On Feb. 16, during a World Series of Poker Circuit stop at the Palm Beach Kennel Club in South Florida, Chan Pelton took a single 25,000 denomination chip from his stack during heads-up play at the final table of event no. 9, a $1,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament.
Pelton, a tournament regular from College Station, Texas with over $300,000 in career earnings, then went on to win the tournament, the $47,061 first-place prize and a WSOP Circuit ring.
After video surveillance confirmed tournament staff suspicions that a chip had been taken, Pelton returned the chip, claiming he had taken it as a souvenir. However, PBKC staff believed that Pelton had taken the chip with the intention of adding it to a stack in a future tournament.
This week, the PBKC and the WSOP have taken swift action, banning Pelton from all PBKC events, as well as all Caesars Entertainment properties and WSOP events. That includes the summer series in Las Vegas.
Additionally, Pelton was forced to forfeit his prize money, his ring and points used to qualify him for the WSOP National Championship this summer. The event’s runner-up, Chris Bolek, was then awarded the first-place prize, with the second-place prize of $29,070 being distributed among the rest of the tournament players who finished in the money.
“I’m literally shell-shocked,” Pelton told SouthFlorida-com. “This is my livelihood, and this is the first time I’ve even been close to any sort of infraction.”
The PBKC admitted that the integrity of the event wasn’t compromised and that Pelton was only hurting himself in the tournament by taking the chip, but made their decision based on the act of theft of poker room property.
“The integrity of our games is of upmost importance and regardless of the intent in question from this incident, we cannot sit idle and risk the stolen chips being re-introduced in the future,” said PBKC Card Room Director Noah Carbone. “We take great pride in providing a fair and secure environment for our valued patrons and this unfortunate incident, while discovered and handled swiftly, should serve as a reminder to players that tournament chips are the property of the poker room and must remain on the table at all times.”
The poker world appears to be split on whether Pelton knowingly broke the rules. On the one hand, Pelton is a tournament regular with years of experience. Surely he should know better. On the other hand, taking one high denomination chip is essentially worthless in future tournaments. The chip was too big to use early on in a tournament when it would be valuable and by the time it could be slipped into a stack, it would only represent a small fraction of the chips in play.
The incident on the WSOP Circuit comes just weeks after Christian Lusardi was accused of introducing counterfeit tournament chips into the World Poker Tour Borgata Poker Open. Lusardi was later caught after 2.7 million in counterfeit chips were discovered flushed down an Atlantic City hotel room toilet. The Borgata is now facing a class action lawsuit over the frozen tournament funds.
Earlier this week, Rosa Nguyen and her husband Vuong Trong were arrested for their part in a counterfeit chip operation at the Maryland Live! casino.
Chan Pelton Banned From All World Series of Poker Events and Properties After Taking Single Tournament Chip - Poker News
Friendly penny-ante poker games played in Maryland households are illegal, but legislation that passed through the Senate unanimously Thursday would lift that ban.
People have been doing this sort of thing in the privacy of their own homes or neighbors' since cards were invented. But under current Maryland law, this activity is illegal. A guilty verdict carries up to a year in prison and as much as $1,000 fine.
The hypocrisy of such a law isn't lost on many Marylanders, especially in a state that embraces full-fledged casinos.
"That's outrageous. People playing poker at home is like people playing at the casino," said Deandre McKenzie.
"You should be able to play games like that at home. I don't see the harm," said Amelia Campbell.
Sen. Nancy King, D-Montgomery County, concedes she was unaware of Maryland's obscure law and so were many of her colleagues.
"Poker in your own home is illegal? They just couldn't believe it," King said. "Right now, you can get out your Parcheesi game and bet money on it and it's illegal."
So when her bill to lift the prohibition came up for a vote in the Senate, she was pleasantly surprised no one was to ready to fold and it passed unanimously.
"People that play friendly poker games and bet a little bit with each other should be allowed to do that," King said.
The legislation still prohibits the host or house to keep a take of holding the games. A similar bill is under consideration in a House committee.
Read more: Bill would lift ban on home poker games | Politics - WBAL Home
A debate is taking place in states across our country, including Minnesota, about whether millions of Americans (and several hundred thousand Minnesotans) will be allowed to play poker over the Internet. Though it may not seem so on the surface, this issue is bigger than a card game. It’s about protecting our personal freedoms and the rights of individual states to resist the latest campaign by one billionaire, Sheldon Adelson. He would like Congress to rewrite the Wire Act to ban all forms of gambling online, including banning state lotteries from selling tickets online.
On Friday, April 15, 2011, known in the poker community as “Black Friday,” online poker in the United States was shut down by the U.S. Department of Justice, based on its interpretation of the Wire Act of 1961. After further review, in December 2011, the Justice Department determined that it had made a mistake in its interpretation of the Wire Act and that in fact it did not have anything to do with poker or online gambling. This meant that states now had the power to determine if the game should be legal within their borders. To date, Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware have enacted laws to license and regulate online poker.
Since Black Friday, thousands of poker players across the country have come together, in coordination with the Poker Players Alliance, to advocate for their right and freedom to play poker online in their homes. We have been joined in our fight for online poker rights by experts and scholars — the American Gaming Association and recently the Coalition for Consumer Online Protection.
A bill in Congress, HR 2666, the Internet Poker Freedom Act, is sponsored by Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, and it has bipartisan support. It is one of three bills introduced on the issue.
It's no bluff: Don't ban online poker | Star Tribune
A court-appointed administrator announced the distribution Friday of $76 million to roughly 27,500 U.S. customers of the defunct poker site. Their accounts have been frozen since 2011 due to a criminal case.
The Poker Players Alliance, a nonprofit advocacy group, applauded the action, but said there are still "several thousand" ex-Full Tilt players in the U.S. who have yet to receive their money. John Pappas, executive director of the PPA, estimated that there are between $50 million and $60 million in unclaimed or disputed funds that have yet to be distributed.
Prosecutors accused Full Tilt and two other sites -- PokerStars and Absolute Poker -- of circumventing federal laws against Internet gambling by deceiving banks and credit card issuers into processing payments for U.S. players.
In July 2012, the Justice Department announced a $731 million settlement with PokerStars and Full Tilt to resolve the allegations. Full Tilt also settled allegations that it had operated a Ponzi scheme, failing to maintain sufficient funds on deposit for players to withdraw.
Under the settlement, Full Tilt agreed to forfeit virtually of all its assets to the government, with PokerStars acquiring them.
Former Full Tilt CEO Raymond Bitar pleaded guilty last year to multiple gambling and fraud charges. He faced a substantial prison sentence but was released because of health problems.
Online poker players get $76 million back after site's 2011 closure - Feb. 28, 2014
Liberal U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (RINO-S.C.) is preparing to introduce a federal online poker ban – working against efforts by Senate majority leader Harry Reid to carve out an exemption for the popular online hobby.
Online gambling is already technically illegal under the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act, but relaxed interpretations of this law by U.S. Department of Justice officials have resulted in states setting their own rules.
Several states – including Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey -currently permit online gaming within their borders. California and Illinois are looking to follow suit.
Graham wants to shut all of that down, though …
You know, this one of those rare instances in which we’re with the Democratic leader (and one of those rare instances in which Graham is against him). Except we’d take this thing several steps further: All forms of gambling – online and offline – should be legal in every state.
Government has no business criminalizing this behavior – especially when virtually every state government runs its own gambling racket.
In fact that’s precisely what this is about … politicians protecting their “turf.” Like friggin’ gangsters.
Graham’s stated rationale for the proposed ban?
“I don’t think it is a good idea for the country,” he said, adding that “South Carolina is not a big gambling state.”
Right … because every state should look to South Carolina for pointers.
Don’t buy Graham’s excuses: This is government attempting to preserve its gambling monopoly, eliminating yet another form of potential competition (and expression of individual liberty).
Read more at Lindsey Graham Seeks Federal Online Poker Ban » FITSNews
California's multibillion-dollar gambling industry could grow significantly if bills recently introduced to legalize Internet poker become law. None of them would benefit our state.
Indian tribes that own casinos and are major forces in the Capitol are seeking to form consensus among themselves on legislation to legalize Internet poker. Some lawmakers seem willing to serve as their vessels.
Internet poker promoters point out that the industry already exists in offshore sites. The state should regulate and tax it, or so the argument goes. Adding to their contention that Internet poker is inevitable, proponents cite New Jersey, Nevada and Delaware, which have approved intrastate Internet poker.
But lawmakers would be wise to watch the impact of Internet poker in these other states.
Sen. Roderick Wright had been the most knowledgeable legislator on the issue. But Wright has taken a leave of absence to fight his conviction on perjury and voting fraud charges.
Assembly Member Reggie Jones-Sawyer, a Los Angeles-area Democrat, and Sen. Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana, have stepped into the vacuum. While Correa has carried gambling bills in the past, generally on behalf of certain tribes, Jones-Sawyer is new to the action.
Internet poker operators no doubt see the potential to rake in large sums of money. But exactly how much money the state might get in exchange remains elusive. Jones-Sawyer's bill sets a low bar. Internet poker sites would pay the state 5% of their revenue. Correa sets the state's take at 10%. Both percentages seem low. If the California market is $1 billion, 5% to 10% would generate $50 million to $100 million, dust in a budget in excess of $140 billion.
As New Jersey is finding, Internet poker is hardly a jackpot. Gov. Chris Christie estimated the state would receive $200 million this year. New Jersey officials have lowered the expected revenue to $34 million.
Powerful forces oppose Internet casinos, including billionaire Sheldon Adelson, who made his fortune owning casinos in Nevada and Macau. Adelson clearly doesn't have clean hands. But he makes a point worth considering.
The Internet will make gambling ever more accessible. People could play anywhere there is an Internet connection. Nearly all gamblers lose money. In time, gambling addicts would lose their homes.
Legalized online poker would add to problem gambling, while draining money from other segments of society. That hardly would be a boon to California's economy, its culture or its budget.
Read more here: EDITORIAL: California doesn't need Internet poker problems | Editorials | FresnoBee-com
New Jersey’s online poker industry started in late November of last year, and over the past few weeks it appears the industry is gaining some more steam.
An online poker site from PartyPoker and Borgata drew a whopping 768 entrants for the $200 buy-in $100,000 guarantee this past Sunday. The guarantee was crushed, making it the most successful of its kind to date in the Garden State.
Other sites are beginning to see prize pools for their flagship events stabilize.
The current cash game numbers for New Jersey poker sites are as follows (numbers represent the most current seven-day peak): PartyPoker/Borgata — 579; WSOP — 342; 888 (All American Poker Network) — 286; and Ultimate Poker — 52.
For comparison, Delaware’s poker network was at 56 cash game players for a peak, while WSOP (Nevada) and Ultimate Poker (Nevada) were at 250 and 117, respectively.
Ultimate Poker in Nevada was the first real-money site in United States casino history.
Official revenue figures aren’t out yet for Nevada, though it was estimated that online poker accounted for $200,000 in the most recent gaming revenue tally. Online gambling in New Jersey generated $9.4 million during January. February’s numbers should be out soon.
The amount of casino win could trend up thanks to more depositing and cash out options for players. Since the industry is still in its infancy, some have experienced issues.
More than 200,000 online gambling accounts have been created in New Jersey. There aren’t any numbers for Nevada. Delaware’s turnout has been minimal so far (around half of Nevada’s size), but recently the state brokered a deal with Nevada in order to share liquidity for online poker. It hasn’t yet been announced when that will begin.
Nevada has a population of around 2.7 million; Delaware has around 900,000; New Jersey sits with 8.7 million, but it’s in close proximitity to big cities.
New Jersey Online Poker Tournament Sees Huge Field
A recent debate among the poker media got me thinking about how a real money subscription site might work in the day of regulated U.S. online poker. The current model used by real money poker sites takes a percentage of the pot to cover site operation costs and profit. This is known as rake.
There have been several attempts to replace rake with a subscription model at real money poker sites over the years. The motives have ranged from trying something new to bringing players into a diversified gaming site in an attempt to increase sports and casino handles. All have been failures.
Why Rake-Free Sites Fail
Rake-free poker sites often fail because the critical mass does not understand the concept of rake. Poker rooms have mastered the art of quietly removing the house fees from cash games and adding tournament fees to the price of a buy-in. This makes paying a subscription fee to play rake-free poker a difficult concept to sell. For this reason, game quality would suffer. That is because only players that are aware of the destruction rake causes to a bankroll will trade promotions for rake-free games.
There are also other fees a subscription site must charge. A $20 or $30 fee is not going to cover payment processing costs. These can run as high as 5 percent of a deposit. A player that deposits $1,000 in a month could incur payment processing fees equal to the subscription charge, making that player a loss for the site. Withdrawals are an additional expense for poker sites. The cost of cutting a check can be a few dollars. An electronic check also runs a few bucks. The poker site would have to pass all of these fees onto customers.
Players are accustomed to receiving perks while playing. This may come in the form of rakeback or free merchandise. That cannot happen under this formula. Tournament guarantees, one of the most popular poker promotions, would be impossible under this model.
Regulated sites have massive upfront costs. The license is expensive, as are the associated legal fees. Employee training costs, facilities and software development are all costs of doing business. Charging players $20 or $30 a month will not pay the bills.
Examples of Failed Rake-Free Sites
There have been several online sites that have tried rake-free poker in the offshore market. None were a success.
World Poker Exchange
World Poker Exchange might be the best known subscription model site. It was the poker room under the World Sports Exchange umbrella. The site launched rake-free poker for its struggling poker site in 2006. The goal was to bring deposits to the site in the hope that players would bet on sports and play casino games. It brought action to the site, but there were other issues that prevented the site from catching on with mainstream poker players. The lack of experience or backend capabilities to investigate collusion became a problem. The poor software was another complaint. Rakeback was dropped slowly before the program was completely abandoned. WSEX eventually completely imploded, stiffing all players. ZeroRake
The industry has come a long way since Zerorake-com first attempted to create a subscription model in 2004. The site used Action Poker software but the player pools were kept separate. ZeroRake took rake from the pot to demonstrate its cost before returning it to the winning player at the end of the hand.
The introductory membership fee was $5.95. It went up to $29.95 after the first month, although the site allowed players to join for free for most of its existence. Players had the option of playing without paying the membership fee and just pay the rake. The site eventually failed due to a lack of interest. Players were refunded.
PayNoRake
PayNoRake is a member of the Chico Poker Network. It was once the rake-free skin for Action Poker. Unlike ZeroRake, PayNoRake players had access to the main network. Players could receive 100% rakeback when paying over $220 in rake in a day. Rakeback was paid on a sliding scale with a 50% minimum.
The Action Poker Network ran into major financial problems and was bailed out. The PayNoRake business model was restructured to favor losing players.
CardCrusade
CardCrusade was another site that did not charge rake. It operated in 2006. It failed to meet wide acceptance by players. It also had problems with members spamming poker forums.
Rake-Free Model Impossible in Regulated Online Poker |
The Peppermill Resort Spa Casino Thursday announced a partnership with Ultimate Gaming to offer online poker play at the Peppermill’s Reno property as well as the company’s other properties, Western Village Inn & Casino in Sparks and three hotel-casinos in Wendover near the Utah line.
The agreement must be approved by the Nevada Gaming Control Board and the Nevada Gaming Commission before patrons can play online poker at the Peppermill locations.
“It is great to be able to offer our players an exciting and secure online poker product from a trusted partner like Ultimate Gaming,” Billy Paganetti, Peppermill general manager, said in a statement Thursday.
Ultimate Gaming is owned by Las Vegas-based Station Casinos and is one of three online poker websites offering poker play within the state’s borders alongside World Series of Poker, owned by Caesars Entertainment, and Real Gaming, owned by the South Point.
The 2013 Legislature approved legal online poker and authorized the governor to sign interstate online agreements. Last week brought the first such agreement when Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval and Democratic Delaware Gov. Jack Markell signed a partnership linking the two states in online poker play, setting the state for broader Internet poker gambling.
The Multistate Internet Gaming Agreement is effective immediately for two poker companies, Scientific Games and 888poker-com, both licensed in Nevada and Delaware.
Poker continues to command more attention at one of the premier conferences for the online gambling industry, iGaming North America (iGNA).
The 2014 edition of iGNA features an expanded Poker Track that brings together some of the most recognizable – and influential – names in regulated online poker.
iGNA 2014 takes place from March 19th through the 21st at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas.
The Poker Track (sponsored, somewhat appropriately, by PokerTracker-com) runs on March 20th (day 2 of iGNA) from 3:45 to 5:15 in Celebrity Ballroom 4.
You can view the complete schedule for iGNA 2014 here.
First half of Poker Track features industry insights
The first half of the Poker Track at iGNA 2014 is a panel titled Regulated Online Poker – The Story So Far.
The 45-minute panel brings together voices from operators like WSOP-com and Ultimate Poker along with members of the poker media and data ecosystem to discuss the first full year of regulated online poker in the United States.
Moderated by OPR, the panel consists of:
Dan Stewart, Founder, PokerScout
John Mehaffey, Independent Gaming Analyst
Chris Danek, Poker Product Manager, Ultimate Poker
Bill Rini, Head of Online Poker, Caesars Interactive
Topics to be covered include a frank assessment of performance to date in New Jersey, Nevada and Delaware, an analysis of what’s gone right – and what’s gone wrong – for operators in those markets and thoughts on the next step in the evolution of regulated online poker.
The panel begins at 3:45 on March 20th in Celebrity Ballroom 4.
Second half of Poker Track focuses on player perspective
Immediately following Regulated Online Poker – The Story So Far is the second half of the Poker Track: The Poker Player’s Panel.
This marks the second year of the Poker Player’s Panel at iGNA, and again attendees will be given a rare and valuable opportunity to appreciate online gambling products from the perspective of hyper-informed consumers.
The panel is moderated by Mike Gentile of PokerFuse-com and made up of:
Shaun Deeb, Professional Poker Player
Jason Somerville, Team Pro, Ultimate Poker
Dominic L. Ricciardi, MD, Chief of Staff, St. Rose San Martin Hospital
Danielle Andersen, Team Pro, Ultimate Poker
The panel begins at 4:30 on March 20th in Celebrity Ballroom 4.
iGaming North America (iGNA) Boosts Online Poker Focus at iGNA 2014
Ultimate Gaming was already attracting poker players from Northern Nevada to play the company’s Internet wagering platform.
An agreement announced Thursday with Reno’s Peppermill Casino and four Northern Nevada casinos operated by the same company could grow that customer base.
Under the deal, UltimatePoker-com, the online poker room operated by Station Casinos-owned Ultimate Gaming, will become the Internet poker destination for the five casinos in Reno, Sparks and Wendover.
“The Peppermill has a pretty active poker room,” Ultimate Gaming CEO Tobin Prior said Thursday. “They will send their players looking to play online poker to us, and we’ll market to their customers.”
Prior didn’t reveal terms of the financial agreement, but the Peppermill will share in the poker revenue contributed by their players.
“We think it’s a great opportunity to grow the business,” Prior said.
UltimatePoker-com was the first regulated pay-to-play online poker website launched in the United States when it began accepting wagers in April. Through the ownership tie-in with Station Casinos, players — after opening an account online — can add money to the account and cash out winnings at any of the company’s 17 Southern Nevada casinos.
Similarly, customers at the Peppermill in Reno, the Western Village in Sparks, and the Rainbow, Peppermill and Montego Bay casinos in Wendover, will be able to deposit money for their online poker activity and cash out winnings at the five properties.
Prior said the largest percentage of UltimatePoker’s business has come from Southern Nevada. The deal with the Peppermill gives the website a stronger presence in Northern Nevada. Rival WSOP-com, which is operated by Caesars Entertainment Corp.’s interactive division, operates casino in Reno and near Lake Tahoe.
Prior said he foresees similar agreements being reached with other Nevada casinos.
The launch date for the Peppermill agreement is still being determined. Peppermill received preliminary approval from the Gaming Control Board on Wednesday for interactive gaming and the Nevada Gaming Commission needs to rule on the recommendation later this month.
Billy Paganetti, general manager of Peppermill’s Northern Nevada locations, said the agreement offers the company an ability to offer online poker to its customers.
Ultimate Gaming operates the online wagering platform for the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, which is one of six casinos licensed to Internet gaming in New Jersey.
In January, the Taj Mahal reported $858,351 in online gaming revenue, the third highest in New Jersey. Borgata and Caesars Interactive control 73 percent of New Jersey’s online gaming market.
Online gaming in New Jersey went live at the end of November and Prior said it was still early in the game.
“We know we want to do the things needed to improve our share in the market,” Prior said.
Three online poker platforms in Nevada offer wagering to players who are physically within the state’s borders: UltimatePoker, WSOP-com, and Real Gaming, which is owned by South Point.
Nevada gaming officials will break out the state’s gaming revenue results from online poker starting with the February reporting period, which will be released at the end of the month.
Howard Stutz: Ultimate Gaming to Provide Online Poker for Peppermill, Affiliated Casinos
A New Zealand man has changed his name to "Full Metal Havok More Sexy N Intelligent Than Spock And All The Superheroes Combined With Frostnova" after losing a drunken bet at a poker game.
The name is just one letter less than the 100-character limit set by the country's Department of Internal Affairs.
A friend of the 22-year-old from the southern city of Dunedin posted a message on an online body-building forum explaining that the name had been chosen for him by his fellow card players.
He wrote: "My friend lost a bet five years ago and changed his name.
"He just found out it was actually accepted last week when his passport expired."
Mr Frostnova is also required to change his name on his driving licence and all other official and legal documents.
Michael Mead, a spokesman for the Department of Internal Affairs births, deaths and marriages section, said the name change was registered in March 2010.
The name met legal criteria and the applicant had paid the fee and completed the form correctly.
He said Mr Frostnova could change his name again at any time by completing the necessary form and paying the fee of NZ$127 (£64).
Under the rules, names are permitted unless they would cause offence to a reasonable person, are unreasonably long, include numbers or symbols, or without adequate justification include or resemble an official title or rank.
Mr Frostnova's escapade follows other high-profile cases in New Zealand.
In 2008, a Family Court judge ordered that a girl named by her parents Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii should be taken into court custody so she could change her name.
The New Zealand Herald reported that other names rejected in recent years have included Majesty, King, Knight, Princess, Justice, Anal, V8, 89, Mafia No Fear, Lucifer, full stop and *.
New Zealand man given ridiculous 99-character name after losing poker bet - Telegraph
In the above scene from the science-fiction movie Minority Report, Tom Cruise’s character is harassed by a musical cereal box that wont shut up. It sounds stupidly implausible, but a new study has shown that people actually do prefer snacks that require them to press noise-making buttons. We’re no better than monkeys, in other words.
New scientific research published in Nature Neuroscience has revealed our snacking preferences are influenced by the addition of superfluous noises and buttons. When asked to choose between two equally-valued snack foods on a computer screen, most subjects favoured the version that required them to press a noise-making button. It also caused them to believe that the noise-accompanied snack was more expensive.
“Participants chose the tone associated item 60-65% of the time, and in a subsequent task, they were willing to pay more for these items than for the originally equivalent control items,” the report explains.
“This suggests that people’s preferences can be changed without directly manipulating the items they are choosing between.”
The report concludes that the behavioral change is caused by increased preference-related activity in ventromedial prefrontal cortex, a region often associated with representing subjective value in decision-making. The researchers suggest that their principles of the experiment could be used as a way to help modify choices.
“We show that the value of food items can be modulated by the concurrent presentation of an irrelevant auditory cue to which subjects must make a simple motor response. We suggest that the cue-approach manipulation enhanced the attention devoted to the processing of the items and thus amplified the value signals of the items.”
While this sounds like an insidious brain-washing tool for food companies, the report notes that it could also be used by dietitians to train participants to avoid choices of certain junk food items.
People Prefer Snacks That Behave Like Poker Machines | Lifehacker Australia
Nevada could have around six online poker networks by the end of this year. Currently, the state has three online poker networks, and the leader in terms of player traffic is WSOP-com, which was launched last fall.
The first licensed and regulated online poker room in the US, Ultimate Poker, was launched in Nevada in April 2013. Although the site has a base of loyal customers, it is unable to grow in the maturing Nevada online poker market. Real Gaming, supported by South Point, was the third online poker room to be launched in Nevada, but it is still struggling to get players.
Thanks to the interstate online poker agreement signed between Delaware and Nevada, 888-com stands a better chance in Nevada. The company plans to launch an online poker room in Nevada, which will be operated on the All American Poker Network (AAPN).
Ace Play Poker, supported by the American Casino and Entertaining Properties, could also be launched in Nevada soon. Currently, Ace Play is a free-to-play online poker room on the Ongame Network and offers a number of promos for Stratosphere, which belongs to the American Casino and Entertaining Properties. Ace Play Poker is expected to go live in Nevada by the end of this summer.
Bwin.party in partnership with MGM and Boyd is most likely to be Nevada’s sixth online poker network. This partnership has worked very well in New Jersey, but there is no guarantee that it will be just as successful in Nevada. This, however, will not stop the partners from launching an online poker network in Nevada. Since Bwin.party has not yet received an online poker license in Nevada, it is likely to be the last to be launched in the state.
Several market experts feel that Nevada, being a small state, cannot support more than one online poker network. The earliest data related to New Jersey’s online poker market suggests that the Garden State, although four times bigger than Nevada in terms of population, can support only as many as three online poker networks. Nevada’s online poker market, therefore, is already saturated.
The problem of saturation can be solved if the states sign interstate online poker compacts with one another. But so far, only Delaware and Nevada have signed such a compact, and there is no indication that any more such compacts will be signed considering the fact that several US states have not yet legalized online poker.
The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement released revenue numbers for online gambling in February today.
The market gained roughly 9% despite the shorter month. A significant drop in poker revenue was offset by gains in casino products. The market’s performance was generally in line with expectations.
February headline numbers for NJ online gambling
Total revenue: $10.3 million, up 8.9% from January.
Totals by operator with change from January in parentheses:
Borgata (includes Borgata and Party): $4,085,444 (+5%)
Caesars (includes WSOP-com, AAPN, 888 and Caesars properties): $3,335,470 (+9%)
Golden Nugget: $460,121 (+62%)
Tropicana (includes Trop and Virgin): $1,345,138 (+62%)
Trump Plaza (Betfair): $493,590 (-12%)
Trump Taj (Ultimate): $587,323 (-46%)
Total by product:
Poker: $3.1mm (-10%)
Casino: $7.2mm (+20%)
These are absolute numbers and do not reflect the shorter month. Daily average for February was $367,857 vs $305,195 for January.
Full details and complete reports can be viewed at the DGE website.
Quick takeaways from the February numbers
Poker dropped month-over-month by about 10%. February was 3 days shorter than January.
Casino made up the difference and then some, gaining ~20% despite the shorter month.
All operators saw a total MoM increase except for Trump Plaza (betfair) and Trump Taj (Ultimate).
Tropicana’s numbers were likely bolstered by the launch of Virgin casino brand.
Charts for NJ online gambling revenue to date
Note that DGE reporting is grouped by permit holder, as are the charts below. So, for example, even though 888 and Caesars operate separate brands in New Jersey (AAPN and WSOP, respectively), the revenue for both brands is grouped under Caesars because Caesars is the permit holder.
Where does the NJ market go from here?
There are a few positives that bode well for the months to come:
The emergence of alternative payment systems such as Neteller and paysafe card for Skrill should help ease the payment processing pressure.
VISA acceptance rates are unlikely to get any worse and could continue to improve as governmental and industry reps continue to focus on outreach to the banking industry.
The run-up to the WPT Championship at the Borgata in April should stimulate interest in online poker.
Time should generate improvements (albeit potentially incremental ones) in consumer awareness and geolocation technology.
But the NJ market is also facing some hurdles in the near-term:
Seasonal factors will make growth more difficult as the weather improves and online activity declines.
The novelty factor responsible for driving some of the initial interest and media attention will continue to diminish in power.
The market now faces the dual challenge of attracting new players while retaining existing ones.
Player complaints (primarily regarding geolocation) could reach a critical mass that dissuades new customers from participating.
Continuing issues with payment processing and geolocation could lead casinos to hold back on marketing efforts.
NJ Online Poker and Casino Revenue Grows in February, But Not All Win
New data shows that women in Hawaii who play poker in online social casinos spend 6.5 hours per month doing so.
Data gathered by gaming systems technology company International Game Technology shows participation in social casinos by women is on the rise. IGT conducted the study as a follow-up to the ongoing U.S. Social Casino Index project by DoubleDown Casino, which is one of the company's products.
In December the company reported that Hawaii's social casino players were 20 percent more likely than the national average to play using a mobile device, versus a desktop.
"As the world's largest virtual casino, we pay attention to trends and make note of the fact that poker is appealing to broader audiences both online and on the casino floor," said John Clelland, vice president of Global Marketing at IGT Interactive Group, in a statement. "Poker is traditionally thought of as a male-dominated game but our data proves that female poker players are on the rise in social casinos."
Hawaii women stand out in online poker play - Hawaii News - Honolulu Star-Advertiser
From April 19-27, New Jersey will turn from the Garden State to the Poker State as partypoker hosts the inaugural New Jersey Championship of Online Poker (NJCOP) at NJ-partypoker-com and BorgataPoker-com. Held in parallel with the partypoker WPT World Championship live tournament at the Borgata, which runs from April 21-26, the NJCOP will feature 15 exciting tournaments with $600,000 guaranteed. The NJCOP Main Event is a $200,000 guaranteed $200 buy-in deepstack freezeout on Sunday April 27 at 5pm ET with a whopping $50,000 guaranteed to the winner.
“If you love poker then you need to be in New Jersey come April 19,” said Team partypoker captain Mike Sexton. “The online poker action in New Jersey has been red hot since day one and the New Jersey Championship of Online Poker will be the ultimate test for pros and amateurs alike. What’s more if you are coming from out of town to play the partypoker WPT World Championship at Borgata it is timed so you can make the most of the live and online games! ”
“We believe it is best to be bold in the market,” added Sexton. “We recently smashed the guarantee during our $100K major and NJCOP is going to take it to a new level guaranteeing double that in the form of $200,000 on Sunday April 27 at 5pm ET, with $50,000 to the winner. We’d also like to thank all the customers who provided feedback on the draft schedule on the forums.”
Monroe native and Team partypoker member Jamie Kerstetter said: “It’s so exciting to have the partypoker WPT World Championship coming to Atlantic City and to have the New Jersey Championship of Online Poker coinciding with it. New Jersey really is the place to play big online and offline events in April and is a trailblazer for poker in the United States. What’s even better is that it kicks off with a $50k freeroll and the value you get from that if you make the final table of that is amazing as you win entries into all of the other events worth $2,000.”
The tournament series begins with a $50,000 Freeroll on Saturday, April 19 at 4pm ET and if the free money isn’t enough, all players who make the final table in this tournament get free tickets into every NJCOP event worth $2,000. Then follows a $200 buy-in $100,000 guaranteed on Sunday, April 20. The majority of the schedule is no limit hold’em but there is a $50 entry $10,000 PLO event on Sunday, April 20 at 6pm ET. Other highlights include a $500 entry $30,000 guaranteed highroller on Sunday, April 27 at 6pm.
Beginning March 17, NJ-partypoker-com will host qualifiers for all 15 NJCOP tournaments for as little as $1.
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$600K up for grabs in New Jersey Championship of Online Poker | NJ-com
Massive limit deuce-to-seven triple draw games have been running on Full Tilt Poker recently, resulting in some big wins for well-known poker pros.
Dan “jungleman12” Cates has benefited the most, adding tons to his already solid upswing. Over the past seven days on Full Tilt, he’s up $1.1 million. This month he’s up $1.6 million.
His leads the high-stakes online poker world with nearly $2 million in earnings on 2014.
Cates is now in the black $9.3 million lifetime on Full Tilt Poker. Over at PokerStars, he’s up around $370,000. He has played around 475,000 high-stakes hands between the two sites.
The Maryland native, who plays over in Europe these days thanks to U.S. poker restrictions, was recently united with millions locked up in his Full Tilt Poker account. He received an ACH deposit from the government in the amount of what was in his account when the site shutdown in 2011. Cates had the most stuck out of any of the victims of old Full Tilt.
The other big winner in the $1,000-$2,000 limit deuce-to-seven triple draw games has been kagome kagome, a high-stakes pro from Germany. He won around $920,000.
On the flop side, Viktor “Isildur1” Blom dropped $1.2 million over this past week. Russian Alex “PostflopAction” Kostritsyn managed to lose $783,000 during the span.
Blom had once been in the black more than $2 million in 2014, but now he’s in the hole around $175,000. He’s down $1.8 million lifetime on Full Tilt.
The big draw games saw the return of Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond, who hadn’t played at all this year until March rolled around. He is down around $185,000 this month.
Gus Hansen had been on a solid upswing this month, but the past few week or so hasn’t been too great for him. He’s back to approaching $16 million in losses lifetime on the software.
High-Stakes Online Poker: Dan Cates Wins $1.1 Million In Seven Days
Long gone are the days of poker being reserved only for men - meet the women who know when to hold, and when to fold
In recent times women are proving themselves to be just as capable as their male counterparts and today we're running down the five most compelling and succesful among them.
From crushing major live poker tournaments to playing key roles in the poker industry, women are making major contributions to the poker world. And their presence is only getting stronger.
Keep reading for the low-down on five must-know poker women.
1 - Vanessa Selbst
Vanessa Selbst has won more money through live tournament poker than any other woman in on the planet.
Selbst, who is sponsored by PokerStars, has earned over $9.6m in an eight-year career that has seen her secure seven-figure scores on two separate occasions. Her biggest win was in 2010 when she pocketed $1.8m for her victory at the Partouche Poker Tour in France.
Selbst is currently ranked seventh in the Global Poker Index (GPI) Top 300 and has already earned $1.4m in the first two months of 2014.
2 - Liv Boeree
Liv Boeree is a young British superstar who first shot to fame in 2010 when she won the $1.7m first-place prize at the European Poker Tour Main Event in San Remo; a victory that catapulted her onto the world stage and into a sponsorship deal with PokerStars.
The heavy metal loving astrophysics graduate has found it difficult to find the right blend of skill and fortune since that groundbreaking victory, however, but the most commonly photographed female player on the European circuit has started the new year in fine fettle, taking $165,000 in live tournament earnings after impressive performances at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, The United Kingdom & Ireland Poker Tour Edinburgh & The Aussie Millions.
3 - Kara Scott
Kara Scott is the hardest working woman in poker, hands down!
Her ambassadorial role at online poker giant PartyPoker means that she is never far away from the glare of the TV cameras, whether she is playing on the felt or acting in the role of sideline reporter or TV presenter.
Scott is also an integral part of ESPN's coverage of the World Series of Poker and combines a grueling filming and playing schedule without a hair out of place.
Scott’s recent performances on the felt have been the most successful of her career, and it won’t be too long before she is experiencing the same sort of success she experienced back in 2009 when many believed she was unfortunate not to win the Irish Open when she finished second for $413,000.
4 - Ana Marquez
Spanish poker is on a roll right now and a big part of that is the success of Ana Marquez.
The young Spaniard is a former PokerStars Team pro who has earned just shy of $1 million in live tournaments. Her biggest score to date came when she won the 2013 Hollywood Poker Open for $320,000.
Marquez is a feared competitor. She plays every form of poker imaginable and is equally adept in both cash-games and tournaments.
In 2013 she won the honour of Europe’s Leading Lady at the GPI European Poker Awards.
5 - Ebony Kenney
Ebony Kenney got her first big break when she was selected as a World Poker Tour One to Watch in 2012.
Kenney isn’t just a hot shot at the tables. The Floridian is also a model, full-time mother, and has recently been signed by the Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) outfit Fighters Source to act as their host/sideline reporter.
Kenney has won close to $200,000 in live tournament earnings including a recent 10 place finish at the WPT Main Event in St Kitts recently.
Top five female poker players from around the world - Mirror Online
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Brighton born Chris Moorman’s recent million-dollar victory at the World Poker Tour event in Las Angeles once again rubber-stamped Britain’s prowess when it comes to the art of bluffing, balling and banking.
The most successful online poker player in the history of the game, with over $10m in online winnings, picked up a cheque for $1,015,460 after his victory in the City of Angels.
Now that’s a decent windfall for throwing a deck of 52 around a table, but what are the biggest purses ever handed out to British poker players?
Here's a little hint: Sam Trickett owns three of the slots.
1- Sam Trickett wins $10.1 Million at the $1m buy-in BIG ONE for ONE DROP
Sam Trickett is the all-time live tournament money winner in European poker and fifth on the global list.
In 2012, he paid $1 million to enter the biggest buy-in event in history and turned that investment into over $10 million after finishing runner-up to Antonio Esfandiari who took home $18 million for the win.
The BIG ONE for ONE DROP returns to the 2014 WSOP calendar and once again Trickett will be paying the seven-figure price tag in pursuit of another mammoth score.
2- Sam Trickett wins $2.1 Million in the $250k Challenge at 2013 Aussie Millions
Just months after pocketing the biggest score of his life, Sam Trickett travelled down under and won over $2 million in the Aussie Millions $250,000 Challenge, an event in which he finished second in 2011.
Trickett had to overcome the might of three of Germany’s greatest players after finding himself in four-way action against Tobias Reinkemeier, Fabian Quoss and Igor Kurganov.
Trickett eventually defeated Reinkemeier in heads-up action to take the title.
3 - Matthew Ashton wins $1.7 Million at $50k WSOP Players Championship
Matthew Ashton set the 2013 WSOP on fire with a series of mixed-game displays that sit up their with some of the best in the event's four-decade history.
After making three final tables in different forms of poker Ashton finally won a WSOP title in one of the most prestigious events on the planet.
Created in honour of the late, great David ‘Chip’ Reese, the $50,000 Poker Players Championship is the tournament that honours the best pound-for-pound poker player in the world. Ashton took it down for over $1.7m in prize money.
5 - Liv Boeree wins $1.7 Million at EPT San Remo Main Event
Liv Boeree’s victory at EPT San Remo was tremendously important for British poker.
The former astro-physics graduate and heavy metal fan was soon adorning the centre pages of Maxim and appearing on British daytime television, promoting the game throughout the world.
A sponsorship deal with PokerStars soon followed and she remains one of the hottest properties in the poker world.
5 - Sam Trickett wins $1.5 Million in $100,000 Aussie Millions Challenge
The third entry on this list for Sam Trickett comes courtesy of his spellbinding year in 2011 when he took over $4.5 million in total winnings from the felt including over $2.8m from the Crown Casino in Melbourne.
Trickett topped the $100,000 Challenge event that year after defeating fellow Brit Tony Bloom for a prize of $1.5 million.
The top five biggest British poker winners of all time - Mirror Online
Follow us: @DailyMirror on Twitter | DailyMirror on Facebook
Pelton, a tournament regular from College Station, Texas with over $300,000 in career earnings, then went on to win the tournament, the $47,061 first-place prize and a WSOP Circuit ring.
After video surveillance confirmed tournament staff suspicions that a chip had been taken, Pelton returned the chip, claiming he had taken it as a souvenir. However, PBKC staff believed that Pelton had taken the chip with the intention of adding it to a stack in a future tournament.
This week, the PBKC and the WSOP have taken swift action, banning Pelton from all PBKC events, as well as all Caesars Entertainment properties and WSOP events. That includes the summer series in Las Vegas.
Additionally, Pelton was forced to forfeit his prize money, his ring and points used to qualify him for the WSOP National Championship this summer. The event’s runner-up, Chris Bolek, was then awarded the first-place prize, with the second-place prize of $29,070 being distributed among the rest of the tournament players who finished in the money.
“I’m literally shell-shocked,” Pelton told SouthFlorida-com. “This is my livelihood, and this is the first time I’ve even been close to any sort of infraction.”
The PBKC admitted that the integrity of the event wasn’t compromised and that Pelton was only hurting himself in the tournament by taking the chip, but made their decision based on the act of theft of poker room property.
“The integrity of our games is of upmost importance and regardless of the intent in question from this incident, we cannot sit idle and risk the stolen chips being re-introduced in the future,” said PBKC Card Room Director Noah Carbone. “We take great pride in providing a fair and secure environment for our valued patrons and this unfortunate incident, while discovered and handled swiftly, should serve as a reminder to players that tournament chips are the property of the poker room and must remain on the table at all times.”
The poker world appears to be split on whether Pelton knowingly broke the rules. On the one hand, Pelton is a tournament regular with years of experience. Surely he should know better. On the other hand, taking one high denomination chip is essentially worthless in future tournaments. The chip was too big to use early on in a tournament when it would be valuable and by the time it could be slipped into a stack, it would only represent a small fraction of the chips in play.
The incident on the WSOP Circuit comes just weeks after Christian Lusardi was accused of introducing counterfeit tournament chips into the World Poker Tour Borgata Poker Open. Lusardi was later caught after 2.7 million in counterfeit chips were discovered flushed down an Atlantic City hotel room toilet. The Borgata is now facing a class action lawsuit over the frozen tournament funds.
Earlier this week, Rosa Nguyen and her husband Vuong Trong were arrested for their part in a counterfeit chip operation at the Maryland Live! casino.
Chan Pelton Banned From All World Series of Poker Events and Properties After Taking Single Tournament Chip - Poker News