Bovada Pulls The Velvet Rope: Some US States No Longer on VIP List
March 21, 2012
Posted by KaceyM in : General , add a comment
Online gambling forums and news sites are grumbling with the notice that Bovada is denying certain players entry to their US-friendly online poker site. As of mid-December 2011, Bovada was created by Bodog as a way to separate the North American market from its successful rest-of-the-world division.
Speculation is the recent indictments of the Bodog URL and its owner Calvin Ayre, and perhaps issues with one of Bovada’s payment processors, may have something to do with the disruption in service to the states of Maryland, New York, Utah, and Washingtion. As of the date of this post, no players from Maryland–new or current–are allowed to play in online poker games at Bovada. While current players living in New York, Utah, and Washington can continue sitting at online tables, no new players will be accepted from those states.
No official announcement has been made by Bodog or Bovada, and all correspondence regarding the matter has been sent directly to players. Players have been told their accounts would be closed and cashouts would be processed immediately. Without official word from Bodog and Bovada, we are searching for player reactions and other information regarding the account closures. If you hear of or know anything, please enlighten your fellow online poker community by commenting below.
Please read our full Bovada Poker review for more information about this otherwise US-friendly online poker site.
Everleaf Poker Makes Announcement Regarding US Operations
February 28, 2012
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After weeks of silence, Everleaf Poker has now issued a statement regarding its current policy prohibiting players from the United States. (If you need to be caught up: Earlier this month, as a response to a cease and desist order from the US Department of Homeland Security, Everleaf poker shut its doors to all new and current US online poker players).
Here is that statement, as pronounced on the Casino Affiliate Programs site:
“As has been reported, certain funds maintained by one of our payment processors to be distributed to U.S. customers were seized by U.S. authorities. To our knowledge, the U.S. authorities seized these funds and blocked the transactions based on purported violations of certain U.S. laws, including operating an illegal money transmitting business, the Wire Act, and money laundering. Evidence relative to the subject can be reviewed from the attached papers.
“Please be advised that this seizure occurred in the United States and only affects U.S. players.
“In view of the above, Everleaf will no longer accept U.S. players. Nonetheless, Everleaf reiterates and wants to reassure all the effected players that all the funds will be refunded in full and the effected parties will be contacted in a short while accordingly.
“For the other markets we operate in and with regards to all our other players we want to reassure you that nothing has changed and thank you for the continued business with our Company.
“We sincerely apologize for the lack of communication to date, but as a Company we were still trying to find our feet and assessing the situation at hand and how to best protect the interest of all the effected parties.”
While the statement comes a bit late, and while online gaming forums fill up with posts of concern and outrage, the important questions remain without answers–how much money is tied up, when can players expect to be reimbursed, how could this type of thing happen, etc. The action by the US Department of Homeland Security displays a distrust of offshore gaming sites and payment processors; what does this mean for the legalization of online poker in the United States? Perhaps more importantly, what–if anything–does this delayed and largely uninformative response say about the situation and the Everleaf company in general?
ClubWPT increases monthly prize pool to $125,000
February 6, 2012
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As if we needed another reason why Club WPT is one of our favorite US-friendly online poker sites, the popular place for subscription poker just increased its monthly tournament prize pool to $125,000. Paid VIP members now have even more chances to play the game they love and win the money they love without putting any additional money down.
For a steady $19.95 per month, Club WPT provides a lot of value for online poker players. Having a consistent subscription means VIP members “never lose a dime playing poker” since the cost of playing was set in stone. A variety of tournaments are available for this low monthly fee, all awarding real cash and prizes. ClubWPT also has up-to-the-minute online poker news, an impressively developed online poker training module, and a competitive assortment of table games and tournaments.
If you’ve been waiting to try Club WPT’s subscription poker, this increased prize pool makes it a great time to try it out for free. Register now for the VIP membership and get two weeks free to try out all this US-friendly poker room has to offer.
2012: The Year of the $500,000 Latin Series of Poker
February 4, 2012
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Today the organizers of the Latin Series of Poker (to live in infamy as LSOP) announced they will guarantee a prize $500,000 prize pool for the first annual Latin Series of Poker tournament. This Texas Hold’em tournament is scheduled from June 5th to June 10th at the Atlantic City Casino in Lima, Peru. .
In order to entice some of the top online and live poker players, the LSOP is featuring a re-entry methodology and an attractive buy-in; for just $1,500 + $150, poker enthusiasts can get an exceptional return on their investment if they play their cards right.
As the February 3, 2012 LSOP press release noted, “US-poker players have been craving land-base poker tournaments ever since the Aruba Poker Classic ended its run in 2009″ adding that the Punta Cana Poker Classic, now in its third year, is a huge success based on that need.
We’ll continue to keep you updated as more online poker rooms jump on board to host qualifiers and prize packages. In the meantime, keep playing your favorite online game of skill.
Love (of Winning) is in the Air at Intertops Poker
February 2, 2012
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Intertops just announced its February promotions, and we couldn’t wait to show them to you.
Have you ever played the Intertops Match & Win game? Its “Heart Edition” for February 2012 will award you with single Gold Card cash prizes–up to $1,000. All you need to do to play is log in, and match the Gold Cards you earned during the month of February to the ones shown on the game board. Match ‘em and win the displayed prize quicker than a cupid’s arrow!
Every other weekday in February look for a Knock-Out Challenge bounty tournament at Intertops Poker. During these Knock-Out Challenge tournaments, you’ll get points for every player you eliminate. Leaderboard winners could win up to $1,000.
Get in on the weekly FPP Race tournaments with individual prize pools of $6,250 during the Intertops $25,000 FPP Race. Action just started on February 1s so there’s plenty of time to dig in and grab your piece of the action.
Don’t forget–there are still two weeks left to qualify for the Super Poker Event of Europe 2012. Super 2012 is gearing up to have 4,000 players compete for the €1.2 million prize pool–shouldn’t you really be one of them?
Let us know your thoughts!