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FAQs on Full Tilt Remission Process Posted

 U.S. players anxious to file claims in the Full Tilt remission process will be pleased to know that emails from the claims administrator firm Garden City Group (GCG) have been landing in player in-boxes beginning yesterday and are continuing throughout today.

The submission of claims is scheduled to kick off tomorrow, Wednesday, September 18. After waiting almost 2 and 1/2 years to be reunited with their cash, it seems unlikely that many players will procrastinate in filing a Petition for Remission. However, for those who do tend to wait until the last minute to get things done, keep in mind that November 16 is the cut-off date.
There does seem to be some confusion among players who would like to know more about the process than has already been revealed. Some of the player queries include how to go about contesting the account balance that the GCG may have on record as of April 15, 2011, and what type of documentation will be required in submitting claims.
To ease the minds of players, the GCG has posted the answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) on the official Full Tilt remission website. Account balances may be disputed, but those players who do will have to include documentation to back up their claims.
On the other hand, players who fully agree with the balance that GCG has listed for their accounts need only file the simple petition that includes providing a social security number and taxpayer ID. If you happen to owe the government money, that debt will likely be paid from your Full Tilt account balance.
As was alluded to last week by the Poker Players Alliance, there is a list of former players who will be excluded from the remission process. Those charged in conjunction with Black Friday legal matters of either a civil or criminal nature, as well as pro players who represented Full Tilt at any time, will not see their claims processed. Also, any employees, officers, affiliates or vendors of Full Tilt and its related companies can count on not being reimbursed.
Naturally, the remission process will not please everybody. But it will be putting more than $150 million back into the pockets of U.S. players. Those funds won't be arriving in your bank account until after all the claims are in at the mid-November deadline.
Author: Ekaterina
18 . 09 . 2013 y.
Living The Poker High Life

 The last few weeks have brought some great photos and events from professional poker players around the world. Not necessarily all to do with how they 'ball,' but more how they spend their money to go on once in a lifetime trips and really make the most of life.

As a lot of you may know, Antonio Esfandiari was back for Burning Man this year. For those of you who don't know, Burning Man is an annual festival containing the likes of art and music, which takes place in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada.
Judging by this tweet from The Magician, it is common to have no form of communication while partaking in the festival, and just enjoy it for what it is, without any stress.
It seems that it's a surreal, mysterious experience, which you'll never really understand unless you go. Participants don funny costumes in the sweltering heat, while enjoying the likes of dances, and huge fire displays.
Author: Ekaterina
18 . 09 . 2013 y.
Possible Collusion at Borgata Poker Open

 Earlier today, Allen “Chainsaw/doublejoker” Kessler relayed a possible case of collusion that happened toward the end of the night at the Borgata Poker Open. In the hand relayed, three players agreed prior to the hand to go all-in blind. All of them did so with one player even calling with 3-2 offsuit. The hand was won by a player holding Kx and managing to fade the outs of his opponents, though the final board is not known. According to Kessler, all of the players were going to re-enter regardless of the outcome. The interesting question becomes if this is collusion, and if it should be frowned upon.

The ironic and potentially unknown fact to note about this situation is that it actually is –EV for the players involved and does help everyone else at the tournament from an ICM standpoint. That’s what makes this case so interesting, because with normal rules players can point to being specifically hurt by an action, or for it to create an unfair advantage, but this rule actually does the opposite, and stops players from doing something to themselves that actually helps everyone else at the tournament. ICM stands for Independent Chip Modeling and is used by players to assess what they can expect to make from a tournament based on chip counts, level and payouts. The reason it is –EV according to ICM is that the chips gained early in a tournament aren’t worth that much and having three separate players with less chips would give them a better chance to actually win the tournament.
The reason this story matters to the average player is that no one can seem to come to a consensus whether this is a bad thing overall and if it should be allowed. Agreeing to play a hand a certain way before the hand is played is technically collusion by the letter of the rule, however, some argue that since it hurts only the players involved it shouldn’t be penalized. Of course, this opens up even more debate on gray area situations that don’t have mathematical support to back them up. It also creates scenarios when rules have to be decided on the spot and it becomes a judgment call, which introduces yet another variable into situations.
It's questions like these that have been cropping up a lot lately in the poker world. There was the David “Doc” Sands situation from the WSOP that no one can seem to agree on. In that situation, some people want to blame Sands, some the TD, and others the player who did the dumping. The problem with all of those, though, is saying that players are supposed to be acting in a way that isn’t directly laid out in the rules, or at least rules they are aware of. David Sands didn’t break any rules, but people think he should have acted differently. The TD wasn’t enforcing the rules consistently because there doesn’t appear to be bright lines for some of the rules and the unnamed player was probably not aware of the rules. Most amateurs are not, and arguably shouldn’t be expected to.
With what happened last night, a TD should have been involved and a ruling should have been made. Kessler doesn’t specify if that happened, but if it didn’t then that’s a huge mistake. Getting consistent rulings is something that needs to be strived for in the poker world and this latest issue just further proves that point. Players should know the basic rules, but it is up to the dealer and the TD to be on the lookout for situations that are questionable or are against rules that might not be as well known. It’s the same as in any baseball or basketball game where players don’t have to be self-policing, but instead referees and umpires are in charge of that duty. This makes the game more accessible to all players and cuts down on situations that are questionable.
Author: Ekaterina
17 . 09 . 2013 y.
Poker Arms As Important As Poker Face

 It is common sense to most seasoned live poker players that one’s physical presence and gestures can be very revealing in terms of the type of hands they hold.

Physical poker tells are even known among those who do not play the game of poker, with ‘poker face’ being something most lay people are aware of. It’s a term so well known that it became the title of the song that brought Lady Gaga into mainstream music stardom, although that song had absolutely nothing to do with the game whatsoever.
Many veteran poker players know that the face, while being a highly significant aspect of physical poker tells, is certainly not the only thing a player must worry about when playing a hand.
That is something that appears to have been confirmed by researchers from  Tufts University in the US, who said that arms were just as, if not more, important than the face in giving tells. The researchers undertook three different studies where people watched 20 two-second clips of poker players and “rated the hand they were holding based on views of the face or the arms.”
Many of the viewers’ responses based on the facial expressions turned out to be wrong, a sign that the players featured had done their homework and displayed a solid poker face. That was not the case when it came to their arm movements, however, with most of the viewers successfully guessing the type of cards players in the clips were holding.
The researchers behind the exercise said it helped show that movement was an important aspect of giving information at the poker table and, as such, should be looked at by all serious players.
“Even though professional players may be able to regulate their facial expressions, their arm movements could betray the quality of their poker,’’ they said. “So, players’ intentions may be visible from their actions while moving poker chips to place bets.’’
The findings should certainly be interesting to those who play poker, though one should not take this one exercise as gospel. While other articles on this research state that “men and women” viewed the clips, it is unclear exactly how many of them there were, and what their backgrounds were. Those two things could have easily influenced the outcome of the research and how strong those conclusions actually are.
With that said, however, the research does reaffirm something that all serious poker players should know and should focus on – The fact that all physical movements and the like can very easily give other players information that one may not want to give.
Studies like this help show that poker players should not focus on having a good ‘poker face,’ but rather having a good ‘poker body.’
 
Author: Ekaterina
17 . 09 . 2013 y.
Online Gambling Site Hacker Arrested in Argentina

 A 19-year-old who was netting $50,000 a month by hacking into online gambling sites and intercepting money transfers of players was arrested in Argentina.

A number of news outlets have reported that the Buenos Aires hacker, whose father is an information technology engineer, was the leader of a gang that used malware viruses to interrupt payment processing transactions between punters and gaming sites. The miscreants used a multitude of "zombie" computers that rendered the victims helpless in attempting to access their accounts while the thefts were taking place.
Before taking the teen into custody, police cut off electrical power in his entire neighborhood to keep the hacker from deleting any data that the authorities plan to use as evidence of his alleged crimes. An investigation of the hacker's activities had been ongoing for roughly a year, which law enforcement officials said were being done from the teenager's bedroom.
Although not related but equally disturbing are the reports about ten days ago from a number of high-stakes poker players that computer hackers had apparently broken into their rooms at the Arts Hotel in Barcelona and attached viruses to their computers. The pros were in Spain competing in the European Poker Tour.
Criminals tend to go where the money is and the Internet allows a wealth of opportunities for those who choose to use their talents in unlawful ways. No details have been released on whether the handful of cohorts associated with the Argentine hacker will also be taken into custody.
Author: Ekaterina
16 . 09 . 2013 y.
Atlantic City Online Gambling Applications Found Lacking

 The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) has instructed some of the state's casinos to submit additional information pertaining to the applications on file for online gaming licenses.

Though none of the offending casinos were named, a letter from the DGE was sent to all 12 of the Eastern seaboard gaming establishments. Those who failed to submit all the info requested have until Friday, September 20 to do so, NorthJersey.com reported.
At issue are partnership contracts with various vendors and software providers which must be exhaustively investigated by gaming officials prior to the projected launch date of November 23. Whether the launch that is now a mere two months away is in jeopardy due to the lack of completeness of applications on file remains to be seen.
Keep in mind that PokerStars' application for interim casino authorization was also found lacking earlier this year when parent company the Rational Group had a contract in place to acquire the Atlantic Club. When PokerStars' information was eventually deemed complete by gaming officials, it did not permit enough time for regulators to fully investigate the company pursuant to a contractual stipulation. The result saw the Atlantic Club owners invoke a clause that allowed the deal to be nullified, causing PokerStars to lose $11 million.
The Atlantic Club has since been reportedly entertaining other offers which are likely much higher than the bargain-basement $15 million purchase price that PokerStars had agreed to. The Atlantic Club, incidentally, is one of two casinos that have yet to name their Internet gaming partners.
Most will agree that the late November launch date by New Jersey officials is a bit on the optimistic side. Nevada has experienced significant delays in launching online poker sites, with Ultimate Poker still the only choice available to Silver State tourists and residents. Delaware will also fail to meet its original online gambling debut in late September, with a late October rollout now being anticipated. Don't be surprised if that date gets pushed back as well.
Author: Ekaterina
16 . 09 . 2013 y.
PartyPoker to Rollout New Online Poker Product in Two Weeks

 Bwin.party has announced that the long-awaited relaunch of its new online poker offering is set to commence around mid-September.

Company CEO Norbert Teufelberger confirmed that the rollout will include modifications that cater to recreational players and should occur in “the next two weeks.” Part of the plan encompasses rating players according to skill level in order to strike a competitive balance on the felt.
Also on tap in the new platform will be an emphasis on socialization with fellow players, as well as a gamification strategy that is designed to entice players to climb various ladders of achievement. PartyPoker seems on course to follow the trend in online poker that currently favors casual players.
In addition, bwin.party is taking aim at gaining share of the mobile online gaming market and is preparing a new mobile sport-betting release by year's end. Bwin's mobile revenue numbers currently lag behind its competition with only 9% of its revenue derived from players on the go. The gaming company hopes to increase those numbers substantially with a goal of 50% of revenue obtained via touch devices within 28 months.
“Mobile is a big area for us,” Teulfelberger told eGR. “If we get it right in the next few months, we should be able to win back market share.”
PartyPoker has fallen behind 888Poker to fifth place in PokerScout's worldwide online poker rankings and is banking on its new online poker offering to gain player traffic. A television ad campaign will accompany the relaunch.
Bwin.party is also looking forward to the regulated online gambling launch in New Jersey that is scheduled for November 26. Bwin will supply the software for Atlantic City's Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa. The company also intends to submit an application for a gaming license in Nevada's online poker scheme.
 
Author: Ekaterina
04 . 09 . 2013 y.
Bodog Golden Spade Poker Open Guarantees $1.5M

 Bodog’s biggest anonymous tournament series to date includes 51 events spread over two months.

Next week Bodog will run the Golden Spade Poker Open, a 51 event anonymous online tournament series with $1,500,000 in guaranteed prizes.
The events are split into a set of low buy in tournaments aimed at casual players—the Contender Series, and higher stakes events—the Championship Series. There will be three or four events a day spread over two months from September 9 to November 3.
Bodog’s Asian focus will be served by running at least one tournament a day at 10am EST which is more convenient for Asian time zones.
$300k is guaranteed for the Main Event with the winner taking down at least $58,500. Earlier this month Bodog upped the guarantees for many of the daily and weekly tournaments on its regular schedule. Market defying continuous growth over the last two years has provided the operator with increasing tournament participation which easily justifies the increases.
The anonymous tournament model is a Bodog invention, and the brand has been active in promoting its innovation most recently through its request for players to send in photographs of themselves dressed as Zorro. The best shots were awarded two free seats at the $100,000 Grand Final of the Anonymous Poker Series (APS) which will be held in Manila next year.
Author: Ekaterina
04 . 09 . 2013 y.
Winning Poker Network Makes Changes in an Effort to Gain U.S. Market Share

 The Winning Poker Network has made many changes over the past couple of months in an attempt to gain as much market share as possible in the wide-open US market.

The latest change took effect on September 1st and may be the network's biggest make over of all.  The Bad Beat Jackpot has been discontinued and the extra money that was normally raked in those games will now go toward WPN's proprietary promotion known as “The Beast.”  In force for just over one year, The Beast is essentially a rake race of sorts that encourages players to grind as many tables as possible in order to accrue the greatest number of points by playing more hands.
The money currently sitting in the jackpot will not simply disappear as the remaining funds will be distributed in a way that will allow what is left to be collected numerous times.  Players will not have to pay into it anymore, but will still have a chance to win a fair portion of the remaining jackpot that sits at over $187k as of this writing.
The money that would normally be raked for the Bad Beat Jackpot is going to be collected instead for the different benefits awarded by The Beast and will be distributed among both cash and tournament rewards.  Perhaps the biggest benefit will come to players who play 10nl and lower, which will no longer be raked past the normal rake, as they were not eligible for The Beast previously and will no longer have to contend with the Bad Beat Jackpot.  This is no small change as many have said that even beating 10nl with the BBJ consideration was a tall order. The revamped format is sure to alleviate some of that.  Another major benefit will be to anyone playing $2/$4 or higher, as now only $0.25 will be raked as opposed to the $0.50 that was collected previously.
Discarding the BBJ, lowering the rake on hyper turbo SNGs, constantly improving the WPN tournament schedule, and the announcement of the M2 weekend from September 6th to 9th (which means that all tournament GTDs are going to be doubled and there is a Main Event on Sunday and Monday for $20+2 and $3 + .30, respectively) shows that WPN is really dedicated to trying to take over the no. 2 spot in the U.S. market and perhaps even gain ground on top-ranked Bovada.  It’s a stark difference from what is happening over at both Revolution and Merge right now as both those U.S-friendly networks continue to falter and lose players on a weekly basis due to glacier-speed cash outs or unpopular decisions, respectively.
Author: Ekaterina
03 . 09 . 2013 y.
Recent Large Tourney Fields Ease Fear of Poker Bust

 After the WPT Cyprus event became the latest big field MTT to miss its guarantee, there was a lot of fear that poker was on the decline, as it had been a rough couple of months for poker in Europe and around the world with missed guarantees at the ISPT Main Event, the UKIPT Galway, the WPT Cyprus, and even the EPT Grand Final last April.  That fear has been put to bed as of late with some large fields in North America and Europe in different events the past couple of weeks.  These big fields also provide some hope to online sites which have been feeling the pinch lately, as I chronicled in a recent piece.

Two tournaments going on currently are showing impressive field sizes with 716 entries in the WPT Legends event in Los Angeles and well over 1,200 people for the EPT Barcelona.  These numbers are exceptionally impressive and come on the heels of the 51 entries for the €50,000 Super High Roller in Barcelona.  The EPT Main Event’s performance is even more stellar when you consider that there are no re-entries into the tournament, meaning that all of the players are unique and give a more accurate picture of how many players were wanting to play the event.  Even with the re-entries into the WPT event, it’s a good result after the missed guarantee in Cyprus and some fear that the North American market might be growing out of poker.
Providing even more hope is that Europe and America are coming off huge tournaments in the previous two weeks that set different types of records. The Seminole Hard Rock tournament in Florida set a record for the largest field and prize pool in a non-WSOP event in the U.S. by crushing the $10 million guarantee with a prize pool of nearly $12 million.  While the inaugural WPT Alpha-8 tournament at the end of the series might have been a bit of a disappointment with only 21 players, that isn’t terrible considering that it was a $100,000 buy-in.  It’s clear that poker at the right price is healthy in America with the Main Event only carrying a $5k price tag.
Europe had its own record when the UKIPT Goliath event attracted the largest field ever for a land-based European event.  With 2,570 total entries for a £120 tournament, it is clear that it is exceptionally impressive and should put to rest some of the fears that tournaments are not something that Europeans are as interested in.  The fact that it happened on the UKIPT is also an added bonus after they missed their last guarantee and overall it is generally seen as a smaller and more regional tour, not attracting the big names and faces that we are used to seeing.
Like many things in the business world, poker is maturing and with that comes some growing pains.  The lessons that can be taken from this recent string of tournaments are clear though.  If you are going to host a tournament, you need to have a proper buy-in level for what you are trying to accomplish.  For a more regional tour, having a smaller buy-in, especially in a region that has been hit hard by the economic crisis, is going to help a lot with attracting a lot of players.  The other way to attract players is to have a large guarantee because it’s too great an opportunity to miss like the Seminole Hard Rock demonstrated recently.  Either solution is suitable; tournaments just need to realize where they fall on the pendulum.
Author: Ekaterina
03 . 09 . 2013 y.
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