Welcome to Thunderdome

Posted: **Mon Apr 18, 2011 12:39 am**

Malcolm wrote:
The Feds made a big movement to close online poker.
Any reason why? Casinos bitching too much?

People were making money, and the Feds weren't getting a piece of the action.

Posted: **Mon Apr 18, 2011 3:19 am**

I suppose it is harder to tax those online things, what with all the politicians in D.C. bitching about whose party is holding shit up more. Christ forbid they do their job and, you know, legislate ... something that isn't self-serving.

Posted: **Mon Apr 18, 2011 7:45 am**

I'm just glad I am being protected from the temptation of online gambling. I am my own worst enemy, you know, and I need to be protected from, like, freedom.

Posted: **Wed Apr 20, 2011 4:43 pm**

Two companies refunding players.

Posted: **Wed Apr 20, 2011 5:01 pm**

Sweet. My friend called me when he heard about his on NPR. He'd cashed out a week before this stuff hit the fan.
I should get a little under 3k back. I had over 150 in loans out, which I don't even expect to see now.
If Absolute Poker (part of UltimateBet) pays back, that'll be sweet. I took $750 off there a couple months ago to get me under 1k, as I don't like or trust that site. I still don't trust them.

Originally Posted by Pokerstars.com
Statement from PokerStars – as at 20 April 2011 - 16:00 BST

PokerStars is pleased to confirm that the US Department of Justice has agreed to release the www.pokerstars.com domain name for use by PokerStars outside the US.

The company categorically denies the allegations brought by the US Department of Justice on 15th April 2011 and is taking all steps necessary to robustly defend itself, and the two named individuals. Meanwhile, the company has stopped offering real money poker services in the United States.

PokerStars' services outside the US are not affected. The Company has received assurance from the Isle of Man regulator that its licence status is unchanged. The company remains compliant with all of its other international licences.

Following discussions with the US Department of Justice, PokerStars has now entered into an Agreement which has been publicly filed. The US Department of Justice Agreement expressly states that the domain name can be used by PokerStars outside the US to facilitate the provision of real money poker services, and that PokerStars can pay out player balances to its former customers in the US.

Returning US players' funds is a top priority for PokerStars and the company can now start the process of returning money to its former US customers.

All PokerStars player deposits are completely safe. The Isle of Man's strict licensing laws (similar to other jurisdictions where PokerStars holds licences) require all funds to be held in accounts that are segregated from company assets. PokerStars has always complied with this requirement and continues to do so. This money is readily available to meet withdrawal demands, indeed the company continues to comply with withdrawal requests from players based outside the US as normal.

Outside the US PokerStars continues to operate business as usual.

Posted: **Tue Apr 26, 2011 7:21 pm**

PokerStars started allowing cash-outs today.
I had the most money on their site, so that's good news.

Posted: **Tue Apr 26, 2011 7:48 pm**

Paul wrote:PokerStars started allowing cash-outs today.
I had the most money on their site, so that's good news.

Maybe it's an IRS sting.

Posted: **Fri Jul 01, 2011 5:33 pm**

The #1 site has already paid everybody off (who requested a withdrawal), and they even paid off $ for points people accumulated (which netted me an additional $50... would have been $75 if I had just put a little more time in)

The #2 site, Full Tilt, has failed to pay people their money, so many of the pros they sponsor were cutting ties with them.
Phil Ivey, the #1 poker player in the world is *not* playing the Worlds Series of Poker this season because he's a Full Tilt player and this is his way of protesting. He's also suing the site.

On Wednesday Full TIlt was shut down by their licensing company.

This disheartened a lot of people. We're all pretty sure that it means that Full Tilt didn't keep player bankroll money in a separate account, like PokerStars did, so they can't pay players.

Yesterday therr was some hope. Full Tilt sold, which may allow them to pay off the American players who are in limbo.

Posted: **Mon Aug 15, 2011 12:56 am**

So the government shuts down the gambling sites because they're immoral and U.S. citizens shouldn't be free to spend their money however they want. (Right Obamacare supporters?)

Anyway, guess who wants to start online gaming sites to create revenue?

Posted: **Tue Sep 20, 2011 3:37 pm**

Full Tilt Poker was stealing money.

The prosecutor said that, as of March 31, Full Tilt Poker owed about $390 million to players around the world, including $150 million to U.S. players. But the company only had $60 million in bank accounts to pay them back.

Posted: **Tue Sep 20, 2011 5:26 pm**

All pokers sites are certified, but they go to different certification companies.
Some companies require that 100% of player money be held in a separate account. That way the site can write checks to everybody.
PokerStars did this. They paid everybody back fairly quickly.

Full Tilt's certification company allowed gaming sites to dip into player funds, and they can leverage up to the value of their company. So if Full Tilt was worth $500 million, then could take the $390 million and use it to run the site, sponsor events & TV shows, pay it out in promotions, sponsor players, etc. (A player named Chloe Gowin sued them for 1% of the company I think a few years ago, and back then I think she claimed it was was a billion dollar company).
Full Tilt had been trying to sell themselves. They had a deal for $300-something million dollars with a Danish company which would pay off all the players it owed and essentially give the company for free to the buyer, but that deal fell through.

Full Tilt has the best software in the business. They also had the most name recognition. But now, the name has been tainted.

If people got their money back I think they could pretty much pick up where they left it. I mean, everybody familiar with the company would know that it was under new management, and I'm sure they'd go through a company that required that 100% of player funds be saved.

Posted: **Tue Sep 20, 2011 10:58 pm**

Well, I Googled Full Tilt and found that the L.A. Times posted something similar.

AND they quoted my poker buddy Debi.
She was told it wasn't going to be published until tomorrow, so she was surprised.

Posted: **Wed Sep 21, 2011 2:07 pm**

Hey Paul, where were all the pros at this year's main event?

I didn't see Howard Leterer, Chris Ferguson, Annie Duke, Phil Ivey, etc? Or did they just all get knocked out early?

I just find it interesting that all of this is going on with Full Tilt and the other sites, and many of these big names seem to have disappeared from the public eye.

Posted: **Wed Sep 21, 2011 5:29 pm**

Daniel Negreanu played... with pride! His site (PokerStars) paid all of the American clients back and it still operates for non-Americans. Negreanu recently bought a place in Canada and flies there on occasion to play online.

Phil Ivey, the best player in the world, had a contract to support Full Tilt. He declined to play in any WSOP event this year as a form of protest against Full Tilt.

Phil Hellmuth played. He is the only player with 11 WSOP bracelets. He actually got 2nd place twice this year, getting bad beat in both to deny him another bracelet. I think he dropped Ultimate Bet as a sponsor though (they are a site that doesn't pay) and wears an Aria (the hotel) hat now.

Annie Duke is "good for a girl" but isn't that good of a player. I've actually played at the same table as her on Ultimate Bet during a tournament. She's an Ultimate Bet sponsor, and nobody expects to get their money back from that site. (I got lucky and pulled out $750 shortly before the site went down, so I only lost a few hundred I had left on there to tinker around with. I only deposited $50 on the site.)

I am pretty sure that Howard Lederer & Chris Ferguson (Full Tilt owners) both played in the Main Event. People don't like them much though.

Posted: **Wed Sep 21, 2011 11:04 pm**

Yeah, I know who everyone is, I just didn't know where they were unless they've been on ESPN's coverage.

That video implies Howard ran off to China with the money?

Posted: **Thu Sep 22, 2011 12:25 am**

I don't know about China. The video is several months old. I think he was just investing the money in China.

Posted: **Thu Oct 27, 2011 11:08 am**

Played poker last night for the first time in years in a neighborhood game.

$10 buy-in, escalating blinds, winner-take-all, 2nd gets his $ back.

It was the first escalating blind game I'd ever played. 4500 units of chips, stated at 5/10, and by the end it was 300/600.

Turns out most of the people played poker. Had either played in Vegas, or some local bigger games($50 - 100 buyins), or "for years" online, etc, so I was the noob at the table.

I had a lot of early luck, and doubled my stack in the first 15 minutes. Unfortunately, I went dry for a long, long time. Those escalating blinds really kill you. Finally, I was down to half of my original stack, and went all in with pocket rockets. 2 other players went all-in, but had smaller stacks than me, and one other player matched me. One of the short stacks won, but I won against the other player, and went back to original stack.

At that point, players finally started dropping out, and we went from 9 to 3 pretty quickly. At that point, i was short, but blinds were 200/400, and I was able to push some people around to buy blinds. Shortly afterward, went all-in against the other short stack. i think i had Q-10, and he had Q-6... I paired up the 10s and won.

At that point it was me versus the guy who clearly had the most experience... I was getting crap cards, went all in a few times, and he too, and neither of us bit. Finally, I went with J-5 suited, paired the 5s, then he paired up on the last card.

At any rate, if anyone's ever up for a DTMan game, I would be too. Weekdays 7/8pm+ are probably best for me.

Posted: **Thu Oct 27, 2011 11:42 pm**

Carbon Poker used to have a freeroll every night at around 8:00 (9:00 Central time... as they list it at central) most weeknights (Mon-Thurs I think).
I haven't played it in a long time.

For a more intimate game, PokerStars.net will let you create leagues, so only people in the league can play.

Posted: **Sun Oct 30, 2011 8:26 pm**

If we could do an online game (real or fake money, either way is cool with me) with group voice coms that could be fun. No individual voice coms of course, just group. Not as good as face-to-face, but more interesting than the usual online poker.

Posted: **Thu Dec 01, 2011 10:17 am**

Poker night again last night.

The rest of the players played really tight in the opening rounds, so I often stayed in for flops, and pushed people around, doubling up my stack again early. 10 players, and people started to drop out once blinds hit the 2.5%/5% range. Got down to 4 people, 3 went all-in, and I won with triples 3s (pair of 3s underneath, one flopped, beat 2 people with 2 pairs). Had about 80% of the chips against the remaining person. Had AJ unsuited, went all-in. He had Q-5... paired both the Q and the 5. Next hand, down to 60% of chips, went all-in with A-10... he had K-7, paired the 7s, so I was down to 20%. Went all in on something mediocre (J-7, I think?) he had Q-8, and I lost.

That game ended early so we played again, down to 7 people. For the first hour of the next game, I literally played 1 hand. I won enough to pay my blinds for the hour, but man it was boring (good thing UNC game was on TV). I then went in again with pocket 3s, and won with trip 3s. A couple of people stayed with me that shouldn't have, but figured I had just gotten bored sitting there so long and had crap.

At that point I was big stack, and was able to play it down again to the final 2, where I had about 65-70% of the chips. The game had gone fast, so blinds were still pretty small. After going back and forth for several hands, I was down to around 60-65% of the chips.

At that point, it was getting close to midnight, and I sure as hell didn't want to come in 2nd for the 3rd time in a row. So someone made a joke about closing up, or splitting, and I said "Yes, let's do that." The guy was like "You're winning, i was kinda kidding." and I said "True, but I'm tried of coming in 2nd, at least this way I can say I tied for 1st, no matter what." The pot was $70, so since I had bigger stack he gave me $40 ($30 winnings on $10 buy-in), and he took $30.