Месяц: Январь 2015

Online Poker Player Traffic Update

As the new year begins, a look at online cash game player traffic finds PokerStars in its familiar spot perched atop the industry as it has been for the last three years. An average of 19,000 players is well more than the rest of the industry's other top ten poker rooms and networks combined.

888poker is holding down 2nd place, with 2,400 ring game players, while the iPoker Network claims 3rd by averaging 2,000 players in a seven-day period. Keep your eye on the traffic at iPoker, as the new year kicks off with the world's leading poker network implementing a new source based rake (SBR) system that favors recreational players.

The new SBR player valuation formula does not directly affect players, as rake and fees taken by iPoker skins remains the same. But players will likely be indirectly affected, as it is anticipated that certain poker rooms within the network may adjust the rewards of their player loyalty programs. It may result in some grinders deciding to play elsewhere in 2015.

Rounding out the top five are Full Tilt in 4th with a 1,800-player average, while PokerScout tallies find PartyPoker in 5th at 1,500. PartyPoker moved up a notch from last week.

Also on the ascent was PokerStars.it, who climbed up to 6th place and currently averages 1,450 players. If some sites climb in the rankings, at least one has to descend, and the poker room that took a tumble was Bodog/Bovada, now mired in 7th place while averaging 1,400 anonymous players. Bovada continues to lead the U.S.-facing (unregulated) market.

Winamax (1,200), PokerStars.es (1,200) and Adjarabet (1,150) complete the top ten. PokerStars' offering in France just missed the cut, averaging an even 1,000 cash players.

U.S. Unregulated Market

Trailing Bovada among U.S.-friendly sites are four poker networks that are operating offshore and are perhaps always in danger of facing the wrath of the DoJ and a possible shutdown. Merge (575), Chico (450), the Winning Poker Network (300) and the Equity Poker Network (190) continue to service the American market as unregulated offerings.

As do the Bitcoin-only SealswithClubs (110), the seemingly forgotten Revolution Poker Network (100), and Lock Poker (26). Players in the U.S. who want to play online poker and are not located in Nevada, New Jersey or Delaware have no alternative at present other than to deposit and play at sites that are not regulated by U.S. authorities.

If you happen to be one of those players (count me in), surely you know that the risk taken is your own and it's advisable to withdraw often and keep your bankroll as low as possible. Unless, of course, you are or were a Lock Poker player, in which case your attempts to withdraw will likely be ignored and result in frustration and heartache.

Regulated U.S. Market

On the regulated side of the ledger, the Party Borgata Network in New Jersey leads the pack as 2015 begins, with a seven-day player average of 150. Not far behind are the WSOP.com offerings in Nevada (140) and NJ (120). The All American Poker Network (888poker) in the Garden State follows with 80 players.

There are other players (sites) in the regulated U.S. online poker market that are hardly worth a mention. Real Gaming In Nevada continues to struggle in finding its footing, while online poker in Delaware remains severely restricted by its low population. Expect The First State's interstate launch under a partnership with Nevada to commence sometime this year.

PokerScout reports that 2014 ended with the online poker industry averaging 17% less players than the end of 2013. For those numbers to significantly improve by the end of 2015, it's likely that new states must jump on the regulated bandwagon. As most are aware, the states to watch are California, Pennsylvania and New York.

Online Poker Tournament

Poker player throughout the US will be looking on with envy as online poker players in New Jersey get to experience one of the biggest online poker tournament series the US has ever seen. With $1 million plus in guaranteed prize pools, the Garden State Super Series (GSSS) looks to make its mark on US regulated online poker.

In conjunction with BorgataPoker.com and hosted on the partypoker NJ network the series which starts Sunday and runs through January 25 and features 23 events that include three tournaments each. A total of 69 tournaments spread across low medium and high buy-in levels make up the GSSS.

For the full schedules of events, visit partypoker.com.

The online poker series coincides with the Borgata Winter Poker Open taking place in Atlantic City at the Borgata Hotel and Casino. The land-based event runs from January 13 through the 30th and kicks off with the Borgata Big Stack No Limit Hold ‘em Re-entry Tournament with a $2 million guaranteed prize pool.

The Borgata Winter Open also includes The WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship that boasts a $3 million guaranteed prize pool. The televised event kicks off Sunday, January 25 at 11 AM and has a buy-in of $3500.

NEW GAMES AND FORMATS FOR THE GSSS

The second running of the GSSS includes improvements based on player feedback. With a wide variety of games offered including PLO, Seven Card Stud and deep stack tournaments along with three levels of buy-ins (low medium and high) for each event, this New Jersey online poker series has something for almost every player.

Organizers have included a new Speed Down format which extends the blind levels as play progresses giving those that last more play. There is also a Super Bounty tournament where 50% of the prize pool goes towards paying bounties to players who knock out their fellow competitors.

And by popular demand, this year’s GSSS includes heads-up events for the first time.

The tournaments are also structured to give more prize money to the top finishing players.

Even if the lowest stakes are too much for your bankroll, qualifiers started just $0.25 and are running now. If you have yet to sign up for an account at Borgatapoker.com or partypoker make sure to check out our new player guide before you do to make sure you get the best deal.

CarbonPoker is featuring the return of the Carbon Online Poker Series in February, with 76 events boasting a total of $2 million in guarantees.

The 15-day series kicks off Feb. 8 and concludes on Feb. 22 with five different main events with $480,000 in guarantees up for grabs. Main event buy-ins range from just $11 to $530.

In addition to no-limit hold’em, the Carbon OPS will also feature H.O.R.S.E., pot-limit Omaha eight-or-better, badugi, pot-limit Omaha, stud eight-or-better, razz, limit hold’em and stud, with a minimum of four events each day.

Players looking to satellite their way into Carbon OPS events can utilize the various levels of six-max turbo and hyper turbo sit-n-gos, with buy-ins as low as $0.21 awarding cash and coupons.

To add a little extra to the Carbon OPS, the site is giving away $100 to every play that registers early for the $215 buy-in, $250,000 guarantee main event. Simply register by Feb. 22 and play in the event and you will be given a $100 bonus.

U.S. players welcome.

If you’d like to play but don’t yet have a Carbon Poker account, click on the banner below. Card Player readers are eligible for an initial deposit bonus of 200 percent up to $5,000.

The only real chance for more online poker in America next year is California. According to research earlier this year from financial services firm Morgan Stanley, the Golden State will be the only U.S. state to authorize the activity next year.

However, that is actually no sure bet.

In early December, a new online poker bill hit the California legislature. It was introduced by Assemblyman Mike Gatto, a Democrat from Glendale. The bill is dubbed the “Internet Poker Consumer Protection Act of 2015,” and it would establish a framework to authorize intrastate Internet poker—and poker only—for those physically within California’s borders. It is worth noting that one tribe was looking to launch its own online poker site under tribal sovereignty because, basically, it grew tired of waiting for the state to pass legislation for online betting. It ended up launching online bingo instead and then was sued by California.

Gatto said in a statement that his bill “is different from previous proposals, in that it endeavors to address both the external criticisms of the industry, and expand the pie to obtain accord amongst competing gaming interests.” Online poker efforts in California have failed for years.

His comments sounded pretty promising, but there’s actually debate about whether the language in the proposal (it’s still in its early stages) will be acceptable for some; most notably PokerStars and its potential partners. A coalition of PokerStars, the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, the Commerce Club, the Hawaiian Gardens Casino and the Bicycle Casino came out with a statement not long after the new bill was introduced and basically condemned it. The coalition has criticized other efforts before.

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“Unfortunately, [the bill] is a rehash of previously unsuccessful proposals,” the coalition wrote in its public statement. “Any bill that seeks to establish artificial competitive advantages for some, while denying Californians the best online poker experiences, will only serve to divide the community and will be opposed by our coalition.”

The coalition is concerned about the so-called “bad actor” provisions that they think limits the competition the industry needs to thrive. The issue stems from the fact that PokerStars, under prior ownership, fell into hot water with the federal government. However, that case has been settled and PokerStars never was found to be guilty of wrongdoing. Still, that case could hurt its California chances.

Despite what Gallo says, there is still a long, long way to go before California sees online poker. The PokerStars et al. coalition has a lot of political power in the Garden State, and it appears unlikely anything could pass without that group signing off on the language in the legislation.

So, if one had to bet on California, it would probably be better for your money to not be too hopeful about 2015. It wouldn’t be too surprising if nothing happens there next year, given billionaire casino boss Sheldon Adelson’s continued efforts to ban the activity nationwide, or at least prevent it from being legalized in any additional states. Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware currently have ongoing online gaming industries, and revenues have been lackluster. Though, California is said to be large enough to support its own intrastate industry, so performances elsewhere probably aren’t too scary if anyone in California is worried about online poker succeeding there.

The one great thing about California is that there is so much money to be made, which would make one think that it’s just a matter of time before competing groups find a way to share.

According to a study done last year by Academicon and PokerScout which analyzed the California market during 2009-2010, a total of 178,300 online poker players in California generated an average of $867 per year in revenue for offshore poker operators, creating a $155 million market. California players accounted for 16 percent of U.S. revenue and four percent of worldwide online poker revenue, the study also found.

Gallo said that “millions” of people “regularly” play poker in California. It’s hard to imagine it being quite that many who play regularly even if you factor in free-play games like ZyngaPoker. Politicians far and wide do sometimes throw out numbers to help their legislative projects. Take Chris Christie in New Jersey, who once estimated that online gaming in the Garden State would yield $1 billion in its first year.

Morgan Stanley predicts that California’s online poker market will be $610 million by 2020, assuming it legalizes the activity in 2015 and the ball gets rolling. The fact that Californians would only be able to play poker on the Internet does limit the overall size of California’s online gaming market. For example, Illinois is predicted to be about the same size as California one day, because the former will likely authorize a slew of online casino games, in addition to peer-to-peer poker play.

After California, the U.S. states most likely to legalize online poker in 2015 or 2016 are Illinois, New York and Pennsylvania, according to the Morgan Stanley research. All three have well-established gambling industries and have flirted with online gaming in the past. New York might be the last one to do so of the bunch, given that officials there are in the middle of overseeing the state’s first non-tribal Las Vegas-style brick-and-mortar casinos. Gaming-friendly states Colorado, Iowa and Massachusetts could legalize online gaming by 2020, Morgan Stanley predicts, which probably also makes them dark horses for 2015.

The year 2014 saw no additional states legalize or debut online poker industries. It could be the same for next year, but let’s hope that isn’t the case and California legalizes, kicks off a hugely successful industry, and as a result convinces other states to embrace online poker.

Looking back at 2014, the past year marked an alarming change on the legislative front for online poker with the industry going back on the defensive.

Since the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) passed in 2006, legislative momentum had slowly been pushing forward. Even when there was little progress on the federal front, there were bills being introduced and hearings held to discuss regulating online poker. The end-of-year lame-duck sessions of Congress always brought about the "one-time" pleas with teases, however fruitless, that regulation could be attached to must-pass legislation.

This year, the lame-duck sweat was that Las Vegas Sands chairman Sheldon Adelson would get his Internet gambling ban pushed through at the last minute.

Back in March, Adelson got Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) to introduce in each branch of Congress what he misleadingly called the Restoration of America's Wire Act (RAWA), and that dominated the political and media rhetoric regarding online poker for the rest of the year.

The American Gaming Association (AGA), the industry's most powerful lobbying group in the U.S., withdrew its support of online gaming to recognize the dissent on the issue among its members.

At the state level, following a dynamic 2013 in which three states got online poker up and running, progress stalled this year. California and Pennsylvania each held hearings regarding online poker, but they were more of the exploratory nature and didn't address specific bills.

There was more of a consensus on language for a bill reached among California Indian tribes and card rooms than ever before, but factions remained with differing opinions on key issues such as the inclusion of a bad actor clause and the participation of horse racing tracks that prevented legislation from moving.

Overall, states seemed less eager to pursue online poker. Part of the reason probably is wanting to take a wait-and-see approach on Adelson's crusade for a federal ban, while the sluggish start for regulated gambling in New Jersey, Nevada, and Delaware must be making state legislators take pause.

New Jersey failed to come close to even the lowest projections for its first year of online gaming with $120 million in revenue, only $27 million in which came from poker. Ultimate Poker, the first site to launch regulated online poker in the U.S. back in April of 2013, already folded in Nevada and New Jersey.

On the positive side, not only did Adelson's push to get his Internet gambling ban through in the lame-duck session fail, but his aggressiveness caused many groups to voice their opinions against Congress giving in to the irrational request of one man just because he is one of the biggest political donors.

While the Internet poker industry and others stopped Adelson from scoring this year, the defense will need to withstand an even harder push in 2015. Stay tuned for a column soon on what to expect from online poker legislation in the new year.

Can you believe that 2014 is already in the books? Last year brought some of most exciting and memorable hands at Full Tilt Poker, the home to some of the biggest nosebleed online poker games.

It isn't surprising that the top hands of the year were all played at Full Tilt. What might be surprising, however, is that all of the 50 biggest online poker hands of the year were played at the popular high-stakes site.

In June, we brought to you the top five hands of the first half of the year. Shockingly, none of those hands made it into the top five for the year, but you can read all about these hands here.

Here is a look at the top five online poker hands in 2014.

5. Denoking vs WCGRider – $338,760
The fifth biggest hand in 2014 took place on Sept. 18, 2014, in a $200/$400 no-limit hold'em heads-up match on table "Dig" between high-stakes poker pros "Denoking" and Doug "WCGRider" Polk.

The action in this hand began with Denoking making a pot-sized bet of $1,400 on the button with {8-Hearts}{8-Spades}. He then called a huge three-bet to $6,800 from WCGRider who held suited-connectors {10-Diamonds}{9-Diamonds}.

The flop ran {8-Diamonds}{q-Spades}{k-Diamonds}, giving Denoking a set and WCGRider both flush and straight draws. WCGRider led out with a $10,200 bet with his draw hand and Denoking raised to $35,600. WCGRider then went all in and Denoking called. Although both players agreed to run the hand twice, WCGRider was never able to catch up, and Denoking raked in a huge $338,760.10 pot, the fifth biggest of the year.

4. Gus Hansen vs. Jungleman12 and Islidur1 - $355,144
The fourth biggest hand took place on the mixed-game "Coventry" table during a $300/$600 pot-limit hand on Aug. 20, 2014 between some of the biggest names in the game: Gus Hansen, Dan "jungleman12" Cates and Viktor "Isildur1" Blom.

The action started fast with Hansen min-raising to $1,200 with {9-Clubs}{7-Clubs}{6-Diamonds}{5-Diamonds} from the button, Cates raising the action to $4,200 with {a-Spades}{10-Spades}{9-Spades}{8-Hearts} from the small blind, and Isildur1 four-betting the pot to $13,800 with {j-Spades}{10-Clubs}{9-Hearts}{7-Spades}. Both players called, creating the potential for huge action on a {10-Hearts}{7-Diamonds}{5-Spades} rainbow flop.

The money was all-in on the flop with Isildur1 having top two pair, Gus Hansen having a smaller two-pair, and Cates having a straight draw. The {j-Diamonds} turn gave Cates the temporary lead with a straight, but this card also gave Gus Hansen the only flush draw on the board.

The flush wasn't necessary as Gus Hansen spiked the {5-Hearts} on the river, giving him the full house and $259,430 of the huge $355,145 pot. Cates was able to hold onto the side pot of $95,714.40 to mitigate some of his losses on this epic hand.

3. LuvtheWNBA vs. Denoking - $359,187
The third biggest hand involved Isaac "luvtheWNBA" Haxton and Denoking in a $300/$600 heads-up no limit hand on table "Po Box" on Aug. 21, 2014.

This hand is far less exciting than the first two as both players got it in with {k-}{q-} on a board where both hit the nuts splitting a huge $359,186.90 pot.

2. Isildur1 vs. Jungleman12 - $372,260
Minutes after being on the losing end of the fourth biggest hand of the year, Viktor "Isildur1" Blom got his revenge during a $300/$600 no-limit hold'em hand on table "Khan" on Aug. 20, 2014, against Dan Cates.

The hand began three-handed with Gus Hansen also at the table. Cates raised preflop to $1,500 and Blom raised to $5,400 with {7-Hearts}{6-Hearts}. Hansen got out of the way and Cates opted to see a flop in position.

Blom led out for $7,200 on a {k-Clubs}{9-Diamonds}{8-Diamonds} board and Cates called. The {5-Hearts} on the turn was one of the eight outs Blom needed to make his straight, and he led out with a $17,400 bet which Cates raised to $48,600. Blom decided to disguise his hand and just called, hoping for more action on the river.

The {q-Spades} was a scare card for Isildur1 as it brought into play the possibility of him losing if Cates held {j-}{10-}. While we are uncertain what Cates had since he ultimately mucked his hand, we can at least determine he did not have this combination of cards. Blom opted to check the hand to Cates who then led out with a $98,600 bet, which just about put Blom all-in if he called. Blom opted to raise his remaining stack and found himself on the winning end of a $372,260.20 pot.

1. WCGRider vs. Denoking - $382,827
The biggest hand of the year took place about an hour and a half after WCGRider and Denoking faced off on the fifth largest hand of the year on Sept. 18, 2014 on the no-limit hold'em heads-up "Sele" table.

This hand is easily the biggest cooler of the year as the duo got it in with the best two hands in poker. Despite both players opting to run it twice after the money was all-in preflop, WCGRider's {a-Hearts}{a-Spades} held against Denoking's {k-Diamonds}{k-Spades} giving him a huge $382,826.60 pot, the biggest of the year.