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Unibet Releases iPad App in European Markets

 Again Unibet has met a promised launch date as it releases its new iOS poker app, which is now available from the Apple store.

The app is restricted to iPads only—no iPhone support yet—and is available in the official iTunes stores for players in Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK.
A Unibet rep promises “more markets to follow.”
The app includes the quick seat lobby feature of Unibet’s new poker client, together with the Achievements and Missions that have become de rigeur in the mainstream online poker market.
Unusually, Unibet allows screen name changes up to three times a day—retaining personalization, rather than going for the full anonymous player model adopted by Bodog. This feature is also supported directly from the mobile app.
April has also seen the launch of Unibet’s innovative VIP scheme which rewards achievements other than paying rake. That the mobile and the upgrade to deliver the VIP scheme have been launched on time is testimony to Unibet’s effective IT management.
The mobile app and the main poker client—implemented after Unibet left MPN—have been developed in partnership with Relax Gaming, an Estonian based company founded in 2010. The partnership between the two companies saw Unibet be the first site to debut Relax Gaming’s early fast fold poker product, “Fast Poker.”
 
Author: Ekaterina
15 . 04 . 2014 y.
New Jersey Gaming Regulator Hands Down Decision on Borgata Chipgate

 The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) has issued its final order following an investigation of the Borgata Winter Open which was cancelled after counterfeit chips were found to be in play.

Christian Lusardi has been charged with offences relating to introducing the fake chips.
The DGE determined that the Borgata Casino was in compliance with the gambling regulations. This will likely help them as it removes a possible cause for action against the casino itself—players have already launched a class action against the casino.
The distribution of the remaining prize fund ordered by the DGE has raised many hackles amongst players. The Borgata has put the entry fees—$60 per player—into the reimbursement fund, so a total of $1.72m is to be paid out.
$560 will go to 2,143 entrants “who may have been impacted by the counterfeit chips” but who did not make the money.
According to the Borgata statement following the DGE ruling, players “eligible for the $560 refund are those who may have played in the same venue (Event Center, Poker Room or Signature Room) during the same session with Lusardi, or otherwise could have could have reasonably been determined to have been impacted by counterfeit chips allegedly introduced by Lusardi.”
Players who finished in the money but who busted before the tournament was halted, will not receive any additional payments. This applies to players who finished in 450th to 28th –the tournament was stopped with 27 players remaining. Players who were in the final 27 will receive $19,323 each.
The DGE determined that 2,218 entrants “were not impacted by the counterfeit chips in any way.” The Borgata’s statement on the matter explains that they and the DGE “examined whether players had played in the same room and during the same sessions as Lusardi.”
The flat distribution of the remaining prize pool to the remaining 27 players has received the most comment on the forums. The $19k payment is more money than the official pay out structure was due to pay to all finishers below 9th.
The difficulty is that by this point, the tournament was irretrievably compromised. Even a chip count based redistribution of the remaining prize fund—or an Independent Chip Model (ICM) chop—would be invalidated by the collective impact of the additional chips as they moved from player to player and table to table.
The second issue being criticised is the decision by the Borgata not to enhance the funds available for distribution by more than the $60 entry fee. The Borgata’s good faith gesture totals $288k and some players feel that this is an inadequate response to the situation.
Author: Ekaterina
15 . 04 . 2014 y.
888 Returns to Public Tournament Tracking Site SharkScope

 SharkScope, the popular online tool that tracks results in sit & go and scheduled tournaments at online poker rooms, has worked with 888poker to add player data back to the website.

Under the new system, player results—including ROI and profit data—are hidden by default. If a player opts in, then data on their opponents are revealed—and their results are also revealed publicly.
Players can also explicitly opt out, hiding their results from everyone else.
As pokerfuse reported back in June 2013, 888 previously forced SharkScope to remove all data from its website. The poker room stated at the time that it “... does not give permission for any data mining sites to access our poker room, and we actively enforce this policy,” adding that the policy “is to protect our members … from these sites providing data on your game play and potentially selling it on to third parties.”
SharkScope stated at the time that it had “offered to implement any kind of 'opt-in’ procedure they would like, in addition to our existing 'opt-out’ and “reset” systems,” but that the poker room had rejected all offers.
This difference of opinion has apparently been resolved in the last ten months. SharkScope is now promoting the online poker room through promotional affiliate banners on the site.
Negative customer response may have been at least partially responsible from 888’s change of heart: in a blog post announcing the change, SharkScope thanked “those of you who have written and posted that you’d like 888 back.”
“We heard you and are glad that we could, with the help of 888 accomplish this goal,” they wrote.
Data from both the dot-com site and 888poker Spain, the group’s successful Spanish operation, are available on SharkScope. Two special tournaments in the 888 client—named “Sharkscope Opt-In” and “Opt-Out”, listed under the “restricted” tab in the client—are used for players to indicate their intentions.
At the time of writing, 312 players had so far opted-in to the first tournament, and 52 have opted out.
A similar system has been place at PokerStars since 2012, when the online poker giant started cracking down on public tracking databases.
Author: Ekaterina
14 . 04 . 2014 y.
New Jersey Online Poker Revenues Rise in March

 New Jersey online poker revenue has rebounded with a modest 3.26% increase in March, according to revenue figures released Monday by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement.

The partnership of Borgata and partypoker accounted for nearly all of the internet poker growth, recording an additional $85k in revenues over its February figures. The increase in March for all online poker rooms was just over $101k, bringing total poker revenues up to $3.2 million for the month.
Ultimate Poker notched its biggest month on record with its third consecutive month of growth. WSOP.com and 888 saw a fractional increase over February.
Borgata and partypoker still maintain the majority of market share based on revenue with the combination of WSOP and 888 coming in a close second. Ultimate Poker maintains only a 3% share of the New Jersey online poker action.
Overall, internet gaming revenues rose 15.2% to $11.9 million.
The total number of online gaming accounts jumped 17.5% in March. An additional 43,384 new igaming accounts were created across all operators, bringing the total number of real money customers to 291,625.
Author: Ekaterina
14 . 04 . 2014 y.
WSOP and Ultimate Poker Adopt NETELLER Payment Processing Solution

 Both Ultimate Poker and WSOP Nevada have announced that they will be offering payment cards to help solve problems players have in depositing and withdrawing from US state regulated sites.

Last month WSOP.com introduced a NETELLER option in New Jersey, and now it has received approval to use the company’s Net+ card at its Nevada online poker room. The US version of Net+ is a pre-paid Discover card that players can use to make deposits and withdrawals, with access to cash via ATM machines.
At the moment the WSOP Nevada version is only valid for deposits, but this will change to include withdrawals in the “near future,” according to a report by John Mehaffey at USPoker.com. The card can be funded by both Visa and MasterCard and should therefore avoid the problems that some users of those credit cards have experienced when trying to deposit on state regulated gambling sites.
Ultimate Poker is using the same system—provided to NETELLER by Sightline Payments—which is also used by Borgata Poker and partypoker in New Jersey. Approval to add the option for Ultimate Poker’s Nevada customers has been requested from the regulator, and going by the speed with which WSOP received approval, should be available sometime in May.
Even though state regulated online poker sites are completely legal, some banks continue to refuse to process gaming transactions.
The failure to make the depositing process fast and simple has been one of the reasons the industry believes that both Nevada and New Jersey markets have not achieved their full potential. Once WSOP and Ultimate Poker have their branded cards in place, all the major operators in Nevada and New Jersey will have adopted the Neteller/Sightline solution.
Author: Ekaterina
11 . 04 . 2014 y.
PPA Launches “Fight Back” Campaign During Congressional Recess

 The Poker Players Alliance is asking poker players to fight back against efforts to ban online poker in the US.

The latest push to liberate online poker comes in response to legislation recently introduced by US Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Representative Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) that would amend the Wire Act of 1961 to expand its prohibition beyond sports betting to include all online gaming except horse racing and fantasy sports.
The PPA is encouraging poker players to reach out to their federal representatives while Congress is in recess. This presents an opportunity to meet with members of Congress in their districts.
As part of this campaign, the PPA is providing tools to make it easier for players’ voices to be heard. A new section of the PPA website provides a step-by-step guide to schedule an appointment with your Representatives and Senators. There are also instructions on attending a public appearance by your lawmakers, visiting their offices, sending emails and engaging them on social media.
The move to ban online gambling is being driven by billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson who vowed to “spend whatever it takes” to ban online gambling under the guise that a ban is the only way to protect consumers.
The proposed legislation has many opponents including the Democratic Governors Association, the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries (NASPL) and The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL)
“We have learned time and time again throughout history that prohibition is not the solution for protecting consumers and actually does more harm than good,” said John Pappas, executive director of the PPA. “We cannot stand by and allow for misguided legislation to reverse the incredible advancements we have made in consumer and player protections and the ability of the individual states to determine whether to regulate online poker.
Author: Ekaterina
11 . 04 . 2014 y.
Everest Poker to Withdraw From Russia

 Betclic-Everest is withdrawing from the Russian market, a spokesperson has confirmed to pokerfuse.

A reason for the group’s withdrawal was not given.
The group operates, among many other brands, Everest Poker, previously a sizeable independent online poker room which moved to the top-tier of iPoker in late 2012.
Last month, a number of online poker sites were added to an official blacklist in Russia. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Russia are required to block access to sites on the list which includes mainly political, pornographic and drug related domains.
It lead to Betfair—primarily an online betting exchange which also operates a top-tier iPoker skin—to announce its departure from the Russian market. According to a statement sent to affiliates, the group will close to new signups and will suspend all Russian marketing, but will continue to serve existing customers.
PokerStars, whose domain is on the blacklist, and 888 have each issued statements indicating that they will continue to operate in the market.
Betclic-Everest is also withdrawing from the Belgian market, according to reports earlier this week. Belgian authorities seized €600k from the group, which faces charges from the Belgian Public Prosecution Office that it operated an illegal gambling business in the country.
Author: Ekaterina
10 . 04 . 2014 y.
bwin.party Announces “Robust” Performance, Promises Online Poker Upgrades

 bwin.party depicts the performance of its online poker products in a positive light in its first quarter financial report, and has promised a number of upgrades to be introduced over the next few weeks.

Cash game traffic for partypoker has been the best performer of the top five sites since the year began, and the report points to this as evidence of a “robust” performance.
Actual numbers declined both against the previous quarter and against the same quarter last year. However, compared to the market which lost 15%, partypoker’s single digit losses indicated a strong performance.
As reported last week, the new poker client introduced to the dot-com market in August, and used for its New Jersey regulated poker room is going to be rolled out to French and Italian customers by the end of 2014.
The poker product in New Jersey will also get “feature enhancements” over the next few weeks, and a new mobile client will be launched in the regulated markets of Belgium, Denmark and Spain.
The existing Android and iOS mobile clients for the dot-com, New Jersey and French networks will be upgraded to include Sit and Go tournaments. “With further product innovations and new tournaments scheduled for later in the year, we are focused on improving our poker performance,” the report concludes.
“We remain optimistic about new market opportunities in the United States with online poker bills currently being reviewed in California and New York,” announced CEO Norbert Teufelberger and then reiterated his commitment to the US market, saying that partypoker is “determined to secure leading positions in all eligible states that represent a significant business opportunity.”
Author: Ekaterina
10 . 04 . 2014 y.
Bad Beat Jackpot Revival at Carbon Poker

 Carbon Poker has announced the revival of the bad beat jackpot (BBJ) on the Merge Gaming network. Like most revivals, the old favorites come back with a difference—this time there is no player contribution to the jackpot prize fund.

Merge eradicated its BBJ along with other poker rooms as the promotion’s side effects came to outweigh its advantages. Player pools divided between normal and bad beat jackpot tables served to reduce the network’s effective cash game liquidity.
The new incarnation of the BBJ aims to resolve the weaknesses of its predecessor. The minimum bad beat qualifying hand has been set at quad 2s, ensuring that the jackpot will pay out more often. The BBJ will apply to all cash games at 6 max and full ring tables—heads up tables are excluded. All tables will be equal and the player pool will not be divided with the new system.
Most importantly, the prize fund will be funded by the site, not by an additional player contribution. Every minute $0.10 will automatically be added to the jackpot fund. A new counter visible on cash game tables will keep a running total of the fund.
The payout structure will award 38% of the fund to the player who loses the jackpot hand. 20.5% will go to the winner of the hand and another 20.5% will be split equally between all the other payers who were dealt in to the hand. 21% of the fund will go to re-seed the jackpot so that there will always be a bonus available—even if a qualifying bad beat occurs immediately after one has paid out.
Previous BBJ’s were criticized because the operator often retained a percentage for themselves. In this new system, all the money will go directly to the players.
The Winning Poker Network (WPN) has changed its Beast promotion this month to remove the player contribution that damaged liquidity, and Microgaming (MPN) converted its BBJ to an opt in system to solve the same problem—the prize fund is funded by contributions from opted in players.
 
Author: Ekaterina
09 . 04 . 2014 y.
Australian Study Finds Insufficient Evidence that Online Gambling Increases Gambling Problems

 The largest study of its type, “Interactive Gambling” commissioned by Gambling Research Australia has concluded that there is insufficient evidence to link online gambling with an increase in problem gambling.

The study was the most comprehensive carried out in Australia, and its authors believe the most comprehensive ever, anywhere. Over 15,000 telephone interviews, 4,500 online surveys and 50 personal interviews with gamblers went into collecting the data which included responses from 31 gamblers who had sought help for gambling addiction.
The “Doomswitch” is Reality for Over a Third of Gamblers
The report is redolent with interesting and intriguing statistical information, and includes the results of a comprehensive literature review summarizing the results obtained by research from around the world.
A belief in the “doomswitch” is widely prevalent. 37.6% of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed with the statement “online gambling sites have an on/off switch that can turn the software in favor of the operator.”
25.5% of online poker players only played online, with the remainder also playing live poker in casinos. Online players reported an average loss in the last month of $2, whereas live players reported that they had won an average of $50.
Internet Gambling Does Not Increase Gambling Problems but it Might in the Future
Although the report was guarded in its conclusions, the authors stated that “there is currently insufficient evidence to conclude that interactive gambling is causing higher levels of gambling problems.” The added caveat, “it is possible that related problems might increase over time with increased participation,” suggested that this may not be as reassuring as it appears.
One of the factors which the report used to reach this conclusion was that “for a substantial proportion of interactive gamblers experiencing difficulties, these problems are related to non‐interactive modes.” In other words the problem starts with a live gambling experience before the player starts to bet online.
The concern that internet gambling could increase problem gambling despite the study’s findings is identified as resulting from its “convenience and ease of access, ability to play in private, high speed continuous gambling, player incentives and advertising, and the immersive nature of the Internet.”
Poker Players at Lower Risk than Most
Poker is listed as being one of the forms of gambling which has the lowest risks for the development of pathological gambling problems—only two of the 31 problem gamblers interviewed were poker players.
A distinction was made between online and live poker. 9.8% of online poker players reported feeling like they had a problem with gambling “almost always” compared to 4.8% of non-internet poker players.
An audit of casino and poker sites serving the Australian market showed that less than half “presented a link to a responsible gambling page or to treatment services and only seven sites provided a link to a self‐assessment tool.”
Overall, the report makes a positive contribution to the current Australian debate on regulating online gambling. Last December, Prime Minister Tony Abbott promised to “implement stronger restrictions on online gambling.” This was widely interpreted to be a precursor to starting the process of regulating internet gambling which was recommended in a government report released last March.
 
Author: Ekaterina
09 . 04 . 2014 y.
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