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India Keeps Close Eye on Poker as Skill Argument

 While the debate over poker as a game of skill is battled in courtrooms in the U.S., the conclusions reached may have far-reaching effects in other regions of the world.

One of those jurisdictions is India, where poker has been gaining popularity. Whether poker is legal in India is still a somewhat grey and unresolved dilemma. Which is why court decisions that look favorably on the game in the U.S. could have an influence on the way India's government chooses to go toward regulating poker both online and live.
"Since there is a huge debate in India regarding the legality of poker and the degree of skill involved in card games like rummy and poker, the elaborate and exhaustive opinion by (U.S.) federal judge Weinstein, taking into account testimonies of expert statisticians and economists, will have a great deal of persuasive value on Indian and other courts in deciding the fate of poker," stated Jay Sayta, a student at the National University of Juridical Sciences.
A recent KPMG report found that a growing amount of online gambling is enjoyed by citizens of India, although the country lacks any regulatory standards. Should the powers that be decide to legalize online poker and/or gambling, the potential for profit could be enormous.
India has a population of more than 1.2 billion. It ranks second in the world in that regard to China, with projections of reaching first place by 2025. More than half of India residents are currently under 25 years of age and more than 65% are under 35. By 2020, an Indian's average age will be 29, while the average age in China will be 37.
Imagine the possible growth of online poker player pools if India joined other countries in legalizing Internet poker. As it stands now, the Federal Information Technology Act was enacted in 2011 in an attempt to prohibit online gambling. The onus of blocking access to gaming sites located offshore was put on Internet service providers.
But those laws are difficult to enforce due to the gambling sites being located beyond India's jurisdiction. Indian citizens are still sought and subject to marketing efforts of gaming sites even though the government of India views online poker and gambling as taboo.
The World Poker Tour and World Series of Poker are aired on sports channels in India, which has resulted in many of the country's younger generation in taking up poker.
"Most youngsters play poker," Ahmedabad businessman Krutin Parikh told the Times of India, although he asked that his name be changed for his own protection. "Everybody is familiar with the rules, playing on Facebook also gives people practice."
It may be awhile before poker reaches mainstream society in India and the government changes its views on online poker and gambling. However, should poker win the 'game of skill' debate that poker players know very well to be true, the game's legality and acceptance in what will someday be the world's most populous country may happen sooner rather than later.
 
Author: Ekaterina
21 . 08 . 2013 y.
California Poker Bill Unexpectedly Gains Boost

 The California state poker bill that had been proposed in February was throughout to be all but dead until yesterday afternoon when State Senator Lou Correa amended his initial bill, SB 678, to reclassify it an “urgency” bill. This is a significant move to try to reignite the talks and hopefully end in the passing of this bill that has been stuck in committee since March of this year. There is currently less than a month left in the legislative session, so any movements will have to be swift.

The reclassification of the bill means that if any part of the bill is rejected that said offending part will be removed and the rest of the bill will remain intact. This allows for any unpopular amendments or sections of the bill to not hold back the entire piece of legislation, which can happy especially in state politics. The other interesting provisions of this reclassification include: immediate enactment once passed by the legislature and it now needs to 2/3 majority in both houses to pass. The reason for such a large majority of politicians needing to approve it is that the governor is now taken out of the equation and can’t veto the law, like he can with normal laws under the State Constitution.
While the urgency with which this bill needs to be passed shouldn’t be a huge surprise to anyone, this particular move is a little surprising, because it makes a huge bet on this bill specifically and when it is enacted it can be severely stripped down form what it currently is. This could causes problems if a part of it is failed that makes the bill function properly and the full ramifications of parts failing won’t be known until it is critically assessed by all parties involved. Either way, California is feeling the heat from Nevada having real-money gaming up and running and New Jersey almost ready to launch real-money gaming after receiving 37 timely applications earlier in the month.
Author: Ekaterina
21 . 08 . 2013 y.
Multi Table Tournaments Go Mobile as 888 Updates Poker App

 888poker has updated its mobile app so that players now have access to the full range of multi-table tournaments. Until now, the app restricted players to cash games and Sit and Go’s.

The first mobile app was launched for Android devices in Feb 2012, with an Apple iOS version following around six months later.
The app is available for Android users from anywhere in the world with a direct download from the website. iPad and iPhone users, who can only get apps from their countries’ App Store, are more restricted due to Apple’s store policy. Players from UK, Russia, Germany, Sweden, Ireland, Greece, Portugal, Romania, Czech Republic, Finland, Luxembourg, Slovakia, Slovenia, Austria, Malta, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Cyprus and Lithuania should find the app available.
Apple’s store has recently taken a precautionary approach to offering gambling-related downloads in countries where the law is unclear. Australia is notably absent from the country list due to a recent crackdown on mobile apps.
The updated app is being accompanied by an new promotional campaign. Every user will receive a free tournament ticket to a freeroll with a $50k prize pool. The freerolls will run twice a week during the promotional period and will have the opportunity to win more tickets by playing on their mobile devices.
Author: Ekaterina
20 . 08 . 2013 y.
Lock Graded F as Cashouts Go from Bad to Worse

 Lock Poker’s continuing inability to resolve its cash out problems has been recognized with the award of an F grade in Poker Affiliate Solutions’ latest report.

In his July report, author “PokerAddict” took the drastic step of downgrading Juicy Stakes from a D to an F; Lock Poker has now received the same judgment for similar reasons.
Before Juicy Stakes, the F grade was last awarded to Everleaf poker, whose US players remain largely unpaid, and whose European players are now at risk following the suspension of its gaming licenses by the Maltese Lotteries and Gaming Association.
The report states that there is over $200k in pending withdrawal requests which remain outstanding after 60 days. Some players have been waiting since December 2012. PokerAddict reports that the average cash out time for withdrawals by Western Union is 4-5 months, while checks take 7-8 months.
Non-US players are experiencing similar, but slightly shorter delays, with the oldest recorded unpaid cash-out being five months old. An additional supporting reason for the downgrade has been the withdrawal of the Lock support forum on TwoplusTwo.com.
Lock has opened its own private support forum which is only accessible to players who have raked over $100.
US facing sites which have a history of fast withdrawals include Bovada—graded A+— with Western Union processes in 1-2 days, and the Winning Poker Network (WPN)—graded A—which has similar cash out times. Merge was also upgraded to a B and was recognized as “most improved.”
Author: Ekaterina
20 . 08 . 2013 y.
InsuredPlay Closes its Virtual Doors

 Players hoping to insure themselves against suckouts on cash tables and obtain bubble insurance in tournament action will no longer be able to purchase protection through InsuredPlay, as the website has announced today that it is shutting down.

In operation for roughly 17 months, InsuredPlay was designed to provide all-in equity insurance to players who were favored to win an all-in cash game hand prior to the river card being revealed. Also available was bubble protection in multi-table tournaments to guarantee against losing the buy-in when falling short of a cashout position.
Through InsuredPlay, players had the option to purchase insurance in hopes of reducing variance, but the concept apparently didn't catch on enough for the site to continue operating.
Players who have account balances at InsuredPlay needn't worry. Although insurance coverage will cease today, Insuredplay.com will remain open until September 30, 2013 to allow players to withdraw their funds. The announcement made at the website assures that "All player balances are safe and everyone will be paid in full."
The writing was on the wall regarding the site's demise as early as April of this year when InsuredPlay announced that Full Tilt, PartyPoker and the iPoker Network were no longer supporting the concept of all-in protection and bubble insurance via InsuredPlay. That left PokerStars as the only site where the protection was available.
Two months later in June, Full Tilt was again added as a supporting site. But it apparently was not enough to keep the concept afloat, seeing that an announcement to cease operations followed today, just 2 and 1/2 months after Full Tilt was added to InsuredPlay's roster.
Players who signed on at InsuredPlay had to first create an account and deposit cash. From there, the parameters of the all-in cash game hands in which insurance was to be in effect were designed by players. Each player selected the minimum pot size insured, the maximum premium paid, the minimum odds percentage as favorite, and the game types insured. Those criteria all had to be established prior to playing, meaning that insurance could not be sought in the middle of a hand.
All hands meeting the agreed upon criteria were insured and funds were added or taken away from a player's InsuredPlay account following the conclusion of qualifying hands. The insurance cost was calculated according to pot size, the established percentage of being the favorite in hands where shoving all-in or calling another player's all-in bet, and a nominal insurance premium charge.
It was a concept designed to hedge bets against losing to an underdog who manages to catch lucky cards and scoop the pot. The site touted the possible mental advantage of not being reluctant to go all-in due to being insured against a bad beat. While reducing variance, it also lessened players' win rates.
With regard to bubble insurance, players also defined the parameters of the protection available. For a fee of 2.5% of the buy-in, players could choose anywhere from 1% to 20% as the category in which landing on the bubble would return the buy-in paid.
While an interesting concept, all-in protection did not find favor with enough players. The InsuredPlay website stated only that "a number of difficulties that we have not been able to overcome" were the reasons for shutting down. Those difficulties were likely a lack of support from poker sites and networks, as well as a limited number of player sign-ups at the poker sites that did allow all-in protection and bubble insurance from InsuredPlay.
Author: Ekaterina
19 . 08 . 2013 y.
Full Tilt Poker Launches “Satellite Hero” Promotion

 Full Tilt Poker’s latest promotion, Satellite Hero, offers players the opportunity to win their share of over $4000 in MiniFTOPS XXIII entries, as well as a one-on-one shot at sponsored Full Tilt Professional and bona fide ladies’ man Gus Hansen.

Starting today, August 19, and continuing on through September 1, players who satellite into and ultimately win any scheduled tournament with a buyin of $1 or more receive a free entry into the Satellite Hero Freeroll tournament, in addition to the normal prize. The more times you satellite into the tournament, the bigger your starting stack.
The freeroll is scheduled for Saturday, September 7. Finish in the top 126 runners in that freeroll to win an entry into a MiniFTOPS XXIII event. The total prize pool is valued at over $3000.
But that’s not all: The winner of that tournament will, the very next day, get their shot at The Great Dane himself. With a 2:1 starting chip advantage, should the player crowned Satellite Hero best the Professional, he or she will win entry into every MiniFTOPS XXIII event. There’s every reason to think that Hansen will be eager to defeat the Satellite Hero as, according to HighStakesDB, Gus is down over 3.4M online in 2013 alone.
“Satellite Hero” is another in a series of promotions looking to bring players back to the once-robust online site and regain its position as undisputed #2 in traffic.
Author: Ekaterina
19 . 08 . 2013 y.
Red Dragon Starting Flights Now Over

 The three starting flights of the Macau Poker Cup Red Dragon Main Event are now over, and competition at the event, as always, has been intense.

It was a slow start to the event, with only 134 players turning out for Day 1a, but they quickly warmed up as a total of 645 players turned out for all of the starting flights. The amount of casualties fell like dominoes, however, with just 168 players making the cut to the second day of the event.
The top of the current chip ladder is dominated by Chinese and Taiwanese players, with Guan Yu Chen leading the remaining field in a big way. The Taiwanese poker pro finished Day 1c with a stack of 215,600 chips to his name, making him the only player going into the second day of play with over 200,000 chips.
Hong Kong’s Raiden Kan is second on the chip ladder going into Day 2. He finished the last starting flight with 187,200 chips after giving himself a nice little boost just before the end of play. Kan flopped a Full House while his opponent flopped Three of a Kind. That led Kan’s opponent to go all in after Kan initially bet 4,000. Kan snap called and added a few more chips to his already big stack.
Another Hong Kong player, Brian Long Yip, is third on the chip ladder, with a stack of 180,900. Yip dominated play on the second starting flight to finish was the huge stack, putting himself in a solid position for the remaining days of the tournament.
The difference in the stack sizes between the ‘Big Three’ and the remaining field is quite large, with China’s Tao Li having the fourth largest stack. He will have 130,700 going into the second day of play, 50,000 chips less than Yip.
That means very little at this stage of the game, however. As most of us have seen many times before, it only takes one good or bad play for the tide to change dramatically in a major event like the Red Dragon. With two days left in the tournament, most players are still in with a good chance of taking out the event.
One player who will not have that chance is April’s Red Dragon winner Terry Fan. The Taiwanese player was knocked out of the event in the late stages of Day 1c after moving all in on the flop with trip Twos. His opponent called with Aces and Twos and it looked like Fan might have been in line for a double up. It was not to be, however, as another Ace came on the board to give his opponent a higher Full House.
Another notable player who was eliminated during the starting flights was PokerStars pro and Macau Poker Cup regular Celina Lin, who was eliminated on Day 1b of the Main Event. Lin’s story was similar to that of Fan, as she also went all in after flopping trips, in her case trip Eights.
Her opponent was behind with a pair of Queens, but ended up winning the hand after another Queen came on the river. That quickly put an end to Lin’s hopes of winning the Main Event, but she did win the first tournament of the Macau Poker Cup, which should be some consolation to her.
Competition is set to heat up even more on the second day of the main event as players aim to make it to the third and last day of play and ultimately take out the top HK$1,340,000 (around $172,810) cash prize. It likely won’t be the end of the world if they fall a bit short of that though, with the top 77 players at this event all getting paid.
Day 2 of the Macau Poker Cup Red Dragon Main Event is set to take place tonight at the PokerStars LIVE at the City of Dreams.
Author: Ekaterina
16 . 08 . 2013 y.
UK Government to Tax Offshore Gaming Companies

 The UK Government is set to take a major and potentially controversial step with regards to offshore gaming companies.  It has announced that it will introduce a 15 per cent tax on the gross profits of those companies that have UK customers.

Set to take effect in December next year, the tax could net the Government around £300 million – yes, £300 million, in extra tax revenue per year. The measures would more than likely effect major gaming companies like Ladbrokes, Bwin.party, William Hill and Betfair, whose online divisions are all officially based in Gibraltar.  
Those companies, and others based in the British Overseas Territory, currently pay a levy of one per cent of gross profit and one per cent tax on turnover from fixed-odds betting, though both of those are capped at £425,000.
Gaming companies would pay a whole lot more than this when the new tax comes into force. In 2012, William Hill made £330 million in gross profits. Should the company pull in a similar amount of profit in 2015, it would likely mean that they would have to pay £49.5 million in tax, a remarkably huge difference to the £850,000 maximum it is currently subjected to.
The tax could also be an added headache for Ladbrokes, which was currently been grappling with a company restructure in lieu of declining profits. Its profits took a major dive in the first half of this year, declining to £55.1 million, which resulted in the cutting of its full year earnings to £172 million.
Bwin.party is also in a similar situation, having turned in a €164.9 million (around £140.6 million) profit in 2012, which equated to a 17 per cent drop on the year before.
Economic Secretary to the Treasury Sajid Javid said that the measures would put offshore based gaming companies in line with their counterparts who base their operations in the country.
"It is unacceptable that gambling companies can avoid UK taxes by moving offshore, and the Government is taking decisive action to ensure this can no longer happen," he said. "These reforms will ensure that remote gambling operators who have UK customers make a fair contribution to the public finances."
It comes as little surprise that the UK Government has taken these measures on offshore gaming companies. The Government had previously highlighted its desire to put its taxes in line with those of UK-based companies in last year’s budget.
While some may criticise the move as a blatant money grab, it is unlikely to have any large scale public opposition, especially as the country is still in its very early stages of economic recovery.
 
Author: Ekaterina
16 . 08 . 2013 y.
Two Plead Guilty in New York Poker Ring Case

 Two men who were charged as part of the now infamous illegal high stakes poker incident in New York have pleaded guilty in court.

Kirill Rapoport, 41, and William Barbalat, 42, both made the pleas in a New York court for participating in gambling rings connected to organized crime. It was found that the high stakes poker games were strongly connected to various Russian mafia figures, who were believed to have laundered up to $100 million from such games.
Both Barbalat and Rapoport were deemed to have had “lesser roles in the ring” but still face up to five years in prison when they are sentenced for their crimes in December. The men are two of 34 figures who have been indicted for crimes relating to the high stakes poker incident, a list which includes notorious Russian mafia figure Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov.
The list also includes WSOP Gold Bracelet winners Bill Edler and Abe Mosseri, as well as prominent professional poker player Peter Feldman. The US Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) made the first arrests and indictments relating to the case back in April. It came after an investigation uncovered a ring which operated online gambling rings and live high stake poker matches often attended by celebrities and other high class clientele.
It is always alarming when it is found that there are major organised crime figures who use the game of poker for their financial gain. Poker is not about breaking the law, most of us who play and love the game know that.
Poker has been portrayed in a highly negative light as a result of this case, something that has been compounded by the fact three high level poker players were involved at the top level. Despite that, the game itself will likely not suffer as a direct result of this case.
That’s because the game has, more or less, become accepted by much of the general public – it has long moved beyond the stereotype of an underground game played by mostly shady characters. A number of professional poker games and tournaments are now broadcast on mainstream television channels and millions of people all over the world have played the game, whether amongst friends or for money.
Although there may be some segments of the community who may point to cases such as these as to why poker should not be regulated, such cases are not representative of the game. That is something that, fortunately, most people seem to understand.
Author: Ekaterina
16 . 08 . 2013 y.
Bodog Signs As Official Asian Betting Partner of Arsenal FC

 Online sports betting, poker and casino site Bodog has announced a new three-year, multi-million pound deal with the UK’s historic Arsenal Football Club as their “Official Asian Betting Partner.”

The deal allows for Bodog to capitalize on Arsenal’s ever-growing Asian fan base, which was augmented by the club’s recent 2013 pre-season tour of Indonesia, Vietnam and Japan.
Bodog will now have the opportunity to provide Asian fans special betting offers centered around specific events as well as create marketing material and promotions utilizing the popularity of the members of Arsenal’s first team.
“As our fanbase in Asia continues to grow rapidly, working in partnership with companies like Bodog who have long-term roots in the region, provides a strong platform to further engage with Arsenal fans in Asia.” said Vinai Venkatesham, Head of Global Partnerships at Arsenal.
Asia is a key growth area for the group. One of the three rooms on the Bodog Poker Network is Bodog88, a Philippines-licensed, Asian-focused online casino and poker room. The only other skins are US-facing Bovada and its primarily Canadian-focused Bodog.EU; the company has mostly withdrawn from the European markets.
“The trust and loyalty both Arsenal and the Premier League stand for makes this the perfect partnership to continue the phenomenal growth of the Bodog brand in Asia,” Izhar Biran, Bodog’s Marketing Director, is quoted as saying.
Unlike the recent PaddyPower deal, the names of the players of Arsenal are not expected to be legally changed.
 
Author: Ekaterina
15 . 08 . 2013 y.
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