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US Online Poker In the Eyes of the Law |
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Written by Administrator
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Tuesday, 22 March 2011 10:15 |
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It would be an impossible task for the US Department of Justice to prosecute all the online poker players in America. But it only takes one to get the ball rolling; as far as they are concerned any form of online gambling is against the law. Estimates range that there are between 10 and 15 million online poker players in the US, and this apart from all the other illegal online gamblers. More people would be in jail than out! PokerStars which is licensed and operated from the Isle of Man has taken legal opinion from five Law Firms in the US which state that they are not violating any laws. It is to be hoped not, because I just came from the Poker Stars site, where I went to double-check its licensing details; there were 221 286 members online playing poker simultaneously, and 7 171 tournaments in play! Now that is what we call a massive amount of poker players fors a Monday night!
It is estimated that PokerStars generates an annual global revenue of $1.4 billion - $500 million of this is profit. The primary owner of PokerStars - Isai Scheinberg according to rumour never enters the US, he spends most of his time in Canada; there is a very good reason for this, because he would more than likely be indicted. Many online gaming entrepreneurs, despite having their roots in the US, live in the jurisdictions where they business is licensed, for example two of the principal shareholders of Party Poker, Ruth Parasol De Leon and Russ De Leon, live in Gibraltar where their site is licensed, and they no longer offer poker to US players.
FullTilt Poker, although not as big as PartyPoker still generates $500 million in annual revenue, of which $100 million is profits and has deep roots in the U.S. In fact it is believed that Howard Lederer and Professor Chris "Jesus" Ferguson are shareholders in this site, these guys live in the US and can be found regularly playing poker in Las Vegas. Their financial links to the site are not clear but the links clearly exist; these guys are used to taking big gambles.
Poker has become a national pastime in the US; actually poker has become huge internationally and we are only referring to online poker in this case. The online poker market grew by 24% in 2010, and its rake was $4.8 billion! Its phenomenal growth can be attributed to a few factors; Chris Moneymaker who won the WSOP Main event, a bracelet and $2.5 million purse. He was an unknown as a poker player, an accountant from Tennessee and he got to the WSOP by playing online poker. The launch of televised poker tournaments on the Travel Channel and ESPN played a contributing role and when Forbes Magazine cover featured Calvin Ayre, billionaire owner of Bodog.
While UIGEA only loosely defines what actually constitutes illegal gambling in the US the Dept of Justice doesn't see it this way. Lawyers hold firm that the law interprets in such a way as to exclude online poker, PartyPoker pulled out of the US in 2006 on advisement from their legal advisors… |
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 22 March 2011 10:16 |
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Davidi Kitai wins the Celebrity Invitational WPT |
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Written by Administrator
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Friday, 04 March 2011 14:21 |
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The Celebrity Invitational part of the WPT has just finished with Davidi Kitai taking home the winner’s title. Belgium’s all-time money leader in live tournaments experienced his first victory in the WPT, which is a great achievement to him, although he already keeps one WSOP bracelet. He ended up face to face with a female chess champion Almira Skripchenko and, till the end, it seemed to be equally hers as his game to win. WPT is called by some the show that started the poker revolution, although others would argue that this credit goes to the WSOP. The WPT has many stops across the world and its poker actions get a wide TV coverage. |
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World Series of Poker Circuit crowned its youngest winner |
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Written by Administrator
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Thursday, 03 March 2011 12:27 |
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The World Series of Poker Circuit tournament has the youngest winner – just 19-year old guy named John Riordan. His lucky circuit was played in Florida at a famous greyhound racing track, the West Palm Beach, and the tournament had to be split into two flights as too many players signed up – a whole 712. Only 24, however, were allowed to survive till the tournament’s final day. This group was split into two age brackets, so one of the teams consisted of players aged 25 and under and the other 40 years and over. The young John Riordan already held the chip lead at the beginning of the final. Unfortunately for him, whilst he is old enough to play in Florida, Las Vegas cannot accept him until he’s 21, so his place in the National Championship might still be taken by someone else. |
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Last Updated on Thursday, 03 March 2011 12:28 |
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Poker770 freeroll tournaments |
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Written by Administrator
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Monday, 21 February 2011 14:43 |
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Available in several languages, the website of Poker 770 has already enabled many poker fans to access to the biggest poker tournaments in the world like the World Series of Poker, the European Poker Tour and the World Poker Tour. This site is indeed associated with several organizers of poker tournament so it offers to its best players multiple packages to these live event. Beyond that, players of this famous online poker room have the opportunity to win several bonuses starting with the welcome bonus, the first deposit bonus and the referral bonus and many other. To those who do not have not money to play for real, Poker 770 organizes regularly freeroll tournaments on its site to let these players train, play with their friends and win real packages. In short, Poker 770 is a place for beginners, amateurs and big names in poker. |
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Last Updated on Monday, 21 February 2011 14:44 |
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