It’s taken more than two years of player complaints for the world’s largest online poker room, PokerStars, to finally put an official end to the unethical practice of “bum hunting” on its virtual cash tables.
There has been widespread debate over a practice that has become known as “rat-holing” at online poker sites for years. PokerStars is attempting to address the issue with a ‘complex solution’; one that would involve software enhancements to impose specific, compulsory rules to prevent rat-holing by players.
As many of you know, PokerStars has been in negotiations to purchase the Atlantic Club Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey since entering into contract with the owners in December of 2012. The deal seemed to be going well until suddenly, in April, Colony Capital LLC, which controls ownership of the casino, called the deal off when the expiration date for purchase passed.
It’s that time of year again, when the most seasoned professional poker players, as well as any amateur who can gather up the required buy-in, gather at the Rio Las Vegas in Nevada, USA to participate in the World Series of Poker. The most prestigious of all live poker events in the world, the 2013 WSOP is slated to kick off on Wednesday, May 29, packed with 62 events that culminate in the grand finale; the WSOP Main Event.
Last year, history was made at the World Series of Poker when renowned poker pro Guy Laliberte made the bold move to initiate a brand new event at the 2012 WSOP. A phenomenal philanthropic success, the Big One for One Drop, which featured a massive $1,000,000 buy-in, was able to raise over $5.3 million for the One Drop Foundation.
As it became apparent that several US states intended to enact laws that would allow for intrastate online poker and/or other forms of internet gambling, software developers were forced to come up with a way to verify each player’s location. For example, in Nevada – currently the only state to launch a legal online poker site to its adult population – only residents within the state can play. Using a method known as cell phone triangulation, Ultimate Poker is able to ensure players can only login from within the state’s borders.
Caesars Palace of Las Vegas has been ultra-busy lately, and I’m not just talking about the amount of foot traffic on its vast casino floor. Owner of the official website of the World Series of Poker, WSOP.com, the big-wigs at Caesars have been working diligently to prepare for the launch of the website’s real money online poker suite. While a specific launch date has yet to be set, the company promises to deliver Nevada residents with a real-money online poker community by the summer of 2013.
Once more, the public officials of California will be perusing the text of a new online gambling bill that aims to legalize internet poker activities within the state’s borders. There have been two previous attempts this year alone by lawmakers to pass an online gaming bill for the Golden State, but neither made it to the governor’ desk due to a lack of favorable guidelines and sufficient proponents in the senate. Could the third time be the charm?
The Rational Group, owners of PokerStars, filed a civil suit last week against Colony Capital after the company cut off negotiations with the online poker operator regarding the acquisition of the Atlantic Club Casino.
In a historic move, Ultimate Poker became the very first legal US online poker room to launch on American soil just two weeks ago. Already, Ultimate Poker, or “UP” as it’s being dubbed, has made a drastic change to its backend by dumping CAMS as its security provider.
Just when we thought the horrific super-user cheating scandal that rocked users of Ultimate Bet Poker more than 5 years ago was finally behind us, the debacle has resurfaced with new information. A series of recordings from the winter of 2008 was released by a former employee of the site’s owner, Russ Hamilton, revealing a massive cover-up by numerous site officials.
Reports surfaced last week that the deal between PokerStars and Colony Capital, the owner of the Atlantic Club, had collapsed. The Rational Group, owner of PokerStars, has been in negotiations with Colony Capital to purchase the New Jersey land-based casino for months now, and apparently something in the agreement went wrong.