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US poker players waiting for a refund from Ultimate Bet (U😎 and Absolute Poker can heave a sigh of relief because the Cereus Network has stated that it has chalked out an effective refund plan.

It may be recalled that the US federal government had cracked down on UB and Absolute Poker and had seized their funds in mid-April this year. Besides UB and Absolute Poker, Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars were also accused of violating the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) 2006 and their CEOs were booked on various counts of money laundering, bank fraud, and illegal gambling.

Six months have passed after the federal crackdown, and during these six months, Absolute Poker and UB players have been unable to withdraw their frozen poker funds. Now, they will finally be refunded.

The Kahnawake Gaming Commissioner (KGC), based in Canada, issued a press statement regarding numerous meetings held over the past weeks with Blanca Gaming, the company that took over the Cereus Poker Network in August 2010, to discuss ways and means of refunding UB and Absolute Poker’s US players. According to the KGC statement, Blanca’s assets will be liquidated and the proceeds will be delivered to the players. The proposal has been placed before the US District Court of Southern District of New York (SDNY) for its approval. The KGC has also assured that, throughout these past six months, it has been concerned about refunding Absolute Poker’s and UB Poker’s US as well as non US players’ frozen poker funds at the earliest possible.

Needless to say, this piece of news should make aggrieved ex poker players of UB Poker and Absolute Poker happy. Many of them have already migrated to other online poker rooms and have resumed their online poker activities there. Simultaneously, these players cannot be expected to start celebrating until and unless they have seen their frozen poker funds in their own bank accounts.

Bitter players have not forgotten that UB Poker and Absolute Poker had talked of reaching an agreement regarding refunding players with the US DoJ in May. Nothing came out of this assurance, and players were left wondering if they will ever see their money again. Five months later, the Cereus Network is again promising to refund the players.

Ex players of UB and Absolute Poker have been waiting long for what is rightfully theirs and it can be only hoped that they will be refunded soon.

Every second weekday in November Intertops Poker is hosting two special bounty tournaments, each with two chances to cash in. Tournament players not only win money, but also earn one point for every player they eliminate in the process. At the end of the month the player with the most points will be declared the Knock Out Champion and the top ten point scorers on the Knock Out Challenge Leaderboard will split $1,000 in prize money. The more opponents a player eliminates, the higher they rank on the leaderboard and the bigger their share of the prize pool.
More Information

4 November 2011 (St. Johns, Antigua) – Every second weekday in November Intertops Poker is hosting two special bounty tournaments, each with two chances to cash in. Tournament players not only win money, but also earn one point for every player they eliminate in the process. At the end of the month the player with the most points will be declared the Knock Out Champion and the top ten point scorers on the Knock Out Challenge Leaderboard will split $1,000 in prize money. The more opponents a player eliminates, the higher they rank on the leaderboard and the bigger their share of the prize pool.

“Even if you don’t finish in the money, you still have the chance to stash some cash,” said the Intertops’ Poker Manager. “Just knock out enough players and you take home some prize money!”

Knock-Out Challenge Tournaments will be held every Monday, Wednesday and Friday in November at 6pm EST and 10pm EST. Buy-in is only $5+0.5 and $2 of that becomes a bounty on the player’s and their rival’s head. Tournament details are provided on the Promotions tab at Intertops Poker Poker Promotions and special offers - Intertops Poker.

In addition, there’s $25,000 up for grabs in the November FPP Race. Intertops Poker players earn Frequent Player Points whenever they are dealt cards at any real-money cash game or pay a poker tournament entry fee. Each week, players that finish in the top 100 Frequent Player Point earners will win a share of the $6250 awarded that week. FPP Race information is available on the Intertops Poker “Promotions” tab and players can check their standings on the FPP Race Leaderboard ntertops Leaderboards any time.

Trusted for more than fifteen years, Intertops was one of the first online casino, poker and sportsbook sites on the internet. Known for its friendly customer service and hassle-free deposits and withdrawals, Intertops gives away tens of thousands of dollars in casino and poker bonuses every month.

END

Media inquiries: Larry Colcy, Lyceum Media [email]intertops@lyceummedia-com[/email] +44 (0) 208 123 7184

About Intertops Poker launched Intertops Poker in 2003 and re-launched in 2010 with the Cake Network. Intertops Poker is a global poker room offering innovative and top-quality software to give all players an enhanced poker experience. Texas Hold’em, Omaha ring games and tournaments of all stakes and levels are running 24/7. Players can win their share of over $20 million in monthly tournament payouts and $6 million in tournament guarantees every month. Intertops Poker also offers all players access to one of the most lucrative loyalty programs in the industry. New players receive a 110% bonus up to $600.
Core Facts

very second weekday in November Intertops Poker is hosting two special bounty tournaments, each with two chances to cash in.

Tournament players not only win money, but also earn one point for every player they eliminate in the process.

At the end of the month the player with the most points will be declared the Knock Out Champion and the top ten point scorers on the Knock Out Challenge Leaderboard will split $1,000 in prize money.

Trusted for more than fifteen years, Intertops was one of the first online casino, poker and sportsbook sites on the internet.

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The Nevada Gaming Commission (NGC) has proposed certain amendments to a regulatory framework that it has been developing ever since Governor Brian Sandoval gave it the authority to create online poker regulations. Last week, the NGC released a set of brand new rules for a Nevada-based interactive gambling system, which will operate online poker services within the state.

The new rules go a step further in protecting the interests of customers. They make it mandatory for online poker service providers to set aside a reserve fund covering players’ total deposits. They also specify that a quarter of this fund must be in the form of cash.

According to the new rules, the online poker gaming service and the “federally insured financial institution,” which manages this reserve fund, must take all the required steps to protect this reserve fund from the operator’s debtors besides guaranteeing the funds for requests made by players alone.

A. G. Burnett, the member of the Gaming Control Board, said: “I think player fund [protection] goes to a core responsibility we have. With land-based operators facing uncertain financial times, that has been an issue of focus for us. We need to ensure that player funds are protected adequately and we spend a lot of time and energy on that task.” The online poker service provider is free to collect interest accrued on this reserve fund.

Another piece of good news for players who play poker professionally is that there is a proposal to permit the online poker company to use a player for purposes of marketing.

The issue of bots attempting to take unfair advantage of online poker sites was also seriously discussed at a hearing held on Capitol Hill. Kurt Eggert, an expert on consumer protection, said that controlling bots at online poker sites is extremely difficult. One of the proposed amendments states that Nevada-based online poker gaming operators must do everything reasonable to ensure that the games are played between human players only, and not bots. The word “reasonable” is a new addition.

Burnett said: “I would hope that all operators would try to curtail players gaining an unfair advantage, and to especially stop any cheating activities. I think the term ‘reasonably’ is simply there so that the Board and Commission can impose a certain standard of care on them in that regard.”

The proposed amendments will be discussed at public hearings, scheduled for Nov 3 Thursday and Nov 17 Thursday.

It’s no secret that in anticipation of online gambling being made legal in the US, Jim Ryan of Party Gaming has been actively looking for US joint venture partners. In fact he

has been seen dealing the cards at the negotiating tables with some of the US’s biggest and best casino concerns. As co-CEO of Bwin.party, Ryan told Associated press that they have thrown in their hand with two Las Vegas–based casino operators. These are MGM Resorts International and Boyd Gaming, which joint venture could create just the advantage this online gambling operator needs.

In preparation of any possible legalization and regulation of online poker; possibly even more real money online gambling in the U.S. Party Gaming is keen to re-conquer this massive market. Working together with these two land operators could see them being one of the first in-line to receive early US jurisdictional licensing. Something Ryan has coveted for a very long time.

The new entity would operate an online gambling business under the Party Poker and other brands. It is also interesting to note that Party Poker owns the World Poker Tour; making their brand an even more desirable coup for potential US operators and investors.

CEO of Boyd – Keith Smith – commented that they believe it is vital for the companies to be able to move fast if and when the law changes. They want investors to know they have been aggressively positioning the business. Boyd owns seventeen casinos throughout Nevada, New Jersey, Indiana, Mississippi, Illinois and Louisiana.

MGM Resorts are part or full owners of eighteen casinos in Nevada, Michigan Mississippi and Illinois. While the CEO of MGM resorts – Jim Murren had to say – it is important that the Federal Government now addresses the regulation of US online gambling, they can no longer just ‘wish it away’. He also said that current operators in the US marketplace have ‘hurt’ the entire gambling industry.

There was a lot of anger in the poker community back in 2006 when PartyPoker pulled out of the U.S. market after the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.

For years, it appeared that Party had made a huge mistake. The site's market share tumbled along with the company's stock price. PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker took over as the top dogs of online poker and thrived.

It's a much different story today. Perhaps PartyPoker knew what it was doing after all.

An agreement was announced Monday that Bwin.party would team up with U.S. casino operators MGM Resorts and Boyd Gaming if online poker is ever explicitly legalized in the country.

The move indicates a probable return to the U.S. market for PartyPoker if online poker legislation passes in coming years. The partnership is likely to still receive some scrutiny, but support from the influential and respected MGM should help.

It's the same sort of agreements made early this year by PokerStars with Wynn Resorts and Full Tilt Poker with the owner of Station Casinos. Those ties were severed after owners of PokerStars and Full Tilt were indicted by the Justice Department on Black Friday, an event that forced the sites out of the U.S.

PartyPoker avoided all of that trouble and now is poised to return to the U.S. at the first opportunity. PokerStars and Full Tilt, with the legal troubles and reputation hit taken on Black Friday, might find the road back to America much more difficult.

Will PartyPoker's return be triumphant? Most of the bad will the poker community held for PartyPoker after the withdrawal has dissipated. It felt like PartyPoker was abandoning us at the time, but hindsight has proven it was the right move for the company. All the troubles players have had in getting their funds out of Full Tilt and Absolute Poker remind us of how well PartyPoker handled its reimbursement of players, right down to the VIP points.

The one issue that shouldn't be forgiven so easily is that, in a settlement with the DOJ in 2009, PartyGaming admitted to providing illegal Internet gambling services to U.S. customers prior to 2006 despite there being no federal law that declares online poker illegal.

If a PartyPoker-MGM-Boyd site attracts the fish Party once did, the poker community is likely to quickly forgive that one transgression.

It's just a matter of time for legalising online poker

Nine card players from seven countries are returning to Las Vegas this weekend in search of life-changing riches, the spoils of winning as much as $8.71 million at the World Series of Poker main event.

Some of the finalists hope the millions won will be enough to make poker simply a just-for-fun pastime, rather than a bankroll boost to launch them into poker’s most expensive games. “I hope that I will not need to play poker for (income) after the 8th of November,” said 21-year-old Anton Makiievskyi, an aspiring poker professional from the Ukraine who said he has been supporting himself with poker since 2008.

“I like this game, but for three years I needed to play it. In case of winning first place, I will play only for pleasure and results of my poker sessions will not make any changes to my life,” Makiievskyi told The Associated Press.

“Poker is just a card game,” he said. “It’s cool but I don’t want to be addicted to it.”

Makiievskyi starts the final table eighth in chips, the second fewest among players.

Three Americans, plus finalists from Belize, Ireland, Germany, England, Ukraine and the Czech Republic, topped a field of 6,865 entrants at the no-limit Texas Hold ‘em main event in July and are returning Sunday to settle the title over two days of play. A champion will be crowned Tuesday night.

The finale will play out nearly live on television for the first time, with ESPN airing the action with just enough of a delay to satisfy Nevada gambling regulators that the players won’t have any way to tell what their opponents are holding.

Stripped to its most basic level, the no-limit Texas Hold ‘em played at the main event couldn’t be simpler as a variant of poker. But play the game between nine high-level thinkers, give them 3½ months to prepare and stage the televised game in front of a live crowd of hundreds of spectators, and the game suddenly becomes far more difficult.

“They’re going to know immediately if I’m doing something stupid,” said Phil Collins, 26, of Las Vegas, a poker professional starting the final table fourth in chips. “That kind of pressure, those kinds of things make it a lot more unique than just a simple one-table tournament.”

Matt Giannetti, a 26-year-old poker professional from Las Vegas who won the World Poker Tour Malta in September for 200,000 euros, said if it weren’t for that win during the break, he’d have rather finished the series in July.

Now, he says he has to try to recapture that psychological comfort and hope the players haven’t changed too much. He sits third in chips as play begins.

“I hope it doesn’t affect my play,” Giannetti said.

Badih Bounahra, 49, of Belize City, said he doesn’t think players will stray far from the tendencies they showed in July that got them to the final table. He said he’s been practicing with several of the best poker players in Belize, simulating scenarios in which he holds a chip lead, is short or has an average stack. He starts play sixth in chips.

“It’s still just poker, no matter how high the stakes,” Bounahra said.

The U. S. Department of Justice filed documents yesterday in response to arguments from two of the accused bankers in the “Black Friday” indictments, giving some insights into how the federal government will be prosecuting the case.

The response, a 51 page document filed on Friday in response to the pre-trial motions to dismiss charges against former Utah banker John Campos and payment processor Chad Elie, was reported by Forbes magazine writer Nathan Vardi Friday evening. In that article, Vardi details out the federal government’s objections to dismissal of the charges on several grounds and also introduces other allegations about the “Black Friday” case.

According to Vardi, federal prosecutors claim that the conduct of Campos and Elie “amounts to clear violations of the statutes charged.” Campos and Elie, along with the owners of PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and the CEREUS Network sites Absolute Poker and UB.com, were charged with money laundering, bank fraud and violations of the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA) of 2006. The prosecutors allege that the argument by the defendants in the “Black Friday” case – that poker is a game of skill and not gambling – is wrong.

Perhaps a more serious allegation is brought up in the federal government’s response in that there was involvement by organized crime in the case. Vardi writes that the response claims that a “La Cosa Nostra” (the federal term for the Mafia) associate was called in to collect money from Elie that he was accused of stealing from the online poker companies. This, Vardi states, is an attack on the argument that the online poker industry had no connections with organized crime.

Federal prosecutors also dispel assertions from Elie that there was no conspiracy to commit bank fraud and Campos and Elie’s claims that the laws currently on the books do not apply to poker. Vardi reports that the court papers filed on Friday stated that the poker companies “engaged Elie and Campos, among others, to perform an indispensable service: find ways, by hook or crook, to move money from United States residents, through the United States financial system, to the offshore accounts of the poker companies. They did so in violation of the IGBA (the Illegal Gambling Business Act), the UIGEA and other federal statutes.”

To this point, Campos and Elie are the only defendants who have made any response to the “Black Friday” allegations of the U. S. Department of Justice. Two other alleged payment processors – Bradley Franzen and Ira Rubin – have been arrested, but have not made any legal statements regarding the case. None of the alleged ownership of the online companies – PokerStars’ Isai Scheinberg and Paul Tate, the CEREUS Network’s Scott Tom and Brent Beckley and Full Tilt Poker’s Ray Bitar, Nelson Burtnick, Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson and Rafe Furst – has issued any statements or response to the current litigation.

The six months plus that has followed the “Black Friday” indictments has virtually eliminated online poker in the United States, save for a few operations who continue to offer poker for American action. The CEREUS Network recently announced that the company would be liquidated to allow the company to pay back players. Full Tilt Poker, after being totally shut down in June, is still in the process of an ownership change, with the French investment firm Groupe Bernard Tapie tentatively looking to buy the company and restart it for the international poker world. The only site that has stayed viable is PokerStars, who remained the number one online site in the industry after quickly paying back American players following the “Black Friday” indictments and continues to serve customers worldwide.

The motions by Campos and Elie – and the response by the federal government – are just the first steps in what will be a long process. There was no action from the court to the federal government’s response to the Campos/Elie motion and no date was given for a decision on those motions.

Wonder when it will be back

A few years ago, top executives inside Nevada's casino industry wouldn't utter the words "online" and "poker" in the same sentence.

That's no longer the case.

Big gaming is firmly committed to seeing Congress pass an Internet poker bill that would legalize the activity, provide a strict regulatory system and a framework for taxing revenues.

That's partly what last week's pairing of MGM Resorts International and Boyd Gaming Corp., with Bwin.party, a European online gaming giant, was meant to convey.

A target audience for the MGM Resorts-Boyd announcement was influential lawmakers in Washington, D.C.

Conceivably, MGM and Boyd -- individually -- could operate multiple Internet poker websites under their various casino brands using Bwin.party's technology and online gaming platforms. Together, the three companies plan to launch a U.S. version of Bwin.party's PartyPoker, one of the world's largest online poker networks.

But without Congress approving a bill to legalize Internet poker, the agreements aren't worth much more than the paper they're printed on.

"We think there is positive momentum in Congress toward passing a bill," MGM Resorts Chairman Jim Murren said. "It's time for the federal government to address this issue."

Caesars Entertainment Corp. Chairman Gary Loveman couldn't have said it better. For years, Loveman was the lone voice in the industry favoring Internet poker, due in large part to his company's ownership of the World Series of Poker.

Now, with Murren, Boyd Gaming Chief Executive Officer Keith Smith, Donald Trump, the Fertitta brothers and others lending their support, Loveman and American Gaming Association President Frank Fahrenkopf Jr. have some added public muscle.

Murren and his Strip colleagues realized that Americans continued to play Internet poker despite two different moves by the federal government to curtail the activity.

In 2006, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act banned credit card companies and banks from transacting with online casinos.

In April, prosecutors from the U.S. Justice Department charged the owners of three of the largest online poker companies with money laundering and bank fraud, and cut off the websites' access to American customers.

In both instances, gamblers still found ways to play.

"Millions of U.S. citizens continue to risk billions of dollars at unregulated illegal websites," Murren said. "It can't be wished away. We support the need for regulation and consumer protection for online poker."

By framing the debate as a law enforcement issue, the casino industry could win a public relations battle.

The message? Shut down unregulated poker websites that are skirting the law and replace them with companies that embrace regulation and fair play -- in other words, the major casino operators.

"We are the most heavily regulated industry in the county," Smith said. "We have high standards. We deal with regulations on a daily basis."

Analysts believe Americans wager between $3 billion and $5 billion annually on Internet poker, money that flows away from the United States and into the hands of foreign online companies. Of course, getting their piece of the action is also driving big gaming's interest.

Arguments for strict regulation and enforcement, however, play well inside the Beltway.

In September, the American Gaming Association, the industry's Washington, D.C., lobbying organization, formally endorsed legalizing Internet poker.

The message? U.S. consumers need protection from illegal online gambling operators.

Two months ago, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who tried to push Internet poker legislation though Congress last December during the lame duck session, thought the issue would come up before the end of the year.

During a house subcommittee hearing last month on an Internet poker bill, the panel's chairwoman, Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Calif., suggested that Congress slow down in considering legalization.

Insiders thought Bono Mack, whose district contains several large Indian casinos, was taking her cues from the influential tribes, which would prefer a state-by-state solution to Internet poker.

Big gaming's push in Washington, D.C., could face resistance from the tribal casinos and from the nation's lottery industry.

The message, however? Technology that operates online poker systems has evolved enough to ensure a game's integrity, protect player accounts and information, keep underage gamblers from logging into the system and address compulsive gambling.

Loveman, Fahrenkopf, Murren, Smith, would welcome more voices to the cause.

An American Gaming Association (AGA) release issued after a hearing held by its subcommittee last week regarding the issue of protecting online poker customers by regulating and legalizing the online poker industry strongly advocates the US online poker legalization. Representative Mary Bono Mack chaired this hearing and heard testimonies from a panel of witnesses comprising Alfonse D’Amato, the chairman of the Poker Players Alliance; Keith Whyte, the executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling; and Ernest L. Stevens, the chairman of the National Indian Gaming Association. The hearing was held under the title “Internet Gaming: Is There a Safe Bet?” and the AGA’s answer is “Yes, that safe bet can be found in the licensing and regulation of online poker.”

Although the subcommittee intended to debate the issue of online gambling, it ended up focusing on online poker. Speaking about the differences between poker and other games of chance, Frank J. Fahrenkopf Jr., the president and CEO of AGA, said: “Poker is substantially different than other forms of gaming. First, it is a game that vast numbers of Americans have historically played and that millions of Americans still play. In fact, the jargon of poker is woven throughout our language with phrases such as blue chip, pass the buck, high roller, wild card, poker face and up the ante.”

“Second, unlike other forms of Internet gambling, poker is primarily a game of skill. And, poker is played between or among individuals, whereas in other forms of Internet gambling the customer is playing against the “house.” Finally, the support we’ve seen around the country is really focused on online poker and not on other forms of Internet gambling,” he added.

The AGA statement further pointed out that the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) 2006 does not serve the purpose of preventing players from playing online poker because there were always online poker rooms to take the place of those that leave the US market. Suggesting that the UIGEA 2006 should be strengthened, the AGA states that new laws should be formed to protect consumers.

The AGA also believes that legalizing online poker will generate jobs and increase revenue. Besides, it opines that states should be given the freedom to legalize and regulate the online poker industry and that federal gambling guidelines must be framed to guide states. It also supports the provision of powers to US law enforcement bodies to prosecute those who violate US gambling laws.

On April 15, I awoke still hazy from a full night of partying to discover that the U.S. Justice Department had shut down online poker. All players’ online poker accounts were now frozen. Poker players dubbed it “Black Friday.” Coincidentally, I was in Las Vegas being treated to a birthday weekend by five of my closest poker friends. The night before we had gone to the high-end club Pure and received the finest bottle service available, paid for by my friend James. Now James was suddenly unemployed.

Being one of the best poker players in the world had its perks — I got to see a number of amazing places around the world and be on television. Celebrities such as former Major League Baseball All-Star Gary Sheffield and the rapper Nelly have sought me out to party, and every tournament has at least one night devoted to partying with models. But on Black Friday, I was at peace with the mortality of my poker career. Under the illusion of glitz and glamour lurks a dark and icy monster that you never hear about.

In the two weeks before Black Friday, James had won and lost $2 million. While this was particularly extreme, daily six-figure swings were his norm. This is the reality in high stakes or “nosebleeds” poker. James lived and breathed poker, often playing 30 hours in a row without sleep. He is, after all, a “degen,” short for degenerate gambler. When you’re a degen and you lose, it’s excruciatingly painful. James copes with this by going on five-day benders. Many play while high on pot, others on hard drugs and only a rare few (myself included) completely sober, but we all sympathize and understand James. James was and will always be a “degen.” I can relate, as I used to be one too.

All degens are addicts who only desire to keep playing the highest stakes games in the world. Money’s only value is to buy access to these games and keep track of who won.

Degens have two intrinsic competitive advantages: First, they don’t get emotional about money and thus make purely calculating decisions. Second, they think about poker 24 hours a day. Not surprisingly, many degens are the most talented poker players in the world.

For a degen, the problem arises with stopping. Since degens are addicted, they possess no “off switch.” If a degen starts losing, he won’t quit until he’s broke or even. And he could be losing for any reason from simply being tired to his wife divorcing him.

While the poker world is sympathetic to degens, it is not forgiving. If someone spots a degen melting down, the professionals swarm like hyenas around a wounded gazelle. Everyone tries to take advantage of the situation. No insult is considered to be too harsh as long as it makes the degen play worse. The other players even avoid playing each other, as it is an unwritten rule that everyone should just focus on taking the degen’s money. The second the degen is out of money, the game ends and everyone returns to their normal routine.

Some people, like myself, are able to suppress their “degen-ness,” even though it’s always there. Others like James are not. Suppressing your “degen-ness” has its disadvantages, as you are more emotionally attached to the money and are less hungry. I myself have always tiptoed the line between degen and sane person.

While I haven’t had an episode in three years, having the discipline to walk away coupled with my degen hunger is exhausting. I know if one time I mess up and don’t quit, I could lose everything. Now I can say I haven’t thought about the game in months. But if I ever played again, that little monster would be waiting, trying to convince me to degen it up.

Only three players remain in the 2011 WSOP Main Event after the elimination of Matt Giannetti in fourth place. Giannetti came into the final table third in chips, and was clearly disappointed with his finish, despite talking home $3,012,700 for his efforts. :dirol

The industry would have us believe that more US law-makers are pushing to get online poker (if not online gambling) legalized and regulated in the USA. This is a billion dollar industry – at least it was – until the DoJ shut down sites to US players such as PokerStars, and FullTilt amongst others, on the 15th April 2011.

This is the day that online poker operators and players have come to know as Black Friday. Before Black Friday, it was estimated that $6 billion went out of the US, into the coffers of offshore poker and other gambling sites. Of this $6B – if the industry recognized as being legal – the Government could have ostensibly had an additional $250 million in their tax coffers. Now it is just pie in the sky!

The law-makers pushing to have this industry made legal in the USA, know what potential it has in terms of revenue generation. Both US State and Federal Governments are cash-strapped to the hilt and need to find ways and means to get more money banked.

However, according to political analysts, almost no-one in any powerful Congressional position gives a fig about internet gambling. Which also means that when the bills take the floor, no careful study has been done (except by the bill’s proposers- often not even then) and decisions made are not as a result of any reasoned conclusions. This is in essence what took place when UIGEA was promulgated.

There are a few rabid gambling opponents, but they all appear to be hypocritical or just plain stupid, and this does not get them a great deal of support. But there are members of Congress in the Republican Party and the far right who will oppose anything and everything that might make President Barack Obama look good. Time will only tell on this one folks so be sure and stay tuned.

PokerStars-com will attempt to hold the world’s largest poker tournament on December 4, by bringing more than 150,000 players together to play in an online poker game as part of the PokerStars 10th Anniversary Celebration, the company announced today. The current Guinness World Record of 149,196 players was set in 2009 in another PokerStars tournament, which featured a $1 buy-in. It was won by online player ‘oskar69’ from Garbsen in Germany, who scooped the $50,000 first prize.

The latest World Record attempt will start at 12:30 ET (18.30 CET) on December 4, 2011 and will be a $1 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tourney with a guaranteed prize pool of $250,000. The first prize is a guaranteed $50,000, which is an unusually high return for a $1 buy-in tournament. In addition, PokerStars is offering $10 bounty prizes for players who knock out the participating members of Team PokerStars Pro.

“It’s exciting and unique to be part of a World Record,” said Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier, who already holds a personal Guinness World Record for Most Online Poker Tables Played in One Hour (62, with a profit of $23.60). “I’m looking forward to doing it again on December 4. It will be great to see so many players come together to make history once again at the world’s largest poker site.”

PokerStars 10th Anniversary

This World Record tournament attempt is the third promotion in PokerStars’ 10th Anniversary Celebration, which so far includes the $10 Million Sunday Million tournament that has already captured players’ imaginations with its $10 million guaranteed prize pool and $2 million for first place, along with the 10th Anniversary Giveaway that will award 100 dream vacations to the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in the Bahamas for free, along with 10,000 cash prizes.

PokerStars said that there will be more announcements to follow in the coming weeks to help players join in the festivities. In the meantime, players can find more information about the PokerStars 10th Anniversary Celebration at Online Poker Games | Play for Free Texas Holdem | PokerStars

After Black Friday, when the US authorities clamped down on online poker rooms in April this year, the Merge Gaming Network slowed down its acceptance of new US players and placed a temporary freeze on new sign ups. However, earlier last month, the network slowly started allowing US online poker players to join in the fun once more, resulting in a dramatic traffic increase on the network.

According to sources, the Merge Poker Network saw a jump of 15% in traffic since it opened its doors to US players once more after the four month freeze. This places Merge once more in the top twelve online poker networks in the industry, vying for 11th place with the Italian iPoker network. More importantly, however, Merge is now considered the number one poker network for US players, ahead of Bodog Poker which was considered the top network until now. Places such as Lockpoker-com are the major brands on Merge.

When Merge stopped accepting US poker players in June, it said that it was doing so in order to deal with the processing of payments to its players, putting the problem down to administrative. It seems now that Merge has caught up, and players don’t need to wait up to six weeks to see their payouts.

There are now over 1,600 ring game players at real money tables on a weekly basis at Merge, although numbers can jump to over 2,200 during peak times.

The biggest poker site in the world remains Poker Stars, with nearly 23,000 cash players a week, five times more than the second largest online poker room, Party Poker with 4,150 ring game players a week.

He was known in France and now he's taken he world stage with his victory in the highly competitive World Poker Tour stop in Amnéville, France. Adrien Allain was crowned the latest champion in on the tour, taking a lot of people by surprise as Scott Baumstein had been the dominant chip leader since Day 2 of the six-day tournament but he was eventually taken down by the eventual champion with some help from online poker qualifier Jordane Ouin.

In fact, Ouin did not lose a pot of note and it seemed whenever the cards were turned over, he had the goods, and most of the time the victim was Baumstein. Even as other players were eliminated and Allain gained a lead, it was this needling at his chipstack that caused Baumstein to eventually exit in fourth place, joining Arnaud Trouer and Michel Konieczny on the rails.

Here's how the final table shook down:

Adrien Allain – €310,633
Jordane Ouin – €170,365
Thibaud Guenegou – €113,580
Scott Baumstein – €80,640
Michel Konieczny – €60,196
Arnaud Trouer – €47,700

Play in Bodog's online poker tournaments and practice your way to victory in events like the WPT.

Poker players around the world slowed down a bit yesterday to get the latest news from the World Series of Poker* Main Event final table, which kicked off at 12:30pm local time after nearly four months of waiting. With six eliminations needed to determine the three players playing in Tuesday's grand finale, everyone knew it was going to be exciting, but nobody knew how fast-paced it was going to be once it got started.

Sam Holden (UK) was the first player eliminated, earning $782,115 for ninth place and he was joined by Anton Makiievskyi (the Ukraine) an half-hour later, earning $1,010,015 for his eighth-place finish. It took a little while longer, but Badih Bounahra (Belize) was out in seventh for $1,314,097.

Just an hour later, Eoghan O'Dea (Ireland) was eliminated in 6th place for $1,720,831 and just two minutes after that, Phil Collins (US) was sitting beside him in 5th for $2,269,599.

After all the rapid-fire play, the five-hour stretch to determine fourth place seemed interminable. However, at 10:47pm, Matt Giannetti (US) finally broke, shoving his short-stack into Ben Lamb's pocket kings and getting $3,012,700 for fourth place.

We'll have a longer article up in Bodog's poker articles section later today, so come back and get the details! In the meantime, of course, you can play poker online with us!

He was known in France and now he's taken he world stage with his victory in the highly competitive World Poker Tour stop in Amnéville, France. Adrien Allain was crowned the latest champion in on the tour, taking a lot of people by surprise as Scott Baumstein had been the dominant chip leader since Day 2 of the six-day tournament but he was eventually taken down by the eventual champion with some help from online poker qualifier Jordane Ouin.

In fact, Ouin did not lose a pot of note and it seemed whenever the cards were turned over, he had the goods, and most of the time the victim was Baumstein. Even as other players were eliminated and Allain gained a lead, it was this needling at his chipstack that caused Baumstein to eventually exit in fourth place, joining Arnaud Trouer and Michel Konieczny on the rails.

Here's how the final table shook down:

Adrien Allain – €310,633
Jordane Ouin – €170,365
Thibaud Guenegou – €113,580
Scott Baumstein – €80,640
Michel Konieczny – €60,196
Arnaud Trouer – €47,700

Play in Bodog's online poker tournaments and practice your way to victory in events like the WPT.