USA Poker Updates for January 2009
Latest news can be found at our US poker sites webpage.
January 30
2:33pm – J. Todd covers this weeks news in video format with the Perspectives Weekly. In it he talks about Doylesroom coming back to the US, UIGEA/IMEGA, convention based industry news and of course….more CAP bashing.
January 28
5:31pm – Nothing major to report on. Cashouts and deposits for players going through at major sites with no irregularities except for the occasional delay. Sportsfans couldn’t be happier with the Superbowl and UFC, St. Pierre vs Penn coming up this weekend! I’m sure Sportsbook.com (on the Cakenetwork) will have a big surge in traffic having one of the only decent poker, casino, and sportsbook sites all in one that accept US players with actual deposit methods that work. This with the addition of Doylesroom, the cakenetwork should see a spike I would think. SB and casino gamblers is always good for poker players with the crossover. 
January 24
3:49pm – Industry video news from J. Todd. He covers our Kentucky win about seizing gambling domains and also latest news about Cardspike which is more for affiliates. Here is the Perspectives Weekly video.
January 22
12:02pm – As was expected, the Governor of Kentucky filed an appeal after losing the appeals case to the forfeiture of 140 gambling domains.
January 21
11:29pm – As of only a couple hours ago, Doylesroom.com re-opened to US players on the Cakenetwork. You heard it here first. The email has yet to be sent out to players. You’ll need to uninstall the old software and redownload the new client from Doylesroom.com. You don’t need to register a new account just uninstall the old software and redownload the new one.
8:19pm – I added a reputable Merge site to the toplist called Aced.com. They have solid deposit methods and a million dollar bad beat jackpot. I’ve known Brandon who works with them for about 4 or 5 years now through online forums so I trust this company to be on the top list. Unfortunately Bodog had to be taken down temporarily because US players were having too much difficulty playing there.
January 20
6:21pm – In the Court of Appeals, Kentucky got denied so to speak. Today the court ruled against Kentucky seizing 140 domains in an attempt to block online gambling in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. A win for US players!
January 19
11:46pm – Well today was the day the UIGEA finally went into effect. Banks now have until December 1st to be in compliance. I can’t imagine banks jumping in early to get the restrictions in place earlier than they have to.
January 16
1:33am - Before we get into the boring stuff here is the latest with this weeks recap regarding online poker. Withdraws at Pokerstars.com via echecks have been reported to be speeding up, now only taking 4-12 days on average. Deposits remain instant. Some who are having troubles or delayed cashouts are receiving free money into their accounts. It is also rumored that Full Tilt will open a Sportsbook (for non-US customers).
The US 3rd District Court of Appeals has agreed to hear oral arguments made by iMEGA that the UIGEA is unconstitutional. The hearing is expected in April but subject, and likely to change. iMEGA says they have a strong case and feel it will be hard for the DOJ to defend themselves and the UIGEA should be “void for vagueness” according to imega.org.
On another note, pokernews reports that Antigua is making a last ditch attempt to negotiate in the dispute over online gambling and the WTO dispute. According to the article the $21 million annual compensation given to Antigua was not enough (because it only included horseracing) and the US is not paying anyways.
Also, aintluck.com is reporting that a bill was reintroduced called the Midnight Rule Act which would allow new administration to look at things pushed through by current administration in the US, for example the UIGEA’s finalized regulations.
January 13
11:14pm – Ok so I’m back from Atlantis. What a great time and poker tournament Pokerstars puts on. Anyways here is a recap of what I missed on posting. Apparently Bodog is starting to pay players in a timely manner now. Doylesroom is expected to re-open to US players under the CakeNetwork in about one week, which will include a casino. They will block players from MO and WA only. Also the Kentucky appeals decision on seizing poker domains is expected any day now.
Substantial growth is being seen for the month of January at Pokerstars and Full Tilt. The Cakenetwork and Bodog both seem stagnant for the month.
A poster at twoplustwo made an interesting post regarding the American Banker’s Association’s view of the UIGEA and what banks are required to do via a FAQ page. Also just a reminder the official date is 1/19/09 for banks to begin the UIGEA but they have until the end of the year to be in compliance. In the article, it says this…
“Your bank is not required to block ACH, wire, or check payments related to unlawful Internet gambling to be in compliance with the Final Rule. Your bank will be allowed to rely on the policies and procedures established by the card networks to block restricted debit and credit card transactions. In other words, if your customer is the gambler, you do not have to block gambling transactions except for debit and credit card transactions.”
January 3, 2009
9:19pm – J. Todd talks about Doyle Brunsons’ post about Anurag Dikshit paying fines and settling with the DOJ in this weeks Perspectives Weekly. He also covers the top 5 most influential moments in 2008 for poker. Im going to be heading to Atlantis Bahamas on Tuesday so if updates slow down that is why. I’ll be meeting with Pokerstars.com managers during their Carribbean Adventure Tournament.
