Tag: online poker

US Poker Sites for Mac

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Over the years there have been many technological advances that make it possible for all players, no matter their operating system, to enjoy the action and thrill that only online poker can provide. Many Mac users in the USA may feel like they were left out in the cold after losing four US online poker sites that had exceptional Mac friendly software.  There are plenty of more online poker sites that cater to Mac users, which make it easy for them to sit at a table and rake in the cash, with or without a download.

Mac poker sites are available in download or instant play form, and in most cases, players will find the instant play option works best. The graphics are crisp and clear, the table action is smooth and the no download option gives players faster access to the room wherever there is an internet connection available. There are many reputable US accepted Mac compatible poker sites, players just need to find the one that works best for them. Merge is known for having features like the Rabbit Cam, Run it Twice and personal customizable features for players to make the skin their own. Merge Gaming Network poker sites include Carbon Poker, Lock Poker and RPM Poker.

The Everleaf Network which powers such rooms as Luvin Poker is another fantastic way for Mac users to get on the virtual felt action. Their poker room offers awesome promotions, comparable table variety to the poker giants online, and their tournament action runs all day and night. Their traffic numbers are growing daily, and with many players joining their room the games will keep players coming back for more.

Bodog Poker also offers a Mac friendly poker room, and is one of the leading names in online gaming. Mac users can enjoy all the poker action they crave at the tables using their instant play platform. Their game variety keeps Mac users satisfied and the game play and features offered make it easy to play for hours. Bodog offers great VIP rewards, awesome guarantees and large freerolls often.

Click Here for a complete list of Mac Poker Sites

There aren’t as many choices for Mac users as there are for players using a more standard operating system, but more poker rooms are starting to cater to Mac users more than ever before. It’s only a matter of time and all reputable poker rooms will offer the Mac option for their players, which one can only expect will help their traffic. If you are using a Mac operating system and you are ready to get started today, visit one of the Mac friendly poker room listed here and get what you want out of online poker.

Legal US Poker Sites

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Due to the recent happenings in online poker it’s understandable that players, especially those coming from the four sites that were seized by the Department of Justice, may feel a bit uneasy about playing online. Despite popular belief, it’s not illegal to play online poker, even from the United States. The legal issue isn’t regarding the players, it’s totally legal to still enjoy a game of online poker from your home while betting and winning real money.

While players are waiting for the dust to settle regarding Black Friday, there are a lot of questions regarding where they can play safely, and securely. There are quite a few sites online still available to provide US players with quality poker entertainment. The names and brands aren’t as big as the four rooms that were forced to stop serving the USA, however; the quality of game play, bonus offers and loyalty rewards are comparable.

Click Here for a list of Poker Sites Accepting US Players

The traffic may also be a bit smaller in comparison, but that is also expected to change as players discover the alternatives to Full Tilt, PokerStars, Absolute and UB.com. The game variety at these legal US poker sites is just as good as the games players are used to at the previously mentioned sites, just a bit of a difference in layout, game availability and other not so notable changes.

The banking options to fund accounts are still available through these poker rooms still catering to the US player, and withdrawing is still hassle free. There are many sites that are welcoming USA players coming from other rooms, but it’s best that players use caution when choosing online poker rooms.

It may take players a while to get used to the idea of not playing at their favourite poker sites, however; the fact that there are still some quite reputable, popular and legal sites to play online should be reason enough for players to go all in and do what they love to do and continue to play poker online.

Here are a few legal online poker rooms still serving USA players:

  • Best Online Poker Sites for Holdem Poker 2011

Poker Room Bonus
US
Review
1 Bodog Poker
$1100
Bodog Poker
2 Lock Poker
$1200
Lock Poker
3 InterTops
$600
InterTops Poker
4 Carbon Poker
$500
Carbon Poker
USA Poker Sites for April 2011

 

Bodog Cash PerSuit, Win an iPad2

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Bodog Poker wants you to have a new iPad2.  Join Bodog Poker’s new Cash PerSuit promotion and you can win cash bonuses, freeroll entries, and tickets to weekly iPad2 drawings.  Cash PerSuit begins on May 02, 2011 and has three promotional features.  Each week of the promotion there is a bonus to be earned based on how many Poker Points you earn and how many days you earn each level.

Earn 10 Poker Points per day on 4 days and get a $15 Bonus

Earn 10 Poker Points per day on all 7 days and get a $20 Bonus

Earn 25 Poker Points per day for 4 days and get a $25 Bonus

Earn 25 Poker Points per day for all 7 days and get a $30 Bonus

May 2nd-May 8th is Diamond Week; May 9th-May 15th is Club Week; May 16th-May 22nd is Hearts Week; and May 23rd-May29th is Spades Week.  You can earn the bonus each week, but you can only earn one of the bonuses per week.  So if you have 10pts per day for 6 days you can get the $15 Bonus, but if you get 10 Poker Points on the 7th day, you only get the $20 Bonus, not both the 4 day and the 7 day bonus.

You may think it odd that the weeks are named after the suits in the deck and may chalk it up to just Bodog wanting to use the name “PerSuit”.  There is a good reason for the name, however.  At the end of the promotion on June 4, 2011 there is a $10,000 freeroll.  The only way to get into that freeroll is to make a flush on a Texas Holdem ring game.  The flush has some stipulations.  The flush must be in the suit for that week.  Remember the weeks of the promotion are named after the suits in a deck of cards.  You only need to use one card of your hole cards to make the flush, but the hand must go to showdown for a ticket to the freeroll to be issued.  yes, a lot to remember, but it is a $10K Freeroll.

Here are the terms and conditions for the freeroll tickets:

Tournament runs on June 4th at 7:15 PM ET. When a player receives a qualifying flush, they will receive a Tournament Ticket to the $10,000 Freeroll via email by 12:00:00 PM ET the next day. Players can only receive one Tournament Ticket for the $10,000 Freeroll. To qualify for a Tournament Ticket, the flush must be the same suit as the suit of that week (ex: during Diamond Week, a player must receive a Diamond Flush for the hand to qualify), at least one hole card needs to be used, the flush must occur in a Texas Hold’em Cash Game, the hand MUST go to showdown and the hand does not have to be the winning hand. The Tournament Ticket is non-transferrable and can only be used on the $10,000 Freeroll.

Finally, on to the coveted iPad2.  The iPads will be awarded in drawings each week of the promotion.  To get a ticket to the iPad2 drawing, a player needs to earn 10 Poker Points per day for 4 days of the week.

Diamond Week May 2-8, 2011 One iPad2 will be awarded

Club Week May 9-15, 2011 Two iPad2 will be awarded

Hearts Week May 16-22, 2011 Three iPad2 will be awarded

Spades Week May 23-29, 2011 Four iPad2 will be awarded

iPad2 Terms and Conditions:

For the purposes of this promotion, a day is from 12:00:00 AM ET until 11:59:59 PM ET. Every Monday of the promotion, names will be drawn for an iPad 2. To be eligible for the weekly draw, players must earn at least 10 Poker Points per day for 4 days of the week. Draw winners will be notified via phone within 24-48 hours of the draw being held. Draw winners will have a choice to receive either a Bodog branded iPad 2 or a $250 bonus. If chosen, the $250 bonus will have standard rollover: 3x Sports / 20x Casino / 3 Points per dollar.

Take heed.  This promotion is not automatic.  You must OPT-IN to participate in the promotion. To opt into the promotion, simply go to the Bodog Poker home page and click the Cash PerSuit banner located down the left side menu bar.  Enter your Bodog information and you will be signed up for the Cash PerSuit promotion.

What about our Pokerstars FPP’s

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Much to the delight of US players Pokerstars started processing withdrawals for their US customers again. Players are allowed to withdraw their balance by cheque and Pokerstars even gave 100% cash refund for all tournament tickets or tournament dollars a player had in his account. With the cash outs functional again this leaves only one issue unresolved for the US Pokerstars players. What happens with all the frequent player points (FPP’s)?

Pokerstars has one of the most rewarding VIP scheme’s in online poker awarding FPP’s for real money play. FPP’s can be used for playing tournaments, cash bonuses or buying items in the Pokerstars VIP Rewards store. The VIP store is unique because more expensive items in the VIP store have a better FPP/dollar ratio then the inexpensive options. This means a lot of players were saving their FPP’s for big purchases rather than spending them whenever they could. For some the value of saved FPP’s runs into the thousands of dollars. When the VIP store closed to US players on Black Friday many players wondered if their FPP’s should be considered lost.

A manager of Pokerstars VIP team made clear today that Pokerstars is currently working with the US government on an agreement on what can be done with FPP’s. Pokerstars aims at opening the VIP store again for all their players so FPP’s can be spend on goodies and bonuses. Nothing is certain yet so it is very well possible a different agreement will be made with the DoJ. Making the cash outs possible for US players was top priority for Pokerstars for the last two weeks. Now that cash outs are functional again resolving the FPP issue will be Pokerstars next high priority.

A lot of players are wondering if they should withdraw now or if they should wait for the FPP issue to be resolved. According to Pokerstars VIP manager it makes no difference and the choice is up to the player. The cash out option on Pokerstars will remain open and players will be able to cash out twice or as often as necessary. When making a withdrawal you do have to cash out all your funds which means you are not allowed to have a remaining balance. However, if after that you get new funds in his account from the FPP store, you are allowed to cash out that as well. But for this cash out the same rule applies, you need to withdraw your entire balance.

Holdempokerchat is impressed with the way Pokerstars has handled the events of Black Friday till so far. Of all three sites that were affected, Pokerstars has been the first to give their players access to their frozen funds and keeping their customers as first priority.

Contradictions between the U.S. DoJ and Full Tilt Poker

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While Full Tilt Poker players from the US are starting to get antsy waiting to withdraw their funds from their poker accounts it doesn’t seem like it will happen any time soon. The press releases from the US DoJ and Full Tilt Poker are full of contradictions.

Mean while Full Tilt Poker players outside the US are reporting problems withdrawing funds using the popular MoneyBookers ewallet. One player from the Netherlands was offering to trade $50k on Full Tilt Poker for $40k on Moneybookers.

With the WSOP just a few weeks away, players are desperate to get their hands on their money so that they can make their summer plans for Las Vegas. Pokerstars, another online poker site that was indicted by the US, began processing withdrawals yesterday. You can find more information here.

Here are the latest statements by the DoJ and Full Tilt Poker

From the US DoJ:
No individual player accounts were ever frozen or restrained,” said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in the press release. “Each implicated poker company has at all times been free to reimburse any player’s deposited funds. In fact, this Office expects the companies to return the money that U.S. players entrusted to them, and we will work with the poker companies to facilitate the return of funds to players.”

From Full Tilt Poker:
“Unfortunately, there remain significant practical and legal impediments to returning funds to players in the immediate future,” reads a press release from Full Tilt Poker. “As a result of the recent enforcement action, there exists no authorized U.S. payment channel through which to make refunds; Full Tilt Poker has no accounting of the millions of dollars of player funds that were seized by the government; and the government has not agreed to permit any of the seized player funds to be returned to the players.”

Become a Poker Activist

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Since Black Friday, the online poker forums like ours have been breaking all-time traffic records. It seems that anyone with accounts on any of the Big 3 have wanted to come and share their story. While it is great to see that so many people are motivated, there are, in fact, better ways to spend the energy.

It is nice to hear stories and know each of us are not alone in our struggle to figure out where to go in this New World Order, but that does not bring about change. Many of the things that the Big 3 were doing were wrong and illegal, by the letter of the law. They knew of these laws, and knew the whole time that they were breaking them. In order for things to recover, governmental regulation will be necessary to pick up the pieces.

But, how do our legislators know that we, as a public, want this to happen? How do they know that our outcry is so large, that so many people are affected? I doubt too many spend their days idly browsing the numerous poker forums on the net.

Click Here for Online Poker Sites Accepting Players from the US

Since the indictments, it has been reported that over 70,000 letters have been sent to various governmental officials related to the changes in the poker world. While it is easy to fall into the trap of believing that your voice does not count, those who wrote those letters did not. What did their actions accomplish? Simply visit any of the Big 3 and you will see that have all reclaimed their domain names, that the DoJ has promised to help facilitate cash-outs. This shows just how much power a vocal group can have.

If you want to see changes, if you want your Congressman to know what you think on the issue, write to them! That is the only way that Congress can know what you want, can ever hear your voice. Take a few minutes and take what you were about to write here at Holdem Poker Chat and make it so your voice will be heard by those who can make a difference.

Sportsbook and Players Only Leaving the US Market

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Just when things were starting to settle a bit we have more online poker sites choosing to leave the US Market.

We just learned this information out and wanted to share it with all of you ASAP. Both Sportsbook.com and PlayersOnly.com are going to cease accepting U.S. players and traffic as of May 1st, 2011.

Existing players with accounts created prior to May 1st, 2011 will still be able to wager, deposit, and withdrawal. However no new accounts will be able to be created from U.S. customers. So basically it’s open an account before the end of the month or you’ll never be able to. This one hurts online poker players because both of these poker sites have great banking options and both are Mac compatible.

Post Black Friday Online Poker Deposits – Is it Safe?

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It has now been over a week since the DoJ seized the bank accounts and domain names of Pokerstars, Full Tilt Poker and Cereus. Panic struck the online poker world, US players found themselves unable to play at their favorite rooms, unable to access their money and nobody knew what the future would bring. Since then the dust has settled a bit. Pokerstars and Full Tilt cooperated with the DoJ and got their domain names back. They also promised their US players they would get their money back. Cereus decided to put up a fight and still allows US players to play at their sites although they are unable to either deposit or withdraw.

Meanwhile former insignificant rooms and networks like Bodog, Merge and Cake Poker suddenly became major players in the US poker economy. In little over a week time Merge doubled its player base and both the Cake Network and Bodog gained 30%. Not really a surprise considering the huge amount of American players looking for new rooms where they can play their favorite game.

One question keeps rising and that is: is it safe to deposit? If the DoJ can take out the biggest sites on the internet, then for sure they can reach the smaller sites. Having money stuck on Pokerstars is bad enough, nobody is waiting for more money to be stuck on another room. Will the DoJ come after the other remaining US rooms?

Click Here for a List of US Accepted Online Poker Sites

The case built around the Big Three is based on the testimony  of one of their former processors. Australian citizen Daniel Tzvetkoff is a 27 year old entrepreneur who made millions processing deposits and withdrawals for the major US facing sites. This made him millions but it wasn’t enough for him, he started scamming his very own customers; the poker sites. The sites found out about this soon enough and sued Tzvetkoff and even ratted him out to the authorities when he was in Las Vegas for a conference in April 2010. Tzvetkoff was arrested and faced 75 years in jailtime. This convinced him to cooperate with the US government and his inside information on how Pokerstars, Full Tilt and Cereus handle their money proved invaluable to the DoJ and lead to the actions taken on April 16. Ironically, the people that ratted Tzvetkoff out are facing the same charges he did when he initially got arrested. Tzvetkoff is currently in witness protection and is said to reside in the New York area and is probably unable to ever return to his home country, Australia.

The lack of action taken against the remaining rooms that are open to US players tells us that Tzvetkoff didn’t have any dirt on them. If he did, the DoJ would have brought them down in the same run. Obviously it is impossible to know where the DoJ is up to but it appears that the smaller room have escaped their radar for now. They have nothing on them or they are going after the big fish first in case that can easily drag for years. With Lock Poker, Bodog  and Intertops offering Quicktender, and Usemywallet it is still very much possible for the US player to fund their online poker accounts. Sports Interaction Poker on the Cake Network still facilitates eCheck deposits. There are still plenty of options left to play the game played by millions other Americans within the borders of the United States.

But again, the golden rule in gambling counts: Only play with money that you can afford to lose. If in an unlikely event the DoJ freezes funds again, it might take a while before you get your money back.

US Online Poker Pros Moving Abroad

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The crackdown of Pokerstars, Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker and UB on Black Friday took the favorite pastime away from millions of American poker players. Other poker sites such as Lock Poker, Bodog and Cake Poker are working around the clock to provide all US players with a new home.  They are doing a great job, most of the  casual players are happy to play at those sites. Some things are different though, the choice in games offered is lower and the waiting time for some sit and go formats is a bit longer. Does this mean the DoJ actions didn’t have an impact on the US poker players? No, there is a group of players which found itself in serious trouble: the online poker pro.

When we think of poker pro’s we usually picture the high profile players who we see on tv shows like High Stakes Poker, Poker After Dark or the Big Game. These pro’s represent the big sites, live the good life and make millions in the process. There is however another complete different order of poker pro’s and they aren’t nearly as visible and high profile as the established pro’s like Doyle Brunson, Tom Dwan or Daniel Negreanu.

These online poker pro’s make their living playing or teaching online poker and they don’t make millions. Instead, they grind out the cash tables and sit and goes all day and most of them make only a modest salary. On top of that, grinding online poker can be a very stressful job. Playing poker is probably the only job in the world where you can end the day with less money then you started with. Variance is the one thing you can’t use when you are depending on your play to pay the rent. Variance is the enemy to the online pro and to limit it they play as many tables as they can, sometimes up to 24 tables.

Suddenly unable to play at the Big Three, they are in serious trouble now. Because they can no longer play the amount of games they used to, they don’t make enough money anymore to pay their rent. Some of these players played professionally for years and have considerable gaps in their resume’s, others decided to drop out of college to play poker full time. Their options are limited: Finding a job in the current economy is very hard, they can’t wait until the US regulates online poker and they also don’t have the time to wait until other sites and networks offer the games they need. On top of that their entire bankroll is currently frozen and they can’t touch it. This bankroll is not only money for them, they need it to make money, it is their livelihood.

Moving abroad has become a viable option for them and a lot of grinders are looking into that option now. Canada is the favorite haven to play followed by Malta. The UK is also amongst the top destinations because online winnings aren’t taxed there. The short term goal for the movers is to regain access to their frozen funds. For the long term they can keep playing at their favorite sites abroad until the US has figured their legislation out. The DoJ’s actions of Black Friday really had an impact on these people that nobody ever anticipated.

Is this a bad thing for poker? Not really. With a lot of these mass tabling grinders out of the way the game becomes more fun again. No longer waiting for the guy who plays more tables then he can handle to finally act and less grinders in the sit and goes means the casual player will most certainly see his ROI improve. People wondered when the next poker boom would be after the Moneymaker boom in 2004. Well, this might be it.

PokerStars Questions Answered

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This is a compilation of information from PokerStars on the recent withdrawal from the United States market.

Statement from PokerStars on why USA players can no longer play for real money:

On 15 April 2011, PokerStars ceased providing real-money poker to residents of the United States and related territories. Real money play and deposits by US residents are strictly prohibited.

An agreement has been reached with the US Department of Justice to allow United States PokerStars customers to cashout their funds. PokerStars will work diligently to expedite those withdrawals. All PokerStars player deposits are completely safe.

Players from the United States can continue to play on our site for play money only. New players who wish to create an account will need to do so using our play-money-only software.

Why USA players could not access the web page or support email

The Justice department seized all the .com name including access to the .com support address. As part of a deal with the Department of Justice, USA players can now, again, access any of the .com sites including the support email address.

Can I get my Money?

PokerStars has reached an agreement with DoJ to refund players their money. Because the recent issue removed all of the old processing structure, at this time, the cashout option in the cashier is disabled.  It will be enabled when a new system is put in place. PokerStars says that getting funds to players is their top priority.

Cashouts that were requested before April 15, 2011 will be cancelled and returned to players accounts. Players can view the cashier, but US players cannot transfer to other players. Any tournaments tickets or T$ will be converted to cash, though PokerStars stresses that this will not happen immediately and asks for patience. At this time, PokerStars has yet to work out a fair plan for monetary consideration in exchange for FPPs.

All US Players who were registered in future tournaments have been unregistered and their buyins have been refunded to their accounts.

Trying to get around the restrictions

I am sure many of you are scheming or hoping there is a way to get around the new order of things. PokerStars has answered some of those common thoughts.

Players thinking they can just change their address to a new country need to know that just changing their address does not allow them to play for real money again. PokerStars needs copies of photo identification as well as a recent utility bill showing your new physical address.  If you can prove that you have left the USA, your account balance will be restored to you, including VIP status and your FPP balance.  You cannot play for real money by just taking a trip outside the country. Accounts are blocked until you show proof of new address.

If you cook up some IP rerouting scheme like a VPN, PokerStars says they will revoke your privileges for trying.

Foreigners traveling to the United States will not be allowed to play on PokerStars while in the US.

US players can buy into PokerStars live events using their real money account balances, providing they have the money already in their accounts. They cannot deposit the money and then use it to play the event.  PokerStars live events like European Poker Tour will proceed as planned. Players from the United States who have won packages to these events will still be allowed to play.

US players are welcome to play for play money if they so choose but will need to set up a new .net account.