The Beginning of the Death of Online Poker in the US

[Ryche]

Why is Fan Duel legal while online poker is not?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Ryche

Why is Fan Duel legal while online poker is not?

They're currently looking to strengthen the Wire Act in a bill being written in the Senate. It of course has the usual waiver for horse racing. It also has a waiver for fantasy sports (which Fan Duel would fall under). There is growing sentiments that online poker will also get a federal waiver in that bill. Still have to wait and see, but it's exciting to hear that we may soon see an end to the indirect funding ban on online poker.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Ryche

Why is Fan Duel legal while online poker is not?

It's a gray area. Part of it is because they have big companies like Comcast backing them who have bought off most of our government. And part of it is because it's new and no one really knows where it stands in regards to archaic laws.

Some people do think a shakedown is coming at some point though.

[TCY Junkie]

It's comical you can bet on players but not the games, offensive and defensive lines play much more role than wrs and rbs.

[QuikSand]

Republican proposes legalizing online poker | TheHill

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

Republican proposes legalizing online poker | TheHill

In related news, I played in a $10 tournament online last night and finished 52nd out of 1132 players.

I'd be shocked if either of these bills make it through.

[chesapeake]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

I'd be shocked if either of these bills make it through.

I'm mostly in agreement with you. But Sheldon Adelson's ginormous wallet is backing the online ban bill offered by Graham and Rubio, so I wouldn't dismiss that one entirely.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

I've found a online tournament over at Bovada that I really like quite a bit. It's a $10+1 tournament at 10:15 PM (Eastern). The tournament gives a big number of chips ($10k in chips when most other tourneys start with 3-5k). They shorten the blinds to 10 minutes (normally 12 minutes) and it's a $7500 guarantee prize pool. That usually doesn't come into play as the pool is usually $12-14k.

It's an interesting tourney because they allow late registration for 13 levels (around 2 1/2 hours if you include breaks). What usually happens is that you have people jumping in at all times during that period, often ending up with 1200-1300 entrants. The key is just to survive to the late reg end point. After that, the bubble usually hits 45 minutes after that. Patience is really rewarded in this format. Winning cash is around $2000+.

I've played the tournament seven times now over the last few weeks when I have time. I've cashed four times and have made two final tables. $77 in entry fees, around $350 in money back. Not a bad return.

[RainMaker]

I'll have to look into that. Is Bovada the place most people play these days? Can I transfer sportsbook money over to play poker?

I really miss the old Party Poker days. Everything seems like such a pain in the ass these days.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I'll have to look into that. Is Bovada the place most people play these days? Can I transfer sportsbook money over to play poker?

I really miss the old Party Poker days. Everything seems like such a pain in the ass these days.

Bovada and America's Cardroom are the two US-facing sites where you can play. Bovada is the top one. There are no nicknames shown at the table (you're assigned an identifying number for each tournament/cash game) and you can't use poker tracking software for obvious reasons.

With that said, the number of players on some of these tournaments are pretty good. You can use your money for sportsbook/poker/casino as it's all the same account. The nice thing about that is that you often have gambling types taking their money to the poker tables when they really have no business playing poker.

FYI......for those that don't have money in an account yet, you need to make sure that your credit card account is set up to allow international transactions. Otherwise, it will be rejected. Feel free to reference me if you create an account (limelicker (at) yahoo.com is my account e-mail).

[sabotai]

I just checked Borgata's online service for NJ. I started the sign-up process but it says 778 players at 241 tables.....checked the MTs....84 registered, 80 reg., 19 reg (all playing now, one starting 5 minutes, 5 people registered) ....so never mind.

Need to plan a few trips to AC...

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by sabotai

I just checked Borgata's online service for NJ. I started the sign-up process but it says 778 players at 241 tables.....checked the MTs....84 registered, 80 reg., 19 reg (all playing now, one starting 5 minutes, 5 people registered) ....so never mind.

Need to plan a few trips to AC...

There's lots of junk ones that no one plays as you note. The ones I play usually range between 500-1500 entrants and there's usually 4-5 of that size tourney each night.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Just as a sample current tourneys are:

179
711
934
170
352
144
473
311
230
306
132
489

That's pretty good tournament numbers.

[Ryche]

I've played around some in Bovada, just for free, not depositing anything. Twice they gave me 10 dollar poker chips to play on table games and I was able to crush blackjack to make it 30-40 dollars. It's amusing and the money can be bet on sporting events. Not as good as the PokerStars and full tilt days but not bad

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Been watching the Super High Roller Bowl on NBC Sports Network ($500k entry tournament at Aria). Love the 'shot clock' in the tournament. Makes everything flow so much better. Would love to see it in WSOP, EPT, and WPT tournaments.

[Suicane75]

Locked out of Bovada since I'm in Jersey, meanwhile all the legal rooms have NOBODY in them. Borgata, 888, WSOP, all frigging empty. Can't even get a S&G going. Good job New Jersey!

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Suicane75

Locked out of Bovada since I'm in Jersey, meanwhile all the legal rooms have NOBODY in them. Borgata, 888, WSOP, all frigging empty. Can't even get a S&G going. Good job New Jersey!

You're about to get Pokerstars. That's a big deal.

FYI......for those who are wondering what sites you can play on if you're in the U.S., there's a good thread over at two plus two.

Where can US players play? - First post updated Aug '15 - Internet Poker - Online Poker Forum

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Not sure how many have noticed, but there's a professional poker league that just started their season a couple weeks ago. There's several matches a week all streamed on Twitch.

http://www.globalpokerleague.com/

[HeavyReign]

Anyone else have funds on Absolute or Ultimatebet?

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr...e-poker-victim

[Suicane75]

Wait, wasn't it illegal to play? How do you request funds made from an illegal activity?

[Radii]

Originally Posted by Suicane75

Wait, wasn't it illegal to play? How do you request funds made from an illegal activity?

I got my full tilt distribution last year.

Layman's understanding... originally there was a very old Wire Act that people felt would have covered making online poker illegal. The UIGEA did nothing to go after poker players, it made it illegal for the sites to accept financial transactions over the internet from people in the US.

In general it seemed like there was never any desire to go after the players, just to get the sites out of the US market.

There are lots of other nuances to the arguments, about poker being a skill game (and thus not a "game of chance") and many other things but without getting deep into those arguments I think that covers it at a super high level?

[jbpostbot]

this sound promising

[cuervo72]

lol

[JonInMiddleGA]

Doyle Brunson has passed away at the age of 89.
Rest in peace.

thespun.com

[flere-imsaho]

That's a shame, what a hell of a life.