Online Poker Sites Accepting USA

Poker for US Citizens

Devoted to tracking what US poker sites are staying open or closing to the United States in addition to breaking news coverage solely about the US. This page has gotten over 18,000,000 hits over the 3 years since the UIGEA passed due to unbiased, accurate information.

(click here for updates) Updated 1:42pm February 8, 2010

I. Most Popular / Reputable Sites Accepting US Players

Absolutepoker.com – Uses EcheckUS, western union, bank wire, checks by mail, ewalletxpress, and moneygram. Visa and Mastercard work and American Express has been added as well. Has “no download” version for Mac and Linux players.

Fulltiltpoker.com – Uses Echecks, C2pay, Netspend & Greendot prepaid visa cards, credit cards (including Amex) and Cash Transfer as deposit options. We received an email from them on 9/5/06 saying that they will not stop supporting American players. Has poker for macs.

Playersonly.com – Site that only allows US players and has very large credit card rate acceptance. Great deposit processing with credit cards. Players refused from MO and WA.

Bodog.com – They have a new and improved depositing and withdraw system and are back on top of all that stuff after a brief period where depositing was difficult.

Page Index

I Suggested USA open sites

II Casinos open to USA

III USA deposit methods

IV Other Sites open to USA

V Sites not open to USA

VI 12 states strongly affected

VII Videos about ban

VIII FAQ

IX Federal Gambling Bill Tracking

X Past poker site traffic

XI Archived daily updates

Pokerstars.com – Currently uses Echecks (free and easiest option to deposit & withdraw available), Western Union, credit cards and Cash Transfer Express (moneygram) as main deposit options for US players. Use marketing code “cpokermac50″ and bonus code “stars600″ for $600/100% bonus.

II. Notable Casinos Still Taking Americans

Rushmorecasino – Uses Amex, MC, Visa, Diners, JCB, primapin, usemywallet, and clicktopay, for US funding.

LockCasino – Very reputable casino that we are working exclusively with for US players. First casino to have a download version for Macs.

CherryRed Casino – Pretty much any US citizen wanting to deposit and play will have no problems. This casino group leads the industry in easy deposits and withdrawing from the United States, rare these days.

SlotsOasis.com – Hands down the highest deposit rate for US players for a slot site.

Here is the list of our US online casino page which describes the best US accepted casinos.

III. E-wallet Stances on US Market

Updated February 3, 2010 – Compatiblepoker is not affiliated with these companies. Please check local laws before gambling online or using a poker deposit option below.

• Add-funds – April 2, 07 – No longer seem to be in use. Once used at Absolute poker
• AllAccessvisa.com - Feb 04, 09 – Being accepted again at Pokerstars.com
• American Express – Aug 27, 09 – Available at Absolutepoker.com A casino to use Amex is Rushmorecasino.com which has a 90% success rate if you’re into casino games.
• Affiliatespeedpay – Stopped services for US affiliates on August 27th, 09.
• ATMonline – Jan. 23, 07 – They have frozen US funds and will give US citizens the boot.
• Cash Transfer Express - Used primarily at Pokerstars.com and seems to be the same thing as Moneygram which is US accepted.
• Central Coin Jan. 18, 07 – It was confirmed…Central Coin is not taking US gambling deposits.
• Citadel Commerce – Jan. 17, 07 – Not accepting US gambling deposits anymore
• Credit Cards - May 16, 08 – Most all major US credit cards being accepted at Sportsbook poker but it’s a hit or miss option for most people.
• (company removed) Feb. 1, 07 – A site that used to sit here was removed by request of the company. They don’t want their name mentioned but it begins with a C and ends with a Y and don’t accept new US customers
• Diners – Not used by any poker sites but used at Cherryredcasino
• eChecks – August 1 , 2009 – Go down temporarily but pretty much work at most very large poker rooms like Pokerstars.com
• EcoCard – July 30, 07 – Stopped US deposits on August 24 , 2007 . Will be replaced by Quicktender/usemywallet which is US accepted and offered on demand at Cake Poker
• Epassporte – April 11, 08 – After almost two years of accepting US deposits after the UIGEA passed they have officially stopped accepting US gambling deposits.
• eWalletXpress – August 16, 09 – Some sites are disabled them as a withdrawl option due to legislation issues but this has since been corrected.  Feb 13, 07 – Their policies are to still accept US deposits without being affected by the Neteller incident. Used at Absolutepoker.com and Cakepoker.
• Ezipay – Not taking US residents
• Fashchecks – see echecks above
• Firepay – Stopped US transactions immediately after UIGEA signed.
• Fonelinx – Aug. 26, 07 – A pre-paid teleco ewallet introduced by Carbon poker.
• Gatorpay (Ultra-prepaid) – Used by Fulltiltpoker.com . Semi high fees.
• ImmediateDeposit – Mar. 19, 07 – Pre-paid teleco company launched by Carbon poker but seems to have shut down.
• Instadebit – Jan. 18, 07 Absolute Poker verified Instadebit left the US market.
• Instant Checks April 1, 07 – Being offered to some customers at Pokerstars.com. Same as Fastchecks or echecks but only available to some players.
• JCB – No poker sites use this but it’s used at Cherryredcasino
• Makeadeposit – Mar. 13, 07 – Another one of those phone card companies which shut down.
• Mastercard – Feb 3, ‘10 – Mastercard closes loophole so that gamblers can’t use this option to deposit. Fix is expected soon.
• Merchant Banks – Any Merchant Banks that operate with gaming sites will be closed by RBS and Barclays. This is for the UK.
• Moneybookers – Oct. 25, 06 – They suspended US gamblers from making transactions.
• Moneygram – April 4, 07 – US accepted. Being accepted at Absolutepoker.com for all players
• MyCitadel – Jan. 17, 07 – Stopped all gambling transactions for US residents after Neteller closed to US gamblers.
• MyWebATM – May 19, 07 – Was first introduced as a deposit method for US players by Full Tilt but they have since stopped accepting US deposits.
• Neteller – Jan. 18, 07 – Completely left the US market. Biggest loss for US poker player deposit methods.
• Nexum – Jan. 18, 07 – They have dropped US players
• Nucharge – A pre-paid teleco company that was used at Bodog but has since ceased.
• Payspark – Jan 26, 07 – Payspark (Ezipay) is not taking US customers any longer.
• Paypal – They stopped taking gambling transactions many years ago.
• Paytru / Prepaid Visa - Dec. 7, 07 – Once used by Pokerstars. Stopped being used as an option on December 14th, 2007 by Pokerstars.
• Pic-Club – Aug 17, 07 (picclub.com) Updated – Oct. 15, 2009 Said their services follow UIGEA guidelines and allow US players to make deposits. Used primarily by Doylesroom.com
• Pindebit – June 6, 07 Launched and used only by Carbonpoker.com. Accepting US customers.
• Primapin Feb 27, 08 – A prepaid phone card type deposit option being used at various casinos but primarily at Doylesroom.com and Rushmorecasino
• Quicktender – Aug. 9, 07 – Will be replacing Ecocard and is recognized by a “Usemywallet” logo and accepted worldwide. Mostly ex-Ecocard customers will get invites to use this but Cake Poker is sending out invitations to new players as well.
• Togglecard – April 18, 09 – No longer in use for casinos.
• Usemywallet – Aug 9, 07 – See quicktender above.
• Ultraprepaid – Prepaid type inhouse phone card only used once you register at Fulltiltpoker.com . Used for withdraws and deposits filled by visa or echeck.
• UsemyBank – They are a Canadian company and don’t accept US transactions
• Visa Gift Cards – July 28, 07 – Blocks all gaming transactions
• Visa – Most widely accepted at Sportsbook poker
• Virtualpin – Prepaid phone card deposit option in use by Bodog.com
• Western Union – WU is warning customers that their services are not to be used for gambling although most poker sites have them as a US option.
• Wire/ Cash Transfer – Accepted among most sites.
• Youteller April . 19, 07 – In a legal battle with Neteller over their name. The March 07 launch was delayed. Don’t expect them to ever launch under this name at least.

IV. Other Poker Sites Accepting Americans

Updated January 11, 2010 – If you don’t see the site on this list they most likely do not accept US players or are not a popular enough poker site to list.  Also, I am about ready to launch pokerwebsites.com so I’ll be adding some US related stuff as well.

• 7sultanspoker
• Absolute Poker – Now under the Cereus Network
• Aced.com – On the verge of being marked off list because of finances
• Allinpoker – Out of business
• AmericasCardroom May 2, 07 – Bought out by Bookmaker.com which accepts US players.
• Aceflush Poker – Out of business
• Battlefield Poker – Went out of business
• Bugsysclub – On March 24, 2009 they closed and transferred players to Pokerstars. Sad because Bugsyclub was on eof the last sites to have poker on linux.
• BetedPoker
• BetonUSA
• BetUS Poker – On the Cake Network
• Bodog Poker
• Bookmaker – New site with some sites selling their US players to them (americascardroom, betcris etc.)
• Butcher Poker
• Cake Poker – Blocks Kentucky
• Captain Cook
• Carbon Poker – Skin of poker.com and will continue to accept US players
• Cardspike – Went out of business for defrauding players and affiliates in a scandal with casinoaffiliateprograms.com.
• Crazy Poker
• Century Poker (now Onlypoker) – Took over Golden Palace poker player database when they closed.
• Colosseum Poker
• Doylesroom.com – Opened to US players again on the cakenetwork Jan. 20, 2009
• Duplicatepoker – Closed down
• EuroLinx – Not accepting new US players
• Gamesgrid – Now a casino
• GamingClub Poker
• Gold Chip Network
• GoldenTigerPoker
• GoldenRiviera
• Gutshotpoker – on cake network
• Interchamps – Out of business
• Intertops – 5/31/2009 re-entered the US market
• Ironduke
• Jungle Poker – Under caution warning
• Microgaming Network – They have ceased accepted US players towards the end of 2008. See full Microgaming sites that have changed to the Cakenetwork
• OkUSApoker – Under caution warning
• Onlypoker
• OPT Room
• PitbullPoker – October 1, ‘09 – Owners busted for cheating scandal, poker site closed.
• Playersonly – All states accepted except Missouri & WO.
• Poker.com – Domain was sold. Players and software transferred to Carbonpoker.com on Mergenetwork
• Poker4Ever
• Pokerhost.com
• PokerNordica
• Poker Rewards
• Poker Share
• PokerSyndicate – now on Gold Chip Network
• Pokertime
• PokerWorld
• Prima - Network of sites bought by Microgaming. Stopped accepted US on Nov. 10, 2008
• Red Star Poker
• Red Nines – Out of business
• Reefer Poker – Merge network
• Royal Card Club – Out of business
• Royalvegaspoker
• SportsInteraction
• Sportsbook.com Poker – Opened on Nov. 24th, 07 for US players. Doesn’t allow players from Missouri or WO.
• StanleyVippoker.com
• StraightFlush
• Superbook Poker – Part of the sportsbook.com network of poker platforms
• Third Bullet Poker
• Thunderluck Poker
• Tigergamingpoker
• Tradesports
• Trident Poker – Bought by Pokertime
• True Poker
• Tropical Poker – Out of business
• Ultimatebet – Now under the Cereus Network
• United Poker Network
• Virtual City Poker
• Walkerpoker
• Wild Jack Poker
• Wingows Poker – purchased by Walkerpoker
• World Poker Exchange

V. Notable Poker Sites / Brands NOT Open to USA

• 888 / Pacific Poker – Was the first to back out of the USA
• Action Poker Network – Nine.com, Tigergaming etc.
• B2B Skins – (24h poker, Redbet, Betunited etc)
• Betsson Poker - All US accounts cancelled on Oct.31, 06
• Boss Media – (TotalPoker, Virgin Poker, CelebPoker, Pokerheaven, King Solomons Poker PokerSyndicate, etc)
• BetCorp – BetHoldem etc. (There is a hold on US players money and it is awaiting approval by shareholders before ex-Betcorp players can withdraw their gambling funds.)
• Crypto – William Hill, Interpoker, Poker Plex, LittleWoods Poker, etc.
• Empire Holdings (Empire Poker)
• Everest Poker (no new accounts allowed)
• iPoker – (Titan Poker, Poker Ocean, CD Poker, Noble Poker, Prestige Poker, Betfred, Fair Poker, etc.)
• Jetsetpoker
• Kiwi Poker
• Microgaming – Quit accepting US players at the end of 2008.
• Ongame/Bwin -PokerRoom.com, HollywoodPoker and sites like Holdempoker, Europoker, Cherrypoker, Tower Poker, ) stopped taking deposits Oct. 25, 06. On Nov. 6, 06 US players were locked out of real money games. Click here for all ongame sites.
• PartyGaming – (Party Poker, MultiPoker, etc.) Was the second poker room to back out of USA
• Paradise Poker – Stopped real money play on Nov. 13th, 06
• PKR.com
• Planet Poker -(Poker Blue) All real money play stopped on March 31, 07 for all countries. Players transferred to Bodog
• Poker Champs
• Prima Network - Some prima sites are out and some are just accepting Americans from certain states.
• Skill Games Network – Skill Game no longer exists. Sites on the network moved. Mansion Poker (now with Ongame), TonyGPoker (now with iPoker), Gamesgrid (now a casino).
• SunPoker
• Tribeca Sites – Bowmans, Paddypowerpoker, Bluesquarepoker, Victor Chandler, Betus.com etc. consolidated with iPoker Network. Don’t accept US players.
• Wagerlogic – William Hill, Betfair, PokerPlex, Playboycasino, Intercasino, VIP, etc.

VI. 14 States Strongly Affected by Poker / Casino Ban

These are sites that have stronger issues with gambling.

• Illinois – Misdemeanor offense and possibly more (felony).
• Indiana
• Kentucky – Governor tried to IP ban online poker sites. Didn’t work.
• Louisiana – Felony to gamble online.
• Michigan
• Missouri – Most against online gambling but not a felony
• Nevada
• New Jersey
• New York
• Oregon
• South Dakota
• Utah
• Washington – FELONY to play online poker for real money in the US
• Wisconsin

VII. Videos Regarding Poker Ban

• Perspectives Weekly – Jan. 31, 2010 – J. Todd does an interview with John Pappas about the Barney Frank Bill. Good interview but nothing new…
• Brief recap on David Carruthers and Betonsports – April 16, 09 – Talks about study proving internet gambling does not cause increased addiction.
• Barney Frank FSC Debate – June 9, 07 – 8 minute review of the 2 hour debate and discussion of regulating online gambling held July 8, 2007.
• Bill Frist Corruption Video – This video gets an A+ and made me laugh for quite awhile.
• Shelley Berkley – 06 Her pissed off speech on how the gambling bill doesn’t pertain to port security.

VIII. New US Gambling Law FAQ

(These are common consensus from experts across the web. Always consult a lawyer before making your own decision.)

1. Is it illegal to play online poker in the United States now?

No, except for a few states. The bill which recently passed addressed deposit methods and financial institutions (banks) that allow gambling transactions, not the players. A US DOJ official said in a Congressional hearing it was not illegal for US players to play online. The new law makes it illegal for US banks to allow gambling related transactions so the actual legality of online poker has not changed. There has been much debate over this issue for years but to this date no one has been arrested for playing poker online. Although, it is clear that online sports betting is definitely a federal crime nobody has been arrested for playing online poker. Please see state bans above for more details and possible felonies.

2. Is it safe to play online poker in the US?

The following question was answered by the authoritative online gambling legal expert, I. Nelson Rose here in September of 2007. To summarize, he says you are not going to jail for playing poker, it is safe to cash/deposit checks from poker sites as long as you’re reporting income and to not keep too much money located at one site because there is the possibility it gets tied up ie: the Neteller & BetonSports incidents. He also makes a point to be very careful as to what ewallet you use.

3. Why did Party Poker and other sites close down and yet some sites are still open to the US?

Most of the sites that closed down when the bill was signed were the publicly traded companies. They closed down to US players to protect themselves from getting sued by their shareholders. Places like PokerStars.com are privately held and they have addressed the law differently which is why they stayed open. They believe poker is a skill game. They also believe their sites aren’t classified as “Unlawful” because mainly sports betting was addressed in the 1961 Wire Act defining “Unlawful gambling” and US courts have ruled in the past that not all online gambling is illegal. Every site has different interpretations of the law.

4. So what is the deal now? Is poker banned and what happens next?

People are still playing online poker and we are still in a grace period. The final regulations have since been released (view final regulations its a .pdf). Banks now have until June 1, 2010 to fully comply with the final regulations. Here is the latest article written on how these regulations will impact US poker players. It is titled, “Final UIGEA Regulations; Nothing Changes“. Also here is an older article talking about when the regulations were first proposed. (Gambling Law Professor’s view of the proposed regulations)

5. Am I going to jail if I play online poker?

According to Gambling Law Professor, I. Nelson Rose, you will not go to jail for merely playing poker online. Again, this bill is attacking the root of the online poker industry, the deposit mechanisms. No laws have changed for online poker players. It was always a grey area before this law and remains the same. Some states have had laws against online gaming for years.

6. Why are some states not accepted at certain online casinos and poker rooms?

The reason some operators have excluded certain sites and not the whole US population is because they are interpreting the law differently. The law addresses “Unlawful Internet Gambling.” This means that the casino believes the states that had pre-existing law regarding online gambling are the states affected by this new law. Most sites that banned 13 states have left the US market altogether. The main two states now are Washington and Missouri that are being banned by sites on the Cakenetwork.

7. Why would Neteller, myCitadel, Firepay and other 3rd party transaction sites even think about closing to US gamblers?

The text book answer is that they are a publicly traded company. But there is much more to it than that. Let’s take Ewallet X (fictitious name) for example. If the US government felt Ewallet X was used for illegal gambling transactions then the US government could simply stop all banks from making transactions with Ewallet X whether it be for gambling or not. Some ewallets aren’t just in the gambling business and can’t afford to lose all their US customers. Epassporte served US customers for almost a year and a half after the ban before the US DOJ scared them into voluntarily leaving the market as you can see here. Also, some ewallets went into contracts with certain gambling portals which allow sports bets to be placed among US citizens. This is against US federal law and is one reason the Neteller co-founders were detained.

8. Will I be able to deposit after the UIGEA is in full effect in the middle of 2010?

The answer is yes. Let me break down some of the basic options currently in use. Echecks are expected to go down because they involve a US to US company. Shell echeck companies will continue to get shut down and it could not become profitable for the poker sites to continue with this option, as their money continues to get seized. Credit cards will still be able to be used. Credit cards use codes, and gaming sites are supposed to denote whether they are using the transaction for gaming or not by a code they were issued. They obviously don’t tell the issuing card they are involved with gaming, and simply set it up as some retail transaction so credit card deposits will still be available. Backup telephone support will be more readily available to get CC’s deposit success high. Wire transfers will begin to see delays. Third party sites like ewalletxpress, quicktender, 900pay etc are still likely to have no problems. As for withdrawing you will always have the option to withdraw by check. Can your bank account be closed for gambling related checks/funding? Yes. Will you get your money refunded? Yes. All these questions are answered in the American Bankers Associastion UIGEA FAQ document they put out. Very positive looking for online gamblers.

IX. Federal Proposed Bills For Online Gambling (updated May 6, 2009)

Bill Description	Track Progress
HR 2268: To delay the UIGEA by 1 year	latest progress
HR 2267: Barney Frank sponsored: License and regulate online gambling in US	latest progress
HR 5767: Barney Frank and Ron Paul overthrowing the UIGEA regulations	latest progress
HR 2610: Robert Wexler sponsored: Amend and allow games of skill	latest progress
HR 2140: Shelley Berkley sponsored: To study online gambling for potential regulation in US	latest progress
HR 2607: McDermott sponsored: To amend Tax code for regulation of online gambling	latest progress

X. List of Past Poker Site Traffic: Timeline – updated September 2009

XI. Archived Hourly Updates

February 8

1:43pm – Pokerstars issued a statement earlier today saying they don’t recode credit card transactions. The code, 7995, which is coded as “gambling” is said to never be recoded by the company. If the card goes through, it’s the credit card companies fault they pretty much said. If it doesn’t they’ll continue to offer alternative methods. They will be hurting if VISA or Mastercard decide to really clamp down on credit card processing with them, as most of the major gaming sites (obviously most common with sportsbooks but hell they don’t care because they are already breaking the law per previous laws) recode CC’s until they go through. You take away CC’s and Echecks in the event that the UIGEA eventually provokes this and Pokerstars is cruising for a bruising.

February 6

10:09pm – The marketing director of Carbon Poker has said the Mastercard issue will be cleared up by early next week for the Merge platform, saying “there are solutions already in place”.

February 6

7:37am – A couple news sites are reporting that VISA has initiated a crackdown on credit card deposits. I have found NO evidence of this and the sources I’ve talked to say VISA is working fine, it is only Mastercard they are currently having issues with (at this point in time). One website that usually has good information posted that because they tried to deposit with a VISA card and were declined, that all players were getting declined. I was pretty shocked that the article was even written on such absurd “evidence”. It seems others have run the same story based on that bad article. I think everyone knows by now that any credit card deposit be it VISA, MC or Amex is hit or miss on any given day.

Anyways, Full Tilt Poker declined to respond about the Mastercard issue but as I said, they still have MC listed in their lobby and I didn’t read any reports on their forum of MC transactions not working. While I have a theory on how MC is blocking transactions I’m kind of curious to see if it’s correct so I may contact someone I know who works on the deposit/fraud site at a major poker site who would know the answer but just in case “unfriendly” visitors are reading my posts I’ll keep it to myself if anything comes out of it. Wouldn’t want other CC’s to follow the same footsteps.

February 4

12:47am – Pokerstars has confirmed that Mastercard is still working for their players. Also, while Full tilt has not yet replied, they still have Mastercard available in their cashier lobby.

Also, Playersonly, Sportsbook Poker, and Superbook will be moving from the Cake Network over to the Merge Network. They will do so by April 2010.

February 3

3:05pm – After a little more investigating I found the Credit Card declines are currently isolated to Mastercard. Apparently Mastercard has been known to be more proactive in shutting down processing, but as we know, gambling sites are persistent and look for ways to get things back up and running. In all I contacted Doylesroom, Absolutepoker, Bodog, and a variety of Casinos. They all said that Mastercard was down. The only site to say Mastercard was still working was Sportsbook.com but that was likely an uninformed support personnel. All other deposit methods are unaffected at this point in time, including Visa.

One tid bit of information given was this about pre-paid cards from an Absolute Poker rep. We do not have an approximately time frame on when is it going to be up and running. You can try getting a Visa pre-paid card/giftcard for international transactions as we are overseas. You can get them from $10 and up in stores like 7Eleven , Walgreen’s, Walmart, K-mart , Liquor Stores , Gas-Stations, etc. Please be sure that the card doesn’t say : “valid only in USA”.

3:05pm – I just heard some troubling news that hasn’t really hit mainstream news sites yet. Apparently credit card processors, mainly Mastercard have figured out how online gambling sites were processing transactions and getting around the coding issues. According to Jeremy, the owner of Pokeraffiliatelistings, Mastercard has been the main credit card monitoring how poker sites and their customers were able to deposit, and they’ve finally figured it out. We could possibly lose all credit card deposit methods for casinos, poker, and sportsbooks in coming days/weeks. This would be a huge blow to the industry considering a ton of people deposit via credit cards from the US. It’s still early but yes, Mastercard deposits are down.

If this really is true, and you deposit via credit card your best option is going to be to open up an ewalletxpress account at Absolutepoker.com or Ultimatebet.com since Stars and Tilt for some reason don’t have it. I wouldn’t suspect that echecks will be affected at all the poker sites because as far as I’ve heard this is credit card related only (for now at least, this option could burst anytime). Also there has been no word about American Express. Most gambling sites have yet to release statements as not not cause pandemonium.

February 3

2:20am – This guy, Doug Rennick has gotten himself into a real crap storm. He was the person behind the company awhile back that was busted for doing payment processing for Stars and Tilt, $350 mill to be exact. Looks like he’s going to get “up to” 30 years. To this day, I still have no clue what happened to the Neteller founders that were busted. The NY DOJ always refuses my request for any questions because they say it’s still “ongoing”.

January 29

1:35pm – Deleware has legalized land based poker, blackjack, craps and roulette games in their casinos. The Senate voted yesterday in favor of the bill.

3:24am – I wanted to remind anyone in California, actually it will have an impact on all the states, but the date of February 9th is when the Senate will meet to discuss the compatibility of online poker and tribal compacts. I’ll do an update on the 8-9th so you can check out what was discussed.

January 26

12:31am – Among the many states looking to further online gaming, Iowa is now jumping aboard. They’re looking to expand poker into “special event” poker tournaments. Not much but a start. Also, I forgot to mention Delaware last week is seeking poker in their 3 casinos which would generate $40 million per year for the state. Everyone now is still looking at the increased stakes in Florida that is likely to happen mid this year. As a Florida native, I could see poker becoming a very big thing in this state, when not long ago we were only allowed to play $1/2 limit games. Now we’re looking at stakes and games people can make a living off of.

January 25

2:59pm – I’m back from the Bahamas, and well wasn’t too surprised to see not much news about US gaming. Depositing and withdrawing looks to be functioning just fine at all the major sites with no major issues to report.

January 21

7:17pm – Pappas of theppa.org released a video a couple days ago (sorry I’m in the bahamas and the internet sucks) urging poker players and members to do all they can for the vote on licensing internet gaming in the committee. It didn’t get much press because well, it’s just one of the first steps in what seems like and endless staircase! Either way they are expected to vote in February on the bill.

January 17

11:46pm – Echecks have been re-issued at Absolutepoker.com and UB. They are calling them “EcheckUS”. Echecks are now working in full across the board at the major poker brands.

January 16

10:18pm – A bill (NJ Senate 490) has been released to legalize online gaming in the state of New Jersey. It would allow all games, including that of poker to be played online in the state borders. While bills “for” legalizing online gaming is great news I’m still not sold on the actual functionality of state run poker sites. The traffic would be just too low. I guess the government on a Federal level will have to wake up and watch the money go out to the states before we get nationwide legalization. The real money is in the casinos and sports betting online and there is no doubt this is a cash cow to the states, and while as much as we hate to see poker tagged in this group, it’s almost a must “profitably wise” for legalization. I hope that makes sense…. Either way I still stand behind my thoughts that legalized online poker in the US (in full functionality) is more than a decade + away, hoping to eat my words of course.

Meanwhile, at quick glance it looks like on July 1, 2010 Florida will see raised cashed game stakes at the land based poker rooms. That means no more measley $100 buy-in max where you have to play $5/10 with $100.

January 13

3:11pm – Corrupt Senator Kyl is pissing off people again with his UIGEA tactics. Like the “Nanny” he is, Kyl is punishing the US Treasury for allowing the 6 month delay of the UIGEA by not confirming the appointees of key people in the Treasury department. This selfish act is having impacts on the United States as a whole. Former head of the Federal Reserve said this about corrupt Senator Jon Kyl. “How can we run a government in the middle of a financial crisis without doing the ordinary, garden-variety administrative work of filling the relevant agencies?“ And this my friends, is why he ranks #1 when you google, “corrupt senator”.  This reminds me of the movie “Shooter” with Mark Wahlberg where  the movie ends with the corrupt Senator saying, “You can’t do this, I’m a United States Senator”.  Mark’s character says, “Exactly” ….and puts a bullet right in his brain.

January 11

11:42am – In an interesting article done by GamingIntelligence, they spoke about Party Poker’s potential to enter the market if the United States does legalize it. In the article it said 3000-4000 people sign up a day ( ~4 million since the UIGEA) to play for “fake money”. I’m suspecting a very large majority of those are or would eventually be wanting to play for real money considering Party Poker still gets a huge amount of search traffic from the United States. Here is a Google trend of how the top 2 US poker sites compare to Party Poker in US searches.

11:04am – Daniel Tucker, the leading Chairman for the Indian Casino tribes in California has spoken. Barney Frank is the gay white devil. No, no, that’s not what he said but he might as well have, calling Barney Franks attempt to legalize online gambling nationwide the biggest threat in 20 years. Saying it was “unjust and outrageous”. Tucker said it will transfer billions of dollars away from the Indian Tribes to offshore accounts, but forgot to mention the billions it would bring back to the United States, but I’m assuming he doesn’t care much for that, much more than they care for one another.

January 8

8:20pm – Here is J. Todds weekly video recap. After a week off because of personal issues J. Todd is back and discusses how there is hope in California for state run online gambling, how Slovenia has banned online gambling, Germany continues its effort to ban online gambling and Norway bans online gambling except for state run sites. I don’t really follow countries outside of the US (or state specifics, although I have been more recently because of their importance) all that much but did read an article, which for some reason has since been pulled from Egaming Review about a ban in the NRW region of Germany, which happens to be the most populous area of Germany. Also to J. Todd, sorry for your loss.

January 4

9:05pm – Poker players in Penn State will be glad to hear that the House has passed the bill to legalize poker games. Blackjack and craps, also in. Basically the only reason they added these table games is because of tax revenues and the possibility of cutting jobs. Hmmm, there’s quite a few other states that could use the tax revenue and one good way to do it would be to legalize online poker in those states, Florida, Cali, but….that’s a whole different conundrum.

January 2, 2010

3:46pm – I’d kind of like to report on something being back and all but on all the forums and news sites, there is nothing to report on. Not even a thread running at twoplustwo about problems withdrawing or depositing! Good news….

3:21pm – I am back from a much needed surf trip to Puerto Rico and we’ve been making some changes to the site, so sorry if you notice things a little bit out of whack at times. Updates will continue daily again, although I see not much happened.

December 20

7:13 – I am out of the country surfing in Puerto Rico for an unspecified time so updates will be short. Here is a video update of the week from J. Todd.

December 18

7:46am – Yesterday the PPA released some census information about poker players in the US, and members of their site. In it, the only thing I really found to be of use or interest was that 15 million people play online poker in the United States. This is 33% more than what was earlier reported by the GPWA. The closest competitor is still the UK with 1.9 million poker players. The other information in the PPA survey didn’t really prove useful, because its variables included those of only PPA members and not of the US entirely. For example it said poker players tend to have a higher average salary than the US population, but this information is inaccurate because it only takes into the account of “contributing PPA members” whom would more than likely have discretionary income to donate.

December 17

8:47am – Kentucky is at it again with some kooky stuff, now going after individual US citizens. Here is a direct quote from Gaming Intelligence.

“In the course of the litigation and the Commonwealth’s continuing investigation, the Commonwealth of Kentucky has learned the identity of certain entities and individuals involved in internet gambling operations, some of whom are U.S. citizens,”…..”The Commonwealth asks for leave to amend its Complaint to add causes of action against these individuals and entities in personam.”

Who they are after, God if I know. Possibly affiliates, poker pros with stake in poker sites, gaming affiliate managers working out of the US, who the hell knows. If the updates stop for a month you know where I am. In all honesty, the “Commonwealth” is full of morons. The Kentucky attempted 141 domain seizure proved that.

December 15

9:11am – I have added both Lock Casino and Lock Poker to the list of reputable casinos and poker sites. Im working exclusively with the company because I truly believe they will grow very large, at least the casino will. When Bodog went downhill, among other things it was mainly due to the people who helped build the company leaving. They have joined together to build their own programs. The casino is the first you can download on a Mac, and the poker client is Mac and Linux compatible which runs on the Cake Network (which is hard to find a client on Cake that is compatible with those OS’s). Anyways that’s my reasoning behind adding Lock. Reputable people to work with these days is like a needle in a haystack and I’ve been working with some of them for over 5 years. Pete, one of the managers was kind enough to give us one of the rare exclusive rights to work with the company.

8:28am – The President of Poker Voters of America said they WILL pass a bill in California for online poker. “We have the bill and we will pass it”. She is also working on other states such as Florida. I’ll believe it when I see it….

December 11

9:43am – In an interview done with Egaming Review, John Pappas of the PPA said if a vote was held tomorrow, Barney Franks bill would pass. He said they want it to pass by 10 votes so they will continue lobbying as it will only help when it comes time to vote the bill into actual legislation.

On Withdrawing: Some issues seem to have continued with the Merge Network (Carbon Poker etc). Lots of complaints are coming in at 2+2 about 2+ weeks for payouts. It seems like all methods are taking longer than they are saying.

On Depositing: Everything seems to be as normal. AP and UB still haven’t added echecks back in their que. We haven’t lost any deposit methods at various sites since last update.

December 10

4:18am – On December 16th CNBC is going to air an episode called, “CNBC Investigates: The Big Business of Illegal Gambling“. John Pappas of the PPA did an interview for the show but it will not air. The focus on the show will not be primarily about internet gambling (more about land based stuff), but they do plan on covering the Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker cheating that went on. Talk about beating a dead horse. Anyways the show will be on this Wednesday at 9pm. Here is a preview to the show. Thanks to Uglyowl at 2+2 forum for posting this info and John for posting how the buggers rejected his interview, probably because it wasn’t controversial enough. Ask me and I say this show will be good for internet gambling that is regulated. Regulate and some of the scum will be forced out.

December 4

3:32am – I was going to do cliff notes about the hearing yesterday but there is no point. Its something you need to listen to in order to get anything out of it. Same stuff different day. Bauchus – Internet is bad, hurting our youth and is against the will of the American people. (huh?). From people who know what the hell they are talking about and have credentials – No, internet gambling doesn’t cause an increase in underage gambling, without legalization you can’t regulate it, and no, legalization is the only way to prevent money laundering and fraud. These morons against legalized online gambling will go around all day spitting lies while people with authority in their respective subject shut them down every time. It’s just amazing Bauchus can say it’s against the “will of the people” to shut down internet gambling just because they slipped the bill through 3 years ago in such a slimey way it makes any American scratch their head. That goes against everything thing the “will of the people” and America stand for!

December 3

5:49pm – You can see the video hearing held this morning about regulation of internet gambling here http://financialserv.edgeboss.net/wmedia/financialserv/hearing120309.wvx (when I direct link to the url it doesn’t work so just copy and paste it). I’ve yet to have time to listen to the whole thing but will have cliff notes later tonight. The PPA issued a statement about it also if you want to read that, theppa.org.

1:53am – There will be some news coming out as today is the day the House Financial Committee will discuss the regulatory bills to legalize online gambling in the United States. They begin their meeting at 10am.

1:43am – I’ver heard a couple reports of a few people who used to be able to use Visa to deposit no longer can since December first, and a couple bank accounts closed [banks cited the UIGEA] but other than that, only some isolated incidents.

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