy Volumes 1, 2 and 3.
Sports Interaction Poker is running daily freeroll qualifiers into this monthly event, every night starting at 9 pm EST. The top 10 finishers at each of these freerolls will win seats in that month’s Insider’s Tournament.
The end-of-month Insider’s Tournament is a freezeout event with no re-buys and no add-ons.
Sports Interaction Poker is also running its Two for the Money promotion throughout this month, with the first qualifying week and the weekly tournament just finishing up, and three more coming up ahead.
In the Two for the Money promotion, players are encouraged to multi-table by winning entries into a weekly $2K Kamikaze tournament for playing in at least 300 raked hands across two or more tables simultaneously over the course of a week. You can accumulate those hands over multiple sessions, but you must be sitting in at a minimum of two tables at the same time in each session.
With week 1 of May’s Two for the Money promo already wrapping up, week 2 runs May 8 – 14 with its Kamikaze final on the 17th, week 3 runs May 15 – 21 with its Kamikaze final on the 24th and week 4 runs May 22 – 28 with its Kamikaze final on the 31st.
All this May, Carbon Poker players will have a special opportunity to pick up money like picking fruit off a tree. It’s called the Super Money Tree promotion and it gives each Carbon Poker player the chance to build their bankroll, one hand at a time.
In the Super Money Tree promotion, players earn VIP points everytime they play a hand of online poker at one of Carbon Poker’s cash game tables or tournaments. Both Sit and Go tournaments and Multi-Table Tournaments qualify. The more points you earn, the bigger your rewards.
The Super Money Tree is an improvement over Carbon Poker’s previous Money Tree promotions based on player feedback. Now you can win bonus cash for your best 10 days of VIP points earnings, not just your best single day. Also, you need only earn 100 VIP points within a single 24-hour period during the month to qualify for your first cash reward.
For up to five days in which you earned at least 100 VIP points per day, Carbon Poker will give you $1 for every 75 points. If you earn at least 175 VIP points per day for at least 10 days then you get $1 for every 55 points earned on your best 10 qualifiying days. If you earn 250 points or more per day for at least 20 days of the month then you get $1 for every 25 points earned on the best 10 of those qualifying days.
In order to have your VIP points count towards bonus cash in the Super Money Tree promotion you first need to opt-in by going to your Player Admin screen, browsing to the Money Tree page and clicking the “Activate” button.
St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda (May 10, 2011) — Absolute Poker, including the UB (formerly Ultimate Bet) brand, hereafter “Absolute Poker”, issued the following statement today in relation to civil and criminal matters filed in federal court in Manhattan and made public on April 15, 2011:
Switch Poker
In a previous blog, I wrote that the timing was suspicious. Why did the federal Department of Justice (“DoJ”) make its big show on Friday, April 15, 2011, when the grand jury had been meeting for more than a year?
ST. JOHN’S, ANTIGUA and BARBUDA–(Marketwire – May 7, 2011) – Blanca Games Inc. (“Blanca”), operator of online poker rooms Absolute Poker and UB, issued the following statement today:
Following up on our earlier story about 
