March 30th, 2012 by Scott Jack

Last month we reported on our site that the Full Tilt Poker and Group Bernard Tapie deal might be at a standstill. GBT made it very clear that Full Tilt Pros were part of the reason why the deal was being held up. We talked about Full Tilt Pros owing unpaid debt to Full Tilt Poker and that if the debts weren’t paid back there would be a problem getting the deal finalized.

We’re almost coming up on the one year anniversary of Black Friday (black Friday was when a few US facing poker sites were forced to close their doors to American players) and it would be nice to have a deal finalized before April 15^th, but apparently the deal has been delayed again. Behnam Dayanim (GBT’s Lawyer) stated a few weeks ago that the deal would need more time before it could be finalized, as there were still obstacles preventing the deal from getting done.

Initially the deal had a deadline of March 16^th 2012 to be finalized, but nothing has been released this week. The GBT deal looks to be stalled again and many poker players are starting to wonder about the sincerity of the GBT deal. GBT has been receiving free press for almost a year now and it doesn’t seem like they’re prepared to close the deal on the Full Tilt Poker room.

Full Tilt Poker Pros Debts
We reported in February that Full Tilt Poker Pros owed the company roughly $16.5 million in unpaid debts. In the past month it has been reported that most of the poker players in debt are willing to repay what they owe. The FTP Pros debts were one of the biggest factors preventing the GBT deal from being finalized, but apparently this issue has been taken care of now.

Poker pro Barry Greenstein has debt to Full Tilt

GBT in Talks with the AGCC
Rumours started flying this week when it was reported that GBT was in talks with the Alderney Gambling Control Commission. It has been stated that GBT is trying to receive approval to be re-licensed by the AGCC. GBT has also expressed interest in receiving a license to operate online poker games in Spain.

Spain is one of the biggest regulated poker markets and GBT is testing the waters to see if they’ll be able to receive licenses to operate in regulated poker markets before closing the deal. Since US players wouldn’t be able to play on the new Full Tilt it’s very important that GBT has access to international player pools or else this deal is never going to be finalized.

GBT Has Outside Investor Lined Up
Part of the GBT – Full Tilt Poker deal is that GBT is responsible for paying back international poker players while the US DoJ will be responsible for paying back US poker players. This isn’t good news for US poker players that have money on Full Tilt. It has been estimated that US poker players are owed about $150M while international players could be owed up to $300M.

GBT apparently has lined up an outside investor that would help fund paying back international players. As soon as a new FTP reopens international players would be able to withdraw the money in their wallet if they wish. Having to pay back up to $300M is another factor that’s holding the deal back.

Recent research reports have shown that Full Tilt Poker might be able to make about $70M gross annually without US players on the network and with only a percentage of international players staying with the network. $70M may seem like a lot, but that’s only gross revenues and you have to remember that this deal has a lot of upfront costs involved.

GBT would need to come up with the $80M to pay the US DoJ plus they would need up to $300M in order to pay back players in countries outside of the USA with funds on Full Tilt Poker. An initial investment of up to $380M is a lot of money considering the poker room may only make up to $70M in gross revenues annually without US poker players.

New Full Tilt Poker Investor
Earlier this month it was also reported that a new investor may be interested in Full Tilt Poker. An unnamed investment firm in the United Kingdom has apparently stated that they would purchase the FTP software assets for $30M cash. The deal is much smaller and the company is only interested in the software and not the actual company.

In my opinion paying $30M for the Full Tilt Poker software assets is a steal. It would also mean that there would be no other vital assets worth much that could be sold. $30M is a far cry from what poker players are owed in the USA and around the world, so I don’t see how this new potential deal is going to work out.

If anything, it should spark interest in the FTP sale again and might push GBT to finally make a decision. GBT has continually been back and forth with the FTP deal for months now and I’m sure everyone just wants an answer. In my opinion GBT is getting cold feet and are unsure about whether a new FTP (FTP2?) would become profitable. We’ll make sure we keep you guys updated.

March 15th, 2012 By Scott Jack

By now most American poker players have already heard about the recent Calvin Ayre indictment. On February 28^th 2012 prosecutors in Baltimore, Maryland unsealed an indictment against Bodog Entertainment Group S.A. and four individuals. The four individuals that were indicted include Calvin Ayre, David Ferguson, James Phillips and Derrick Maloney. The Bodog.com domain was also seized by US Immigration & Customs Enforcement (Homeland Security) on February 28^th 2012.

Why Was Calvin Ayre Indicted?
Rod Rosenstein is the US Attorney in Baltimore that indicted Calvin Ayre and the three other individuals mentioned above. Ayre was indicted on two separate charges that I’ve outlined below.

• Count One – Conducting an Illegal Gambling Business (June 2006 – January 2012)

• Count Two – Money Laundering Conspiracy (June 2006 – January 2012)

The indictment that was filed by Rosenstein states that Calvin Ayre and the three other men worked together to operate an illegal online gambling business, which is violating Maryland law. The Feds say that Ayre conspired to pay at least $100M in sports betting winnings to US bettors and that Bodog hired a media company to promote the Bodog brand in the USA.

In the indictment it states that Ayre worked with processors in the US and abroad to transfer funds to US bettors. It has been alleged by the Feds that JBL services and Zip Payments processed $43M and $57M respectively in payouts for Bodog.

In 2008 the IRS in the United States seized over $20M of Bodog’s cash assets including cash from the two processors mentioned in the indictment, so I find it odd that the Feds are only going after Ayre now. Calvin is confident that he isn’t going to be in any trouble and he even made some bold comments on his personal gaming blog.

The indictment goes into brief detail about how the investigation was conducted. According to the indictment filed in Maryland undercover agents in the state used Bodog.com accounts to gamble on sports. The agents would withdraw winnings through Checks or Western Union.

Apparently federal investigators also had a former employee work as a C.I. (Confidential Informant) in July 2010. The former employee helped piece together top management and also how the inside of the company operated.

What Does the Seizure Mean?
The Feds seized the Bodog.com domain, but the domain hasn’t been in use since May 2011. Bodog completely left the US market at the end of 2011 when they didn’t renew their brand license agreement with the MMGG. It should be noted that Bodog UK, Bodog Asia and Bodog Europe have never been in the US market or accepted a single bet from the USA.

Calvin Ayre expressed that the indictment was an “abuse of the criminal justice system”. He stated that the documents were filed with Forbes before anywhere else and that the indictment is strictly for the media to chew up. The seizure of Bodog.com won’t have any affect on players in the USA, as the MMGG moved their operations to Bovada at the end of 2011.

Is Bovada Poker going to be Fine?
If it isn’t clear to US poker players yet, the Feds are trying to do everything they can to disrupt online gaming. We definitely can’t guarantee that Bovada Poker isn’t going to be hit with an indictment in the United States. However, we feel safe recommending US poker players to Bovada Poker still despite the current indictments.

Bovada Poker is owned by the Morris Mohawk Gaming Group and has nothing to do with Bodog. The MMGG operates on the Kahnawake Mohawk Territory, which might make it more difficult to try and seize. Bovada also uses an .lv domain extension, so I can’t see Bovada Poker being seized in the near future or they probably would have been when Bodog.com was seized.

Recently Bovada Poker had some issues with payouts in four states, but it was because of a payment processor deciding to stop processing transactions in four states and nothing to do with Bovada. MyPayLinQ decided to block transactions from players in Maryland, New York, Washington and Utah last week.

Bovada Poker is still accepting poker players from the four states, but players need to find a different deposit method to use, as you’ll no longer be able to use MyPayLinQ. Bovada also accepts credit cards, prepaid cards and Rapid Transfer in the USA.

What’s next for Bodog & Calvin Ayre?
You can bet that Calvin Ayre has been with his legal counsel discussing his options since the indictments were unsealed. In a PR from the Bodog Brand, a representative of the company stated that Ayre is seeing if he has any options to get the domain back. No arrests have been made yet and most people don’t think the US would be able to extradite any of the individuals anyways.

February 28th, 2012 By Scott Jack

The race to regulate online poker in the US is still heating up across the nation. It has become clear that online poker is unlikely to become regulated at the federal level in 2012. With the elections coming up later this year chances are online poker won’t be on the radar at the federal level until next year at the earliest. Regulation at the state level is still heating up and three new states have introduced online gambling bills that would legalize online poker.

Iowa Bill SSB 3163

Iowa introduced bill SSB 3163 last week and the bill was passed through the Senate and will now appear in front of the Iowa House although it’s unlikely the bill will be passed. Governor Branstad stated that the bill probably won’t get through the Legislature and that’s not good news for poker players in the state of Iowa.

The proposed bill would legalize and regulate online poker in Iowa and allow operators from anywhere to apply for a license. Iowa would earn between 22%-24% in tax based off of the gross receipts of the poker rooms. Studies have shown that Iowa could earn anywhere from $3,000,000 to $13,000,000 in tax revenues every year, which would definitely help the state financially.

Iowa’s poker bill would allow poker networks to take wagers from anywhere within the state or anywhere else where online poker is legalized. Poker networks in other regulated jurisdictions around the world would be allowed to operate within the state of Iowa if the bill is approved and the operator was awarded with a license to operate.

Mississippi House Bill 1373

Mississippi also joined the race to regulate online poker in the USA this past week. Mississippi released House Bill 1373 last week on Wednesday and if the bill is passed online poker could be legalized by July 1^st 2012. The bill stresses that the state needs to act soon in order to ensure Mississippi residents have safe places to play online and to earn the state revenue.

Players in Mississippi would need to complete a wagering agreement before they could play for real money. It would become illegal to play with any unlicensed poker room in the state if the bill is passed and there would be fines in place. Poker operators would need to apply for a license with the Mississippi Gaming Commission if the bill is passed.

The state would earn money through tax revenue plus the initial licensing fees. Poker operators would be required to pay $200,000 upfront to apply for a license and renewals would cost $100,000. Poker operators would also be required to put $100,000 into the State General Fund and $100,000 into the Mississippi Gaming Commission Fund every year.

House Bill 1373 would regulate and legalize online poker plus other forms of internet gaming. Most states are focusing on online poker only right now, but Mississippi is trying to legalize all forms of internet gaming at the state level. There is support for the bill in Mississippi and it should be interesting to see if the bill is passed or not.

California SB 1463

On Friday of last week California finished an eventful week off by introducing SB 1463. The bill would initially legalize online poker for two years and afterwards other forms of internet gaming would be considered. SB 1463 is an emergency bill and that means the new laws would become effective immediately if the bill is passed.

California was bound to work towards regulating online poker sooner or later and I’m surprised it took this long. If online poker is regulated in California it could earn the state a lot of money. Licensing fees alone in California are $3,000,000 annually and each of the poker operators that want a license need to pay $30,000,000 upfront to cover the 1^st 10 years of licensing fees.

There would be other fees on top of the licensing fees, which mean not many operators are going to be applying for a license in the state of California at first in my opinion. Poker players would need to confirm their identification before being allowed to play in the state of California and playing with a poker room that isn’t licensed would be against the law.

Poker rooms that want to operate in California would need to have employees within the state to create jobs. All of the employees that operate the day-to-day operations and support reps would need to be hired in California. This would create quite a few jobs in the state and I have a feeling that California will pass this bill.

We have been following the US online poker news closely and will always update our visitors with the latest information. Out of the three new states to introduce online poker bills it appears that Iowa will have the hardest time passing the bill. I expect California and Mississippi to pass their online poker bills this year, as both states would benefit tremendously.

Other US Gambling
There is no real news as far as legalizing online casino games or online sports betting. I would expect at some point in time the government may look at this also, but it appears that poker will get done years before anything else. Until then you can see what online casinos still accept US players, or you can have a look at the US friendly online sportsbooks.

February 15, 2012 By Scott Jack

Everleaf Gaming Network made a change to their terms and conditions on February 9^th 2012 and one of the terms stated that poker players in the United States won’t be able to play on the network anymore. The terms were changed without any notice to players and the Everleaf Gaming Network still hasn’t made an official announcement regarding the banning of US poker players.

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Everleaf Gaming Network Changes Terms & Conditions

• Term 18 – “No person who is resident in Malta, France and USA may open an account, play, or in any other way participate in the ELG offerings and/or services.”

Poker players in Malta were never allowed to play on the Everleaf Gaming Network, which is common for poker networks that are licensed by the Lotteries & Gaming Authority in Malta. Term 18 now bans US and French poker players from the network.

Neil from Minted Poker Speaks Out On 2+2 Forums
Neil from Minted Poker made a post on February 9^th on the 2+2 Poker Forum (Link) that stated US poker players won’t be able to play on the network anymore. Neil stated that the reason the network had to exit the market without notice is because Everleaf received a C&D from the Department of Homeland Security in the United States.

According to Neil one of the network’s processor’s was seized and the funds held by the processor were seized as well. Neil stated that the Everleaf Gaming Network, LGA and the Department of Homeland Security will work on an agreement to ensure that the seized funds can be sent to the US players with funds on the network.

Jennifer Winter from Luvin Poker Emails Luvin Poker Clients
The story so far hasn’t been adding up and there has been a lot of speculation. Jennifer Winter from Luvin Poker sent an email out to poker players at Luvin Poker stating that the Everleaf Gaming Network suspended real money action in the USA. Jennifer also said that the US DoJ didn’t come after the network and that no funds have been seized.

Jennifer also said that poker players in the USA would be able to play on the network for real money again. This email obviously conflicts with the story from Neil. I have no idea how much truth is behind each story, but I can draw the conclusion that the network is clearly in trouble and the poker skins on the network have even been kept in the dark for the most part.

Everleaf Gaming Network Sends Email to Network Skins
The Everleaf Gaming Network sent out an email to network skins that was leaked and it stated that funds were seized in the USA and that the network won’t be allowing US poker players to play for real money on the network anymore. Everleaf Gaming told the poker skins on the network that the rest of the network won’t be affected and only US accounts would be closed immediately.

Everleaf Gaming Network Silence to Players a Major Concern
Poker players in the United States have now been waiting nearly a week for an official response from the Everleaf Network. Players have been patiently waiting to hear news about how they can withdraw the funds on their accounts, but the network hasn’t made an official statement yet and it speaks volumes about how the network is operated.

The poker skins have been trying to deal with the mass incoming complaints without much help from the network. Everleaf has done a very poor job handling this issue and Everleaf must have known that this problem was going to present itself. Once the network makes an official statement we’ll update this news post with the details.

Once the terms were initially changed US poker players on the network were still able to play. Eventually a message popped up when US poker players tried signing into their accounts stating that “the username/password combination wasn’t valid”. This is hardly a sufficient message to present US poker players when they try signing into their accounts.

Everleaf Gaming hasn’t sent an email to US poker players stating that the network has exited the market and there is no way for US poker players to even know about the problem until they search the internet. US poker players’ funds are currently frozen and there hasn’t been any news about how poker players will be able to withdraw their money in the future.

If the Department of Homeland Security or the US DoJ is involved with the seizure of funds it could be a long process before poker players in the USA receive any funds. Traffic on the Everleaf Gaming Network has been dropping and many poker players are starting to worry that the network is going to shutdown completely due to liquidity issues although this is only speculation.

For reviews of sites still accepting US players, see our Bovada page or our Intertops page.

February 12th, 2012  By Scott Jack

Last week we reported that the Full Tilt Poker deal was almost complete, but now it seems that isn’t the case. This past week there have been several exclusive interviews released that shed some light on the status of the current deal. Behnam Dayanim is one of the attorneys representing GBT and he stated that the current deal has some new obstacles that need to be addressed.

Poker Pros Owe Debts to Full Tilt Poker
The biggest obstacle to overcome right now is new information that poker pros owe Full Tilt Poker roughly $16.5M. Based on a few reports from insiders a few of the players that owe Full Tilt money include Phil Ivey, Erick Lindgren, David Benyamine, Layne Flack, Barry Greenstein, Mike Matusow, John Juanda and Tom Dwan.

Dayanim stated that two players were currently working on a repayment deal with GBT. Insiders have stated that the two players who have expressed interest in repaying their debts are Juanda and Dwan. Other players that owe money either haven’t contacted GBT yet or they have stated that they don’t want to deal with GBT.

On February 2^nd Barry Greenstein made a post on the 2+2 Forum stating that he owed Full Tilt Poker $400,000. Greenstein has said that he will pay his debts back, but that Greenstein wants to deal with the US DoJ and not GBT. Greenstein wants to ensure that his money is used towards paying back US players, but he could also prevent the deal from being completed.

GBT Deal May Not Be Finalized
Behnam has stated that the poker pros debt with Full Tilt Poker isn’t the only thing holding the deal back, but he didn’t want to get into specifics. Behnam also stated that the deal may not be pushed through if the pros don’t work out a payment deal. Insiders on the deal have said that Juanda and Dwan are the only two players working towards a repayment plan.

I wish more poker pros would follow the lead of Juanda and Dwan. Dayanim just stated in an interview that if other poker pros in debt don’t want to work out a payment plan with GBT like Greenstein it could prevent the deal from going through. Dayanim also said that the pros that didn’t want to work out a payment plan on debts they owe would be responsible for the deal not finishing.

What Other Problems Are Affecting the GBT Deal
Lots on insiders have been releasing tidbits of information about the deal and it appears that there are some other problems apart from the pros debts that need to be resolved. None of the issues below have been verified by anyone with GBT, but most people close to the deal feel that these problems are valid and a major concern at this point.

• The biggest issue apart from the pros debts are other liabilities that don’t involve player funds. Lawyers in Europe that have been following the deal feel that GBT would be on the hook for vendor and service provider liabilities. It isn’t clear if GBT would have to worry about these extra liabilities, but lawyers have estimated it could cost GBT an extra $15M.

• Concerns have also started to surface about the financial stability of the company. Not many investors are eager to have Full Tilt Poker reopen, as the brand is a complete mess right now. It has also become apparent this past week that Full Tilt may only have less than $20M cash in the companies accounts rather than the estimated $40M.

None of these issues have ended the deal by any stretch of the imagination. Laurent Tapie was interviewed this past week and he confirmed that these issues are holding the deal back at this time. If the pros would sign a contract to repay GBT there would no longer be an issue, but according to Dayanim GBT doesn’t want to purchase assets that they need to be litigated over. Sources surrounding the deal have also said that trying to litigate the debts would be “extremely difficult”.

Laurent Tapie and Behnam Dayanim have expressed that one single issue won’t hold the deal back, but the number of issues that have been building up is becoming a serious detriment to the current deal. US players will be paid back by the US government and no details have been released on how any payments will be paid out. However, the $80M that GBT would pay the US DoJ for the assets of Full Tilt Poker would go a long way towards paying back US players.

I understand where Greenstein is coming from in a way, but he should simply pay the debt or work out a payment plan. If the deal doesn’t go through because of the pros that don’t pay back their debts the US players are going to be enraged with the pros. Barry only owes $400K and I’m not sure how he thinks his $400K is relevant to the overall picture of paying back US players. He should make good on his gambling debts instead of coming up with excuses that will tarnish his reputation in the poker world.

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