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More Nevada Operators Apply for Online Poker License

Online poker in Nevada may soon rival live poker in prevalence if the licensing application process is anything to go by. Several Las Vegas casinos have already applied for and obtained the licenses to run online games, and now there an additional two casinos that have submitted their applications.

Treasure Island and Hard Rock Hotel are the most recent to show their interest in the much awaited online poker industry of the Silver State. They have joined a rapidly growing list of applicants, which currently has 12 approved operators.

The parent company of Hard Rock is Brookfield Real Estate Financial, but BREF Interactive Gaming, LLC, one of its subsidiaries, actually submitted the license application for the hotel. Brookfield Real Estate Financial has already been reported to be in the process of securing online poker software, as it currently negotiates with software providers.

Twelve companies have already confirmed that they have been approved for a Nevada online poker operator licenses. The most recently approved operator is MGM Resorts International. In the past month, Fertitta Interactive, Golden Nugget, and Boyd Gaming have all also received their approvals for the operator licenses. Other companies already holding their licenses include: American Casino & Entertainment Properties, Bally Technologies, Shuffle Master, WMS Gaming Inc, South Point Poker, International Game Technology, Global Cash Access, and Monarch Interactive.

Switch Communications Group made an application for a license to operate a hosting center, which is basically a location that houses computer networks and is separate from casinos. If Treasure Island and Hard Rock are granted approval, the number of licensed operators will rise to 14. However, there is yet to be an indication of the first money site launching. South Point’s initial expectations were squashed with the postponement of the company’s debut, citing delays and negotiations in testing.

Reid-Kyle Online Poker Bill to be Modified

The Poker Players Alliance (PPA) requested Senators Harry Reid and Jon Kyl to make a few changes to the online poker bill’s current draft in a letter dated November 2. Written by Alfonse D’Amato, PPA Chairman, the missive commended the senators for their efforts in trying to legalize and regulate online poker in the US.

D’Amato expressed the Alliance’s approval of the current draft, saying that the PPA is “pleased with many aspects of the draft.”  The Reid-Kyl bill provides a stable platform for states to carry out their own regulations, addresses consumer protection, generates revenue, and serves as an economic stimulus through job creation.

D’Amato has, however, singled out six areas of improvement, chief among them being the requirement for individual state legislatures to opt-in to the federal scheme. The PPA is of the opinion that the state legislature does not have to bear the burden of approving states already providing not-tribal, live commercial poker.

The PPA is also against the proposed waiting period of 15 months before operators can start to deal cards online. Reid and Kyl put in that provision to prevent operators from getting a jump on their peers, but D’Amato stresses that that delay is too long for professional and recreation players to wait. He also explains that Internet poker has been regulated by other countries successfully for years in much less time than 15 months.

The proposal has no allowance for international play and restricts expansion of player pools beyond the US soil, making this perhaps its most short-sighted aspect. Forging external agreements consumes time, but the PPA asserts that the increased player liquidity and revenue from international competition is a must.

The PPA also wants the bill to have a provision that directs “the IRS to formulate guidelines for reporting income from online poker prior to commencement of play,” as D’Amato stated in the letter.  In addition, he has suggested an amendment that ensures equal treatment of federal online poker, state lotteries, and Indian tribes. Finally, he has called the five-year ban on the licensing of online poker providers who were in operation in the US marketplace after the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was enacted in 2006 unduly unfair, arbitrary, and possibly unconstitutional.

The Poker Players Alliance (PPA) requested Senators Harry Reid and Jon Kyl to make a few changes to the online poker bill’s current draft in a letter dated November 2. Written by Alfonse D’Amato, PPA Chairman, the missive commended the senators for their efforts in trying to legalize and regulate online poker in the US.

D’Amato expressed the Alliance’s approval of the current draft, saying that the PPA is “pleased with many aspects of the draft.”  The Reid-Kyl bill provides a stable platform for states to carry out their own regulations, addresses consumer protection, generates revenue, and serves as an economic stimulator through job creation.

D’Amato has, however, singled out six areas of improvement, chief among them being the requirement for individual state legislatures to opt-in to the federal scheme. The PPA is of the opinion that the state legislature does not have to bear the burden of approving states already providing not-tribal, live commercial poker.

The PPA is also against the proposed waiting period of 15 months before operators can start to deal cards online. Reid and Kyl put in that provision to prevent operators from getting a jump on their peers, but D’Amato stresses that that delay is too long for professional and recreation players to wait. He also explains that Internet poker has been regulated by other countries successfully for years in much less time than 15 months.

The proposal has no allowance for international play and restricts expansion of player pools beyond the US soil, making this perhaps its most short-sighted aspect. Forging external agreements consumes time, but the PPA asserts that the increased player liquidity and revenue from international competition is a must.

The PPA also wants the bill to have a provision that directs “the IRS to formulate guidelines for reporting income from online poker prior to commencement of play,” as D’Amato stated in the letter.  In addition, he has suggested an amendment that ensures equal treatment of federal online poker, state lotteries, and Indian tribes. Finally, he has called the five-year ban on the licensing of online poker providers who were in operation in the US marketplace after the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was enacted in 2006 unduly unfair, arbitrary, and possibly unconstitutional.

Poker Guru Katie Dozier Relocates to Mexico to Play Poker

Katie Stone, better known as “katie75013,” relocated to Rosarito, Mexico to pursue her career as an online poker player. She is one of the Grindettes, a group of four women who have turned online poker playing into a career. She has been followed by Katie “hotjenny314” Dozier in this averse but popular decision to relocate to play. Katie Stone pretty much put the whole group together, including Jennifer Shahade, Jamie Kerstetter, and Dozier. The dynamic group of women, all of which are excellent poker players, not only support each other at the poker table, but also in every day life.

Dozier started playing way back in 2004, while she was still majoring in creative writing in the state of Florida. She relocated to Washington DC, where she attended a French culinary school, but at the same time, she upheld her taste for online poker. She played her way through the online poker ranks while acquiring quite a sizeable amount of loot, more than $110,000.

Maybe being married to Collin Moshman, a renowned poker pro and noted author, might have contributed to her decision. Moshman is the author of Sit ‘n Go Strategy, Heads-Up No Limit Hold’em, and The Math of Hold’em. Dozier edited all the books and even co-authored two of books alongside her husband. The Superuser and Pro Poker Strategy: The Top Skills.

Following a successful run in Las Vegas, as well as several World Series of Poker events, Dozier saw it fit to delve into the world of online poker, heading south of the border. Currently she lives in Rosarito, Mexico where she recounted how her childhood shaped her decision today. Jokingly, she recounts how her online screen name, “hotjenny314,” came about. After she noticed how guys went ga-ga over sexy-girl screen names, she decided to give it a try, and the name stuck.  “Jenny,” as she recounts, is influenced by hot girls from her sorority while “314” speaks to math, important to the game.

Being a female player in a male dominated field, Dozier is pretty much unaffected. Online, she is pretty much genderless, so she says. She prefers tournaments to cash, which is a strong indicator of her competitive nature—online poker players be warned—where she plays mid-stakes MTTs and MTT SNGs and averages 15 tables at a time.

Her life in Rosarito is something to envy. She has a house near the ocean, a beautiful complex that she shares with her friends and family.

IveyPoker.Com Rakes in the Top Ranked Pro of the Decade

IveyPoker.com has recruited Cole South into its ever expanding talent of online poker players. This online instructional site added the young talent after South demonstrated talent in the game. He now joins an exceptional crew of veterans like the winner of WSOP Main Event winner Greg Merson, Phil Ivey, and Patrik Antonius.

Since he started playing poker at the age of 24, South has had an illustrious career. Starting out with just $50 as his bankroll and playing in small stash tables, South was ever-determined. This determination handsomely paid off just one year later when he found himself with a $13,000 bankroll. This allowed him to move on to higher staked tables that saw him reach the $2 million mark within a single year. This was the first sign that South was not your normal poker player.

He had attained magic-like talent in the game. His hunger to win was insatiable. Playing with the granddaddies of the game like Tom Dwan, Viktor Blom, and Illari Sahamies, his prowess only continued to grow. He went on to beat some of them, taking his bankroll to over $3.5 million. However, the road was not flowered with roses. South has lost as much as he has made. He lost $1 million in a single day, and made an equivalent amount in a single day of play. There was a month that he lost $2.6 million, yet he never gave up, a defining character among the greats.

With such experience, South will prove to be an invaluable addition to the team over at IveyPoker.com. He has gone on to write a poker paperback Let There Be Range, which comes at an eye popping $1,850 sticker price. But it is well worth it. Adding to his entrepreneur endeavors, South co-owns Cardrunners.com.

Aligning himself with other IveyPoker.com pros, South is at the forefront of developing innovative social poker games aimed at offering poker training from the world’s top pros.

Greg Raymer’s Four-Month, Four-Win Streak

Greg Raymer has had one really amazing streak of victories, winning four  Heartland Poker Tour titles in four months. In this tournament, the Florence HPT Championship Open, he lifted the title by overcoming more than 335 players in four days. This is a reminder to the world of why he was the 2004 WSOP Main Event champion. It is a conquest that earned him a cool $106,030. Not too bad for a world master!

Before this, Raymer conquered the July HPT Mexico to bag $71,875, the Missouri HPT in September for $121,973, and the HPT Iowa in October for $72, 089. This record of wins could be called the ultimate ground work leading to his four-month amazing run.

In the final six’s table of the HPT Florence, FossilMan Greg Reymer was among the short-stacks. After eight hands however, he had pushed to the lead chip to eliminate Kenny Hicks who held A/Q to FossilMan’ A/K. This was warning enough for the remaining contenders. Postman Jason Guinn had even commented earlier that no matter what happened, he was a recreational player simply exhilarated to be around a world champion.

A jinx could not have worked better than this comment, as Jason was next to fall out of the tournament. Iverson Snuffer was next in line followed closely by Bruce Ostrander. Finally, Jacob Bazeley was all that stood between Raymer and another world title. As the game progressed, Raymer got hold of a 5.36-million chip lead over Jacob Bazeley’s 2.96 million. In a bizarre twist, both players went all-in and Raymer held an A/Q to Bezeley’s A/6, winning the table.

As expected, the end of the game was met with the poker community patting the FossilMan’s back for yet another incredible run. Greg Reymer is not just a champion but also a modest man, a quality he demonstrated by later tweeting his acknowledgment of their support. He thanked them all profusely, saying that the last five months were incredible and winning four out of six was nothing short of amazing.

Full Tilt’s Early Peak Hits Plateau

Full Tilt’s awesome run has finally hit a plateau, nothing out of the ordinary as indicated by PokerScout’s report. There was an initial boost in the first week following the Deal Me In promotion. However, over the last one week, money bets have fallen from 8,000 to 6,400. PokerScout reports that an early peak subsides after a three week plateau is reached. Full Tilt has definitely hit a plateau, the numbers they are enjoying now can be expected to hold steady, with minimal variations/shifts.

Full Tilt is however not giving in that easily. There has been a sequence of aggressive moves to bring in as much traffic to the newly launched platform as possible. Former members who are yet to try the relaunched site are receiving unbelievable bonus offers in excess of what was initially advertised by the Deal Me In promotion. This was done in a bid to win them over and encourage then to return.

Full Tilt also aims to take over the market share. They aim to take players from other sites, and the effects are almost evident. The aggressive market move has contributed to a 2% decline on PokerStars, a 7% on iPoker, and a 6% on PartyPoker market share. Decline on the iPoker platform can be attributed to players from Everest leaving for other networks after the platform ditched its own software and adopted the iPoker network.

Everest, maintaining a substantial 85% of its .com members, has the strongest foothold on the French market after iPoker’s move. This puts iPoker as the third largest online poker network in France.

Bwin.Party co-CEO Questioned By Authorities in Belgium

During the Responsible Gaming Day Conference, bwin.Party co-CEO, Nobert Teufelberger, was detained by Belgium authorities for an interlude of questioning due to bwin.Party’s sustained presence in the country without acquiring the necessary licenses.

Following the incident, bwin.Party issued a statement stating that Teufelberger complied fully, and voluntarily, following the request from the authorities, which occurred as a result of Belgium Gambling Commission’s (BGC) position that bwin.Party violated the country’s gambling legislation. The interview following the detainment lasted two hours, after which the company stated that it would continue working with the authorities in attempt to resolve the matter.

According to Reuters, the questioning arose from the fact that bwin.Party was listed as one of the websites that was not supposed to accept real-money bets. Earlier on in the year, Belgium published its blacklist of banned sites, and 2012 saw strict laws introduced to regulate the gambling scene in the country, with bwin.Party biggest competitor, PokerStars, acquiring a license. The detainment of bwin.Party co-CEO is the most recent installment of bwin.Party’s continued tussles with Belgian authorities. In the month of May, bwin.Party was added to the blacklisted sites, pertaining to companies that did not have necessary paperwork required to run in the country.

It is not only the companies that were affected by the latest onslaught of legislations in the Belgium gambling scene. Belgium citizens who continue to gamble on unlicensed sites stand to be fined €25, 000. Following its blacklisting, bwin.Party switched from the bwin.com domain to www2.bwin.com in a rather blatant and peculiar attempt to evade the legislature and authorities.

The detainment of the co-CEO of the company is however proof such strategies would not subdue the long arm of the Belgium law. In fact, the move boomeranged on the company when a court saw it fit to fine them €75,000 for their deception and endeavor to circumvent the law. The recent predicament might have implied effects on bwin.Party’s latest interests in the state of Nevada where it hopes to gain an operations license.

MGM Set to Revolutionize Online Poker in Nevada Following Approval

MGM Resorts International has moved closer in its quest to offer Nevada’s gamers online poker at an intrastate level. This follows a successful approval by the Nevada Gaming Control Board. The board gave MGM an initial approval as a gaming operator to go ahead with its quest to provide an online poker platform. Following Thursday’s endorsement, MGM anticipates to introduce an online poker site by the beginning of 2013. The site will be on the bwin.party platform.

Later in the month, MGM expects the Nevada Gaming Commission to award a full license.

In a separate interview with Reuters, Jim Murren the MGM CEO expressed his satisfaction with the way different states were engaged in talks. He was pleased to note that much as these states had come up with their own laws, they were willing to team up with others. It would be good for business if different states would come together. Those states that isolate themselves are making it difficult for the economy to thrive.

In October, MGM entered into agreements with Boyd Gaming and bwin.party while anticipating that gaming would be legalized. Under the terms of the agreement, bwin.party gets a 65%, MGM 25% while Boyd takes the remaining 10%. For taking the lion’s share, bwin.party is supposed to provide and maintain gambling infrastructure for its partners in the venture.

Already, Boyd Gaming has a license while bwin.party is awaiting response on its application. Bwin.party has not yet met with the regulators. According to Jim Ryan, the CEO of bwin.party, the U.S government was previously faced with the question of whether to regulate online gambling at state or federal level. While speaking to Poker News, he said that this has now changed from “if” to “when.” It is just a matter of time before intrastate gambling is made legal.

As for bwin.party, they will have to wait until the new year for their licence.

Gaming Regulations Boost Online Poker’s Performance in Spain

For a long time, Spain has witnessed the proliferation of Internet-based gambling. All the gambling sites have operated without license from the central government. That was until May 2012 when Spain enacted the Spanish Gambling Act. Since then, the industry has been regulated, resulting in a commendable growth. As a result, Spain is now a leading market for online gaming operators.

The above Act was first enforced in June. Four months later, the government has collected an upwards of €77 million. Generally, a 25% tax is levied on revenue earned from gambling. Of the €77 million collected after the enactment of the new regulation, €27.5 million was for the month of September.

These figures are a reflection of the enormous growth registered by the online poker industry. The number of online Spanish players is on the rise. The same is true for the amounts players have placed at stake. For instance, there is a monthly growth rate of around 100,000 players for people who gamble using money. Presently, it stands at approximately 700,000 players which is around 1.5% of the Spanish population.

In June, online bets for poker alone amassed €87 million. This rose to €114 then €119 and finally €131 million for the period July to September. As a result, poker represents a 36% share of the internet gambling industry. However, sports’ gambling still leads with a 42% share. Casinos and other betting games have an 18% share of the entire stakes placed.

As a result, the Spanish poker market has become extremely lucrative. Operators of online gaming sites, poker in particular, are getting good money. For instance, PokerStars had an industry growth of 30% three months ago. Presently, they are at 70% making them a dominant force in the online Spanish poker industry. PokerStars has an upwards of 1,450 players who bet with real money. The numbers show an increase of 40% from June when the regulation was enacted.

Online poker has become a huge success and shows a huge potential for growth in Spain and worldwide. The Spanish poker story heralds the benefits an economy can enjoy as a result of regulating the gambling industry. Under such conditions, players feel safe when placing bets. Companies can make use of healthy business strategies that will bring in more players to their online games, while at the same time amassing tax revenue for needy governments.

Will US Players Ever Get Their Full Tilt Poker Funds Back?

Full Tilt Poker has been restored. Online poker players internationally can heave a sigh of relief. However, that is not the case for US players. The majority of US players are still worried about unpaid player account funds from a site that is still struggling to survive.

The Poker Players Alliance (PPA) recently held a meeting with officials from Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Division of the US Department of Justice. John Pappas, Executive Director of PPA, together with the body’s legal counsel represented the PPA. The aim of the meeting was to discuss progress made on the matter of refunding players the money spent on Full Tilt Poker. Pappas stated that the meeting was productive but that was not enough. The US players want to hear more.

The Pappas team emphasized PPA’s stand on having all players getting full compensation. This includes medals the players won and balances from points earned before the site went under. At the same time, PPA highlighted its repayment plan to the Department of Justice. From Pappas’ point of view, the government gave a non-reassuring response. While giving the full report to the PPA members, Pappas opined that no decision has been forthcoming from the Department of Justice on repaying the money owed to players.

Hopes of US players getting anything from the government were further dashed following what Pappas terms as a lengthy repayment process. In the report, Pappas states that the federal government is yet to hire an agency empowered with the task of administering refunds. This ought to have been sorted out since it is nearly three months after PokerStars and DOJ reached a settlement.

Pappas is categorical that such developments do not augur well with anxious poker players. While acknowledging that his team cannot provide any further responses, he believes the meeting was a success.

The meeting between DOJ and PPA was the culmination of a process going way back to August. PokerStars and the Department of Justice agreed on a number of things. PokerStars was to buy Full Tilt Poker with a promise to make payment to international poker players. Compensation for players based in the US was to be handled by the federal government. Nothing has changed since that time.

What angers US players most is the fact that Full Tilt Poker is back under the auspices of PokerStars. In this regard, Full Tilt Poker is now ranked second among leading online poker sites. By Tuesday last week, it had nearly 15,000 cash paying players. Since then, there has been a drop in numbers. By yesterday the players were at 12,123 as reported by PokerScout.com. What one can gather from these figures is that despite the strong desire to get back to the site, some players have probably taken their money and ditched the site.

In the meantime, Full Tilt Poker continues as if pushing aside the problems at hand. All in all, the U.S. online poker players have nothing to gain from the report tabled by the Poker Players Alliance. Much as the PPA was able to meet with the DOJ, there is little they can do to hasten repayment. For now, US players are at the bottom of the pile while international players are rejoicing.

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