Marketing Code for PokerStars

Las Vegas Sands Chairman Sheldon Adelson surprised some online casino gambling advocates by publicly announcing that he does not support online poker. Adelson is the richest casino executive in the world, as he heads the Sands (the largest publicly traded casino-related company in the world). His position in the industry means that his words carry a lot of weight.

If you consider that Adelson has been a supporter of the Republican Party for a while, perhaps this statement isn’t all that surprising. He supports Arizona Senator Jon Kyl, who clearly does not support online casinos for USA players at all. This was seen a few years ago when he helped pass the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), the first of many problems for online poker in the USA.

However, the puzzling thing regarding his statement is the fact that many other people in the industry believe that there is a lot to gain from regulating gambling in the United States. It also contradicts an article that was run in the New York Post that specified Adelson being in support of online poker at the federal level.

It seems that Adelson’s main concern with online gambling stems from… READ MORE

The Department of Justice targeted a number of people on Black Friday, and two of them have chosen to defend themselves in a very interesting way. In an attempt to have their charges dismissed, Chad Elie and John Campos will be arguing that poker is a skill game.

Both men are being charged for money laundering in addition to their other very serious offenses. Elie has a total of nine charges against while Campos has six. They are hoping that the opinion that poker is a skill game will help them overturn some of these charges. In order for things to go their way, they will need to convince a federal judge of this view. Neither man was able to evade authorities after Black Friday as both of them were arrested on April 19th earlier this year.

Campos was the Vice Chairman of SunFirst Bank in Utah. He is accused of aiding the processing of payments for both Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars. If you were a poker player living in the United States, it’s a safe bet that you played on Full Tilt or PokerStars since a William Hill Poker download was not possible.

Elie, a businessman, was… READ MORE

Online poker players in the U.S. saw their lives change dramatically on Black Friday as their ability to play on the three biggest online poker rooms (PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Ultimate Bet/Absolute Poker) was taken away from them. The livelihood of many of these players was stripped away, leaving them to question how they would be paying their bills. Because most of the other sites available in the U.S. have terrible player traffic, the option became clear for some of these players: move abroad.

Moving out of your country is not an easy thing to do. You have to understand the immigration policy of the country you intend on temporarily relocating to, and then you must find a place to live. If you plan to play on PokerStars once relocated rather than a Party Poker download, your next task will then be to provide proof that you are maintaining a residence in another country. Poker Refugees was made to help you with these things.

Poker Refugees is a service run through PocketFives, a site that ranks tournament players on biggest poker sites. You must pay a one time fee of $1,000 in order to receive their services.… READ MORE

Lawyers for Full Tilt have responded to accusations by the U.S. Department of Justice that they have been running a “global Ponzi scheme.” Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara, unleashed a verbal salvo at the ailing site, claiming they “were not a legitimate poker company.”

His comments followed an amendment to the DoJ’s original civil complaint against Full Tilt, adding in accusations that they had swindled $300 million away from their customers. Unlike PokerStars, Full Tilt did not have separate funds ring-fenced in order to pay back their customers. When the FBI froze the company’s operating assets, Full Tilt had no reserves of cash to refund player deposits. Turning many of their players away from cards and towards online video poker.

This is now agreed to have been bad business practice, but the more chilling claim is that, over the past few years, Full Tilt’s directors have used player deposits to pay themselves more than $444 million. Among those named are us friendly poker sites veterans Chris Ferguson and Howard Lederer, who have now been added to the official court filing.

Iam Imrich, a lawyer for Full Tilt, argues that the company have been… READ MORE

A month after April’s Black Friday, it became clear that Full Tilt Poker weren’t going to refund their customers. Since then, it’s been hard to get a statement from the formerly buoyant online poker company. Missives that emerged were little more than reassurances and empty promises. Now, finally, the site has unveiled an announcement with a little more meat.

Sadly, it’s not to herald the arrival of new investors or to confirm that repayments are en route. Instead, Full Tilt offer to explain why they haven’t had the funds to pay back trapped money owed to their players.

“As is obvious from the events that have transpired since April 15th, Full Tilt Poker was not prepared for the far-reaching, US government enforcement effort of Black Friday. Full Tilt Poker never anticipated that the DOJ would proceed as it did by seizing our global domain name and shutting down the site worldwide.”

First in line for blame is the U.S. government. Fingered for not only the $115 million seized from us poker sites during Black Friday, but another unspecified sum taken from payment processors in late 2010. Full Tilt covered this lost cash with their own supplies, shielding the players… READ MORE

Poker players have made several indiscretions since Black Friday as the online poker best have been in a state of disruption and change. Turmoil and drama has been rampant, and stories of unethical situations have unfortunately surfaced as a result. A good example of all of the above is the story of Jose “Girah” Macedo.

Macedo received the spotlight thanks to a claim that he went from being extremely poor to an online millionaire in no time at all. Dubbed the Portuguese Poker Prodigy, he allegedly used a single €30 deposit and went from $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold’em cash games all the way up to $100/$200 No Limit Hold’em. It was an impressive story indeed, and both Daniel “jungleman” Cates and Haseeb “DogIsHead” Qureshi had only good things to say about him and his game.

Apparently due to lawyer instruction, Macedo wasn’t willing to tell anyone the screen names he used in online poker rooms. This didn’t cause him many problems, however, because a few high stakes players said they would bet thousands of dollars with anyone who was skeptical of Macedo’s story.

Soon Macedo was made a Lock Poker Pro, but this is where things get… READ MORE

For years, the Poker Players Alliance has been the only major lobbying group in poker. With the unveiling of FairPlayUSA – a non-profit campaign group dedicated to the legalization of us friendly poker sites – that looks set to change.

“TELL CONGRESS IT’S TIME FOR FAIR PLAY,” announces their website. “The status quo is unacceptable. Americans who want to play poker online deserve a strictly regulated, safe industry here in the United States. Parents must be assured their children cannot gamble online. American consumers must be protected.”

Strong words. And they have some strong board members to back up those claims. The most recognizable is Greg Raymer, the former WSOP champ who also serves on the board of the PPA. Also included is Tom Ridge, the former Governor of Pennsylvania  and Secretary of Homeland Security. Parry Aftab, an internet safety expert, rounds out the advisory panel.

“It’s time for Congress to address the problems associated with offshore Internet gambling and give law enforcement the tools to crack down on illegal sites that offer all forms of online casino gambling. And it’s time for Congress to ensure the integrity and safety of online poker,” reads the FairPlayUSA mission statement.… READ MORE

The future of Full Tilt is hanging by a thread. The strength of that cord is set to be tested by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission, who have called a public hearing to discuss the matter in two weeks time. Last month the AGCC suspended Full Tilt’s operating license, essentially shutting down the entire site.

Full Tilt have been based on the island for a number of years, but in the words of the AGCC, failed “to satisfy the AGCC that its activities inside and outside the US were in order.”

Following raids and accusations by the U.S. Department of Justice, Full Tilt have been under intense international scrutiny. Unlike their long time rivals, the PokerStars Download, they are yet to pay back customers with cash stuck in online accounts. A number of their executives have been arrested and high profile pros with a stake in the business are keeping a low profile.

Alderney is part of the Channel Islands, located of the coast of the Great Britain and a British Crown Dependency. A lot of online poker best sites are located in similar locations. The AGCC have chosen to hold their hearing in London on July 27.… READ MORE

People around the world were shocked when they found out that Phil Ivey took action against Tiltware, known for offering some of the online poker best games around. The former Full Tilt pro is asking for $150 million to cover the money he has lost due to damage to his reputation.

The problems have been rampant with Full Tilt ever since Black Friday. Their recent problems stem from the issue that their American players have not been paid back even though they allegedly reached an agreement with the Department of Justice. PokerStars players were paid back weeks ago, which makes the situation even worse for this download free poker site.

Ivey is unhappy with the way the site has handled the problems. Moreover, he has said that his “name and reputation have been dragged through the mud” thanks to “inactivity and indecision”.

In support of his efforts, we will not see Ivey in any WSOP event in 2011. He brought up the fact that since many Americans have money trapped on Full Tilt, they are unable to compete in WSOP events. He feels that it is morally wrong for him to play when so many fellow players can’t.… READ MORE

There’s news of a shake up at the Poker Players Alliance, with Rich Muny becoming Vide President of Player Relations. Rich is best known in the online poker community under the handle of TheEngineer2008. He has become a permanent fixture on both Twitter and 2+2, regularly advising and encouraging players on a variety of legal issues.

With the events of Black Friday still looming large, liaising with players has become even more important for the PPA. The situation for US friendly poker sites is increasingly unclear. Even live home games can sometime walk a fine line between legality and illegality.

The primary function of the PPA is to represent poker players in Washington. To do that, they need to know what issues are concerning U.S. players. Muny had been unofficially collecting that information for some time. In addition, he had taken it upon himself to relay important updates from the PPA about their lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill.

In addition to his new role, Muny continues to sit on the PPA board of directors, tasked with defining the outlook and strategy of the lobbying group. Chairman Alfonse D’Amato commented on Rich’s appointment in a statement released last week.

“Through… READ MORE