KGC statement regarding AP/UB

The following statement was published on the website of the Kahnawake Gaming Commission (KGC) on October 27th:

For immediate release

ABSOLUTE POKER/UB.COM

(MOHAWK TERRITORY OF KAHNAWAKE – October 27, 2011) – Since the actions taken by the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (the “SDNY”) on April 15, 2011, the Commission has been in close and regular discussions with its licensee, Blanca Games Inc. (“Blanca”), operating as Absolute Poker and UB.com (“AP/UB”), to facilitate the reimbursement of both US and non-US players. The Commission has also received regular updates of discussions between AP/UB and the SDNY.

Over the past several weeks, we were advised of a potential solution prepared by Blanca and its representatives, establishing a process to liquidate Blanca’s assets and distribute proceeds to players. We understand that this process has been presented to SDNY for consideration and approval.
The Commission’s foremost concern in this matter has been, and remains, the reimbursement of both US and non-US players, as quickly and completely as possible.

To avoid further prejudice to affected players, the Commission has demanded that all parties complete their discussions and implement a reimbursement solution without further delay.

About Kahnawake

The Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake is a sovereign jurisdiction located just outside Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Kahnawake Gaming Commission was established in 1996 and has been continuously licensing and regulating online and land-based gaming within Kahnawake since that time.
For more information about the Commission, go to: www.gamingcommission.ca. To contact the Commission, email: info@gamingcommission.ca
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It remains unclear if all players will be paid fully and if Blanca Gaming will be able to raise enough funds to cover all, but at least there is some progress after a long time of silence. It would indeed be very surprising if players get their money earlier than Full Tilt Poker.

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AP and UB now blocking US players from real money

As of May 19th 2011, AP and UB have released a new software update that will block all players from the United States to play for real money and just the play money tables are available.

Just recently they also followed the path of FullTilt and PokerStars and reached an agreement with the Department of Justice, the text can be found here: Executed Absolute Poker Money Return Agreement - if you fancy another read, you can also compare it to the agreement of FullTiltPoker as well: Executed FTP Domain Name Use Agreement

PokerStars has already started paying out customers from the US, however FullTilt is still delayed and has postponed the deadline 3 times now. It is unclear yet when AP/UB will make the necessary efforts to proceed as well and even though they have recently increased the weekly cashout amount from $250 to $500 for all non VISA (VISA from $500 to $1000), at the same time they also disabled MoneyBookers as withdrawal option as well:

We regret to inform you that unfortunately MoneyBookers is no longer an available payout option. Your pending request was cancelled and the funds were placed back into your poker account. We are sorry for the inconvenience. Please choose any of our other available payout methods for your next payout request. Thanks for your continued patience and support. 

If you look at the current cash game lobby at UB, you see a few active tables and a lot of HeadsUp bumhunters, however only very few tables are actually generating rake. The original plan to stick to the non US business and continue with 20% of the key staff might be a difficult task with such a traffic.

 

I guess right now we can only wait and see ... .The latest news about Quicktender don't necessarily help to feel more comfortable though.

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Good game, AP and UB ...

Courtesy of: Gambling911

Blanca Games Inc., owner and operator of online poker rooms AbsolutePoker and UB, issued the following statement today:

AbsolutePoker and UB ceased their U.S.-facing operations due to recent legal developments in the United States. The company is currently restructuring and will focus its remaining resources on consolidating its non-U.S., rest-of-the-world operation and software business. Unfortunately, this also means an immediate need to downsize and streamline operations significantly at both online poker rooms, with a view of becoming more efficient in the way the business is conducted.

Today's decision has not been made lightly, or in haste. It comes after considerable review and analysis of the impact that 'Black Friday' has had on the business as a whole. All affected employees have been informed of this necessary restructure, and staff will be reduced across several areas of the business.

A company spokesperson said: "We regret that we have been compelled to take these actions. We have worked tirelessly to create a truly amazing company that is filled with extraordinary people. We have always been and still remain fully committed to our employees and players. At the same time, we are confident that this restructuring will strengthen the company and its future."

In addition, the company's legal counsel is in continuing discussions with the U.S. Attorney's office to formalize an agreement that would facilitate the return of funds to U.S. players. Further information and timely updates will be provided to players moving forward as our legal team works to resolve the outstanding issues.
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It was just a matter of time and despite the efforts and initial attempt to fight against the US, it was pretty much bound to happen and now they had to make a cut to avoid even more trouble. Hopefully they will be able to work out an agreement with the US soon and can return the funds to the US players, I feel bad for all employees though that just lost their job yesterday.

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Pokerpocalypse - To bank or not to bank?

The consequences are not fully visible yet and the agreement between Pokerstars, FullTilt and the Department of Justice to regain the right to use their world wide .com domains went through pretty quickly. American players are now able to log into their accounts on both sites again and can access the cashier to request a withdrawal. This has currently been disabled at Pokerstars to “prepare the technical solutions and formulate the plan and processes required” to allow Americans to cash out their balance.

The same deal would also be available for AbsolutePoker and UB, however despite pop up notifications on both brands Americans are still able to log in and play for real money. Today, AbsolutePoker released the following statement:

“Absolute Poker has retained Blank Rome LLP as United States counsel to provide legal advice in relation to civil and criminal matters filed in federal court in Manhattan and made public on April 15, 2011. Absolute Poker is aware that on April 19, 2011, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York entered into separate agreements with FullTilt Poker and PokerStars. These agreements concern the use of the respective www.fulltiltpoker.com and www.pokerstars.com domain names. The US Attorney, in a press release dated April 20, 2011, stated that the government is willing to enter the same agreement with Absolute Poker and UB.

“At this time, Absolute Poker’s top priority is, and must be, the refund of balances to its and UB’s US players. However, given the far-reaching consequences of the US Attorney’s actions for Absolute Poker and for the entire poker community, Absolute Poker believes that the responsible course of action is to review with its attorneys the relevant court filings before taking any action."

“Absolute Poker believes that the US Attorney shares the view that refunds to US players are an immediate and pressing concern, and Absolute Poker wishes to make clear that it wants to work cooperatively with the US Attorney to safely and efficiently return its players’ funds. To that end, Absolute Poker’s counsel has initiated communications with the US Attorney’s office and plans to continue proactively advancing those discussions."

“Further information and timely updates will be provided to Absolute Poker/UB’s players as we move forward.”

In the meanwhile, an article at The Australian revealed, that Australian banks have been handling payments to overseas-based online poker sites that have been illegally taking up to a $1 billion a year. Whilst this might be legal for gambling sites outside of Australia, it is prohibited for Australia itself since 2001 already. The potential profit for local companies was probably too tempting though and part of this business was also FORMER Brisbane IT tycoon Daniel Tzvetkoff, who’s  company Intabill allegedly processed more than $500 million worth of illegal online payments through US banks.

It has been reported that he kept the names, bank details and addresses of up to 500,000 customers of online poker websites – considering that he has turned into an informant for the FBI and Department of Justice during the current investigation and provided these details, we may not have seen the end of the allegations yet. At least the situation has somewhat calmed down after the agreement from PokerStars and FullTiltPoker with the DoJ and hopefully soon, American players will be able to cash out their funds from the poker sites.

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Massacre on 5th Street Bounty Tourney

Massacre On 5th Street is the biggest private bounty game in online poker. And can be very profitable as well! Everyone is worth a $10 bounty so the dollars can add up fast. While this game is not for the faint at heart...it is one of the funnest games you'll ever play online. 

Name: Massacre On 5th Street Presented by Holdem Poker Chat
When: Sunday, January 2nd at 4:00pm ET
Where: AP or UB
Password: massacre
Extras: 150% First Time Deposit Bonus up to $500.

*EXTRA PRIZES & BOUNTIES:  
Winner wins a ticket to P0ker H0's $50K GTD ($300+$20) 15:05 ET
Last Woman Standing wins a ticket to the "Thursday Sniper $25K GTD ($120+$10) 21:00 ET" Tournament
Last Man Standing wins a ticket to the "Thursday Sniper $25K GTD ($120+$10) 21:00 ET" Tournament
The Final Table Bubble wins a ticket to the "Friday Nightly $10K GTD ($75+$7) 22:00 ET" Tournament
Knock out Fonzi wins an extra $25
Knock out LKPORT wins an extra $25
First out receives a Thursday $10K GTD ($25+$2.5) 21:20 ET

Rules of Massacre on 5th Street

1. Entry for Massacre on 5th Street is $16. $6 will go to the main pot and $10 will be put into the BOUNTY FUND.

2. Everyone is worth a $10 bounty. For every player you knock out, you will receive $10 in your player account.

3. If there are 2 or more players in a hand when someone is knocked out, the MAIN POT winner receives the bounty. If it is a SPLIT POT when someone is knocked out, the players splitting the main pot will split the bounty equally.

4. Bounties are paid out immediately.

5. Trash talk is encouraged as long as it is done within the bounds of good taste.

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Blanca Games acquires Cereus Network

Source: http://blancagames.com/
New Ownership for AbsolutePoker.com and UB.com

St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda (August 26, 2010) --- Blanca Games, Inc. (Blanca), led by e-gaming entrepreneur Stuart Gordon, today announced that Blanca has acquired the Cereus Poker Network (Cereus), one of the largest poker networks in the world. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Blanca’s acquisition of Cereus includes the Network operations, software, the absolutepoker.com brand, and the ub.com brand. Blanca has received authorization from the Kahnawake Gaming Commission (KGC) to complete the acquisition and operate the Cereus Poker Network.

Stuart Gordon, Chief Executive Officer of Blanca Games, said, “The acquisition of Cereus is a significant opportunity for us. Cereus is a major platform of well-managed assets. Over the past few years, it has created new brands, like ub.com, that are extremely well-positioned in the most desirable demographic in our market: players in the 20s and 30s age brackets. From our perspective, we have acquired a large, sophisticated online gaming operation with state-of-the art capabilities, ranging from compliance to business intelligence to online marketing to customer service. We see a tremendous growth opportunity in this deal and beyond, as Blanca seeks additional acquisitions in the market.”

Mr. Gordon further commented, “We are confident that the Cereus Network has found an excellent home in Blanca Games. Over the past several years, Cereus has developed into an outstanding platform, which is poised for significant growth. This transaction will benefit Cereus players and employees alike. We expect no changes in the playing experience on the Cereus sites, except for the improvements that will likely be the long-term result of this transaction.”

Commenting on Blanca’s priorities for Cereus going forward, Mr. Gordon added: “We intend to leverage the existing strengths of the Cereus Poker Network, particularly in the areas of security and customer service. Although we are impressed with many of the new security features on the Network today, security is and will remain our top priority. We’re also pleased with the efficiency and the player-friendly approach of Cereus’s customer service operation, but we will always be seeking to improve in this area.”

About Blanca Games, Inc. Stuart Gordon established Blanca Games, Inc. for the purposes, among others, of making acquisitions in the online gaming industry, including the purchase of the Cereus Poker Network. Mr. Gordon is the CEO of Blanca and is a pioneer in the online gaming industry. He is also the founder and operator of bingomania.com and Helix Gaming International, Ltd, which are licensed and regulated both in the jurisdictions of Kahnawake and Antigua.

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Based in Antigua, Blanca Games is the operator of the CEREUS Poker Network. The Cereus Poker Network powers some of the industry’s leading online poker rooms. For more information on CEREUS please visit www.cereuspoker.com.

Blanca Games is licensed and regulated by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission in the Kahnawake Mohawk Territory.

The operations of the Blanca Group are conducted by subsidiaries and associated companies. Blanca Games has headquarters in Antigua and offices located in Costa Rica.

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