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April 2011

Wakeup Call for UB/Absolute Players and Affiliates

April 30, 2011 Is Online Poker Legal?

A very interesting article in the St. Petersburg Times detailing some of what has gone on behind the scenes at Absolute and UB. Tales of frustrated investors and suspicions about why the company founders were living luxurious lifestyles while profits are declining. It also should serve as a warning to players and affiliates that announcements [...]

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Getting a Cashout From PokerStars

April 27, 2011 Is Online Poker Legal?

It seems PokerStars has sorted out their policies on cashing out for US players. Perhaps signaling that this is truly the end for US players, you will need to cash out your entire account balance when you place your cashout request. Wire payments will be available for amounts over $50,000. All others will get paid [...]

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Do Some Promotions Violate Lottery Laws?

April 26, 2011 Is Online Poker Legal?

I was just thinking about this the other day but I remember some poker rooms running promotions where you earned tickets and then those tickets would enter you into drawings for prizes. I remember them specifically at Party because I helped design some of the promotions. But I’m pretty sure that other poker rooms have [...]

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F-Train’s Analysis – A Search for a Victim

April 25, 2011 Is Online Poker Legal?

I was reading F-Train’s analysis of the charges brought against Stars, Tilt, and Cereus and while 90% of the time I think he’s dead-on, this time I think he’s letting his emotions get in the way of seeing things from a practical point of view. In his piece The Search for the Real Victim he [...]

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Thinking About VPN’ing Poker? Think Again

April 23, 2011 Is Online Poker Legal?

My friend Michael who lives in Japan asked me to write this post because he keeps getting asked about this topic and he’s getting tired of answering the same question over and over. Michael is an American who relocated overseas pre-UIGEA for school and work and much like myself he knows all too well how [...]

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What Sites are Safe for US Poker Players?

April 22, 2011 Is Online Poker Legal?

First off, I want to say that there are no “safe” poker sites. Even Stars and Tilt were never safe as we’ve just seen in the past week. So asking about whether some small skin on a poker network is safe is somewhat pointless. All you can do is look at the risk and decide [...]

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The PPA is Pathetic

April 22, 2011 Is Online Poker Legal?

The PPA just sent me this email: I don’t know what universe the PPA lives in but the DOJ’s decision had nothing to do with any grassroots pressure generated from PPA members. Sixty-five thousands emails and letters is a blip for government agencies. That’s about .02% of the US population. That’s only 5% of the [...]

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Is PokerStars Delusional?

April 22, 2011 Online Poker

I just got this email the other day from PokerStars Really? Your competitors have all got you in the crosshairs and are pulling out every stop to steal your customers away and the best you can offer if 50% up to $200? I’ve said in previous posts that I think that what happened could be [...]

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Looking At Affiliates

April 21, 2011 Is Online Poker Legal?

When I was on 2+2′s Pokercast the other day and Mike and Adam asked me about the impact on affiliates. It was a tough one to answer on the spot and very difficult to answer in a podcast sort of format but I’ve been thinking about it and I wanted to at least scratch the [...]

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