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Bill's Poker Blog
Blogging About Poker Since 2546 
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Last updated by at .
I want to preface this article by saying that as one of the first people to join the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) when the group was founded back in 2005, I feel they have done a terrific job on a number of fronts for the poker community, perhaps the most important of which was the [...]
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First off, I want to say that as far as I know I’ve only met Joe Sebok once a few years back at the WPBT event at Imperial Palace. He came with Barry Greenstein who was speaking before the tournament and we said “Hi, nice to meet you” or some other rather impersonal exchange. I [...]
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“I triple guarantee you, there are no American soldiers in Baghdad.” Starting with the UB and Absolute Poker scandals this company has about as much credibility as the former Iraqi Information Minister. I mean, have they ever been straight with the public about anything? How long did they deny any funny business going on at [...]
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Looks like law enforcement in Costa Rica has been very busy lately. Not sure of the exact order of the raids but supposedly the Organismo de Investigaciones Judiciales (OIJ) raided the Absolute and UB offices as well as the home of Scott Tom and took Tom’s girlfriend. They even raided the home of Olman Rimola’s [...]
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I’m continuing my conversation with Jeremy Enke. Jeremy is the founder of the largest poker affiliate forum in the industry at PokerAffiliateListings.com. Jeremy has been a poker affiliate and consultant within the online poker industry since 2004. Check out Part I of Black Friday, Affiliates and Other Stuff with Jeremy Enke Do you recommend diversifying [...]
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Online poker is illegal in the US! There, I said it. The PPA is never going to say it. The online poker sites are never going to say it. And many players and industry people have repeated the “online poker is not illegal” mantra for so long that many people have begun to believe it. [...]
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Whenever big events happen in the online poker industry I try to reach out to people who I respect and might have some insights not necessarily being presented in the news. Most of the time the people I speak with don’t want to go on record and don’t really even want me to share much [...]
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We’ve had a few weeks to see how each of the indicted online poker sites would handle themselves in a crisis and I think it’s been long enough that one can grade their performance. Below I’ve given each poker site a grade and explain why they received the grade. PokerStars C- While PokerStars was not [...]
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I had long ago changed over my player account on Full Tilt to my overseas address but had forgotten that there was even a physical address associated with affiliate accounts. I received the following: Dear Affiliate, We regret to inform you that due to recent actions by the U.S. government, Full Tilt Poker is still [...]
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Wanted to show a little link love to some people who have written some really great stuff recently. First off, Dr. Pauly (don’t call him Paul) has a bit of a rant about PokerStars stiffing him. Seems he received a form letter saying that affiliates will not be paid on US players they sent in [...]
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A lot of this is still in the rumor phase but this blog isn’t exactly the New York Times or anything and some supposedly official statements confirm what is being discussed on 2+2 and elsewhere. According to Gambling911, UB/Absolute have released the following statement via their Public Relations Department: Absolute Poker and UB ceased their [...]
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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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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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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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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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About Bill’s Poker Blog 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.
After Party Poker I spent two years living in Thailand and travelling around South East Asia. I'm currently working at the World Poker Tour in Irvine, Ca. working on exciting projects taking online poker to the next level. More about Bill Follow Me Around The WorldA semi-complete list of my travels |
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