The Poker Players Alliance, PPA, condemns the recent actions taken by the Southern District of New York. PPA released a statement where they express their ‘disappointment’ against the Southern District of New York because they seized an estimation of $30 million of online poker players’ money.

According to the PPA chairman and former N.Y. Senator Alfonse D’Amato the funds belong to law abiding poker players, not the operators of poker websites.

The Southern District has ordered three banks: Citibank, Goldwater Bank, and Alliance Bank of Arizona to seize the funds.

Online poker players have had tremendous trouble depositing and withdrawing money from several poker sites – like PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker – using the popular eChecks in recent days. These sites are not currently allowing the players to use eCheck at all.

Federal prosecutors recently asked four American banks, including Citibank and Wells Fargo, to freeze the accounts of two companies that “process payouts on behalf of” four poker sites, including PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker.

The amount of money that was frozen? “At least” $33 million dollars.

According to John Pappas, executive director of the PPA, this situation is currently impacting 27,000 players.

D’amato ensures that the players will get their funds. “We will continue to pursue every legal course available to ensure that in this instance, poker players’ funds are not seized and their right to play online poker is protected.”

“To that end, the PPA is coordinating a legal strategy to appropriately protect PPA members who are impacted by the Southern District’s actions. Further, the PPA has contacted the affected poker websites and has been informed that deposit and payout issues of players are being addressed and will be fully satisfied”, D’amato concludes.

Posted by Diana Sterling in Poker Articles, Poker News | No Comments » June 30th, 2009

After the US state rejected an $11bn tranche of cuts designed to ease its projected $25bn budget crisis, online poker in California has come another step closer.

The legalization of intrastate poker in California as a source of tax revenue, which is a framework bill being presented to stakeholders this week is supported by the rejection.

The bill could be worth US$250m a year in tax revenues to the state according to H2, the gambling data specialists.

“Legislators need to approve cuts by the end of this week or I would have to start issuing IOUs,” said John Chiang, California state controller.

Chiang further included, “The state’s inability to balance its cheque book will now mean short-changing taxpayers, local governments and small businesses.”

Bill Lockyer, the State treasurer is also planning to tap a reserve fund to meet debt service costs.

The view of the Poker Voters of America’s chief lobbyist Chris Gallardo gains credibility by the rejection of the cuts. He said the bill to legalize intrastate poker in California will be a “smooth sail” once stakeholders feedback on the proposal.

This week, Gallardo, the lead lobbyist for the grassroots lobbying group’s push in California informed that he thought online poker could help ease the pain to the governor and other state politicians by making cutbacks to essential programs.

Gallardo said America’s most populous state could be collecting tax revenues from online poker from as early as January 2010, with the California government able to file for temporary regulatory structures to push urgent initiatives through.

Adding further, he said, “When I worked in the California legislature, I saw bills drafted and passed in hours, because those issues were a priority for the state.”

GTech’s newly rebranded e-gaming arm G2 said it is confident of regulatory clearance while California-based CyberArts recently threw down the gauntlet to rival GTech ahead of the legal online poker.

Posted by Diana Sterling in Poker News | No Comments » June 30th, 2009

Over 500 seats have already been won by players on Full Tilt Poker for WSOP 2009. Players like the Mini Series of Poker, where they can get in on big tournament action with buy-ins of only 1/100th of the corresponding WSOP event.

Anyone who has been to the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas or watched the coverage on ESPN is aware that Full Tilt Poker always maintains a solid presence at the Series. In addition to the Team Full Tilt members and any number of other sponsored pros in the Full Tilt family, there are numerous other players wearing the gear and representing the site. How did they get there? The answer is obvious.

Full Tilt Poker.com is one of the online poker websites that awards the most seats to the various WSOP events throughout the summer, and the current year is no different. As of the penning of this article, Full Tilt has given away 519 seats to several events at the 2009 WSOP, including main event entries worth $10,000 each.

There are numerous ways to win said seats and travel to Las Vegas for the experience of a lifetime. Shootout tournaments run daily on Full Tilt Poker, and cash qualifiers are on the weekly schedule. But in the $10 Million Main Event Mania, there are events throughout the week that give players from all over the world the chance to win. And keep in mind that the $10 million refers to the amount of money that the main event winner will receive on top of the already hefty prize money if that person qualifies through Full Tilt and goes on to win the 2009 WSOP main event. A $10 million bonus!

With 519 seats to the WSOP already awarded and many more on the line in the coming weeks, it is now or never to win your trip to Las Vegas. The opportunity to participate in the most prestigious and exciting tournaments on earth is only a few clicks away.

Posted by Diana Sterling in Uncategorized | No Comments » June 29th, 2009

PokerStars has an innovative way to support National Poker Week (July 19-26), a drive by the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) encouraging supporters to send messages to the President and Congress backing Barney Frank’s initiatives to regulate online gambling and to repeal the UIGEA, and to also include support for the right to play games of skill, like online poker; which was the number one issue on technology policy on Obama’s Citizen’s Briefing Book website.

The petition reminds the President of the strong showing by online gambling patrons at Obama’s Citizens’ Briefing, an Internet site for US citizens to voice their concerns. Regulation and legalization of Internet gaming was voted the top issue in the technology category at the site.

The document asks that poker be specifically exempted from the UIGEA online gaming ban, and requests that Obama use his influence to protect the rights and liberties of US residents.

In an email invitation to PokerStars pro players from Greg “FossilMan” Raymer (2004 WSOP World Champion and PPA Board Member), PokerStars announced they will reward anyone who signs the poker petition by making petition signers eligible to participate in a $3,500 freeroll tournament on PokerStars. The petition will be presented to President Obama on July 22.

Prize pools of $3,500 will be awarded to the finishers of the freerolls. Each tournament is limited to 20,000 players. The freerolls take place each Saturday between June 27-July 25 at 14:30 ET.

Registrants will receive a ticket to be eligible to play in one of the special PPA Petition Freerolls at PokerStars.com.

Another piece of good news is that in further support efforts to contact Congress during National Poker Week, PokerStars will send an email during the week of July 12, and anyone who sends a letter to their Senator or Representative will receive a ticket to a special $10,000 freeroll to be held on PokerStars.

Posted by Diana Sterling in Poker Articles, Poker News | 1 Comment » June 25th, 2009

The PPA is attempting to take the next step in its ongoing mission to lobby for the legalization of online poker by announcing its newest promotion.

PPA National Poker Week will take place July 19-25, and the grassroots organization is stepping up its efforts by going directly to Washington D.C. and talking to members of Congress.

The group will send more than 30 State Directors and at least six professional poker players to D.C. The PPA representatives will meet with members of congress and lobby for legalization and regulation of online poker.
“Our members – the poker players of America – are our best advocates to protect the future of poker,” said PPA Chairman and former U.S. Senator Alfonse D’Amato said.

“National Poker Week, with events in Washington, D.C., and across the country, is the PPA’s way to make it clear to my former colleagues in the U.S. Congress that poker is important to voters and is here to stay.”

The PPA will also send a petition to President Obama asking for his support to make poker exempt from the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA).

Throughout National Poker Week the PPA will organize telephone and email promotions aimed at making the voice of the poker player heard in the halls of Congress.

Pros scheduled to go to Washington D.C. include Howard Lederer, Andy Bloch, Annie Duke, Jan Fisher, Linda Johnson and Dennis Phillips.

“Protecting Americans’ right to play poker – whether online or around the poker table – is something everyone should support even if you don’t play,” Lederer said.

“Restricting what we can do online in the privacy of our own home is a slippery slope, which is why I am coming to Washington for National Poker Week – to tell my members of Congress to protect my rights.”
The PPA will also host a charity poker tournament on July 21, benefitting the USO and the Malone House at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Wounded servicemen and women will be playing alongside poker pros, PPA’s State Directors, and members of Congress. All proceeds from the event go directly to the USO.

Posted by Diana Sterling in Poker Articles, Poker News | No Comments » June 24th, 2009

Phil Ivey defeated a strong field of 376 players to win the $2,500 Omaha high-low/seven-card stud high-low split Event 25, his seventh WSOP bracelet and his second this Series. He now is tied for sixth all-time with Billy Baxter and is just one behind Erik Seidel.

Ivey actually cracked a smile after winning his seventh bracelet.

“It’s nice to catch people,” Ivey told Nolan Dalla. “This is poker history, as you like to say. And so, to have the chance to catch someone like Erik who is (fifth) in the bracelets, to get into his category would be nice.”

Ivey joins Brock Parker as the only double-bracelet winners in 2009. Ivey also won Event 8; an accomplishment that hasn’t happened in Las Vegas since 2006 when Bill Chen and Jeff Madsen accomplished the feat. Ivey was the last player to win three bracelets during one WSOP, a feat he managed in 2002. Ivey’s daily presence at the WSOP this year has been a change from years’ past and with his dominating performance this summer, who can say that a third bracelet is out of the question? Ivey is more confident than ever heading into Sunday’s WSOP events.

If winning a WSOP final table wasn’t hard enough, Ivey was also playing in another event at the same time. During breaks from his attempt for his seventh bracelet, Ivey was playing in the $5,000 pot-limit Omaha high-low Event 27. After accumulating chips during earlier breaks, Ivey was being blinded out while he played at the final table and made his last stand just a few players before the money bubble. Ivey finished 22nd out of 198 players in that event … that he didn’t even focus on! Ivey has done a lot in the poker space, but reaching the final table in that event would’ve been a new one.

Ivey won $220,538 for the victory and when he was asked when would he get started on No. 8, he simply said, “Tomorrow.”

Other notable finishers include Blair Rodman (11th), Chad Brown (14th), Gavin Smith (23rd) and Hoyt Corkins (40th).

Posted by Diana Sterling in Uncategorized | No Comments » June 22nd, 2009

Overheard and confirmed. Political geeks are in luck. Not only is it rumored – and close to being 100% confirmed – that Rep. Barney Frank will be visiting the 2009 WSOP on July 5 to do a little “shuffle up and deal” business, but other political figures and friends of poker will be arriving on Monday, June 22.

PPA Chairman and former NY Senator Alfonse D’Amato will be gracing the Rio on Monday for a yet-to-be-announced morning press conference. After he is scheduled to join Nevada Rep. Shelley Berkley for Monday’s “shuffle up and deal” honors, D’Amato will then look for his seat, as he will be playing in Event 43, the $1K Seniors NLHE tournament, starting at noon.

Fully understanding that the likelihood of D’Amato going deep in this tournament is slim, seeing him at a WSOP final table would definitely rock the worlds of poker aficionados.

Other participants include John Pappas, Executive Director of PPA and professional players which are yet to be announced. The Rio All Suites Hotel and Casino, Pavilion Area, Pavilion 11, is chosen to be the venue, located in the WSOP main hallway Las Vegas, Nevada.

The priority would be to educate lawmakers about the number of concerned poker supporters, who have issues with existing US government policy toward poker.

Sherman Bradley, the OCA gambling analyst says, “A united response to such moves as the Department of Justice’s seizure of bank accounts holding payments to online poker players will be effective, if poker pro players all speak together.”

According to him, the more visible, vociferous, and noticeable the poker playing patrons of the US become, the harder it will be to ignore their political will.

National Poker Week will be a time for poker players to unite and make their voices heard.

Posted by Diana Sterling in Poker Articles, Poker News, WSOP | No Comments » June 21st, 2009

888 has announced the launch of their eagerly anticipated Pacific Poker Rewards Program, an industry ground breaking loyalty scheme which ultimately earns 888.com online poker players substantial cash backs every single time they play a hand at multi award winning Pacific Poker.

888 clients automatically receive these new reward points when they play any money game on the site, so there is no need for customers to fill in any forms or even to apply for the Pacific Poker Rewards Program – players just visit the site, log in and play their usual games – but now every hand is worth more.

Rewards points can also be used to enter many of the daily and weekly online poker tournaments at Pacific Poker and before long Pacific Poker.com players will be able to exchange their rewards points for merchandise such as iPods or high definition flat screen televisions at the soon to be launched Pacific Poker online shop.

Players will also be placed into new status groups; which groups players are placed into depends on how much they play with Pacific Poker.

There are six statuses to climb in the Pacific Poker Rewards Program beginning at Bronze and moving onto Silver, Gold, Platinum, VIP and VIP Diamond. The higher the status group the more reward points are earned – for example, when a player reaches the Gold Status he receives 4.5 reward points for every status point he collects. Once in Platinum status the same player will earn 9 reward points for every status point.

Players will be able to see how many status points and reward points they have at any given moment, and in addition they will be able to track their status points accumulation by viewing the Status Progress Bar at the actual poker tables. The new Rewards Program supersedes the old Frequent Player Points scheme.

Posted by Diana Sterling in Poker Articles, Poker News | No Comments » June 19th, 2009

Your shot at poker stardom and a multi-million dollar payday can be won this week at DoylesRoom where they are running daily qualifiers to this weekend’s WSOP Finals A and B.

Doyles Room WSOP Qualifiers Series A is the big event where one in ten players will win a $13,000 WSOP package. The package includes daily satellites worth $9+1 Turbo and $20+2 Qualifiers feed to Friday Final. The Friday Final A starts 3:20pm EST with buy in of $130+10 (re-buy) feeds to WSOP Final A. The Saturday WSOP Final A begins 3:00 EST with buy in worth $1,300+100 (re-buy).

The package details of WSOP Qualifiers Series B are similar to that of WSOP Qualifiers Series A; just that the Friday time is 10:15pm EST and Saturday time is 9:30pm EST.

Other poker rooms can give you a seat and a plane ticket, but only DoylesRoom.com can put you one on one with the Legend for the poker experience of a lifetime.

The highlights of the Main Event include 10,000 Main Event Seat, $3,000 cash for VIP travel and accommodations, Private Strategy session with the #1 poker educator in the world, Mike “The Mad Genius” Caro, Private dinner with Doyle and Team Brunson VIPs, Full access at all Team Brunson and DoylesRoom Events, Personally autographed Super System 1 and 2 leather bound two-book set and Complete package of Team Brunson apparel and gifts.

DoylesRoom is outdoing themselves once again by offering a first time steps progression tournament series where 50% of each series moves on to the next level. Unlike other poker rooms that award progression seats to the top 1 or 2 players, Doyles Room wants everyone to be a winner at this year’s WSOP!

The Coin Flip Series offers both tournament and heads up feeders. The tournament feeders progress every 2 hours throughout the day offering a direct satellite ticket to the big show every night at 10pm ET. To skip ahead of the action, look under sit ‘n go to find a Coin Flip series running now for as little as $6.50! Use your series 7 winning ticket to play in the $455 feeder every Sunday at 4pm ET.

Winning your $13,000 WSOP 2009 Main Event seats are not only easier on DoylesRoom, but it’s also more rewarding!

Every WSOP main event seat comes with the Doyle Brunson Experience; meet the Legend, get one on one lessons from his long time poker buddy Mike Caro and be showered with DoylesRoom gifts and gear when you get to Vegas.

More WSOP 2009 Online Satellites!

Posted by Diana Sterling in Poker Articles, Poker News, Poker Tournaments, WSOP | No Comments » June 17th, 2009

The latest action by the US Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York against US online gambling cash processors could have a beneficial side-effect on Euro-centered online poker operations such as Party Poker and Playtech iPoker Network, reports The Times newspaper in the UK.

The newspaper quoted Deutsche Bank analysts who pointed out that US-active online poker companies like PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker are the real targets for the actions against the processors. One of the major advantages these sites have over their European-focused rivals is the continued, if risky, access to a huge US market still playing despite the UIGEA.

This gives the US-facing sites greater player liquidity and the ability to mount more aggressive promotional and marketing initiatives, attracting many European and Asian players to their action.

However, should those legions of American players become insecure or concerned about their deposits in PokerStars or Full Tilt, and be “forced off the Web” by this sort of enforcement action, it could mean that the liquidity advantage would decrease, and European and Asian players would gravitate back to the non-US operators where there was less hassle and risk.

Deutsche Bank analysts said: “If this action is the start of a bigger move by US authorities to clamp down on those sites, then this should be materially beneficial for the next-largest providers of poker liquidity, Playtech and PartyGaming, as we would expect to see non-US players migrating away from PokerStars and Full Tilt.”

The analysts pointed out that the current action, which involves about $33 million in deposits belonging to some 27,000 players being frozen, was not in and of itself critical in a financial sense to major companies like PokerStars and Full Tilt. However, “….player trust is critical and you don’t need to freeze all player funds in order to have a material impact on confidence and liquidity. Even if this doesn’t lead to a full crackdown, anything which affects the players’ confidence in the US-facing sites is a clear positive for the listed online poker operators in our view”, the bank said.

The market seemed to have been of the same view this week, with shares in the big European online poker groups going up between 5 and 6% as news of the US enforcement action sank in.

Posted by Diana Sterling in Poker Articles, Poker News | No Comments » June 13th, 2009