Tag: pokerstars

Poker Stars Selling Main Event Passports For $2

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PokerStars is now selling passports into the main events of the World Series of Poker and an assortment of live poker tours sponsored by the site for as little as $2.

Win a PokerStars Main Event passport into the WSOP, the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA), the European Poker Tour (EPT), the Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT) and the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT). When you win a main event passport, you get a prize package worth $13,000 into the main event of your choice from the above mentioned tours. Prize packages into some events are worth even more than $13,000, when you add in hotel accommodations and spending money.

Poker Stars is holding several satellite tournaments awarding these passports between now and July 3, 2011: cash satellites, FPP satellites and Steps satellites, all in a variety of buy-ins.

All qualifying main events are in No Limit Texas Hold’em. Choose the European Poker Tour and you’ll be entered in the EPT London main event, worth $13,700. The 2012 PCA main event prize package is worth $14,500. If you elect to play in the APPT or LAPT, you can choose which event from those series’ you wish to enter. APPT main event by-ins are usually $8,000 and LAPT main event buy-ins are usually $5,000.

There are 5 main event prize packages in all in the Poker Stars Main Event Passport promotion, You can win one prize package to a main event in each tour. If you manage to win a seat in all 5 tours, then your subsequent prizes will be credited to you in tournament dollars (T$).

Black Friday Consumes Poker Income

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April 15, 2011 will forever be known in the online poker world as Black Friday. It was on this day that the US Department of Justice seized the American domains of the three largest online poker rooms, PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker. This put an end to millions of players wagering at these sites. Poker has moved from being a mere source of entertainment to a professional occupation that enables persons to earn a livelihood. In the last few years with the woes of the economic downturn many persons have relied only on playing poker at online sites for the roof above their heads and the bread on the table. In one stroke this was snatched away on Black Friday.

Click Here for Online Poker Sites Accepting US Players

Poker Players Alliance is a body that is lobbying for legalization and regulation of online poker in the United States. After Black Friday, John Pappas its executive director revealed some very pertinent figures. He said 8 million to 10 million Americans play poker online for money. About 50,000 claim to be full-time, professional online poker players, while an inestimable number use online poker to supplement income from day jobs. The three online poker sites that were shut down on Black Friday catered to roughly 70% of the American online poker market.

Hence it is easy to realize that there has been a massive loss of poker income on account of these sites being forced to shut down. There are two types of online poker players that are most affected. One is the player whose substantial savings were lying as deposits at these online poker rooms. PokerStars has initiated the process of refunding the deposits and others will follow, but this will take time. Meanwhile money locked up at the poker sites is money lost. It cannot be mobilized to create other income, not even to play poker at land casinos. One such sad tale is that of Ziethlow. He now sings for donations outside casinos to earn a fraction of what he earlier did.

The other type of online poker player who is badly affected is the one who is physically challenged and hence has little other opportunity for earning a living. ESPN did a story on Brian Ford after Black Friday. Brian is confined to a wheelchair because of Spinal Muscular Atrophy. His work of doing data entry dried up in 2008. Since then he has been surviving on online poker. Online poker has given Ford more than an income. It has given him income with the comfort of anonymity. Now both are lost. It’s estimated that thousands of disabled Americans play online poker daily to supplement their meager disability income.

Loss of income to poker players is the direct fallout of Black Friday. There is considerable collateral damage as well. The closure of these online poker sites will lead to job losses there. Absolute Poker employees in Costa Rica are already beginning to feel the heat. Then there is the poker training industry consisting of poker software, poker books and online classes. There are agents who represent players in getting them the best sponsorship deals. With income to the poker sites drying up, their sponsorship activities will take a hit and affect the representation business as well.

PokerStars SCOOP is Underway

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The Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) is an annual online mega tournament hosted by PokerStars, which is a leading poker room. It is modeled after the World Series of Poker (WSOP), which is the biggest land based poker tournament extravaganza. The objective of SCOOP is to give online poker players an experience of a mega poker event. SCOOP 2011 has begun on May 8. It will span 38 events and run till May 22.

There is one major difference between SCOOP and WSOP. Each SCOOP event is actually three independent events with low, medium and high buy-ins. This allows low rollers to participate and also ensures that players are not forced to play at stakes that do not suit them. All events have a guaranteed prize pool that will be shared by the winners in the declared manner. The total prize pool across all 114 events (38 x 3) is $25 million.

As in WSOP, there is a declared Main Event, which is the most prestigious, has the largest prizes and enjoys the greatest participation. At SCOOP 2011 the Main Event is Event #38, which is the last event. The poker variant is Texas Hold’em and the betting structure is No Limit. The combined prize pool for this event is $4.75 million. The low buy-in event gets $750,000, the medium buy-in event gets $1.5 million and the high buy-in event gets $2.5 million. Some of the other notable SCOOP 2011 events are Event #20 No Limit Hold’em and Event #35 No Limit Hold’em Heads Up Match Play. There are events in Omaha, Seven Card Stud, Razz and H.O.R.S.E. as well.

Apart from a major slice of the prize pool the top winner of each SCOOP event will be given a swank Movado gold watch with the PokerStars spade and SCOOP Champion on the face. The winners of every high, medium and low event will receive the watch. PokerStars has also announced a SCOOP Leader Board. Players will receive points based on how they perform in the various SCOOP events. The player who finishes on top of the leader board will receive the Player of the Series trophy, a seat at the main event of WSOP 2011, a prize package to the 2012 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, a seat at the Grand Final of the European Poker Tour and a special edition PokerStars chip set.

Players can enter the SCOOP events by paying the designated buy-ins. However, satellites to SCOOP events are running round the clock at PokerStars. The buy-ins to the satellites are much lower and this is a great way of winning a seat at the SCOOP events. Some of the buy-ins are as low as $0.25.

When the SCOOP 2011 schedule was first announced earlier this year it was with a much larger prize pool base. The sum total of the prize pools was then $45 million. After the seizure of the American domain of PokerStars, it was evident that there would be no participation from American players. Therefore the prize money had to be reduced considerably.

Raid on Pokerstars Costa Rican Offices a Mistake

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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.

Click Here for Poker Sites Accepting US Players

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.

Absolute Poker, UB and Pokerstars Offices Raided by Police

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According to our sources in Costa Rica and several web reports from @KevMath and  @TaoPauly we’ve learned that the Costa Rican offices of Pokerstars, Absolute Poker and UB were raided earlier today by the OIJ, which is similar to the FBI in the U.S.. Police also raided several homes that are linked to the owners of Absolute Poker and UB.

Pokerstars VIP Manager Steve posted this on 2+2 a couple of hours ago,  “PokerStars continues to operate the world’s largest poker room, business as usual. It is true that the OIJ is currently at the PokerStars Costa Rican office and has sent employees home temporarily, but employees will be able to return in a few hours. PokerStars expects the office to return to business as usual in short order as this action was most likely taken as a response to problems experienced by other local companies in the same industry.” He’s of course referring to Absolute Poker and UB. Police left the Pokerstars offices shortly after arriving. Pokerstars is based on the Isle of Man and only have a small support staff in Costa Rica

Absolute Poker and UB seem to be the main focus of today’s raids of the OIJ. The Absolute Poker and UB employees went to the “Ministry of Work” fearing they wouldn’t be paid by Absolute Poker/UB COO Paul Leggett. Most of today’s action seems to have been spurned on by this and Costa Rica’s very strict labor laws.

We’ll stay on top of this story and continue to bring you the latest.

Best USA Online Poker Sites – Pokerstars and Full TIlt Poker Alternatives

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With the departure of Pokerstars and Full Tilt Poker from the US online poker landscape you may be left wondering where everyone is playing these days. A handful of poker sites have begun to stand out and make a name for themselves. We’ll break down a few today and let you know why they’re on the rise and what the best alternatives are for former Pokerstars and Full Tilt Poker players.

The Merge Poker Network is growing the fastest but you may be surprised to know that it is not their flagship site Carbon Poker that is leading the way. The rising star for the Merge network is Lock Poker due to unique promotions, an ultra sleek design and a 200% up to $1200 deposit bonus. Another Merge skin that is growing rapidly is RPM Poker. If we were to list the top Merge skins in order it would be Lock Poker, Carbon Poker and RPM Poker. Keep in mind that while all three share most of their tournaments and all the cash game tables. Each also runs their own unique promotions. These poker sites are all 100% Mac compatible.

Also on the rise is Bodog Poker. This is no surprise as Bodog is an established site with a great reputation for customer service and successful deposit methods. They not only offer a Poker room but also a full casino and sportsbook. The 110% up to $1100 deposit bonus on Bodog is great as well. If you’re primarily a cash game players, there are two things to keep in mind if you decide to play at Bodog Poker. First, their Mac version is not a full version of the software. Second, Bodog limits the amount of tables you can play.

If you’re looking for a no download instant play poker site then there is only one we can recommend and that is Luvin Poker on the Everleaf Network. Everleaf is a small network that is also growing rapidly as of late and may by the end of the year be a real contender. While there are several sites on the network we at Holdem Poker Chat only endorse Luvin Poker because we love their customer support and they offer players a nice 100% up to $1000 deposit bonus.

Last week we came across a real gem of a poker site on the Cake Poker network. Sports Interaction Poker is a cake poker skin that accepts eChecks as a deposit method. As far as we can tell they are the only online poker site serving the US that has this as a deposit option. If you’re a former Pokerstars or Full Tilt Poker players, I’m sure this is great news for you. Our top poker sites on the Cake poker network are Intertops Poker and Cake Poker.

You can find more information on all these poker sites and full reviews by visiting our USA Poker Sites page.

We’ll continue to monitor which online poker sites continue to serve the US and adjust our rankings accordingly. For now we feel that the poker sites listed above are the safest and most promising for all US poker players.

Black Friday 2 Weeks Later

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It’s been 2 weeks since the online poker world was shocked by the indictments handed down by the US DoJ on four of the largest online poker sites in the world. Pokerstars and Full Tilt Poker immediately stopped allowing US players to play for real money on their websites. Absolute Poker and UB seem to have decided to ignore the DoJ and continue on almost as if nothing happened. Players on Absolute Poker and UB cannot, however, deposit or cashout at the moment.

Much has happened in the last two weeks. Pokerstars and Full Tilt Poker have regained the use of their .com domains to facilitate cash outs for US based players. Pokerstars surprised many this week as they began cash outs for US players. Some have already received their bank direct transfers. Given the circumstances this is quite fast. Pokerstars still does not know how it will pay out FPP’s. Tournament Dollars and tickets are being converted into cash at 100%.

Full Tilt Poker on the other hand is having major banking issues not only for it’s US based poker players but also for Non US players. Many European Full Tilt Poker players have been waiting well over a week for Moneybookers and Neteller withdrawals and some have even questioned if Full Tilt Poker is now bankrupt. Full Tilt Poker has issued a statement claiming that they are “Not Bankrupt”.

Meanwhile smaller poker sites have seen tremendous growth over the last couple of weeks. The Merge Poker Network with includes such poker sites as Lock Poker and Carbon Poker have led the way and even climbed into a top 10 position overall for global poker traffic. Bodog Poker is not far behind as they too have experienced growth. All in all, any poker site still accepting US players has had a spike in traffic.

Click Here for Poker Sites still Accepting US Players

 

What about our Pokerstars FPP’s

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Much to the delight of US players Pokerstars started processing withdrawals for their US customers again. Players are allowed to withdraw their balance by cheque and Pokerstars even gave 100% cash refund for all tournament tickets or tournament dollars a player had in his account. With the cash outs functional again this leaves only one issue unresolved for the US Pokerstars players. What happens with all the frequent player points (FPP’s)?

Pokerstars has one of the most rewarding VIP scheme’s in online poker awarding FPP’s for real money play. FPP’s can be used for playing tournaments, cash bonuses or buying items in the Pokerstars VIP Rewards store. The VIP store is unique because more expensive items in the VIP store have a better FPP/dollar ratio then the inexpensive options. This means a lot of players were saving their FPP’s for big purchases rather than spending them whenever they could. For some the value of saved FPP’s runs into the thousands of dollars. When the VIP store closed to US players on Black Friday many players wondered if their FPP’s should be considered lost.

A manager of Pokerstars VIP team made clear today that Pokerstars is currently working with the US government on an agreement on what can be done with FPP’s. Pokerstars aims at opening the VIP store again for all their players so FPP’s can be spend on goodies and bonuses. Nothing is certain yet so it is very well possible a different agreement will be made with the DoJ. Making the cash outs possible for US players was top priority for Pokerstars for the last two weeks. Now that cash outs are functional again resolving the FPP issue will be Pokerstars next high priority.

A lot of players are wondering if they should withdraw now or if they should wait for the FPP issue to be resolved. According to Pokerstars VIP manager it makes no difference and the choice is up to the player. The cash out option on Pokerstars will remain open and players will be able to cash out twice or as often as necessary. When making a withdrawal you do have to cash out all your funds which means you are not allowed to have a remaining balance. However, if after that you get new funds in his account from the FPP store, you are allowed to cash out that as well. But for this cash out the same rule applies, you need to withdraw your entire balance.

Holdempokerchat is impressed with the way Pokerstars has handled the events of Black Friday till so far. Of all three sites that were affected, Pokerstars has been the first to give their players access to their frozen funds and keeping their customers as first priority.

US Online Poker Pros Moving Abroad

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The crackdown of Pokerstars, Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker and UB on Black Friday took the favorite pastime away from millions of American poker players. Other poker sites such as Lock Poker, Bodog and Cake Poker are working around the clock to provide all US players with a new home.  They are doing a great job, most of the  casual players are happy to play at those sites. Some things are different though, the choice in games offered is lower and the waiting time for some sit and go formats is a bit longer. Does this mean the DoJ actions didn’t have an impact on the US poker players? No, there is a group of players which found itself in serious trouble: the online poker pro.

When we think of poker pro’s we usually picture the high profile players who we see on tv shows like High Stakes Poker, Poker After Dark or the Big Game. These pro’s represent the big sites, live the good life and make millions in the process. There is however another complete different order of poker pro’s and they aren’t nearly as visible and high profile as the established pro’s like Doyle Brunson, Tom Dwan or Daniel Negreanu.

These online poker pro’s make their living playing or teaching online poker and they don’t make millions. Instead, they grind out the cash tables and sit and goes all day and most of them make only a modest salary. On top of that, grinding online poker can be a very stressful job. Playing poker is probably the only job in the world where you can end the day with less money then you started with. Variance is the one thing you can’t use when you are depending on your play to pay the rent. Variance is the enemy to the online pro and to limit it they play as many tables as they can, sometimes up to 24 tables.

Suddenly unable to play at the Big Three, they are in serious trouble now. Because they can no longer play the amount of games they used to, they don’t make enough money anymore to pay their rent. Some of these players played professionally for years and have considerable gaps in their resume’s, others decided to drop out of college to play poker full time. Their options are limited: Finding a job in the current economy is very hard, they can’t wait until the US regulates online poker and they also don’t have the time to wait until other sites and networks offer the games they need. On top of that their entire bankroll is currently frozen and they can’t touch it. This bankroll is not only money for them, they need it to make money, it is their livelihood.

Moving abroad has become a viable option for them and a lot of grinders are looking into that option now. Canada is the favorite haven to play followed by Malta. The UK is also amongst the top destinations because online winnings aren’t taxed there. The short term goal for the movers is to regain access to their frozen funds. For the long term they can keep playing at their favorite sites abroad until the US has figured their legislation out. The DoJ’s actions of Black Friday really had an impact on these people that nobody ever anticipated.

Is this a bad thing for poker? Not really. With a lot of these mass tabling grinders out of the way the game becomes more fun again. No longer waiting for the guy who plays more tables then he can handle to finally act and less grinders in the sit and goes means the casual player will most certainly see his ROI improve. People wondered when the next poker boom would be after the Moneymaker boom in 2004. Well, this might be it.

PokerStars Questions Answered

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This is a compilation of information from PokerStars on the recent withdrawal from the United States market.

Statement from PokerStars on why USA players can no longer play for real money:

On 15 April 2011, PokerStars ceased providing real-money poker to residents of the United States and related territories. Real money play and deposits by US residents are strictly prohibited.

An agreement has been reached with the US Department of Justice to allow United States PokerStars customers to cashout their funds. PokerStars will work diligently to expedite those withdrawals. All PokerStars player deposits are completely safe.

Players from the United States can continue to play on our site for play money only. New players who wish to create an account will need to do so using our play-money-only software.

Why USA players could not access the web page or support email

The Justice department seized all the .com name including access to the .com support address. As part of a deal with the Department of Justice, USA players can now, again, access any of the .com sites including the support email address.

Can I get my Money?

PokerStars has reached an agreement with DoJ to refund players their money. Because the recent issue removed all of the old processing structure, at this time, the cashout option in the cashier is disabled.  It will be enabled when a new system is put in place. PokerStars says that getting funds to players is their top priority.

Cashouts that were requested before April 15, 2011 will be cancelled and returned to players accounts. Players can view the cashier, but US players cannot transfer to other players. Any tournaments tickets or T$ will be converted to cash, though PokerStars stresses that this will not happen immediately and asks for patience. At this time, PokerStars has yet to work out a fair plan for monetary consideration in exchange for FPPs.

All US Players who were registered in future tournaments have been unregistered and their buyins have been refunded to their accounts.

Trying to get around the restrictions

I am sure many of you are scheming or hoping there is a way to get around the new order of things. PokerStars has answered some of those common thoughts.

Players thinking they can just change their address to a new country need to know that just changing their address does not allow them to play for real money again. PokerStars needs copies of photo identification as well as a recent utility bill showing your new physical address.  If you can prove that you have left the USA, your account balance will be restored to you, including VIP status and your FPP balance.  You cannot play for real money by just taking a trip outside the country. Accounts are blocked until you show proof of new address.

If you cook up some IP rerouting scheme like a VPN, PokerStars says they will revoke your privileges for trying.

Foreigners traveling to the United States will not be allowed to play on PokerStars while in the US.

US players can buy into PokerStars live events using their real money account balances, providing they have the money already in their accounts. They cannot deposit the money and then use it to play the event.  PokerStars live events like European Poker Tour will proceed as planned. Players from the United States who have won packages to these events will still be allowed to play.

US players are welcome to play for play money if they so choose but will need to set up a new .net account.