Main Headlines
NETELLER Goes Live on WSOP and 888 in New Jersey
NJ online poker rooms now offering the ewallet for deposits and withdrawals.
- In tandem with the rollout, NETELLER parent company Optimal Payments issued a press release earlier in the week announcing its return to the US market.
- NETELLER’s primary competitor Skrill, formerly Moneybookers, is already live in the regulated US market, going live on multiple online gambling sites in New Jersey in late 2013, including the online poker market leader, PartyPoker New Jersey and sibling Borgata Poker.
- Its return to the US market comes almost seven years after its US operations were shut down by the US Department of Justice in early 2007.
Financial Transactions with Unlicensed iGaming Operators to be Blocked in UK
MasterCard, Visa and PayPal have all agreed to block transactions with unlicensed gambling companies when new UK laws come into force.
- The UK House of Lords refused to support a UIGEA like amendment to the Gambling (Licensing & Advertising) Bill, which would have obliged financial services companies to block payments to non-UK licensed gambling sites.
- Instead, the UK Gambling Commission has made a voluntary agreement with MasterCard, Visa and PayPal to restrict such transactions.
888 New Jersey Offers a Mad Month for March
Three $8,888 freerolls per week lead to a $88,888 guaranteed freeroll tournament in April.
- 888poker New Jersey is offering tickets to an $88,888 freeroll tournament as the ultimate prize in its Mad Month promotion.
- 888poker is the only room on the All American Poker Network New Jersey, and it currently lies in third place in the cash game traffic rankings for New Jersey regulated sites.
Betfred Poker Now in iPoker Top Tier
More liquidity and greater choice of tables for Betfred players as it moves into iPoker’s elite tier of skins.
- BetFred is now a member of the top tier of iPoker skins. iPoker split its skins into two tiers in September 2012, creating two distinct player pools.
- Betfred players will now have access to a wider player pool and a greater choice of tables. The move will conversely, reduce the liquidity in the lower tier.
Picks from F5 Poker:
Prop Betting King Theo Jorgensen Just Wants To Make It Interesting
Beating up friends and running backwards for a buck or two. When it comes to poker players, if there’s one thing we all like it’s a good prop betting story. From Team PokerStars Pro Freddy Torres literally swimming with sharks to Phil Ivey shooting 3s from way back, poker players like seeing people do silly tasks with cash money on the line.
Moorman, Rocco Step Into The LAPC Final Table Spotlight
French actor Patrick Bruel at home in Hollywood. The World Poker Tour Los Angeles Poker Classic is winding down and the big final is set to take place today at 4:00pm PST. The final 6 players will be battling it out to see who takes home the over $1 million first place prize.
Poker Night In America Live! In Maryland, Casting For Cash Game
Nolan Dalla and the Poker Night In America team are making their way back to the East Coast. The PNIA crew will be at the Maryland Live! Casino, (you remember – the Maryland casino that, like the Borgata, had its own fake chip scandal last month) to put on the first televised poker tournament ever…from Maryland on March 21-25.
NY Poker Ring Raided, Charged Yet Still Dealing
Underground poker club carries on despite legal troubles. Wendy’s Club, an underground poker club operated out of Midtown Manhattan, couldn’t care less that an undercover cop infiltrated their ranks which led to a raid, the seizure of thousands of dollars and 6 arrests for drug possession this past September – they plan to keep on dealing.
National Poker Day – Rallying Poker Players or Poor Promo Campaign
Blue Shark Optics’ Web 1.0 page promotes poker, pride and apparel. The dudes over at the Blue Shark Optics eyewear company, shades specifically for poker, are hoping to start a poker revolution! Unhappy that the 60 million poker players in the USA are denied the right of online poker and frankly, according to them, are not “given their day in the sun” they plan to create a holiday to change all of that.
Vanessa Selbst Turns Trouble Against Jeremy Kottler
World Poker Tour promo puts Selbst in a tough spot. Don’t you love it when Mike Sexton loses his **** on the air?
Poker Podcasts and Training Vids:
Podcast: Druff & Friends – 03/05/2014 – Second Coming of Jesus Poker Fraud Alert
Chris “Jesus” Ferguson apparently plans to come back to poker for the WSOP. Druff analyzes the alleged collusion/softplay at the Medium Stakes Poker Tour in Minnesota. A former light heavyweight boxer was arrested for bad debt to Wynn. Harrah’s in Atlantc City is being sued for an alleged assault against guests by security, but is it really as bad as it appears? Shane Schleger makes an surprising admission on slate.com that he has smoked crack for the past 15 years. Druff looks at the current lives of each of the WSOP Main Event champions since the year 2000. Bitcoin seems resilient since the MtGox fiasco. Druff takes questions from the chat room.
Podcast: WSOPC chip thief Ante Up! Pokercast
We discuss the case of the WSOPC champ who pocketed a chip during heads-up play and was disqualified after winning the whole thing.
Exclusive Articles on pokerfuse PRO:
The “Pay Day Effect” on Swedish Cash Game Traffic
The absence of promotions exposes the natural rhythm of the poker market in Sweden. The Swedish market—which means the sole online poker room, Svenska Spel—experiences a predictable and pronounced end-of-month cash game traffic boost, traffic data shows.
Spanish iGaming Q4 Better than Expected
Online poker grew in the last three months of the year, albeit by less than other forms of regulated gambling. Later than expected but better than expected, Spanish regulator DGOJ has published its report for the last quarter of 2013. Poker revenues increased with the end of year seasonal effect, but still lagged behind gains in other forms of regulated gambling.
The Deal
Promotional highlights of the week, including: partypoker, PokerStars, Full Tilt, 888poker.ES, Winamax, GDPoker, Merge Gaming, iPoker France and Borgata Poker NJ. New Full Tilt Promotion Pits “Professionals” and Tourney Winners in Heads Up Battle
Malta’s LGA Back in Poker Players’ Crosshairs
Players rally to criticize a regulatory body “that no longer functions,” Fresh attention has been brought onto the Lotteries and Gaming Authority (LGA) of Malta.
