Celebrating Their 5th Anniversary is Everest Poker
July 29, 2009
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Congratulations to Everest Poker for giving five years to the players of playing and enjoyment of the fantastic game of Poker!
(PRESS RELEASE) – Everest Poker, official sponsors of the WSOP, have hit their five year anniversary and are celebrating by offering players (you guessed it) five different promotions including:
$500,000 Guarantee Tournament with the 9 finalists playing in Las Vegas on the actual WSOP final table, where we will cover your flights and hotel too. Online qualifiers start in August.
Refer 5 friends in July or August to Everest Poker and gain entry into an exclusive $5,000 freeroll
If you play in the 5 Billionth hand you will win $500 for every player involved in the hand
If you play in hand number 5,555,555,555 you will also win $500 for every player involved in the hand
Earn 5 Summit Points a day, every day for one month & you will qualify for a $5,000 freeroll
• Qualification periods; 07/05-08/04 & 08/05-09/04
• Player will be able to miss one day maximum to be eligible
• July 5-August 4, $5,000 freeroll to be held on Thursday, August 6 at 18:00 GMT
• August 5-September 4, $5,000 freeroll to be held on Tuesday, September 8 at 18:00 GMT
The $500K tournament will use a steps system for qualification so you can buy-in for as little as $2 or buy-in to a direct entry tournament for $336 + $24. The online qualification will take place in August and September with the online finale on October 4th and the live finale in Las Vegas in November.
Again we would like to say Happy Fifth Everest Poker!!
Poker Event held in Kiev by PokerStars
July 28, 2009
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This Poker Stars event has been moved to Kiev, as announce in a press Release. This is sure to be a big event.
(PRESS RELEASE) – The PokerStars.com European Poker Tour (EPT) is pleased to announce an alternate venue for its August event, now scheduled to be held in Kiev, the largest city and capital of Ukraine, at the Kiev Sports Palace, from August 18-23, 2009. The “EPT Kiev Sports Poker Championship” is to be held under the regulation and authority of the Ukrainian Ministry of Youth, Family and Sport, and in partnership with the Ukrainian Poker Federation. This event is expected to be the largest poker tournament ever held in the Ukraine.
The Kiev event replaces the previously-scheduled 2009 Russian Open poker tournament due to be held at the Radisson SAS Slavyanskaya, Moscow from August 18-23, 2009. That event has been cancelled because our ability to run the event was placed in doubt due to the recent closure of all casinos in Russia.
Euro Poker Tour Ltd. sincerely apologises to all players who were intending to attend the Moscow event, but unfortunately these circumstances were beyond our control. Players are encouraged to consider attending the Ukrainian event instead, and to participate in the opening of the EPT’s sixth season.
PokerStars advises its players who qualified online for the Moscow event that their packages (including buy-in and hotel) will be converted to EPT Kiev packages; however they will also be eligible to take a credit for a future event, or receive the cash equivalent value as alternatives.
The buy-in for the “EPT Kiev Sports Poker Championship” Main Event will be 5,000 EUR (4,700 + 300).
Players should note that the Ukraine does not require visas for citizens of the European Union, United States or Canada (among many other countries) when travelling to Ukraine for less than 90 days.
We appreciate the opportunity to bring the EPT to beautiful and historic Kiev, and look forward to exploring the sights, sounds and flavors of the rich Ukrainian culture.
Good luck to all the poker players that will be in this event!!
Was the PPA Meet Up In DC Successful?
July 23, 2009
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As part of the National Poker Week, the PPA had what they call a “meetup,” and was said to have set up close to 100 meetings, with members of Congress and presented a petition to the President that had over 350,000 signatures.
They also had a few heavy duty poker players at the meetings such as Annie Duke, Howard Lederer, Andy Bloch and Greg Raymer. Annie Duke was involved in several of the meetings, some with Congressmen and women.
Duke said: “I had two meetings with allies,Those are, “Thank you. We really appreciate your support.” I had two other meetings, one with Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and one with Patrick Leahy (D-VT), who has traditionally been very anti-gambling because Vermont really doesn’t want casinos. It was a lot of explaining the differences between casino gambling and internet gambling and talking about some of the judiciary committees. The meeting wasn’t with him; it was with one of his aides, but the aides are very powerful.
“It’s definitely different than a year and a half ago. Then, it was a lot of education and telling people what the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) is. Now, I think people are much more familiar with the legislation’s problems. They realize that it’s a piece of legislation that doesn’t work. It’s fortuitous timing with the health care reform because you get to talk about how it’s going to get paid for. When you point out that internet gambling can bring in a conservative estimate of $3 billion per year, they listen.”
Greg Raymer stated: “I am here in Washington talking to our members of Congress about changing the laws so as to protect instead of attempting to criminalize poker.”So far I have personally met with nine members or their staff, and all seem to have gone quite well. We are very hopeful that we will get a resolution to these issues in the relatively near term.”
He was asked if he foresaw a timetable for the repeal of the UIGEA, and he stated: “Predicting this stuff is always tough, as politicians are difficult animals to deal with. Animal trainers have it much easier. But be sure that the Poker Players Alliance, its 51 State Directors, and its 1.2 million members are all working hard to make this happen. We are also working with many Members of Congress to get other legislation passed, bills that will specifically set up a scheme to license, regulate, and tax online poker.”
I think the PPA did a great showing in Washington this week.
PPA’s John Pappas is Interviewed by CAP about National Poker Week
July 21, 2009
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Straight from the CAP newswire Pappas gives all the details on Political Poker Goals. CAP which is Casino Affiliate Programs and the PPA is the Poker Players Alliance are working together to try to legalize and regulate online poker.
July 21, 2009 (CAP Newswire) — To help support the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) and its efforts to help achieve the full legalization and regulation of online poker in the United States, Casino Affiliate Programs, the world’s largest and longest-running affiliate marketing directory for the online gambling and poker industries, has published an interview with John Pappas, the PPA’s Executive Director and its most visible representative.
In an interview held recently on location at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas, CasinoAffiliatePrograms.com’s video channel CAP TV asked Mr. Pappas what members of the online casino industry as well as everyday poker players can do to help support the organization’s new National Poker Week movement and its larger political goals.
“We’re really encouraging the poker community to stand up for our game now by signing up for our petition,” Pappas told CAP TV’s Greg Kroleski. “You can go to PokerPetition.com, where we have a quarter of a million Americans who have signed the petition [addressed] to President Obama.”
“We’re going to deliver [the petition] to him on National Poker Week, so we’re building up to that,” Pappas continued, “and then during National Poker Week, we’re asking people to write letters and call their members of Congress and do that right through our website, ThePPA.org.”
As National Poker Week kicked off on Monday, the online poker petition had passed the 350,000-signature mark. View (and sign) it at http://www.pokerpetition.com/.
For the whole story, and to watch the interview on YouTube:
Seized Poker Winnings Asked to be Returned
July 13, 2009
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According to the Associated Press a payment processor has asked a judge to order the return online poker players money in an amount close to $14 Million. This money was seized illegally they say by the federal government.
Here is the Press Release:
WASHINGTON (AP) — A payment processor that handles the accounts of online poker players wants a judge to order the return of about $14 million that the company says was illegally seized by the federal government.
Account Services Corp. of San Diego made the request in a filing with a federal judge there Friday.
An advocacy group for online poker, The Poker Players Alliance, said the money is part of the more than $30 million recently frozen by the federal government from payment processors. The poker group told The Associated Press Monday it planned to file a motion with the court to participate in the case on the side of Account Services.
“Any action contesting the government’s seizure of players’ funds will help protect the rights of U.S. Internet poker players, and we will explore every legal avenue to ensure that our members’ voices are heard and their rights are protected,” said John Pappas, the poker group’s executive director.
In its filing, Account Services said that federal prosecutors seized $13.3 million from an account at a Wells Fargo Bank in Escondido, Calif., and $1 million from two accounts at a Union Bank in San Diego. Although the Wells Fargo funds were seized with a warrant, Account Services said, prosecutors contacted Union Bank without obtaining a warrant.
Included in the filing is a June 12 e-mail from the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York to Union Bank, in which prosecutors say that “exigent circumstances” require that money be frozen immediately while they obtain a seizure warrant. About two weeks later, a seizure warrant was issued for Union Bank by U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry Pitman in New York City, according to a June 24 order included in the filing.
Yusill Scribner, a spokeswoman for the Southern District prosecutors, said the office had no comment. The Justice Department has long maintained that Internet gambling is illegal; the poker group and Account Services challenges that view.
Account Services said the seizure was unreasonable because, it argued, neither the company, the players nor the banks had violated the law. It said it will likely have to close down if the money isn’t returned, and that it’s received legal threats from check-cashing businesses who have had to deal with bounced checks from poker players.
A lawyer for Account Services referred calls to Jeff Ifrah, a lawyer who represents the Interactive Gaming Council, a Vancouver, British Columbia-based trade association for online casinos. Ifrah said that Account Services’ entire business was processing payments for the now-seized bank accounts.
He said that the funds were for players on sites such as Pokerstars.com and Fulltiltpoker.com.
“Poker players have been damaged significantly,” said Ifrah. “Some of the players face civil liability for bounced checks, some have had bank accounts closed.”
A 2006 law prohibits financial institutions from accepting payments from credit cards, checks or electronic fund transfers to settle online wagers. The Justice Department viewed Internet gambling as illegal even before that.
Rep. Barney Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, has introduced legislation that would regulate rather than ban Internet gambling.
At least half the $16 billion Internet gambling industry, which is largely hosted on overseas sites, is estimated to be fueled by U.S. bettors.
We all hope the judge will issue the order and refund the money belonging to the players, and that this will be the beginning of getting our freedom back to gamble online!
