No worries, you won’t get to see flashy banners and US flags with huge “sign up here” signs but I already caught your attention, right? The shockwave of April 15th, a day that will always be considered as Black Friday in the online poker scene, might have calmed down a bit but the final consequences are not visible yet. I want to use the following blog post for a little summary about the current situation and maybe also provide a temporary solution for some as well.
All indicted and seized poker sites have reached an agreement with the Department of Justice, the latest was AP and UB and as a direct result, they have now been blocking players from the US from the real money tables, but are yet to provide a solution to pay out the funds to their American customers. PokerStars was the fastest to block the players and reach an agreement, it just seems logical that they already offer the option for their customers from the United States to cash out their funds as well.
FullTiltPoker also immediately blocked players from the United States and the residents of Washington could finally say “ha, now you are screwed as well”. But even though they were pretty quick at blocking the players and publishing a press release, they have postponed the official date 3 times now to offer the cashout solution for Americans. I guess it is time to “wait and see”, we might have already witnessed the crash with the iceberg but the Titanic is not sinking yet.
The overall traffic at PokerStars and FullTilt has gone down, but it didn’t hurt them as bad as the Cereus Network since a fair bit of their activities was also focused on the non US market, whereas AP and UB had a significant part of their traffic tied up to the US (about 70%). AP and UB have reduced their capacity and staff to approx. 20% of the original size and want to continue to operate outside of the US, nobody knows yet if these efforts will be successful or not.
A few months ago though most players from the US would have laughed about the smaller networks and just played there for fun and didn’t consider them as an option. The deposits and payouts were slower, the guaranteed games didn’t have the attractive prizepools that most are used to and take for granted based on the last few years on the big sites. They might have not been as successful, but this doesn’t necessarily make them less trustworthy. In fact, they cannot risk using the same strategy for payments that got their “big brothers” in trouble.
So what is actually left for players from the US and how can you be sure that those sites won’t be the next targets for investigations? Most of the networks that still allow players from the US are considerate and careful with their advertising, of course the current dilemma is an opportunity for them but the risk is also by far higher as well and they might not want to jump on the bandwagon yet.
The Merge Gaming Network has been around for several years already, with its flagship CarbonPoker that also offers 35% Rakeback as you play. But they have already implemented a “one rakeback account per network” policy and will even increase that restriction and don’t allow any more rakeback accounts for new players as of June 1st 2011. If you don’t have a rakeback deal on Merge yet, now is the perfect time. The traffic has increased recently and the software is by far more stable, the regular tournaments have higher prizepools and they now host a weekly 100k Guaranteed every Sunday.
The Cake Network has not changed their policy towards players from the US, however every skin may decide on their own if they still accept players from the US. PowerPoker for example doesn’t accept any new sign ups from the US anymore, but existing players can still access their accounts and play for real money. New start up rooms such as PokerPlayerCafe accept new players from the US and the network wants to change some promotions in the near future and improve the traffic again.
Many would assume an Indian name when they hear “Yatahay”, but is actually a small poker network and the new home of DoylesRoom, even though Doyle Brunson himself has recently announced that he would leave the site for now due to the recent development in the US after discussing the situation with his lawyers. They recently released a new software and the gameplay is by far better, which is yet to show in the real money traffic.
Last but not least on the list of “serious competitors” for the US market right now is Bodog as standalone poker site that also offers sports betting at the same time as well. They have increased their promotions and now offer $15,000 in Freerolls every month, you have to use Points though to get access and those can be earned on the real money tables.
Quick overview – networks that still allow players from the US:
- Merge Gaming Network
- Cake Poker Network
- Everleaf Gaming Network
- Bodog
- Yatahay
- Atlantis Poker Network
One thing that you always have to keep in mind before signing up for a new poker site: If the offer sounds too good to be true, be careful and look twice before you proceed. Many players are looking for a new home and opportunities to earn money always attract shady people as well.
Given the recent news about Quicktender - UseMyWallet accounts possibly seized, it becomes obvious that it is getting more and more difficult to fund your accounts, let alone the headache to get money off if you happen to win a decent amount. Many players are worried that this situation will become yet another “eWalletXpress” disaster where most still don’t know if they will ever see any Cent of their funds or not.
At the same time, the recent WPT Championship at the Bellagio has seen 220 players in total that paid the buy in of $25,000 and thus 25 players more than last year. The ultimate highroller event with a heavy buy in of $100,000 attracted 29 players in total and the winner takes home a paycheck of $1.5 Mio. Is that the new tendency and are you already looking for the next casino near you? One thing is for sure, Black Friday has changed the online poker scene dramatically.
Whereas many players still hope that this might be the first step towards the legalization of online poker in the United States, I would not hold my breath and hope that this will happen anytime soon. We will soon have the opportunity to see the influence on the next big event on the poker calendar, since the World Series of Poker at Las Vegas is around the corner.
P.S. how many referral links did you notice in this blog post? ;)
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