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SealsWithClubs Back Online After Attack

 After being down for more than two days, the bitcoin-only SealsWithClubs poker site has been restored.

While no accounts were compromised, the site suffered a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack late last week, and a tech crew worked around the clock to restore the client, according to site pro Bryan Micon.
Such an attack overloads a system with network traffic from computers compromised by malware and takes the system offline.
On Sunday, Micon tweeted, “After a solid weekend of #nosleeptillbitcoin grinding, @SealsWithClubs is back online…” and instructed users to download the latest version of the poker room’s client.
Some players may encounter a browser notification that states the site’s security certificate has expired, but Micon said that issue should be quickly resolved, and “I personally guarantee the site.”
With upwards of 400 players connected at peak hours, SealsWithClubs is the most notable Bitcoin-only, US-facing poker site. Other rooms such as Switch Poker and most recently iPoker skin WinPoker have also added Bitcoin transaction options.
Author: Ekaterina
25 . 03 . 2013 y.
Director of Poker Operations at Borgata Resigns

 On Monday, a source close to the situation told PokerNews that Stan Strickland, Director of Poker Operations at Borgata in Atlantic City, will resign. Strickland, who has headed the poker room since 2006, is rumored to be heading to the Isle Casino in Pompano Park, Florida, according to sources.

As director of poker operations, Strickland oversaw the growth of both the spring and winter tournament series, partnered with the World Poker Tour, and helped initiate a $1 million renovation to create an exclusive high-limit poker lounge now known as The Boardroom.
After PokerNews first received no comment from Ray Stefanelli, Director of Poker Marketing for Borgata, he later denied reports that Strickland was asked to resign. Joe Lupo, Senior Vice President of Operations for Borgata Hotel & Casino, also denied these reports.
Later, Strickland posted on TwoPlusTwo that he was not forced to resign, but is indeed headed to Isle Casino:
This is not true. I was not asked to resign. It is true that I turned in my two week notice Saturday night so that I could take the offer of Director of Poker operations at Pompano Beach Florida. Since I turned in my two week notice, I will be at the Borgata until I leave for Florida on April 6th. Please stop by and see me before I leave. Or, say hello in Florida.
Stan
In February, for the first time ever, the Borgata Poker Room earned less than the Parx Poker Room in Bensalem, PA.
 
Author: Ekaterina
25 . 03 . 2013 y.
888 Adds Treasure Island to List of Vegas Partners

 The Nevada Gaming Commission continued issuing interactive gaming licenses on Thursday. The latest recipients, 888 US Limited and Treasure Island, LLC, are now clear to participate in offering online poker in Nevada.

The approval of 888 could be one of the last hurdles for Caesars Interactive Entertainment to launch its World Series of Poker-branded website in Nevada.
Gaming regulators approved the 888 and Caesars partnership a year ago, but Caesars had to wait for 888 to be approved for a license before going live.
888 is also expected to provide poker software for Treasure Island and WMS Industries. The group recently announced the All American Poker Network, a business-to-consumer online poker platform. Treasure Island is expected to be the first online poker room on the network.
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, 888 CEO Brian Mattingley said, “888 has chosen Nevada as its first U.S. market, and we are hopeful that future developments will present even greater commercial opportunities for 888’s Nevada-facing business.”
With more and more companies approved for licenses in Nevada, the future of real money online poker in the Silver State is imminent. Although some companies have sought more time to test software, Caesars executives have said they expect their site to launch sometime this year.
 
Author: Ekaterina
22 . 03 . 2013 y.
Steve O’Dwyer Hits Top 10 of Global Poker Index

 The Global Poker Index released its updated rankings earlier this week and Steve O’Dwyer was one of the biggest movers thanks to his recent score at EPT London.

O’Dwyer finished EPT London in fifth place for $219k, which was enough to vault him seven spots into seventh place overall.
The Las Vegas resident has a history of dominating European events and made four major final tables in Europe over the last few years.
O’Dwyer’s highest rank on the GPI ever was on June 18, 2012, when he managed to peak in second place.
At the other end Michael Mizrachi dropped two spots and landed just outside the top 10.
In the yearly rankings Paul Volpe jumped an astounding 19 places thanks to making back-to-back WPT final tables. He’s now number one, just edging out Mike Watson.
Author: Ekaterina
22 . 03 . 2013 y.
Major Gaming Operators Apply for Delaware License

 Fourteen Gaming Operators have applied to provide online gambling services to the Delaware State Lottery. The applicants, including PokerStars and 888, filed a Request for Proposals (RFP) before the Friday deadline in a highly competitive licensing process.

Following the approval of online gaming in June 2012, Delaware has become one of the leaders in the push for online gambling in the United States and gaming operators are fighting to become a part of it.
PokerStars parent company Rational Services submitted an application to offer B2B services despite the controversy surrounding the company in New Jersey and Nevada. Amaya Gaming and Bally Technologies have filed a joint application to provide gaming for the state. Finally, 888 has partnered with Scientific Games and subsidiary WMS to submit an application to the Delaware State Lottery. SHFL Entertainment (formerly Shuffle Master), IGT, Stan James, and Continent 8 Technologies have also submitted applications.
The fourteen applicants will be fighting to provide a wide variety of services including a backend platform, content vendors, and support services such as e-wallets, identity verification, and customer service. Delaware plans to only offer one version of poker and casino games as well as multiple video lottery games. Although it only plans to offer one version, Delaware Lotteries have stated that multiple vendors would contribute to the overall structure.
Nevertheless, the application process is set to be a very competitive venture for the fourteen hopeful companies.
 
Author: Ekaterina
21 . 03 . 2013 y.
UK Budget 2013: Extra £1bn a Year in Gaming Duty Expected

 Though gambling went unmentioned in the UK Chancellor’s budget speech Wednesday, the Office of Budgetary Responsibility (OBR) increased its estimate of future gaming revenue under the proposed Place of Consumption (POC) tax by more than £1bn over the next three years.

In the budget line item “Other HMRC taxes,” which consists of gaming duties along with landfill tax, aggregates levy and customs duties and levies, expected revenues rise from this year’s £5.9bn to £7.4bn a year in 2016/2017, with a £400m bump in 2013/2014, rising to over £1bn in two years.
The other taxes in the line item are not slated for significant changes, and the main budget report suggests that gaming duty bands will increase only in line with the Retail Prices Index (RPI), and the duty rate will remain the same.
The obvious deduction is that almost all of the additional revenue is expected to come from the POC tax on UK gaming, and the figures are inline with independent industry predictions.
The Department of Culture Media and Sport recently sponsored a law which makes it obligatory for all companies offering online gambling to UK resident customers to be licensed by the UK Gaming Commission.
A two stage process should see the Treasury announce a change to a POC tax by the end of the year, thus bringing all operators profiting from UK customers under the UK gaming duty system, but exempting the profits they make from their customers elsewhere.
The rate of duty is currently 15%, but gaming companies have been lobbying for this to be reduced and the DCMS report acknowledged that the rate was too high. The consultation on this issue is ongoing and there was some expectation that it would be announced as part of this budget.
The OBR produces the official forecasts on which the government is expected to base policy. Its numbers are based on the revenue rates they have been given by government, so the extra £1.5bn in annual revenues at the end of the forecast period is based on the assumption that the 15% rate will continue.
This is the first budget year where forecasts have been made about receipts from the new POC system, and to an extent, the forecasts will anchor government expectations of how much money the new system will raise. Reducing the tax rate will now result in a shortfall of revenue against the projections.
 
Author: Ekaterina
21 . 03 . 2013 y.
GPI Player of the Year: Paul Volpe Holds Slight Lead Over Mike Watson

 There's a new leader in the 2013 Global Poker Index Player of the Year race. Paul Volpe's incredible run on the World Poker Tour over the past month has vaulted him past Dan Shak and into the top position this week. Volpe (501.53 points) holds the slightest of margins over Mike Watson (501.20), while Shak (429.59) now sits in third.

Despite not winning a tournament yet this year, Volpe is riding the hottest rush of his live-poker career. The Philadelphia native took second place in the WPT L.A. Poker Classic late last month for $651,170, and followed it up with a third-place finish at WPT Bay 101 a week later for another $435,610. Volpe added another final table last week at the European Poker Tour London High Roller and finished fourth for £107,410, bringing his 2013 live tournament earnings to $1.27 million.
Before Black Friday, Volpe spent most of his waking hours grinding online poker tournaments in the States, but he's since been traveling to more tournaments around the world. He told Rich Ryan on the PokerNews Podcast last week that he hates traveling, but he'll "probably" continue playing more on the circuit to earn Player of the Year points.
Unlike Volpe, Watson has accrued points in several smaller events, including a victory in the AU$2,500 buy-in pot-limit Omaha event at the Aussie Millions Poker Championships. He also logged a pair of runner-up finishes in side events during the London Poker Festival this month for just over £100,000 combined. His biggest score of the year came at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure where he took third in the $25,000 High Roller for $462,320.
Making their debut in the GPI POY top 10 this week were Scott Seiver, Yury Gulyy, Steven Silverman and Christopher Frank. Seiver climbed 26 spots to No. 6 after a pair of cashes at the London Poker Festival, including a 14th-place finish in the EPT London High Roller. Most of Seiver's GPI points come from his victory in the PCA $100,000 buy-in Super High Roller, where he collected more than $2 million.
Author: Ekaterina
20 . 03 . 2013 y.
Neteller Eyes Return to the US

 The last time Neteller was permitted in the U.S. Jamie Gold was the world champion and Main Event was attracting over 8,000 players.

Suffice to say a fair bit has changed in the last seven years but the former leading payment processor is contemplating a return to the United States.
In a story with the Financial Times, Optimal Payments, which owns Neteller, announced its intentions to move back into the U.S. market when sites are up and running in the country.
Joe Leonoff, president and CEO of Optimal, believe up to 10 U.S. states will regulate online gaming in the future.
Optimal already has a deal in place with Caesars Entertainment, which owns the WSOP brand, to provide payment-processing services. The company is already in talks with other land-based gaming operators.
It’s easy to forget but before 2007, Neteller was THE payment processor of choice and it processed payments for 80% of the world’s online gambling operators.
Hopefully Neteller returning to the U.S. will help usher in a return to the days when PartyPoker was like an ATM and everyone wanted a piece of the poker pie.
Author: Ekaterina
20 . 03 . 2013 y.
Microgaming (MPN) Re-launches Record Breaking Bad Beat Jackpot

 The Microgaming Poker Network (MPN) has officially released its new version of the bad beat jackpot with a record breaking €921,603 prize pool. The bad beat jackpot was suspended in early March for a revamp of its policies and requirements. 

Microgaming’s new bad beat jackpot has a lowered requirement for qualifying hands and allows for a greater number of participants. The new qualifying hand has been lowered to four of kind twos from the original losing hand of four of kind eights. The lowered requirement will eventually lead to a higher frequency of hit jackpots.
The new bad beat jackpot also allows a new opt-in feature for all cash tables above €0.10c/€0.20c. Players will have the option to participate in the bad beat jackpot by clicking the “bad beat” ticker at the bottom right of any qualifying table. This option will automatically lead to a €0.02 per raked hand contribution towards the bad beat jackpot pool.
Microgaming has also changed the payout structure of the bad beat jackpot and has taken out the administrative fee. The total prize pool will be broken down into five pieces including 40% to the losing player and 20% to the winning player in the qualifying pot. The remaining players at the qualifying table will have 10% equity of the prize pool. Furthermore, players who are simultaneously playing at the same stakes will be able to share in the jackpot by receiving a part of the 10% equity in the total prize pool. The remaining 20% share will be used to contribute to the next bad beat prize pool.
BetVictor CEO Andy Horne reflected upon the exciting changes to the bad beat jackpot.
“Will it reach EUR1 million? Who knows! The changes mean it will be won more often and by more people now. The current Jackpot will see over EUR90,000 paid out to opted in players playing at the same stake as the winner so even if you're not at the table where it hits you can share in the good fortune and that's no bad beat!"
Microgaming’s new bad beat jackpot is a novel approach to the concept of this popular promotion. Most online poker sites and land-based casinos have relatively strict policies on the bad beat jackpot. The new bad beat jackpot has set an industry record for prize pool and has introduced an original way to include more participants.
 
Author: Ekaterina
20 . 03 . 2013 y.
Nevada Gaming Commission Seeking Comment on Interstate Agreements

 The Nevada Gaming Commission has filed a Request for Comment from all licensees and interested persons on “regulations concerning interstate agreements for interactive gaming.”

Last month, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval signed Assembly Bill 114 into law, which allows the state, — one of three states to previously pass online gambling legislation — to enter into compacts with other states. However, before doing so, a five-member commission must draft regulations, and according to the Notice of Request for Comments, hope to gauge public opinion on the following questions:
1. What topics should the board and commission consider putting in regulation relating to an interstate agreement on interactive gaming?
2. Should revenue sharing between signatory states to a compact be based on the location of where the wager originated? Why or why not? Please be specific and cite any relevant legal support.
3. Should revenue sharing between signatory states to a compact be based on the location of the licensed interactive host? Why or why not? Please be specific and cite any relevant legal support.
4. Should the regulatory body of the signatory state where the wager originated have control over player disputes related to said players? Why or why not? Please be specific and cite any relevant legal support.
5. Please provide any other information not requested above that is relevant to regulations for interstate agreements on interactive gaming. Regulatory language will be drafted after comments are submitted and will be considered at a regulatory workshop yet to be scheduled.
Comments will be accepted by the Commission’s executive secretary until April 12, 2013, and will be posted online. Replies to those comments will then be accepted until April 19, 2013.
Author: Ekaterina
19 . 03 . 2013 y.
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