Many Online Poker Sites Thriving Despite Government Shutdown
Many online poker sites see increased activity today, signaling that consumers may finally be ready to move on from Black Friday.
The website MyPokerBasics.com finds that online poker rooms around the internet have experienced exponential growth over the past twenty-four hours, with websites like Sportsbook Poker, Players Only, and Lock Poker seeing their highest amounts of new player traffic since the government shutdown of poker sites Full Tilt and PokerStars last Friday. While the surge in new traffic is not unexpected, analysts hope that it is an indication that refund checks are finally starting to be distributed.
"A lot of our readers have written us and talked about having tens of thousands of dollars tied up at Full Tilt and PokerStars, so they weren't about to move on to another poker website until they found out what was going to happen," Kevin Smith, a project director at MyPokerBasics said in an interview on Friday, April 22nd. "Hopefully this means that some of the high rollers out there woke up to a big deposit in their bank accounts this morning."
Although MyPokerBasics does not have an ownership stake any of the online gaming websites where players can bet for real money, they have developed quite a following over the years due to their strategy and advice-related articles designed to help inexperienced betters learn the game of poker. Smith states that a few of their long-time readers have even advanced deep into WSOP events in the past, something the website takes a lot of pride in.
"We're not in the business of name-dropping or tooting our own horns," replied Smith, "but I think our entire staff gets excited when an email comes in talking about how our strategy guides helped someone learn the game of poker and make a huge payday. Although our advice articles do not pay the bills, that's why all of us basically took this job...we just love the game of poker."
Statistically speaking, online poker within the United States is still way off its normal mark, with only about a third of the normal activity that it has seen in recent weeks. While much of that can be attributed to millions of dollars tied up at poker sites that are no longer allowed to accept US customers for cash betting, a large portion of that can also be attributed to customers showing hesitation after the Black Friday events that led to the government shutdowns.
"It seems like a lot of avid poker fans caught a glimpse of their evening news and heard the words "illegal online gambling" from the FBI, so they automatically assume that a new law must have recently banned poker or something," said Smith. "These government shutdowns and arrests had more to do with bank fraud and money laundering than the poker rooms themselves."
Under the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act, it is illegal for any foreign online gambling establishment to use banks within the United States to transfer money for the purpose of gambling. MyPokerBasics reports that the arrests on April 15th by the FBI and the Department of Justice stemmed from PokerStars and the other involved poker websites ignoring these laws...often quite blatantly according to the US government. Websites like Sportsbook Poker still claim that they are in full compliance with the United States because poker is a game of skill and not explicitly banned within the UIGEA.
Contact:
Matt Hayes
MyPokerBasics
www.mypokerbasics.com
PR courtesy of Online PR Media: http://bit.ly/egzA2N
The website MyPokerBasics.com finds that online poker rooms around the internet have experienced exponential growth over the past twenty-four hours, with websites like Sportsbook Poker, Players Only, and Lock Poker seeing their highest amounts of new player traffic since the government shutdown of poker sites Full Tilt and PokerStars last Friday. While the surge in new traffic is not unexpected, analysts hope that it is an indication that refund checks are finally starting to be distributed.
"A lot of our readers have written us and talked about having tens of thousands of dollars tied up at Full Tilt and PokerStars, so they weren't about to move on to another poker website until they found out what was going to happen," Kevin Smith, a project director at MyPokerBasics said in an interview on Friday, April 22nd. "Hopefully this means that some of the high rollers out there woke up to a big deposit in their bank accounts this morning."
Although MyPokerBasics does not have an ownership stake any of the online gaming websites where players can bet for real money, they have developed quite a following over the years due to their strategy and advice-related articles designed to help inexperienced betters learn the game of poker. Smith states that a few of their long-time readers have even advanced deep into WSOP events in the past, something the website takes a lot of pride in.
"We're not in the business of name-dropping or tooting our own horns," replied Smith, "but I think our entire staff gets excited when an email comes in talking about how our strategy guides helped someone learn the game of poker and make a huge payday. Although our advice articles do not pay the bills, that's why all of us basically took this job...we just love the game of poker."
Statistically speaking, online poker within the United States is still way off its normal mark, with only about a third of the normal activity that it has seen in recent weeks. While much of that can be attributed to millions of dollars tied up at poker sites that are no longer allowed to accept US customers for cash betting, a large portion of that can also be attributed to customers showing hesitation after the Black Friday events that led to the government shutdowns.
"It seems like a lot of avid poker fans caught a glimpse of their evening news and heard the words "illegal online gambling" from the FBI, so they automatically assume that a new law must have recently banned poker or something," said Smith. "These government shutdowns and arrests had more to do with bank fraud and money laundering than the poker rooms themselves."
Under the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act, it is illegal for any foreign online gambling establishment to use banks within the United States to transfer money for the purpose of gambling. MyPokerBasics reports that the arrests on April 15th by the FBI and the Department of Justice stemmed from PokerStars and the other involved poker websites ignoring these laws...often quite blatantly according to the US government. Websites like Sportsbook Poker still claim that they are in full compliance with the United States because poker is a game of skill and not explicitly banned within the UIGEA.
Contact:
Matt Hayes
MyPokerBasics
www.mypokerbasics.com
PR courtesy of Online PR Media: http://bit.ly/egzA2N
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