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UseMyWallet Closes by Court Order

A popular electronic wallet, Quick Tender, otherwise known as UseMyWallet has been shut down indefinitely. Quick Tender was used by many online poker and casino players based out of the US to fund their online poker and online casino accounts. They made a formal announcement via their website and sent out a more personal email to their users.

The website notice stated, “With regret, the Quicktender service has been discontinued. All account holders will be notified by e-mail.”

More detail was disclosed in the email to account holders. The company suggested that they were forced to close down by court order and that bank accounts were frozen.

The email read:

“Further developments specifically relating to our main bank processing company have resulted in our accounts being frozen subject to a seizure order giving us no ability to make payments in any currency.

“In light of these developments we have had no option but to discontinue the Quicktender service with immediate effect and for the foreseeable future. At this time we are unable to confirm when or if we could make payments of remaining balances.”
Just days after the US Department of Justice seized another 10 domains and forced the closure of two online betting companies via more indictments handed down for illegal gambling operations and money laundering, Quick Tender is yet another victim.

The DOJ had served two indictments that closed down Canada’s ThrillX and Cyprus’ BMX Entertainment, the owners of the 10 online websites that shut down including DoylesRoom.com, TruePoker, BetEd, and GoldenArchCasino.com, among others. In addition, 11 bank accounts based in Charlotte, North Carolina; Malta; Panama; Guam; and Portugal were seized.

Lock Poker Picks Up 3 Poker Pros for their Pro Team

One online poker room who has not been affected negatively by the events of last month is Merge Network’s Lock Poker. In fact, they’ve only grown since Black Friday, accepting all the misplaced US players who were forced out of Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars. Yes, Lock Poker is one of the few online poker sites that still accepts US players.

Now in an effort to continue growth and reinvest in the brand, Lock Poker has hired a couple new pros to represent them at live events, specifically the upcoming World Series of Poker, where there will be very little Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars gear on display, and no paid gear for Absolute Poker or UB.com, as they let their entire pro team go since April 15th.

New to the Lock Poker team are Brian “PrimodialAA” Pellegrino, Michael “bigguylegend22” Drummond, and Casey “Bigdogpckt5s” Jarzabek.

Pellegrino is known for his mid to high stakes game. He took eighth place at the 2009 WSOP Heads Up Championship, which paid him nearly $100K. In addition, he’s won more than $180K in other live tourney winnings and another $88K from online tournaments.

Twenty-four-year-old Drummond, from New Hampshire, won more than $90K playing on Lock Poker alone in April and is also the winner of the Bluff Poker Challenge. Drummond commented, “I actually just got on Lock Poker earlier this month and it’s been awesome. I’ve been getting a ton of action and running well, which is always a deadly combination. The software is great, customer support is fast, and I look forward to continuing to play on this site.”

Jarzabek has become an online poker sensation, earning more than $4.2 million in online tourney winnings. He’s also been ranked number one by many online poker publications. He says, “I can’t quite tell you just how thrilled I am to be joining the Lock team. I am truly pumped to be working with such dedicated and motivated people. It is an exciting time for Lock Poker right now, as its exploding on the poker scene. And I get a front row seat. I couldn’t have asked for or been given a better opportunity.”

US Players Still Allowed to Play for Real Money at Absolute Poker for Now

Despite the fact that AbsolutePoker.com and UB.com were both seized by the FBI on April 15th (otherwise known as Black Friday) and the CEREUS Network agreed to prohibit US players from playing on their site, US players have still been playing for real money there.

This was reported and confirmed by Pokerscout, online Internet poker tracker, which has reported players showing up on the CEREUS tables from cities such as Bakersfield, Cincinnati, Chicago, Minnetonka, and Colorado Springs making real money bets on both Absolute Poker and UB.com.

This is in direct violation of the agreement they made on May 4th that sated: “Absolute Poker agrees that for the duration of the agreement, it will not allow for, facilitate, or provide the ability for players located in the United States to engage in playing poker for ‘real money’ or any other thing of value.”

But, those players who were already active with the software already downloaded (prior to April 15th) have still been able to log on and play by bypassing the seized domain sites and accessing the online gambling server directly.

Pokerscout suggests that “Cereus would not only be in breach of contract, but would also potentially face fraud and other charges for signing a contract it had no intention of following.”

However, the agreement did allow for a 45-day grace period that would allow for ample time to comply with 10 days allotted to correct any mistakes that may occur. So technically they aren’t breaking any rules and are not likely to be held responsible for the extended play on US players on their network. They are probably just waiting until the very last minute to dismiss online poker players from their network, as they need all the business they can get in the mean time, as they have suggested that they will file bankruptcy.

Million Dollar Slot Winner Jumps from Pier

A sad story out of New Jersey tells of the suicide of a one-time slots winner, 43-year-old John Leatherman, who jumped to his death of a pier this week. The Neptune and Bradley Beach police answered a 911 call about a curios man in the water near Ocean Grove Fishing Pier who the caller thought was in some sort of trouble. As it turns out, the man in the water was decapitated Leatherman who had apparently hung himself off the bridge. No motive has been revealed, nor has any foul play been suspected.

What makes this story even more disturbing is that back on New Year’s Eve 2001, Leatherman had hit a slot jackpot for $1,018,861 at the Trump Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City when he casually dropped $20 in the slot machinge. Leatherman, a carpenter, was on vacation with his girlfriend at the time when he played the game on the way to a nightclub. He took the annuity payment deal of $50,943 a year for 20 years, which means he still had nine years of payments coming to him.

At the time he won the slot jackpot, it was reported that, “Leatherman said he will invest some of the money, help family and friends who have helped him, and donate some to charities.”

It is also believed that he bought a winter home in Florida with some of his money, though he lived with step mother. Leatherman worked as a union carpenter and was described by his stepmother as being “very smart, very focused. He had a good sense of humor and was a hard worker.”

Full Tilt Emails Players Regarding Pay Outs

Full Tilt Poker sent out an email last Friday directly addressing their former US customers regarding pay outs still pending. Because this is the first communication from Full Tilt to players, it may mean that the ball is finally rolling and the withdrawals will soon be made good. Though there has been some communication mainly from FTPDoug via the 2+2 online poker forum, this is the first to come from Full Tilt Poker to players since April 15th when they shut out all real money US activity from their site.

The message though is still somewhat vague. It doesn’t hint on when former players can expect to see their funds begin to returning to them. It did though indicate that all pending tourney and cash game tickets were converted to cash, but h0w to handle Full Tilt Points was still an issue.

The email that follows also reminds readers of their official statement regarding pending US funds yet to be paid out:

“Since April 15th and the days immediately following, Full Tilt Poker faced numerous challenges and hurdles to ensuring the smooth operation of its international business and the orderly return of US player funds. FTP has worked tirelessly to address these issues and has made significant progress on both fronts. FTP’s international business operations are returning to normal while we focus on ensuring the safe and orderly return of US player funds. We are absolutely committed to making sure that US players are refunded as soon as possible. We apologize for the delay and the fact that we underestimated the time it would take to work through these issues. We will update our US players when we have more specific information to provide.”

WSOP Attendance Predictions

Despite the foreshadowing of low traffic at the WSOP due to the events of April 15th, otherwise known as Black Friday in the online poker realm when the Department of Justice and the FBI seized the websites of the biggest three online poker sites in the industry, WSOP organizers aren’t worried.

Because numerous online poker players can’t acccess their bankrolls because they are tied up in their player accounts at the online poker rooms under attack by the FBI, Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars, Absolute Poker, and UB.com, many fear that the players just won’t have enough cash to buy into the tournament. Though PokerStars has refunded $100 million, any refunds from the other two companies are yet to be seen, and now there is fear that Absolute Poker and UB.com will file bankruptcy. There are even rumors that Full Tilt Poker is having trouble coming up with funds to repay players and has even offered up a partial company sale for $200 million. This is only a rumor though as of now.

According to a post he made on Twitter, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, 24, online poker pro, believes that the WSOP Main Event, which saw a 7,319-player field in 2010, may be diminished by as many as 2,000 players.

However, WSOP officials are staying positive. WSOP executive director Ty Stewart says, “this is the year when everyone sees evidence of just how big poker has become around the world.” He also said, “this is the year where people see and recognize what a juggernaut the modern World Series of Poker has become.”

The 42nd edition of the WSOP begins May 31st and will run for eight weeks and award 58 bracelets. Despite all the negative opinions, tournament direct Jack Effel believes last year’s record of 72,966 entrants will be broken. Effel is “planning for more, regardless of any outside factors.”

Stewart says, “the hotel rooms booked is a truer benchmark; we are marginally up.” He also adds, “if you’re a poker player with any bankroll, you’ll be in Las Vegas for the World Series of Poker.” Let’s hope he’s right.

Doyle Brunson No Longer Associated with DoylesRoom.com

In a recent announcement, the online poker community learned that Doyle Brunson will no longer back or be associated with the online poker room of his same name, DoylesRoom.com.

His statement follows:

Reluctantly, I have decided to terminate my endorsement contract with Doylesroom.com. It pains me to leave at this time. I have aspirations of reentering the online poker business when the United States Government passes legislation, that officially legalize online poker sites. Doylesroom management has decided to continue to serve U.S. customers. Although they believe they have the right to market the name Doylesroom and to use my name and likeness for a period of time, I have asked them not to. Good luck-Shuffle up and deal.

This move is likely to shake the foundation of the site and scare many US members to take their money and run.

Following Black Friday, Doyle Brunson obviously didn’t want to drag his name through the mud by continuing to allow US players to play online, although after his statement, 77-year-old Brunson was seen at the WPT Championship event still sporting DoylesRoom.com gear.

This info comes on the heels of a brand new software addition and a recent move to the Yatahay Network. But despite Brunson’s avid use of Twitter and his blog, this recent news comes quite abruptly to the online poker community. In fact his last tweet posted only a few days ago read, “Doyle Gets Facelift: Upgrades DoylesRoom Software.RT He has needed a facelift for quite some time, but we haven’t had heart to tell him.”

Doyle’s relationship with DoylesRoom has always been hazy, and it has previously been unclear whether or not he was a sponsored poker player or simply just leasing his name to the site. It is not even clear whether he has part ownership or not. Now it is clear that he will no longer willingly be affiliated with the online poker room.

PartyPoker Adds Daily WSOP Main Event Packages

Despite what happened last month to the online poker community, online poker rooms are trying to move forward and have finally added World Series of Poker packages to their promotions. Beginning May 15th, PartyPoker will give away at least one Main Event package for the 2011 WSOP valued at $14K each day.

This year, the WSOP promotion at PartyPoker is similar to past years. Since PartyPoker wasn’t in the US market when Black Friday went down, they are hardly affected by the shake up in the US at all. Therefore, it’s business as usual for them, since they pulled out of the US online poker market years ago in 2006 when the UIGEA was passed.

There are a couple of ways to earn a PartyPoker WSOP package. Multi-table tournament satellites are one way and sit and gos are another. Buy into one of these satellites for as low as $2. Then move your way up through the qualifiers. The lower you start off, the lower your buy-in. So if you want to start higher up in the chain, just buy into a more expensive satellite.

If you want to get in on the direct and daily Main Event package tournaments, these will cost you $750. They run once a day through May 30th. Each day, the winner of this tournament will be guaranteed a Main Event seat, so in essence, if you only have to play in one, you could win a Main Event package for $750, which is a great deal.

The $14K PartyPoker WSOP package includes the $10K Main Event buy-in of course, in addition to an 8-night stay in a Las Vegas hotel, and $2K spending money for any other expenses you may incur.

New depositors will even earn a freeroll ticket good for a satellite that feeds into a WSOP qualifier, meaning you could go to the WSOP for free.

Weekly qualifiers are also running through June 19th. The 2011 WSOP Main Event will begin on July 7th and run through July 19th when the final nine will be determined, and then play will resume in November, as usual.

US Poker Players Funds Still Frozen Since Black Friday

Now that the Big 3 online poker rooms have been forced to close down to the US market, Absolute Poker and UB.com have already announced plans to downsize and restructure, in addition to dropping their entire roster of sponsored pros, who were all coincidently based out of the US, and now hundreds of online poker players who had made deposits at Absolute Poker prior to Black Friday have not heard a word about whether or not they will get their money back. PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker have both promised to refund player accounts, but no such promise has been made from Absolute Poker.

There are still online poker sites taking US deposits. Click here for more info on US poker.

Poker pro and resident of North Las Vegas, Mike Ziethlow earned a living by playing online poker at Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars. However, now that his accounts are frozen, he can’t withdraw his bankroll; therefore, he can’t play at live casinos. He’s reportedly resorted to playing his guitar outside casinos to earn money to get back on his feet. While there aren’t poker pros lined up outside casinos playing their guitars, there are many other similar stories.

The Poker Players Alliance has reported that about 50,000 poker pros who made a living playing Internet poker are now out of work. The Big 3 poker sites represented about 70% of the US market, thus, leaving so many players high and dry with no other means to make money, and since the Las Vegas job market is already at an all-time low, there just aren’t jobs available for these people.

Evan Decker funded his college education playing online poker. He made about $50K per year, but now, his five-digit bankroll is inaccessible. Unfortunately, his money is tied up in the CEREUS Network, and he hasn’t heard a word regarding his money. PokerStars was able to return some of Ziethlow’s money, and he’s awaiting processing on the rest of it. Unfortunately, this is the way it is for now when it comes to online poker in the US regarding the Big 3.

Absolute Poker and UB.com US Pros Let Go from Sponsorship

Further developments in the Absolute Poker and UB.com saga reveal that online poker sponsorships for poker pros have been eradicated all together. The full roster that included 10 members of Team UB and one pro from Absolute Poker were let go from their contracts, some of them even learning of their release through email.

Trishelle Cannatella, the Absolute Poker pro to get her walking papers was joined by UB.com poker pros Prahlad Friedman, Joe Sebok, Eric “Basebaldy” Baldwin, Brandon Cantu, Maria Ho, Tiffany Michelle, “Hollywood” Dave Stann, Scott Ian, Bryan Devonshire, and Adam “Roothlus” Levy.

The parent company of both UB.com and Absolute Poker is Antigua-based Blanca Games. We reported yesterday that the company had recently announced that it would be restructuring and downsizing. There have even been reports of bankruptcy, as an email went out to the shareholders that mentioned the “b” word. These efforts were made in good faith to help the company recover its business in non-US markets. All the sponsored pros were US poker players, so that didn’t make much sense in the whole scheme of things anyway.

Blanca Games released a statement that read:

“This was a difficult task for Blanca’s management, and we are very disappointed that we have been compelled to sever ties with our sponsored pros…we regret that we are no longer in a position to partner with our sponsored pros, or to provide them with a source of income for playing the game that they love.”

After the statement was released, some of the jilted pros released their own statements. Devonshire was surprised and aggravated by his abrupt release. Sebok was more composed, stating, “It was obvious that, regardless of what direction things went, that sponsored players in the USA were going to be unnecessary, or certainly far less necessary. It was pretty obvious, at least in my mind, that we would be let go.”

Hopefully, the fate of Full Tilt Poker pros and PokerStars pros based in the US will not be similar. Meanwhile, other online poker sites are still accepting US players.

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