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New Jersey Online Gambling Market On Track for November Launch

 While Nevada has been attracting a number of online poker companies to its growing online poker market, the US state of New Jersey has been hard at work preparing its own online gaming industry.

Although a date for the launch has not yet been set, the deadline for the state’s Division of Gaming Enforcement to offer internet gaming is November 26. Under New Jersey law, the Division’s director must give at least 45 days notice before Internet gaming is launched in the state. That launch date is only 63 days away.
That gives the Division a little bit of wiggle room to assess applications from gaming operators wishing to launch online gaming services in New Jersey, and according to spokeswoman Lisa Spengler, that is exactly what the Division is currently doing.
"The division can confirm that it has received a significant amount of additional materials from the casino licensees on behalf of their Internet gaming applicants," she said. "The Division remains committed to meeting the statutory deadline of November 26."
As part of New Jersey’s online gaming laws, companies that are already lisenced, such as casinos, can only apply to get a lisence to operate online gaming services. That means that external companies wishing to operate such a service must partner up with brick and mortar casinos that are located within the state.
Interest from companies in establishing online gaming services in New Jersey has been immense, with the overwhelming majority of the state’s casinos having joined up with partners to launch such services. Many of those partners are the crème de la crème of online poker and gaming, a sign that the New Jersey market could be a lucrative one.
PokerStars, 888 Holdings, bwin.party, Gamesys Limited and Ultimate Gaming have all been confirmed to have established partnerships with casinos, while Betfair has been rumoured to also have secured a partnership. Other online gaming companies have put forward their interest in operating an online gaming service in New Jersey as well. One of them is Irish company Paddy Power, who placed an application with the Division of Gaming Enforcement last month.
The impending launch of the online gaming market in New Jersey is set to be a major event, with that state being the centre of gaming in eastern America. The fact that New Jersey has a significant population (8.8 million) makes an online gaming industry there a potentially intriguing one, and is likely to lead to major competition once the industry is officially launched.
Author: Ekaterina
24 . 09 . 2013 y.
Full Tilt Remission Complaints Growing

 Former U.S. Full Tilt players who were excited about the remission process getting underway about a week ago are voicing a growing number of complaints about how the process is going and the apparent lack of knowledgeable assistance from Garden City Group (GCG) customer service representatives.

The thread on 2 + 2 that addresses FTP remission issues is nearing 1,100 posts and a large number of those are not at all favorable to the claims administrator GCG and the manner in which the entire process is being administered.
A sample from "WotPeed" posted today: "It sure seems like GCG is ill-equipped to handle this job. I don't know how much this case differs from other remissions cases but my suspicion is that both the number of claimants and their restlessness is greater than GCG was prepared to handle.
"Their rinky-dink website is a joke, their processes are poorly thought out, and support has been lackluster at best. My guess is that they've been overwhelmed by the volume of people with questions/problems and they're trying to get some answers from DOJ regarding what to do going forward.
"It would be nice if their call center monkeys were given a new line to add to their script, something along the lines of 'we're aware that many applicants are experiencing difficulty submitting their remissions claims due to various circumstances. We expect to have answers to the most common issues within 7 days. Please don't call us any more until then' (or something a little more PC)."
That seems to sum up what a great number of other posters were trying to say. The issues in question appear to be many, but a large amount lean toward the financial mismanagement at Full Tilt in a time frame both prior to and after Black Friday. Deposits and withdrawals during FTP's final days of operation were not processed and/or properly recorded. This in itself has caused considerable frustration by players who must submit supporting documentation.
Players have the option to dispute the balance on record as of April 15, 2011. Keep in mind that FTP was still online and operating after Black Friday so there will be some discrepancy and room for dispute by a number of players. Balances on record and that which players claim to be owed will simply not match because of the wayward accounting practices employed at FTP in those waning days.
Many complaints also center around players who apparently did not receive the email from GCG that contained the petition and control numbers required to submit a claim. Some players went ahead with the steps outlined in filing a new petition, only to eventually receive the email that should have landed in their in-box earlier.
Yet more posters expressed concern that filing a Petition for Remission would be an admission of guilt that they played online poker illegally and would somehow come back to haunt them. Keep in mind that U.S. Full Tilt players are seen by the DoJ as victims of fraudulent activity perpetrated by Full Tilt Poker. The remission process is intended to get dollars back into the pockets of players, not to charge them with any illegal activity.
While many players may have been expecting the remission process to go smoothly, that may have been an unlikely expectation considering that balances may be questionable due to the poor accounting at FTP around Black Friday. With regard to the other complaints such as not receiving emails or the inability to get answers both correct and timely from the GCG staff, it's worth noting that the remission process is only one week into its two-month duration.
Perhaps the best advice for players who continue having difficulties in the Full Tilt remission process is to turn to the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) for assistance. A team has been put together at the PPA for that very reason, to help players whose concerns are not being adequately resolved. An email to [email protected] will get the ball rolling.
Author: Ekaterina
24 . 09 . 2013 y.
GCG Accepting Petitions For Remission

 The Full Tilt remission process appears to be hitting its stride as the Garden City Group (GCG) is accepting claims from former U.S. players at the official website.

A separate tab entitled "File a Petition for Remission" is on display at the upper left hand corner at www.fulltiltpokerclaims.com. Clicking that tab takes players to a page entitled "Welcome to the Full Tilt Poker Claim Filing Site." From there, the actual claims are filed by entering both the petition and control numbers that were provided in the email Notices sent out by GCG on Monday and Tuesday.
ID verification is the next step, accomplished by entering either a zip code, player ID, or last name. That should permit you to view the account balance on record at Full Tilt as of Black Friday. If you agree with that total, simply enter your bank and tax information as requested. Those players who dispute the balance must upload documents to back up their claims.
Completing the Petition for Remission process requires claimants to certify eligibility to receive funds. Those eligible must have actually deposited funds at Full Tilt and not have any ties either past or present to FTP and/or its subsidiaries as a vendor, employee, director or sponsored pro.
Successfully navigating those requirements will allow the GCG to send you an email confirming that your Petition is on file. Should you not receive such an email means that your Petition has not been officially accepted.
Those who never received an email from GCG on Monday or Tuesday with their petition and control numbers can instead click on "Create a New Petition" toward the bottom of the page and will see the heading of "New Petitioner Information." Fill that form out and click "continue" in order for the GCG to review the info and determine why you are not on the claimant roll call.
Incidentally, the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) has announced via their website that a team is on hand to help players who are running into difficulties in filing Petitions. An "information guide" will soon be established at theppa.org to assist players who run into any problems. An email directed to [email protected] seems the best way to go for players whose reimbursement concerns are of a more complex nature. Keep in mind that PPA members will likely be catered to before non-members.
Also, help is available from GCG administrators as well. Players who would like to contact the GCG directly are advised to send an email to [email protected] or call them at their toll-free number of (866) 250-2640.
Remember that the GCG has handled thousands of cases in the past and is apparently the best in the business in so doing. To that end, let's hope that reimbursement actually begins not too long after the last day to accept claims of November 16, 2013.
Author: Ekaterina
23 . 09 . 2013 y.
Carbon Poker Pulls Support Sub-Forum From 2+2 Without Warning

 Carbon Poker/Aced Poker has decided to pull its support sub-forum from 2+2 in a surprising move that has left a lot of players wondering what the motive truly is. The reason that so much speculation has started to swirl is this move was made with no prior warning and all threads have been deleted that were previously there. Carbon Poker has indicated that it thinks it can provide better customer service by streamlining its support by only using the live chat feature and its major support email.

The good thing about a lot of the speculation is that it doesn’t have much basis in actual facts. Cashouts have been very fast lately with some people reporting checks in just a few days of requesting them and almost no reports of checks taking longer than two weeks, which is a very fast turnaround for any U.S.-facing sites. Further, according to ProfessionalRakeback.com, there have not been many overlays in Poker Maximus tournaments. The no overlays is huge, because it suggests that they don’t have the money problems that sites like Lock Poker have seen over the past year. Had cashouts been significantly slower and getting worse, a move like this might be seen with more fear, but considering the opposite was actually true, it doesn’t have the shroud of uncertainty around it that was seen when Lock Poker discontinued it’s sub-forum.
Another fear is that since Carbon Poker is trying to save money by not having a sub-forum, it means that they don’t have much money, period. This also has no basis in fact as companies can decide to discontinue certain functions to save money even if they have plenty. The decision is most likely rooted in a return on investment question, which is generally more important to companies than pure dollar amounts. Merge Network has been moving toward more of a recreational model in recent weeks, and as such, Carbon Poker has followed suit. This suggests that a sub-forum on a  forum that attracts a lot of grinders and high volume players might not have much, if any, value anymore. Of course, there could be a money problem at Carbon Poker, but pointing to the removing of the sub-forum alone doesn’t actually provide much evidence to support that kind of claim.
An interesting theory that actually might have some legs, though, is that Carbon Poker is getting ready to move to a different network. The Carbon reps have appeared frustrated recently with some of the decisions that have been passed down from Merge’s top management and showed some problems in defending some of these decisions. Of course, this theory has some problems as well, considering there aren’t that many places to really move to and closing the forum wouldn’t really seem to make a lot of sense considering it was a Carbon/Aced support oriented sub-forum and not an actual Merge Network support sub-forum.  They could have moved and continued to leave it open to help ease the transition if moving was something they were considering strongly.
No matter the actual reason for the move, the theories, speculation and suggestions are going to continue to circulate and the nature in which it was pulled only leads to these rumors. Had Carbon Poker said something before making the decision, it might have done something to pacify some of the detractors, but in some ways even that was somewhat unlikely, considering the nature of the forum in recent weeks, which has seen a rise in complaints. The closing of the sub-forum is not expected to have any impact on the fields for the upcoming Main Events of the Poker Maximus series that concludes this Saturday. If more information becomes available, we will pass it along.
Author: Ekaterina
23 . 09 . 2013 y.
Anthony Zinno Wins WPT Borgata and $825,099

 Anthony Zinno defeated Vanessa Selbst heads up to capture the 2013 World Poker Tour Borgata Poker Open for $825,099. The tournament had an impressive field attracting 1,189 entries at $3,500 apiece, creating a prize pool of over $3.8 million. Some of the biggest names in poker bought in despite PokerStars' World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) being hosted at the same time, which has also seen massive fields with big names going deep in many events.

The $825k cash is the largest ever for Zinno, who has had numerous cashes for around $10k and a high of $41k back in 2011 at a Deep Stack Extravaganza in Las Vegas. For the newly-married Selbst, it marks another impressive showing overall and another impressive run on the East Coast where she makes her home. She won the only NAPT Event at the Borgata and has numerous wins and other deep runs throughout the world over the past three years. Selbst also now has almost $2 million more in cashes than the next closest female poker player, which begs the question if that gender distinction is even needed. She has an impressive enough resume to rival almost any player, including men, especially in recent years.
As part of the prize for winning a World Poker Tour event, the winner receives an entry into the WPT Championship event at the end of the year. This is significant because the WPT announced early in the tournament that the world championship will be moving to the Borgata away from the Bellagio for the first time in the 12-year history of the series. The effect that this will have on attendance is unknown, but considering that attendance of the seminal event for the WPT had been on the sharp decline in recent years, anything is bound to be a good result.
If this is seen as a sign of what is to come for the future of the WPT, then it was a very good result considering a large name at the final table, a good story winning the event, a large field, and an overall well-run tournament. With the exception of the overlay at the WPT Cyprus, the year has been very successful for the WPT as they move to more reentries, but also to smaller buy-ins that seem to attract the recreational player at a much higher rate. Since Matt Savage has been brought on board to help the once thought to be struggling series, things have been getting bigger and better for the World Poker Tour, which hopes to reestablish its dominance as the premiere poker tour in the world.
Author: Ekaterina
23 . 09 . 2013 y.
888poker Testing Fast-Fold Product “Snap Poker”

 Players alpha-testing latest 888poker client, featuring fast-fold “snap” cash tables and tournaments.

Online poker room 888poker is currently testing a fast-fold product for real-money, pokerfuse can reveal.
The new game, dubbed “Snap,” is currently only available at a 1c/2c table for alpha-testers on the dot-com client.
Though the game was not running at the time of writing, and therefore unavailable for testing, the format is expected to follow the same tried-and-tested fast-fold formula—a fast-fold button immediately takes the player onto a new table with players in the same pool. The snap table sports a fetching ’80s neon aesthetic.
On launch, both cash games and and Snap tournaments will be offered. The tables are listed among normal cash games with a special legend, and also have their own tab in the main window.
888 will be one of the last major operators to add in a fast-fold product; it joins the ranks alongside—in descending order of popularity—Zoom, Rush, Speed, FastForward, Blaze, Zone, and Strobe.
 
Author: Ekaterina
20 . 09 . 2013 y.
Sheldon Adelson Casino Fined for Underaged Gambling

 The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board has announced that it has fined the parent company of the Sands Resort Casino in Bethlehem a total of $56,000 for four incidents in which minors were able to gamble and/or consume alcohol on the gaming floor.

As readers will note, the Sands' chairman and CEO is Sheldon Adelson, who is vehemently opposed to legalized Internet gambling as a scourge that will corrupt youth. Adelson has gone on record as saying that minors cannot be safeguarded from wagering online.
This is not the first time that the Bethlehem Sands has been cited for corrupting America's youth. Similar fines were levied in 2010, 2012, and earlier this year.
The Sands took steps to minimize such misdeeds in the future after the first incident in 2010 by providing guidance and training to employees. Whether the employee education program has been effective is a matter for debate considering the repeated violations.
Incidentally, Forbes just released its latest list of the wealthiest people in America. Adelson just missed the top ten of the Forbes 400, landing in 11th place with a net worth of $28.5 billion. That's $28,500,000,000
Author: Ekaterina
20 . 09 . 2013 y.
Leo Fernandez Suspended by PokerStars

 Team PokerStars Pro Leo Fernandez has been suspended for six months, but the reason for this suspension is still officially unknown, as is common in situations such as this. Rumors about the situation, however, seem to indicate that he has been suspended for sharing his account with another person and PokerStars claims that this kind of behavior would result in any normal player receiving the same suspension from the site for the alleged infraction. PokerStars has also indicated that further action might be taken and it will be interesting to see if Fernandez is welcomed back at the completion of his suspension.

This is not the first run-in with rules for Fernandez, who was sued by Wynn Casinos and Resorts in Las Vegas in 2011, according to CBSnews.com, for allegedly cheating at a craps game by sliding the dice and using other people to help mask this action. The casino sued him and an accomplice for $700,000, but the resolution of the case is still unclear. Further, PokerStars doesn’t seem to have made a comment on this lawsuit and it’s possible that they let it slide, but couldn’t ignore his consistent problem with rules with his latest actions. It’s also important to note that the previous issue was not poker-related, but this one clearly was, and actually is an issue PokerStars has been trying to combat over the years.
Fernandez is an accomplished player with $1.5 million in tournament cashes. He is also ranked 3rd on the all-time money list for Latin America, 2nd all-time for total money won by an Argentinian player, and has been a fixture in the Latin American poker community since 2010. He has won two LAPT events; the LAPT Panama Main Event and the LAPT Grand Final High Roller. What the future holds for Fernandez and his sponsorship by PokerStars is still unknown and as more information becomes available we will pass it along. He clearly has value to the site in Latin America, but his questionable behavior creates an interesting situation that PokerStars is going to have to gauge carefully.
 
Author: Ekaterina
20 . 09 . 2013 y.
Full Tilt Claims Website Live: Players Can Log In, Check Balances

 The Garden City Group has opened up a secure website for filing petitions. US players awaiting refunds of their Full Tilt Poker money who have received an email over the last two days can now log in and check their balance, and accept or dispute the amount.

Players should have received a Petition Number and a Control Number which, along with an identity verification number (name, player ID or Zip code), will allow them to log into their GCG account.
If the Id number is rejected, players are recommended to try prepending a 0 to the start of the number; players report that gets around a current bug in the form.
Players who have yet to receive an email from Full Tilt are to check their spam folders. The Garden City Group has advised that some emails may take another two days; emails that bounced will be retried.
Upon logging in to file their petition, a player will be shown their Full Tilt Balance on April 15, 2011, according to the claims processor. Players can either accept the amount—in which case, bank and tax details must be provided—or dispute the amount. Records to support a dispute can be uploaded.
Early player reports indicate that full tilt points and tournament tickets are not included in the balance total. Players who “panic withdrew” on the day of Black Friday are reporting that thankfully these amounts are correctly accounted for in the balance [update: Subsequent reports from players suggest for the majority, this is not the case]. There are mixed reports on how the Garden City Group has dealt with “phantom” deposits and unsuccessful withdrawals that occurred just prior to Black Friday.
To complete the submission of the petition, players must certify that they are eligible to participate in the remission process. Players are required to meet a substantial list of criteria including having actually deposited funds on Full Tilt and not having been a past or present vendor of FTP that received compensation through FTP players’ accounts.
After successfully completing the process, players will receive a confirmation email with additional contact information should questions arise. A warning states that unless the confirmation email is received, the petition will not be deemed submitted.
Players have two months to file their petitions. After this deadline, payments via ACH will be made.
Author: Ekaterina
19 . 09 . 2013 y.
Spain’s New Regulator Committed to Opening Up Player Pools

 New head of DGOJ gives clearest sign yet that it seeks to open its online poker market—with Italian player pooling just a stepping stone to full international liquidity.

Carlos Hernandez, the newly-appointed Director General of the Spanish online gaming regulator DGOJ, has drawn a clear path towards opening the online poker market in Spain from a segregated player pool to internationally-shared liquidity.
In an interview [Spanish] conducted with Poker-Red Editor Jairo Moreno, Hernandez spoke in detail about his plans for regulated online poker.
Though he shied away from any specific dates, he stated that he would “love to see” international liquidity before mid-2014.
Three meetings are scheduled with regulators from Italy, France and Denmark in this quarter to further pursue the idea of liquidity sharing.
Speaking candidly on the topic of liquidity, Hernandez denied that, in retrospect, launching a closed-liquidity market was a mistake, stating that it allowed for more control and protection for players and for crime prevention. However, now is the time to look at the market data, understand the downward trend, and look to opening up liquidity, he said.
Going further than previously stated, a planned liquidity share with Italy “is a temporary solution” only—if opening liquidity to Italy makes sense, then opening it entirely to dot-com pools is also justified, says Hernandez.
Hernandez falls short of setting any firm dates. Referencing former head Alejo’s estimations of shared liquidity by the of the year, Hernandez cautions that no realistic date can be set until problems have been anticipated, and solutions proposed—“substantial work” remains, he warns.
However, he did venture that “he would love to see” international liquidity by mid-2014.
Author: Ekaterina
19 . 09 . 2013 y.
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