Manne wrote:
TOPS-Poker.org reported today that despite the government shutdown that caused millions of US-based poker players to have their account balances indefinitely placed in limbo at gaming websites like Absolute Poker, PokerStars, Ultimate Bet, and Full Tilt Poker, many of those same players are still optimistic while moving on to greener pastures. Even with only a small percentage of refunds being issued from the poker websites that agreed to never again accept US players for real-money gaming, websites like Lock Poker are still experiencing unprecedented growth on a daily basis.
"I am not permitted to talk about actual enrollment numbers or overall deposits at Lock Poker quite yet," said Kevin Hastings, a spokesperson with TOPS-Poker, "but it is safe to say that they are now the largest, most comprehensive online poker room in the world. The sheer amount of new sign-ups over the past few weeks has been tremendous and they've only reached about 20% of the total US market that was involved with online poker in the past."
While Hastings said that the sudden surge in business could be seen as nothing other than a positive for the executives at Lock Poker and similar websites, many of the online gaming sites that accepted US players only weeks ago have since decided to seek business elsewhere. Sportsbook Poker stopped accepting new accounts from Americans on May 1st, for example, although existing accounts are still free to play on their website without any limitations. Other online poker rooms have banned US-based players altogether in fear of another government shutdown, thinking that a proactive approach to pleasing the Department of Justice would save a lot of headaches in the long run.
"That's the thing about dealing with US laws when it comes to any form of online gambling," added Hastings on Thursday, "there's a strong push in Congress to legalize it at the Federal level so that the Atlantic City and Vegas-based casinos can swoop in and seize the entire market. It was a great plan for the big-money casinos to create yet another monopoly to line their pockets with....except that it completely backfired on them due to the timing."
In the near future, several more online poker rooms that cater to North America will begin their exit strategies as well, simply because they expect that new legislation will make it impossible for them to compete inside the US market. A recent study of Full Tilt Poker, for example, showed that the company has donated millions of dollars in prize money for various professional tournaments, sponsored hundreds of notable players inside the United States, and hosted several hit television shows to increase awareness of the sport.
"What happened to Full Tilt and the other banned online poker rooms is ridiculous," Hastings said. "They almost single-handedly created poker-mania across the nation and donated tens of millions of dollars to allow fans insider access...only to be thrown out like yesterday's trash. I bet those guys are laughing hysterically right now watching Lock Poker taking all of the business that these spoiled, self-serving US Casino owners thought they were naturally entitled to. I guess somebody should have told them that when you secretly screw over a few million poker players for the sake of an insider-like profit scenario, they tend to be a little angry over it."
Join:
2011/05/02
Messages:
2
Event #3 was won by Burak Temel, who claimed $14,176 and a ring for his victory in Event #3, the $355 buy-in No Limit Hold 'Em event. The online poker pro has made the move to the real world lately, grinding full-time in area card rooms and now on the tournament circuit. Second place went to 27 year-old PhD student in statistics, Oliver Entine, who got $8,757 for proving once again that it's more than just raw numbers when it comes to poker.