When I first read Full Shill Poker’s post suggesting a boycott of online poker rooms I thought it was the stupidest thing I read in the last week (sorry, no lifetime achievment award here). Then I started to think about it and it may make sense. In fact it may be brilliant.
One of my longstanding opinions on the sites that remained in the US is that they were in it as a cash grab. They knew the end was coming sooner or later and they decided that they were going to try to collect every last penny of rake they could before having to try their hand in the overseas markets. Despite all of their blustering not a single online poker site still operating in the US has made even the slightest public attempt to challenge the law. Yes, I know Raymer, Jesus and Lederer marched on Washtington last year but where have their voices been since the law has been passed?
If PokerStars actually believes that online poker is still legal why have they not challenged the law? Why are they not running ads blasting the hypocrisy of this law on every television station in the US? Why when I look through the news section on the Full Tilt website is there not even one press release condemning this law?
No, all you see are happy-happy emails telling you there’s nothing to see here and to ignore all of that rubbish about gambling being illegal. So, let’s hit them where it hurts! Let’s boycott online poker sites until they figure out this is more than just a way to make a quick buck. If they want our business they sure as hell better start acting like they care about US gaming laws.
From Midnight on February 8th (EST) through Midnight on Sunday February 11 (PST), do not play any internet poker.
These guys are making billions. They can afford to invest a few hundred million into an offensive blitz to get this law repealed. Poker players are on message boards trying to form PAC’s and raise chump change to fight it yet the guys making billions aren’t investing a dime. The PPA is as cash-strapped as ever and I’m sure they wouldn’t mind a nice check from Stars or Tilt that would allow them to hire more lobbyists.
Spread the word! Post this on your blog. Put it in the 2+2 forums. Post it on the Pocket 5’s forums. Link to it on Digg. Let’s give them a wake-up call and make them pull their weight in this battle!
Update:
Falstaff posted about the boycott on 2+2 and has gotten some interest.
I Dugg the story. Go and Digg it too!
Related posts:
- Why Affiliates Will Always Trump Online Poker Rooms Before I got into the online poker industry I...
- Online Poker and Data Mining Paul Nobles from Bluff takes a rather interesting look...
- Luckily my husband funds my online account – Where are all the women in poker? by Robyn G For my husband’s birthday about 5 years ago, I...
- Will the Economic Recovery Boost Online Poker? During the downturn that followed the banking collapse in...
- Viva Las Vegas – Legalized Online Poker in the US Several weeks ago in Amsterdam Jeremy Enke and I...
| Site | Rackback | Sign Up Bonus | US |
| Absolute Poker | 30% | 150% up to $500 |  |
| Ultimate Bet | 30% | 111% up to $1100 | |
| Cake Poker | 33% | 110% up to $600 | |
| PKR Poker | 30% | 100% up to $800 | |
| Paradise Poker | 30% | 200% up to €1,000 | |
| Players Only | 33% | 100% up to $650 | |
| Fortune Poker | 30% | 200% up to €1,000 | |
| Betfair | 30% | $1500 | |
| Aced | 30% | 100% up to $500 | |
| Poker Heaven | 30% | 200% up to €1000 | |
| Poker Nordica | 30% | 100% up to $200 | |
| Carbon Poker | 30% | 150% up to $1000 | |
| Red Star Poker | 33% | 110% up to $600 | |
| True Poker | 27% | 100% up to $200 | |
| Action Poker | 35% | 100% up to $2500 | |
| Cellsino Poker | 40% | 500% up to $500 | |
| Minted Poker | 40% | 100% up to $400 | |
| Power Poker | 33% | 110% up to $600 | |
| Interpoker | 30% | 200% up to €1000 | |
| Doyles Room | 33% | 110% up to $600 | |
| Gutshot Poker | 33% | 110% up to $600 | |
| Full Tilt Poker | 27% | 100% up to $600 | |
| Fat Bet Poker | 40% | 1000% up to €500 | |
| NoiQ Poker | 30% | 100% up to €5000 |
| Site | Rake Race | Rake Chase | Freeroll |
|---|---|---|---|
| Doyle's Room | $35,000 | ||
| Cereus Poker Network* | $7,500 | $10,000 | $10,000** |
| Cake Poker | $60,000 | ||
| Party Poker*** | $50,000 | ||
| Red Star | $23,000 | ||
| Eurobet*** | $21,000 | ||
| Players Only | $16,400 | ||
| Tower Gaming*** | $15,000 | ||
| Full Tilt Poker | $10,000 | ||
| Carbon Poker | $12,000 | ||
| Betfair Poker | $12,000 | ||
| Boss Media Network**** | $5,000 | ||
| Cellsino Poker | $5,000 | ||
| Power Poker | $5,000 | ||
| Poker Nordica | $5,000 | ||
| NoIQ | €1,500 |
* Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet (UB) ** May not be available to all players *** Poker Heaven, Fortune Poker, InterPoker, Paradise Poker
Hi, my name is Bill Rini and this is my poker blog. I've been blogging about poker and the poker industry since around 2003-ish. Like most people I started out playing poker as entertainment in home games whenever we wanted to sit around and smoke cigars, drink beer, and eat pizza, and needed a good excuse. I started playing online shortly after the first online card rooms opened and it wasn't long before I was playing 20, 30, or even 40 hours a week or more. One day I received a phone call about a program manager position at Tiltware which was the company that consulted to Full Tilt Poker on software development and marketing. After Tiltware I spent about 2.5 years working at Party Poker where I was the poker room manager.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Please keep up with the idea on my blog or on Full Shill. And maybe next time I can get a lifetime achievement award!
Not your biggest fan, Rini, but at least until now I thought you had a standard issue set of brain cells.
Anyone who asks questions like “Why are they not running ads blasting the hypocrisy of this law on every television station in the US?” is pathetically out of touch with the relevant laws and regulations, not to mention lacking even a rudimentary understanding of the political ramifications that such actions by foreign companies would cause us all to suffer.
Plonk goes your blog into the bin, Bill. Just don’t have time to read the rantings of the disconnected anymore (humorous as the may sometimes be) – some of us are too busy trying to accomplish a sea change.
I never claimed to have a standard issue set of brain cells.
I think this is an interesting idea but it won’t work. poker players are motivated by greed. Most players are not in it for the social aspect of sitting around in a dark room in their underwear.
The dates are bad as well because the coincide with the first three events of FTOPS. If there is going to be a boycott and there’s an overlay in those tournaments, players will play. Not to mention all the other guarantees that will look so juicy all of a sudden.
What might be a better idea is to get everyone to register for tournaments and then pull out at the last minute. And do this in all the big guarantees. This way the sites won’t know what hit them. Now they will have to actually pay out those big overlays. It’s hard to organize this way but this could be one hell of a strategy…
BTW: Your comment function does not work on Internet Explorer. The “Please add x and y” does not show up and when you try to submit it asks you to answer the question and erases your comment.