An interesting article!
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=physics-of-texas-hold-em-poker
All posts by Robert Medl
Online Gambling Explosion
Information Week’s March 29 article on online gambling is a must-read. It provides an excellent summary of the major events in the industry over the last few years, and contains some interesting insights into where the industry may be headed in the near future.
Tidbits from the article:
- Online gaming appears to nearing its pre-UIGEA levels.
- A U.S. court has ruled that the Wire Act of 1961 — the law on which the U.S. government bases much of its online gambling policy — only applies to online sports betting.
- The UIGEA makes it explicitly legal for states to regulate online gambling that may occur within their borders.
NETeller Exits More Markets
Canada and Turkey are the latest markets that NETeller will no longer serve.
I wonder how they are going to stay in business?
G-Fed Casinos now CGTV Casinos
CGTV acquired G-FED, and rebranded all of the former G-FED casinos as CGTV casinos. These casinos are no longer available to US players, offer multiple languages and currencies, and have some of the lowest-stakes games of any online casino.
NETeller Update for US Customers
Today, NETeller issued a press release that stated (in part) “that within the next 75 days it will announce a plan by which funds will be distributed to US customersâ€.
Just to make sure everyone understands, it has been two months since NETeller stopped servicing US customers. And now it will be two and a half more months before they announce a plan to pay us. I suspect that the plan will involve another 90 days before we get paid.
So let’s see… what’s 5% interest on the millions that they have in their coffers that they owe to us? I bet it is enough to pay for their legal troubles, at least.
Help to keep online poker legal in the US
I was skeptical when I saw the formation of the Poker Player’s Alliance about 18 months ago. Their goal is “.. to promote the game, ensure its integrity, and, most importantly, to protect poker players’ rights.â€.
Yeah, right. Good luck.
But I now think that they may be on to something. They have named former senator Alfonse D’Amato as Chairman of the Board of the organization. Getting someome like him to lead the charge — someone who knows the ins-and-outs of Congress, and who still may be able to call in a few outstanding favors — is a real score.
Do your part and help fud the efforts of the PPA — and get some bonus cash at the same time. Here’s how.
- Open a new Full Tilt Poker account, or log into your existing account
- Follow these instructions to join the PPA through the Full Tilt Poker cashier. If you join PPA at the $20 level, Full Tilt Poker will give you a $50 bonus + a freeroll entry; joining the PPA at higher levels gets you better goodies from Full Tilt Poker.
US players can also play in special PPA Membership Drive $500 freerolls at PokerStars in exchange for allowing them to share your contact information with the PPA. The PPA will send you more information, and you can decide to join at a later time.
Barney Frank to Work to Repeal UIGEA?
While there is no draft of a repeal, nor is there a timeline for creating said draft, Congressman Barney Frank (D) has stated publicly that he thinks the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 is one of the “stupidest laws†ever passed. (Source: Financial Times, Companies UK: The Week, Mar 17 2007. Subscription required to read article.)
Maybe this is the beginning of the end to all the hassles with online gaming in the United States. I sure would like to see things get back to normal again!
EcoCard e-wallet on the rise
EcoCard is an e-wallet solution available to all players and is gaining in popularity. There are now a handful of online casinos that accept all US-based real-money players and accept EcoCard for deposits and withdrawals. As of this writing, here is the current list of Microgaming online casinos that accept EcoCard and that accept all players from all states (as well as from many other countries, of course). My personal recommendation: All Jackpots Casino with their bonus offer of Buy $50 Get $200 FREE.
New eWallet Coming in March
I’ve already signed up for an account at YouTeller, anticipating that they will capture a large part of the market that was left underserviced by NETeller’s withdrawal from the United States market last month.
Read more about how YouTeller is going to service the United States market in their press release.
NETeller Announcement
Effective immediately, NETeller can no longer be used by US account holders at online gaming sites. This announcement follows a similar announcement by Firepay in October 2006.
This announcement should come as no surprise, given that:
- the NETeller Group is a publicly-traded company that needs to protect its shareholders and executives from prosecution under the UIGEA
- the US detained two former NETeller executives earlier this weekÂ
In fact, if you read my blog, you’ll see that I outlined why the clock was ticking for NETeller back in November 2006.
In any event, NETeller exiting the gaming market for US account holders will be a temporary roadblock for US players. If recent history is any guide — and it should be — US players will quickly find a way to play the games the want, at the stakes they want, at any site that will accept them.